"
A question for you.
Will the US go out with a whimper, or a roar?"
IMO, that depends on whether or not we continue to base our nominations of candidates on entertainment, vanity, regional ties and/or money alone.
Duncan Hunter is not getting enough funding, because he doesn't appeal to most of those who have the money.
The following are Fortune 500s that filed briefs in favor of "affirmative action" in the Michigan "Grutter v. Bollinger" (Michigan University) case.
http://www.umich.edu/~urel/admissions/legal/gru_amicus/32_internatl.pdf
3M
Abbott Laboratories
American Airlines
Ashland
Bank One
Boeing
Coca-Cola
Dow Chemical
E.I. Du Pont De Nemours
Eastman Kodak
Eli Lilly
Ernst & Young
Exelon
Fannie Mae
General Dynamics
General Mills
Intel
Johnson & Johnson
Kellogg
KPMG
Lucent Technologies
Microsoft
Mitsubishi
Nationwide Mutual Insurance
Nationwide Financial
Pfizer
PPG
Proctor & Gamble
Sara Lee
Steelcase
Texaco
TRW
United Airlines
General Motors Corporation
http://www.umich.edu/~urel/admissions/legal/gru_amicus/gru_gm.html