Of course anyone near a media outlet of any kind now knows that John McCain has chosen his running mate, Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska. No doubt like nearly everyone else, you also went, "Who?"
My very fist thought on hearing McCain's choice was that he was courting the female vote, especially disaffected Hillary voters (the ridiculous PUMAs.) After the Hillary ads he ran, this was blatantly obvious. It also seems ludicrous to believe that this would work. The Hillary voters who have shown reluctance to support Obama are not doing so merely because Obama is not a woman; it is because Obama is not their woman. They wanted Hillary in the White House, not any random female running for office. Polls are also bearing this out, showing that women are more skeptical of men in Palin.
As I read more about Palin, the second reason for McCain's choice shined through. She is supposed to shore up his support amongst evangelicals. Palin believes intelligent design should be taught in schools and is staunchly pro-life.
The reaction to Palin has been interesting and often amusing to read, running the full gamut of thought. Andrew Sullivan wrote, "McCain has just told us how seriously he takes the war we are in. Not seriously at all." Rod Dreher was giddy over the fact that she home schools her kids. I didn't realize that was a sign of a good VP, but I guess when you're playing the identity politics game it must be. *shrug*
I think this is going to be a disaster for McCain in the end. His blatant pandering is going to turn off a lot of voters and seal his defeat.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
He Picked Who?
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Sick 'Em, Biden!
As everyone knows, Obama has selected Joe Biden as his running mate. I think this is a good pick for Obama. Not because Biden has solid foreign policy cred and can possibly connect to working class voters, but because he is a fierce debater who speaks his mind. Granted, his mouth has landed him in trouble before, but I think he's the perfect guy to go to the mat against the Republican/Karl Rove slime machine. Biden is not one to take any hits sitting down; he'll get right back up and hit back hard. Obama has talked a lot about moving beyond this kind of politics, but unfortunately that's hard to do when you're the only one wanting to do that. With Biden on the ticket, though, Obama can focus on his strengths - big speeches and staying cool - while letting Biden get his hands dirty.
I think it's a big win for Obama and the Dems. McCain is going to have to become a lot craftier now with his negative ads. Biden will tear him up if he doesn't.
