Really? Sarah Palin? OK. I suppose you know what you are doing, Sen. McCain but let me make a few off-the-cuff observations about your new pick.
First, let me admit up front that I don’t know a whole lot about Sarah Palin. I know she is Governor of Alaska and that before that she was a city councilwoman and mayor of some small town in that state. I know she is anti-choice, she has five kids, one of whom has Down’s Syndrome. I know she ran on a clean government campaign to get elected Governor. I also know that she is a member of a group called “Feminists for Life” (which strikes me a bit like “Muslims for Judaism,” but whatever). I don’t know much about many of her policy positions so let me just keep these observations to Sarah Palin as the Republican pick for VP and why this makes so little sense to me.
Before I get started on why I think she is a bad pick, let me discuss why I think she is a good pick for McCain. She is a conservative darling. She is loved by the right-wing base, a group that has been historically a bit leery of McCain.
That’s it. That is the only reason I can think of for McCain to have picked her. She makes guys like James Dobson more comfortable. The thing is, guys like Dobson were never going to vote for Obama anyway. Is t possible those guys would stay at home and vote for no one? Yeah, I suppose it is. But I don’t think that a VP candidate really motivates anyone to vote unless there is some special tie between the voter and the VP. I guess that in the end this will shore up McCain with the base he needs to hold on to, but it still does very little to expand McCain’s reach.
It seems obvious that McCain is trying to reach out to disaffected Hillary Democrats. All those PUMAs who were saying that they would vote for McCain over Obama really must have sent a message to McCain and he seems to think that if he can shave off some of Obama’s natural support, he has a better chance of winning. Well, here is the thing that strikes me: All those Hillary Democrats were telling Obama not to pick Kathleen Sebelius because Obama can’t choose just any woman. I had to have been Hillary. A lot of those PUMAs viewed any woman not named Hillary Clinton as being a lame sop to getting the real thing. It is my hope and belief that all those woman who told Obama “don’t you DARE pick any woman other than Hillary” will now tell McCain “Don’t you DARE believe that we are going to be fooled by this cynical ploy and that simply having a woman on the ticket will get you our vote.” Sarah Palin is not a champion of women’s rights, she is not a champion for gay rights and she and Hillary Clinton are about as far apart on most issues as any two people could be. If these so-called PUMAs actually fall for this and vote for McCain based on the fact that he chose a woman, they are more idiotic and easily manipulated than I ever gave hem credit for being.
A popular reason for bringing in a particular VP is the belief that they shore up a perceived weakness in the résumé of the candidate. Barack Obama went with Joe Biden to offset a perceived lack of experience with regard to national security and foreign relations. Another reason to bring on a VP is to bring in a state the candidate himself would not likely get; Obama considered Tim Kaine as his VP to possibly bring Virginia to the Democrats when the electoral votes were counted. Yet another reason many candidates bring in a given VP is to broaden the candidate’s appeal; Obama is also thought to have selected Biden because of Biden’s appeal to working class white voters.
By any of these measures the choice of Palin makes no sense. Alaska is so red it’s bloody. She didn’t bring McCain a state that was previously not in play, so the geography theory is out. She is very young, but her age and inexperience highlight McCain’s age (one of his biggest weaknesses) and prevents McCain from arguing about Obama’s ostensible youth and inexperience. She doesn’t have any great domestic policy skills or experience that would suggest that she is shoring up McCain’s admitted weaknesses on the economy or fiscal policy.
In short this makes no sense. The only reason I can come up with is that McCain is cynically manipulating PUMAs into believing that a vote for him is really a vote for Hillary. I guess one advantage is that it will be tougher (supposedly) for Biden to really go into “attack dog” mode lest it look like he is beating up on a girl, but that’s only one debate in a campaign full of non-joint appearances.
This week was already good for Obama, McCain just made it better.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Sunday, August 24, 2008
What Hillary Must Do
This is going to be a short post but I have been spending the morning hearing all about PUMAs and Hillary Clinton and how she might still be a sore loser over all of this. Mark Halperin, just this morning on George Stephanopoulos' show said that he believes we will actually have Democratic delegates saying, on the floor of the convention, that they will be voting for John McCain. The latest offense is that Hillary Clinton was never "seriously" vetted for VP.
First of all, this credibility of the so-called PUMAs is already debatable. If these PUMAs are so in favor of Clinton, why have they done so little to help her retire her campaign debt? I read recently that she still has tens of millions in campaign debt and that she has had very little success in getting it pared down. So, it would appear that these PUMAs are all in love with Hillary until they finally get some skin in the game in which case their loyalty is a lot shallower.
Still, these people also have the right to vote and they are threatening to leave Obama for John McCain. This cannot be allowed to happen. I am getting kind of tired of Hillary Clinton's wistful and insencere "endorsements" of Obama and I am also sick of hearing all the whining from a bunch of knuckleheads who lost fair and square. your girl had a chance and she blew it. get over it. And I am sick of the Clintons (despite being a big fan) and the way they cannot seem to really come across as if they mean it when they "support" Obama. Hillary, it is still not too late for you to be President some day but it will be if you do not get 100% behind Obama now and stop this intra-party internecine squabbling. You have the ability, you just have to want to do it.
And here is how you do it. When you give your speech at the DNC later this week you must say "I support Barack Obama for President and so must you. (Here is the critical part) Anyone who says they support me but will vote for John McCain does not support me, they do not share my views, they do not want what I want for this country. I disown the support of those who would favor John McCain, an anti-choice Republican, over a loyal and true Democrat like Barack Obama."
I know how simple this seems but she hasn't been able to pull the trigger on this. I get that still still likes the fawning attention and I am sure that having been First Lady and the one-time presumptive nominee can be more than a bit intoxicating. Still, she isn't going to be President for at least four years and if I hear that she hasn't done everything within her power to get this job for Obama, I will do everything I can to make sure she never gets the job at all.
I am sick of Hillary and her PUMAs dividing my party. She is the only one who can stop it and as a loyal Democrat who supported her husband through thick and thin, I DEMAND that she make this problem disappear. Before it is too late.
First of all, this credibility of the so-called PUMAs is already debatable. If these PUMAs are so in favor of Clinton, why have they done so little to help her retire her campaign debt? I read recently that she still has tens of millions in campaign debt and that she has had very little success in getting it pared down. So, it would appear that these PUMAs are all in love with Hillary until they finally get some skin in the game in which case their loyalty is a lot shallower.
Still, these people also have the right to vote and they are threatening to leave Obama for John McCain. This cannot be allowed to happen. I am getting kind of tired of Hillary Clinton's wistful and insencere "endorsements" of Obama and I am also sick of hearing all the whining from a bunch of knuckleheads who lost fair and square. your girl had a chance and she blew it. get over it. And I am sick of the Clintons (despite being a big fan) and the way they cannot seem to really come across as if they mean it when they "support" Obama. Hillary, it is still not too late for you to be President some day but it will be if you do not get 100% behind Obama now and stop this intra-party internecine squabbling. You have the ability, you just have to want to do it.
And here is how you do it. When you give your speech at the DNC later this week you must say "I support Barack Obama for President and so must you. (Here is the critical part) Anyone who says they support me but will vote for John McCain does not support me, they do not share my views, they do not want what I want for this country. I disown the support of those who would favor John McCain, an anti-choice Republican, over a loyal and true Democrat like Barack Obama."
I know how simple this seems but she hasn't been able to pull the trigger on this. I get that still still likes the fawning attention and I am sure that having been First Lady and the one-time presumptive nominee can be more than a bit intoxicating. Still, she isn't going to be President for at least four years and if I hear that she hasn't done everything within her power to get this job for Obama, I will do everything I can to make sure she never gets the job at all.
I am sick of Hillary and her PUMAs dividing my party. She is the only one who can stop it and as a loyal Democrat who supported her husband through thick and thin, I DEMAND that she make this problem disappear. Before it is too late.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
How do you Solve a Problem Like Jerome Corsi?
There they go again. The right wing smear machine that devastated John Kerry with their “swift boat” ads back in 2004 is at it again, still led my Jerome Corsi. Corsi, for those who do know, is the liar who wrote “Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry” amd who has just released version 2.0, entitled "The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality," which is, according to some reports, an even more inadequately sourced and researched book than the one he wrote about Kerry. In the latest book Corsi repeats and rehashes lots of the same slurs and lies that have been leveled against Obama before and have already been discredited.
Unfortunately, this book may pose a real threat to Obama. Not that it SHOULD mind you, but given how the Swift Boat mess scuttled Kerry before even his convention, Obama pretty mush is required to respond to this is some way or another. The problem is how. How does Obama respond to the smears when they aren’t being even perpetrated by John McCain?
With all due humility, I do have an idea. You know how many political ads you see where someone urges you to “call George W. Bush and tell him to say ‘no’ to big oil companies”? Obviously, these ads are popular with lots of politicians and lots of §527s for lots of different issues. Why can’t Obama create an ad that talks about Corsi’s book and how it’s all slander and lies. Run a few quotes from MSM sources that talk about how the book is complete bullshit.
Then, the kicker: Have the announcer say “Call John McCain. Tell him to denounce the slanders and false attacks.” Flash the 800 number up on the screen where people call and then wait.
This would, in my estimation, put McCain in the uncomfortable position of having to respond to attacks he didn’t issue but which he won’t otherwise denounce. At first he will probably talk about how “it’s a free country and I don’t know what he wrote since I haven’t read the book” but this puts Obama in the driver’s seat. Obama can then say “John McCain represent’s destructive politics as usual. A man wrote a book with the stated intent of getting John McCain elected President and to do that, he had to fill the book with lies. John McCain won’t renounce those attacks even though hundreds of unbiased media outlets, the people John McCain has called his “base,” have said they’re lies.
If Obama does this, he gets to claim the high road, he gets to put John McCain on the defensive for an unscrupulous hit he didn’t order and that is what Obama needs here. Obama cannot win with this issue, but if he plays it correctly, he can neutralize it, which is probably about the best he can hope for. And that is probably all he needs.
Unfortunately, this book may pose a real threat to Obama. Not that it SHOULD mind you, but given how the Swift Boat mess scuttled Kerry before even his convention, Obama pretty mush is required to respond to this is some way or another. The problem is how. How does Obama respond to the smears when they aren’t being even perpetrated by John McCain?
With all due humility, I do have an idea. You know how many political ads you see where someone urges you to “call George W. Bush and tell him to say ‘no’ to big oil companies”? Obviously, these ads are popular with lots of politicians and lots of §527s for lots of different issues. Why can’t Obama create an ad that talks about Corsi’s book and how it’s all slander and lies. Run a few quotes from MSM sources that talk about how the book is complete bullshit.
Then, the kicker: Have the announcer say “Call John McCain. Tell him to denounce the slanders and false attacks.” Flash the 800 number up on the screen where people call and then wait.
This would, in my estimation, put McCain in the uncomfortable position of having to respond to attacks he didn’t issue but which he won’t otherwise denounce. At first he will probably talk about how “it’s a free country and I don’t know what he wrote since I haven’t read the book” but this puts Obama in the driver’s seat. Obama can then say “John McCain represent’s destructive politics as usual. A man wrote a book with the stated intent of getting John McCain elected President and to do that, he had to fill the book with lies. John McCain won’t renounce those attacks even though hundreds of unbiased media outlets, the people John McCain has called his “base,” have said they’re lies.
If Obama does this, he gets to claim the high road, he gets to put John McCain on the defensive for an unscrupulous hit he didn’t order and that is what Obama needs here. Obama cannot win with this issue, but if he plays it correctly, he can neutralize it, which is probably about the best he can hope for. And that is probably all he needs.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
It is Time for a Barackattack. Or is that Obamattack?
I am getting chills. Cold shivers. I’ve felt this way before. I felt it in the icy grip of Lee Atwater as he worked hard to make Willie Horton the biggest threat to white people since the Black Death. I have been feeling it for the better part of ten years as Karl Rove slandered and vilified honorable men who would dare get in Rove’s way as he pursued more and more power. I see it in the history books as Donald Segretti and Howard Hunt and their “ratfucking” ways. I smelled it four years ago in the Swift Boat ads. And it is happening again.
John McCain, who cannot win this election on the issues, is adopting a strategy that has Karl Rove’s greasy, stubby fingerprints all over it. McCain has released new ads entitled “Celebrity” and “The One” to great fanfare and uneven disgust across the country. And I am afraid it is going to work.
In case people aren’t familiar, the “Celebrity” ad uses Paris Hilton and Britney Spears to point out how famous Barack Obama is and to point out that his fame, like that of Britney and Paris, does not make him capable of leading the US. In “The One” McCainholds up Obama as some great messianic figure even comparing him to Moses (as played by Charlton Heston) and saying that “he may be ‘The One’ but is he ready to lead.”
These ads are pretty gross. First, I am a little surprised that no one has thought to ask why McCain didn’t just use his home video footage of Moses since they are roughly the same age, bit never mind that. The problem with celebrity is that McCain is suing code words (and young white women) in the same way white women were used to stir up racial prejudice against Harold Ford in the last election. Put a black man with a white woman and you pretty much set the table for at least 584 racially prejudicial clichés. And the same thing is true of “The One” although it goes out of its way to appeal less to people’s fear of the big black Buck dating a white girl (especially a couple of ingénues like Spears and Hilton), it still has all the same code words inherent to racism. Instead of calling Obama “uppity,” they now call him arrogant. With a nod to Jon Stewart, I’d like to point out that McCain and Obama are running to be the leader of the free word; how can you assume you are up to that task without being arrogant? Well, you can do it if you are an idiot like George W. Bush.
Anyway, like I was saying, all of this is really, REAALLY familiar. It reminds me of Willie Horton, of the Swift Boat bullshit, of constantly accusing Al Gore of being a liar. And, for the time being at least, it is working. McCain has dominated a couple of weeks of news cycles and while I think that there are a few angry outbursts and senior moments yet to come (not to mention a few more pre-cancerous liver spots to be removed), I don’t think Obama can depend on them.
It is time for Obama to attack. If there is one lesson democrats should have learned by now but do not seem to grasp it is that when the other guy hits you below the belt, you need to kick him in the junk. It’s like the Mutually Assured Destruction paradigm of the Cold War. The Soviets knew that if they launched at us, we’d launch right back and, therefore, they did not ever begin a nuclear war. Bill Clinton was the first guy since Lyndon Johnson who was willing to get his knuckles a little bloody and his clothes a little dirty if it meant stopping the other guy from telling lies, spreading innuendo and appealing to the baser instincts of people everywhere. Since Lyndon Johnson ran his famous “Daisy” we have had Nixon with his “Southern Strategy” (also a big ol’ kiss to racists everywhere), Reagan who didn’t need to run dirty, Bush the Elder who allowed Lee Atwater to arrange for Willie Horton’s coming out party and Dubya, who may have run the two greasiest campaigns ever. The only Democrats who won in that time period were Jimmy Carter, who was able to win because Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon for his role in the Watergate coverup and Bill Clinton, who demonstrated a willingness to play dirty if it meant détente between the campaigns. In other words, the only Democrat to win the presidency since LBJ was a guy who ran against Watergate and even HE couldn’t win reelection.
The lessons of the past are clear. Barack Obama needs to go on the offensive. W e keep hearing about how sharp his organization is. We hear about how he is a Chicago pol and he knows how to survive a street fight if he has to, even against accomplished hair-pullers and cock-punchers like McCain has running his campaign. Well, then Senator Obama, unleash the hounds, let slip the dogs of war. Go after him. Hard. Hit him in the mouth and knock his fucking dentures down his throat. Because he has won the last two weeks and is showing some discipline at staying on message.
The good news is that most voters (re: people who aren’t geeks like me) haven’t really started paying attention yet and there is plenty of time for you to set up your narrative and the public’s perception of you. You are still not well-defined n the eyes of most voters. But McCain is defining you as I wrote these very words and you are letting him.
Let’s not forget that in August, 2004 the Swift Boat ads were really gearing up and John Kerry ignored them displaying tremendous yet unearned faith in the American public to see though the smears. It didn’t work. Not only did Kerry ignore the smears, he went windsurfing. Sweet Jesus, he went windsurfing.
And now I read that Obama is taking a family vacation to Hawaii. Look, I am all for vacations. I love to take them myself. But I am not running for president. I have been an Obama supporter pretty much this whole time but I have a hard time thinking that Hillary Clinton would be going on vacation right now, no matter how exhausted she might be. I know Obama has family in Hawaii, but how tone deaf do you have to be to purport to represent the general American public and take a vacation most people cannot even hope to afford? Fuel prices are skyrocketing and you are taking your family to Hawaii. This makes no sense. It’s not quite as bad as windsurfing, but it is just not a good idea.
Senator Obama, you are carrying the hopes of hundreds of millions of people on your shoulders. I am begging you to get off the bench and get in the game. Don’t go to Hawaii; stay here (send the wife and kids if you like) and take care of business. Do not let McCain further define you while it is within your power to define yourself. Do not be the John Kerry/Al Gore/George McGovern/Michael Dukakis who stays the course and tries to appeal to people’s better natures. Instead, appeal to their base instincts, incite some anger in them and direct it where it needs to go and I suspect you will see McCain stop this shit amy maybe decide to talk about the actual issues for once. I doubt it, because once you get him talking about the issues, he can’t win. But you cannot get him to talk about the issues as long as you let him keep wailing on you and don’t give him a reason to stop.
It is time to attack, ruthlessly, relentlessly and without remorse or pause. You can do it.
John McCain, who cannot win this election on the issues, is adopting a strategy that has Karl Rove’s greasy, stubby fingerprints all over it. McCain has released new ads entitled “Celebrity” and “The One” to great fanfare and uneven disgust across the country. And I am afraid it is going to work.
In case people aren’t familiar, the “Celebrity” ad uses Paris Hilton and Britney Spears to point out how famous Barack Obama is and to point out that his fame, like that of Britney and Paris, does not make him capable of leading the US. In “The One” McCainholds up Obama as some great messianic figure even comparing him to Moses (as played by Charlton Heston) and saying that “he may be ‘The One’ but is he ready to lead.”
These ads are pretty gross. First, I am a little surprised that no one has thought to ask why McCain didn’t just use his home video footage of Moses since they are roughly the same age, bit never mind that. The problem with celebrity is that McCain is suing code words (and young white women) in the same way white women were used to stir up racial prejudice against Harold Ford in the last election. Put a black man with a white woman and you pretty much set the table for at least 584 racially prejudicial clichés. And the same thing is true of “The One” although it goes out of its way to appeal less to people’s fear of the big black Buck dating a white girl (especially a couple of ingénues like Spears and Hilton), it still has all the same code words inherent to racism. Instead of calling Obama “uppity,” they now call him arrogant. With a nod to Jon Stewart, I’d like to point out that McCain and Obama are running to be the leader of the free word; how can you assume you are up to that task without being arrogant? Well, you can do it if you are an idiot like George W. Bush.
Anyway, like I was saying, all of this is really, REAALLY familiar. It reminds me of Willie Horton, of the Swift Boat bullshit, of constantly accusing Al Gore of being a liar. And, for the time being at least, it is working. McCain has dominated a couple of weeks of news cycles and while I think that there are a few angry outbursts and senior moments yet to come (not to mention a few more pre-cancerous liver spots to be removed), I don’t think Obama can depend on them.
It is time for Obama to attack. If there is one lesson democrats should have learned by now but do not seem to grasp it is that when the other guy hits you below the belt, you need to kick him in the junk. It’s like the Mutually Assured Destruction paradigm of the Cold War. The Soviets knew that if they launched at us, we’d launch right back and, therefore, they did not ever begin a nuclear war. Bill Clinton was the first guy since Lyndon Johnson who was willing to get his knuckles a little bloody and his clothes a little dirty if it meant stopping the other guy from telling lies, spreading innuendo and appealing to the baser instincts of people everywhere. Since Lyndon Johnson ran his famous “Daisy” we have had Nixon with his “Southern Strategy” (also a big ol’ kiss to racists everywhere), Reagan who didn’t need to run dirty, Bush the Elder who allowed Lee Atwater to arrange for Willie Horton’s coming out party and Dubya, who may have run the two greasiest campaigns ever. The only Democrats who won in that time period were Jimmy Carter, who was able to win because Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon for his role in the Watergate coverup and Bill Clinton, who demonstrated a willingness to play dirty if it meant détente between the campaigns. In other words, the only Democrat to win the presidency since LBJ was a guy who ran against Watergate and even HE couldn’t win reelection.
The lessons of the past are clear. Barack Obama needs to go on the offensive. W e keep hearing about how sharp his organization is. We hear about how he is a Chicago pol and he knows how to survive a street fight if he has to, even against accomplished hair-pullers and cock-punchers like McCain has running his campaign. Well, then Senator Obama, unleash the hounds, let slip the dogs of war. Go after him. Hard. Hit him in the mouth and knock his fucking dentures down his throat. Because he has won the last two weeks and is showing some discipline at staying on message.
The good news is that most voters (re: people who aren’t geeks like me) haven’t really started paying attention yet and there is plenty of time for you to set up your narrative and the public’s perception of you. You are still not well-defined n the eyes of most voters. But McCain is defining you as I wrote these very words and you are letting him.
Let’s not forget that in August, 2004 the Swift Boat ads were really gearing up and John Kerry ignored them displaying tremendous yet unearned faith in the American public to see though the smears. It didn’t work. Not only did Kerry ignore the smears, he went windsurfing. Sweet Jesus, he went windsurfing.
And now I read that Obama is taking a family vacation to Hawaii. Look, I am all for vacations. I love to take them myself. But I am not running for president. I have been an Obama supporter pretty much this whole time but I have a hard time thinking that Hillary Clinton would be going on vacation right now, no matter how exhausted she might be. I know Obama has family in Hawaii, but how tone deaf do you have to be to purport to represent the general American public and take a vacation most people cannot even hope to afford? Fuel prices are skyrocketing and you are taking your family to Hawaii. This makes no sense. It’s not quite as bad as windsurfing, but it is just not a good idea.
Senator Obama, you are carrying the hopes of hundreds of millions of people on your shoulders. I am begging you to get off the bench and get in the game. Don’t go to Hawaii; stay here (send the wife and kids if you like) and take care of business. Do not let McCain further define you while it is within your power to define yourself. Do not be the John Kerry/Al Gore/George McGovern/Michael Dukakis who stays the course and tries to appeal to people’s better natures. Instead, appeal to their base instincts, incite some anger in them and direct it where it needs to go and I suspect you will see McCain stop this shit amy maybe decide to talk about the actual issues for once. I doubt it, because once you get him talking about the issues, he can’t win. But you cannot get him to talk about the issues as long as you let him keep wailing on you and don’t give him a reason to stop.
It is time to attack, ruthlessly, relentlessly and without remorse or pause. You can do it.
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