No reasonable person can any longer deny that McCain's visit to DC yesterday was a contrivance to bolster a flagging campaign. What was shocking, though, is that he essentially said nothing during this entire meeting - that it was soooo important he attend - until the end when he referenced an alternative plan formulated by House Republicans. This 'alternative' plan the House Repubs hadn't bothered to mention to anyone prior to this, until, at the White House, they came up with one page of bulleted notes. This was McCain's accomplishment. He was the conduit who ushered in the destruction of the hard work everyone had put in all week on this bailout plan. The highlight of which seemed to be
* Suspend the Capital Gains tax for two years - a move sure to help the wealthy more than the middle class
* Give Big Businesses more tax breaks to buy up debt, so even more money will be shovelled to large corporations
- and don't talk to me about trickle down
Not a lot of concern for Main Street there, but this alternative plan will certianly help those at the top of the economic food chain.
That's leadership.
Since last Friday, in a rare display of bipartisanship, Congress had been working, with Paulson and Bernanke, on a plan without the hostile finger-pointing that has characterized partisan politics recently. Obama had been daily monitoring the plan, talking to Paulson and senators on both sides of the aisle, since last weekend, without trumpeting that to the press.
Then Wed. McCain, who hadn't even read the 2.5 page proposal, grandstands, flies into Washington, and does what? Emboldens the House Republicans(whether he encouraged their revolt is uncertain) to turn the White House meeting into a shouting match and 'carpet-bomb' an entire week's worth of work done by Paulson, Bernake, and Senate Dems and Republicans.
That'ss leadership
Increasingly, people are questioning whether this is simply a ploy for McCain to get out of the debate. Many believe there will be a miraculous agreement tonight, just about the time the debate is due to start, so the TV coverage will focus on the deal, and not the debate. Others hypothesize that McCain will make a last minute flight to the debate, the beset hero trying to do his duty for his country and take care of everyone's needs.
I have a different take. I watched the Palin-Couric interviews. I reread the transcripts. As a woman friend said, If I were Sarah Palin I would be ashamed to show my face in public. It wasn't even funny. It was painful. Palin, on her own, was worse than anything Tina Fey could come up with on Saturday Night Live.
Palin made Dan Quayle look like William F. Buckley. I've never seen a candidate for VP show, not so little, but absolutely no grasp of any basic issues. Her knowledge base isn't thin, it's non-existent. She has a vocabulary of about 100 words - all slogans, most culled from Bush(I know the good guys. I know the bad guys. I know who the good guys - sure Sarah, maybe it's the floating Putin head invading yoru air space). She seemed incapable of putting together two grammatically correct sentences in a row. She didn't show a grasp of any concepts or policies, or the ability to talk specifically. About anything.
Even all the conservatives - Morning Joe, Pat Buchanon - said today, McCain has to hide her. He can't let her show up in public. She's a talking disaster.
McCain's ultimate endgame in his political grandstanding is, in the long term, yes, to try to salvage his campaign, but in the short term to deep-six the VP debate. Because despite the couple of stupid pronouncements Biden has made recently, he does have a grasp of concepts and issues, and he can speak to the specifics of a situation. Palin may be clever, and you can teach her key words a couple of key phrases, but you can't cram her full of wisdom and knowledge in one week. Or one month. Or one year.
She is exactly what she says she is - a 44-year-old hockey mom.
A pit bull with lipstick.
There's nothing wrong with that. But she is eminently unqualified to be president.
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6 comments:
I agree completely, Richard. The is the worst political stunt imagineable.
If it's exposed for what it is, McCain will look like the craven manipulator that he and his campaign have become.
But they're so good at this kind of thing that there's a chance it will pay off with voters. See the post I'm about to put up for how that might unfold.
Re Palin's vapid performances, there's some great satire in the current Doonsbury cartoon series in newspapers.
Little girl has been given a Sarah Palin action doll, complete with moose-hunting and power woman outfits. She also spouts out recorded answers to questions.
Today, little girl says to mom: "I've put Sarah into her power suit, Mom -- she's now reat to lead.
MOM: No, she's not. Don't you understand that colorful accessories and phrases don't qualify you for the presidency?
LG: But she's easy to relate to. She doesn't know too much -- just like me.
MOM: Why would you want a president who knows as little as you?
LG: Because you always said *I* could be president.
MOM: ARRGH
Neocon columnist William Crystal has a suggestion for McCain:
If he needs to stay in Washington tonight to work out the deal, send Sarah Palin to debate with Obama.
True, that was only one option he offered, another being that McCain could surely leave the negotiations long enough to fly down to Mississippi to debate.
But the mention of Palin, even coming from him, has got to be ironic and a subtle slap at McCain's choice.
Kathleen Parker apparently thinks Palin should withdraw.
(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/26/kathleen-parker-after-int_n_129535.html)
Maybe she should. I'm no fan of Sarah Palin, but what she is going through right now is really not entirely her fault. She lives in Alaska, which is so far from Washington that it might as well be a different country. They even seem to speak a different language there, dontchknow? And Palin, just like W before her, has been incurious, and definitely not preparing for the stage upon which she now finds herself. But W went through a bruising primary campaign. Palin has been thrust into her current role at the end of all the primaries. Primaries and debates are a form of on-the-job training. For months you have to answer questions and decide what you believe and what you can get away with saying. It's really is like baseball: Palin is now trying to play in the big leagues with little or no minor league experience. McCain should have chosen a more seasoned politician. For our side I'm glad he didn't. Although if McCain and Palin were elected they would provide more material for Leno, Letterman, et al.
Anyway, it looks like the debate will take place. Yeah!
Conservative columnist Kathleen Parker is now calling for Sarah Palin to withdraw. Saying that no one hates saying that more than she, who has been "pulling for her, wishing her the best, hoping she will perform brilliantly."
But, she says, watching her in interviews, she holds her breath like an anxious parent, with her finger on the mute in case it gets too painful to watch.
"Unfortunately, if often does. My cringe reflex is exhausted. . . . Cut the verbiage and there not much content there."
Here are two lists - name the differences.
One - Condileeza Rice, Kathryn Ann Bailey Hutchinson, Debra Price, Elizabeth Dole, Kay Granger
Two - Sarah Palin
Group One is composed of women who, though you may disagree them, are intelligent and knowledgeable about the issues facing our country.
Group Two - is the woman chosen by the Republicans to run for VP
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