Seeing how my proposed schedule has not taken flight this week, and I still haven't figured out how to transfer my poetic formatting to this text editor, I'll call an audible tonight. Hell, the World Series is playing 3 1/2 innings tonight. What a better time to do something unexpected? Tonight, I'll finally grant Travis's request and delve into politics.
If noted of late a huge discrepency among the candidates. No, it's not a fundamental difference in their economic plans. And, no, it's not a core difference in their campaign platforms. It's not even a minute discrepency buried deep among their posted beliefs. As a matter of fact, the difference isn't directly tied to either campaign's message. And yet, it may be a driving force that could lead to an Obama victory, especially among the so-called swing voters.
This difference lies in the image projected by each candidate. Think of Obama the candidate. You can probably see him in your mind's eye. Kind of lanky; cool expression on his face; maybe talking with his hands; maybe sitting with relaxed posture, hands folded across a knee.
Now, think of McCain the candidate. You picture what? What has the McCain campaign left in your mind's eye? It would be nice to think of a war veteran standing with that crisp military posture, eyes to the future, comforting America while promising to lead them to the other side. More likely though, you see the scowl. Or, even more likely, you see Sarah Palin. Or, the worst case scenerio for the Republicans, sight of McCain simply makes you think of Obama. the worst part is, the campaign has allowed this to happen, encouraged it even. Who would you rather vote for, a man who is the face of his party, or the man who isn't even the face of his own ticket?
At this point, the Republican ticket has become just that, a Republican ticket. It's not McCain's ticket, which I admit is kind of disappointing to someone who was looking forward to having two strong, honorable cnadidates vie for the nation's highest office. With the GOP in control, voters seem to be left with two choices, vote for Barack Obama or vote against Barack Obama. Either way, where do McCain's beliefs come in?
This lack, I beleive, is in no small part responsible for the waning popularity of McCain the Candidate during the summer months. Opting for the short term shot in the arm, GOP officials (I would be pressed to say it was really McCain's call) decided that Sarah Palin should be McCain's running mate. While this did wonders to calm the conservative base of the Republican Party (though one has to wonder, who the hell else were they going to vote for anyway?), the novelty soon wore off and we were left with the GOP version of Good Conservative, Bad Conservative.
If the act wasn't so predictable, it might have even been effective. The Bulldog goes on the attack, while Papa McCain calls the troops off and convinces the country that we all just need to get along...just not under the watch of Barack Obama. While it gave McCain a chance to play the bi-partisan, peacemaking, progressive role he won the candicy on, it did had a side effect that wasn't so favorable: it made Sarah Palin a bigger star than he was.
The Republicans can say what they want, being a celebrity in America is not a bad thing (remember those ads?), especially when it comes to the presidency. Grant and Esienhower didn't win the presidency merely on account of their platforms. They were war heroes! Washington? Same thing. Many presidents were governors or mayors in very prolific places before becoming president. And let's not forget St. Ronald Reagan, rest his soul.
But Palin is now the face of the party. Even watching a Republican event, when you're not thinking of Palin, you're probably thinking of Obama (face it, even if you're thinking of him with devil horns, a hammer and sickle, or a turbin and WMD, you're still thinking of him). Likely, McCain is the THIRD person that comes to mind, if at all. Is this how we want to think of the leader of the free world? Especially considering the puppet-presidency that came before him?
Admittedly, this isn't totally McCain's fault. The GOP has much more to gain by setting up Sarah Palin as the face of the party. Sarah is the future. John is the past.
To be completely accurate, John has never been the face of the Republican Party, and they'd probably be happy if it stays that way. Maybe it's the conspiracy theorist in me, but it seems to me that this works out perfectly for the Republican Party. As I was saying just the other day, the Republican probably stand a better shot at winning the presidency in 2012 if they don't win this year. Wouldn't it be convenient to blame all fallout from our current situation on the sitting president (instead of sorting it all out correctly)? And any mistakes made in that process...magnified beyond all recognition.
In all, it seems John McCain never had an euqal shot in this election. To keep his party happy, he had to let them call the shots. By letting them call the shots, he had to sacrifice his present for the party's future. Doesn't sound very maverick-like to me.
So, next Tuesday, when you step into the voting booth, remember the important decision you have to make. Search your heart, your mind, and maybe your faith. Either vote Barack Obama, or vote...um...that other guy. You know: white hair, hockey mom. No wait, that's not right. Scary guy with the bad heart. Damn, that's not him either. Well, I'm pretty sure his name is Joe...and he does something that has to do with pipes.
baby einstein walker
2 years ago
2 comments:
Why no World Series post?? My old town is burning down!
Fires on Broad Street
Why am I not surprised?
Senator McCain's campaign has fallen prey to a few issues, and there was nothing he could do about two of them.
Firstly, John McCain's "maverick record" only really matters when he's setting himself apart from other Republicans. In a contest against a Democrat, oddly, saying he's got a track record of cooperating with his opponent's party actually hurts him. Why would the public need a Republican to cooperate with the Democrats, when they could just elect a Democrat?
The mistake was continuing to market him as a "maverick" instead of a "cooperator." That may have helped. I don't know to what extent, but it's the best he could re-package his greatest hits and still sell the album.
The second problem is that the economy collapse is seen as rich white men panicking over the consequences of boneheaded other rich white men's actions. When you look at John McCain, it's hard not to see a rich white man. I know a lot of pundits think being a Republican is what hurts him the most on this issue, but I think it's more superficial than that. And he's not just a rich white man. Dude can't even count how many houses he has, and he's pasty white, to boot. Not his fault, but he's paying the price for it politically.
McCain's other problem--and I don't dare fathom who gets the blame for this--is that he came off poorly in the debates. It seemed, especially in the first debate, that speech writers had worked hard to come up with zingers for him to remember and they were all stale because they weren't natural. Each time he spat one out, it was not only awkward to hear, but he looked like a stand-up comic bombing on stage, desperate for anyone to indicate he found the statement humorous.
McCain was never going to out-entertain Obama in this election, and he should never have tried. I recall a spat between the two of them a couple of years ago that played out in the press, and McCain absolutely schooled Obama. Obama sharpened his edge, certainly, but somewhere along the line McCain abandoned *his* greatest strength: Identifying corruption and unfairness, and calling it out. This economic situation should have been a godsend for a candidate with his track record, and instead he botched it because he was trying to keep the GOP money-grubbing faction from abandoning him.
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