Thoughts on the POTUS and VPOTUS campaigns.
OK. As per usual with any post on politics, this post is from Jill and represents Jill’s views and not Marc AND Jill’s views. And if you stick with me through the end of this post, you’ll see my one question for Sarah Palin if I had one.
The tenor of the 2008 Presidential Campaign has been disappointing to say the least on both sides. I am so sick of the campaign spokespeople, who continue spit out vitriol with the enthusiasm of a child opening presents on their birthday. The fact that there are known “spin rooms” after the debate for the press to “mingle” with the campaigns or even the candidates themselves is a joke. How about just reporting on the debate, getting a quote from each candidate, and sending in your story?
The lies have been coming from both campaigns, although I think McCain’s have been more egregious on a couple of topics. He is not the same candidate that he was in 2000, which is a disappointment. My guess is that he decided that he wants to become POTUS so bad that he decided to make a deal with the devil (W.’s lackeys that helped get him elected). The big question is that regardless of if McCain wins or loses, will he have burned all of his bridges from the Democratic side of the house? Regardless of him being a Senator or the POTUS, he is going to have to work with the Democrats to get his agenda done and I now have big questions about that happening (regardless of the huge budget deficit). I wonder if McCain is so fixated on winning if he has even given it any thought? His decision to “suspend” his campaign was such a joke that his poll numbers have actually dropped since he pulled that stunt.
As for my favorite punchline for the past month – Governor Sarah Palin, where should we start? Obviously as a woman who has spent her career working in alpha male-dominated industries, of course I want women to be equally considered for the roles of President or Vice President of the US. But I have never wanted to get a role, promotion, etc., because I am a woman. It wouldn’t mean a thing to me unless I earned it. And that goes for most women I know. BUT the opportunity needs to go to the right woman. I can think of a number of Republican women who could have been asked to serve as the VP candidate on McCain’s ticket that would have been more qualified than Palin – Olympia Snowe, Kay Bailey-Hutchinson, Condolezza Rice, Libby Dole for starters. I don’t agree with their beliefs but at least they have a track record.
The biggest ding to me about Palin is her hypocrisy about providing transparency in Alaska. She has used personal e-mail accounts for government business, hasn’t given a press conference (if she is worried about Maureen Dowd, wait until she meets Vladimir Putin), hasn’t released tax returns (and of course, won’t do it before tonight’s debate), won’t cooperate in the Troopergate investigation and basically insults people who are not from rural areas but expects her ‘hockey mom, moose hunting’ persona to be taken seriously. Sure there are other reasons to think she is an idiot, like her “gotcha journalism” complaints from the Katie Couric interviews. Gee, it was awful of ‘cute Katie’ to ask a follow-up to get a straight answer to a question. GOTCHA!
I know there are people out there who says that being the Governor of Alaska gives her lots of executive experience. That would be true if she actually answered questions from reporters (not just from Hugh Hewitt who should be embarrassed by the softball questions he gave to Palin) about her style of governance and about decisions she made. If she doesn’t answer questions, sorry – the experience doesn’t count in my book. Everyone else has put themselves up for scrutiny. What makes her exempt? She is like regular people? I don’t see that because she gets a per diem because she chose not to move to Juneau, the state capital of Alaska. And she collected the per diem while she stayed at her home in Wasilla. HUH? Most “regular” people I know that get a job in a new location don’t get per diems to stay at their homes.
As for tonight’s debate, I am concerned. The bar has been set so low for Palin that if she manages to use words that have more than 3 syllables, she will be a winner and that is pathetic. Is it so bad to expect a Vice Presidential candidate to care about foreign affairs? That doesn’t make someone a snob. It makes you curious about how the US is perceived around the world and how we can work with other nations to make the world a better place.
So yeah, I am voting Obama/Biden. Palin made me do it. I was one of those disaffected Hillary supporters, who was on the fence until I had the chance to learn about Palin. And McCain has just become a bitter, old man, and I don’t know why. I do know that is not what this country needs at this point in time.
My question for Governor Palin:
Thoughts?
The tenor of the 2008 Presidential Campaign has been disappointing to say the least on both sides. I am so sick of the campaign spokespeople, who continue spit out vitriol with the enthusiasm of a child opening presents on their birthday. The fact that there are known “spin rooms” after the debate for the press to “mingle” with the campaigns or even the candidates themselves is a joke. How about just reporting on the debate, getting a quote from each candidate, and sending in your story?
The lies have been coming from both campaigns, although I think McCain’s have been more egregious on a couple of topics. He is not the same candidate that he was in 2000, which is a disappointment. My guess is that he decided that he wants to become POTUS so bad that he decided to make a deal with the devil (W.’s lackeys that helped get him elected). The big question is that regardless of if McCain wins or loses, will he have burned all of his bridges from the Democratic side of the house? Regardless of him being a Senator or the POTUS, he is going to have to work with the Democrats to get his agenda done and I now have big questions about that happening (regardless of the huge budget deficit). I wonder if McCain is so fixated on winning if he has even given it any thought? His decision to “suspend” his campaign was such a joke that his poll numbers have actually dropped since he pulled that stunt.
As for my favorite punchline for the past month – Governor Sarah Palin, where should we start? Obviously as a woman who has spent her career working in alpha male-dominated industries, of course I want women to be equally considered for the roles of President or Vice President of the US. But I have never wanted to get a role, promotion, etc., because I am a woman. It wouldn’t mean a thing to me unless I earned it. And that goes for most women I know. BUT the opportunity needs to go to the right woman. I can think of a number of Republican women who could have been asked to serve as the VP candidate on McCain’s ticket that would have been more qualified than Palin – Olympia Snowe, Kay Bailey-Hutchinson, Condolezza Rice, Libby Dole for starters. I don’t agree with their beliefs but at least they have a track record.
The biggest ding to me about Palin is her hypocrisy about providing transparency in Alaska. She has used personal e-mail accounts for government business, hasn’t given a press conference (if she is worried about Maureen Dowd, wait until she meets Vladimir Putin), hasn’t released tax returns (and of course, won’t do it before tonight’s debate), won’t cooperate in the Troopergate investigation and basically insults people who are not from rural areas but expects her ‘hockey mom, moose hunting’ persona to be taken seriously. Sure there are other reasons to think she is an idiot, like her “gotcha journalism” complaints from the Katie Couric interviews. Gee, it was awful of ‘cute Katie’ to ask a follow-up to get a straight answer to a question. GOTCHA!
I know there are people out there who says that being the Governor of Alaska gives her lots of executive experience. That would be true if she actually answered questions from reporters (not just from Hugh Hewitt who should be embarrassed by the softball questions he gave to Palin) about her style of governance and about decisions she made. If she doesn’t answer questions, sorry – the experience doesn’t count in my book. Everyone else has put themselves up for scrutiny. What makes her exempt? She is like regular people? I don’t see that because she gets a per diem because she chose not to move to Juneau, the state capital of Alaska. And she collected the per diem while she stayed at her home in Wasilla. HUH? Most “regular” people I know that get a job in a new location don’t get per diems to stay at their homes.
As for tonight’s debate, I am concerned. The bar has been set so low for Palin that if she manages to use words that have more than 3 syllables, she will be a winner and that is pathetic. Is it so bad to expect a Vice Presidential candidate to care about foreign affairs? That doesn’t make someone a snob. It makes you curious about how the US is perceived around the world and how we can work with other nations to make the world a better place.
So yeah, I am voting Obama/Biden. Palin made me do it. I was one of those disaffected Hillary supporters, who was on the fence until I had the chance to learn about Palin. And McCain has just become a bitter, old man, and I don’t know why. I do know that is not what this country needs at this point in time.
My question for Governor Palin:
Americans need to hear about taking one of your signature success stories that have directly benefitted your constituents, and how you would implement something similar for the entire country. You have touted your rebate to Alaskans based on increased taxes from the oil and gas companies. How would you scale that to the rest of the United States? Will you increase taxes on the oil and gas companies in Texas and the southeast to pay for that rebate?
Thoughts?