So, they selected VPs. Romney is unimpressive, and I don't think he really brings anything to the McCain platform except that he's significantly less likely to die of old age in the White House.
Ha ha. I know, another McCain age dig. But, seriously, I think the VP might be more important in this race then in ages past. First, everyone's paying attention to Obama. In a post-Bush election, the Democrats are fielding a black man who ran against a white women with a political pedigree for president, which is a huge issue. I think people were waiting to see if he picked a VP that would temper or accentuate his blackness. I was going to say 'difference' from politicians past, but aside from his progressiveness and youth (for a president), you can't ignore his race.
I think everything he does is going to be seen as relating to that, in one way or another, which is race (and gender) in America. So.
Second, you know, is McCain's age. I think it's impossible for potential voters to ignore the fact that the really might be voting for two presidents when they pull the Republican switch. Do I think McCain will die in office? Well, no. He seems pretty healthy, and there's really no reason for me to assume that, but in a world where we pick things about candidates to obsess over (which I think is a function of us really wanting all our politicians to be basically the same), McCain's age is his stand out factor. Really, he's not a lot different ideologically at this point from the last Bush, even if he used to be. Romney was in the field for a presidential candidacy in the first place, and I don't think that was lost on John and his staff.
I agreed with![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sciphi when we were talking potential VP nods from the Obama camp, that there were a lot of really, excellently qualified women to take that position. I think that would have really let the progressive flag fly high, and revitalize a lot of pro-Hillary hopefuls, who I fear will feel disenfranchised by another White Guy taking up the position of veep. Obama, already pretty moderate, was skewing pretty left in the primaries, but it really looks like he's moving strongly back to a centrist position for the main campaign. I think this is the safe bet, but it's not the one I personally wanted him to take.
I also want a pony. So it goes.
I also think that McCain would have been better served by sticking to his principles all the way through and earning his old 'maverick' title. He's been in the game long enough to know that he burned almost every shred of his political credibility, but I honestly think that there are large groups of people that will still vote for the Red Team, here. There are the people who will vote Red no matter what. There's always those political die-hards, after all. There are also the people who dislike the idea of a black 'Hussain' Muslim (never mind he's a practicing Christian, if it should even fucking matter) that they'll either never vote for him or will vote against Obama as opposed to for McCain. Then, well, there are those republicans who are going to vote McCain in the hopes he'll return to being a man who sticks by his principles in practice, and acts as a maverick conservative who battles the "business as usual" Washington attitude as soon as he's in the Oval Office.
Personally, I think that by adopting the Rove playbook, we can forget about it. He's eschewed anything but the visage of credibility in the hopes of achieving power. Once he's in there, it'll be "100 years of war" and conquest all over again. If you're hoping for a political or economic conservative, then you're looking in the wrong spot. But you knew how I felt about that before now.
Obama picked Biden, which isn't super fun for me. The red team could show clips of him saying stupid shit all day long, and they'd probably never even have to look for areas where he made a gaff in what should be his strongest suites - experience in areas like foreign policy which are Obama's weak spots as a candidate. Sadly for them, I really don't think that the Repubs can hit Biden on these things because they absolutely have to stay away from race as a topic, or they'll sink like a punctured iron-clad. The only people that would buy an 'Obama's racist' campaign (which is already being run via e-mail) are people that arn't going to vote Obama, anyhow. You're not going to win over the general public like that with TV ads.
I had some more to say, but I didn't exactly take notes, so I'll cut off here. I'm interested in other people's opinions, though.
Ha ha. I know, another McCain age dig. But, seriously, I think the VP might be more important in this race then in ages past. First, everyone's paying attention to Obama. In a post-Bush election, the Democrats are fielding a black man who ran against a white women with a political pedigree for president, which is a huge issue. I think people were waiting to see if he picked a VP that would temper or accentuate his blackness. I was going to say 'difference' from politicians past, but aside from his progressiveness and youth (for a president), you can't ignore his race.
I think everything he does is going to be seen as relating to that, in one way or another, which is race (and gender) in America. So.
Second, you know, is McCain's age. I think it's impossible for potential voters to ignore the fact that the really might be voting for two presidents when they pull the Republican switch. Do I think McCain will die in office? Well, no. He seems pretty healthy, and there's really no reason for me to assume that, but in a world where we pick things about candidates to obsess over (which I think is a function of us really wanting all our politicians to be basically the same), McCain's age is his stand out factor. Really, he's not a lot different ideologically at this point from the last Bush, even if he used to be. Romney was in the field for a presidential candidacy in the first place, and I don't think that was lost on John and his staff.
I agreed with
sciphi when we were talking potential VP nods from the Obama camp, that there were a lot of really, excellently qualified women to take that position. I think that would have really let the progressive flag fly high, and revitalize a lot of pro-Hillary hopefuls, who I fear will feel disenfranchised by another White Guy taking up the position of veep. Obama, already pretty moderate, was skewing pretty left in the primaries, but it really looks like he's moving strongly back to a centrist position for the main campaign. I think this is the safe bet, but it's not the one I personally wanted him to take.I also want a pony. So it goes.
I also think that McCain would have been better served by sticking to his principles all the way through and earning his old 'maverick' title. He's been in the game long enough to know that he burned almost every shred of his political credibility, but I honestly think that there are large groups of people that will still vote for the Red Team, here. There are the people who will vote Red no matter what. There's always those political die-hards, after all. There are also the people who dislike the idea of a black 'Hussain' Muslim (never mind he's a practicing Christian, if it should even fucking matter) that they'll either never vote for him or will vote against Obama as opposed to for McCain. Then, well, there are those republicans who are going to vote McCain in the hopes he'll return to being a man who sticks by his principles in practice, and acts as a maverick conservative who battles the "business as usual" Washington attitude as soon as he's in the Oval Office.
Personally, I think that by adopting the Rove playbook, we can forget about it. He's eschewed anything but the visage of credibility in the hopes of achieving power. Once he's in there, it'll be "100 years of war" and conquest all over again. If you're hoping for a political or economic conservative, then you're looking in the wrong spot. But you knew how I felt about that before now.
Obama picked Biden, which isn't super fun for me. The red team could show clips of him saying stupid shit all day long, and they'd probably never even have to look for areas where he made a gaff in what should be his strongest suites - experience in areas like foreign policy which are Obama's weak spots as a candidate. Sadly for them, I really don't think that the Repubs can hit Biden on these things because they absolutely have to stay away from race as a topic, or they'll sink like a punctured iron-clad. The only people that would buy an 'Obama's racist' campaign (which is already being run via e-mail) are people that arn't going to vote Obama, anyhow. You're not going to win over the general public like that with TV ads.
I had some more to say, but I didn't exactly take notes, so I'll cut off here. I'm interested in other people's opinions, though.
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