Presidential Election

It’s too late to put together a well reasoned thoughtful post on the debate. And besides, I like using bullet points. So, some semi-random thoughts on the debate.

• The two candidates had different goals.  Biden’s goal was to attack McCain. Palin’s goal was to reassure Americans that she is the real deal. Both did an admirably job of accomplishing their goal
• You will hear pundits talk about who won on “points.”  This is because all those journalists went to some Ivy League school where they had to take a debate class which was scored on whether you answered every point your opponent made.  But this is a public political debate. It’s the political equivalent of “Whose Line is it Anyway?”  The points don’t matter.
• I thought Joe Biden sounded pretty good the first half of the debate. But the last 30 minutes he seemed to get angry and slightly flustered.
• Can anyone explain to me why Obama and Biden think going to war in Iraq is unforgivable, but going to war in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Darfur, and Bosnia is just peachy? For bonus points explain to me how they will not allow Iran to get nukes, since any discussion of moving against Iran is war-mongering?
• Is there anyone in the country besides Joe Biden who really thinks John McCain wanted to cut off funding for the troops?
• Palin made no serious mistakes, looked great, talked directly to Americans and generally looked competent. Early reactions seem to indicate most people liked Sarah.  A bad performance could have nearly derailed the McCain campaign, which is suffering this week. Her strong performance will allow the McCain campaign to turn their attention fully toward the remaining debates and final push. Biden didn’t land any blows against McCain that haven’t already been repeated a dozen times. Therefore, advantage Palin.

Just wow.

Last night Gov. Sarah Palin delivered an amazing acceptance speech at the RNC. Amazing because she was just thrust into the limelight a few days ago, has been beat up in the press, and has never given a speech in a crowded convention hall with the entire country watching.  Within a few minutes, she hit her stride, got the feel of the crowd and just nailed the entire speech. She made it look easy.

Palin introduced her family and her story. The plot line was simple. We are typical small-town Americans and we understand you.

The suprising part of the speech was the effectiveness with which she skewered Barack Obama. Palin killed him with humorous mockery as did Giuliani earlier.  It will be interesting to see if the Obama campaign responds to the provocation. I think that may be exactly what McCain wants.  Will Barack Obama feel forced to explain just what a “community organizer” actually does?

One thing is for sure. The party base is now united and excited. This morning, no one is talking about Barack Obama. It’s all Sarah, all the time.

Now that Gustav has had his shot at the Gulf Coast we can turn our attention back to politics and the Republican National Convention.  I was able to watch both Fred Thompson and Joe Lieberman last night.

Fred did an excellent job as I expected he would.  He put in plain English some of the problems with the Democratic view that we can raise taxes on businesses and the rich without affecting everyone else.  “They are going to take water out of the bucket, but they are not going to take water out of your side of the bucket, they are only going to take water out of the other side of the bucket.”

The most powerful section of his presentation was his description of John McCain’s time as a POW.  My wife was shocked to hear in detail what McCain had suffered.  If you or someone you know is not familiar with McCain’s POW experience, please watch Fred’s speech on youtube.

I was travelling over the Labor Day holiday when the VP announcement broke.  I was very excited to hear that Sarah Palin was the pick.  I’ve been watching her for about six months.  I always thought she would be the best female choice, but I didn’t really think he would do it. This pick sucked all the attention away from Obama and to the McCain campaign.  I don’t have a lot to say about the situation with her daughter except that I have two young daughters and I hope I never find out what that’s like.   Blue Collar Muse has an excellent post on this topic.

I’m looking forward to the VP speech tonight. I’ll post some thoughts after it’s over.

Last night, Obama threw down the gauntlet and then kicked a little sand on McCain to make sure he got the point:  The race is on.

Barack Obama provided the answer last night to the central question of his candidacy. Barack Obama is ready to be president of the United States because Barack Obama says so.

This is a tactic recognized by every boy who ever got in the middle of a school yard showdown. Argument by assertion. How do we know that Barack can pay for the billions of new spending? Because he says he will. How do we know that the economy is terrible even though it’s about the same as under Clinton? Because he says so. Facts really don’t matter.

No where was this more apparent than his attacks on John McCain on foreign policy.  How is Obama going to get Russian to leave Georgia alone? Why he is just going to use “tough diplomacy.”   How is he going to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons? He is just going to use “tough diplomacy.” “Tough diplomacy” is going to be a wonder to behold. By the use of “tough diplomacy” Barack is going to talk tough leaders in unfriendly countries to do our bidding without the use of any sort of unpopular force and when he is done they are going to thank him for it and look upon the United States with reverence and respect.  We know this will work because Barack Obama says it will.

Just for clarification, don’t confuse “tough diplomacy” with “cowboy diplomacy.”  “Cowboy diplomacy”, used by President Bush, is bad because the threat of negative action makes dictators and bureaucrats around the world feel bad. Obama has mastered the ability to be tough with dictators without offending anyone.  In fact he is so talented that Pakistan (Nukes!) won’t mind when we invade them to retrieve Osama Bin Laden, thereby ending global terrorism.

So circle up in the school yard and place your bets.  Obama is poking McCain in the chest and trash-talking about what he is going to do.

I’m betting McCain has a different style of being tough…

It’s too late to put together a detailed post on Biden’s speech so here are some of the thoughts that popped into my head during the event

• Are you insulted yet?  Biden recounted that when he was a kid Americans learned to get back up when they were knocked down. But today it is different. Today’s Americans can’t succeed unless the government “helps” them.  We are all children who need the benevolent protection and guidance of the nanny state.
• Both Biden and Obama have now called for more troops to be sent to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Are we now going to invade Pakistan, an ally in the war on terror, which is also a Muslim country armed with nuclear weapons?
• Do the anti-war protesters who blame America first, who think Al Qaeda was provoked by the U.S. and who support Obama. Do they support the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan?
• Biden and Obama insist that the economy under President Bush is terrible and they want to return us to the great Clinton years.  But the Bush & Clinton records are roughly the same on unemployment(about 5.2%), inflation (about 2.6%) and growth rate (19.6% for Clinton, 16.6% for Bush with 911 attacks) Frankly, the economy has been good under both presidents, primarily because of tax cuts going all the way back to Reagan.

There is much more to cover relating to Biden’s accusations of poor military judgement against John McCain. I’m sure some of the Mil-Blogs will respond. I’ll try to link sometime tomorrow.

For those who don’t have patience for the whole speech, here is my condensed version of Hillary Clinton’s speech:

Despite the fact that I am the most successful female politician ever, and despite the fact that I’m never going to actually quit running for president, you should vote for that other guy or else Americans will be allowed to continue making choices about healthcare for themselves, raising their own children, and driving whatever car they want.

“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.” Mark Twain

Last night I turned on the Democratic National Convention just in time to hear Michelle Obama’s introduction and speech. I thought it was a good performance of an average speech.

First the good.  Michelle looked fantastic. They were very successful at softening her appearance and image.  The shots of a successful black family with a father, mother and children were great to see considering the culture wars going on the in the African-American community. Michelle delivered the speech well and seemed genuinely moved toward the end of the speech.

But I was disappointed in the content of the speech. The speech seemed to be just a collection of various observations designed to convince us that the Obama’s regular people just like you and me. In the middle there was a short section of boiler-plate liberal agenda points.  But the speech did not truly connect because it had no solid thread of an idea or story line to tie it all together into a single framework.

After the speech, Juan Williams of Fox News was visible moved by the speech. But by his own admission, he was moved primarily by the moment. A vibrant young black woman is speaking to a major party convention as the potential next First Lady of America.  This was indeed a historic moment in the history of our country. It deserved a historic speech that connected the past, the public and the Obama’s in a way that provided the rationale of why Obama should be the future for the country.

I noticed the same issue at Obama’s Germany speech. A hodgepoge of unrelated one-liners with no structure to connect them.  The Obama campaign is absolutely flush with money. Can’t they afford to hire a team of speech-writers to write great speeches? (Think Reagan)  Why didn’t we hear something like the following?

My father grew up in a different world than the America of today. A world where tonight could never happen.  But as I was born into his world, Rev. King led men like my father to dream of a better time. A time when my father would not have to tell my brother and I, “No, you can’t.”  And that’s why my father was able to get up everyday and dress for work, despite the pain of his MS.  He was working to change things for the better for his family. And your families have done the same, fueled by a belief in the greatness of America. Until we have arrived at the America of today, where a white woman and a black man, both of Illinois, can legitimately dream of being the President of the United States.

It has been my privilege to work side by side with Barack as he has carried on in that tradition. I’ve watched as he struggled to make a difference in the lives of others. As he has made improvements in the lives of the citizens of Chicago. I’ve watched as they entrusted him to represent them in the Illinois Senate and United States Senate.

And that’s why I have hope for my daughters, that they will live in a different world than Dr. King and my father.  Because I have seen with my own eyes the changes in lives all over this country. I have been touched by your hopes and dreams for the future. And I sincerely believe that Barack Obama is change YOU can believe in. Because I have known and loved and worked with Barack Obama for 19 years. And when I look at Barack Obama , I SEE A DREAM COME TRUE…”

If Obama really wants to win, he can’t just go to a big stadium full of people that make him look great and do a professional job reading a teleprompter speech. He needs a great speech. One that explains what “change” really means and why Americans should want his kind of change.  Thursday night, the responsibility for winning the nation over will rest on his shoulders.  What kind of speech will he give? A great one? Or an almost great one?

That didn’t take long…

This is the first of what I expect to be numerous posts that illustrate why Barack Obama does not deserve the votes of the citizens of Tennessee.

The citizens of Tennessee are mostly pro-life, with nearly everyone agreeing that abortion can be subject to some reasonable restrictions, such as informed consent.

Barack Obama takes the most extreme positions possible on abortion.  While he was a State Senator in Illinois there was an attempt to pass a bill protecting babies who are accidentally born alive. Just let the phrase “accidentally born alive” sink in for a minute.   Sometimes during an abortion procedure a child is born before they can be killed by the abortionist.  Pro-life supporters wanted to pass a bill to declare that when a child is born alive, they cannot be killed. It is an amazing thing that such a law is even necessary.

Obama opposed this protection of newborn babies. He has offered up an excuse during his campaign that the law could have had a negative impact on abortion services. However it has now come to light that he voted against the bill even after explicit protections where put into the bill to answer his objections.  The law he voted against was in essence identical to a federal bill that even the most liberal members of congress voted for and which NARAL did not not oppose.

You can read the detailed press release by National Right to Life here and the documentation here.

• What sort of Supreme Justices would Obama appoint?
• If Obama thinks so little of newborn life, what is his attitude toward those at the end of life? If Obama is successful at nationalizing health care, will he be willing to pay for care for the terminally ill or very aged?

Tennesseans who care about the deliberate killing of innocent babies should think long and hard before casting a vote for Obama.