According to the polls...
Well it's finally coming to the short strokes, and as I have found in most things I am more concerned about secondary repercussions in this election than the primary ones. Which is to say I like McCain because what should automatically happen in the GOP when he becomes President, not so much because he is leading me in an inspired way because of his campaign. I felt the same way about Schwartzeneggar.
I have a feeling that one way or another things are going to slowly fall apart no matter who is in office. And I'm not sure whom I'd rather see take the L. The Republican party is exhausted and exasperating. The Democrats are rabid and random. It seems like only a handful of Americans out of every hundred has any idea where the country might be headed.
I haven't heard either side say anything new over the past month except dealing with the nastyness surrounding Palin. As that goes, Michelle Obama has managed to salvage her reputation in front of the American people and make a graceful exit from center stage. It has been the only graceful thing I can think of. I have every sense, therefore, that Obama is going to do some foot dragging and basically play a prevent defense. He's going to run down the clock and hope nothing happens that makes him look foolish. He's exceptionally good at that for people who have no reason to suspect Democrats of anything especially cheeky. His teflon coating is thick enough for gasseous diffusion of UF6.
Speaking of Palin, I think she's going to be hounded into becoming the second-coming of Ann Coulter. Go down swinging is what Right radio is saying today. Speaking for myself, I've just about had it with McCain's inability to get the right words out to the right press. McCain is not hitting me in the gut. Or as the caller to the Dennis Miller Show said, McCain has used Palin as a hot chick to get him to the front of the line of the club. Now it's time for him to take off the cardigan, put on the leather jacket and open a can of whoopass on the opposition.
We all know that McCain cannot stand Obama. I want to see some fur fly. I want to see the gloves to come off. I want to get some gut feel for these guys, because I think they're both floating their way home. I need to hear them talk about why America is going to be wrong under the other guy, in a convincing style. Then again, how often do I get what I want.
The ball is clearly in Obama's possession, because according to the grapevine, the McCain camp is convinced that they can't win talking about the economy. That's a copout. Somebody has to say my economist can whoop your economist, and nobody is saying that. All they do is talk about tax plans and go backwards from there. That is insufficient. The person who talks most clearly and philosophically consistently on the economy wins. Quite frankly I think McCain will talk too slowly to give anyone confidence, and I think Obama will say something crazy that sounds like a good idea but isn't. Just like he did on Pakistan and nobody called him on it. Just like Biden did when he said we outspent Iraq over Afghanistan 120 to 1.
The Ten Things need to be updated.
What raises my eyebrows about this campaign is the air of inevitability it now has. It has dragged on entirely too long. I want it over. I am emotionally spent and I'm tired of repeating myself. Every new thing that comes across the press is shallow and biased and we spend all of our energy deconstructing elaborately crafted, self-serving messages from the candidates. For all his promise of Straight Talk, McCain has little to show. Or perhaps he has been saying quite enough, just with nowhere near the style of Obama. Yet for all the posturing and posing, I have heard not one sentence in 18 months that captures the spirit of their energies. Instead I have been drenched in themes and good looking photography and negatives about the other guy. I'm weary of this game. The more I play it, the more stupid and angry I feel.
Recent Comments