Friday, August 29, 2008

Obama & Biden vs. McCain and a woman

First of all, yes, Obama’s speech last night was everything it needed to be. I liked how he named the elephant in the room, so to speak, when he rejected out loud the charge that Democrats cannot run on national security. It’s a spurious charge, but one so oft-repeated by pundits that politicians and the mainstream media and those who parrot their views treat it as if it were the truth, instead of damnable spin.

Obama laid out his platform with specifics, and he took on McCain in exactly those areas where McCain believes he is stronger: temperament, experience, and the war. It was such a strong but still respectful attack that MSNBC commentator Pat Buchanan actually swooned. Buchanan went on so long about what a great speech it was that Keith Olbermann had to finally cut away because, he said, smiling, “we don’t have enough time to let Pat Buchanan finish praising Barack Obama.”

But the high did not last long, readers, because the thing I most feared all along has come true: McCain has picked a woman as a running mate.

It’s got to be one of the most cynical political picks since Clarence Thomas was chosen to replace Thurgood Marshall. Back then, you could imagine the frantic behind-the-scenes scurrying as Republicans scoured the land for the last surviving Uncle Tom with a decent enough resume that they could present him with a straight face. Now, it’s as if the Republicans have decided that the most important qualification their VP pick must have is the ability to add an asterisk to the description of Obama’s campaign as “historic.”

I mean, is this move a tad on the transparent side, or what? The McCain strategy has all the subtlety of the American Pie franchise. They’re all “Oh yeah, well, we got a woman, and you don’t anymore! And p.s., ours is hawt!”

CLEARLY the McCain camp hopes to siphon off women from Obama’s supporters. Why else would a 72-year-old man choose a running mate whose total experience in government is two years as governor, and several stints as city councilwoman and mayor in a town of 6 thousand people? I guess they’re not planning on hitting Obama’s inexperience too hard any more, eh? Because when you put a man McCain’s age (sorry, DadE!) in the Oval Office, you have to look pretty hard at the qualifications of the veep.

According to my Alaskan connections, Palin is well-respected in Alaska because she ran on a pledge to clean up the rampant cronyism and corruption in the state, and has had moderate success. They see her as playing an important role in redirecting the funds for the infamous “bridge to nowhere,” which brought so much negative attention to Alaskan politics.

There is also a scandal involving Palin currently under investigation. It involves a fired commissioner who refused to fire her former brother-in-law who may have been violently stalking her sister. I’m going to reserve judgment on that until more is known.

Shut up. I do reserve judgment sometimes, you know.

What I’m not reserving judgment on, is her militant anti-choice stance. She opposes the most basic right a woman has, which is dominion over her own body. Look, a few people have commented from time to time on my strictly pro-choice views. I’ll take this opportunity to state for the record that personally, I have no idea whether I would decide to have an abortion. What I do know, is I want to be the one who does the deciding.

So, here’s the McCain crux, as I see it:

Do the so-called evangelicals vote more enthusiastically for McCain, because he managed to partner with another staunch supporter of dogma over freedom?

Do blue-collar males vote less enthusiastically for McCain, because his running mate is a relatively inexperienced former beauty queen and sports announcer with a messy personal life that runs over into her politics?

One thing I know for sure, is that any former Hillary supporter who uses Palin as an excuse to vote for McCain is an idiot.

I take that back. A fucking idiot.

Remember Alan Keyes? He runs for president every couple of years. He’s the only black man I know whose score on the “caring about black people” scale is so low it rivals George W’s. What would you think of a black person who voted for Keyes, just because he was black, and they thought it was time to elect a black person?

You would think they’re stupid.

18 comments:

SkylersDad said...

I think this one quote says a lot:

"As the head of Alaska's National Guard and as the mother of a soldier herself," the statement said, "Gov. Palin understands what it takes to lead our nation and she understands the importance of supporting our troops."

It's all about the war...

Dr. Monkey Von Monkerstein said...

Oh come on, you're just jealous he didn't pick you. :)

Larry Jones said...

She isn't going to be as much fun as Romney or Lieberman would've been, but I'll take it, because it will make Karl Rove stamp his little feet in rage.

Jenny Jenny Flannery said...

Thanks for saying this Vikki. When I saw he picked a woman, my heart almost stopped as my loyalty wavered. But then I came to my senses, seeing this as a crafty, political play to capture disgruntled Hillary votes.

Anonymous said...

Christmas just came early this year, baby.

Little Merry Sunshine said...

The way I see it, the misogynistic racists who were gonna vote for McCain are now gonna stay home.

I agree 100% about the abortion issue. My feeling is if you hate abortion so much then don't have one. But stay out of my uterus.

I've also heard that she went back to work 3 days after giving work. Who does that? ESPECIALLY when their child is born severely disabled?

Anonymous said...

I actually think this is a fascinating choice, and rather wonderful, for a number of reasons, chief among them is that it squarely removes the teeth from the McCain camp's most strident criticism -- that Obama is inexperienced.

Number two: the administrative issue. McCain's entire campaign has been run in reaction mode -- no central themes, no ideas, nothing, and now it can truly be sumed up as "Me Too! McCain/Palin '08!". On the other hand, Obama's campaign has been run with sleek ball-bearing precision, predicated entirely on themes that have not only remained constant throughout the 18 months, but have been reinforced with every executive decision made. If campaigns are the first indication of what an administration looks like, McCain's looks more incompetent and vituperative than Bush's, whereas Obama's makes a model of intent and competent governance.

So score two more giant points for Obama.

And, finally, even if it IS a "me too!" moment, the fact that the GOP has put forth a woman is good no matter what. Even Condi, complete asshole that she is, makes history. Now if only she weren't a complete waste -- remember how she was supposed to be an expert, Doctorate level even, on Russia? Gee, nice work Einstein!!

Oh wait, one more "finally" -- Biden can and will SHRED her in debate -- as a matter of equal-rights principle, and that'll be FUN.

Rob

jcat said...

In a rational world he would have just assured himself of second place. Without that luxury their plan gets traction with their base and right leaning independents and crackpot puma types but no big conversion from Democrats. This is his big first executive decision and he blew it big time. He's a maverick has-been and really a gaffe machine who is incorrigible and if he did make this choice his campaign staff must be furious and if he didn't they're stupid. Similar situation to Dole in in 1996.JCat

vikkitikkitavi said...

SkyDad: "as the head of Alaska's National Guard and as the mother of a soldier herself, Gov. Palin understands what it takes to lead our nation" - Wait, was that supposed to be hilarious? Now, which part prepared her to lead the nation, being the mother of a soldier, or being head of the Alaskan National Guard??? With apolgies to both her son and the ANG, either supposition is ridiculous.

Dr.MVM: I'm jealous he didn't pick you in a drag, baby.

Larry: You don't think Karl Rove has his thumbprints all over this? I do.

Flannery: You're a nice person to say "crafty." Never let it be said that Flannery doesn't give people the benefit of the doubt.

Kirby: Hm. I remember a similar optimism in '04.

Spooney: Baby, you know I love you, but please stop saying McCunts. First of all, you're a guy, and it's different when guys say it. Secondly, you're going to steal my cunt mojo.

SJ: I know, if I were a conservative, I wouldn't vote for him, but those dudes have some strong stomachs, apparently.

LMS: Sure, the misogynist racists stay home, but the non-misogynist racists are coming out in droves!!!

Rob: I agree with you on your points, but I'm not so sure the voters will see it that way. The media may fall in love with her and her hunky hubby and her 5 kids one of which one has Down's Syndrome and she didn't abort him although she totally could have. Also, sure, it's great to have any woman on a major party ticket, but it's not so great to have a woman used as a pawn in this fashion. But hey, that's politics, I guess. We'll take what we can get.

JCat: I agree with much of what you're saying. Also, you just invoked Jack Kemp, so you get reader bonus points!

Madam Z said...

My gut feeling after listening to her speech today was that McCain had the election wrapped up. Palin's speech was dynamic! She oozed confidence,intelligence and charm. She's young and beautiful, which is a nice contrast to her old, pudgy running-mate. The audience was WILD over her. I could hear a giant sucking sound, which I feared was coming from disgruntled Hillary supporters rushing to support the "other woman."

But now, after hearing and reading yours and others unenthusiastic commentaries, I feel hopeful that I may be wrong.

Anonymous said...

This has to be a Rove maneuver, no? If so, please let this be the first time something he's orchestrated FAILS. I mean, aside from the Bush presidency...

Spooney - "McCunts!" Nice one.

Johnny Yen said...

I post about it as soon as I heard the news. I think this will backfire in a big way. I think that the women who threatened to vote for McCain because Clinton didn't get the nomination will see that this shows what McCain is really about. History has shown that you can get all kinds of women in politics who actually work against the interests of women. Remember Phyllis Schafly campaigning-- successfully, unfornately-- against the Equal Rights Amendment?

Unknown said...

This is a trick. I know many Republican voters who will eat it up -- because I'm related to them, gulp. Still, doesn't this look really, really risky? At worst, I think this moves forces the Clintons to work harder for Obama, which seems to me an awfully easy pill to swallow, under the circumstances.

I know young Republican women are pretty fucking stupid on average. But if undecided women on the whole take the bait here, I'm sending my son overseas. I can't risk that kind of stupid in any future generation coming from me.

Dad E said...

When you are 72 years old like me, you should be well aware that the younger generation has no concept of what went on 40-50 years ago. Most people below 60 are out of touch with the concept of what being 72 means.

But here's the thing. A lot of voters believe McCain could die in office because he is "old". I doesn't occur to McCain that age is an issue because he still feels strong and has energy. It should have been really, really important for him to choose someone that could actually take over, should something happen to him at least in the minds of the voters.

So why didn't he? The simple answer is that he is narcissistic and lacks good judgment. Neither of these qualities are due to his age as his past record clearly shows.

His choice of VP will go down as another chapter in the vagina monologues. It could be called, "Look Voters a Vagina".

Distributorcap said...

the audacity of this pick is stunning on so many levels.

first --- how little respect for women does the republican oligarchy have --- like they think ALL women, even the goobers in the GOP will just waltz right over because john mcinsane showed he can make his own history and name a vagina.

second - what about the character of sarah palin -- she JUST had a baby that has special needs - and will take an enourmous amount of time and energy to raise and care for. i guess her OIL EXEC husband will just become Mr Mom while Cheerleader Sarah traipses around to funerals and weddings.

any hillary supporter that votes for this piece of garbage ticket gets what they deserve. that PIG darragh murphy was on Hardball praising Sarah up the kazoo. Sarah could have killed a puppy on live tv and Murphy would say " as long as she has a vagina"

mccain should be disqualified as a viable human being due to this horrible choice


ps - this has Karl Rove written all over it

Anonymous said...

Oh goodness - People people people!!
OK - I voted for Hillary. I love her, I do... I loved the '90s, they were prosperous. I had confidence that Hillary would help us get back to that place where there was GRUNGE and LALAPALOOZA and the worst moral calamity was a blow job instead of hundreds of thousands of dead and misplaced people who never asked us to take over their country. Instead of a housing crisis. Instead of the shredding of the Constitution. I had faith in her to bring us back to those care free 90s. I was nostalgic.

Nothing about Sara Palin gives me this feeling.
She pays aerial hunters who fly in helicopters to kill wolves they see running in the Alaskan wilderness, $150.00 for every left forepaw they bring in to wildlife/fish and game. Some of them even kill the baby wolves after they have illegally killed their mothers.

She has already abused the power of her office in "trooper gate." what will she be like in the white house?

She shows her hypocrisy with a 17 year old unwed pregnant daughter by touting the abstinence only line for the corrupt christianized "moral authority" even though it is as outdated as those "Groove is in the Heart" bellbottoms I used to wear in 1994.

McCain has underestimated my intelligence and every other woman who supported Hillary.

I wonder if Palin is ready for a pay cut since McCain voted against the equal pay for equal work legislation?

This is all about oil and war. Nothing more, nothing less.

The comments about Palin not staying home to take care of the kids though in this blog are equally offensive! Today - some men take care of the kids. Get used to it. Don't succumb to Republican Rove tactics that were used against Hillary because of her gender. Or, you will piss off the Hillary supporters.

Obama has my vote. And he most likely will have the PUMAs in the end. Just wait.

Oh - and how about that Republican convention?
Karma's a bitch.

RandyLuvsPaiste said...

Q: What do you call parents who teach abstinence-only sex education to their teens?
A: Grandparents.

Just imagine what would be said if Obama had a 17 year-old daughter that got pregnant.

vikkitikkitavi said...

I agree, Zoe, that we must be very careful to treat Palin as we would want our candidate treated by Republicans. I do not approve of criticizing her looks, her kids, or her choice to work rather than stay home.

Besides, there's so much to legitimately criticize here.