The appointment of Palin is going to infuriate a lot of Democrats, and many of those are reporters. They will be sure to point out that McCain, at 72, is surely going to die within minutes of entering office, leaving a (gasp) women in charge that has never had a real job (Governor of Alaska doesn't count, reporters prefer to point out she was a small town Mayor in many of the initial reports). More likely that MCain will live for quite some time, and Palin will actually gain some valuable experience as Vice President. That's possibly long term thinking.
So when we read that Palin has been selected for electoral reasons, as the result of short term thinking, we should weigh this up against the equally inexperienced Senator Obama who hopes to be El Presidente from day one if he wins the election, not just veep. And do you think Obama selected running mate Joe Biden for purely short term electoral reasons? Enjoy:
Remember when the biggest threat to Obama were the Hillary Clinton supporters? They still are.
Now, that's a Democrat selected for electoral reasons who understands short-term thinking!
Related Link: Joe Biden on Barrack
So when we read that Palin has been selected for electoral reasons, as the result of short term thinking, we should weigh this up against the equally inexperienced Senator Obama who hopes to be El Presidente from day one if he wins the election, not just veep. And do you think Obama selected running mate Joe Biden for purely short term electoral reasons? Enjoy:
Remember when the biggest threat to Obama were the Hillary Clinton supporters? They still are.
ANNCR: What does Barack Obama’s running mate say about Barack Obama?
ABC’S GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: You were asked, “Is he ready?” You said, “I think he can be ready but right now, I don’t believe he is. The presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training.”
JOE BIDEN: I think that I stand by the statement.
ANNCR: And what does he say about John McCain?
BIDEN: I would be honored to run with or against John McCain, because I think the country would be better off.
Now, that's a Democrat selected for electoral reasons who understands short-term thinking!
Related Link: Joe Biden on Barrack
You're delusional. Now news of her unmarried daughter's pregnancy has hit it's clear he obviously hadn't vetted this person in any halfway competent fashion.
ReplyDeleteDavid Frum nails the Obama 'inexperience' nonsense.
"Can we conservatives please stop kidding ourselves about Barack Obama's "qualifications"? 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 ...
The worst mistake in any fight is to under-estimate your opponent's abilities. Look what happened to the people who under-estimated Reagan. If conservatives are to have any hope in the coming weeks, we should wake up to the fact that we face in Barack Obama a formidable man, who appeals to something important and deep in the American electorate. He's not a superman, he has vulnerabilities, he can be beaten.
But he won't be beaten until we who are trying to beat him understand why and how he has come so far,"- David Frum, NRO.
You've got this the wrong way round, Zen. The McCain camp's most useful propaganda weapon against Obama was his youth and inexperience. In selecting Palin for a running mate, they just disabled that weapon. Bugger...
ReplyDeleteThe worst mistake in any fight is to under-estimate your opponent's abilities.
ReplyDeleteAnd just maybe the Democrats will "mis-underestimate" Palin?
Four years in the seat as veep will add valuable experience just in time for the 2012 elections. Should McCain step down, then we'll have this conversation again in 4 years, with a slightly different perspective!
As for her unmarried daughters pregnancy - I'll wait to see if the Democrats sling more mud over that than the conservatives.
PM - It's not as if Palin is starting off as President. So many pundits compare the VP to Obama as if McCain doesn't exist. It's called clutching at straws.
Anyway, it must be confusing for Democrats to say on one hand the Republicans would select the VP based on political usefulness, and on the other, that they are giving up the political usefulness of being able to attack Obama on lack of experience.
Perhaps this line of attack isn't as important to them as the positives Palin might bring to the campaign?
I'm sure she has some positives Zen - she has certainly lifted the Republicans image at any rate - they are starting to seem a lot more interesting.
ReplyDeleteShe really is 'soccer mom' though. As I've said I would prefer Carly Fiorina or Condi Rice. I don't think she is going to get the swing vote somehow - too ferociously conservative.
I'm not so sure about that swing vote thing Ruth. After all, swing voters aren't an ideologically homogenous group by any means. There was an interesting poll taken some time ago and the results indicated that there were a great number of swing voters turned off Bush because he wasn't conservative enough.
ReplyDeleteInteresting times.
My hunch is that this election will be decided by relative voter turnout, little else.