Taking Da Bait

Well the U. S. presidential debates are finally underway; excuse me while I stifle a yawn. Republican John McCain duked it out for 90 minutes with his Democratic counterpart on the evening of September 26th. The topic of the debate was supposed to be foreign policy, but seeing as the world's largest economy, now about 12 trillion dollars in debt, needs another trillion to avoid collapse, dollars and some nonsense were inevitably discussed. Neither candidate offered a clear indication as to how we got into this mess or whether the financial "rescue" plan could get us out. The debate almost didn't happen: McCain decided earlier in the week to quit the campaign and the debates to come to Washington in an effort to fix things. Not sure he did much, but you have to give credit to the rarely seen bipartisanship exhibited by Congress. By the evening of the 28th, a draft financial plan was hammered out and is expected to be passed, meaning the world won't stop turning anytime soon. Coming to a screen/speaker near you this coming Friday, another debate: it's Democrat Joe Biden against Republican Sarah Palin as the vice presidential candidates face-off. See you all soon.

The Dead Zone

One of the telecom companies has an ad that proudly says there are no "dead zones" in its coverage. Presumably the "dead zone" is an area of complete silence, where no functioning communications can take place. Hmmmm...it seems like the presidential campaign has hit a dead zone. After the conventions, during which time the democratic nominee Barack Obama got a bump in the polls, then fell back a bit when his rival John McCain's running mate Sarah Palin got her bump in the polls, there seems to be a deafening silence. The problem is, there is SO much to talk about. The nation's financial situation is rockier than the coast of Maine, and it seems like each day that goes by another financial institution is put up for bankruptcy or for sale. In addition, jobs are being lost in massive numbers and gasoline is creeping back up to four dollars a barrel. Figure this: last week both campaigns spent the better part of a week defending and/or criticizing (depending on whose side you are on)the phrase "lipstick on a pig". Seriously folks, we all deserve better. Maybe we can get serious again when the presidential debates commence on September 26th, but don't count on it.

Palin In Comparison

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, chosen by Republican nominee John McCain to be his vice president, is proving to be a big hit. She has so far manage to quell any doubts about her experience and is picking up, not necessarily in any order or importance: women, middle-class voters, conservative voters and (who would have thought)change voters. Any garden-variety political scientist will tell you that it is very difficult for an incumbent party (read: Republicans in 2008) to run on change, especially when the incumbents(read: Republicans in 2008), in the public's mind, have done such a poor job of straightening out the country. Although McCain cannot sell the change-agent story (he has been in Washington for almost three decades)Palin CAN. She is a new face on the national scene, even though she has no "Washington" experience. Indeed, there are several ways to slice and dice the experience argument. On the one hand, one might say she only governed the small state of Alaska, but it would depend on what you meant by the word "small". Alaska has about the same number of people as her competitor Joe Biden's state of Delaware. And, you can fit about 250 Delawares inside one Alaska! In addition, the GOP has gone out of its way to tell Americans Palin got more votes running for Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska and Governor of Alaska than Biden did when he was running for president. Where are we headed with all this? Probably some prime tv-time interviews for Palin in the next few days, when she will have to answer some tough questions about a variety of issues; we will see how she holds up. September 26th: first presidential debate. Stay tuned.

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Unconventional Wisdom

It's been a while since we last were with you, and a lot has happened in recent weeks. Barack Obama chose U. S. Senator Joe Biden of Delaware to be his presidential running mate on the Democratic party ticket. This was considered a safe, indeed sane, choice. Biden is a long-time legislator who has run for president in the past and is considered to be quite knowledgeable in the foreign policy arena -- an area critics say is one of Obama's weak points. After the Democratic convention in late August, Obama gained a tick in the polls and for the first time the Gallup Daily poll had him at 50 percent.

On the Republican side is where things are REALLY interesting. Republican nominee John McCain could have taken the safe and sane route as he had plenty of qualified candidates to choose from, including Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge, who was a former Director of Homeland Security. However, perhaps sensing the race might be getting away from him, McCain stepped "out of the box" as it were, and picked Sarah Palin, the relatively unknown Alaska governor.

Palin was mayor of a small town in Alaska, then worked in Alaska state government before being elected governor a couple of years ago. Americans are quite split on the choice, some saying that living between Canada and Russia does NOT qualify you as having foreign policy experience, others arguing that she has more executive experience than Obama,Biden and McCain combined. Republicans in general are loving the choice of Palin because of her conservative views.

Palin steps into the national spotlight tonight with her VP acceptance speech before a throng of delegates at the Republican National Convention. Stay tuned kids: this could be a wild ride.