Seriously, how does anyone get elected when they can't even say "nuclear" right? It's like nucleus, which presumably you learned in biology, the year before chemistry.
Palin did a nice job of not choking, but she didn't really say anything. It was mostly rhetoric, and very little policy. She's charming, sure, but she has no idea what's going on.
Biden surprised me. Can't say I really knew anything about him, but I was pleasantly surprised. He had his bouts of rhetoric as well, but he actually talked about what he and Obama would do if elected. He was remarkably a good portion of the time.
I think the analysts are probably right, that this won't change much.
The most awesomest thing ever would be McCain/Palin winning and then that scenario of something happening to McCain playing out.
Palin in chrage of the free world would be ridiculous fun.
Hell, don't we always want to hate career politicians? She's the ultimate 'regular guy' - I think things started going to hell the day being a politician became a career. (many many moons ago)
She's that nutjob mom at the soccer (or hockey or whatever sport your child participates in) games that you either want to punch in the mouth or screw...or both. I simultaneously hate her and love her.
It'd be even better if she started literally acting like Tina Fey's characture of her though. Run with it, I say.
I'm sooooo rooting for McCain.
You have to wonder how many of her proponents would still be supporting her right now if she was fat or ugly...
To me the debate felt like Palin was describing an amazing concert from the weekend before that she heard about through all of her friends. Biden--on the other hand--spoke about the same show after being there, holding his lighter high during the encore.
I give Palin credit for preparing well for the debate. While I wouldn't go so far as to call her an idiot, she does not have the presence to represent America on the World stage nor sufficient knowledge and skill to execute decisions in time of crisis. Biden complements Obama's few weaknesses well and they will make a great team if they work together as Biden expressed in the debate. I appreciate Gonch's sense of the rediculous, but this is no laughing matter.
"Who do you want to be president?"
Obama. McCain. You. Me. The corpse of Anna Nicole Smith. A christams ham. A nice hat. Whoever.
It doesn't matter. I honestly believe that.
If you want my take on the players:
- McCain is a shell of the man who should've been nominated over Bush in 2000.
- Obama is little more than charisma and goodwill and fuzzy bunnies.
- Biden strikes me as another faceless, white-haired career politician who I'm not even interested in knowing more about.
- Palin is a nutjob from Alaska who was in the right place at the right time and inspires dirty thoughts.
I wish I cared. I wish I believed it mattered. But I don't. I'm only half-joking when I saying I think a 'regular guy' would be best. I think the only requirement to be president should be that you've never formally held office prior to election.
I'm not sure what my point is. As long as we keep doing the same old, same old - we'll keep getting the same old same old. And three of the four names above are the same old, same old. The fourth is just kinda the same...and inspires dirty thoughts.
"You're such a jaded poopy pants, Gonch."
I have to defend this a lot, but I still insist I'm a realist.
Jaded
: made dull, apathetic, or cynical by experience
Realism
: accurate representation without idealization
Ok, so maybe it's a little from both columns. :)
I find the idea of 'making a great team' and moving into Washington to get things done to be laughable at best. It doesn't work that way - it hasn't since I've been alive - and it probably never really has.
The idea of being president, the campagning, the election, the whole process is pure pageantry. You get to be the hood ornament that sits atop the engine that does all the real work.
I totally agree with you about McCain. I'm still scratching my head on how Bush beat him for the nomination. I still wonder how things would've played out in 2000 if it were Bradley and McCain. It'd be close, but for totally different reasons.
I don't think Obama is just charisma at all. He reminds me a lot of some of the really effective managers I've worked with at various times, and I think that's essentially what the president should be. If that's ornamental, so be it, I think it's the right thing.
You're right, we've never had anyone who could inspire in our lifetime. Our parents' generation will tell you about how great people like the Kennedy's were, even though people hated them (enough to kill them) as much as others loved them. We've never had that kind of passion in our lifetime. I don't know if Obama is capable of being that guy. Bill might have been if he could've kept his pecker in check.
I didn't know Biden from Adam, but the more I learn about him, the more I respect him. Yes, he's a career politician, but I don't automatically equate that to something naughty. Reading his Wikipedia entry, it seems to me that he's a true public servant, a little dark with regards to the death of his wife and daughter, and is definitely not driven by wealth.
See, I don't think you can say it doesn't matter and disengage, because that has more to do with being jaded than realistic. To be realistic, you have to have an understanding of the situation.
But at least care enough to not vote for the nut job. :)
But I do understand the situation.
I understand that things in general won't change much and my life especially in particular won't change probably at all based on which of those people sit in the special seats marked "President" and "Vice President"
I'm not going to idealize the process or the situation. I'm being a realist. :)
I'm probably not going to bother voting because I'm jaded. ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-N8_u1FLu30
Worth a laugh. Letterman had some fun with it the last couple nights.