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The Obama Campaign on Palin: Classless

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I’m not entirely sure who Obama spokesman Bill Burton is or what he’s all about, but talk about making a classless, disgusting statement regarding the choice of Governor Sarah Palin to be McCain’s running mate. From the folks at Politico:

Barack Obama’s campaign is blasting John McCain for putting “the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency.”

The scathing description of Sarah Palin, from Obama spokesman Bill Burton, comes as Democrats scramble to gather a response to a selection that nobody in the political world expected.

Whoa!

Senator Obama needs to really re-evaluate having someone on his staff that is going to immediately attack Palin – even before her selection is official! And talk about the dumbest man on earth – does Burton realize that if he wants to start a battle over Palin’s experience that he immediately justifies all of the Republican comments about Obama’s gratuitous lack of experience?

Dumb, dumb move on behalf of the Obama campaign. Their best bet at this point is to retract that stupid statement from Burton and run a video similar to McCain’s video from last night with a simple, “Congratulations” message to Governor Palin.

It’s amazing how you can go from supporting the Obama campaign one night to hearing a ridiculous comment like Burton’s and be completely disgusted with them.

John McCain Trumps Barack Obama with Palin

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The selection of Governor Sarah Palin was a brilliant move on behalf of the McCain campaign. Let me explain some of the reasons why this was an excellent pick made by McCain.

  • The obvious – she’s a woman. Palin might be able to bring in even more of the Clinton voters that have been disenfranchised by a biased media and a sexist primary campaign. Side note – welcome to all of those disenfranchised Democrats who now (finally) see how biased the major media networks can be!
  • Palin is a hardcore conservative. She’s a supporter of the NRA and a pro-life candidate. This will help shore up the far-right votes which have been elusive for John McCain.
  • She’s the epitome of a Washington outsider. You can’t really get much further from Washington, DC than the state of Alaska!
  • Choosing Palin immediately gives the McCain campaign the mantle of “change.” I’m a huge supporter of Joe Biden, but he (like McCain) has been in Washington for quite some time. The choice of a young, female Governor from thousands of miles away represents true change.

There are some other good things that can be said about the Palin pick, but I’m sure you will all be reviewing the many comments all over the internet today!

Looking at Obama’s Acceptance Speech

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The New York Times online posted an article the other day wondering when Senator Barack Obama is going to clarify his message. If you listen to Obama’s messages and speeches, he tends to give a very rousing presentation using poetic, sometimes even pastoral, language. Yet, it is rare that he makes the connections that informed voters are looking to hear.

For example, in his acceptance speech last night, Obama said:

I’ll invest in early childhood education. I’ll recruit an army of new teachers, and pay them higher salaries and give them more support. And in exchange, I’ll ask for higher standards and more accountability. And we will keep our promise to every young American – if you commit to serving your community or your country, we will make sure you can afford a college education.

Sounds good to me. However, I wonder about a few things…

First, what does “invest” in early childhood education mean? Are you going to provide universal pre-K education? Can someone show me the statistics stating the overwhelming need for this service? I’m sure it will help many Americans, but can we see some demographic information?

Second, one does not recruit an army of teachers out of thin air. Further, if Obama has ever been to New Jersey, then he would know that the New Jersey Education Association union has a death grip on the education industry in our state. In other words, they’ll lovingly accept his offer of more support and higher wages, but the moment he talks about accountability they’ll throw him out and mount a massive campaign against him. It’s funny…New Jersey’s teachers WANT to be challenged and prove that they can succeed in educating ALL students, yet their union fights against accountability. Unreal.

Finally (and I know this better than anyone else), American makes no promise to its young people that if you serve your community, then you’ll be able to afford a college education. Sure, we make a promise about being educated if a person serves in the military, but we make no promise about an affordable educating if one serves their community. Imagine the massive government bureaucracy that would be needed to pay for a program like that…

The only other comment that I would make about Obama’s speech and the direction that his platform is headed in general is that services cost money. I’m completely behind Obama’s statement that federal taxes should be cut for 95% of Americans. That’s great if you ask me. However, many federal dollars which are collected through taxes are filtered back to states and large cities to pay for certain services. If there is less tax revenue at the federal level, then one of two things will happen. One, services will be reduced at the state and local levels because the funding will no longer be there. Two, taxes will be raised at the state or local levels to maintain services.

Personally, I think state and local taxes will go up if Obama’s plan goes through. And I think that’s the way to handle it because I’m a big believer in state’s rights in our federal system. Of course there is always the option of cutting services and programs that are a waste of money…or getting out of Iraq…so that the country’s expenses are reduced. But I haven’t heard a politician talk about ideas like that this election season!

Hillary Clinton Swings it Home in Denver

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Like every other political wonk out there, I watched New York’s Senator Hillary Clinton give a great speech during the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. The goal of this speech was for Senator Clinton to show her unyielding support for Senator Barack Obama’s candidacy and I think she did just that – and did it in grand style. Many of the talking heads on the television talked about how Hillary’s speech put herself in front of Obama on a variety of policy issues. I disagree. I think that she said as clear as she could possibly say it – she supports Barack Obama for President.

Yes, her speech was lacking a lot of flowery language and poetic verse. But folks, Hillary isn’t Obama. Senator Obama gets on the stage and sounds like the modern day Mark Twain, yet says nothing in the process. Sure, he’s someone that is probably fun to listen to live, but he gives no indication on what his specific course of action will be if he is elected as President.

For those of you who expected a flowery speech from Hillary – you’re nuts. Flowery speeches are reserved for those political figures who are on their way out (think Senator Edward Kennedy in 1980 – YouTube it if you’ve not heard it). Poetic speeches are reserved for those who will not run for higher office again and you KNOW Hillary is going to run for President again!

All in all, I was pleased with Hillary’s speech. I’m having a major problem with the DNC, though. It seems like it’s a good time out in Colorado, but I’m not able to get that feeling in my living room. By matter of contrast, both the Republican and Democratic conventions in 2004 brought a palpable excitement into many homes around the nation. This year the Democratic convention is missing that electricity. I think it’s because there are no specific policies being explained in detail (and if they are being explained, then our biased American media isn’t reporting it).

Here’s hoping the Republican convention has as many good speeches as the Democratic convention has had so far…and that’s it more fun to watch!

Senator Edward Kennedy and Michelle Obama at the DNC

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Last night I, along with millions of Americans, watched Senator Ted Kennedy give a raucous speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. Whether you love him or you hate him, you have to admit that it was good to see the man standing up on his own power and speaking with the force and passion that defined his political career. I thought the opening tribute video was a nice summary of his political accomplishments, too.

I understand, however, how some people will never be able to forget his connection to the Chappaquiddick incident. But putting those issues aside, the man looked pretty good for someone who has recently undergone brain surgery and chemotherapy.

As for the rest of the convention, I thought it was a good night. And I don’t subscribe the theories that the Democrats should have been stronger on the attack. Americans have been promised “change” and a “new politics” and I think the Democrats are carrying out their end of the deal by not using their convention to bash the opponents. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi gave a nice speech (giving a great shot out to Italian-Americans – whoo hoo!). I didn’t care for Jesse Jackson, Jr.’s speech, but that’s because I don’t think he really said anything…which is par for the course.

Michelle Obama gave a good speech, too, but mainly because she has completely changed course from her previous anti-American stances. I’m sorry, but when a person says that “America in 2008 is a downright mean country” and that this is the “first time in my adult life that I am proud of my country,” those are extremely negative statements. But her speech tonight was very well written and very well spoken. An excellent job by Michelle Obama!

Unfortunately, these conventions are always marred by morons on the outside. The anarchists who are protesting the DNC should be ashamed of themselves. They represent that worn-in crud on the boot of American politics and, frankly, that’s too high of a position for them. I saw one article that reported there were anti-Obama, anti-gay, anti-black, anti-war, anti-Democrat, anti-government, anti-American, and anti-FOX News protesters outside of the convention yesterday…to name a few.

Talk about people who are brainwashed!