Sarah Palin owes Gwen Ifill a big basket of roses because she saved Palin's national career ambitions tonight.
No follow up questions, no calling her out for blatantly avoiding the question.
I know debates are about talking points, but Palin had like 5 to 10 talking points drilled into her the past couple of weeks, and she turned to them over and over and over and over again.
I have never seen anything like it actually.
When she wasn't doing that, she would return to the handful of topics she actually knows about: her family, Alaska, drilling for oil.
But the bar was low for Palin. She didn't give any jaw dropping stupidity tonight that she showed in the Couric interviews. But of course, she really wasn't given an opportunity to hang herself either. No rope, just softballs.
It was almost as if Fox news was doing the interview.
To be fair, Biden got the same softball treatment. But at least Biden took advantage of the time he was given to provide some substance.
Look, I like Palin. She has obvious talent and intelligence and loads of potential. She's obviously feisty, and given time to study and internalize national issues, I'm sure she would be a great spokes woman for the next generation of conservative ideas. But there's two problems, the next generation of conservative ideas don't exist, and Palin sure hasn't been internalizing anything beyond local Alaska politics.
Quite simply, it's just mind-bogglingly obvious that she's not ready for the big stage.
This is an indictment on McCain, not Palin. Palin was used by McCain as a gimmick. It was a despicable and selfish thing to do and it had (and still might) have the consequence of ruining Palin's national career.
But Palin (with a big assist from Iffil) got a pass tonight. McCain will probably lock her up as much as possible until November.
And I guess it is for the best. McCain/Palin loses, Palin goes away for a while, maybe resurfacing in about 8 years a new person, her own person.
By the way, it would be a national nightmare if McCain/Palin won this way. No way in my worse dreams could I imagine it, but it would really be mind boggling if McCain could run a presidential campaign purely on gimmicks and not a lick of substance and still win.
You would have to be a complete partisan hack or just not be paying close attention not to see this.
Unfortunately, most Americans are probably in one of these two categories, which is why this McCain is still hanging around.
Showing posts with label Sarah Palin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sarah Palin. Show all posts
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Ruminations on McCain's VP Pick Part III
Ok, one last post (no promises) on this pick. The more I think about it the more I like it, I like, at least, the symbolism behind it.
Sarah Palin, in many symbolic ways, can be seen as almost a carbon copy of Barack Obama. Both have pretty compelling life stories, both are non-traditional candidates. Both come from modest but not poor families. Both are self-made, having worked their way up the political ladder through their own work and political skill. Both are young, part of the new generation of political leaders, not beholden to the nastiness that defined the baby-boom Vietnam generation. Both have a chance to represent and shape what both political parties may become moving into the 21st century. Since the old policies and politics have been largely played out and have now largely been proven ineffective. If you want change in Washington, both candidates can represent change. But the similarities don't end with that, both candidates have stable and strong families, both candidates grew up in states (Hawaii and Alaska) not part of the continental US. Both even enjoy and are good at basketball... Even more so, both have admitted to past drug use. My head is spinning.
And ironically enough, the other halves of the political tickets are almost carbon copies of each other. Biden and McCain are even friends and colleagues. Both have been in the Senate for years and years. Both have compelling life stories. Both have a reputation for straight talk. Both have had health issues (McCain's cancer, Biden's brain aneurysm). For both, foreign policy is their first love, and both, in that respect, have a ton of experience and connections to fall back on.
There are some significant differences of course. The Republican party has been burdened by decades of political success and so have not been forced to really reinvent themselves like the Democratic party has.
But more than that, this ticket from the Republican party seems a little forced, a little artificial to me. McCain won the ticket by luck and by accident. He lucked out that the other independent, politically moderate candidate with an appeal to independents, Rudy Giuliani, didn't even step foot in the early states, leaving McCain an open and unfettered shot at that demographic. Romney, meanwhile, had his votes peeled away by Mike Huckabee, who took advantage of Romney's religion to take significant chunks of the Christian right away from him. Obama had to claw and scratch to the bitter end to take down the Clinton machine, and he did it by sheer effort, superior organizing, and by tapping into vast political skill.
In that respect, McCain has had to try too hard to win over his base, and it still seems to me to be an uneasy marriage. The base doesn't trust McCain, and McCain just seems to be playing the part long enough to win their votes. Meanwhile, Biden is largely loved by the Democratic base. The Democrats have long gotten used to their political leaders moving to the center, so they are more comfortable with political moderation and "betrayal". Biden's hawkishness is authentic, and I think many on the left have just grown to accept that Democrats are going to be that way.
Biden, unlike Palin, actually ran for president in this election cycle as well. Biden and Obama know each other, have worked with each other in the Senate, and seem to really enjoy each other. From some accounts, McCain has only personally met Palin one time.
Additionally, Obama seems more authentically about something tangibly new for the Democratic party. More on this later, but his message of bi-partisanship, and get things done compromise, is more than just sloganeering, its authentic. He also, as I said previously, actually signed up for this, so he's been working harder and longer both at his rapid political ascension and at this bruising presidential campaign than Palin.
Ironically, even though Palin is young, fresh, and new, McCain actually seems more naturally the change candidate than Palin does (at least at first glance). Just like Obama, there seems to be a lot of projection of other peope's hopes and dreams onto Palin. People see her as the conservative's one last ditch effort to preserve the Christian political base of the Republican party. We'll see if she lives up to that, but at least on the surface she seems to be pretty firmly pro-life, pro-drilling, pro-oil, pro-Christian right ideology. I suspect she has a more modern projection of these ideas, but I also suspect that she simply has had not enough time or opportunity to really firm up what her positions are in so many of these areas. She's going to have to learn quickly and come across to the voting public that she's a candidate with depth, that she has a firm and deep grasp on the important national issues of the day.
So, in summary, the Democratic ticket seems much more natural, more authentic than does the Republican ticket. I think on that alone, the Democrats should win this election.
I'm excited for the Republican ticket, however, because of the sheer audacity of this ticket, it gives them a better opportunity to present what the Republican party can represent going forward. Palin, in many ways, is their answer to Obama. And I'm excited to really see what that answer is all about. I'm just afraid it has come way too late in the game, like a poorly prepared student cramming for the final exam the night before the test.
But the Republican party's future and the future of our country lies in how well the McCain/Palin ticket does. Our country is more than a country of democrats. It behooves us all for both political parties to be strong, relevant, and vibrant.
My hopes and prayers lie firmly with Palin tonight as much as they do with Obama.
Sarah Palin, in many symbolic ways, can be seen as almost a carbon copy of Barack Obama. Both have pretty compelling life stories, both are non-traditional candidates. Both come from modest but not poor families. Both are self-made, having worked their way up the political ladder through their own work and political skill. Both are young, part of the new generation of political leaders, not beholden to the nastiness that defined the baby-boom Vietnam generation. Both have a chance to represent and shape what both political parties may become moving into the 21st century. Since the old policies and politics have been largely played out and have now largely been proven ineffective. If you want change in Washington, both candidates can represent change. But the similarities don't end with that, both candidates have stable and strong families, both candidates grew up in states (Hawaii and Alaska) not part of the continental US. Both even enjoy and are good at basketball... Even more so, both have admitted to past drug use. My head is spinning.
And ironically enough, the other halves of the political tickets are almost carbon copies of each other. Biden and McCain are even friends and colleagues. Both have been in the Senate for years and years. Both have compelling life stories. Both have a reputation for straight talk. Both have had health issues (McCain's cancer, Biden's brain aneurysm). For both, foreign policy is their first love, and both, in that respect, have a ton of experience and connections to fall back on.
There are some significant differences of course. The Republican party has been burdened by decades of political success and so have not been forced to really reinvent themselves like the Democratic party has.
But more than that, this ticket from the Republican party seems a little forced, a little artificial to me. McCain won the ticket by luck and by accident. He lucked out that the other independent, politically moderate candidate with an appeal to independents, Rudy Giuliani, didn't even step foot in the early states, leaving McCain an open and unfettered shot at that demographic. Romney, meanwhile, had his votes peeled away by Mike Huckabee, who took advantage of Romney's religion to take significant chunks of the Christian right away from him. Obama had to claw and scratch to the bitter end to take down the Clinton machine, and he did it by sheer effort, superior organizing, and by tapping into vast political skill.
In that respect, McCain has had to try too hard to win over his base, and it still seems to me to be an uneasy marriage. The base doesn't trust McCain, and McCain just seems to be playing the part long enough to win their votes. Meanwhile, Biden is largely loved by the Democratic base. The Democrats have long gotten used to their political leaders moving to the center, so they are more comfortable with political moderation and "betrayal". Biden's hawkishness is authentic, and I think many on the left have just grown to accept that Democrats are going to be that way.
Biden, unlike Palin, actually ran for president in this election cycle as well. Biden and Obama know each other, have worked with each other in the Senate, and seem to really enjoy each other. From some accounts, McCain has only personally met Palin one time.
Additionally, Obama seems more authentically about something tangibly new for the Democratic party. More on this later, but his message of bi-partisanship, and get things done compromise, is more than just sloganeering, its authentic. He also, as I said previously, actually signed up for this, so he's been working harder and longer both at his rapid political ascension and at this bruising presidential campaign than Palin.
Ironically, even though Palin is young, fresh, and new, McCain actually seems more naturally the change candidate than Palin does (at least at first glance). Just like Obama, there seems to be a lot of projection of other peope's hopes and dreams onto Palin. People see her as the conservative's one last ditch effort to preserve the Christian political base of the Republican party. We'll see if she lives up to that, but at least on the surface she seems to be pretty firmly pro-life, pro-drilling, pro-oil, pro-Christian right ideology. I suspect she has a more modern projection of these ideas, but I also suspect that she simply has had not enough time or opportunity to really firm up what her positions are in so many of these areas. She's going to have to learn quickly and come across to the voting public that she's a candidate with depth, that she has a firm and deep grasp on the important national issues of the day.
So, in summary, the Democratic ticket seems much more natural, more authentic than does the Republican ticket. I think on that alone, the Democrats should win this election.
I'm excited for the Republican ticket, however, because of the sheer audacity of this ticket, it gives them a better opportunity to present what the Republican party can represent going forward. Palin, in many ways, is their answer to Obama. And I'm excited to really see what that answer is all about. I'm just afraid it has come way too late in the game, like a poorly prepared student cramming for the final exam the night before the test.
But the Republican party's future and the future of our country lies in how well the McCain/Palin ticket does. Our country is more than a country of democrats. It behooves us all for both political parties to be strong, relevant, and vibrant.
My hopes and prayers lie firmly with Palin tonight as much as they do with Obama.
Ruminations on McCain's VP Pick Part II
I really wanted to use this time to talk about Obama's speech in more depth and about the meat of his policy, but this VP pick is taking all of the air out of the room. So, if that was what McCain was going for, mission accomplished.
I wanted to link a really good rebuttal to the experience question, here.
First of all, if you compare Palin's experience to Obama's experience when it comes to readiness for the president of the United States, unless you are a partisan hack, this should be no contest, Obama is more ready right now.
Here's the best explanation I've read as to why:
Yes, if I had been a Democratic donor back in 2006, I'd sure worry about whether Barack Obama had what it took to be president. That was before he took on the toughest political operation in America, before he beat Bill and Hillary Clinton, before he won 18 million primary votes.
Obama's nomination was not handed to him. He fought hard for it and won against the odds. "Qualifications" predict achievement. Once you have achieved, it doesn't matter what your qualifications are. Who cares whether the guy who built a big company from nothing didn't have much of a resume when he started? But if you are applying to run a big company built by somebody else, the resume matters ...
In sum, Obama has more experience than most people who criticize him seem to want to give him credit for. But, Obama's appeal was never about his experience solely, but about his potential. And his achievements since he's started running has shown his ability to live up to his potential.
Palin doesn't have near as a high of a bar that Obama has had to (and still has to) clear, but she definitely has a bar to clear.
One big difference between the two, Obama signed up for it, prepared himself for it, and worked for it. Palin was hand picked for some pretty obvious political reasons.
We'll see if she's up to the task over the next few months as she will come under some pretty intense scrutiny and will be expected to perform at a high level. It's a political risk for McCain, but I guess he felt like he had to take it.
By the way, by all accounts Palin is incredibly accomplished and talented and has worked for all she's gotten. It just doesn't seem she's had the time (she's only 44), the opportunity, or the desire (up to now) to reach this high, this fast.
I wanted to link a really good rebuttal to the experience question, here.
First of all, if you compare Palin's experience to Obama's experience when it comes to readiness for the president of the United States, unless you are a partisan hack, this should be no contest, Obama is more ready right now.
Here's the best explanation I've read as to why:
Yes, if I had been a Democratic donor back in 2006, I'd sure worry about whether Barack Obama had what it took to be president. That was before he took on the toughest political operation in America, before he beat Bill and Hillary Clinton, before he won 18 million primary votes.
Obama's nomination was not handed to him. He fought hard for it and won against the odds. "Qualifications" predict achievement. Once you have achieved, it doesn't matter what your qualifications are. Who cares whether the guy who built a big company from nothing didn't have much of a resume when he started? But if you are applying to run a big company built by somebody else, the resume matters ...
In sum, Obama has more experience than most people who criticize him seem to want to give him credit for. But, Obama's appeal was never about his experience solely, but about his potential. And his achievements since he's started running has shown his ability to live up to his potential.
Palin doesn't have near as a high of a bar that Obama has had to (and still has to) clear, but she definitely has a bar to clear.
One big difference between the two, Obama signed up for it, prepared himself for it, and worked for it. Palin was hand picked for some pretty obvious political reasons.
We'll see if she's up to the task over the next few months as she will come under some pretty intense scrutiny and will be expected to perform at a high level. It's a political risk for McCain, but I guess he felt like he had to take it.
By the way, by all accounts Palin is incredibly accomplished and talented and has worked for all she's gotten. It just doesn't seem she's had the time (she's only 44), the opportunity, or the desire (up to now) to reach this high, this fast.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Ruminations on the VP Pick
There's talk all over the internet already about the McCain's pick for vice president. For those of you who don't know, the choice by McCain this morning was Sarah Palin of Alaska. Check out her page on wikipedia. It's actually interesting. She's young, 44. She has a thin resume for a VP candidate. Governor of a Alaska, population 800,000 for about a year, mayor of a town of 8000 people before that. No one knows too much about her.
Why in the world again would McCain choose Palin as VP when there were other better candidates? It's hard to make sense of it.
But to get a sense of how ridiculous our political environment is, you'll find the folks at the liberal websites trashing her, but even more inexplicably the folks at the republican blogs praising this pick like it was going to win McCain the presidency.
Substantively, the main problem with this pick is that how can someone this unknown and this new, this fresh really be ready to be President? Isn't that the most important requirement? Can they step in if something happens to the president?
Now, those folks on the republican side keep saying that she's at least as experienced as Obama. Really? I agree with Andrew Sullivan is this how little Republicans think of Barack Obama? If so, they are badly underestimating him. More likely, they have no idea what Obama has done in his life.
But even if it were true, he's basically contradicting his own criticisms against Obama. If one of the criteria for VP is that you want someone who is willing to take the role of the president if the worst happens, does McCain really think Palin is ready to lead? If so, than Obama surely is ready to lead.
It doesn't make sense politically to make this sort of gamble.
But to be honest, nothing feels right to me about McCain's campaign, and this pick really typifies it.
I've read that McCain started the campaign hoping to run as a Maverick turning his plane into another incarnation of the straight talk express. But the problem is that in today's political environment, its hard to run for president like this. The press gets too much access to you, and your liable to say something stupid. Even more damaging, nobody was paying attention unless he said something stupid because Obama was getting so much of the attention.
So, he changed. He decided to play to win, which makes sense, but not to win on his terms, but on the Republican party's terms, in a way reminiscent of Bush Jr.
McCain used the month of August to sling mud at Obama, stupidly comparing him to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. Or taking his commments out of context to make Obama look completely oblivious to our national security threats, playing on our fears. He streamlined his message, staying consistently and annoyingly on message, never deviating. Limiting the press's access to him. McCain the maverick was becoming McCain the good soldier. And his message was annoyingly simple: Tough on foreign policy, tough on foreign policy, tough on foreign policy, and his constant references to his time as a POW.
And then this pick comes out of nowhere.
So, in one fell swoop, McCain's trying to find someone who can appeal to his conservative religious base, enhance his image as a maverick willing to take on the system, draw Hillary supporters who feel slighted by Obama, find someone outside of Washington who is young and full of energy to match Obama's appeal, maybe win him some states in the west, and be someone enough out of the box to shake his campaign up.
The problem is that if you're trying to be all things to all people you just end up being nothing to nobody.
I'm afraid this is where McCain's campaign is heading. By November, you may see much of his base dispirited and hopeless, many staying home. No way, Hillary supporters look at Palin and see a kindred spirit. If anything, this pick drives them back to Obama. And his best argument against Obama has just been harpooned by himself.
Is Obama ready to lead McCain may ask? Is McCain? If these are the ways he'll continue to make his decisions going forward, I'm not sure I would trust McCain to run this country.
Update:
One of the smartest articles I've read defending the Palin pick is here.
However, in this article it also says:
"I realize, of course, that she’s totally unqualified to be President at this point in time. If McCain were to die in February 2009, I hope Palin would have the good sense to appoint someone who is more ready to be President to be her Vice President, on the understanding that she would then resign and be appointed Vice President by her successor."
One of his points is that one justification for the Palin pick (beyond the obvious political reasons) was to use the VP as a presidential training position.
This seems awfully close to how communist regimes select olympians. Handpick children at an early age to train them for bigger things later.
Shouldn't these kind of positions be earned? Palin quite simply hasn't earned this pick.
In the words of James Fallows "In Palin's case, this seems to be a choice that looks forward to Election Day, and not one day beyond that."
Why in the world again would McCain choose Palin as VP when there were other better candidates? It's hard to make sense of it.
But to get a sense of how ridiculous our political environment is, you'll find the folks at the liberal websites trashing her, but even more inexplicably the folks at the republican blogs praising this pick like it was going to win McCain the presidency.
Substantively, the main problem with this pick is that how can someone this unknown and this new, this fresh really be ready to be President? Isn't that the most important requirement? Can they step in if something happens to the president?
Now, those folks on the republican side keep saying that she's at least as experienced as Obama. Really? I agree with Andrew Sullivan is this how little Republicans think of Barack Obama? If so, they are badly underestimating him. More likely, they have no idea what Obama has done in his life.
But even if it were true, he's basically contradicting his own criticisms against Obama. If one of the criteria for VP is that you want someone who is willing to take the role of the president if the worst happens, does McCain really think Palin is ready to lead? If so, than Obama surely is ready to lead.
It doesn't make sense politically to make this sort of gamble.
But to be honest, nothing feels right to me about McCain's campaign, and this pick really typifies it.
I've read that McCain started the campaign hoping to run as a Maverick turning his plane into another incarnation of the straight talk express. But the problem is that in today's political environment, its hard to run for president like this. The press gets too much access to you, and your liable to say something stupid. Even more damaging, nobody was paying attention unless he said something stupid because Obama was getting so much of the attention.
So, he changed. He decided to play to win, which makes sense, but not to win on his terms, but on the Republican party's terms, in a way reminiscent of Bush Jr.
McCain used the month of August to sling mud at Obama, stupidly comparing him to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. Or taking his commments out of context to make Obama look completely oblivious to our national security threats, playing on our fears. He streamlined his message, staying consistently and annoyingly on message, never deviating. Limiting the press's access to him. McCain the maverick was becoming McCain the good soldier. And his message was annoyingly simple: Tough on foreign policy, tough on foreign policy, tough on foreign policy, and his constant references to his time as a POW.
And then this pick comes out of nowhere.
So, in one fell swoop, McCain's trying to find someone who can appeal to his conservative religious base, enhance his image as a maverick willing to take on the system, draw Hillary supporters who feel slighted by Obama, find someone outside of Washington who is young and full of energy to match Obama's appeal, maybe win him some states in the west, and be someone enough out of the box to shake his campaign up.
The problem is that if you're trying to be all things to all people you just end up being nothing to nobody.
I'm afraid this is where McCain's campaign is heading. By November, you may see much of his base dispirited and hopeless, many staying home. No way, Hillary supporters look at Palin and see a kindred spirit. If anything, this pick drives them back to Obama. And his best argument against Obama has just been harpooned by himself.
Is Obama ready to lead McCain may ask? Is McCain? If these are the ways he'll continue to make his decisions going forward, I'm not sure I would trust McCain to run this country.
Update:
One of the smartest articles I've read defending the Palin pick is here.
However, in this article it also says:
"I realize, of course, that she’s totally unqualified to be President at this point in time. If McCain were to die in February 2009, I hope Palin would have the good sense to appoint someone who is more ready to be President to be her Vice President, on the understanding that she would then resign and be appointed Vice President by her successor."
One of his points is that one justification for the Palin pick (beyond the obvious political reasons) was to use the VP as a presidential training position.
This seems awfully close to how communist regimes select olympians. Handpick children at an early age to train them for bigger things later.
Shouldn't these kind of positions be earned? Palin quite simply hasn't earned this pick.
In the words of James Fallows "In Palin's case, this seems to be a choice that looks forward to Election Day, and not one day beyond that."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)