History, I would argue, never really repeats itself. Though there are patterns, cycles, reoccurrences, mostly because – at least in American politics – history carries with it a very keen penchant for irony and a very sick sense of humor.

Well, maybe not humor, since during the last 20 years, the Republican Party only has been funny for a very select few. Especially when it is dominating like it is now, in the face of the jealous, incoherent nine-headed hydra of the Democratic Party.

Saturday’s debate (shown only on C-SPAN) indicated once again that for Democrats this primary season will be another of cruel calculations and desperately wishful thinking, like: “Too bad we can’t fuse Howard Dean (Gov. Vermont) and John Kerry (Sen. Mass.) together genetically; we could give Bush a run for his money.”

Anyone not happy with the last four years is back to the sad process of putting practicality over preference – where the candidate one may idealistically want won’t be who should be nominated because the said candidate cannot win. A situation such as this may mean that George W. Bush could soon be “unshackled” – that if elected in 2004, Bush, like Nixon in 1972, will not have a next campaign to worry about. These will be his last four years in politics, and there will be no telling what he may do – or at least try to do – to American politics without the burden or the boundaries that come with another run at a public office.

Which scares a lot of people (myself included), though probably not enough people to keep him from getting reelected. “Bush Unshackled.” It sounds like some sort of horrible pay-per-view event. And it may even prove to be one – something no one could believe or (unfortunately) do anything about.

Or will it?

True, in the absence of a strong Democratic candidate, there is a lot of ground to lose, a lot of people to ostracize before the Republican Party starts having to actually answer to its actions on any significant scale. Even with one war in Iraq and another looming around different corners of the world, the president is still making unbelievable headway in almost all of his agendas. Maybe the wild, jingoistic show will only get wilder if W. takes office again in 2004.

But, besides the president – who is the figurehead rather than the head of his party – the rest of the administration seems to be digging themselves in for a long haul, and there is no amendment telling anyone but W. when they have to jump ship at a certain time.

A whole new American century is being imagined, under the Project for A New American Century’s (a conservative think-tank) jingoistic premise that: “We seem to have forgotten the essential elements of the Reagan administration’s success: a military that is strong and ready to meet both present and future challenges; a foreign policy that boldly and purposefully promotes American principles abroad; and national leadership that accepts the United States’ global responsibilities.”

So, in a closer look, the issue really isn’t that this will be Bush’s last term, but the fact that his tenure just represents another punctuation in a Republican agenda with a longer life-span than a quick eight years.

And maybe instead of an unshackled ride, we’re all in for a little subtlety – a slower, more indirect trajectory down the inevitable spiral a plan like this represents.

John Ross is a senior in comparative studies. He can be reached for comment at [email protected].