While I was watching coverage of the DNC one of the many Democratic politicians was asked if he thought Obama's name would be a problem for him and wouldn't the Dems be happier if Obama had kept his childhood name of Barry and taken his mother's maiden name of Dunham. The politician replied, "I like Barry O'bama. Obama with an apostrophe, as if he were Irish."
The conservatives are delighted about Palin's position on abortion. They say she knew she was going to have a baby with Down syndrome and she chose to have it anyway. No abortion for her. My question is if she doesn't believe in abortions then why did she have genetic testing done in the first place?
McCain’s choice of Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska is as good a choice for VP as Obama’s choice of Senator Joe Biden was bad. In one move McCain both shored up his standing with religious conservatives and reached out to women. In addition, he chose a Washington outsider which is something McCain is not. Overall I think a very smart move. McCain is looking to the election while Obama I believe mistakenly looked to his administration. I believe he should have chosen a governor of a swing state or maybe Hilary Clinton, either way someone who would have brought him a key state or many voters. Time will tell who was right.
It’s no surprise to me that Al Gore’s speech last night at the DNC is the one I liked best. I’ve been a fan of Al Gore since the late 80s when I heard him on an NPR interview talking about the environment. At the time I had never heard of him, in part because I had yet to develop an interest in politics but also because he was not well known outside of Tennessee. In that interview he struck me as very smart, knowledgeable and articulate. Granted it was radio and I couldn’t see him. I admit he doesn’t have the look, the charisma, of the typical successful politician. He’s not a Reagan, Clinton or an Obama. His intelligence isn’t covered up by folksy charm. But I like the idea of a president (or potential president) who is obviously very smart. To want anything else seems to me to be foolish. Al Gore has written some of his own speeches. How many candidates can make that claim? People complain constantly about politicians. The fault lays with the voter not the politicians. The voters after all are the ones who time and time again choose the candidate who gives a slick presentation. Form over substance. Handsome, charming and a smooth talker – that’s what apparently appeals to most people. Just look at high school politics. It’s usually the most popular kids who get elected. Popularity most often based on looks and social skills. This same inclination spills over into adulthood when we elect candidates to national office. I think in most cases the voters get who they deserve. If the voters of any democratic land could understand and remind themselves that running for public office and actually performing the duties of that same office require a different set of skills. Voters need to focus on the skill sets required of being in office rather than the skill sets required to successfully run for office. If they did so I believe we would have better leaders.
I saw a video on YouTube of a small protest march by college students in Red Hook, NY. The march was a protest over the results of the 2004 presidential election. In the video you see a few students (about 12 according to the person posting the video) and an overwhelming number of state police officers. There is a lot of yelling and screaming. It appears the police overreacted. But what surprised or rather disappointed me was the tone of the comments to the video. The general tone was one of ridicule and derision toward the students. At about the same time I was perusing profiles at on online chat site and noticed the most common response to the question of political stance was basically politics and politicians suck and I don’t care - thus the basis for my current rant. I understand people not being interested in politics. National politicians are indeed corrupt to one degree or another. After all they have to make so many concessions to please all the different factions. They have to collect money from the big donors because it takes lots of money to run a campaign. And then of course they’ll owe those big donors and so it goes. So in the end the voter is left feeling frustrated and helpless. Better to just ignore the whole irritating mess. All of this I understand completely. Life is short after all and full of stresses and irritation, who wants more. So for those who opt out of the system and decide to let others make their choices I say okay – I understand. But what bothers me are the careless voters, the ones who do vote but put little thought or effort into it, who don’t understand the issues in any meaningful way. For example, in the 2000 presidential election I heard some people say they liked George Bush because they felt like they could sit down and have a beer with him. This is important why? Along those same lines I saw Obama on the Tonight Show way back and Leno was asking him about his education. Obama was reluctant to discuss it. When Leno pressed him on the issue and pointed out that Obama had a JD from Harvard Obama explained his reluctance to discuss his education was because, “nobody likes a smarty pants”. Obama got that right. Americans apparently don’t like presidents who sound smart. And I realize a politician could be smart and capable and yet not at first blush come across that way - the folksy politician. But do candidates have to shy away from sounding smart? Other examples of silly reasons: I heard someone say once they voted for JFK because he was handsome. Or the candidate is from my home state so I know who he is. Or he’s the same age as me or he has the same star sign or drives the same kind of car or has the same hair style. Good grief. These people are obviously at the extreme end of what I’m talking about and yet there are all too many of them. But there are also too many voters who do vote for issues but have such a limited understanding of what those issues entail. After all, the modern world is very complex. Understanding economic theory or world trade is no small feat. Who’s got the time or the inclination to become knowledgeable on complex issues? And since most issues are so complex… Hey all I’m suggesting is that people, if they are going to vote, put some effort into knowing where the candidates really stand on the issues they care about. Don’t sit back and make lazy assumptions - make an effort please.
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