The Republican nominee played the gender card today, a sure sign that he is holding a weak hand.
In picking Sarah Palin, Republican masterminds may be shrewdly reckoning to please the Religious Right while also peeling off some disaffected Hillary Clinton voters.
Wrong. Gov. Palin is no doubt a future political star, but Clinton Democrats would have to be far gone to be influenced by a woman on McCain's ticket who is a model for the pro-life, guns-for-everybody poster. Meanwhile, by selecting the recently seated 44-year-old governor of a small state to back up their aging candidate, Republicans are folding the Obama-is-inexperienced card, the red-phone call at 3 AM card, the no-foreign policy experience card and a whole deck of Obama-isn't-ready attacks.
Ironically, as the Democrats filled out their ticket with experience and judgment, the McCain team is opting for an attractive but ill-prepared and ludicrously inappropriate choice that will be seen as akin to George W. Bush nominating Harriet Meiers to the Supreme Court.
Showing posts with label experience issue. Show all posts
Showing posts with label experience issue. Show all posts
Friday, August 29, 2008
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Picturing a President
If Barack Obama is sworn in next January, last night's debate may prove to be the turning point when American voters started seeing him as more than a gifted candidate. Hillary Clinton's job was to create doubts about his fitness to be President, but she ended up giving Obama the opportunity to demonstrate he has the qualities for the job.
After a peevish start (citing a Saturday Night Live skit to air her grievances against the questioners), Sen. Clinton worked hard to present herself as Presidential and rattle Obama into appearing less so. But he never took the bait.
In 15 minutes about health care, he defended his position without demeaning hers. When she accused him of wanting to bomb Pakistan, he restated his more nuanced position and pointed out that the Bush Administration had just done what he proposed in taking out an al Qaeda leader. When she criticized him for not "rejecting" Louis Farrakhan's support, Obama pointed out that he had denounced his racist views but would be happy to reject them as well, if there was a distinction.
As the long campaign has gone on, Obama's command and self-confidence have been visibly growing, thereby undermining the arguments about inexperience the Clinton campaign has tried to use against him.
In this last debate before the nomination is decided, he demolished them. In the general election campaign, John McCain will have to work very hard to prove that his years in Washington qualify him to make better decisions about the future than Barack Obama.
After a peevish start (citing a Saturday Night Live skit to air her grievances against the questioners), Sen. Clinton worked hard to present herself as Presidential and rattle Obama into appearing less so. But he never took the bait.
In 15 minutes about health care, he defended his position without demeaning hers. When she accused him of wanting to bomb Pakistan, he restated his more nuanced position and pointed out that the Bush Administration had just done what he proposed in taking out an al Qaeda leader. When she criticized him for not "rejecting" Louis Farrakhan's support, Obama pointed out that he had denounced his racist views but would be happy to reject them as well, if there was a distinction.
As the long campaign has gone on, Obama's command and self-confidence have been visibly growing, thereby undermining the arguments about inexperience the Clinton campaign has tried to use against him.
In this last debate before the nomination is decided, he demolished them. In the general election campaign, John McCain will have to work very hard to prove that his years in Washington qualify him to make better decisions about the future than Barack Obama.
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