as flawed as they may be, the American presidential primaries are the greatest display of democracy in the world.

No other nation has such a drawn-out, media-infused, up-and-down process. Dozens of our nation’s top citizens undergo momentum swings and huge burning crashes. There are phenomenal surprises fueled by political tactical brilliance and unbelievable strategic blunders. It is real drama. It is undeniably democratic. The entire world watches and understands the meaning of true democracy.

Our two-party system is unusual. It has created a stable political system and aided our nation’s growth.

With a two-party system, the decisions are basic and clear. The two-party system focuses attention on the economic fundamentals that have defined all complex civilizations: the haves and the have nots.

The great debates and civil wars of the Roman times centered around money and power. The rich, established families wanted to protect their wealth and longstanding civic institutions and traditions. They wanted a republic.

Certain wealthy patricians - Julius and Augustus Caesar most notably - appealed directly to the masses to fuel their political power. They campaigned on a policy of wealth redistribution which eventually allowed them to topple the republic and establish a dictatorship.

The beauty of the two-party system is its inherent stability. The ultimate indication of a finely-tuned two-party system is a dead-even split between the tax payers and the tax receivers.

It’s about who gets the money. Our tax code is the vehicle for redistribution. The Democrats promote taking from the haves and giving to the have nots. The Republicans generally want to let individuals keep their money.

If we act rationally as voters to protect our personal economic interest, the ultimate evolution of a democratic two-party system is a perfect balance in which half the people pay taxes and half don’t. This is exactly what we have in the United States.

This redistribution helps the middle class, allowing for upward mobility. As the have nots achieve success and become tax payers, they may change their politics. Suddenly, they are having to fund the services that others get for free.

It becomes a self-limiting system. If you redistribute all the money, the tax payers become the tax receivers and the tax receivers become the tax payers. The whole process starts over in reverse.

Plus government likes to spend so it likes to tax, but it must stay in power. So it only needs to let enough citizens off the tax hook to win elections.

An additional check on total redistribution is the negative economic impact of taxes on overall economic health. Taxes bog down the naturally efficient functioning of the free market system. If taxes get out of hand, you kill the goose that lays the golden egg. The economy goes down. Nobody’s happy. The tax receivers depend on the tax payers for the source of the redistribution.

A classic example of this check and balance is Reagan sweeping to power after high taxes led to the stagflation of the ’70s.

This is a long-winded way of saying that I’m not too worried about Barack Obama becoming our next president. Although I am a big believer in the efficiency of the free market system, Mississippi tends to do better when a Democrat is in office. This is a simple byproduct of the fact that our state has a high percentage of have nots.

When I first heard Obama speak, I thought, “Wow. This guy could be a serious contender for president.” It was the same reaction I felt when I first heard Bill Clinton speak as governor of Arkansas.

Let’s face it. The American presidential race is not unlike ‘American Idol.’ It’s all about charisma and star quality. This is increasingly so in our mass media society. Many qualifications that would indicate a great president don’t make a big impact in the final selection.

That being said, the winning candidate goes through a grueling trial by fire. Charisma is huge, but you must be very shrewd and wise to weather the media storm and stay the course. Charisma alone will not suffice.

Obama has been brilliant. “Change We Can Believe In.” That’s the type of meaningless blather that wins political races. It reminds me of Kirk Fordice’s “Together Forward.”

Obama is able to speak for 30 riveting minutes and say virtually nothing against which anyone could object. In Texas he says “gunna.” In Illinois, he says “going to.” He inspires and motivates without getting specific, just like Reagan. The devil is in the details.

It’s very possible a young charismatic Obama could beat an old warhorse like McCain.

Fortunately, Obama is smart as a whip. It takes lots of smarts to get into Harvard. Even more smarts to get into Harvard Law School. And off-the-chart smarts to be selected as president of the Harvard Law Review.

Obama has refreshingly not succumbed to class war politics. Most of us believe America needs some division of income and a strong, healthy middle class. But turning many of our hardest working citizens into villains is not the answer. Resorting to class warfare is the surest way Obama could self-destruct. That’s not likely to happen given that he has meticulously avoided such inflammatory language. Indeed, avoiding class politics has been a centerpiece of his campaign.

If elected, Obama will most definitely dance with the girl who brung him. He is a Democrat. Expect him to steadfastly support Democratic policies. This means more taxes and government, not less.

Therein lies my problem with the Democrats. They believe in attempting to use the power of government to create jobs. This gives people the notion that government owes them a comfortable nice-paying job.

The problem is this: Government cannot create jobs. Hardworking individuals create their own jobs because they have skills that are in demand. This will never change.

I would like to be MVP of the Super Bowl, but I don’t expect the government to make it happen. The only way you get to be MVP of the Super Bowl is by your own individual skill. No skill, no Super Bowl MVP. It’s the same thing with a good job. It’s about your ability, not the government.

The Democratic Party is the party of hope and wishful thinking. Sometimes that carries the day. Obama is a perfect fit and probably his time has come. Then we will come back to reality and the Republicans will be back in. The good news for Americans is the process is the most stable in the world, allowing for 150 years of peaceful domestic growth.