Was I the only person who woke up this morning humming John Melloncamp's "Smalltown" after seeing Sarah Palin's speech last night. You might not agree with the content of the speech, but the speech did make it clear why John McCain picked her. After the speech picking Sarah Palin seems like a much smarter pick than it did a week ago
Sarah Palin did a lot to cash in on the idea of being from a small town. Her speech went a long way to say "I am more like you than I am like them." The them being the inside Washington types and the costal media. She went a far way to define who she is. She went very far to say that is who she is and who she will fight for. Many people I know who live in small towns feel very alienated from the major American cities. I can see Sarah Palin playing well in these small towns.
I hear lots of people in the Bay Area use the term "fly over states" and that is exactly who she is trying to appeal to. She went as far as name checking the states that might be in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Minnesota. These are the places where she can make a difference. She is not meant to pick up New York or California Hillary Supporters. She is meant to pick up some of the places where Hillary did well and Obama did poorly. According to the CNN Electoral Map, these are places where
Why did John McCain pick her, because he has a gender gap problem. More women are democrats and John McCain is not going to win without closing that gap. He does not need to close the gap everywhere. The CNN political map points out some of the places Palin can make the difference.
Yes John McCain knew what he was doing when he picked Sarah Palin. I do not think she was his first pick. I do not think he thinks she is the best choose to be President if something happens to him. The VP is not about the best person to be president because they cannot be president if they cannot help win the election.
I was thinking about John McCain picking Sarah Palin for his vice president. Everyone's first reaction is that he is just doing this to pick up some of the Hillary Clinton supporters. Her first speech even mention the 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling. The press has called this move everything from pandering to brilliant.
Many of the hard core Hillary supporters will not go for this. I do not expect them to. There are still a group of PUMA's out there that are not happy after the convention. Bill Clinton became president by appealing to Centrist democrats. It is those democrats that McCain is going after with Sarah Palin.
Yes, some former Hillary supporters who will go for this. The key is that not that many have to go for McCain for this to be effective. You just need to swing some in the battle ground states. This pick is not for the San Francisco-Feminist Hillary Supporters. This pick is for the Rural Ohio and PA democrats that are members of the NRA. I am surprised that more democrats do not realize this.
I recorded the CNN coverage of the political convention. I will admit that I picked them because they are in HD. If MSNBC was also in HD on my cable service I might need to pick them.
In the first three hours that I watched, it was 80% about the Clinton and Obama struggle. Will the Clinton support vote for Obama? Did Obama do enough to reach out to Clinton and her supporter? Are Bill and Hillary to blame for being bad losers? The same questions over and over again to different people.
The next 20% were about the horse race between Obama and McCain. What Obama needs to do to win. How he needs Clinton Supporters to win. How McCain is trying to drive a wedge.
They used up a lot of time without making mention of the platform at all. They did all this without even covering what Obama wants to do as president. I think this is one of the big problems with American political news. They cover the race far better than they cover the polices and platforms. In the end the electorate is much worse off for it. No surprise that Americans vote for the candidate who they want to share a beer with and not whose policies are better.
PS. CNN, stop having Wolff Blitzer say "The Best Team in Politics." It is cheap and cheezy.
It is also an election of ageism. Everybody seems to have fun making fun of McCain's age. How come native Indians chose their "Elders" as leaders and why are older people in China the most respected as they are looked upon as wiser than younger ones? Only in our rotten civilization, we are required to "shut up" once we are past the average "dinks" age of 40. Nobody asked Hilary for a medical exam although she could have aids or STD with all the women who s...her husbands d.....
I had not thought about this before, but I should have. A friend brought my attention to younger than McCain. The point of this to mock age. I know that Obama's campaign is all about change. His message is that McCain is part of the Old Guard and that will be business as usual.
I can tell Munichmaedchen why age and wisdom is not valued in our culture. It is bcause we are always looking for something New. America was made on the next idea America was made by people trying to get away from their past. That is way experence is a dirty word in politics.
It will be interesting to see what happens with the ageism going forward. I think it will become an issue when McCain picks his running mate.
There is a lot of talk in the media lately about the amount of sexism that Hillary has been facing. I saw a story about this on Good Morning America. The story really got me thinking.
I think lots of things are going on here. In part lots of the political coverage on 24 hour news networks area about personality and not about policy. When this plays to candidates advantage it is fine. When it does not play to their advantage they call it a social problem. I think that the sexism I have seen in the media is directly related to the idea of personalty.
The media coverage of this election has been more superficial than substantial. It is clear if you look at the 24 hour news networks. First they cover the horse race, second they cover election gaffs, third they cover speeches, forth they cover opinion. They do not get around to covering policy to until about fifth on the list. No wonder they cover things like what Hillary looks like.
The news media is still part of the media. I know in an ideal world the news media would be different that the entertainment media, but it is not. I am so shocked that there is sexism in the presidential election the same year that Sex and the City movie is released. I cannot believe that the same media that comments on Hillary showing her feminine side by crying. I know that people will say that the news media should be above this for a presidential election, but it is still the same media.
In the end the media is reflection of us. It is not separate from us. It is part of our culture. Yes there is still sexism in our culture. Yes when it comes the to the media sexism is front and center. It is not limited to the presidential election but it cannot be excluded from the presidential election either.
The issue with sexism is a tough one. Everyone wants to be treated fairly. The problem is that our culture does not agree what it means to be treated fairly when it comes to sex. You cannot just remove all mention of gender all together from the election. Many people want to see more women elected to office because gender is important. If the news make no mention of gender it will also be seen as too politically correct. This is cause them to lose credibility.
My problem with this election is the other sexism that no one brings up at all. The only way we have a female candidate that has done this well is for her to have been a former First Lady. Someone look at the list of women in the US Senate or female governors and tell me that Hillary is really the best qualified. There is something wrong with that being the only way a woman can become a national political figure in America. I have not heard one person decrying sexism in this election mention that.
Part of the story was about Glenn Beck saying "she's a stereotypical bitch." Later on in the story he talks about what he wants out of a president. He wants a president that will take on all challenges. He wants Hillary Clinton to take the Hillary Clinton Nutcracker on stage, hold it up and say, "Damn straight." The idea is that the world is not a fair place. A good President has to be able to face the world when it is unfair. They are going to have to fight when the chips are down.
What is the right answer? I am not sure. This situation will not change anytime soon. It might change when near 50% of all elected officials are female. Maybe it will change when it is not a news story for a woman to do well in a presidential primary. Right now a woman running for president is still Man Bites Dog.
Don't look now Ann Coulter, but you might be singing up to work on the Hillary Clinton campaign. After tonight McCain is looking pretty good tonight. I wonder if Ann Coulter is a person of her word.
On the radio today I heard people talk about the race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for the race for the Democratic Presidential Nomination. The conversation was about race and the Presidency. One of the people on the radio said that Just because Bill Clinton has Credibility with African Americans that does not automatically transfer to Hillary Clinton. They went on to talk about Tony Morrison calling Bill Clinton our first black President.
I have heard this before. I cannot really tell you off the top of my head what Bill Clinton did for African Americans. I cannot think of one policy choice he made or big effort out of the White House that was Pro African American. When I try to look for it I find stories like this one. If you know any policy or law making that would answer my question, please let me know. I am wondering if I am missing something.
I know that DeWayne Wickham is saying in the story above. I think that a president should be judged on one thing, how he runs the country. How you feel about them is not important.
