Bad Timing
I think it's silly to think that McCain chose Sarah Palin as his running mate simply to get more female voters. And Democrats who think that are probably underestimating Palin's strengths. An NPR host (whose name escapes me right now) who was on Bill Maher's show last week made a good point about how candidates tend to struggle when debating women--get too aggressive and voters are turned off, be too polite and voters see it as condescending.
I thought Palin's selection had more to do with appealing to the right-wing Christian base than it had to do with women voters. Which makes the news that Palin's unmarried teen daughter is pregnant all the more ironic.
I don't think this news will adversely affect the Palin-McCain ticket, but it will probably energize the media for the next 48 hours. So far, I like Obama's response to the matter, which is basically to try and ignore it. A different approach than John Edward's "I'm sure the Cheneys love their lesbian daughter" attack from 4 years ago.
The race is heating up. Should be interesting. I'm currently reading Obama's "Audacity of Hope" and so far I am enjoying it. It hasn't really changed my view of him very much, merely reinforcing my current view of him. On some level, I embrace his inspirational message--it's been a long time since we've had a president that truly seems to believe in our ability to solve seemingly insurmountable problems without sounding hollow. But ultimately I can't decide if he actually has the capability to deliver on his goals or if he's just full of empty promises and ideology.
Of course, since I'm pretty much opposed to the McCain ideology, it's pretty clear which hole I'll be punching come November.
I thought Palin's selection had more to do with appealing to the right-wing Christian base than it had to do with women voters. Which makes the news that Palin's unmarried teen daughter is pregnant all the more ironic.
I don't think this news will adversely affect the Palin-McCain ticket, but it will probably energize the media for the next 48 hours. So far, I like Obama's response to the matter, which is basically to try and ignore it. A different approach than John Edward's "I'm sure the Cheneys love their lesbian daughter" attack from 4 years ago.
The race is heating up. Should be interesting. I'm currently reading Obama's "Audacity of Hope" and so far I am enjoying it. It hasn't really changed my view of him very much, merely reinforcing my current view of him. On some level, I embrace his inspirational message--it's been a long time since we've had a president that truly seems to believe in our ability to solve seemingly insurmountable problems without sounding hollow. But ultimately I can't decide if he actually has the capability to deliver on his goals or if he's just full of empty promises and ideology.
Of course, since I'm pretty much opposed to the McCain ideology, it's pretty clear which hole I'll be punching come November.
3 Comments:
i've been meaning to post something about Palin but you beat me to it. I hope the dems don't use the teen pregnancy to try to slander Palin. Do you really think McCain knew about the pregnancy when he picked her? i'm not a big fan of either presidential candidate but Obama has an edge over McCain in my book.
McCain definitely picked Palin in part to try and cull voters from the upset Hillary crew. I personally believe the fraction of people who may be swung in that way to be pretty small, but the fact that Palin is female is definitely part of the equation. Being a woman makes her candidacy historic (negating Obama's history), it emphasizes the "change" aspect of things as well. Since she is relatively new on the scene, it also helps with his attempt to seem more like an outsider. When it comes down to it, he was likely to try and pick someone who has executive experience, is younger, and more conservative. Perhaps there's only a limited number of people who fit the bill, but I suspect most of the options were men.
As for the teen pregnancy thing - it is confirmed that McCain knew about this before picking her. I think if anything, it doesn't really reflect poorly on Palin in particular, more just the horrible policies that social conservatives try and push regarding teen pregnancy.
Can Obama make anything happen? I used to think that the President was generally limited by Congress. Then the last eight years happened and my mind has been changed. Can he do all the things he wants? Probably not, but even if all he does is pick a few Supreme Court judges, that's going to be a big impact.
Maybe McCain did pick her to try and get Hillary voters, but I think this angle is getting too much play by the media. First off, I don't think such a strategy would be particularly effective. Secondly, I suspect that other considerations were more important to McCain, such as the ones you mentioned already.
Although I don't have a lot of faith in McCain's decision-making ability, picking Sarah Palin for that reason seems too foolish. Democrats who buy into this line of reasoning are underestimating both Palin and McCain.
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