Posted on 09/03/2008 2:09:17 PM PDT by swarthyguy
Your editor doesn't get to vote, as he is not a citizen. His preference would be for Senator McCain, simply because the editor's parents knew Senator McCain's parents, and because of the senator's POW experience. This said, the editor can't understand why people cannot be logical about assessing candidates and then vote pro or con. Why does plain dumb analysis take precedence over logic?
The greatest analytical error that critics of Governor Palin are making is what the editor calls "mirror analysis". You look at yourself in the mirror, and assume Senator McCain choose Ms. Palin to appeal to you. If you are a liberal, of course you are going to conclude that Mr. McCain has blown it.
For example, a letter to the WashPost yesterday along the lines of "this choice is an insult to women because Palin has no experience, and this Clinton supporter will never vote for a woman just because she is a woman." Dear lady, Senator McCain understands that. He did not choose Ms. Palin to appeal to disaffected Hilary supporters, and if even the editor, who has very little interest in politics can see that, he doesn't understand why people who were not going to vote for Mr. McCain don't. The senator had many considerations, and if at all Mrs. Clinton was one, he chose Ms. Palin because she is the anti-Hillary. Why does your editor have to explain that all-too-blindingly obvious point?
Take experience. If someone says they will vote for Senator Obama but not for a ticket on which Ms. Palin appears because she has no experience, they might want to consider: Ms. Palin ran a town and now runs a state. Both are small. But she has far more executive experience than Mr. Obama. And its executive experience that counts.
A comment overheard on the radio: "Alaska votes Republican anyway. What was McCain thinking?" The criticism being that Mr. McCain should have chosen a running mate from a state that would not otherwise have voted Republican. Well, is it clear to begin with that Republicans disinclined to vote for Mr. McCain would vote for McCain had he chosen - say Kay Bailey Hutchinson of Texas, who is a woman and a governor? We don't see the link. But second, Mr. McCain did not chose Ms. Palin to get Alaskan votes: he/his advisors are quite capable of figuring out that Alaska is going to go Republican anyway.
See, Senator McCain chose Ms. Palin because he wanted to (a) buttress his conservative credentials; he himself is a flaming maverick and the right wing of his party hates him so much they will do anything to stop him - some may even go as far as to vote Obama to spite McCain, the same argument that some make about the Hillary Democrats, and (b) she is a woman. Without the (a) there would be no (b), and if he was to pick someone a woman who looks good as a woman, he'd have asked Ms. Condoleezza Rice to be his running mate. At that point he'd have lost the election before it began, but that's another story.
Commentators who are saying: "What is McCain thinking? Palin's 17-year old daughter is pregnant, he must have known that, so his vetting is criminally negligent."
Gentlemen, gentlemen. Take a deep breath. If you have any familiarity with US evangelicals, said to constitute 1 in 4 US voters, you will see that Palin's daughter's being preggers is worth several million votes! People seem to think that evangelicals are some kind of super-up-tight moralists who will say "Oh My Granny's Green Galoshes, the Palin's kid is preggers and I will not vote McCain-Palin". If people bothered to actually talk to evangelicals instead of labeling them as IQ retards, they would find that the Palin family's firm support of their daughter and their determination they will help her through this difficult time and if neccessary help her bring up the child in the event the father shirks his responsibilities is something that will put the great majority of evangelicals over the moon. Yes, of course they don't approve of unwed moms. But gentlemen, this is America in the year of our Lord 2008. Everyone but everyone no matter what their political opinions has babies without getting married. The real sin, the absolutely unforgivable sin from an evangelical's view is if the Palin girl had had an abortion. Mr. McCain would have not just dead in the water the minute people found that out, he would be sinking without time to send an SOS.
Add to this that Ms. Palin - or should we say Mrs. Palin - chose to have her fifth child knowing he had Down's, and thus commit her family to a lifetime of caring for the child, when she could have quietly had an abortion, is something the evangelicals - and liberals who oppose abortion, look very fondly at the Governor. "Liberals who oppose abortion" - got you on that, didn't we? You thought all liberals support unrestricted abortion? No they don't! These people may oppose the banning of abortion, but they know what a horrible choice it is for the parents, and it's likely they will respect someone who could have had an abortion but chose not to.
Now think again: the lady has impeccable, impeccable right wing credentials. She is a bona fide supporter of the 2nd Amendment, and people, please don't make the mistake of underestimating the damage the NRA can do to your candidate if s/he is against gun rights. She opposes abortion, and on this she leads by example: she has five kids. She thinks of herself first as a mom and a wife, then of herself as Madam Governor or whatever. And, people, here is the icing on the cake: in an election where everyone speaks of standing up for the common man, she is blue collar! And the icing on the icing: she is a woman!
Oh yes: she is pro-drilling! But: presumably as a consequence of her blue collar background, she is perceived as anti-big-business! Got you there, didn't we: you assumed all Republicans are pro-big-business? No, silly, blue-collar Republican hate big-biz as much as blue-collar Dems, because when the Man exploits you, he doesn't give one feather if you are Dem or Rep, white or black, man or woman, the Man exploits you and shafts you with complete impartiality. The Governor has socked it to the big oil companies who get oil from Alaska, to the point at least two say they wont invest any more money in the State. Where does the money she has beaten out of Big Oil go? Why, to the people, to the ordinary folks, be the Dem or Rep! A hard core republican who is also a populist? Gosh people, it just doesn't get any better
Of course we don't know if Senator McCain will win. We do know whoever came up with Ms. Palin has given Mr. McCain the best chance of winning the old boy will ever have.
We keep saying when we talk foreign policy and military affairs: do not mirror image. Do not think because you think X is logical, the enemy must also think X is logical. That is the way to lose. Always look at what the enemy is doing by looking at HIS context, not yours. And if you see that Ms. Palin is there not to appeal to Hiliarycrats but to the Republican right wing, you will look at Senator McCain with new eyes - even if you hate him.
One goof in the text, he refers to Kay Hutchinson as a governor, when she’s a senator.
A self reliant person is what the thugs in congress
and MSM fear most.
Their main push is to make as many people dependent
on the government as possible.
below is one of my favorite quotes.
***
The nine most terrifying words in the English language are,
‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’
Ronald Reagan
pretty good analysis for a non-citizen. McCain picked her to shore up his base, for her energy knowledge, and anticoruption. The woman thing has to be secondary but it is nice superficial consideration to offset the superficial “historic” candidate of the other side.
We will see. She has her work cut out for her, but when she speaks directly to the people unfiltered, i believe she will do very well.
I’m far more confident than the author about McCain winning.
To me, the biggest factor to a potential McCain defeat was that Republicans would get hissy and not turn out to vote.
THAT is no longer an issue, Noonan et al notwithstanding, who are simply reflecting their coastal biases.
BOOM
>>pretty good analysis for a non-citizen.
Sometimes, many times an outsider’s perspective has a clarity missing from those who are too immersed in the situation.
Good piece.
marking for later reading
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