Thursday, September 04, 2008

Denial

It has been a while since I've seen so much of it.

All of the pro-Obama pundits have been discussing the Sarah Palin vice presidential pick with the underlying assumption that it is obviously going to blow up in McCain's face. All I've been reading for the last week is anti-Palin this, anti-Palin that. Many of these tidbits have a lot of truth to them; especially from an independent or left-wing point of view (95% of the internet). However, they don't undermine the fundamental reality that Sarah Palin has made McCain a more competitive presidential candidate.

The right is falling in love with Palin. Evangelicals are getting excited. Only a week ago, I thought Obama's own VP choice was perfect, but the situation has changed dramatically. Joe Biden is going to have to tread very, very carefully in the VP debates lest he be seen as a bully. His inability to filter what he says would have been funny against a Romney or a Guliani; it will look chauvinistic against a Palin. The last thing the Obama/Biden ticket can afford to do is lose more women to McCain.

It will be interesting to see how Obama himself responds to the Sarah Palin factor. Hopefully his response will be more effective than that of all of his intellectual backers on the internet, which has been terrible. Its time to stop wishing Palin didn't make McCain stronger, or hoping that she is going to have some disastrous secret that destroys McCain's campaign. People need to take her seriously and begin to think about how to counter her. Otherwise, a lot of people are going to wake up on a cold November day still wondering how they lost to such a "weak" ticket.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hey Nick!!!

I think it was such a great decision to pick a woman for vice president by McCain, but I think Palin was the wrong woman. If McCain wants to win the election, in my opinion it's all up to her...She needs to act more professional. The way I see her, she is the modern portrait of 1984's "big brother" and it really scares me. She is not eager for votes but she is trying to force votes. I think deep down she is a great person but she isn't acting like a firm, patient and just leader - my ticket for a vote to a woman. That's my opinion but I still think Obama is going to win and I think that he and I guess, Biden also, will prove to be much more experienced leaders than McCain/Palin..

later,
Mike