If nothing else, John McCain’s new 44 year old ‘trophy wife’ choice of Alaska’s governor as VP, has knocked Barack Obama and the Democratic National Convention off the front page (which doesn’t mean all that much since in this television age, over 40 million Americans watched Obama’s acceptance speech).
I say ‘trophy wife’ not to demean Mrs Palin, but it is obvious a man like McCain really doesn’t believe in woman power, and thus this choice is an attempt to woo disenchanted Clintonites into voting for McCain.
The question is whether it is a wise choice or a 7-day wonder. Personally I think he risks losing more than he can possible gain. The only women he gains are those who already were thinking of voting for him.
He doesn’t stand to gain much from the youth vote, because it is unlikely to see them making such a dramatic turnaround from the Obama camp.
Granted, Palin will shore up his weak credentials on pro-life issues and family values, but I sense that too many people won’t see her as much of an influence on him.
What will he lose? Firstly, lots of credibility all around. Many people are going to see this choice as gimmicky (moreso because of the limited contact between Palin and McCain) and a ploy to trick them that he is strong on women’s issues. That would only have worked if he had at any point shown such previous inclination.
This also feels like a desperation move from a campaign that is panicking. The feeling will be left out there that once Obama and Clinton settle issues, McCain is finished, and he knows that.
Palin’s youthfulness and lack of experience mean that this is one weapon that McCain can no longer use effectively against Obama. If something happens to Obama, at age 47, he has an ‘elder statesman’ to fill in. At 70 going on 100, McCain stands a far greater chance of keeling over than Obama… and this ‘little girl’ is going to run America? I don’t think so.
The republican party is alpha male oriented. It is an old boy’s club. It has a poor history of mentoring women in the party. Women only come in to serve the food, clear the tables, show a little tit, and be patted on the ass to the loud guffaws of those in attendance. Other than that, they should stay at home and bring up babies.
Bypassing Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee will cost him with Reagan democrats, liberal republicans and the religious right. It might cost him Huckabee’s home state Arkansas.
The republicans, being what they are, will attempt to close ranks around McCain-Palin, but I think talk radio won’t be so generous.
On the face of it, McCain in a sign of desperation, has given Obama a distinct edge. But the republicans are crafty and the democrats are wussies, so by November, anything can happen.
ONE CANNOT WIN the presidency at a convention though it can be lost there. I didn’t pay too much attention to the democratic convention because it is usually choreographed fluff. Nothing is real. But at the same time, sometimes there are ominous signs. Take Hillary Clinton’s speech.
Her speech was all about her positioning herself for 2012, if her plan for an Obama loss works out. The media is all goo-goo over her speech, but lets look at the facts. She made forty-six 1st person references, not counting some of the collective ‘we’. She references Obama 20 times.
Though given the opportunity, at no time did she answer the question many of her supporters are asking, “Why should we vote for him?”. What she said was, “I strongly urge you not to vote for McCain (wink wink)”.
She didn’t do enough to make Obama win, just enough to say in case he loses, “It wasn’t my fault. I told you he was a weak candidate”.
Another indication that she wasn’t serious about supporting Obama… she made only a slight passing reference to the Supreme Court, “The Supreme Court in a right-wing headlock…”, and no reference to Roe vs Wade. Why is this important? Because the one thing that would make idiot democrats rethink voting for McCain, is the realization that a McCain win will give the conservatives infinite control of the Supreme Court… goodbye Roe vs Wade.
Bill Clinton on the other hand, made Obama the center-point of his speech… his hopefully redemptive moment.
Hillary Clinton is still hedging her bets, playing a high stakes game where America is the loser. Her only chance for a presidency lies in an Obama loss… and I think she is trying to guarantee that.
BY THE WAY, anyone notice that the cost of gas is steadily dropping? If you don’t think this is market forces and not manipulation, you’re kidding yourselves. No republican wants to go into an election with gas at $4.00 a gallon.
AND WHERE O’ WHERE is former Secretary of State Colin Powell? And who is he going to endorse?