Category — Sarah Palin

This is maybe my favourite political ad of the whole cycle:

It’s simple as can be, and to the point.  No audio, just music, and John McCain’s own words laid onto the screen.  Two quotes where he admits he simply doesn’t know that much about the economy, that he has a lot to learn, and then a quote from a Republican primary debate where he states he might have to rely on a Vice Presidential nominee for economic experience.  Then the ad asks, “His choice?” and flashes an clip of a winking Sarah Palin.  The ad closes off with a great line: “On November 4th, you get to make yours.”

During the Republican Convention, we heard one speaker after the next, slam the media with great fervor. It was almost like they were all singing off of the same sheet of music. And you know what, they were right!

I can barely stand to turn on the news today. Why? The only thing that any of these news networks are talking about is lipstick. CNN, MSNBC, and even the Fox “News” are all clamoring over the same thing. Lipstick. Are you freaking kidding me?

In case you’ve been hanging out in Bin Laden’s cave for the last few days, Obama was at a rally talking about McCain’s economic plan and making the point that McCain’s economic plan is the “same old, same old” and as Obama said “if you put lipstick on a pig, it’s still a pig.” The McCain camp quickly went on the offensive and suggested that Obama was taking a shot at Sarah Palin. Huh? Really? But the media took the bait; hook, line, and sinker. And it wasn’t just the usual Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh. This time, all the so called “journalists” jumped on board like the lemmings that they are.

Instead of debating the issues, the media has taken the “Jerry Springer” approach to politics and the McCain camp loves it. When the McCain camp throws out another distraction, like this latest “lipstick” charge, they don’t have to talk about this dreadful economy under eight long years of George Bush. They don’t have to talk about the lack of a comprehensive energy policy. They don’t have to talk about the broken borders where undocumented aliens, drugs, and weapons, cross at will. They don’t have to remind America that Osama Bin Laden is still on the run after seven years and putting out more videos than Brittany Spears. And they don’t have to talk about the $350,000,000 that we are throwing into this endless war each and every single day. No, that’s not what McCain wants to talk about because that would reveal that he has voted with George Bush 90% of the time. Maverick? I think not. Washington is fundamentally broken and this didn’t happen overnight. These issues have been growing for the last 30 years and McCain has been part of that problem for 26 of those 30 years.

We have real challenges in this country and we need our leaders to lead and we need a skeptical media that trusts no one and challenges everything. Wow, wouldn’t that be some real change?

From the Left is an area Democratic activist and a guest blogger at Progressive Pensacola.

I must admit, considering what a political junkie as I am, I remember asking “Sarah who?” when McCain chose his #2 last week. Don’t get me wrong, I was thrilled with the choice. It completely erodes the McCain team’s argument that Obama lacks experience. So what about Sarah Palin’s experience? She was Governor of one of the least populated states in America (Alaska) for the last 20 months. Surely she brings more to the table then that? After all, if the Republican Party wins the White House she would be one heartbeat away from the oldest President ever elected in this country’s history. As we dig through her resume, we see that she was mayor of a small town in Alaska (population 9,000). Honestly! There were nearly that many protesters outside of the Convention. Ron Paul’s “Campaign for Liberty” (his counter-convention) drew more people than that. Don’t get me wrong, being mayor is an important job. After all, those potholes don’t fix themselves.

So what kind of decision-maker would she be? We really don’t know anything about her policies and she has no real record for us to review. The campaign releases the same two pictures over and over. In the one photo she is shooting an assault rifle and the other she is holding her infant baby. Talk about mixed messages!

We know where she stands on offshore drilling, after all, she hails from Alaska. We know she subscribes to an “abstinence only” policy and opposes any kind of sex education (did I mention that her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant? Oops!). We know she is in favor of “big government” involved in family planning. But, when it comes to some of the major issues that we face in this country, the economy, foreign policy, welfare, and immigration, she has no record, no position, and absolutely no experience.

So, how did she do in her acceptance speech? Well…that depends.

For the 18,000 delegates that were at the Convention, she did a fantastic job of dishing out the “red meat” and telling the hard-core fringe of America, already solidly in the McCain camp, exactly what they wanted to hear. So what? There was no one in that room was voting any other way than Republican. But what about all those “undecided” voters that don’t fit neatly into either Party? This is the problem for the Republican Party.

Her speech offered no solutions for the family whose home is about to go into foreclosure. Her speech gave no relief to the single mom who is paying record-high gas prices as she struggles to get the kids to school and herself to work. College students getting ready set to graduate and enter the workforce with $20,000 in debt were left with nothing to vote for. Seniors, who are facing a tough choice between food and life-saving medicine, were left wondering why this once-great party of Ronald Reagan has left them behind.

What about all those Hillary supporters? Surely they will flock behind Palin, right? After all, she’s got boobs too!! Well, I give women more credit than that. I can’t see any of Senator Clinton’s 18,000,000 supporters coming out to support a woman who is against equal pay for women or supporting someone willing to sacrifice personal freedom for a few votes.

So, in short; Her speech did exactly what I expected it to do. Rally the base to motivate them to turn off “Dancing with the Stars” and get out and vote on Election Day; and to slam the Democratic Party in an attempt to scare voters with the usual “they will raise your taxes and steal your guns” crap that only seems to work in small pockets of the country.

This is a different year and we, as America, face some very tough issues. A dreadful economy, a looming energy crisis, the threat of radical militants, and wide-open boarders. Flag waving and speeches about the “liberal” media are not going to win over undecided, independent-minded voters. In fact, her speech alienated most of these critical voters that tuned in to hear some solutions, and instead, witnessed an absolute political food fight between grown men and women.

As the political signs came down and the roars of “drill, baby, drill” were silenced, Americans were still left empty handed. Thank God we have a party with real solutions for real Americans. Vote Democrat this November. Your children will thank you for it.