Babygate aside: What the Palin/McCain, Obama/Biden picks say about the two parties:

[jazzjunkysue]

(Disclaimer: This is a broad-brush, step back and look at the long view kind of opinion, so, please don't attack on details. I do not mean to deal with details, here.)

Obama doesn't look like your typical presidential candidate. We've chosen him on substance: Harvard PHD, and impressive, solid, understated performance in the senate, with the Chicago grass roots background. Scrappy. Get it done earthiness. Not selected on image, but substance. Same with Biden, more or less. (Like I said, long view, not details.)

So, boiling it down, the Dem pick is function over fashion. (Being simplistic on purpose, here!)

If you can just go along with that kind of thinking for 20 seconds, what does that say about the GOP?

Did they choose McCain and Palin for their incredible educational credentials? Foreign policy experience/knowledge/skill? If we boil down their substance we get a senile, flip-flopping Bush party hack, and a pretty cream puff. The GOP electorate was so embarassed by their initial choices, that they went with the McCain tough-guy image, regardless of the lack of substance behind him. Lousy student, pilot, legislator. But his image, in the minds of the voters, comforted them. And it's obvious that Palin is nothing but image.

So, I think american voters are going to size this entire year up as this:

Dems: Serious.
GOP: Comic relief.

Now, I know that many americans can't or won't go beyond image, and so the GOP may be deliberately going for the Forest Gump ticket. Benny Hill had a nice, long run, after all.

But these days, with the economy in the toilet and everyone's job at risk and all prices soaring, people are looking for the reasons. The learning curve is improving. I think the last week of talk shows proves that americans as a group are looking for more substance as their financial security is threatened.

And I think they're re-evaluating their previous attachment to the GOP as the serious, military, tough, bottom line party.

I think the GOP is now fluff.

[Kdillard]

1. We can only hope the American people see it that way.

[mod mom]

2. We all saw the incompetence of a p(R)esident w/o smarts, who chose gut instinct over

rational analysis, but hey some men thinks she's cute.

:mad:

[jazzjunkysue]

5. Right. Most people now know they were duped into supporting the Iraq war.

They know it was all smoke and mirrors. But somehow they think they'll trust Gramps. He's different.
Right. So, how does the Palin pick help them see Gramps as more serious or substantive? Does she really look like he's putting america first? Terra, terra, Sarah!

[grannie4peace]

3. i sure hope so

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. I wouldn't call the GOP ticket comic relief

but rather Delusional Running From Reality.

I really hope that Palin mentions the fact that there is no such thing as global warming in her acceptance speech. That she talks about the importance of banning artificial forms of birth control for everyone, including married couples, because they are forms of abortion, which she opposes, even for rape and incest victims. These statements alone will show America how delusional the GOP has become.

[jazzjunkysue]

6. Agreed.

[wilt the stilt]

7. when people ask about Obama's experience

Here is my reply. Here is a person who played by the rules. You conservatives always ask African Americans to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. Well, Barack and Michelle did. They took out student loans and went to the finest schools. When he finished Columbia, he attended Harvard and became the editor of the Harvard Law review. Now, Here is a guy who could have written his own ticket to any of the top law firms in the country. He could be worth 100 million dollars right now. He would have been a partner within 4 years. All law firms want a black man from Harvard. He would have been a great token for them.

What does he do, he goes back to the community and gives back. There was another Harvard educated person who is similar. David Halberatm(famous author)was also Harvard educated and like Barack could of used his degree for lots of money. instead he became a newspaperman and wrote about the civil rights movement for the Tennessean. The other people he graduated with probably made a lot of money but they are nothing but a blip. Halberstam will be remembered for generations.

So, what we see in Barack is a man who gave back and in America this is special and Obama supporters recognize that he is a special man. Three of our greatest presidents had no experience(Lincoln and the Roosevelts(FDR and Teddy)and many with tons of experience turned out to be terrible presidents( Bush Sr. and Hoover). So, it's not experience but character that counts.

[jazzjunkysue]

8. Abso-friggin'-lutely.

There are plenty of old incompetents who've put in years in public office who should never be given the job.

The Palin arguement still works with this logic: Her judgment and character are all in question,and she also lacks the serious educational and knowledge creds for the big decisions.

She's just air.