Straight Talk
Posted at 5:10 pm on Thursday, September 4, 2008, in Uncategorized, and tagged 2008, bush, gore, iraq, lieberman, mccain.
I’ll make these comments before McCain accepts his party’s nomination this evening…
John McCain deserved his party’s nomination in 2000. He was the better man; and he would have been the better leader. In all likelihood, if McCain would have defeated Al Gore (which was likely as well, maybe even without a recount), the horrific events of nine-eleven simply may not have taken place. If they did, however, McCain would have responded in a much more competent manner (than Bush), and wouldn’t have commenced an invasion of Iraq.
McCain was a different candidate eight years ago. He decried the fringe right-wing of his party; he now accepts that divisive element as his own. Eight years ago, McCain promised to clean-up Washington; and now, he pretty much wants to do things the same. The same people; the same policies.
Eight years ago, John McCain would have won great support from independents and centrist democrats. (In a strange twist of fate, Joe Lieberman probably would have voted and even campaigned for McCain, despite the fact he was on the democratic ticket.) And now, eight years later, with the nomination of an extreme conservative as his running-mate, McCain’s efforts to court the center will be mostly fruitless.
A lot has happened over the course of the Bush administration: two wars, a housing boom and bust, the politicization of the Justice Department, a reckless and politically ruthless vice-president’s office, countless scandals. In those eight years however, there may be nothing that changed more than the politics of John McCain.
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September 5th, 2008 at 9:56 am
After listening to Palin’s speech Wednesday evening, I have to conclude that Sen. Obama is absolutely correct in his analysis of this campaign: the Republicans want to make the main issues “experience” and “personality” to distract the voters from their abysmal record of few accomplishments of the past eight years, instead of focusing on what they intend to accomplish over the next four. After all, what could you possibly expect from a political party, 71% of whose convention delegates believe that Bush is doing a great job as President? This election should clearly be about us and where our country is heading and not about “experience,” “personality,” “hockey moms,” “POW’s,” “community organizers,” or the price of tea in China. If we voters allow McCain and Palin to skate on the thin ice of their “personalities,” then we will have done our country a grave disservice!