John McCain, I hope you lose!

So, the plan was to sail into Washington like Superman and lead the cavalry to the winner's circle, eh? Hm. Looks like the cavalry didn't listen. (Oh, I love to mix my metaphors! Forgive?)

I have to say, love the comment from Boehner (who is a BONER regardless of how he pronounces his name), that Nancy Pelosi's spanking of the Republican party ruined their coalition. They never had the votes to begin with! Nancy Pelosi's an idiot and she was wrong, but the GOP is just using her ill-timed and ill-advised speech as a scape goat. They couldn't whip their votes, and you know what? I think Nancy Pelosi knew it. Why she ever called a vote, I don't know. Political machinations.

Here's another idiot: Barney Frank. Boehner at least had the decency to call for a reconsideration of the vote, and for those of you watching the live coverage, you could hear Barney Frank scream, "Stop! No!" and then after then Chairwoman said that she would consider a motion if brought, Boehner reiterated his request, and Frank said, "Resume business" or whatever it is, meaning he objected, and they go back to other business. And then he had the audacity to blame Boehner and his lack of coalition. Hah! That was political manipulation on Frank's part, plain and simple. He wanted to eviscerate the Reps, and he stopped the reconsideration to do so. What an ass.

Another ass to kick here is Newt Gingrich of whom I have NEVER been a fan. His Contract for America - what a joke!!!!! Would've at least had some credibility despite its wrong-headed assumptions and resolutions if only one or two of the so-called promises ever came to pass. So, guess what ole Newt's been up to? He wants to run for President in 2012, and he was on the news the last week telling everyone he is whipping for Republicans to pass the bailout resolution and that his "saving the nation" coalition of GOPs would be his grand entrance back onto the national political stage in preparation for that presidential bid. As a matter of fact, as the votes were being counted, he issued a statement saying that he had voted for the measure. But what was he REALLY doing? According to report this morning by Andrea Mitchell, she has first-hand knowledge that he was whipping AGAINST the resolution. Sounds like a little bit of political skull-duggery, eh?

Oh, those damn politicians. Fire all of them!

And as for John McCain, I had respect for him for years because he seemed to really care about what was right and would stand up for what was right even when no one else would. However, his political actions over the last three weeks have completely eliminated any respect I had for him and positively convinced me that he has no integrity whatsoever and will do and say whatever it takes to get elected, even if it means contradicting his 26-year track record! Oh, the Ass! The Despot! The Manipulator! I really hope he loses and not by just a little. I hope Obama kicks his ass right into retirement. I hope he is so humiliated he doesn't have the guts to show up on Capitol Hill again.

And as for Newt Gingrich, if he runs for president in 4 years, I will personally do everything in my power to campaign against his election!!!!

Oh, dear...look what I started!

Ooo...love the comments, everyone! I love the fact that I've gotten everyone thinking about what they really believe in (pat, pat, pat!) and whether they can stomach the evils of two lessers (love the line, hubbyman!)

But....there are MAJOR issues at stake in this election apart from whether a black man or woman occupy executive positions, and I firmly believe that more than at any other time in my personal voting history, involvement - at least from a cerebral standpoint - in this election is absolutely vital to the future of our nation. I hope I am interesting everyone enough to get stimulated! (mentally, of course...garsh!)

I do like Sarah Palin because she stands for something deeply important to me: family. My family means everything to me. However, that does not mean that McCain-Palin automatically get my vote this year. These are the issues that, at the core of my voting heart, will drive my vote: I will be thinking about Britt out there trying to get established financially in her new career. I'll be thinking about Grace and Brandie facing college decisions. I'll be thinking about 8 years from now when Emily graduates from High School - what kind of a world will she graduate into?

The future of our nation as a global power is in question right now...we need a leader who will, as Big V points out, re-establish our leadership in the world as a country that has integrity both militarily and financially.

So, no more pointless wars where diplomacy was not employed first!

No more disregard of the Rules of Engagement: no torturing prisoners, no illegal detainees, and no more first strikes and Shock and Awe!

Americans, let's get out of debt!

Let's hold greedy bank executives accountable for risky loans!

Let's outlaw gratuitous solicitation of credit cards, equity loans and adjustable rate mortgages!

Let's invest in new energy! New technology! Education!

And let's invest in plain old economically sound principles to re-establish our credibility in a world that is continually de-valuing our dollar!

YEAH!!!

Because the needs of this country are so great, I am not yet ready to endorse any candidate. I think there are a lot of questions that need to be answered by the McCain-Palin ticket as the anonymous poster pointed out, and they can't continue to run on his war record and their “maverick” reputations. That's just plain dumb. As for Obama-Biden, I have one word of caution: We need action not rhetoric! Clearly, both camps need to better define where they stand and how their stand differs from the current President and the other candidate.

Like VeeFlower said, we are being courted right now. It is easy to go with your heart and make an emotional decision at a time like this, but anyone who’s been divorced knows that once you say I do, you are stuck with what you picked and what you didn’t know beforehand WILL come back to bite you.

So, I recommend caution and careful consideration in regard to each candidate, and I am not recommending any particular candidate for election. My hope is to put thoughts out there that make others want to get involved and throw their rhetorical hat into the political arena.

Judging from the comments I’ve been getting, I’m hitting that goal pretty accurately! Yay!

Gone, Man, Gone!

It's the bottom of the ninth, bases are loaded, two outs and the score is tied. The tension in the stadium is so palpable it's as if the air has thickened to sludge prohibiting the merest movement. All eyes are fixed on the batter walking up to the plate. The spectators hush, waiting with bated breath for the first pitch. The pitcher and catcher exchange head shakes-n-nods. There's discord. More fervent shakes-n-nods. The crowd begins to murmur. Finally, as ripples of anxiety course through the stadium, a pitch is determined, and the crowd sighs in relief. But the tension ramps up again as the pitcher takes a step back, winds up and torpedoes the ball toward the batter.

And Gov. Sarah Palin digs in, swings, and knocks that damn ball right out of the park.

The crowd roars!!!!

As Sarah Palin takes her victory lap around the bases, the crowd goes nuts and her teammates rush on the field to congratulate her. But Sarah? Her eyes are right on her family.

It isn't possible that a human being could have watched that speech without being absolutely won over, Republican or not.

I'm not really a patriot, as most of my readers know. But watching her speech last night, and especially the moments after the speech when her family came on stage, I had the rare experience of being proud to be an American. Ok, lump me in with Michelle Obama, fine! But as I listened to that strong, intelligent, gutsy woman and then saw her embracing her family, it really made me feel that she represents the best of what America strives for: good family, working hard and standing up for what is right, not just what is popular. I was so proud to be an American woman at that moment, I got tears in my eyes! (Now don't go tellin' anyone that!)

As I said yesterday, the best hope for a jump-start out of the running blocks was for Palin and McCain both to deliver knock-your-socks-off speeches. So, as the crowd roared and McCain stepped on stage, I was waiting for McCain to deliver the knock-out blow. As he raised the microphone to speak, I was virtually willing him to say, "The doubters questioned my choice of running mate. They said I was crazy. Who's crazy now!? Barack, you may think you can speechify your way to the White House, but I'm here to tell ya, you got another think coming! We're gunnin' for ya, and we won't stop until we're in the White House!"

Instead he said something lame and a final "Look at that beautiful family" before awkwardly standing there not knowing what to do and finally exiting the stage rather abruptly. Not what I expected from a seasoned politician. He should have been poised to fully exploit the moment and drive the dagger home, right to the heart of his opponent.

But he didn't.

Maybe at that moment he was wondering whether his pick of VP will continue to overshadow his campaign, making voters wish she were the top pick, and he were the VP hopeful. Hmmmm....you think?

The reality is, we are not voting Sarah Palin for President, as much as we love her (and believe me, the pundits do love her!) John McCain is the man running for President, and she is just his running mate. After the election, she will be relegated to the near-invisible role of 2nd in command. Is it not well known that all Prezzies fear the usurping power of an overly popular VP? Oh, yes. That is why they are kept well in the background, off in (peaceful, placid) foreign lands smiling while the little cloggers dance and the old politicians shake their hand. As much as we love Sarah Palin, it is John McCain who will be at the helm if elected, and that is a point to reckon with.

Leaning Right

Well....as for leaning Republican...I am still undecided. As an extreme moderate (huh?), I am a registered "independent" voter and thus confound both parties as to whom will be my pick. I'm a social moderate, an economic liberal (and somewhat anti-capitalist) and militarily, I'm a realist. How's that for lack of political identity!

I think John McCain will have a very tough fight to win over Obama in the election. So far the RNC has been a disaster, looking and sounding more like a Memorial Day tribute than a political soiree. And the pundits thought the DNC was a snooze....!! The Convention is supposed to be the big shot of adrenaline that fires up and inspires the constituents to go out there and campaign for all they are worth to get their candidate elected. Um, that may be a problem since absent from attendance are virtually all of the important Republican leaders. The crowd last night looked more like an AARP Convention than a big pep rally for a dynamic political campaign! Isn't there anyone in attendance under the age of 50? Even I, a political junkie, was so bored I began reading a box of hair dye.

All the boring-ness aside, the message of McCain being The Man for America has been completely overshadowed by Palin and her domestic/political scandals. Of course, there is time for him to turn his campaign around, but I think first he may need to fire his campaign manager and hire someone who can inject a little youth into the campaign, interesting voters other than those who love the war, hate abortion and think we are still the big guy on campus internationally.

Look, I really like McCain. He's been an absolute consummate politician, and I have the utmost of respect for what he stands for. The problem is, he's doing a very bad job of making that case to the voting public at a time when the Democratic Party seems to have finally found an articulate mouthpiece in Obama. That simply spells bad news for McCain, especially after 8 hated years of Bush's policies driving American's to the brink of economic and military collapse. He simply has to do a much better job of distinguishing himself both from Obama and from Bush. Both Obama and McCain are party moderates - despite what pundits say about Obama being the most liberal candidate in recent history - so there is a lot of common ground in their positions. Where differences exist, McCain needs to hard-sell (or sell hard) what it is that distinguishes his policies from Obama's (and Bush's) and why his policy is better. Laying it on thick about his patriotism and war record are not getting the job done. Wake up, McCain, your candidacy is slipping through your fingertips!

However, having said all that....the Convention is still getting underway. Afterall, the DNC had a rather lackluster start in spite of Mrs. Obama's inspirational speech, which had the pundits saying, "Where's the beef?" and "Why aren't they beating the tar-feathers out of McCain right now?" Once Hilary took the stage, the whole atmosphere of the Convention - and the campaign - took on a huge surge of enthusiasm and support, thanks mostly to her husband's popularity and Obama's "historic" speech.

Ooops, back to the RNC: Yes, it is still getting started, so we may see the same surge of enthusiasm and support throughout the GOP after Palin's speech tonight. After all, this woman oozes charisma. If McCain can go on and knock 'em dead on Thursday (following in his worthy opponent's shoes), his campaign has a fighting chance. If either of them bomb, it may be the death-knell to another four years dominated by the Elephant.