Monday, September 1, 2008

Sarah Palin

Big John giving the Tony Soprano Fist Pump

John McCain is apparently determined that if any torch is to be passed to a new generation of Americans, he wants to do the passing. Thusly, we are introduced to Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

My wife already hates her.

Oddly, I predicted this pick in my May 9, 2008 post. And since I'm rarely right about these things prediction-wise, please permit me to point this one out.

Although I disagree with Sarah about many political issues, what little I know about her I find charming. "Charming" is not supposed to be a basis for picking elected political leaders, but that's democracy! I can base my vote on any thing I damn well please! And I will.

I am assuming this is fake

While others harp, I give kudos. McCain obviously knows that sometimes you just have to say, "What the fuck . . ." and take a leap of faith. That's what this looks like to me. Not desperation, but a real leap of faith.

McCain had to see that the big picture had him drifting toward defeat. But this election is still winnable for him. He needed to bust a move, but a smart one. Boldness is risky with the electorate these days, especially after all that "bring it on" idiocy that Curious George gave us didn't work out so well. So McCain found in Sarah a bold move that can rightly be characterized as a bold Return To Responsibility. She's a real reformer, with some energy policy cred, and has stood firm against wasteful government spending when taxes and the budget deficit should be big issues in this election.

News-wise, this pick seems to have had a good short term effect. Sarah's pick has truncated the buzz of Obama's great speech. If not for the hurricane (Gustav), she'd be the talk of the town right now. The pregnant teen daughter story should run for the rest of the election. Will she get married? Is the boyfriend a bum? How do we know it's his? What kind of nightmare family is he going to bring to this fiesta? That should help to kill the Dem's narrative that the GOP ticket is out of touch with low class Americans.

Sarah, all the while, is one perky peach. The giant, ultra-white smile, the big goofy glasses, the aura of the nerdy, brainy girl who turns out to be a real hotty at the end of the movie. In a middle-aged, Republican sort of way, of course. Even the dorky, Francis McDormand Fargo accent. It's all somehow appealing. All of her quirkiness makes her seem more normal.

Compare that to Mitt Romney, whose lack of personal faults and Ward Cleaver type of hyper-normalcy just make him seem weird.

Sarah's Alaska roots make her more outdoorsy than everyone I know. She sounds like some kind of hunter-gatherer woman who has a double life as an executive in the city. But I would definitely want her on my Survivor team.

Sarah as Miss Nude Alaska 1984

The real speculation is whether Sarah can attract the Pumas. Pumas!!! Hah hah! Who made that name up? (Party Unity My Ass, in case you were wondering.) These are the women who are still mad about Obama beating Hillary. And they are specifically mad at Obama. I'm not sure why.

Well, most of these Puma gals are verrrrry pro-choice. And Sarah is not. So, a Republican vagina on the ballot may not be enough to get them excited.

But . . . it may very well be enough to get a lot of the more politically conservative women excited. Excited enough to get out and vote, when they would otherwise be too busy. Except for the occasional loud mouthed tv kook, like Ann Coulter or Laura Ingraham, these women are a largely ignored demographic. But there's a lot of them around here, and in other "swing states" too.

Laura Ingraham - Loud & Stupid

Coulter - Skanky, Obnoxious, Inexplicably Famous

So, we'll have to see how Sarah performs on the big stage. I will definitely watch the Veep Debate now, where I probably would have skipped it if Romney or Pawlenty was the candidate. I think Biden will do well against a woman. Catholic boys are taught good manners, and learn how to argue with a Nun without going over the line.

At least now we have a reason for watching the election again.

Don't forget to vote!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your wife does NOT "already hate" her. Your wife doesn't know enough about her to love OR hate her. Your wife just finds it odd/surprising that the presidential candidate would choose someone who (by his own campaign's admission) he had met one time months ago and then spoken to once on the phone last week. Also, I find it interesting that given her daughter's (now not so private) situation, Gov Palin would choose to put HER in the national spotlight. (I wonder who'll make it to the altar first - Miss Palin or Jamie Lynn?) Anyway, I assume Sarah's husband is a house husband, since she herself gave birth a few months ago to a special needs child...and since she's already spoken of the extra support and care her own teen daughter and hubby-to-be and grandchild are going to need.
And one more thing, you yourself have predicted more than once that if elected, John McCain won't live out his term. So President Palin is a real possibility. I wouldn't think I'd be alone in questioning the particulars of this particular VP pic.
ps - I love you!

Bill McC said...

I (and my own anonymous bride) agree with anonymous on this one. It just seems crazy on so many levels, except perhaps the crassly political one. And even on the political level, I still can't fathom why McCain would willingly give up the right to question Obama's level of experience with a straight face, which seemed to me to be his best substantive line of attack.

McCain appears to be thrashing about in an effort to shake things up. I hope it doesn't work.

Snake Nation said...

Your wife may not hate her, but your sister-in-law does.

Anonymous said...

you libtards are idiots