Lots of catching up to do

So we are less than a month out from the election and I have not commented for a week. I meant to say something earlier in the week but I just did not have the chance. I started writing but got sidetracked and I figured it was probably best that I focused a little more and made one large post. I will talk about the recent debates and the other important issues that I have seen come into focus in the last couple of weeks as well. Be aware that there will be some ranting because I am not very happy with some of the things that we have been seeing. And you all can guess which side I will be on during said rants.

First...the debates. Two weeks ago, we saw the VP debate. I cannot say that it was really anything unexpected. I believe that the word "Maverick" was absolutely beat to death by Sarah Palin and I think that her winking was a bit uncomfortable. I expected a few "Mavericks" to be thrown around here and there, but it sort of surprised me that it turned into an answer to some questions. OK, so surprised isn't really the right word. I knew that Palin probably would not be as prepared as she needed to be, but I guess I anticipated that she would manage to speak a little more extemporaneously. Instead, we got dodged questions (more so than your normal politicians), changed subjects, Mavericks and winking.Winking? Really? As the days tick away this fall, it becomes more and more apparent to me that I do not want a Joe six-pack hockey mom in the second most powerful political position in this country. It has nothing to do with the fact that she is a woman. I believe that Hillary Clinton would make a great President or Vice President. Sarah Palin appeals to a lot of people in this country because of her apparent down to earth nature. However, as Vice President of the United States of America, I do not think that we can afford to elect on how well you can relate to someone as far as I am concerned. Maybe Joe Biden is not the individual in politics today that I would most relate to, but it is apparent that he has a firm grasp on the issues of the day. He can be reckless with his mouth at times, but I have no fear of his decision making. You can knock Obama all you want concerning his experience. I understand the argument. I simply disagree with it. But if you want to criticize one because of his lack of experience, you have to criticize John McCain for picking a VP candidate with such little experience. It is a haphazard choice and scares me somewhat. All in all, the VP debate was really a microcosm for the Palin experience since she was announced as the candidate. She has very specific talking points that she sticks to and she gets exposed any time she has to stray from that. Say all you want about "gotcha media" and liberal journalism, but you have to hold politicians responsible for what comes out of their mouths, regardless of the forum in which they are presented. John McCain's "Is that a pizza place?" defense is an absolute mockery of political discourse.

Moving on to the last Presidential debate...once again, nothing really out of the ordinary. There was a clear advantage for Obama in terms of appearance considering he just tends to look more comfortable and relaxed than McCain these days. Also, McCain wandering around the stage was somewhat confusing. Regardless, there was nothing said by either one that would really change minds either way as far as I am concerned. One interesting bit was McCain's proposal to buy troubled loans. Because for a guy who wants to put a freeze on spending and the expansion of government, that is a rather expensive and expansionist proposition. And apparently it has angered some Republicans. But what can I say? The guy is a Maverick. He is such a Maverick that he will propose something that goes against his own beliefs. And the Republicans try to say that Obama likes to play it both ways? Let's be honest at this point: both candidates continue to posture themselves for electability. At this point, it is clear who is making the more irrational decisions and moves. And that brings me to my next point of discussion.

According to Cindy McCain and the McCain camp, the Obama campaign is the dirtiest campaign in the history of Presidential campaigns. As you all well know, I have been paying close attention to these sorts of things over the last eight years or so. Personally, I believe that John McCain has a very short memory when it comes to dirty politics. Does he forget in 2000 when George W. Bush's campaign effectively ended the McCain candidacy in South Carolina? In that instance, rumors were spread by "unknown" sources that Cindy McCain was a drug addict and that one of their daughters was a black child fathered out of wedlock, amongst other things. Meanwhile, in 2008, the McCain campaign has been running TV ads that question Obama's connection to Bill Ayers. These commercials use Barack Obama and the word "terrorist" in the same sentence. But somehow the Obama campaign is the dirty one. I will not say that there have been some negative ads from the Obama campaign. But to say that they are more negative than the ads from the McCain campaign is a bit intellectually dishonest to me. The McCain commercials concerning Ayers are nothing more than attacks based on fears of many Americans. Is he a Muslim? Does he really hang out with terrorists? Many Americans have already learned about his association with Ayers because it was brought up during the Democratic primaries. So why is it an issue again? Because John McCain appears to be losing this election. Based on many polls that have been released in the last few weeks, he is losing major ground in most of the swing states. I am not one to put a lot of stock in polls, but the timing of these ads is impeccable. Never mind that John McCain said that he was going to bring it up during the last debate and did not say a word about it, but the Republicans have been operating in a very underhanded manner as of the last few weeks. You have Palin rallies where people call Obama a terrorist and some even go as far as saying "Kill him!". Up until a few days ago, the McCain campaign said nothing to address these outbursts. Now that they have, I am curious to see if the Palin strategy is revised. It is clear that she is being used as the attack dog and now McCain is the peacekeeper, so to speak. Can they continue to throw Palin out there to bring up the Ayers connection and hype crowds into a borderline frenzy and then apologize when people say offensive things? Or do they have to tone it down? My guess is that the polls will give us that answer. If the polls continue to move in the direction they are now, we will see one of two things out of the Republicans. The first is a pullback of the Ayers strategy, as I will call it. The second is a straight up nuclear campaign. My hope is that it tends more towards the first one. But who knows. For all I care, let John, Cindy and Sarah continue to talk about Obama's connection to someone who was a terrorist 40 years ago and is now a respected member of America's academic community. Meanwhile, Barack Obama and Joe Biden are out speaking about the stuff that is actually pertinent these days.

I know that was rather unstructured and extremely biased, but that is me. This is not the John McCain that I respected in 2000-early 2008. This is a desperate John McCain that realizes he may have to pull out all the stops to have a chance next month. Personally, I know there are a lot of Republicans who have been questioning his decision making. John would probably use that as another example of how he is a Maverick. However, there is a distinct line between being a Maverick and compromising the things that you once believed in. My hope is that John McCain takes serious stock of the overall climate of this country right now and decides to focus his attention on those things that actually matter. The American people deserve to have the next three weeks with their candidates speaking on how they are going to help the nation get out of this economic crisis and move forward with a responsible energy plan. We do not deserve to see the "guilty by association" game because it just does not matter.

I will try to keep more on top of writing here because this sort of thing really lacks focus and I think I am doing myself a bit of a disservice by trying to talk about everything all at once. Ah well. We have another debate this week so I plan on writing something that night. We will see if I can manage to stick to that. Ha.