The Republican Convention: White, Old, Wooden and Out of Ideas
I watched some of the Republican Convention last night, and I was stunned by how... well, very white, very old, and very wooden it was.
It's like Republican party officials aren't even trying anymore. Heck... even First Lady Laura Bush, normally a warm and natural speaker, was stiffly reading from the teleprompter.
You know you're in trouble when old goats Fred Thompson and Joe Lieberman are your glitzy headliners.
You know you're in trouble when not one speaker addresses the flailing economy, considered by a huge majority of Americans as the #1 problem facing their families and our great country.
The U.S. boasts plenty of young Republicans, Latino Republicans, African-American Republicans and so on. But where were they at the Republican Convention? They certainly weren't speaking much, if at all, and they certainly weren't in evidence among delegates caught by cable news cameras.
Sarah Palin Will both Electrify and Repel
In contrast, vice-presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska should electrify the Republican Convention tonight in her much-anticipated speech. Palin is extraordinarily admired, even beloved, by the extreme right-wing of the Republican Party, attracted mainly by her strong pro-life stances.
But smart political strategy dictates that vice presidential nominees must attract additional voters to the ticket. Few among the religious right had planned to vote for the Democratic ticket. And Palin's extreme pro-life stances, grounded in religious-right theology, are repellent to most moderate and liberal voters.
So the question must be asked: how does Sarah Palin help John McCain win the presidency?
My guess is that in the '08 campaign, her pro-life beliefs will be down-played, and Palin, who has deeply entrenched ties to the oil industry, will instead address energy concerns and her oft-repeated mantra to drill, drill, drill for oil to end the U.S. energy crisis.
McCain is Eclipsed by His Running Mate
One more thought occurs to me about the '08 Republican Convention: does anyone even care about John McCain's speech?
In truth, John McCain has been eclipsed by his own charismatic running mate, who is young, sexy, articulate, but oh-so-radically conservative.
How sad. John McCain of 2000, distinguished war hero, truly deserved much better.
But John McCain of 2008, diminished by time, the Bush/Cheney/Rove cabal, and his own bad judgment and destructive impulses, merely seems... well, very white, very old, and very wooden.
And fresh out of ideas about how to solve the daunting problems facing the United States in 2008.
John McCain of 2000 wouldn't even vote for the John McCain of 2008
(Photo of Sen. Joe Lieberman at the '08 Republican Convention: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
- Related Reading
- Joe Lieberman: Democrat Who Angers Democrats: 20 Surprising & Unknown Facts
- Sarah Palin on Energy and the Environment
- In Palin Pick, McCain Uses Identity Politics to Insult All Women
Comments
SARAH PALIN SLASHED SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATION BY 62%
For those of you who seem so enamored with Gov. Sarah Palin, it might be worth noting that she oversees the budget for the Department of Education and Early Development Special Schools in Alaska.
These funds provide supplementary educational services to students with severe disabling conditions and the Alaska Challenge Youth Academy. The resident school where the child would normally be placed does not have the resources to provide an adequate educational program. Without the supplementary services the child’s needs would not be met by the local school district in most cases.
The following programs are included within this component:
Special Education Service Agency (SESA)
The Annual budget for 2007, which preceded Gov. Palin was $8,265,300.
http://www.gov.state.ak.us/omb/08_OMB/budget/EED/comp2735.pdf
The Annual budget for 2008, enacted by Gov. Palin is $3,156,000.
http://www.gov.state.ak.us/omb/08_OMB/budget/EED/comp2735.pdf
The Annual budget for 2009, enacted by Gov. Palin is $3,156,000.
http://www.gov.state.ak.us/omb/09_omb/budget/EED/comp2735.pdf
This is a cut in special needs services to children in Alaska of 5,109,300 , or 62%.
So, as the Alaska State Budget description states, “Without the supplementary services the child’s needs would not be met by the local school district in most cases.”
Did 62% of all of the special needs children in Alaska stop having needs once Gov. Palin took office?
Before we get so excited about Gov. Palin bringing her “Reformer” agenda to Washington, perhaps we should get to know a little more about what exactly that means to our children, and the opportunities that she would “Reform”.
If you ask me, a 62% cut in these funds, which we all know are so desperately scarce, and for which we all have to fight tooth and nail for our children, is a disgrace.
Just a thought…
So, the biggest problem with the convention was that there were too many old white people. That sure comes off as racist, and ageist. I mean, really, who cares what the color of their skin is? I want to hear ideas. And old, what difference does that make? I thought politics was supposed to be about ideas, policies, and debate, not “glitzy headliners”.
Now, I’ve been attacking your articles lately, and I want to bookend this comment with some words of agreement. For one thing, I have noticed as well that Sarah Palin has considerably more press and charisma than John McCain. I almost wonder if McCain selected her as a contingency plan for the Republican Party, to thrust her into the national scene so that she could introduce herself to the American people and get a taste of what a national campaign is like. That way, in the (likely) event that Obama wins, the Republicans already have a seasoned candidate to challenge him in 2012. I also have to begrudgingly admit that although I like McCain a lot, he would have been a much better president eight years ago, certainly better than Bush. The problems of *both* candidates has made this a hard election for me to make up my mind on.
Robert, I appreciate your comments. When I post thoughts that convey strong views, I expect disagreement.
The biggest problem with the Republican convention being so non0ethinic and non-young is that it’s poor political strategy.
And yes, I fully agree; if Sarah Palin can survive the background vetting, she could be quite a formidable candidate on the national level in 2012 or 2018. She’s a powerful and dazzling political personality.