Did McCain Just Win the Election?
Barack Obama’s many amazing talents might or might not qualify him to be a good President. John McCain, in order to win, must point out that Sen. Obama lacks experience and substance. He might have just done that, by introducing Gov. Sarah Palin into the mix.
Gov. Palin's experience (for the number 2 spot) easily matches that of Sen. Obama (the top of the ticket). If you dispute that, I’d suggest that you might be missing how much a Governor oversees and how little an individual Senator actually oversees. And, come to think of it, though the Lefties, (for the good of the nation, mind you), are deeply worried that Gov. Palin’s experience is problematic, they didn’t fretted much about that issue when first-term Virginia Governor Tim Kaine was being considered for the Democratic ticket. Could it be that Gov. Kaine simply is doing a more manly job of governing? My bad. Poor choice of words.
And, the difference in substance between Gov. Palin and Sen. Obama could not be greater. During Gov. Palin’s time in office, she has rocked the establishment. By contrast, Obama has rocked the vote. End of story. Nothing else. Disagree? Other than getting the nomination, please name Sen. Obama’s accomplishments. Other than getting the nomination, the man who would be President has never moved the needle. Not a smidge. He’s talked about it a lot. But, unless I missed it somewhere, he’s never actually done it.
Adding Gov. Palin to the ticket is a game changer. And, it seems that the Obama camp knows it. Their reaction to Gov. Palin: “Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency.” Well, until recently, wasn’t the “community organizer,” um, organizing the community, or whatever it would be called? Again, Gov. Palin’s experience is equal, if not superior. Governors have done just fine, in making the step over to the federal system. What the Obama campaign really meant to say with the “town of 9,000” slight is that Gov. Palin’s common-man (though extraordinary) background is less worthy than the Harvard-to-Congress pathway; people outside the elitist circle are lesser human beings. Run with that vision, Senator! Voters eat that stuff up like pâté.
Compared to Sen. Joe “Gaffe-o-matic” Biden, I’m sure Gov. Palin will be very good. But, in her own right, I expect that she will be extraordinary. In a race that seemed to be offering nothing more than the same-old insider rhetoric and perspective, Gov. Palin should add significant energy to the debate. In a nation looking for real change – meaning something other than simply bouncing back to that other bad and predictable relationship – the winning ticket just might be the renegade old man and the hockey-mom-who-could.
UPDATE: It would be grossly false, of course, to say that opposition to Gov. Palin necessarily is sexism. Of course. Of course. Just like opposition to Sen. Obama is not necessarily racism. However, lots of opposition to Gov. Palin coming from the Left clearly is sexist. She took on the establishment, to become Governor. Of course, her responsibilities mirror those of the other 49 governors. As Governor, when others would still be "getting their feet under them," she again took on the establishment. And she beat it again.
Yet, the enlightened Left seems to think that she won a regional bake off, unlike several other first-term government figures involved in this cycle, such as Obama, Edwards, Kaine (speculatively, at least), and Romney (admit it), who carry the gravitas of office. With the mood of the country, Democrats have to work hard to lose this election. Right now, they're working their tails off.
UPDATE 2: Wow! Paul Begala just noted how poised Gov. Palin was during her presentation today. He noted that it was clearly the result of her beauty pageant training. Unenlightened Republican that I am, I might have thought her Governor gig had something to do with it.
Gov. Palin's experience (for the number 2 spot) easily matches that of Sen. Obama (the top of the ticket). If you dispute that, I’d suggest that you might be missing how much a Governor oversees and how little an individual Senator actually oversees. And, come to think of it, though the Lefties, (for the good of the nation, mind you), are deeply worried that Gov. Palin’s experience is problematic, they didn’t fretted much about that issue when first-term Virginia Governor Tim Kaine was being considered for the Democratic ticket. Could it be that Gov. Kaine simply is doing a more manly job of governing? My bad. Poor choice of words.
And, the difference in substance between Gov. Palin and Sen. Obama could not be greater. During Gov. Palin’s time in office, she has rocked the establishment. By contrast, Obama has rocked the vote. End of story. Nothing else. Disagree? Other than getting the nomination, please name Sen. Obama’s accomplishments. Other than getting the nomination, the man who would be President has never moved the needle. Not a smidge. He’s talked about it a lot. But, unless I missed it somewhere, he’s never actually done it.
Adding Gov. Palin to the ticket is a game changer. And, it seems that the Obama camp knows it. Their reaction to Gov. Palin: “Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency.” Well, until recently, wasn’t the “community organizer,” um, organizing the community, or whatever it would be called? Again, Gov. Palin’s experience is equal, if not superior. Governors have done just fine, in making the step over to the federal system. What the Obama campaign really meant to say with the “town of 9,000” slight is that Gov. Palin’s common-man (though extraordinary) background is less worthy than the Harvard-to-Congress pathway; people outside the elitist circle are lesser human beings. Run with that vision, Senator! Voters eat that stuff up like pâté.
Compared to Sen. Joe “Gaffe-o-matic” Biden, I’m sure Gov. Palin will be very good. But, in her own right, I expect that she will be extraordinary. In a race that seemed to be offering nothing more than the same-old insider rhetoric and perspective, Gov. Palin should add significant energy to the debate. In a nation looking for real change – meaning something other than simply bouncing back to that other bad and predictable relationship – the winning ticket just might be the renegade old man and the hockey-mom-who-could.
UPDATE: It would be grossly false, of course, to say that opposition to Gov. Palin necessarily is sexism. Of course. Of course. Just like opposition to Sen. Obama is not necessarily racism. However, lots of opposition to Gov. Palin coming from the Left clearly is sexist. She took on the establishment, to become Governor. Of course, her responsibilities mirror those of the other 49 governors. As Governor, when others would still be "getting their feet under them," she again took on the establishment. And she beat it again.
Yet, the enlightened Left seems to think that she won a regional bake off, unlike several other first-term government figures involved in this cycle, such as Obama, Edwards, Kaine (speculatively, at least), and Romney (admit it), who carry the gravitas of office. With the mood of the country, Democrats have to work hard to lose this election. Right now, they're working their tails off.
UPDATE 2: Wow! Paul Begala just noted how poised Gov. Palin was during her presentation today. He noted that it was clearly the result of her beauty pageant training. Unenlightened Republican that I am, I might have thought her Governor gig had something to do with it.
posted by steve u. at 8/29/2008
Subscribe
22 Comments:
I love the pick.
And I love Obama's "not enough experience" response. Uh...
I am not sure who is going to change their vote over this pick. It seems to be fun and interesting to talk about, but really, how many more people are really going to vote for McCain now that were not yesterday? My guess is not very many.
The fact remains that although I disagree with 95% of what comes out of Obama's mouth, if the war continues for as long as McCain wants it too, no other policies will matter.
Obama may not move the needle, but I think I would rather vote for someone who promises to end the war but can't do it, than someone who promises not to an keeps that promise.
Yawn, I didn't think the pick would make a difference one way or the other. Hillary's pumas are not going to gravitate to this right-wing ideologue who lacks a y chromosome.
She is an unknown. But that being said, if she does well in the race, it may certainly change things. It all depends on her own abilities, not the prognostications of us mere bloggers with our own prejudices.
I disagree. Being a community organizer is much more difficult than being a governor responsible for a multi-billion dollar budget and thousands of employees.
The,
Unless, of course, a Governor governs in a manly way.
Obi wan,
I doubt you meant anything by it, but you might not want to make jokes about Palin missing a chromosome when her infant is disabled from having an extra chromosome.
Looks to me like McCain and the GOP just threw in the towel.
Ridiculous Steve.
She was governor (and not that great of one, if one takes a quick look at some of the choice she's made in that very short 1 and 1/2 years as governor of a town of 6,000 - search Palin with "stadium" and "police chief" and "city budget" to begin with) for LESS TIME than McCain has been running for President.
As I've already written, there are many women within Republican ranks to fill this spot effectively, and reasonably. Palin is a joke.
I'm not unhappy with his pick in any way (although Romney would've been much more fun for bloggers), but Republicans should be furious.
Stick a fork in 'em...
Her husband is an administrator with BP... and she opposes offshore drilling (in favor of ANWR drilling)...she's going to have to flip-flop to align with McCain on many issues which his campaign really doesn't need more attention for (I'm not saying I agree McCain flip-flops, I'm just saying that most do, and the media is perpetuating the idea).
From a purely strategic point of view, this was simply a stupid choice. I hate to admit it, and it rarely happens, but I agree with JasonThe. McCain has made a mockery of this race and this election. We should be furious. In fact, I am.
Ask Biden about Obama's experience level for president.
Ask Edwards for Obama's performance in the state legislature.
Every single "joke" complaint made about Palin for vice president only brings Obama's own failings further into the spotlight. That's just one of the reasons why this pick was brilliant.
Keep it up.
After suffering through years of Utah's GOP, it feels good again to be a Republican. Palin will do a great job in D.C. and so will McCain.
To the naysayers: don't be mitter.
"the winning ticket just might be the renegade old man and the hockey-mom-who-could"
Good luck with that.
Thanks for the good commentary. I think Gov. Palin will be very good. In the campaign and in their debate, she's practically guaranteed to outperform Sen. Biden. (Granted, that's a pretty low hurdle).
But, regarding the campaign, I think one of the main things that will happen is that she will bring out the ugly sexism of the liberals. I don't think they'll even realize how offensive they are to millions of women who happen to agree with the choices Gov. Palin has made and don't think they need to fit into the cookie cutter molds that NOW mandates.
As far as I can tell, and I could be wrong, but those who have commented are all men.
Do you want to know who this choice will affect? Ask the smart women in your life.
Steve,
Does this mean you've overcome the hostility you showed toward McCain when Mitt Romney was still in the race?
8:56 a.m. Anon.,
I don't think it was hostility I showed. I believed (and still believe) that McCain, like Huckabee, took some very bigoted actions toward my religion. I still think it's wrong, and I still think that Huntsman and Shurtleff shouldn't have let it stand unchallenged.
I have been turning more toward McCain as I increasingly believe that Sen. Obama is vacuous. With Palin, I'm all in.
I like that she has risen completely on her own. She has taken on the good old boys -- and won. People who want to discount what that takes don't have a clue. And, she is a western governor, with an understanding of western issues. I think the rural west would suffer w/ Sen. Obama. I don't think he understands it or cares about it (not at all uncommon for most players at the federal level); like Pres. Clinton did, he'd likely turn the keys over to rabid special interest groups solely for political gain.
Paul Begala is an unrepentant, yet latent, sexist.
On Friday, latent wen to patent.
Steve, I'm afraid you might have vetted this choice about as thoroughly as McCain did. I'll be interested to see if she is still on the ticket in November.
Obi Wan,
I'm with the liberals on this one. A few more days of people saying mean things about her, and she'll probably start crying and quit. She is a woman, after all. I mean, what has she ever done that showed pluck and strength, other than kick butt on Murkowski, the D's dreaded "BIG OIL," and the establishment. Ya, she'll probably throw in the towel.
It is really fun to watch fear and despair diguise itself as political knowledge and insight. Example: when Bitten, I mean Biden, was selected, there was only a slight reaction from the right. My belief is the right saw him as a choice that would help McCain get elected So, why complain, it would be foolish.
On the other side, Palins selection has turned the left into viscious, slobbering, and seething animals, almost embarrisingly so. Why, because it was exactly the choice that shifted the momemtum to the right. Now, the left is scared, threatened, and left with "B.O. and the grouch".
The Republicans now have the winning ticket, the first woman VP, and a truly historic victory for all Women. Sadly for the Dems, this loss stings and quite characteristically, they respond with the limited fodder they know, fear and hate.
Sad, angry, and defeated is no way to go through life.
great video
Post a Comment
<< Home