August 30 2008
Oh, McCain.
Instead of talking about my life I would like to discuss Senator McCain. Now, I’ve always liked McCain, I had respect for him and his ideas, well, as much as I could considering that I don’t agree with a majority of republican policies. Even as an Obama supporter, I had respect for him. And when he produced an ad that negatively emphasized Obama’s “celebrity” status, I turned my head, denouncing the game of politics, but not him. However, his recent decision to choose a young female to be on his ticket as Vice President caused me to denounce his game of politics and him as a capable leader.
I understand that McCain has a lot to compete with. He is old, Obama young. He is white and “typical”, and Obama is black and “new”. But was it really an intelligent decision to choose a young woman, apparently younger than Obama, with no federal experience as his Vice President? She is the governor of Alaska and previously the mayor of a city with no more than 9000 people. Does that qualify? Is that adequate experience dealing with the triumphant federal government? I know she is a social conservative, which balances his more liberal approach on some issues. But wouldn’t it have been wiser to choose another social conservative? I sure hope that his choice to chose a woman wasn’t solely because he desired to obtain Clinton supporters. And I hope that the females of America will be smart enough to see through his scheme and not chose him because he picked a woman for Vice President.
Well, that’s my rant. Agree, disagree?
10:35 am on August 31st, 2008
The race is in a virtual tie if looking only at the committed voters of each party. The strategy of both candidates is designed to garner as many of the undecided voters as possible to their camp. Whichever candidate swings the most votes wins the election. The VP pick shows us where each candidate sees an opportunity to gain support and balance their weaknesses.
The choice of Palin by McCain is designed to appeal to a small fraction of the Hillary supporters who for whatever reason will not support Obama but would vote for a woman just because she is a woman. She was also chosen to appeal to conservatives (which McCain isn’t) and those that don’t like Washington insiders.
In the end the VP pick is more about marketing than substance. You will hear a lot from both VP candidates before the election. After the election they will fade into the background. In the end the President runs the show. Voters would be wise to focus on who they want steering the ship and less on who they want as second in command.
Unfortunately politicians will say and do almost anything to get elected. Both sides play the game. They think the end justifies the means. They become chameleons shifting their persona to gain votes with this group then shifting again for that group. You really don’t know what you get until they are elected and their true colors start to show. I also think that it is unfortunate that Americans are so team oriented. We are indoctrinated in childhood to the concept of this team versus that team. Once you pick a team everything else is secondary. The team can do no wrong. My team must win no matter the cost. This is why we don’t know how either candidate will govern if elected. Right now it’s all about winning and nothing more.
PS. Didn’t Clinton have no federal experience when he was elected President?