First off, lots to say about the last night of the convention but the bottom line for me is that I feel better about Obama than I did before the convention started: better about voting for him, better about his chances of winning... the whole shebang.
And how about Don getting his pick w/ Sarah Palin? The only possible explanation is that McCain is a regular reader of PhillyWill, in which case I have to say -- "John, I tried the best pickle last week!" (he loves pickles)
In any case, Palin balances out the 'Bold and the Beautiful' and 'Young and Restless' quotient on the ticket, just as Biden did in reverse for Obama. Another oldish white male would've sunk the GOP unless he had been a cant-miss pick, and none of those existed. She's also got a muckraker reputation and can definitely play up the Washington-outsider card. However, the flip side of that is that if something happens to McCain, she'll take over with Geena Davis-level of national experience. I'm going to give McCain the benefit of the doubt and NOT assume he thinks Palin will win over former Hillary supporters. Palin's pro-life-ness would clearly negate her gender-ness on that front. But what about the 'independents'? The jury's out on that one.
I guess when it's all said and done, I feel better about all four of these folks than Bush/Cheney, so there's progress.
24 comments:
Refreshing analysis Becker. It's moment like this that I understand our ability to coexist. She is woefully unqualified. But Like Bill Clinton did with interns, Barack Obama has opened up a new world for presidential candidates. I think Obama picked the liberal McCain for his veep, and McCain chose the conservative Palin. I don't think anyone in the Republican party thinks we will get a flood of Hillaristas in support, but Hillary did pick up quite a few moderate or independent voters when she ran to to the "middle" against Obama. I think Palin will help with those kinds of voters who were new to Hillary even. As a whole, though, she just helps outweigh the old man look on the ticket. Obama's speech was spectacular. I won't go into the substance of the speech (because this post is already too long), but you can't deny the appeal of packing a stadium full of ardent supporters. And no one works a teleprompter better than Barry.
*I meant to say McCain picked a conservative Obama. The tickets really mirror each other.
Here are some interesting stats: Men like the choice of Palin plainly better than women do:
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/08/women-more-skeptical-of-palin-than-men.html
It pretty much confirms what I said yesterday - does McCain think women are so dumb that we would mistake the 44 year old Phyllis Schlaffley for Hillary Clinton?
I'll say it again - I doubt McCain was after Hillary supporters with this pick. It's more like this: [GOP thought process] We have to respond to diversity issues and what a great tactic - yes she's a woman so technically brings diversity - but thinks just like a man, shoots guns and shit! yet looks great in a skirt and won't get in the way b/c she doesn't know k street from Kyrghyzstan.[me: unless she does: i'll wait for the speech] It's called 'token diversity' [now me again] unless something happens to McCain...then the joke's on all of us.
If that last comment is what is going to pass for intelligent discussion on this blog, I don't see any point in participating any longer. Yeah. You got me pegged, Will. Have fun with your thoughtless demonization of those who disagree and enjoy your mutual massage of liberal warm fuzzies. I'll just go find some woman who looks good in a skirt, isn't too smart, and won't stand up to me.
Don - Many times, I think Will agrees with you more than he agrees with me. He's by no means a radical leftist, in my opinion and experience. Aside from his hippy dippy complete lack of air conditioning even in 98 degree weather.
Don - I didn't mean to imply that was your thought process. I did mean to say I'm willing to listen to her. Right now all we have to work with is the wikipedia entry so I was having a little fun with it.
Well maybe you should re-read that wikipedia page and learn that she stood up to Ted Stevens (perhaps my least favorite Republican of all time) and turned down the hundreds of millions of dollars he got for the state for the Bridge to Nowhere. She ran against long-time Republican Senator and Governor (and curmudgeon) Murkowski in the primary to get where she is now. She also resigned from the Chair of the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission because of the corruption of the Republican members. She filed complaints against the Alaska Republican Part Chairman and the Republican Attorney General, and they had to pay fines. She also just supported another Republican against long-time incumbent Republican Don Young. All of that is on the wiki page and worth a read before you demonize her as a woman kowtowing to Republican men and before you paint her supporters as people who want women who do just that.
Instead of that smear, you should be attacking her for her stance on creationosm and the fact that she is about as qualified as Barack Obama to be Vice-President.
Is it possible to add a search function on your blog?
Don - I'm glancing back a bit at the comments you've added about politics and it seems like you've continually sniped at Democrats. You've given some Democrats credit where credit is due here and there as well. I'm not ignoring that. What I can't tell is whether you were genuinely offended by Will's comment, which seems surprising given the amount of anti-Democrat sniping you do. Don't get me wrong, I've always loved discussing politics with people more conservative than I am, and have spent many an hour of my life doing just that. While it never changed my opinion, it did serve to make my opinions clearer to me. But I am confounded by the offense that you seem to have taken given what you've dished that no one has really objected to. I'm curious about this.
I believe in the past I have sniped with some reason. Comments about Whole Foods at least have some truth to them. I took offense at this comment, because it paints me as a misogynist and Sarah Palin as a cowed femaile -- neither of which are true. The beauty of our country is that we can call out unfair sniping with speech. If I have said something unfair (like Will did in this post) then call me on it. I was pretty offended (and I hate that word, because who cares if I or anyone is offended), so I explained why. I think Will was trying to be funny and new he had a Job Stewart crowd that would give him a pass, until he had time for some good material. I just couldn't let it pass, because that comment couldn't be more incorrect. I am over it now, but I am still going to attack statements that are entirely unsupported.
Another way to attack her is her past support for Pat Buchanan..... His trade and foreign policyies are straight out of Dick Gephardt's playbook. Ick... Oh, and he also is a borderline bigot (too close to the border for me), so I doubt y'll like him much either. There is plenty of material upon which to attack the former mayor of Wasilla -- being a bimbo is not the best.
Crap. I just read that she did NOT support Pat Buchanan. She just welcomed him to the town of Wasilla 9 years ago -- and issued a follow-up welcome to any other candidates passing through. Looks like Pat was looking literally anywhere for support.
You can criticize her, though, imposing a windfall profits tax on oil companies in Alaska..... but I don't think you will.
I think I may have started this by posting the stats about men liking Sarah Palin better than women do.
I didn't really get the impression that Will was even talking about you from his comment, since he knows you to be a reasonable person. I got the impression that he was imagining the thought process that McCain had, as well as his advisors.
It makes sense to me that probably the biggest reason why she was picked was to shore up the evangelical vote, and you are right that some of what she's done in office (from the little I can glean online) is sort of McCain-esque, so it makes sense in that regard too (selling the jet - her most public of her public actions).
But to Will's point, and having nothing at all to do with you, it does seem like she was chosen at least in part BECAUSE she is a young attractive woman who can compete with Obama on the sex appeal front. You've said as much yourself. (By the way, YES, in my world 44 is young.)
I didn't get the impression that Will meant much more than that.
I was in no way demonizing Sarah Palin; sounds like she's been an upstanding citizen and a good governor. What I was demonizing/being cynical about is the motivation for GOP leadership to pick her. After 8 years of Bush/Cheney I can't help it and I don't mean that in a flippant way. Things have happened with this administration that have made me lose a good chunk of faith in the whole process. The faith I do have left says 1) Obama/Biden will win and/or 2) McCain really wants to call his own referendum on Bush/Cheney and Palin was the first step towards that. Obviously, I'm skeptical of 2, see beginning of paragraph.
John McCain has criticized the Bush Administration for years. Sarah Palin has stood up to Republicans for years. I know you guys would love to run against W again (even though he still managed to win twice), but this election is about McCain and Palin. Will's opinion on McCain's thought process was juvenile. Looks often play a role in any candidate's selection, but the notion that McCain was sexist or that Sarah is a mindless yes-woman was without support or merit.
And Julie, if you had any worries, I love Will in a blatantly homosexual way and could never actually be mad at him. You just keep believing that he and are going to "baseball games" together. FYI - I think Palin's daughter may be fair game, especially if she was home schooled and taught abstinence only sex ed.
I can live w/ juvenile. I've been trying to recapture my youth for years. And, it's true, John McCain has been criticizing the Bush administration for years. Now that he needs the Republican base, he seems to be not sure where to put those chips...a fine line that Obama is walking too. As for the yes-woman, I guess that's the daughter. ba-dum-cha
Palin's non-married 17 year old daughter is 5 months pregnant. She's not as squeaky clean as it appeared at first blush. Will this have any impact on voters opinions (e.g., conservatives, Evangelicals, etc)??? Some Repubs have got to be smacking their foreheads tonight.
However, McCain apparently knew about this before he selected her. I still think her positives will outweigh this potential negative. Plus, Obama is coming out with pretty classy statement that candidate's families should be off limits (is he worried about a secret coming out about one of his family members?)
I feel pretty sure that Obama's reaction is meant to put him in the "taking the high road," "no need to stoop to that level," "there are no red and blue states, just the United States" position - not to hide skeletons. After all, if you are running for president, you have to expect that all your skeletons will be revealed. I bet that's also why SP's daughter's pregnancy was announced now - "let's just get it out there and let the public deal with it and forget it" much the same as Clinton's admission that he smoked but didn't inhale and Obama's admission that he smoked and inhaled because "that was the point."
I also feel pretty sure that the evangelicals will love the fact that SP's daughter has not had an abortion and that they will hold her family in esteem because of it.
I'm so glad to know that it's all ended happily, with Don still in love with Will and Will still chasing his 20s.
One last note: I commend Will for injecting levity into politics. I've never been able to do that, and most people know me to take politics far too seriously. With Jon Stewart as the most trusted man in America, I'll choose to think that Don may have actually been tossing a compliment at Will all along.
1 - Obama's statement was very classy. I do think he would like to keep people off the hunt for his brother in that hut, but I also think he can be an upright guy. I wish 2004 Obama would come back more often.
2 - Like Jon Stewart, Will knows he can take a cheap shot at Bush or Republicans and get a laugh without trying. That smug sense of self righteousness is what drives me crazy (on the right and the left), and I think that is what set me off. Will is hilarious when he tries, though.
3 - I have been juvenile on more than one occasion, so that was meant to be a light jab. Loved the yeswoman comment.
I had another late night coke (a-cola) so this one's gonna keep going...
Don - this has nothing to do w/ self-righteousness. Smugness, sure, but c'mon dude, we've heard enough about the 'hilaristas' and 'obamamessiah' to know the currency. blogs are for smug people.
so we heard for weeks and weeks from GOP leadership/McCain, that experience experience experience was the big issue and then he/they pick someone that everyone agrees has little to no experience. I think it would be outright irresponsible of us not to critically examine if this was a political move to shore up the base w/ Palin as the good-looking pawn. OK, that's fine, all vp picks are demographic pandering to varying degrees, but then we're left with the other side of the coin which is, she really doesn't have any national/foreign policy experience! So even if I do give McCain the benefit of my doubt and say he's hiring her on as special agent muckraker, if something happens to him, she's doing on-the-job-training w/iran/iraq and israel/palestine. (And, yes, I would've liked a top of the dem ticket with more foreign policy experience.)
1 - I am glad you suddenly believe experience matters. I agree it is odd that McCain suddenly thinks it doesn't. But I'd still have someone inexperienced as veep than as prez.
2 - I wish your original comments about Palin had had anything to do with these last comments. These comments have merit. The first ones did not.
3 - Biden and Palin were both cynical political picks. Most vice-presidents are.
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