Palin's performance in debate a resounding success

For those of us skeptical of the entrenched power of each major party, and in support of the continuance of that power, the real interests of each party, long-term office-holding is not desireable. Aside from his cheating (and doubt of his intelligence), the chief disadvantage that Joe Biden brings to his candidacy is, for me, his failure over the course of nearly forty years to be anything other than a paid politician. John McCain comes out a bit better, not simply because he's held office for much less time but, also, because he's actually done something else in his lifetime; Barack Obama, about the same -- nothing much other than work as a politician, but still young enough to have some resilience. So Sara Palin comes out the best in this regard.

Is any of this in itself enough to persuade me to vote for either major ticket? No; but it does show that, for me and for many others, lack of "exposure at the national level" is a benefit, not a detriment.
 
RWS said:
Is any of this in itself enough to persuade me to vote for either major ticket? No; but it does show that, for me and for many others, lack of "exposure at the national level" is a benefit, not a detriment.

Biden is a hack, true; indeed all politicians, particularly long-serving ones, are. But they bring some idea of how the world works, the art of negotiation and compromise, and of what is politically possible. Politics is a dirty game of compromise, negotiation, and patience. This is what politicians do: let's not kid ourselves. Let's also not kid ourselves that some fresh, brash outsider is going to come and clean all the sleaze: that's not politically possible. If we don't have a clear idea of what politics is and what's politically possible, we're going to get conned time after time into voting for some idiot who claims to be an outsider. We don't need outsiders, with their extravagant and unrealisable promises, but insiders; what we lack institutionally is better mechanisms for holding them to account.
 
bigbadwolf said:
. . . . We don't need outsiders, with their extravagant and unrealisable promises, but insiders . . . .
I can agree with all BigBad's posting save this, and even this in part: we certainly neither need nor should want "outsiders, with their extravagant and unrealisable promises". But I don't want "insiders" who've already determined to compromise -- no, too mild: who've already cast away any principle beyond self-aggrandizement, and who readily make their own promises that would be impossible to reify (if, indeed, these "politicians" truly even wanted to implement those deceptive promises). Doubtless there are a few who've yet to make, might never make this devil's bargain; but I don't know who they are.
 
Found a well-written piece on McCain's travails in today's FT:

Mr McCain finds himself in a curious position. He entered the race as an experienced and well-known candidate, much-liked, with years in the Senate behind him. He was running against a virtually unknown novice, with barely any legislative achievements to boast of - and a black man with a funny name, to boot. Mr McCain was the known quantity, the safer choice, literally the elder statesman and Mr Obama had everything to prove. Yet with four weeks to go, the election is being run by both sides as though the opposite were true.


Mr Obama looks unhurried and presidential, exuding natural authority. He is running as though he were the popular incumbent. Meanwhile, the eager Mr McCain dashes to and fro, hoping to shake things up, striving for attention with one daring stroke after another.

The fact that the country has a uniquely unpopular president helps to explain this reversal of roles. Mr McCain has had to run against the administration of George W. Bush as well as against Mr Obama. As an avowed maverick, he could do that well enough - but it is difficult to be both a maverick and a safe choice.


In this subtle way, the unpopularity of the Bush administration undercut Mr McCain's advantage in seniority. It is not so much that Mr McCain is branded with the record of the Bush administration. The Obama campaign's constant charge that McCain is McSame seems to me to have mostly fallen flat. The problem is that in both opposing Mr Obama and putting distance between himself and President Bush, Mr McCain became an unknown quantity and hence a risk.


The abruptly worsening economic crisis had a reinforcing effect. It pushed the burden of explanation away from the Democratic contender, whose anti-market talking-points blend easily with the popular mood, and towards the Republican, now obliged to clarify his support for deregulation and other dubious doctrines. Never very convincing on economic issues, this is something Mr McCain has struggled to do.


Circumstances, in short, gave Mr McCain an uphill task. Give Mr Obama credit for having the wit to see it: he has spent the past few weeks watching his opponents wear themselves out. Mr McCain's temperament redoubled his difficulties. Voters can tolerate only so much unpredictability in a politician. Zeal to reform government is fine. A passion to win difficult wars can be admirable. A daring taste in running mates is refreshing. All of the above, however, begins to make people nervous. Voters start to wonder if orthodoxy is being defied for its own sake. They wonder if it all hangs together. They look out for gimmicks and mistakes: there have been plenty of both. They start to use words like "erratic".
 
The Palin thing is very simple. Ask yourself why are they hiding her away and not letting her do interviews of ANY KIND anymore. A Politician running away from free publicity? Unheard of UNLESS there's something GIGANTIC to hide. The fact is, they bring out the Yapping Parrot when the control is on her side cause that smart ass, sarcastic, I'm just-like-you, attitude appeals to many of America's simple minded, non-thinking, robots who don't have a clue that NOT JUST ANYONE can step into the office of President or VP. We have had one of those for 8 years and look at the mess we're in now. She was picked to fill a gap along side a very not qualified, hiding-his-famous-super-anger-for-now McCain but she in no way can educate herself enough to be the VP (maybe 20 years from now if she studies EVERYDAY) - she's all about the SUPERFICIAL (and no substance) and the American public has been so dummy downed that that's the way our leaders are chosen these days - superficial reasons by superficial citzens (learning what these Politicians REALLY stand for is too taxing for their little double digit I.Q. brains - it's much more fun to go shopping and max out the credit card while zooming around in a giant SUV).
 
Dudester said:
... it's much more fun to go shopping and max out the credit card while zooming around in a giant SUV).

Those days are gone. We're living in an era of deepening crisis. Our angst and bewilderment are akin to those felt by Soviet citizens when their empire began to crumble into dust eighteen years ago. Palin won't cut it.
And here's a picture that just about sums her up. By the way, how did I end up posting on a thread devoted to this obvious numbskull?
 
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