The assassination attempt on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords deserves comment. At this hour six are dead and fourteen reported wounded, including Giffords. The killed include a federal judge and a nine-year-old girl. This kind of event was bound to happen, given the hate, vitriol and violent images spewed by right wing sources. It will likely happen again.
Conservative and Republican figures are currently saying all the right things. John Boehner, Sarah Palin and Tea Party spokespeople are decrying the act for the horrific crime it was. And yes, the shooter has given evidence of an unbalanced mental state. In this morning's news, alleged shooter Jared Loughner is reported to have put up a paranoiac web site replete with anti government rantings, is characterized by acquaintances as a "pot-smoking loner," is reported to have had five police encounters at community college due to disruptive behavior, and the Army reports having rejected him for enlistment due to "unspecified reasons" protected by privacy rules.
These are certainly all marks of a troubled young man-the kind of young man susceptible to campaign advertising by right wing Arizona politicians such as Giffords' last opponent talking about sweeping her out of office at fundraisers while he blasted away with an M-16 rifle. Several other Republican office seekers ran similar ads in their races. On a national level, extremist and alarmist comparisons of Democrats and health care advocates like Giffords to Communists, Nazis and totalitarians (her Tuscon office's glass door was shot out after her vote on the bill last year), Sarah Palin's breathless talk of "death panels," snarking about "reloading" against political rivals and putting sniper scope targets on a map of opposition congressional districts are calculated to do just what, exactly?
The disavowals are transparently threadbare. Giffords' opponent's former campaign manager used the old politician's dodge of changing the question. "I don't see the connection. We cannot find any records that he was associated with the campaign. " Speaking of Palin's sniper scope web page, Giffords at the time said, "For example, we're on Sarah Palin's targeted list, but the thing is, that the way she has it depicted has the crosshairs of a gun sight over our district. When people do that, they have to realize that there are consequences to that action."
One of Palin's promotions went like this:
6/12/10, 10:00 AM
Get on target for victory in November
Help remove Gabrielle Giffords from office
Shoot a fully automatic M 16 with Jesse Kelly
Kelly's campaign manager said yesterday, "He was just a deranged individual," as though society cannot and does not influence people's behavior. Conservatives as a rule do not believe that themselves. Otherwise why are they so concerned with rewriting school texts and censoring movies and television programming?
Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, answering reporters' questions at the murder site, had this to say. "You see it when you look at unbalanced people, how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths about tearing down the government. The anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous, and unfortunately Arizona has become the capital. We have become the mecca for prejudice and bigotry."
We will likely be told that no one will be able to prove a link between incitements like Palin's and Kelly's to what happened in Tucson yesterday. But we need to put a stop to their kind of hate speech right now. They are accessories, in my view.
Showing posts with label Sarah Palin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sarah Palin. Show all posts
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Sad Appeal to "Little Guy"
This morning's paper carried an Associated Press article titled "Palin Says 'little guy' Key in Vote." "Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin said Friday that the country needs to elect business-minded candidates who will not sell out their principles for the sake of bipartisanship." Oh. And the "regular" Republicans these past two years have been models of the infection of bipartisanship?
She went on, "This election is about the little guy, the common man, independence, and the middle class--those forgotten and ignored for too long, and now they're fighting back." The Tea Party of late and Big Conservatism in general for the past 40 years have done one of the best jobs of ironically effective misdirection of angst in modern times. Notice how she knits together a list of identifiers that describe the majority of society and links it to disaffection and defensive umbrage--yes, she's talking about me, and look how abused we are--and then continues with, "We want those business-oriented folks in Washington not to be there singing 'Kumbaya' with the people who caused the problems in the first place."
And what problems are those, that affect the little guy of the middle class so strongly? First would be the Wall Street meltdown and foreclosure crisis, caused by the reckless unregulated practices of big business. Next would be the jobs crisis, caused by big business outsourcing all those middle class jobs overseas. Third might be an opportunity crisis, characterized by such things as the college cost crunch, public school deterioration and infrastructure decline, fueled by the success of big business and the wealthy at getting their tax burdens reduced so that more and more has to be borne by "little guys" who cannot afford it. Now in the wake of the Citizens United court ruling, $50 million in secret contributions from big business is pouring into the election campaign on behalf of the Republican cause. No doubt we are expected to believe their largess is donated not to further GOP support for corporate interests but due to the multinationals' concern for the 'little guy.'
Disaffection in the white working and lower middle class is real and understandable. Their standard of living has been getting inexorably squeezed for the past thirty years. The Koch brothers, Coors family, Rupert Murdoch and a handful of like-minded rightist billionaires have been working assiduously for at least that long to misdirect the chain of causation for that away from themselves for even longer. All the poor, aggrieved little guy has to do is turn ever more authority over to the tycoons who have rigged the system against him and require less and less of a societal contribution from those who have been driving him to desperation and all will be well. It would be laughable if it weren't so tragically sad.
She went on, "This election is about the little guy, the common man, independence, and the middle class--those forgotten and ignored for too long, and now they're fighting back." The Tea Party of late and Big Conservatism in general for the past 40 years have done one of the best jobs of ironically effective misdirection of angst in modern times. Notice how she knits together a list of identifiers that describe the majority of society and links it to disaffection and defensive umbrage--yes, she's talking about me, and look how abused we are--and then continues with, "We want those business-oriented folks in Washington not to be there singing 'Kumbaya' with the people who caused the problems in the first place."
And what problems are those, that affect the little guy of the middle class so strongly? First would be the Wall Street meltdown and foreclosure crisis, caused by the reckless unregulated practices of big business. Next would be the jobs crisis, caused by big business outsourcing all those middle class jobs overseas. Third might be an opportunity crisis, characterized by such things as the college cost crunch, public school deterioration and infrastructure decline, fueled by the success of big business and the wealthy at getting their tax burdens reduced so that more and more has to be borne by "little guys" who cannot afford it. Now in the wake of the Citizens United court ruling, $50 million in secret contributions from big business is pouring into the election campaign on behalf of the Republican cause. No doubt we are expected to believe their largess is donated not to further GOP support for corporate interests but due to the multinationals' concern for the 'little guy.'
Disaffection in the white working and lower middle class is real and understandable. Their standard of living has been getting inexorably squeezed for the past thirty years. The Koch brothers, Coors family, Rupert Murdoch and a handful of like-minded rightist billionaires have been working assiduously for at least that long to misdirect the chain of causation for that away from themselves for even longer. All the poor, aggrieved little guy has to do is turn ever more authority over to the tycoons who have rigged the system against him and require less and less of a societal contribution from those who have been driving him to desperation and all will be well. It would be laughable if it weren't so tragically sad.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
What is Palin Up To?
Sarah Palin's latest turn really caught everyone by surprise. The Alaska Governor, 2008 McCain running mate and social conservative darling shocked us all on the third by announcing she would resign as Governor by the end of the month. Her rambling, disjointed and often self-contradictory statement of explanation left most observers scratching their heads. You can watch a video of her statement here.
So what is she up to this time? I don't think she's setting up a run for 2012. How could she convince voters she is serious about governing when she quits a little more than halfway through a stint as governor of a state? Does anyone think the presidency is a less onerous position? Even Karl Rove feels this disqualifies her for national office. Palin's bizarre words that she is serving the state of Alaska in an unconventional way like a basketball point guard passing off to a teammate is true but laughable as a justification of her own worth. Why is passing off to the lieutenant governor better for the state? The obvious answer is that she is not up to the job. And why does she decry those who "take the quitter's way out" and then quit, herself? To think that this half-wit would have been a 72-year-old's heartbeat away from the leadership of the free world is pretty chilling stuff.
Neither does it seem she is getting out of national politics. Palin said in her resignation annnouncement that she will be serving the conservative cause in a new way, freed from the restrictions she's lately been under. She pointed a finger at the standard "liberal media elite" as the scapegoat for her problems and has said since it's "really sad" the national media doesn't get that her latest move is "all about country," along with other threadbare cliches and non sequitors of the type her vice presidential campaign speeches were full of.
Instead, it appears she is getting ready to cash in on her notoriety financially. Palin's appeal to the hard right is all about her image; it was never about any accomplishments, much less a command of the issues. She is a hockey mom with a Down's Syndrome child who "knows how to field dress a moose." Exactly what that has to do with fixing the financial industry or stemming nuclear proliferation is anybody's guess. But that was never the point. Right wing identity politics is about a personal narrative, not about administrative competence or cogent thinking. A sense of victimization is often an important component of that identity, and Palin now wraps herself in that mantle. Those meanies drove her from office.
Look to the example of Rush Limbaugh. The man is seen as an extremist or a buffoon by most. He will never get elected to national office. But his hard core of 20 million "ditto head" listeners make him a wealthy and influential person on the American scene. So it can be for Sarah Palin. She is reputed to have a book deal in the works. She will be able to command $40,000 an appearance on the speaking circuit. She will be in demand to help far-right candidates in the Deep South and extremely conservative districts across the country. She wants to cash in while she is still a hot commodity and before the realities of the problems of governance or the many ethical probes launched against her possibly start finding paydirt. The people of Alaska are the farthest thing from her mind. They'll probably be a lot better off with Sean Parnell in the Governor's chair anyway. The guy is a politician with 16 years of state government experience, much of it dealing with budget issues. That's got to be an improvement over the circus sideshow they've had in Juneau lately.
So what is she up to this time? I don't think she's setting up a run for 2012. How could she convince voters she is serious about governing when she quits a little more than halfway through a stint as governor of a state? Does anyone think the presidency is a less onerous position? Even Karl Rove feels this disqualifies her for national office. Palin's bizarre words that she is serving the state of Alaska in an unconventional way like a basketball point guard passing off to a teammate is true but laughable as a justification of her own worth. Why is passing off to the lieutenant governor better for the state? The obvious answer is that she is not up to the job. And why does she decry those who "take the quitter's way out" and then quit, herself? To think that this half-wit would have been a 72-year-old's heartbeat away from the leadership of the free world is pretty chilling stuff.
Neither does it seem she is getting out of national politics. Palin said in her resignation annnouncement that she will be serving the conservative cause in a new way, freed from the restrictions she's lately been under. She pointed a finger at the standard "liberal media elite" as the scapegoat for her problems and has said since it's "really sad" the national media doesn't get that her latest move is "all about country," along with other threadbare cliches and non sequitors of the type her vice presidential campaign speeches were full of.
Instead, it appears she is getting ready to cash in on her notoriety financially. Palin's appeal to the hard right is all about her image; it was never about any accomplishments, much less a command of the issues. She is a hockey mom with a Down's Syndrome child who "knows how to field dress a moose." Exactly what that has to do with fixing the financial industry or stemming nuclear proliferation is anybody's guess. But that was never the point. Right wing identity politics is about a personal narrative, not about administrative competence or cogent thinking. A sense of victimization is often an important component of that identity, and Palin now wraps herself in that mantle. Those meanies drove her from office.
Look to the example of Rush Limbaugh. The man is seen as an extremist or a buffoon by most. He will never get elected to national office. But his hard core of 20 million "ditto head" listeners make him a wealthy and influential person on the American scene. So it can be for Sarah Palin. She is reputed to have a book deal in the works. She will be able to command $40,000 an appearance on the speaking circuit. She will be in demand to help far-right candidates in the Deep South and extremely conservative districts across the country. She wants to cash in while she is still a hot commodity and before the realities of the problems of governance or the many ethical probes launched against her possibly start finding paydirt. The people of Alaska are the farthest thing from her mind. They'll probably be a lot better off with Sean Parnell in the Governor's chair anyway. The guy is a politician with 16 years of state government experience, much of it dealing with budget issues. That's got to be an improvement over the circus sideshow they've had in Juneau lately.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Markets, Troopers and Death Threats
There's so much to write about today it's a challenge to decide what to focus on. They are all interesting enough I think I'll depart from form and comment briefly on a few in the same post.
There's the financial news, of course. It's been the worst week in NY Stock Exchange history. The world's central banks are coordinating their efforts now and it looks like the U.S. Government will start buying interests in our banks to keep them afloat. That's a wow. What an absolutely damning indictment of the deregulation philosophy. I do wonder what the Republicans would be saying if a Democratic administration were proposing any such thing. This should provide the impetus necessary for the next congress and administration to put the money munchers in a tight harness.
The Alaska legislature has released its report on Gov. Sarah Palin's "troopergate" problem, finding that though firing the public safety commissioner was legal, that she "abused her authority" and "violated the public trust" to "advance a personal agenda." She's already pre-emptively released a report vindicating herself, and the McCain-Palin campaign will attempt to pass this off as partisan games, but the Alaskan investigation was initiated by a unanimous bipartisan vote. It's not the end of the world for Palin, but it will do some more damage to her among independents. A big part of her initial appeal was the outsider, squeaky clean, insurgent against the establishment image. So a finding that she's been engaging in some of the same kind of personal vendetta politics she challenged about the ins before her can only dim her lustre a bit more in the eyes of independents. Surveys already find she is a net drag on the ticket these days. This won't help.
I believe it also has had an effect on Senator McCain's approach. For the past week the Republican duo has been unmercifully negative against Obama. They have been hammering on his sitting on a schools board with 1960s era radical bomber and current professor William Ayers (along with the President of Northwestern University and the head of the Republican Annenberg Foundation.) Palin has used that at rallies to say Obama has been "palling around with terrorists." This has been coupled with increased reference to his full name "Barack Hussein Obama" along with calling him "not like us," "dangerous" and "unamerican."
These have constituted an obvious effort to conflate Obama with terrorism and revive race as a subliminal issue in the campaign. You can see McCain's provocative language and the response it generated in his followers here. It got so rally attenders were openly shouting "terrorist" and "traitor" when Obama's name was mentioned, and even "kill him!" was screamed at a Palin rally. Neither Republican candidate attempted to rein in this ominous and ugly behavior they had inspired until today, when McCain answered a direct question by saying Obama was a decent man and people did not need to "fear" an Obama presidency. Even still, it is significant that McCain's own crowd booed his comments.
It may be that McCain is having second thoughts on this vicious strategy because he can see for himself it is engendering a hate that may put Obama's life at risk. It may also be that he has determined it isn't working since the polls continue to deteriorate for his ticket. Another factor may be Obama's release of a retaliatory 13-minute documentary on McCain's "Keating Five " scandal and/or the release of the "Troopergate" report on Palin. These may have convinced him he has more to lose than gain if the focus turns to scandal.
That brings up one more matter on my mind tonight. When liberals oppose someone they will say they do not agree. They may go a little farther and say the person is "stupid" for not "getting" what seems so clear to them. They may even go so far as to say the person is a tool of the corporations, or perhaps call him or her a racist, sexist, or homophobe for holding certain views. But you never hear them say the person is a "traitor" against the nation itself for holding an opposing view. Never. Yet that seems common among conservative crowds when they get riled up. I wonder why that is. I'll want to think about that one some more.
There's the financial news, of course. It's been the worst week in NY Stock Exchange history. The world's central banks are coordinating their efforts now and it looks like the U.S. Government will start buying interests in our banks to keep them afloat. That's a wow. What an absolutely damning indictment of the deregulation philosophy. I do wonder what the Republicans would be saying if a Democratic administration were proposing any such thing. This should provide the impetus necessary for the next congress and administration to put the money munchers in a tight harness.
The Alaska legislature has released its report on Gov. Sarah Palin's "troopergate" problem, finding that though firing the public safety commissioner was legal, that she "abused her authority" and "violated the public trust" to "advance a personal agenda." She's already pre-emptively released a report vindicating herself, and the McCain-Palin campaign will attempt to pass this off as partisan games, but the Alaskan investigation was initiated by a unanimous bipartisan vote. It's not the end of the world for Palin, but it will do some more damage to her among independents. A big part of her initial appeal was the outsider, squeaky clean, insurgent against the establishment image. So a finding that she's been engaging in some of the same kind of personal vendetta politics she challenged about the ins before her can only dim her lustre a bit more in the eyes of independents. Surveys already find she is a net drag on the ticket these days. This won't help.
I believe it also has had an effect on Senator McCain's approach. For the past week the Republican duo has been unmercifully negative against Obama. They have been hammering on his sitting on a schools board with 1960s era radical bomber and current professor William Ayers (along with the President of Northwestern University and the head of the Republican Annenberg Foundation.) Palin has used that at rallies to say Obama has been "palling around with terrorists." This has been coupled with increased reference to his full name "Barack Hussein Obama" along with calling him "not like us," "dangerous" and "unamerican."
These have constituted an obvious effort to conflate Obama with terrorism and revive race as a subliminal issue in the campaign. You can see McCain's provocative language and the response it generated in his followers here. It got so rally attenders were openly shouting "terrorist" and "traitor" when Obama's name was mentioned, and even "kill him!" was screamed at a Palin rally. Neither Republican candidate attempted to rein in this ominous and ugly behavior they had inspired until today, when McCain answered a direct question by saying Obama was a decent man and people did not need to "fear" an Obama presidency. Even still, it is significant that McCain's own crowd booed his comments.
It may be that McCain is having second thoughts on this vicious strategy because he can see for himself it is engendering a hate that may put Obama's life at risk. It may also be that he has determined it isn't working since the polls continue to deteriorate for his ticket. Another factor may be Obama's release of a retaliatory 13-minute documentary on McCain's "Keating Five " scandal and/or the release of the "Troopergate" report on Palin. These may have convinced him he has more to lose than gain if the focus turns to scandal.
That brings up one more matter on my mind tonight. When liberals oppose someone they will say they do not agree. They may go a little farther and say the person is "stupid" for not "getting" what seems so clear to them. They may even go so far as to say the person is a tool of the corporations, or perhaps call him or her a racist, sexist, or homophobe for holding certain views. But you never hear them say the person is a "traitor" against the nation itself for holding an opposing view. Never. Yet that seems common among conservative crowds when they get riled up. I wonder why that is. I'll want to think about that one some more.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Palin Not Up to the Job
I've been asked what I personally think of Governor Sarah Palin. The short answer is she is dangerously unready to be Vice President. Furthermore, by choosing her John McCain has shown the same thing about himself.
Imagine an applicant for an executive position in your company or organization at their interview. Imagine this person being unfamiliar with the basic facts about your industry and how it works. Imagine them winking and trying to act "cute" while answering interview questions. Imagine them telling the personnel director that they were not going to answer the questions that were asked, but would instead talk about whatever they wanted. Now imagine how quickly your hiring committee would show this buffoon the door.
We are not talking about your assistant director of marketing, but about the Vice Presidency of the United States. This is the official who would be standing next in line to a chief who would be 76 years old during his term, a man who already has a history as a cancer survivor. That is to say, this Vice President would have approximately a one in three chance of being called upon to finish out that term.
To place in this position a person of such demonstrated ignorance, supercilious preening and lack of forthrightness is nothing less than a danger to the republic. This is what John McCain has done.
One can see how he may have been attracted to her challenging the traditional GOP establishment in Alaska. No doubt that took some guts. He must have identified with her struggle, recalling how he opposed the Party in the Senate on such things as tax policy, torture, campaign finance, and immigration before he caved on all these issues and returned to the discipline of the party fold on all of them in order to get the nomination. Perhaps his conscience was bothering him about this.
But moxie alone is not sufficient to name someone Vice President. They have to be ready to serve as President, and they ought to be ready to do so right now. Appointing someone with Sarah Palin's resume Undersecretary of the Interior and keeping an eye on her to see how she does would be a bit of a stretch, but could be justified. Placing her a heartbeat away, and a septuagenarian heart at that, from the presidency makes a mockery of the slogan "country first." It is, to be frank, politics first and country be damned.
It gratifies me to see that the American people do not seem to be falling for the razzmatazz this time. Joe Biden, who actually knows what he is talking about, won the debate with Palin by 25 points Friday night. The number of undecided voters who said the debate made them more likely to support Obama was 80% higher than those who said it made them more likely to support McCain.
Facts, it has been said, are stubborn things. It just may be, that after nearly eight years of experience with what happens when you have a leadership that invents its own reality and holds inconvenient facts in contempt, the American people are ready to demand some substance, honesty and gravitas of those who would conduct their public business. Sarah Palin fails on all three counts, and that is why she is unworthy to occupy the high position to which she has been nominated. Those are my considered judgments of Sarah Palin.
Imagine an applicant for an executive position in your company or organization at their interview. Imagine this person being unfamiliar with the basic facts about your industry and how it works. Imagine them winking and trying to act "cute" while answering interview questions. Imagine them telling the personnel director that they were not going to answer the questions that were asked, but would instead talk about whatever they wanted. Now imagine how quickly your hiring committee would show this buffoon the door.
We are not talking about your assistant director of marketing, but about the Vice Presidency of the United States. This is the official who would be standing next in line to a chief who would be 76 years old during his term, a man who already has a history as a cancer survivor. That is to say, this Vice President would have approximately a one in three chance of being called upon to finish out that term.
To place in this position a person of such demonstrated ignorance, supercilious preening and lack of forthrightness is nothing less than a danger to the republic. This is what John McCain has done.
One can see how he may have been attracted to her challenging the traditional GOP establishment in Alaska. No doubt that took some guts. He must have identified with her struggle, recalling how he opposed the Party in the Senate on such things as tax policy, torture, campaign finance, and immigration before he caved on all these issues and returned to the discipline of the party fold on all of them in order to get the nomination. Perhaps his conscience was bothering him about this.
But moxie alone is not sufficient to name someone Vice President. They have to be ready to serve as President, and they ought to be ready to do so right now. Appointing someone with Sarah Palin's resume Undersecretary of the Interior and keeping an eye on her to see how she does would be a bit of a stretch, but could be justified. Placing her a heartbeat away, and a septuagenarian heart at that, from the presidency makes a mockery of the slogan "country first." It is, to be frank, politics first and country be damned.
It gratifies me to see that the American people do not seem to be falling for the razzmatazz this time. Joe Biden, who actually knows what he is talking about, won the debate with Palin by 25 points Friday night. The number of undecided voters who said the debate made them more likely to support Obama was 80% higher than those who said it made them more likely to support McCain.
Facts, it has been said, are stubborn things. It just may be, that after nearly eight years of experience with what happens when you have a leadership that invents its own reality and holds inconvenient facts in contempt, the American people are ready to demand some substance, honesty and gravitas of those who would conduct their public business. Sarah Palin fails on all three counts, and that is why she is unworthy to occupy the high position to which she has been nominated. Those are my considered judgments of Sarah Palin.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Palin Survives VP Debate
As in last week's presidential debate, both contestants in the Biden-Palin debate this evening gratified their own supporters. Sarah Palin did better than many expected and Joe Biden avoided any fumbles. The good news for the McCain campaign is that no serious damage was done to their cause, and Palin's standing will increase some. The good news for the Obama campaign is that most people thought Biden won the debate and is more ready to be vice president.
The bloc of about 9% of America's voters who are truly undecided is the big prize now. CBS News identified 500 of these voters and did a post-debate survey with them that yielded revealing results. To see the story go here. Biden clearly came out on top. 46% said Biden won the debate, 21% felt Palin did and 33% thought it was a tie.
Before the debate 79% felt Biden was knowledgeable on the issues and 43% thought Palin was. Afterward the figures were 98% for Biden and 66% for Palin. She gained 23% to his 19%, a small edge, but not enough to significantly deplete his advantage. 97% agreed Biden showed he was prepared for the Vice Presidency while 55% said the same of Palin. A similar number said Biden is ready to serve as President if necessary but only 44% felt Palin is.
Another question asked if the debate had changed the viewer's perception of the candidate. For Joe Biden, 53% said their view had become more favorable, 5% less favorable and 42% said their view was unchanged. Palin did a bit worse. Her corresponding numbers were 55%, 14% and 30%. Most who were uncommitted remained so, but 18% of respondents said the debate had made it more likely they would vote for Obama and 10% said they were now more likely to vote for McCain.
The bottom line seems to be that Palin avoided disaster but that Biden did nothing to jeopardize Obama's lead. Palin tried to make as much hay out of the "maverick" and "tax" appellations as possible while avoiding dealing directly with ten questions she did not want to discuss. Her delivery was effectively true to style, but often did not go beyond talking point detail. Biden dutifully commented on each question, usually in superior detail. Probably his strongest moment came when he ran through a list of issues and underscored that Palin had failed to draw a distinction between McCain's position and George W. Bush's on any of them.
This is like a football game entering the fourth quarter. Obama has a 9-point lead. Palin and Biden each took the helm offensively. Neither scored, but after an exchange of punts Biden gained 15 yards of field position. Obama still has that lead and now there are 11 minutes left with two debates to go.
The bloc of about 9% of America's voters who are truly undecided is the big prize now. CBS News identified 500 of these voters and did a post-debate survey with them that yielded revealing results. To see the story go here. Biden clearly came out on top. 46% said Biden won the debate, 21% felt Palin did and 33% thought it was a tie.
Before the debate 79% felt Biden was knowledgeable on the issues and 43% thought Palin was. Afterward the figures were 98% for Biden and 66% for Palin. She gained 23% to his 19%, a small edge, but not enough to significantly deplete his advantage. 97% agreed Biden showed he was prepared for the Vice Presidency while 55% said the same of Palin. A similar number said Biden is ready to serve as President if necessary but only 44% felt Palin is.
Another question asked if the debate had changed the viewer's perception of the candidate. For Joe Biden, 53% said their view had become more favorable, 5% less favorable and 42% said their view was unchanged. Palin did a bit worse. Her corresponding numbers were 55%, 14% and 30%. Most who were uncommitted remained so, but 18% of respondents said the debate had made it more likely they would vote for Obama and 10% said they were now more likely to vote for McCain.
The bottom line seems to be that Palin avoided disaster but that Biden did nothing to jeopardize Obama's lead. Palin tried to make as much hay out of the "maverick" and "tax" appellations as possible while avoiding dealing directly with ten questions she did not want to discuss. Her delivery was effectively true to style, but often did not go beyond talking point detail. Biden dutifully commented on each question, usually in superior detail. Probably his strongest moment came when he ran through a list of issues and underscored that Palin had failed to draw a distinction between McCain's position and George W. Bush's on any of them.
This is like a football game entering the fourth quarter. Obama has a 9-point lead. Palin and Biden each took the helm offensively. Neither scored, but after an exchange of punts Biden gained 15 yards of field position. Obama still has that lead and now there are 11 minutes left with two debates to go.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
McCain Needs Strong Palin Performance
A panoply of new poll numbers came in today, all pointing in the same direction: the post-debate verdict is in. Between Friday's tussle between Barack Obama and John McCain and this week's continued dire news on the economic front, Obama is now surging far ahead. Thursday's vice presidential debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin presents a badly needed opportunity for the McCain campaign to regain its footing. But a poor performance by Palin looks like it could, at this point, cripple Republican chances beyond repair.
Numbers from today's plethora of surveys indicate the Democratic ticket is not only building its national lead past five percent, but opening leads in many battleground states. See the data here.
Support for Obama is gelling in the upper Midwest states of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan. Out West, Colorado and New Mexico are moving into the safe category for the Democrats, as is Pennsylvania in the East. Even more ominously for McCain, Obama has opened up undeniable leads in Ohio, Virginia and Florida. Nevada and Missouri have drifted in to the undecided camp along with such former Republican strongholds as Indiana and North Carolina. If the election were held today Real Clear Politics projects Obama-Biden would carry 353 electoral votes to McCain-Palin's 185.
The immediate speed bump in all this has to be the vice presidential debate. Sarah Palin must prove herself capable of engaging reasonably convincingly on issues, above the level of memorized talking points. Up to now her credibility has been damaged by her inability to answer basic questions from Charles Gibson and softball serves from Katie Couric. If she cannot do better than this in her debate with Joe Biden she will be relegated to Dan Quayledom. John McCain will suffer just as greatly for having chosen her as his running mate. If she flops the race will be effectively over, barring an earth shaking set of events in the next few weeks.
If she does well then the McCain campaign will remain viable and live to fight another day. It will still face an uphill struggle in an environment strongly favoring the Democrats this year, but at least a chance for victory will remain.
I do not feel the bar for Palin to hurdle is low. A perception of vacuousness has infected her image with undecideds thanks to her uninformed comments whenever she is off script. It will be up to her to reverse that perception. After four weeks on the campaign trail and three solid days of preparation at McCain's Sedona compound, she ought to be able to do that if she has the requisite smarts. And there is always the possibility of the garrulous Biden committing a few of his famous gaffes, too. But if she cannot do better than merely survive a pummeling at the hands of the highly experienced and knowledgeable Delaware Senator it will be lights out for McCain's chances.
Numbers from today's plethora of surveys indicate the Democratic ticket is not only building its national lead past five percent, but opening leads in many battleground states. See the data here.
Support for Obama is gelling in the upper Midwest states of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan. Out West, Colorado and New Mexico are moving into the safe category for the Democrats, as is Pennsylvania in the East. Even more ominously for McCain, Obama has opened up undeniable leads in Ohio, Virginia and Florida. Nevada and Missouri have drifted in to the undecided camp along with such former Republican strongholds as Indiana and North Carolina. If the election were held today Real Clear Politics projects Obama-Biden would carry 353 electoral votes to McCain-Palin's 185.
The immediate speed bump in all this has to be the vice presidential debate. Sarah Palin must prove herself capable of engaging reasonably convincingly on issues, above the level of memorized talking points. Up to now her credibility has been damaged by her inability to answer basic questions from Charles Gibson and softball serves from Katie Couric. If she cannot do better than this in her debate with Joe Biden she will be relegated to Dan Quayledom. John McCain will suffer just as greatly for having chosen her as his running mate. If she flops the race will be effectively over, barring an earth shaking set of events in the next few weeks.
If she does well then the McCain campaign will remain viable and live to fight another day. It will still face an uphill struggle in an environment strongly favoring the Democrats this year, but at least a chance for victory will remain.
I do not feel the bar for Palin to hurdle is low. A perception of vacuousness has infected her image with undecideds thanks to her uninformed comments whenever she is off script. It will be up to her to reverse that perception. After four weeks on the campaign trail and three solid days of preparation at McCain's Sedona compound, she ought to be able to do that if she has the requisite smarts. And there is always the possibility of the garrulous Biden committing a few of his famous gaffes, too. But if she cannot do better than merely survive a pummeling at the hands of the highly experienced and knowledgeable Delaware Senator it will be lights out for McCain's chances.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Tapestry of Lies
The Wednesday-Thursday one-two punch of Palin and McCain at the Republican Convention has most of the punditocracy abuzz as we begin the final sixty days of the long election cycle. The ticket presents a bit of a quandary. First, are they more about the hard right views and hard hitting attacks of Palin, or about the more centrist views and more accommodating approach of McCain? Secondly, some ask whether a Republican can run against the record of own party as the agent of change for that party. Yet both these questions are off the mark. It is about neither.
It is, for the discerning, about the truth; a commodity held in such disregard by both aspirants it is clear that in the most important department, this team offers no change from "the Washington culture" (i.e., the Bush Administration) at all. For the fabric of their campaign is held together primarily by a tapestry of lies: knowing, intentional, self-serving lies of the kind that reveal the emptiness of Senator McCain's promises of a new dawn of bipartisan understanding and conciliation. It looks a lot more like win at all costs and the devil take the hindmost.
Consider the lies told just in the first week since Palin was named as running mate. In his stump speech McCain says Obama has written no legislation, has never worked across party lines and will raise everyone's taxes. These are lies and McCain knows it. Obama wrote sweeping ethics legislation that has been adopted. He worked with Republican Dick Lugar of Indiana on that and on passing a bill to fund securing nuclear material in the former Soviet Union. Obama's tax plan would raise taxes on less than 5% of the people, not everyone. McCain could just tell the truth and argue against Obama's policies, but he does not. The lie, "Obama never has" will sell better, if believed. So he tells it.
Consider now the lies Palin is telling. She relates, and McCain repeats, her story of getting rid of the previous governor's designated state jet plane on e-bay for a profit. She says she was against the "Bridge to Nowhere" and returned the money. She claims to have been against "wasteful earmarks" and says she refused to associate with Alaska U.S. Senator Ted Stevens, currently under indictment. All in her first week, and all blatant lies.
The truth is she offered the plane on e-bay but couldn't sell it there and wound up dealing it to one of her campaign contributors, not for a profit but for $600,000 under cost. She supported the bridge and fought for its passage. When public outcry over it went national she took the $300 million dollars anyway and spent it. One of the things it went for was the access road that was to have led to the ill-fated bridge. She was not against earmarks, but instead hired a lobbyist who succeeded in bringing more earmarks to Alaska per capita than any other state. To complete the story, she appears on tape with Senator Stevens as a director of his 527 committee.
Other pearls soon to come out include her husband's membership in a treasonous organization (a group dedicated to the secession of Alaska from the Union) and a number of fundamentalist nut case assertions of Palin's, saying such things as the Iraq War is part of God's plan, God prefers her pipeline proposal, and that Israel has a lot of terrorism because Jews don't accept Jesus.
It is small wonder that Rick Davis, McCain's campaign chief, now says the campaign "should be about personality" and that the campaign has refused to allow reporters to interview the Governor. The campaign released a statement saying, "We will make her available to the press when it is in our interest."
It is disheartening to have to report that far from portending a new movement to "change Washington," the present Republican ticket bears all the hallmarks of the unethical and corrupt administration it seeks to replace. The way most of the media seems to be portraying it, Palin and McCain's convention performances have made them the current darlings and they are a breath of fresh air. Yet in spite of this, an ABC poll shows the people may not be buying it. Palin had a 50% favorable rating to 37% unfavorable, for a +13. Joe Biden's comparable numbers were 54% and 30%, a +24. When asked if the two veep candidates had "the right experience to assume the presidency" if necessary, respondents said "no" 50% to 42% for Palin but "yes" 66% to 21% Biden.
It is, for the discerning, about the truth; a commodity held in such disregard by both aspirants it is clear that in the most important department, this team offers no change from "the Washington culture" (i.e., the Bush Administration) at all. For the fabric of their campaign is held together primarily by a tapestry of lies: knowing, intentional, self-serving lies of the kind that reveal the emptiness of Senator McCain's promises of a new dawn of bipartisan understanding and conciliation. It looks a lot more like win at all costs and the devil take the hindmost.
Consider the lies told just in the first week since Palin was named as running mate. In his stump speech McCain says Obama has written no legislation, has never worked across party lines and will raise everyone's taxes. These are lies and McCain knows it. Obama wrote sweeping ethics legislation that has been adopted. He worked with Republican Dick Lugar of Indiana on that and on passing a bill to fund securing nuclear material in the former Soviet Union. Obama's tax plan would raise taxes on less than 5% of the people, not everyone. McCain could just tell the truth and argue against Obama's policies, but he does not. The lie, "Obama never has" will sell better, if believed. So he tells it.
Consider now the lies Palin is telling. She relates, and McCain repeats, her story of getting rid of the previous governor's designated state jet plane on e-bay for a profit. She says she was against the "Bridge to Nowhere" and returned the money. She claims to have been against "wasteful earmarks" and says she refused to associate with Alaska U.S. Senator Ted Stevens, currently under indictment. All in her first week, and all blatant lies.
The truth is she offered the plane on e-bay but couldn't sell it there and wound up dealing it to one of her campaign contributors, not for a profit but for $600,000 under cost. She supported the bridge and fought for its passage. When public outcry over it went national she took the $300 million dollars anyway and spent it. One of the things it went for was the access road that was to have led to the ill-fated bridge. She was not against earmarks, but instead hired a lobbyist who succeeded in bringing more earmarks to Alaska per capita than any other state. To complete the story, she appears on tape with Senator Stevens as a director of his 527 committee.
Other pearls soon to come out include her husband's membership in a treasonous organization (a group dedicated to the secession of Alaska from the Union) and a number of fundamentalist nut case assertions of Palin's, saying such things as the Iraq War is part of God's plan, God prefers her pipeline proposal, and that Israel has a lot of terrorism because Jews don't accept Jesus.
It is small wonder that Rick Davis, McCain's campaign chief, now says the campaign "should be about personality" and that the campaign has refused to allow reporters to interview the Governor. The campaign released a statement saying, "We will make her available to the press when it is in our interest."
It is disheartening to have to report that far from portending a new movement to "change Washington," the present Republican ticket bears all the hallmarks of the unethical and corrupt administration it seeks to replace. The way most of the media seems to be portraying it, Palin and McCain's convention performances have made them the current darlings and they are a breath of fresh air. Yet in spite of this, an ABC poll shows the people may not be buying it. Palin had a 50% favorable rating to 37% unfavorable, for a +13. Joe Biden's comparable numbers were 54% and 30%, a +24. When asked if the two veep candidates had "the right experience to assume the presidency" if necessary, respondents said "no" 50% to 42% for Palin but "yes" 66% to 21% Biden.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Palin's Convention Speech
Sarah Palin introduced herself to the American public tonight in a combative speech that makes it clear she will fill the attack dog role for the Republican ticket. Her other main job is to personify the social conservative worldview and thereby to energize the base. With nominee John McCain delivering his acceptance speech tomorrow, tonight was set up for Palin. The next few days will tell whether her punches landed or hammered air.
Her basic approach followed the RNC's emphasis on painting a dark and threatening picture of a dangerous world that only a bellicose former warrior can deal with. McCain's posture of standing up and talking tough to Russia, Iran and terrorists was contrasted with caricatured images of an effete Obama more concerned with "reading them their rights" than defending against enemies. It was sophomoric on the factual level but red meat to the convention partisans and they ate it up.
A corollary line followed Fred Thompson's keynote speech yesterday, insisting that whatever he or his plans say, Obama will impose ruinous taxes on the great bulk of the American people. This line is repeated by virtually every Republican speaker in an effort to ensure it is strongly imprinted on the mind of every viewer. Once again, the facts of Obama's proposals are ignored in favor of constant repetition of the desired negative message. As always, the Democrats are made to inspire fear, a fear that can only be dispelled by turning to the wise and courageous protector.
Palin conjoined her record to the image of a tough spending hawk as Alaska governor. She touted her opposition to the "Bridge to Nowhere," somehow omitting that she lobbied hard for it before it became a focus of national outrage. She spoke of her and McCain's unpopularity with professional lobbyists, forgetting to mention that McCain's campaign is actually run by lobbyists and that Alaska's paid lobbyists have brought home the bacon in a big way to her home state, whose largess from the federal government is per capita the highest in the nation.
But more than these, her sarcastic descriptions of Obama's popularity, vision and effective speaking style were meant to establish a cultural barrier against his electoral appeal. She is down home folks. Obama is Ivy League elite. She is a hockey mom. Obama and Biden are dyed in the wool beltway politicos. She and McCain are people of strong character. Obama is a preening memoir writer. The snide personal insults came hot and heavy. The kernel of her real message was not policy, it was fear and resentment: fear of lurking enemies that no one else will dare to fight and resentment against fancy pants stuffed shirts who think they are better than you. It was, in short, the usual Republican campaign appeal. The only question to be settled is whether Palin is the right messenger for it this particular year.
After Palin was finished McCain joined her family onstage to bask in the audience's enthusiastic applause. Then a country band took the stage. The virtually all-white crowd of delegates, many sporting cowboy hats, joined in the fun. All was well in GOP world and it was just as though the good old days were back.
Her basic approach followed the RNC's emphasis on painting a dark and threatening picture of a dangerous world that only a bellicose former warrior can deal with. McCain's posture of standing up and talking tough to Russia, Iran and terrorists was contrasted with caricatured images of an effete Obama more concerned with "reading them their rights" than defending against enemies. It was sophomoric on the factual level but red meat to the convention partisans and they ate it up.
A corollary line followed Fred Thompson's keynote speech yesterday, insisting that whatever he or his plans say, Obama will impose ruinous taxes on the great bulk of the American people. This line is repeated by virtually every Republican speaker in an effort to ensure it is strongly imprinted on the mind of every viewer. Once again, the facts of Obama's proposals are ignored in favor of constant repetition of the desired negative message. As always, the Democrats are made to inspire fear, a fear that can only be dispelled by turning to the wise and courageous protector.
Palin conjoined her record to the image of a tough spending hawk as Alaska governor. She touted her opposition to the "Bridge to Nowhere," somehow omitting that she lobbied hard for it before it became a focus of national outrage. She spoke of her and McCain's unpopularity with professional lobbyists, forgetting to mention that McCain's campaign is actually run by lobbyists and that Alaska's paid lobbyists have brought home the bacon in a big way to her home state, whose largess from the federal government is per capita the highest in the nation.
But more than these, her sarcastic descriptions of Obama's popularity, vision and effective speaking style were meant to establish a cultural barrier against his electoral appeal. She is down home folks. Obama is Ivy League elite. She is a hockey mom. Obama and Biden are dyed in the wool beltway politicos. She and McCain are people of strong character. Obama is a preening memoir writer. The snide personal insults came hot and heavy. The kernel of her real message was not policy, it was fear and resentment: fear of lurking enemies that no one else will dare to fight and resentment against fancy pants stuffed shirts who think they are better than you. It was, in short, the usual Republican campaign appeal. The only question to be settled is whether Palin is the right messenger for it this particular year.
After Palin was finished McCain joined her family onstage to bask in the audience's enthusiastic applause. Then a country band took the stage. The virtually all-white crowd of delegates, many sporting cowboy hats, joined in the fun. All was well in GOP world and it was just as though the good old days were back.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Sarah Palin: What McCain Is Thinking
Sarah who? What on earth was John McCain thinking? Is the elevation of the little-known Alaska governor a shrewd move or a big mistake? Actually, it's a little of both. And as always with a surprise, there's an element of, well, surprise. We won't really know until she's been out there awhile and we see how she does. Until then, here's a window into McCain's thinking, with the positives first.
McCain's immediate reason for choosing a big surprise as a running mate was to steal some buzz from Barack Obama. Practically everyone but Republican partisans has been raving about his magnificent acceptance speech in Denver last night before an audience of more than 38 million-even larger than the Opening Cermony in Beijing or the final of American Idol. The Palin (pronounced PAY-lin) announcement was such a stunner that it's captured a lot of the limelight. Obama had already gotten a convention "bump" in the early Gallup tracking poll to an 8-point lead, and this should do something to head off further Obama gains. In that sense, it was a good move.
A second purpose was to soldify the conservative base. Palin is conservative, as in VERY conservative on social issues. She believes abortion should be illegal, even in cases of rape, incest or to protect the life of the mother. She was pregnant with a Down's Syndrome baby and delivered the child. She is a Lifetime NRA member, an evangelical Christian and a self-described hunter and "hockey mom" of five. The Christian Coalition has already sent out a glowing endorsement. So, most of the people who were going to vote Republican anyway will have one more reason to do so. This is even though as governor she vetoed a measure that would have denied benefits to gay domestic partners. As a minor side benefit, that has made the Log Cabin Republicans, the largest gay group in the GOP, also very happy with the pick.
Another McCain purpose was to reinforce his "maverick" and "reformer" reputations. Palin spared no criticism of the corrupt Alaskan Republican power structure. She not only brought up the irregularities of former Governor and Senator Frank Murkowski, but also called to task another fellow Republican, Senator Ted Stevens, who is currently under indictment. In this year when postpartisanism is being thrown around a lot, that kind of independence will play well. Unfortunately, she herself is being investigated for allegedly using her influence as governor to get her former brother-in-law fired for vindictive reasons. One can only hope for the ticket's sake that the McCain people thoroughly vetted these charges and believe she will be quickly vindicated. If she isn't it would be a disaster.
Now we venture into the realm of the more dubious. Without doubt one of McCain's concerns on his 72nd birthday was to unveil a running mate much younger than himself. At 44, Palin certainly fills that bill. But her youth comes at a heavy potential cost. She is so green she does much to undermine McCain's claims of advantage on foreign policy and as commander in chief. She has been mayor of a town of 6,000, governor for less than two years of a state with a population no larger than a middling city and possesses no foreign policy resume. At all. When asked her views on Iraq, she answered that she hadn't thought about it much! It could have been an advantage that one of her sons is about to be deployed there, but then so is one of Joe Biden's.
Sarah Palin is clearly unready to direct the foreign policy and military strategy of the United States, especially at a time of war, and she would be serving under a president with some health problems who will soon be in his mid seventies. This not only takes much of McCain's "experience" argument away but also calls his judgment into serious question. The Obama campaign will make hay on this. I feel this part of McCain's reasoning is one big-time mistake, not only politically but also concerning the best interests of the country.
We come now to McCain's biggest reason for choosing Palin, the fact that she is a woman. This may have been his greatest miscalculation of all. As the Democratic Convention drew near the McCain campaign did everything it could to try to stoke resentment among Hillary Clinton's supporters. Then came her strong speech and husband Bill's, endorsing Obama. Any lingering disaffection appeared to evaporate as Sen. Clinton herself took the floor and moved Obama's nomination by acclamation. McCain was obviously still going after these women with today's announcement. In her remarks Governor Palin even made direct appeals to Hillary supporters, referring to her by name and cribbing her "glass ceilings" line.
But will Hillary Clinton Democratic women switch to a Republican conservative who is anti-choice? That seems hard to imagine. CNN commentator David Gergen reported on the air that the network's site was being inundated with an overwhelmingly negative influx of e-mails from women who considered the blatant play for their support by a woman who shares virtually none of Hillary's viewpoints "insulting." Time will tell, but this does not look good for McCain.
Finally, more than anything else McCain's decision revealed his gambler's nature and his assessment that his campaign is in trouble. He felt he needed a game changer to shake up the race. This is anything but a safe pick. It is very high risk, both for the election and for the country if he wins. He decided the experience mantra couldn't win in a change year and that the maverick appellation wasn't getting sufficient traction. He has now definitely underscored his maverick credentials. We'll see whether the American voter gives him points for being bold or punishes him for recklessness. I expect it to be more of the latter.
McCain's immediate reason for choosing a big surprise as a running mate was to steal some buzz from Barack Obama. Practically everyone but Republican partisans has been raving about his magnificent acceptance speech in Denver last night before an audience of more than 38 million-even larger than the Opening Cermony in Beijing or the final of American Idol. The Palin (pronounced PAY-lin) announcement was such a stunner that it's captured a lot of the limelight. Obama had already gotten a convention "bump" in the early Gallup tracking poll to an 8-point lead, and this should do something to head off further Obama gains. In that sense, it was a good move.
A second purpose was to soldify the conservative base. Palin is conservative, as in VERY conservative on social issues. She believes abortion should be illegal, even in cases of rape, incest or to protect the life of the mother. She was pregnant with a Down's Syndrome baby and delivered the child. She is a Lifetime NRA member, an evangelical Christian and a self-described hunter and "hockey mom" of five. The Christian Coalition has already sent out a glowing endorsement. So, most of the people who were going to vote Republican anyway will have one more reason to do so. This is even though as governor she vetoed a measure that would have denied benefits to gay domestic partners. As a minor side benefit, that has made the Log Cabin Republicans, the largest gay group in the GOP, also very happy with the pick.
Another McCain purpose was to reinforce his "maverick" and "reformer" reputations. Palin spared no criticism of the corrupt Alaskan Republican power structure. She not only brought up the irregularities of former Governor and Senator Frank Murkowski, but also called to task another fellow Republican, Senator Ted Stevens, who is currently under indictment. In this year when postpartisanism is being thrown around a lot, that kind of independence will play well. Unfortunately, she herself is being investigated for allegedly using her influence as governor to get her former brother-in-law fired for vindictive reasons. One can only hope for the ticket's sake that the McCain people thoroughly vetted these charges and believe she will be quickly vindicated. If she isn't it would be a disaster.
Now we venture into the realm of the more dubious. Without doubt one of McCain's concerns on his 72nd birthday was to unveil a running mate much younger than himself. At 44, Palin certainly fills that bill. But her youth comes at a heavy potential cost. She is so green she does much to undermine McCain's claims of advantage on foreign policy and as commander in chief. She has been mayor of a town of 6,000, governor for less than two years of a state with a population no larger than a middling city and possesses no foreign policy resume. At all. When asked her views on Iraq, she answered that she hadn't thought about it much! It could have been an advantage that one of her sons is about to be deployed there, but then so is one of Joe Biden's.
Sarah Palin is clearly unready to direct the foreign policy and military strategy of the United States, especially at a time of war, and she would be serving under a president with some health problems who will soon be in his mid seventies. This not only takes much of McCain's "experience" argument away but also calls his judgment into serious question. The Obama campaign will make hay on this. I feel this part of McCain's reasoning is one big-time mistake, not only politically but also concerning the best interests of the country.
We come now to McCain's biggest reason for choosing Palin, the fact that she is a woman. This may have been his greatest miscalculation of all. As the Democratic Convention drew near the McCain campaign did everything it could to try to stoke resentment among Hillary Clinton's supporters. Then came her strong speech and husband Bill's, endorsing Obama. Any lingering disaffection appeared to evaporate as Sen. Clinton herself took the floor and moved Obama's nomination by acclamation. McCain was obviously still going after these women with today's announcement. In her remarks Governor Palin even made direct appeals to Hillary supporters, referring to her by name and cribbing her "glass ceilings" line.
But will Hillary Clinton Democratic women switch to a Republican conservative who is anti-choice? That seems hard to imagine. CNN commentator David Gergen reported on the air that the network's site was being inundated with an overwhelmingly negative influx of e-mails from women who considered the blatant play for their support by a woman who shares virtually none of Hillary's viewpoints "insulting." Time will tell, but this does not look good for McCain.
Finally, more than anything else McCain's decision revealed his gambler's nature and his assessment that his campaign is in trouble. He felt he needed a game changer to shake up the race. This is anything but a safe pick. It is very high risk, both for the election and for the country if he wins. He decided the experience mantra couldn't win in a change year and that the maverick appellation wasn't getting sufficient traction. He has now definitely underscored his maverick credentials. We'll see whether the American voter gives him points for being bold or punishes him for recklessness. I expect it to be more of the latter.
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