A Nasty Campaign - Or Is It?

Watching the race to the finish line in the presidential race this past few weeks, I would cringe at some of the nastiness and sarcasm of the ads and, indeed, the candidates own rhetoric. My opinion is that Senator McCain has taken nastier swipes than Senator Obama but both have gotten into the mud at times. From polls, it is clear that the American people do not like to see such personal attacks.

However, my mood was uplifted a little today when I saw the clips from the Al Smith Memorial Fundraising dinner last night. It was a white tie affair at the Waldorf-Astoria (nice place, by the way) where both candidates spoke and took a few shots at themselves. Watching John McCain laugh and applaud Obama's comments and Obama doing the same, made me have hope that we can all come together in the end and work toward restoring America's greatness. I would encourage anyone who has not seen the clips, one of each candidate, to go to CNN.com and view the videos.

It is refreshing to see, in these very tough times, that we cannot always take ourselves too seriously and point out our own foibles and those of our adversaries in a light-hearted manner.

I am sure that many other countries will be puzzled by this incredible lightness between these two seemingly hardened adversaries. But that is America. Despite differences, some as wide as the Grand Canyon, we can come together when needed. And it is very much needed today. God Bless America.

Is It Trouble for Palin, or a Blessed Event?

Pregnancy happens. That is the natural part of life. Of course, in our society and many others it is good to be married before the little ones are conceived. But pregnancy happens and despite some best efforts to avoid an unwanted pregnancy, nature has its way to increase the population.

Governor Palin's daughter, 17 year old Bristol (named after the NASCAR track?), has been said to have the misfortune of expecting a baby with her fiance. They say they plan to marry and raise this child as anyone would. I only hope that their plan was to marry before the indicator turned blue, and not just to legitimize the birth.

But, you know what? Is this really our business; this intimate detail of the daughter of a VP candidate? Generally, it should be business of the family and no one else. Except....

Governor Palin is a staunch pro-life advocate and the recent revelation that her last son Trig, a Down Syndrome child, was not to be aborted despite knowing the outcome far in advance comports with that belief. Now it appears that she (and her daughter) pass the consistency test as well. Bristol could have aborted long ago, but it is enough to say she didn't. Now, as Senator Obama says, this business is off-limits in his campaign. We can't attack Palin's consistent views (the one area open to discussion) so they should all be left alone to prepare for the Blessed Event.

The media likes to call it "trouble for the McCain campaign" or "a dirty little secret of Governor Palin's life", but once the dust has settled and the decisions made, it is and should be just what it is - a Blessed Event, where two loving parents bring a child into the world with the full support of its grandparents. Many other children are not lucky enough to start out that way.

Finally, to be fair, those on the right who are accepting of this situation must also look inside themselves to see if they would have the same reaction if Joe Biden's daughter got pregnant before marriage.

Now with this story, and the alleged trooper firing influence, I don't know if Sarah will be able to survive the rigors of this nasty campaign. If her kids get any more flak, she may find this to be a good excuse to bow out.

Stop That Heartbeat, or Just the Talk About It

I was as shocked at everyone else at the naming of Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska to be the VP running mate for Senator McCain. I am willing to hear more about her, as well as hearing her define her own role in this campaign. My first impression is good, however, I can see that she is a set-up for a Tina Fey parody on Saturday Night Live. The beehive hair, the glasses -- I can't wait to see what SNL does with her. All in good fun, of course.

I too am worried about her foreign policy experience but unless the unthinkable happens (well,, not THAT unthinkable), then she won't have to make the big decisions for someone at her pay grade (around $167,500). I just get tired of hearing the the very tired cliche of "just a heartbeat away from the Presidency". It is overused in normal times, but it has been repeated ad nauseam by every news person, talk show host, Democratic political hack, and others. Enough.

I don't mean that the concern is not legitimate, but let's couch it in more creative terms. Like when "McCain's last plane goes down", or when "President McCain buys the farm (the eighth home)", or when "President McCain gets to meet his namesakes". I could think of many more and challenge any of you to come up with a couple better than "a heartbeat away..."

John McCain's Memoir

I just finished John McCain's 1999 book, Faith of My Fathers, as I always try to read books by the major candidates. This book was written before he planned to run for president in 2008, clearly. While I have no doubt the Senator was honest in this book, his admitted bad behavior and obstinence in his early years was a bit scary. He managed to barely make it through the Naval Academy and then continued his push back as he became a U.S. Navy pilot and eventually began to fly missions in Viet Nam.

The book was interesting but a little repetitive. He is generous in his praise for others, especially his father and grandfather, and then later his fellow POWs. He is self-effacing and overly modest about the terrible trials he had to go through in the Hanoi Hilton and other enemy prisons. He often came off, to me at least, as the overly eager junior naval officer who was only trying to please his father and his senior officers. I know that this may not now translate to today's McCain. I know that I am different from who I was at 18 and even 25. But his inability to control his quickly rising gorge, even in the past few years, might be scary to some.

Like Obama's first book, this book was written before this campaign was not yet perfectly formed in his mind. I would like to read a newer and fresher book from McCain on his views of how to handle the myriad problems our country faces today. Obama penned his own books and did not have his thoughts interpreted and filtered and enhanced by a co-author. I would like to read the same from John McCain without 90% of the work done by Mark Salter (from McCain's own statement about how much of the books were really his).

McCain is Whining - Not a Pretty Picture

Good grief. I am having a hard enough time determining who I will vote for in November. I admit to waffling (but I am not a politician, so I am allowed), but I can't stand what looks like juvenile behavior in Senator McCain. Mr. Obama has returned from his trip and begins talking about issues, mainly the economy. McCain keeps talking about Obama's trip and really sinks low talking about Obama going to the gym instead of visiting our military heroes. Come on, John. That sounds desperate and it's only July.

That comes on the heels of McCain saying that Obama would rather lose the war than lose the presidency. That kind of rhetoric I did not expect from the straight-talking senator. He has moved down a notch or two with this kind of campaigning. In a previous post I noted that while others in his campaign may revert to cheap, political theatre, I said that John McCain would not do so himself. Apparently I was wrong.

So, Mr. McCain, there is plenty to talk about in this campaign. We'd like to hear what you are going to do (in detail) about the wars, the economy, the crumbling infrastructure, the taxes, and on and on. Attacking Obama for looking good (and maybe even Presidential) in the Middle East and Europe sounds like sour grapes.

Only the fanatics will latch on to the kind of mud slinging going on now. The e-mails and spam will fly across the Internet. I have not yet made up my mind, but I wanted to do it myself. Now Mr. McCain, at least for today, is trying to make up my mind for me.

McCain's New Staff

They are right. Senator McCain's message is just not getting out and he needed another staff shakeup. But they still have not dealt with my pet peeve. Mr. McCain still whistles through his teeth when he talks and that is distracting and not attractive. It makes him sound old (Oh no, not old!)

I just wish one of his handler's would schedule a short dentist appointment to have the poor old man's teeth filed just a teensy bit to stop all the dogs from tilting their heads when he talks. It is a simple request...please.

Flip-flops Are As Common As...Well, Beach Shoes

John Kerry took it on the chin for a few alleged "flip-flops" on political issues as did Mitt Romney this past year. Now nearly everyone with the ability to rub two words together is tossing out criticism of John McCain and his offshore drilling stance as well as Barack Obama's decision to forego public funding for his campaign. Depending on your persuasion, you will argue that your candidate's opponent is "flip-flopping" which, of course, is intended to mean they are indecisive, or worse - they change with the political winds.

I won't speculate on either candidate's motive but I will say that changing your mind on an issue is not all that bad. We all do it at times once we get more information, or talk to others, or even just ruminate on it a little more. The candidates get skewered when, after consideration and maybe some new information, they change their views on an issue. If we couldn't change our minds, or be influenced by other arguments, or see another's point of view, then any further discussion and discourse would ever be necessary.

I, for one, am glad that Obama has decided not to take the taxpayer funding. As he says, he is still getting "public" funding, only now it's voluntary. McCain's change of heart on offshore drilling is also a good one. He should go farther and push for more drilling in many places in the U.S. but that's a topic for another post.

Changing one's mind, even on major issues, should be looked at carefully to be sure that it is not just pandering but we should be glad that some are not stuck in their "hidebound" ideologies and can have the courage to admit their first stance may have been wrong, or at least wrong in the current times. That signifies a greater leader than one who will not budge from a view that is now out of touch. I think both candidates have this ability to listen carefully and maybe be persuaded to consider the other person's view.

Blind Faith should exist only as the name of a band.