49 states has a nice ring to it?

Allow me for a moment to be insensitive. I am so sick and tired of hearing about Vietnam in politics. The war ended nearly forty years ago yet presidential politics has been dominated with it ever since. Was Bill Clinton a draft dodger? Did George W. Bush use his elitism and family power to escape Vietnam? John Kerry won a silver star for courage… or did he? And now I cannot hear a John McCain story without hearing about it? Let me start over. The sacrifices John McCain made for this country are so admirable, courageous, and heroic that we all owe him an enormous amount of death. For five years, he was imprisoned, beaten, and tortured. Most Americans will never truly understand what a horrific experience that must have been. However, to paraphrase General Wesley Clark, being shot down over Hanoi does not mean you would make a good president! While watching the Republican National Convention, I would like just one time, for a speaker to talk about John McCain’s views on the issues. Let’s hear how he would approach Health Care. Let’s hear how he would tackle global warming. What happened during Vietnam forty years ago has no bearing on what he would do as president. Americans shouldn’t be guilted into voting for a president. “Oh shucks honey, John did so much for America. I feel terrible, we really should vote for him.” Clearly, after watching many hours of the RNC, there are several themes. One, that John McCain is a war hero who will sacrifice nothing to protect America. Two, that Barack Obama is a weak leader. Three, the Sarah Palin will bring in a womanly, yet executive experience to the Oval Office. Four, Barack Obama is too inexperienced to tie his own shoe laces. This is very different then the Democratic National Convention which was about hope, and change. Unfortunately, as we all know, negative politics work. The McCain camp is being outrageously negative and let’s see if it works.

1. Did the McCain camp do any research on Sarah Palin? It seems every day there is new damaging material. Today I read that both Sarah, and her husband Todd are former members of the Alaskan Independent Movement or “AIM”. The AIM, to put it bluntly, tried to make Alaska their own country! I know this sounds bad but what is the Obama camp waiting for regarding attack ads. Palin is looking more and more terrible everyday. And I could care less about her pregnant daughter. And if John Kerry was a flip-flopper, he is looking as stubborn as W compared to Sarah Palin. She campaigned heavily for the “Bridge to Nowhere” when it was a good political move. Now, of course she is vehemently against it. That is just one of many examples of her flip-flopping.

2. Speaking of interesting timing. According to US Weekly, I see that Sarah and her husband Todd “eloped” in 1988. Seven months later, her first child, track was born. My goodness that is curious timing. I’m sure they eloped because they were just so in love with each other that they couldn’t wait another moment. It has nothing to do with the fact that she was already pregnant. Again, did John McCain not do any research on her? It seems like every day there is new damaging material. I cannot wait for her speech tonight! I think we all know exactly what it is going to be. It will be a direct reach to all the suburban mothers out there. She will talk of how laborious, but worthwhile it is serving her country and state as a politician while also being loving and devoting to her five children. The McCain/Palin ticket has an enormous opportunity to reach out to soccer moms in suburbs everywhere. The type of women who work full time, but also are the primary child raisers, cooks, and cleaners of the house. They are too busy or pre-occupied to follow politics closely. They might not agree on a lot of Palin’s viewpoints on issues like abortion, and creationism being taught in schools, but they admire her. They view her as a role-model for their own little girls. They admire how this wonder woman can juggle it all, while still being attractive for her husband. However, she has lots of questions to answer first. 99% of American women will not vote for Palin just because she’s a woman. I will be watching this speech and speaking to my female friends and colleagues to see how well she connected to them. She only has one chance for a first impression and so far the media has been attacking her alive. She has 67 days to convince America that she is more the everyday housewife and less the crazy, Alaskan, televangelist.