… to the Obama campaign. At least after watching all of five minutes of Sarah Palin speak — which was about all I could stand of the smirking, smug, smarmy, sarcastic, “oh, aren’t those Washington elitists so nasty in trying to martyr me for being a small town hockey mom, are we gonna let them get away with it, pout-smirk-wink.”
I would rather eat a bug than see that person serve in the White House.
Granted, I was not going into the speech expecting to be swayed over to the GOP ticket, but I really had no idea of what I’d see. If first impressions count, Ms. Palin has added a new animus to my attitude toward the McCain-Palin ticket. Alas, even when she fails her VP bid, I fear she will be with us for years. As long as it’s not in a position of governmental power, I’m willing to live with that.
You only made it 5 minutes? =D
Now picture that speech with Lie-berman giving it.
No, I think liked the movie that Tracy Flick was originally in, this new one not so much…or the Movie Heathers…..it was the two minutes of hate….for 40 minutes.
I heard a bit of Lieberman. I sleep well at night knowing that come the next Congress he’s going to have a teeny-tiny unheated office in the world’s worst congressional building where nobody calls him and he sits as a junior member of the Senate Flange Advisory Council.
As to Gov Palin, I really did want to listen to her speech, though I was late getting to it because of game night. I wanted to hear what she had to say, how she said it, how she presented herself after a weekend of fairly brutal (if just) scrutiny.
I learned all I needed to in five minutes, and simply couldn’t afford an aneurysm at this point in my life.
I did the same thing on Sunday.
My mom’s take on Palin:
Pretty hard to improve on that.
Well said, DOFMom.
I have other reactions to Gov. Palin, but they keep coming out a lot more snarky and (I don’t think they are, but arguably) sexist than I’m comfortable with. So I’m willing to simply let her be despised for her mendacity and inexperience.
Look at it this way. The Democrats all falling all over themselves for Obama. The Republicans are similarly klutzy for Palin. At least we have ourselves a real race now.
Given that this election has been in process for about seven years now, it’s amazing anyone can summon up any enthusiasm at all. An intereseted electorate makes for better governing.
I’ll agree that, in principle, it’s *far* better that the electorate be engaged and interested. Enthused, maybe not as much, since that’s more about emotion and is as prone to abuse and misdirection as anything else (narrowly avoids Godwin’s Law here).
I don’t mind having “a real race” if it’s based on issues and consideration of something beyond mere rhetoric. I feel (admitting my bias) that’s more true for the Obama/Biden side of the equation than the McCain/Palin side. If it’s just about who can make more voters swoon with their ability to give a speech that works ’em up to a lather, I’m (ironically) much less enthusiastic.
You’re right; it shouldn’t be a popularity contest based on who gives more people the vapors. But it’s a start.
Think of it like an explosion in a movie trailer. If you like explosions, maybe you’ll see the movie, which may be a deep character study that happens to explode at one point. You might not have gotten involved enough to see that story if not for the flashy draw. Or, it could be a Michael Bay movie, at which point my analogy fails.
My point is, if the irrational exuberance gets more people to pay attention, some of them will inevitably take a look at actual issues, if only so they can explain to their friends why they’re suddenly so excited about politics.
And that’s a good thing.
Okay, report from my conservative workplace:
Nobody said anything about Palin until after her speech. At that point, they were highly amused. “Redefining the bitch slap!” was one response.
It’s a variation on the old management rule that there are three decisions you can make — the best is the right decision, the second best is the wrong decision, and the worst is no decision. In elections, the best is getting involved for the right reasons, the second best is getting involved for the wrong reason, and the worst is when nobody gets involved. [This should have been posted earlier, but I never clicked on Post.]