Well, doggone it, that's just not true.
I've seen a lot of crazy things happen in the 10 or so years that I've actually paid attention to national politics, but I don't believe I've ever seen a candidate wink at me. Twice. I have no idea how I'm supposed to feel about that. I think, mostly, I'm just uncomfortable. I have no issue with a wink in general, but in the middle of the only Vice Presidential debate for this year's election, it leaves me a little out of sorts. I understand the point of the gesture. Palin was clearly going (overboard) for folksy, average Joe, down-home charm. She made frequent use of darn, doggone, betcha, and any other number of ridiculously overplayed cliches in an attempt to play up her appeal to so-called Middle America. Unfortunately, it didn't work. At least not for me.
I'm an Independent. I'm exactly the kind of person Palin and McCain have to appeal to in order to win this election. The Republican ticket will not win without the support of the Independents and undecided; the floating middle that often waits for the last minute to pick a candidate. I'll be honest: I was already predisposed to voting Obama before McCain picked Sarah Palin to be his running mate. McCain's decision simply solidified my resolve.
Sarah Palin is not presidential material. I don't care what other qualities she may have (perhaps deeply buried somewhere inside her) but I'm one of those people who actually holds the Vice President in high esteem. I know, that's crazy, but I believe that any potential Vice President should be qualified enough to be President at a moment's notice. Palin is not. I'm not even sure I understand how she was elected governor of a state (even Alaska). Her grasp of the issues is negligible at best, her idea of connecting to the American public is, frankly, condescending and insulting, and every time I try to imagine her sitting down and talking with other world leaders, I burst out laughing. Not because I think she's stupid (she's not, really, and that's the scary thing) and not because I think she's incompetent, but I laugh because she's nothing more than a caricature. I try to picture her talking to, say, Vladimir Putin, and I imagine ol' Vlad having to physically restrain himself from slapping her silly. How can anyone take her seriously?
Five minutes into the debate, and I already wanted to change the channel. Her voice is beyond grating, her vocabularly belies the fact that she has a college degree (even though it took her like a million tries), and her "maverick" nature scares me. What little amount of respect I might have had for her disappeared when she straight out said that she hadn't come to the debate to answer the questions posed, but had come to talk about whatever the hell she wanted to talk about. She was so rehearsed that she couldn't go off mission at all, and when she did, she screwed up royally.
I worry about what America has become. People are saying that Palin did a good job. Why? Because she didn't screw up. Because her expectations were so low, that just barely topping them is considered a huge success for her. Since when did the measure of success become simply not monumentally screwing up? Since when did things get so bad that people are actually congratulating Biden for not going for Palin's throat because it would make him look mean and sexist? You've gotta be kidding me. As much as I was pleased with Biden's performance, I think I would have respected him more if he had just ripped Sarah Palin apart (like he clearly wanted to). That, at least, would have been amusing. But hey, I guess I still had the wink. That's something right? Clearly, Palin is the candidate for me.
I'm an Independent. I'm exactly the kind of person Palin and McCain have to appeal to in order to win this election. The Republican ticket will not win without the support of the Independents and undecided; the floating middle that often waits for the last minute to pick a candidate. I'll be honest: I was already predisposed to voting Obama before McCain picked Sarah Palin to be his running mate. McCain's decision simply solidified my resolve.
Sarah Palin is not presidential material. I don't care what other qualities she may have (perhaps deeply buried somewhere inside her) but I'm one of those people who actually holds the Vice President in high esteem. I know, that's crazy, but I believe that any potential Vice President should be qualified enough to be President at a moment's notice. Palin is not. I'm not even sure I understand how she was elected governor of a state (even Alaska). Her grasp of the issues is negligible at best, her idea of connecting to the American public is, frankly, condescending and insulting, and every time I try to imagine her sitting down and talking with other world leaders, I burst out laughing. Not because I think she's stupid (she's not, really, and that's the scary thing) and not because I think she's incompetent, but I laugh because she's nothing more than a caricature. I try to picture her talking to, say, Vladimir Putin, and I imagine ol' Vlad having to physically restrain himself from slapping her silly. How can anyone take her seriously?
Five minutes into the debate, and I already wanted to change the channel. Her voice is beyond grating, her vocabularly belies the fact that she has a college degree (even though it took her like a million tries), and her "maverick" nature scares me. What little amount of respect I might have had for her disappeared when she straight out said that she hadn't come to the debate to answer the questions posed, but had come to talk about whatever the hell she wanted to talk about. She was so rehearsed that she couldn't go off mission at all, and when she did, she screwed up royally.
I worry about what America has become. People are saying that Palin did a good job. Why? Because she didn't screw up. Because her expectations were so low, that just barely topping them is considered a huge success for her. Since when did the measure of success become simply not monumentally screwing up? Since when did things get so bad that people are actually congratulating Biden for not going for Palin's throat because it would make him look mean and sexist? You've gotta be kidding me. As much as I was pleased with Biden's performance, I think I would have respected him more if he had just ripped Sarah Palin apart (like he clearly wanted to). That, at least, would have been amusing. But hey, I guess I still had the wink. That's something right? Clearly, Palin is the candidate for me.
posted by Colin Crabtree | 2:36 PM
1 Comments:
Well said. If Palin does in fact take the VP office, it proves yet again that people vote for the candidate and not the message the candidate represents. The Bush administration has done so little to improve the country that people have become accustomed to mediocrity.
However, Biden was very wise in not ripping Palin apart as he no doubt could have. The far right would have crucified him on every major network and all the people floating towards their ticket would have galloped on a moral high horse to the conservatives.
In the end of all things, McCain chose Palin, not because she was qualified; but because his ticket needed something drastic to even hold a candle to the monumental nomination of someone like Obama.
She is a woman, which is a historical leap on its own, but as you have most aptly pointed out; she is the wrong woman for the job. A woman that pushes a pro-life policy in this day and age is suspicious to say the least.
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