There has never been a political campaign like it. No Hollywood script writer could have presented such a story and retained any credibility, The 2008 American Presidential campaign has become not only bizarre but insane. Consider the following:
First a brash African American guy with a most un American sounding name, Barack Obama, defeats the Bill and Hillary Clinton long established political powerhouse in the Democratic primary. For the first time in history a black man was nominated to represent a major party in a bid for the Whitehouse. And he did it against a Hillary Clinton that in 2006 was considered by most as unbeatable. While this is a historic achievement that America should be proud of it is an unlikely and rather bizarre event that makes the 2008 campaign unlike any other in American history.
Then as if Obama's upset victory wasn't enough, John McCain resurrects himself from the political graveyard to win the Republican Party's primary. This is an amazing feat as there are many in his own party's leadership who are not all that fond of the "maverick". McCain is considered by his own party leaders as hotheaded and unpredictable and has on many occasions not been a team player. Yet he was able to prevail. Amazing stuff.
There is more. As a conflicting footnote to his message of change, Obama, to round out his ticket, selects a white haired old Washington hand, Senator Joe Biden, who has considerable foreign policy experience. Obama is then criticized for bringing experience to his team in an area where he was criticized for being light on experience. Go figure. It must be American politics at its finest.
Then a day after Obama's convention speech McCain hurls a bombshell by naming a largely unknown Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, as his running mate. The first news reports on Palin discloses that she is a hockey mom, eats mooseburgers, is a hard line pro life advocate, is under investigation by the Alaska state government on ethics charges, and that her seventeen year old unmarried daughter is five months pregnant.
With a little over two months to go until election day more revelations about Palin are sure to be revealed. Most will probably be of the sort that should have no place in politics. But in the insane election year of 2008 appearently no topic is considered out of bounds, no matter how tasteless and meaningless it is.
McCain, ever the gambler, has rolled the dice in a major way with the Palin nomination. There goes McCain's high minded sounding campaign theme "county first" as far right votes were more in the logic of his selection process than Palin's ability to lead the nation if anything happened to McCain.
All of these twists and turns would be highly amusing if only the need to have the right leaders correct the course that the US has been on for the past eight years wasn't so urgent. The rest of the world must be observing events with a mixture of amusement and horror. To think that a 72 year old man with medical problems could be elected to the most important job in the world is by itself world wide attention getting.
In addition, to think that McCain's backup would be a 44 year old PTA hockey mom with only small town mayor (about 9,000 people) experience and two years small population state (about 660,000) experience as governor is truly unbelievable. Once again America would prove to the world that the nation has gone insane and as a result the entire world must suffer.
Palin even believes that global warming is a fiction. And that polar bears should be left to fend for themselves, just forget that we may be next if we don't get the global warming challenge fixed.
Today I saw one comment from a big shot Republican Palin supporter that "Americans will love Palin because in Palin and her family they can see the sameness to their own situations". Has American politics come to that? Instead of wanting a highly intelligent, accomplished, and competent leader Americans want leaders who are average Joes just like themselves?
If that is the case in the near future America will not be able to compete against nations that place education, competence, and accomplishment far above "sameness". The insane 2008 American Presidential campaign may be an indicator of a nation gone far off the tracks. Should McCain Palin win, America may well be on its way to sameness when compared to second tier poorly performing nations.
As there would be a fair chance that if elected to the VP office Palin would eventually become President, especially if McCain entered a second term, a President Palin would probably seal that unhappy fate. |
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