Over the long weekend, as the John McCain Veepsakes pick seemed to spiral out of control. I was planning on a writing a nice, long post about Sarah Palin and her first few days on the national stage. Full of links and such. But the later the evening got (I was wrapped up in research for my NaNoWriMo project for this year), the less energy I had for the task. After all, I'm not exactly the target demographic for McCain's strategery. So, here's an abbreviated version.
I think Palin is a pretty decent pick by McCain. She allows him to firm up his bona fides with the right-wing religious base of the party (who are suspicious about him in the first place) - she's an extremist "pro-life"r, a creationist, and opposed to gay marriage. He did that without rewarding either of the guys who fought over that terrain in the primary, Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee. And, by picking someone that only the most hard core political people had even heard of, it plays into the whole "maverick" meme. Yeah, her lack of experience completely undermines his attacks on Obama, but those were probably played out, anyway. The only downside I see to Palin's selection is if McCain thought by choosing a woman he would nab some disaffected Hillary voters. Given Palin's record, I don't think that's very likely.
As for the pregnancy stuff of the past couple of days . . . give it a rest. The whole "Palin's infant son is really her daughter's" story was as full of holes as any conspiracy theory and the fact that her teenage daughter really is pregnant now just doesn't matter that much. Conservative moralist religious types not living up to their talking points? Again? Yawn. There's so much more to her record that makes her unsuited to the position that it's best to take the high road and leave the family stuff alone.
And, of course, there's the little fact that she's just the VP nominee. Even with John "Granpa Simpson" McCain at the top of the ticket, it doesn't really matter all that much.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
On Sarah Palin
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5 comments:
JDB, I've been saying the same thing. Her daughter's pregnancy, her son's special care needs and her entire family situation don't have a thing to do with the race. There's plenty to criticize on positions alone and no need to do petty attacks.
I respectfully disagree jdb. McCain's choice shows a total lack of respect for the American people. This is supposed to be someone ready to command a country and Rusty Casto has governed a city bigger than her. Then there's Alaska. 1/5 of Chicago has more people than Alaska does. Do you honestly think this woman has any idea what the average city dweller needs, let alone thinks? I'm sorry, it's a slap in the face and totally a political move to pick a woman who should be ironing Hillary Clinton's shirts.
As far as her personal life, I'm glad Obama is having none of it. Yet the hypocrisy within the fringe conservative base is glaring. These people force abstinence only ed on all of our children, but they don't ever practice it themselves. They are shaping our educational systems, and chipping away at women's rights. I'm sure you've checked out jedi's recent blog post about her, and he's right about liberals are not forcing any kind of moral code on anyone. They actually are, and imagine if McCain picks another Supreme Court Justice! Sometimes we need to call them on their hypocritical bullshit.
Don't get me wrong, Crystal - I think Palin would make a bad VP for lots of reasons. Of course, I think McCain would make a bad president. I assume you agree. That makes us not the target audience for McCain's VP pick! It's hard to think like a GOPer sometimes, but you gotta' do it for analytical purposes.
Of course it's a totally political move! So was Obama picking Biden (who bolstered some of the areas where Obama is perceived as being "weak"). It always is, usually by very bluntly trying to deliver a particular state.
In other words (you always come up with a better way to say it once you start dinner), I agree with you on Palin normatively, but not politically. I think she serves some purposes for McCain, which is the key factor in selecting a Veep. Sadly.
It's obvious she was picked to get the women vote (which won't work) and evangelical vote (which will work) All to try to shore up that base. How foolish of me to think McCain would actually rise above anything else. But would her as VP get enough votes to be significant? Significant enough to explain away a lot of weird anomalies come election day, yes.....
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