The Republican 2012 Lineup

By Matt Knipple

            Now that the 2008 Presidential Election is over, it is time for us Republicans to look at who is going to unseat President Obama in 2012 (actually, I think this is very unlikely barring a massive meltdown by the new President).  Republicans have been frantically looking as to who will be our new “savior” and put the Republicans back on the map and give the country some sort of checks and balances since everything is run by the Democrats now (tear).  I have no first hand knowledge of who the Republicans will pick, but here are some candidates that I think will come to mind (whether I agree with them or not).

            The first candidate that I know for a fact has been tossed around in the mix is the one and only, Sarah Palin.  In my opinion, this would be one of the worst choices of all time to run for President.  She clearly already showed that she was probably the worst choice as a choice for Vice President.  She actually, to me, makes George W. Bush seem like he’s on a level of Steven Hawking.  To her credit, she does have an energetic personality and hypes up some people like others cannot.  She also has a pretty solid base that could possibly give her a push in the primaries to be picked (not me). 

Here is a video of the discussion of Sarah Palin throwing in her hat for 2012: 

            The second candidate that I also see as a long shot is Jeb Bush.  Yes, we could have another Bush in office!  He, as Palin, seems to have a base in the right that is very loyal to him and very excited about him.  Here is an older article about the possibility of Jeb running in either 2012 or 2016.  To be honest, I do not know much about the man and how he did as Governor of Florida, but I do not see him winning a Presidential election because of his last name alone.  He could be the second coming of Christ and would not stand a shot because of what W has done. 

            A third, more of a sleeper type candidate, would be the current Governor of Florida, Charlie Crist.  Crist is another guy I do not know a ton about but have heard enough about him to make some sort of impression.  He seems more like a moderate-Conservative, like myself, and could be a good, new, fresh candidate for the Republicans to try to use and get some of the Independent and Democratic vote.  He is not the stereotypical Republican, like Hannity or Limbaugh, but more of a “Maverick” in being more moderate. 

Here is a video for Crist for 2012:

            The most promising candidate for 2012 for the Republicans is Mitt Romney.  People have said the fight for the 2008 Republican nomination is akin to the 1976 fight between Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan.  The aging, older Gerald Ford fended off Ronald Reagan, who became the face of the Republicans during his presidencies, just like the aging, older John McCain fended off Mitt Romney.  Ford went on to lose to Jimmy Carter just like John McCain went on to lose to Barack Obama.  Mitt Romney is rich and can get a lot of money raised just as Obama did and is very intelligent.  He might be guaranteed to be the nominee in 2012 if he so chooses. 

            Here is a final video made by somebody that includes many more people that he thinks can win the presidency for the Republicans in 2012:

            I’m not sure any of these people, like I said earlier, could dethrone Obama unless he completely screws up or for some reason does not run for President in 2012 but I thought I’d just go over some prospective candidates.

Is this the end for McCain?

By: Melissa Keller

November 17, 2008

With the 2008 election leaving its mark in history, it was no surprise that the voters’ reactions would be just as memorable. Whether it was joy or anger that made the tears rush down their faces, this was going to be a historical election no matter what. Although the last few months seemed to have split the nation in half (either being a republican or a democrat) statistics show that overall voters are pleased with the turnout.

As you can see, there is a slight drop in McCain supporters after the election, but the majority seems to be ok with Obama being elected.

So, where do we go from here? I think it’s obvious that the media will take care of our curiosity about the future course of President Elect Berack Obama, but what about John McCain? America still has this wondering thought of what will happen to that familiar person they’ve seen on the never ending TV ads for so many months. Will McCain remain Arizona’s Senator and embrace his defeat by Obama which will inevitably force him to unite with the one person he has despised over the past 21 months?

Senator McCain has been making efforts to cheer up his supporters as well as convincing his own self that this loss wasn’t a big deal. When he appeared on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno shortly after Election Day, he attempted to make small jokes about the election and his reaction to the loss.

…I don’t believe it was very convincing.

Many analysts have computed the factors that may have led to this ultimate loss, and the economy was one that hit the Republican candidate the hardest. According to Patrick Buchanan from Real Clear Politics, he states that McCain never really recovered from his drop in polls after his frantic actions during the unpopular $700 billion bank bailout. He also goes on to say that McCain failed to hold on to Bush’s share of the white working class votes, which showed to be true once the Election Day numbers came about.

Other reporters feel that it was an inevitable loss for the Republican Party. They say that the Democrats raised more money, had more registered voters, and were able to communicate to the public in a much more effective manner. It is obvious that this was not just a historical election because of the first African American President, but because this was the turning point for the American government and the way elections will be ran from here on out.

Although all of these things were major factors in the Republican’s loss, McCain’s last minute attempts to “woe” voters didn’t help either. His appearance on Saturday Night Live on November 1^st made the ever so powerful politician look pathetically desperate during these crucial days of the election.

Even his horrible acting couldn’t save him from his ultimate failure that following Tuesday night.

Reactions from the election were made notice on, what seemed to be, every television channel. David Letterman made some nasty comments of McCain in his show following the election:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/06/david-letterman-mocks-mcc_n_141913.html

But on a more humorous note, the very funny South Park took a twist on the election when they displayed McCain, Obama, Palin, and even Michelle working together to get into the white house simply to steal a valuable necklace that was only worth a small portion of what they actually spent to get there in the first place. Also, it made fun of angry McCain supporters when they began building an Ark to escape from their corrupt nation while their opponents celebrated on the streets with booze in each hand. Unfortunately, the episode has yet to make its way to the public internet; so you’ll just have to see it later.

So the question now is, where will John move next? For now he plans to stay with the US Senate where he will have a much louder voice than ever before. The GOP is glad to have him aboard to help balance the new rise in democratic seats. Does this mean he’ll be the next republican to run in 2012? We’ll just have to wait and see.

“That one”… (you know, the black one)

A Polemical Essay by: That Girl

I’ll say this: I don’t think John McCain is racist. But he sure knows how to hang with the worst of them.

With a Bear Market currently mauling a little china shop known as the Global Financial System and McCain’s less than spectacular performance in demonstrating the urgency of the economic meltdown (outside of suspending his campaign for a few hours while negotiating alternative debate dates -> a stunt that smelled more like a steaming pile of politics than the cool breeze of “Maverick” it was intended to ostentate), it seems the McCain campaign feels it has little choice but to pander to the lowest common denominator of their party by resorting to tar-slinging tactics (read: mud-slinging with a racist adhesive).

The past few days have seen a noticeable shift in political maneuvering from the McCain camp with concerted attempts to not only link Obama with domestic terrorists:

… but allude to foreign terrorist alliances by virtue of his middle name:

… which has been conspicuously added to both Palin’s:

… and McCain’s introductions of late:

Add to this tack a solid Southern Dixiecrat base still smarting over that whole Civil War thing:

Comparative Analysis -> These maps demonstrate correlate divisions between Red/Blue states of the 2004 Election Cycle and the Secessionist/Unionist states of the Civil War. Coincidence?

… and it’s not exactly surprising that hatred toward a black presidential candidate would rear its head so ugly and quick in America…

**********

By now, we’re all more than likely aware of the incendiary campaign rhetoric and subsequent malicious comments produced by angry Republican mob participants over the course of the previous few days…

(Listen for “treason” @ 0:31 seconds):

(… and “kill him” @ 0:13 seconds):

… and McCain’s lukewarm attempt at backpedaling:

“[Senator Obama] is a decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared about as President of the United States,” he said, before adding: “If I didn’t think I would be one heck of a better president I wouldn’t be running.”

… as the McCain camp signaled its refusal to alter its strategy by actually defending these bigots:

“Barack Obama’s assault on our supporters is insulting and unsurprising.

[snip]

“It is clear that [he] just doesn’t understand regular people and the issues they care about. He dismisses hardworking middle class Americans as clinging to guns and religion, while at the same time attacking average Americans at McCain rallies who are angry at Washington, Wall Street and the status quo.” (emphasis mine)

What.

This seeming lack of concern on the part of the Republican campaign for the historically proven consequences of such rhetoric and obtuse approval is nothing short of inexcusable and frankly, boggles the mind.

These supporters aren’t “regular people”. They are the most unhinged elements of our society. They can’t be “angry at… the status quo”. They are the status quo: white, bible thumping social conservatives spoiled on eight long years of flaunting moral superiority like an American badge of entitlement, pointing to “traitors of the war” while requiring the greatest restriction of civil rights since that guy McCarthy invented his own “ism” -> all in the name of waging a righteous Crusade to “democratize” “terrorist” nations.

So, while these particular Republican supporters may also be frustrated by “business as usual” in Washington and on Wall Street, make no mistake: if they’re pissed, at the end of the day, it’s because their brass-balled, hegemonic endorsements are shriveling like so many raisins in the sun.

The problem with the Republican ticket is this: the position of the Presidentcy of the United States, at all times, (but especially times like these) requires a greater moral compass than those currently demonstrated by either the Republican presidential or vice presidential nominees in practicing their “Win at all costs” campaign philosophy. Worse, by activating, harboring, and comforting the most unacceptably radical elements of our society by political means, the Republican Party has effectively condemned all social progress made since the Civil War in advancing Equality, Opportunity and all those other novel concepts given lip service by the GOP when speaking of the Constitution.

Is John McCain racist? I don’t believe so. But he walks a perilous line:

John McCain and Sarah Palin, you are playing with fire, and you know it. You are unleashing the monster of American hatred and prejudice, to the peril of all of us. You are doing this in wartime. You are doing this as our economy collapses. You are doing this in a country with a history of assassinations.

… when [your supporters] scream out “Terrorist” or “Kill him,” history will hold you responsible for all that follows.

The Last Month of Dirt, aka What Will Stick?

By: Jet Peterson

Now that we have reached the last month of the campaign season, the mud-slinging is increased.  The old claims and the old relations are being dug up to create a guilt by association. Barack Obama has been in associations with the domestic terrorist Bill Ayers. John McCain has associations with Keating. Both are old relations with loose validity and both are being used to create an association to the candidate and the bad guy.  John McCain is being associated with financial corruption and the down fall of the financial system currently. Barack Obama is being associated with domestic terrorism and the dangers in the world. These are the last efforts to go to our deepest fears, and that the candidates are the demons that are ruining our fears.  The only thing that we can actually do is be rational and pick out what we really want out of a candidate, not what they’ve done in the past or who they have met with.  This is not a time for fear mongering but for deep discussion on who we want to lead the country for the next 4 years. The following are the videos each campaign has been slinging at each other with hopes that they will stick and scare us into voting the other way.  Its important to evaluate each of them, but not be stuck in the rhetoric 

The Obama campaign put out the following video describing the relation of John McCain with Charles Keating.

Here is CNN’s truth squad giving its fact checking on the video and the overall campaign opinion on it. It found that overall the Obama campaign was truthful in describing McCain’s involvement in the Keating scandal of the 1980’s.

It is fair to note that John McCain was involved only slightly, and was accquited of any illegal activity, and was only repramanded for his poor judgement on pushing that legislation that held back the regulations on the Savings and Loan group. 

Here is the video of the American Issues Committee defining Obama’s relationship with Ayers, and Ayers’ involvement in terrorism.

Here is CNN’s Truth squad giving its evaluation on Obama and his involvement with Ayers or the actions that Ayers took place in. They found that the claims were false.

Fox News presented another count of his involvement with Ayers in the Chicago School group.  It shows more clearly what happened with Obama and Ayers in that group, and how they are related. Here is that video on Fox with Stanley Kurtz.

Its fair to note that the relationship that Ayers and Obama has is mostly political due to the highly left politics in South Chicago.  Left politics in South Chicago is far left, and the machine is focused on Ayers and Wright. 

The last bit of bad past relationships that are being dragged up is the relationships of the Republican Vice Presidential nominee, Sarah Palin. Here is the Special Comment by Keith Olbermann on MSNBC. Keith brings up Sarah Palin’s association with the Alaskan Independence party, and a guest Minister at her Alaskan church known for leading a Witch Hunt in Kenya.

This kind of mud-slinging will only worsen politics for this last month before election day. When these sort of ideas are dug up just to deface the opponent it only hurts us as citizens that will live under this individual for four years. Making it so that we can’t trust out leaders doesn’t do anything to help us when they are elected. In crises trust is needed in our leaders not finger pointing and over developed allegations. So I am hoping that Americans will look past all of the dirt and elect the next president not on the dirt, but on actual beliefs that the person they picked is the person that is best for America.

Don’t Blink, Wink!

In Palin’s interview with Charlie Gibson, she said we must not blink when it comes to foreign affairs and issues of domestic security.

However, it appears that winking is just fine. 

Ok, Sarah. I understand that you have no idea what you are talking about and you are trying to recapture your falling star but do you really need to resort to winking compulsively during a formal debate? Maybe she was trying to play cutesy but she appeared to lose complete control of her facial expressions. Those winks were not natural despite claims that they were just a part of her easy nonverbal communication skills. As New York’s Village Voice said, she has a “Tourette’s like inability to control her winks.”

CNN produced a great video with all the comments made about Palin and her wink which I could only find on The Raw Story http://rawstory.com/news/2008/CNN_Winking_Sarah_Palin

Again, I realize that there is plenty of legitimate issues heavy information out there for the American public to access but I worry that the majority of American voters will laugh and comment on Sarah’s antics instead of diving into these issues. The comparison of her to a cocktail waitress is frighteningly true. She is treating this campaign like a coed eager for tips. We’ve heard all about lipstick and now excessive winking, what’s next a little flash of the thigh?

She dances her way out of and around questions in her vain attempt to connect with the American public through generalizations like “Joe Six Pack and Hockey Moms” and says that she and Todd have always been part of the average middle class family which is simply untrue. To run for office and win you need a name and a lot of money. She didn’t just appear out of thin air to save Alaska and then America. She plays the outsider card more than Gore talked about his lock box but the truth is she may be new on the scene but she is certainly as dangerous as any other “insider.” 

While her support is dwindling, this woman still has a very real chance of holding one of the highest offices in our country, if not in this election than the next. She is not your mom, she is not the PTA volunteer who brought you cookies and lemonade, she’s not even a relatively harmless small town mayor. She is dangerous. I’ll even give her more credit than I originally did. I still think she is dumb but she has learned to play the game, or has found a Rove, a Palin’s Brain if you will. Thomas Friedman of the New York Times said it best in his editorial, Palin’s Kind Of Patriotism.

“How in the world can conservative commentators write with a straight face that this woman should be vice president of the United States? Do these people understand what serious trouble our country is in right now?”

If our commentators and pundits don’t even understand what trouble our country is in or can’t freely express the plight than maybe we deserve Palin. Heck, she can name Joe Six Pack Secretary of the Treasury, since apparently Tom Brokaw isn’t McCain’s pick and bring along every hockey mom and third grade teacher in Wasilla to fill her ridiculous cabinet. If we truly vote a charming everyday person into this Disney movie goes bad reality than we can’t complain. Besides, we’ll be too busy putting on our lipstick and winking to notice as the beauty queen and salmon fisherman take over and change everything. 

And what about Hilary? Is it because Hilary was running for president and somehow we see vice-president as much less important? When Hilary cried she was attacked for being too emotional but when Palin tears up we somehow find her more appealing? The little journalist who called sexist need to reexamine their claims, as John Stewart showed in his clip the Sarah Palin Gender Card. 

We shouldn’t be proud of electing a VPILF. We should look at the issues, look at the candidates, consider how elitism has become a bad word and then decide.

Playin’ the Palin Game

By Heather Ellerbrock

She is like Hurricane Katrina; loud, confident and will come into your house without even blinking an eye. She is Sarah Palin and for the last six weeks, we have all been caught up in Palin Maina. Her “popularity” is so intense that instead of hearing ‘Sarah Who?’ we are making jokes that this is a presidential race between Obama and Palin. Outlets other than mainstream media (see Saturday Night Live) are making her even more intriguing to Joe 6-Pack with their late night skits that although make fun of her, keep her popular. We must ask ourselves, is her superstar status along the likes of a one hit wonder?

When John McCain chose his Vice Presidential running mate, there was an immediate infatuation with Sarah Palin. Who was she? What was her experience? What does she stand for? All of us ran toward the Palin train grabbing with hooks. Within the first two weeks of her introduction, McCain’s choice gave him exactly the thunder he needed. After her convention speech, 60% of Republican voters were more enthusiastic than usual about voting compared to only 42% the week prior and 39% prior to the announcement of Palin. This effect however did not last long.

About a month after her RNC speech, Palin began losing ground with a conservative base that had welcomed her with open arms. Kathleen Parker, a writer for the National Review and a known conservative, reversed her support for Sarah Palin in an article titled “Palin Problem”. “When Palin first emerged as John McCain’s running mate, I confess I was delighted. She was the antithesis and nemesis of the hirsute, Birkenstock-wearing sisterhood…It was fun while it lased. Only Palin can save McCain, her party, and the country she loves. She can bow out for personal reasons…Do it for your country.

Although the infatuation has ended, her “popularity” is by no means gone. Even today, five weeks after Sarah Palin entered our lives her spotlight, although not as bright, is still shinning alongside the economy, the war in Iraq and Bush’s low approval ratings. Only this time, more Americans are concerned rather than excited. As Op-Ed comlunmist Roger Cohen perfectly puts it,  “I wonder, after the lying and the dead of the Bush Administration, in the midst of the wars, in the face of 760,000 lost jobs, is Palin’s offer of a “little bit of reality from Wasilla Main Street” enough?”.

From the moment she clouded Obama’s acceptance speech to present day when, in the midst of an economic crisis, you can still turn on the TV or open the newspaper and there will be an article about her, it is clear that her spotlight has not gone anywhere. It has always been argued that even bad press is good press. As Frazier Moore with Associated Press states, “You’d hardly know the Democrats have even chosen a presidential candidate, judging from late-night comedy monologues. It was Republican John McCain and…his vice presidential running mate, Sarah Palin, who claimed most of the jokesters’ attention.” Who’s the celebrity now?

The gloves are off……

 

 

Jean Gadberry

The fact that the McCain/Palin camp have decided to launch a huge negative campaign against Barack Obama’s character rather than the issues makes me wonder if the new polls have the Republican camp running scared.  In this clip, Sara Palin addresses Obama’s relationship with “domestic terrorists” in a speech she delivered in Carson, California on Oct 04.

 

  Additionally, here is the ad being run by the American Issues Project, which is not a part of the McCain campaign.  Regardless of who is running the ad, Palin is using this sort of tool and propaganda in her speeches.  

 

  It is understandable why the McCain group is worried, according to the latest electoral maps it appears that Obama is sitting with a lead. The Michigan race appears over for McCain, and this is something that probably contributes to a huge stress for the McCain campaign.  Here is a look at the issues facing McCain with data from MSNBC:

The reality of the situation is that the American public is watching, and last week’s Presidential  debate (Sept. 26^th) did very little to bump up McCain or cause a huge dip for Obama, as this graph shows-

 

The pressure is mounting, the economy needs rebuilding, and the race must go on.  The major element that the McCain camp is pushing for are the undecided women vote, and this is why Palin is out and about in full stride.  There is a visible push when watching Palin speak that she is trying her hardest to push the down home, mother, soccer mom/hockey mom feeling, which for many undecided  voters may appear to be a breath of fresh air, but for others it can give the feeling of friendship and likeability, but lacks in confidence the ability to run a country if need be. It is no secret that many feared that Palin was going to fall on her face during the debate on Thursday but she did not.  

It will be interesting to watch the next weeks unfold, especially with the full negative campaign assault that is coming towards the Obama/Biden ticket.  For the most part, the Obama campaign has not hit below the belt, but Palin is very close with her recent statements regarding Obama and his relationship with “domestic terrorists”.  

You can put lipstick on John McCain but…

An Appeal to Patience by: That Girl

I tell you, after watching and (at times) participating in the What-The-Eff-Are-We-Gonna-Do-Now freak-out session that defined the liberal base for the last two weeks, I’m completely exhausted. Lipstick on mammals and bridges to nowhere aside, the Palin pick had me and the whole world thinking, “Huh?” and wondering just what the hell John McCain was up to when he decided to undermine his own campaign platform of Experience vs. Celebrity by choosing an inexperienced candidate-turned-overnight-celebrity in the face of the most intense media scrutiny since a blue dress and a cigar walked into the Oval Office about a decade ago.

Seriously, just six years ago the excessive beating of war drums and outrageous claims of mushroom clouds in our backyards elicited not scrutiny, but cheerleading from media outlets eager to scoop and flattered by executive privilege. Just ask Judith Miller. If information institutions had been as diligent or thorough in verifying certain intelligence ‘facts’ about an ongoing war as they were about certain stains and the meaning of “is”, I doubt we’d be hemorrhaging two billion dollars a week in the one sandbox the terrorists turned out not to be or watching the financial markets spiral out of control. But that’s not the point…

I couldn’t’ve said it better myself.

The point is this: Now that Lehman’s has tanked and Merril’s been liquidated all within a week of the government’s takeover of Fannie and Freddie along with a growing belief that Bush policies played an integral role in the current decline in the markets:

The spending on Iraq was a hidden cause of the current credit crunch because the US central bank responded to the massive financial drain of the war by flooding the American economy with cheap credit.

“The regulators were looking the other way and money was being lent to anybody this side of a life-support system,” he said.

That led to a housing bubble and a consumption boom, and the fallout was plunging the US economy into recession and saddling the next US president with the biggest budget deficit in history, he said.

… as well as the roles former lobbyists play on the campaign trail for a candidate who’s supposedly committed to closing “revolving doors” to “special interests” in Washington:

… when McCain huddled with his closest advisers at his rustic Arizona cabin last weekend to map out his presidential campaign, virtually every one was part of the Washington lobbying culture he has long decried. His campaign manager, Rick Davis, co-founded a lobbying firm whose clients have included Verizon and SBC Telecommunications. His chief political adviser, Charles R. Black Jr., is chairman of one of Washington’s lobbying powerhouses, BKSH and Associates, which has represented AT&T, Alcoa, JPMorgan and U.S. Airways.

… combined with an 89% average consistency in voting with Mr. Bush since the president took office in 2001 and it seems pretty clear just how the Obama campaign will proceed:

Saying that McCain had put some lobbyists in key roles of his campaign, Obama said, “If you think those lobbyists are working day and night for John McCain just to put themselves out of business, well I’ve got a bridge to sell you up in Alaska.”

Ain’t no lipstick in the world gonna make John McCain look any less like George Bush now.

So, Everybody Calm Down:

Obama has shown as well as anyone that he is a rough-and-tumble politician who doesn’t shy from a fight. But his campaign has made central his commitment to changing the way we do politics. That doesn’t mean he’s a wimp, but it does mean he can’t buy into the Bush-Rove politics that McCain now espouses.

Playing to win: two weeks later

By Diego Del Campo

With the stakes high, and polls showing Barack Obama and John McCain in a dead heat, it was expected that each would make a “safe” VP choice, one that wouldn’t attract too much attention and wouldn’t detract too much from each campaign’s carefully crafted message. Barack Obama delivered, John McCain didn’t.

Whatever Obama campaign manager David Plouffe may have promised supporters, those who found out via text message were probably the last ones to find out who would be Obama’s VP nominee, as word leaked early in the evening (unofficially, earlier that week) that it would be Joe Biden. McCain played it wiser, sending mixed signals, and using Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty as smokescreens to keep his VP choice secret until the big reveal. And it paid off.

At first, those McCain ads featuring Hillary Clinton prominently after the Biden announcement didn’t make sense, but now it’s obvious that the McCain camp was priming the pump for his VP pick—all the while more surprising that McCain’s VP pick was shocking to most. While I don’t expect any self-respecting Democrat will vote for McCain solely because of Sarah Palin, McCain certainly made it rain on Obama’s parade by throwing the Obama camp off message—hitting Palin unusually hard for her lack of, get this, experience.
The media, of course, has been spinning it the other way—that McCain has undercut his own message of experience by tapping a newbie governor from a small state—while not mentioning how odd it is of the Obama camp (the “high road” camp) to demand a more lengthy resume from a candidate, one that has at least some governing experience, no less; and to resort to cheap, coded language to attack McCain while attacking Palin: a “heartbeat” away from the presidency?

At Invesco, it was clear that Obama sought to expand the Democratic “base”; before he spoke, a woman spoke about how the economic downturn had turned her life into a “nightmare,” and at the end of her speech, she pointedly remarked for whom she had voted for president her entire life: “Nixon, Reagan, Bush, Bush,” the woman said. Clearly, Obama was making a play to peel off Republican-leaning women away from McCain, something that may have helped him win states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. But now, the Palin pick has thrown a wrench into that, and the Obama camp may wind up using Hillary more than they would have wanted to, deploying her to states like Ohio and Pennsylvania to diminish any gains Palin may make with moderate/conservative women that voted for Hillary. (Or maybe not.)

The Palin pick has energized the right-wing base that had deserted McCain since the primaries; the GOP headed toward their Convention a more unified party than even the Democrats, and by the time both Conventions were over, the dynamics of the race changed with John McCain staying on the offensive ever since. (And I do mean offensive.)

Latest polls reportedly have independents and White women breaking for McCain—Obama had an 8-point lead with White women just before the DNC. The Democrats certainly aren’t in the position they imagined themselves to be in when Obama clinched the nomination—and the race has tightened even further, with McCain making significant inroads—they’re frustrated and going off message.
Now, more than two weeks into the general election homestretch, Obama needs to heed Karl Rove’s advice (!) and take the heat off Palin, which might reinvigorate lukewarm supporters like me about his chances of winning in November.

Which means not thinking coulda, shoulda, woulda:

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Fold your hand…by Caitlin Mock

I hope I am not alone in feeling like the current slew of campaign ads from both camps both consistently accuse their opponent of providing “more of the same” without actually saying what the same is or how they are different, although they always claim to offer up huge buffets of change.

These ads and this election is turning into more of the same. This election has the opportunity to be the most historical and electrifying that many of us may ever live to see so I don’t understand why the candidates and their camps are getting downright boring. It scares me that the sound bites from last week mostly focused on lipstick. On a pig or on a pitbull or on a hockey mom, I think there are more important issues than lipstick. I am honestly surprised I haven’t seen Palin Plum mass produced by Revlon and thrown into supermarkets yet…

For example, does it concern anyone else that you have to dig into candidates websites and political journals to find legitimate positions on issues? Stop playing the change card and the Maverick card and tell us what you are going to do, where you really stand. It’s easy to assume that because McCain is a Republican and Obama is a Democrat that they have clear cut positions on the most pressing and contentious issues today but I am becoming cynical to the point where assumptions might be costly, and I don’t think I am alone. 

I need to know if McCain was really serious about staying in Iraq 100 years. I need to know exactly where both candidates stand on abortion and birth control. I don’t really believe Obama wants to begin sex education in Kindergarten and I am so sick of exaggerated falsities. In this era of sound bite news, the candidates must be constantly editing their internal monologues and thinking before they speak. I can’t imagine the pressure that comes from knowing that everything that is uttered off the cuff will be recorded, repeated and sent to the other team. It’s like taping the rivals football practices and it is honestly beginning to seem as trivial as small town high school sports. Competition is necessary and desirable. After all, this is a presidential election in a time of war and economic disaster. But can’t we all just agree to play by the rules? I really wish both teams would fold their respective hands and shuffle the deck. Leave the attacking to the special interest groups. Don’t worry McCain Camp, Obama may not discuss his three purple hearts every time he opens his mouth but I am sure there are some Swiftboaters out there waiting to launch. And Obamaland, stop saying more of the same unless you tell us what more of the same really is and stop saying how much you love change unless you tell us what and how you will change. 

In fact, Obama’s love of change has led him to be the tail end of many jokes. In this elections JibJab, Obama is shown riding on a pink unicorn singing about “the change we must change to the change we hold dear, I really like change have I made myself clear!” This is not portraying him as a very serious candidate. And in addition to sound bites, new journalism, like this blog and all the other voices and posts and videos out there in the online world can really effect a candidate positively or negatively. 

In conclusion, both teams need to step up their games and come to bat ready to play. I’m not advocating softball but maybe leave the attacks and metaphors alone for awhile and really tell the American public what you are about. And please leave the cosmetics out of it because lipstick smears and fades away and then we will see the naked truth in this election.