A round-up of Palin and poor John McCain

When it became clear that John McCain would be the Republican nominee for the presidency I thought that his nomination was a pretty smart move for the Republicans. I felt that he was the one Republican who stood a chance to beat either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama because he was the one Republican who could distance himself enough from the GOP to attract independants and democrats yet also remain close enough to the GOP's electorate to clinch the presidency. Plus, he was a likeable man with a compelling story. Yes, he left his first wife for a newer and younger model, but the first wife had forgiven him and he himself considered it to be his greatest failure. People are people, right? The story of the clashes between his and the Bush campaign in 2000 also endeared the man to me. I thought this man has encountered the ugly truth of racism and with him running maybe race will be less of an issue and the fight between him and Obama will be more honest.
Just goes to show what campaigning can do to politicians. Somehow politicians seem to lose control over themselves in campaigns. The people who surround them gain more and more influence on the presentation of the candidate as campaigns move along. Stories get embellished, candidates are desperate to win after investing a lot in their campaigns, both financially and personally. We've seen this happen with Hillary Clinton and her husband. The Hillary that started out was a very different Hillary from the one we saw in May. She seems to have found herself again these days, but she lost all control over her own image in trying desperately to win. Obama has been better at damage-control. He's been through his own series of '-gates' and he's come out of them pretty clean and with his personality more or less intact. People still seem to feel that he's the candidate who takes the high road. Not to say that Obama hasn't changed over the course of his campaign. The flagpin is now featured on this jacket every time we see him, the story of his life has been moulded so that he looks like the epithom of the American dream, but the bottom line is: he hasn't changed too much over the course of his campaign in any major way. He's not afraid to distance himself from his staff which might mean that he isn't ruled by them like other candidates are and have been.
Now poor John McCain. Forced to embrace the conservative wing of his party. Saddled with a veep-pick he didn't really want. Rehashing his POW-story for all purposes. Not able to really shake of Bush jr. (as I understand it Cindy McCain will never forgive Bush for 2000) and the presidency slipping away from him amidst the drama of Palin. Yes, the Republicans at the convention rally around him now, but it's not them he needed to win over.
Then all the drama of Palin: she herself threw away the chance to cry sexism at questioning her experience and balancing work and family. Her lack of experience is reasoned away with claiming that she has more executive experience that Obama and Biden combined. That reasoning would also mean that McCain has less experience than Palin. Hey, Karl Rove himself thinks that being a governor for three years didn't qualify governor Kaine to be VP. And if only the problems with Palin would stop there...but they ofcourse don't.

A round-up:

Alaska Republican Sen. President: 'It's just surreal' Palin laughed when this politician was called 'a cancer'. Knowing full-well that the woman in question was in fact a cancer-survivor.



Already the question is being raised about what happens if Palin has to leave the ticket.

Palin's Small Alaska Town Secured Big Federal Funds
Aides Say Team Interviewed Palin Late in the Process

She was nearly recalled as mayor and tried to impose censure in the local library

That incident with her ex- brother-in-law? Not the first time...and every candidate now seems to have a preacher-problem which in Palin's case may lead the jewish vote to Obama. That would be the Obama she kinda likes, she wouldn't mind if Obama won the state of Alaska.

And that's not all, but it is all I've got time for now. Check out this blog to keep up-to-date on the Palin chronicles.


Obama before he was a rising political star