Obama is off and running in his post-election plans. He's announced that Rahm Emanuel will be his chief of staff. Despite promises of transcending party lines and working across the aisle, Emanuel signals a decisively partisan start. But don't take my word, take Paul Begala's statement about Emanuel being "cross between a hemorrhoid and a toothache." Despite this tough side, Emanuel was also a ballet dancer. I'm not kidding.
That said, Emanuel is a tough partisan cookie, and he might be twinkle toes in the dance studio, but he's not afraid to fight it out in the political forum. The GOP will certainly have their hands full.
John McCain's sour staff has taken to pillorying Sarah Palin with outrageous claims that she didn't know the difference between Africa being a continent rather than a country. I find that extremely hard to believe. McCain benefited immensely for the mere fact that only Palin was able to mobilize the base for the campaign. Without Palin, it is likely that McCain would have had far fewer Republicans making the effort to go to the polls and thus, far fewer votes.
Perhaps most disappointing is that McCain has been silent on the issue. He needs to step up and and tell these disgruntled morons who did a terrible job running the campaign to get lost or at least provide their name when slandering Palin to the press.
I'm always skeptical of anonymous slanders, especially when there's nothing to lose now. These "staffers" and "aides" seem more bitter and twisted than anything else. If they stand by their statements, they should have the guts to do some interviews and back up their charges.
November 06, 2008
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3 comments:
There were also leaks that she did not know the three countries that made up NAFTA. If that is true, it is quite sad given that she is governor of Alaska.
Overall I agree with the content of your post. This is nothing more than score settling and 2012 positioning. If I was to bet money, I would guess these leaks are affiliated with supporters of Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney or whoever else is being courted for 2012. They are probably the same people who were leaking about problems in the McCain campaign during the election as well.
In terms of Obama, I am quite pleased with his victory speech, the warm call that took place between Obama and Harper and also the class shown by both McCain and Bush on Tuesday night. Even many of the blogging tories who wrote negative comments during the campaign took off their partisan hats for a moment and took in the historic moment.
As for the future of the Republican Party; I think there are far more important reasons why Palin would be a bad pick for 2012. The current Republican coalition is way too small and there is too much power in the hands of social conservatives right now. It seems the base can never be pleased and the more people like John McCain try, the more it repels independents and fiscally minded Conservatives. The Republicans have a major challenge of moderating the social and foreign policy in order to reach out to a broad coalition of conservative voters. This of course is easier said than done as the base has been known to stay home and whoever runs for the next nomination is going to find themselves in the same position of McCain where he has to appease those that can vote while hoping to attract new voters.
Sarah Palin at least gave McCain a week of good headlines and got the base energized. For that she deserves credit. If she is a serious candidate however, she has a lot of work to do over the next four years improving her image and getting informed on some key issues.
Call me nuts again my friend, but Ron Paul needs to play a major role in the rebuilding process. He will be too cold to run in 2012; but Republicans could learn a lot from his fundraising, appeal to young people and new voters, pro-life record and economic policies. I am not saying Republicans should accept all his policies; but he is the type of guy that could be valuable during this process.
In my view Condi Rice would have been the best choice this time and will probably be the best choice next time as well. I predict whoever the next Republican nominee is; chances are they did not run in the primaries this time.
Newt Gingrich perhaps Mr. Strong?
I'm all for Newt Gingrich mainly because he brings ideas, something the GOP is totally lacking right now.
I doubt the truth of the Palin rumors, but if you're right then she has a lot of work to do. That said, she's doing a good job as governor despite her flaws.
What the GOP has forgotten are its core values: fiscal responsibility, economic discipline, limited gov't, judicial restraint, the promotion of the individual, and the separation of powers.
The ballot amendments around the US showed that the country is still VERY conservative.
One can consider that Palin is a scrapgoat to cover up a bumbling effort but I also believe she deserves a good deal of the blame but certainly not all of it. You can play the 'what if' game all you want but 'what if' MaCain himself was also wrong as a candidate.
On top of all that, if what they say is true about Palin's, as FOX so awkwardly put it: 'lack of knowlegeability' or more impolitely, 'sheer ignorance'. It's easy to believe if you just take off your blinders JS.
And what does that say about the Alaskan school system that I presumed educated her. She also made it through college, how in heavens name did she stay so ignorant?
However I am sure she has lots of company in the 'ignorant' category.
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