17 posts tagged “campaign”
All of the Republican rhetoric of the past few months stomped out by the McCain campaign. I will get to that in a minute, but I am not sure what will be worse for the Republican Party a loss in a week or an unlikely win. I believe that most of the American public (excepting the most diehard Republican “fans) already had a pretty good idea about much of all of this, but I think it is simply a vindication of the media that has been taking the brunt of the blame for creating these perceptions.
In case you have not heard all of this, there are endless reports of dissention in the McCain ranks centering on Governor Palin. The hero of the Republican party is now a “rogue” “diva” candidate undermining the McCain campaign. The pride and joy of the campaign has become the poster child for the statement “Pride cometh before the fall.”
The latest episode has to do with the fact that Sarah Palin decided to write her own script and inadvertently distract attention from the campaign by not letting the clothing argument die. The campaign over the past couple of days has drifted from “The Testing of Barack Obama” and “Joe the Plumber” to “Sarah the Rogue Diva.”
CNN has been reporting that members of the McCain camp are saying she has no relationships of trust with anyone in the campaign or even her own family. That she sees herself as the beginning and end of all wisdom. She is being described using words such as “diva” and “rogue” and on and on.
That however, is not the serious statements, those are just the entertainment to warm us up for the real bombs. We all remember the Katie Couric interview and some other early appearances where she looked lost. Then, after all of the talk about Senator Obama as some kind of rock star, the main defense for her presence on the campaign trail is her popularity. Then came all of the “media bias” talk about the sexism and the evil “leftwing” media trying to paint her as someone who has no idea what is going on and has no business running for vice president.
Now suddenly, sources of many of these arguments in her defense, are turning one-eighties from within the McCain Campaign. There are reports that members of the McCain camp are saying that she had a lack of understanding on some fundamental key issues on a level one person called “dramatic.” Another described her as the hardest candidate to get up to speed in history.
The rhetoric is still there about how she is being picked on or that people are being mean and sexist, and on and on. Let me spell this out. THE PEOPLE WHO KNOW HER BEST POLITICALLY ARE NOW SAYING THESE THINGS!
Again the Republican Party is doing the worst job of damage control imaginable. The polls show that people believe she is not qualified and is hurting Senator McCain, the media has been leaning that way, Republican Party members have one by one been leaning that direction, she is found guilty of previous ethics violations while on the campaign, she holds a rally for herself a week before the election when the actual candidate is behind in all polls, and now the leadership within the campaign is verifying what the public has been suspecting all along.
The weird part is the Republican folks are all over the media still rallying support around her far more than anything they are doing for Senator John McCain.
It is like a ship with a hole in it. The crew keeps trying to patch the hole but on the other side of the ship there is one crew member who keeps cutting holes on the other side of the ship. The crew keeps having to patch the new holes and is constantly being distracted from patching the original hole. The ship is sinking and now the “rogue” crewmember keeps punching more holes in the ship. If you were on the ship, what would you do with that crewmember? Apparently in the Republican camp has decided that the solution to the holes is to blame the mean people on the other boats.
The problem here is not policy and that is why nobody is focusing on policy, the problem is “WHAT THE HECK ARE THEY DOING IN THE REPUBLICAN CAMP?” This is the question that those of us who are not Republican are wondering and that is what the media is covering. Most of us are satisfied that Senator Joe Biden is not the best candidate in the world, but he is savvy enough to be a vice-president. He is no longer interesting.
But boy, when you spend all of your time getting your clips on television attacking somebody and complaining you turn even the person who is actually in the lead into the underdog and should not wonder why so many are so interested in seeing these Republican candidates beaten.
The Presidential race is rolling on, the economy is in the tank, we are still at war in two places and there are several places that we could be at war with at any minute and what happens next seems to rest on the shoulders of some folks known as independent voters. Who are these people?
Here is how I have been shown the basic makeup of our political system…
Social &..................... Economic..........................Economic..................Social &
Economic...................Conservatives......................Liberals.....................Economic
Liberals.......................Social...............................Social........................Conservatives
...................................Liberals.............................Conservatives...............................
LEFT <------------------------------------{*}--------------------------------------> RIGHT
Democrats ..............(Libertarians)........................................................... Republicans
The key to understanding the middle is the two groups located near the middle of this chart. The assumption in many people’s estimation is that we all neatly fit into either extreme or we are somehow not as educated or understanding of politics for some reason. In reality what you have is a difference of opinion on what is truly important from either extreme.
Because we tend to view American politics as a two party system the groups near the middle tend to not associate themselves to a party fully bet most often vote to the side that they appear on above. The social aspects of our society and thee social viewpoints of the voter, tend to drive the side they choose when voting on an issue or for a candidate. Thus, Social Liberals tend to the left and Social Conservatives tend to the right.
The truth is however that the groups near the middle always feel that they have sacrificed some ideal for another one in the interest of the greater good no matter how they decide to vote.
The problem comes when a subject such as the economy plays a big role in the picture. Now these people near the middle have to look to the other side of the chart to satisfy their feelings on the economy while attempting to close their eyes to what is normally their main concern, the social agenda.
Why is all of this important to this election? I think this might demonstrate a very simple reason behind why the pools are so slanted in Senator Obama’s favor. The Republican Presidential and Vice-presidential candidates have been speaking the language of Social and Economic Conservatives (also known as Republicans) with a fervor seldom seen in campaigns.
They have basically ignored the group (really groups) that all along have been described as the ones that will make or break this election year and may have alienated the “Economic Liberals Social Conservatives” group in manner that may have them leaning to left for a while to come.
The Obama Campaign has done a good job of finding ways to appeal to these middle groups and to unify the more left leaning voters. The key being that a candidate does not have to satisfy everything a person in one of the groups in the middle wants just whatever those groups find to be the most important at the time.
The only surprise in all of this is that the “Economic Conservatives Social Liberals” group is not gravitating to the right with Senator McCain. I would have to say that the tying of Senator McCain to the largely unpopular Bush administration coupled with the dislike a person who is a social liberal would have for many of the campaign tactics and attacks of the McCain camp have driven these people to stay with the group that they tend to run with anyhow.
I am an Economic Liberal Social Conservative type of guy and would normally be a McCain supporter, but have been driven away by the terrible nature of the campaign and the insanity that is Republican politics in 2008. I am not sure there is time left for the Republican ticket, but I am absolutely convinced that the damage to the republican party (particularly with voters in these middle groups) is massive and will be lasting. I hope Republicans can look at this and regroup or we will be stuck with a one-sided, left-leaning government for years until things get so out of hand that the pendulum swings the other direction.
“A typical vice of American politics is the avoidance of saying anything real on real issues.”
“A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of the user.”
“Every reform movement has a lunatic fringe.”
“If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn't sit for a month.”
“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.”
“It is difficult to make our material condition better by the best law, but it is easy enough to ruin it by bad laws.”
“The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.”
“The most practical kind of politics is the politics of decency.”
“The most successful politician is he who says what the people are thinking most often in the loudest voice.”
‘When they call the roll in the Senate, the Senators do not know whether to answer "Present" or "Not guilty."’
“THE THINGS THAT WILL DESTROY AMERICA ARE PROSPERITY-AT-ANY-PRICE, PEACE-AT-ANY-PRICE, SAFETY-FIRST INSTEAD OF DUTY-FIRST, THE LOVE OF SOFT LIVING, AND THE GET-RICH-QUICK THEORY OF LIFE.”
The person quoted here is my favorite president of all time…Theodore Roosevelt. Strength, intelligence and straight forward, while also a man of honor and integrity and decency. (the decency is the biggest thing missing from all of the presidential campaigns of recent years.
I was wondering how long this was going to take. Rep. John Lewis (a Democrat from Georgia) pulled the race card on the tone of the McCain campaign this week.
This normally would anger me as much as the tone of the McCain camps past two weeks if it were not for the fact that people at McCain rallies were screaming things about killing Senator Obama and screaming out racial epithets without a flinch from the McCain camp until it hit the news.
I honestly do not believe that Senator McCain had any intention of playing on the racism of the people at those rallies and the rallies of Governor Sarah Palin. My suspicions seem to be confirmed by the very honorable move of Senator McCain when he started to finally speak out against such things.
What I think Senator McCain’s campaign is guilty of is attempting to play on the fears and anger of the people within the Republican Party to stir up votes. This can be a very effective move but, it is sort of like throwing bloody meat into a group of sharks. Sometimes you can get relatively controlled and expected results and sometimes the feeding frenzy can go completely out of control and the sharks will even bite each other (eyes closed) in the wild frenzy the ensues.
When Senator McCain tried to lower the temperature of the party a bit with some positive comments, the crowd actually started booing. It’s like the sharks were going crazy biting everything in site and suddenly he pulled the meat out of the water. The images I saw were the sharks wanting to jump into the boat to attack Senator McCain.
Rep. Lewis sure seems to have made his comments at a strange time. I am not sure why this was necessary no matter how one feels about what was going on.
I was encouraged to hear that the Obama camp immediately issued statements to the contrary. I am not sure that the statements of both candidates were not too late. Sort of like “unringing” the gong.
I also have to wonder if Rep. Lewis thinks he is helping Senator Obama or the country by throwing meat into another group of sharks. The McCain camp (in particular one Governor Sarah Palin) has been stirring the anger, fears, and tensions of the American people on both sides of the argument at one of the scariest times in our history. Now this Lewis person (which immediately brings the one word question “Who?” to my mind), seeing the escalated tensions decides to add more fuel to the fire.
What is wrong with these people? I have to wonder if they are seeking to create enough political unrest to implode our whole government system. If the tension of this presidential election is raised any more we may be able to classify this whole election as an act of terrorism before long.
I am not sure that this might not have been the more appropriate time to suspend campaigns. All this going to meet with the president for photo ops on bailouts is nowhere near as important as the escalation of tensions between the various demographics that make up out nation.
Imagine the candidates doing something like deciding to spend the next few days calming both sides down and unifying the country instead of focusing on getting elected. They could suspend the debate and just have interviews at different times where they answered the tough questions in front of an audience and thus eliminate the feeding of the reality TV hungry sharks that we have all become. Some of us circling sharks will be disappointed that we won’t see one of the candidates get chomped on, but the greater good would definitely be served.
What ever happened to the idea of doing what is right and serving the greater good?
I have just watched footage on several channels of the McCain campaign trail with both angry Republican voters and angry speeches about forcing the media to discuss the items that the McCain camp is talking about. There was also angry discussion of how they are mystified at why Barack Obama is doing so well. One very angry gentleman, rambling loudly about having our heads examined because of the mere existence of Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi.
I am one of those undecided independent voters everyone keeps talking about. I am a moderate social conservative and a moderate economic liberal (probably in the economic center) so I am a true independent that tends to lean ever so slightly Republican. I quite honestly cannot remember the last Democratic presidential candidate I have voted for (but I have voted for several Democrats as well as Republicans in other areas).
The last month and a half have not drawn me to either major candidate, but the last month and a half has definitely been driving me away from one campaign (which translates to away from one candidate).
The McCain campaign includes officials that were let go from previous Republican campaigns because of the negative campaign tactics, so the tone of what is going on is not surprising. Let me help this man and others with this question understand how at least a segment of those of us who call ourselves independents are thinking.
I have just watched and listened to the topic that has overpowered the drastic drop in the markets all over the world including ours. That topic is……too much detail in a close-up picture of Sarah Palin. I was struck by the audacity of the far right to interrupt reality with such stupidity. One woman, in trying to defend this, spent several minutes arguing that any woman would be angered by this Newsweek cover because one can see her blackheads, pimples, and mustache. How dare these people waste all of our time with such stupidity and at the same time say the media is favoring Barack Obama. If this garbage is what the Far Right is going to do with media coverage, please find some way to ensure that they get no more.
For the past few days, there have been reports of angry McCain supporters at Sarah Palin rallies doing things like:
- Yelling out “Kill him!”
- Yelling out “Off with his head!”
- Yelling racial epithets at an African American camera man
The big problem is not simply the fact that these are the people that are supporting Senator McCain. The biggest problem is that these, over the top, comments and activities were occurring and Governor Sarah Palin just took it all in stride as if these sorts of activities were okay as long as it is something negative about Senator Obama.
What would we do if we were all watching the television, President Bush is speaking, and a spectator screams out, you should kill the n*$$@*. Would we not be astonished if he did not say something about the comments?
The astonishing thing is that the extreme right wing does not realize that the response that diehard Republicans have at negative rhetoric from Senator McCain, Governor Palin, and Senator McCain’s wife will not have the same effect on those of us who everyone thinks are really going to make the difference (the independent voters).
I just heard a clip of one guy begging Senator McCain to step up the attacks and revisit the Reverend Wright issue and step up attacks on the Bill Ayers issue.
Then there are the clips of Sarah Palin asking the far right to try to force the media to participate by discussing these same negative topics more and more.
The McCain campaign is getting pummeled in the polls, and this nonsense has not even caught traction much less been successful yet and seems to be hurting more than helping. All of us know he is loosing and we know it is the usual time for the trailing candidate to ratchet up the attacks. But, these attacks if perceived to be over the top run the risk of making the attacker look like the desperate flailing of a drowning person. It is an odd phenomenon how many of those who are drowning accidently try to drown the very ones who would save them while they are flailing to save themselves. The flailing of the McCain camp may be an accidental attack on the very people who could save his chances.
Let spell it out for at least a segment of us undecided, independent voters.
We do not like it and will not vote for you under any circumstances if it continues much longer!
As McCain is finally finding a way to connect with the extreme of his party, he is distancing himself more and more from the voters most experts are going to make the difference. That means these tactics are distancing him more and more from the presidency.
People like myself remember the public outbursts of Senator McCain in the past and if he is trying to distance himself from all of that, crowds of angry people yelling things like “kill him” about the other candidate is probably not the best way to do that.
Because I am often traveling on the days we vote I get absentee ballots. I have mine sitting in front of me right now. I have everything filled out except my choice for president. I have been put off so much by the McCain camp over the past few weeks (particularly the past two) that I am giving him until next Wednesday to change all of this. I think even though I have been so put off, personally angered, personally offended, disgusted, and embarrassed (the whole planet is watching us) I feel this is a fair cooling off period for me. He has one week to stop shooting himself in the foot or at least one vote will have officially gone the other way.
I feel if he is this distant from reality as a candidate, he will be distant from reality as president.
P.S. I understand the Reverend Wright thing and the Bill Ayers thing and although I am not happy about these things, I am really not all that interested in hearing about the same nonsense over and over again and again. It just looks angry and “same old Washington” and actually angers me with all that is going on.
It is not my fault, the media’s fault, or Barack Obama’s fault that Senator McCain told the planet the economy is not his strength right before every economy worldwide collapsed.
Yup, I’m back. The voice of the independent, Christian, voter of mixed race.
What a year. Never have there been two candidates for anything where the both less represent what I believe in as this presidential race. They are however, both pretty adept at talking a pretty good game.
There is good news on the horizon (other than the fact that all of this is almost over). This election may not be the total waste I had once thought it was inevitably going to be.
Over the past few weeks, the usual attack ads and ongoing verbal attacks from the person falling behind have be at or near an all time high. Palin, McCain, the McCain campaign and so on are dangerously close to going nuclear in their assault on everything Obama.
At this point in the campaign season the American public begins its normal ranting and carrying on about how much they hate this kind of politics and wish the candidates would stick to the issues and other such complaints. The funny thing is that this usually works in spite of all of the complaining.
This year much of how campaigns are run (particularly presidential campaigns) is evolving right before our eyes. The most impacting change I am seeing (and I hope I continue to see) is the immediate expression of dislike of the attack technique in polls, discussions, and those funny little button things on CNN during the debates.
Whenever the attacking starts, the little CNN graph drops faster than a Mike Tyson opponent in the early part of his boxing career. The stronger the attacks in “Tall Hall Meetings” and on the campaign trail, the larger the gap grows between the candidates.
The surprise for me is that in spite of this, the McCain campaign has decided to continue to run the campaign as if Senator McCain was running for president in the late sixties (sort of Nixonesque with a touch of George W.). The hurrahs of the unwavering party faithful seem to be blinding the McCain camp to the fact that the “undecided” voters, are getting far more of that in the news than anything else from his camp. The truth is, it is far ore interesting news, but at this point in history terrible campaigning.
Have they forgotten that he is fighting the image of the elderly, grumpy guy who has outburst of anger and randomly votes for stuff that makes no sense? Are they sure that twenty-four hours of news with clips of him, barely holding back the fact he cannot stand Senator Barack Obama, with barely harnessed intensity (bordering on anger) saying negative things about the man. For many I have spoken to even many that are leaning his direction, he is starting to look a little scary.
I am not a campaign manager nor a rocket scientist, but I think Guy McIntyre (formerly with the San Francisco 49ers) one said: “If something is not working, you should do less of it.” I would have to say I agree totally.
As one of those independent voters, I am nowhere near being convinced that Senator Obama is ready to be president. But the way things are going, I would have to say that the poor judgment of the McCain campaign as directed by Senator John McCain is drifting towards being what I see as grossly negligent. If the people he has selected to run his campaign are doing such a poor job of responding to the changing times and he has not changed the course in the face of impending disaster, what does that say about his potential presidency and those he will appoint to important positions?
I personally, as an undecided, independent voter, am not likely to vote for Senator Obama, but I am getting more and more likely to vote against the entire McCain campaign.
I honestly hope he hears this message and changes the course of his campaign to something that is less akin to watching the Titanic right after it hit the iceberg. I desperately would like to feel like one of these guys could do the job and the longer this goes on the less convinced I seem to become. This current ploy of attacking Senator Obama, while it gets hoops and hollers from the “diehard” Republicans (like cheering for their favorite football team when they are loosing), the result of energizing the a Republican base will not have the same effect that it did for George W. It is the quickest way to loose.
I have been quietly watching Senator McCain and trying to see if there was anything to hope for beyond what I already knew. I tried to have an open mind and was again disappointed.
Over the past few weeks I have watched Senator McCain get on the offensive (and yes it was definitely offensive). I actually was okay with the first few attacks and political ploys, but it has really gotten tired.
I could not place how I was feeling about him until I heard somebody describe him as reminding him of the grumpy elderly people down the street that we all remember for always yelling at the neighborhood children for making too much noise or for stepping on their grass etc.. That hit it on the head. He strikes me as just some grumpy person that that is just angry at a bunch of stuff.
I have also watched him and anyone who supports him build on Senator Hillary Clinton’s theme of his extensive experience in government service.
I was thinking about that and the first images that came to my mind were
- Me watching the news sometime in the late eighties or early nineties and suddenly hearing a song from the very political rap group “Public Enemy” playing on the local news. This caught my attention and although I do not remember which song it was, I will always remember the kinda scary looking gentleman that was the topic of the news story. The story was about the people who were fighting against the Martin Luther King holiday and that “poster child” for this movement perceived to be anti-African American was one Senator John McCain.
- I remember flipping through the channels at some point in history and seeing some guys from the government in some kind of legal trouble and trying to defend themselves. Apparently there was a question of some possible shady dealings and one of those men was this Senator McCain fellow.
- I remember being vaguely interested in the 2000 elections and suddenly this one guy busts out and says a bunch of anti-Christian stuff and blows his stack. I remember thinking to myself; “Isn’t that that crazy guy who fought against the Martin Luther King holiday.”
In sports I have had several coaches that made a correction to a popular saying. The popular saying is “practice makes perfect.” The correction is “No! Perfect practice makes perfect. If you practice it wrong you will only do it wrong in the games and lose.”
Just time spent in the government does not make a person a good president especially if the memories I have are any indicator of what we can expect of McCain presidency.
Court cases, angry outbursts, and the end of those pesky tributes to African Americans. I know it sounds a little extreme, but I am not the only person who has these scattered memories along with some vague recollection of his wife in some kind of trouble for prescription drug addiction.
I honestly have not given these things much thought until the recent push to focus on Senator McCain’s ever so incredible and extensive political experience. I went through the memory banks and this is what was buried back there. Research has revealed much more good and bad, but I am still haunted by these images.
I am even more haunted by the idea of similar images coming from a president of our great nation.
And if I hear one more person defend their plans to vote for Senator McCain by stating he or she doesn’t trust Senator Obama or because he or she wanted Senator Clinton to win the nomination I promise to vomit on them. Not voting for him because he would be a good president, can save us from the current messes, or even is a good candidate, but to spite the other candidate a person would put the fate of our nation and all of it’s inhabitants in the hands of someone they do not truly believe would be a better candidate. A person who would do something this careless and reckless should have their right to vote taken away.
I have yet to see any reason to vote for either candidate from the major parties and yet have reason upon reason why neither one is a safe bet for the Whitehouse.
I am beginning to think there isn’t even a lesser evil. It is like asking which person in the morgue is deader or in effect which is the “lesser” dead? They are all dead and that is that.
Both of these candidates are terrible and that is that!
Since the time Senator Hillary Clinton was in the primaries and started to take Senator Barack Obama seriously there has been talk of the media being in love with Senator Obama and not giving other candidates equal time in the news.
Senator John McCain’s camp has begun to use the same defense for why he is not getting the media time that Senator Obama seems to get.
I have been thinking about this for the past few weeks and I noticed something this week and I watched it carefully before posting about it.
The biggest offender at this minute in terms of getting Senator Obama in the news an keeping him the main story is……..Senator John McCain himself.
Almost all of Senator McCain’s airtime as of late has been focused on talking about Senator Obama or he ties whatever he is saying to something Senator Obama is saying.
As I watch this unfold what it does is give everyone reason to question Senator Obama’s motives and thoughts. The next thing that happens is there is discussion and debates for hours or pages on Senator Obama, his motives, his thoughts, his past, his future, etc. The result has been the Senator McCain is taking a man who we all know very little about and creating a media environment where we are focused on Senator Obama and we are becoming more familiar with him that we have been to probably any other candidate in history.
Every time Senator McCain speaks in public we are all left hungry with questions about Senator Obama which has been translating into interest in Senator Obama who seems to have a very likable public persona.
Is this really the best strategy for Senator McCain to use? It seems like a silly ploy at this point in the game. I mean, Senator Obama has been struggling to get people to think they know who he is and what he stands for and that had been playing in Senator McCain’s favor.
Now we know all about his parents, his grandparents, the people he went to school with, about his legal work, his work in the inner cities, past identity crises, how he will do in working with foreign leaders, and every time large groups of Americans all begin to say that Senator Obama doesn’t make sense or is fuzzy about something John McCain is the one who brings the point into the public, the media debates it and Senator Obama has plenty of time then to say whatever will make him look good.
It is true that Senator Obama seems to get all of the positive media even when he has done or stated something stupid, but it is Senator John McCain that is causing this to a large degree.
The entire planet knows that Senator McCain is not even close to as good of a public speaker as Senator Obama is. How can Senator McCain’s camp not see that creating an environment where he has another opportunity to speak publicly is to fight the battle where Senator McCain is weak and Senator Obama is strong?
This last trip that Senator Obama took was nothing more than a publicity stunt that only served to prove that people (even foreign leaders) find Senator Obama more likable than Senator McCain. Likeable does not make a person a good president (but it doesn’t hurt and doesn’t hurt your chances of being elected).
Senator McCain has just spent an entire week trying to attack these travels, raising the debate and once again giving Senator Obama a hungry public that is eagerly awaiting his discussion of this trip. In other words he just gave Senator Obama the perfect opportunity to address the public in public speech (his strength) and legitimize a trip that really was nothing but a publicity stunt. Senator McCain has created the opportunity to turn a trip that even the media had questions about into a great step forward in his campaign.
Who is running this campaign anyway? I would think that that with all of his military background Senator McCain would know better than to take your weakest troops and attack the enemy where they are strongest with no other plan.
A smart John McCain would find subtle ways to take away the legitimacy of the trip and what happened in these places and appear to be ignoring the whole thing because it was truly as irrelevant as it seemed.
Senator McCain is accidently become the biggest supporter of Senator Obama in the country and keeps getting on my television “shooting himself in the foot (no Donald Rumsfeld puns intended).
Recent comments by Charles R. Black Jr., a key advisor to Senator John McCain have sparked a firestorm that is being fanned by the Senator Barack Obama’s camp. Mr. Black merely stated that a terrorist attack during the campaign would strengthen Senator McCain’s presidential bid. The real question in this campaign is what idiot picks these advisors?
This year seems to be plagued with crazy remarks from crazy advisors, supporters, friends, and family members that completely undermine the candidacy of the person they are trying to support. Where are all of these people coming from and how can they be stopped.
I do have to wonder, in light of what I have seen throughout this year if any of the serious candidates for president (Senator’s McCain, Obama, and Clinton) have shown themselves unable to fulfill the office of president simply because they have no ability to appoint the right people, discern which people are good or outright stupid advisors, and control the crazy people that are otherwise involved in their lives.
If the campaigns of these three people are any indicator of what a presidency will look like, I certainly will pass.
A huge part of a presidency finds it’s foundations in whom the president surrounds himself or herself with and appoints to major positions that have influence over the entire planet. The people around the three serious candidates that we had been left with (now two) are amateurish (to put it politely).
The mistakes and stupidity seen this year are not old Washington politics they are best classified as armature Washington stupidity.
Once again, I assert that clearly non e of the aforementioned candidates is ready to be president for the next four years and we need a better candidate from somewhere.
Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are to begin campaigning together. The question is will this be a good thing for each one of them and for us who have to watch the whole thing. I am not sure it is the best thing for any of us.
First let’s look at how this is bad for Senator Obama. Having Senator Clinton on his side probably will greatly help him gain some support with female voters and add a strong counterattacking voice that will counter the strong attacks of Senator McCain’s camp.
The problem is that there is another part of the package that comes with a Hillary Clinton; former president Bill Clinton. Each candidate has their strange sideline person that in trying to help them just makes him or her look bad. There is a certain Mr. Wright for Senator Obama, Cindy McCain for Senator John McCain, and there is Bill Clinton for Senator Hillary Clinton.
Senator Obama has finally gotten past his and the memories are gradually dying and the effort by the McCain camp and particularly Senator McCain’s wife Cindy McCain to make Michelle Obama Mr. Wright’s replacement is failing.
Is the Obama camp sure it is ready to take on the burden of Senator Clinton’s anchor and husband Bill Clinton. After all they are married and he loves to get passionate about whatever he is supporting politically. The problem that has surfaced over the past few months is that he gets passionately stupid. Why would a candidate volunteer for more obstacles to overcome?
Next let’s look at how this is bad for Senator Clinton. She spent months tearing down the credentials of Senator Obama and convincing the entire planet that he would be one of the worst choices for president of the United States there has ever been. Her campaigning to the contrary confirms the suspicion that she is all rhetoric and she doesn’t mean half of what she says.
The fact is, that if an Obama presidency has half of the problems she stated it may have, it would be better for her political career to have distanced herself from him during the rest of this race and just announce that she is supporting her party’s candidate because she has to. This means if he is elected and all evil breaks loose, she can run four years from now as the “I told you so” candidate and possibly be the better choice for her party.
Finally let’s look at how this is bad for us. Clearly the campaign is going to get ugly. The McCain camp is starting off with a similar campaign mindset that Senator Clinton had; if you keep attacking Senator Obama he will crack (although this seems like the obvious right direction to go with the slight leads Obama has in many polls, it just failed for Senator Clinton). What is going to happen once the Clinton family are on the other side of this manner of campaign. The mud slinging war to end all wars and we have to endure it all. Smear tactics, attacks on family members, rude and often misleading adds, racial divisiveness from both sides, childishness, and on and on.
The worst problem with all of this will be the lack of genuine conversation about real issues and solutions to compare. We will be simply voting for who fights better, not who is the better candidate.
This is a two sided coin. Good in some ways and bad in some grave other ways
