Goodbye to the Maverick (self-proclaimed)

This according to Wikipedia: A maverick is an unbranded range animal, especially a motherless calf; it can also mean a person who thinks independently; a lone dissenter; a non-conformist or rebel.

As I've watched John McCain in his various TV appearances these last weeks of the campaign, he seems less and less like the somewhat endearing character we had come to know. He was much more an independent than Republican, seemingly always thinking for himself and not afraid to swim against the stream Yesterday he weakly proclaimed that he doesn't follow George W. Bush's policies.

When in the Brian William's interview with Sarah Palin, he corrected her to remind everyone that five, not four, former Secretaries of State have endorsed him, along with two hundred retired admirals and generals. McCain has always made sure his service would not be forgotten. On reflection we recall how his ordeal as a prisoner had actually paid off for him - he's gotten a Senate career and pretty good life reminding us of his role in that war. It would seem now that he milks it.

Now his proposed solution to the economic crisis follows standard Bush doctrine - tax cuts, deregulation, and bailouts for the mortgage industry. I guess that shows how unlike Bush he is.

I also wonder what Alan Greenspan's confession today that he made mistakes in trusting free markets to regulate themselves will further hurt McCain's position.

McCain has changed, and not to his advantage.

The differences between the two Parties

I think that Paul Krugman's Op-ED column in today's N Y Times is a perfect comparison of the Nixon-Reagan-Bush-McCain view of political reality and the Democratic view of the class warfare that has become modern politics. Which party is really for the middle class, and which believes in serving the rich with some trickle-down double talk to placate the middle class. Krugman has hit the nail right on.

Colin Powell's comment about Sarah Palin not being ready to serve as President in his Meet-the-Press endorsement of Barack Obama went along with the Krugman article. I think the real issue about Governor Palin tells us more about John McCain and his judgment than even the question of whether Palin has the capacity for the Veep job. He picked her for essentially one reason: Obama had just cinched the nomination which meant that Hillary Clinton was out of the running for '08. McCain had to announce a running mate. The discussion at that time centered on what would happen to the 70 million (?) votes which were supposed to belong to Clinton. It appeared to McCain's handlers that a woman on the Republican ticket would take Hillary's 'locked up' voters, presumably mostly female Democrats and independents.

This can be seen as a not-so-subtle put down of women voters, as though most women will automatically switch to a new female candidate, regardless of the candidate's experience or ability or even party. McCain bowed to his handlers and scuttled his choices of either Romney or Leiberman and went with the Alaska governor. McCain did what he thought he had to do to get elected. I don't think he helped himself one bit.

We'll know how the voters feel in 15 days.

My Mind's Made Up

This may indicate that I'm closed minded and not open to new ideas, but the truth is that tonight's debate will probably not cause me to vote differently than I intend now. I wonder if this isn't true of most voters, at least those of us who have voted in many elections over the years. If I don't have a pretty good idea of who I favor by now, it would take some startling new information to make me rethink this decision.

I only had one college course in political science but I remember it well. The lecturer was a staff member of the National Opinion Research Center at the U. of Chicago and had a knack of saying things in a way that were memorable. NORC was a fairly young organization in those days. We were told that most people made their judgments on elections from their personal, subjective feelings and tended to believe that most intelligent people felt the same way. In other words, we tend to judge others reasoning on the basis our own thinking. He jokingly said that this was probably true of research centers like his! Adherents of political parties also prefer their own candidates - duh.

The relative ages of the candidates and their choices of veep candidates will be a large part of my judgment as well as the temperament of each of the four people on the ballot. Yes, and my choice happens to coincide with the party I have supported for years.

I suspect this criteria will influence you as well.

Race in the Race

Novelist Khaled Hosseini's opinion column in this morning's Washington Post raises a terrifying and sickening issue that has been present in the back of voter's minds throughout this campaign - the safety of Barack Obama as the first African American presidential candidate.

John McCain's taking the microphone at a rally last night and weakly trying to diffuse the mob's angry calls about Obama by saying that 'Senator Obama is a decent man,' makes me wonder if the McCain handlers finally realize that an actual physical attack on Obama might bring accusations that McCain and Palin's staged events have constituted incitement to violence. At McCain/Palin rallies we have seen their introducer's, and they themselves, raising questions about 'who really is this Barack Hussein Obama?.' This has been answered with calls of 'terrorist' and even 'kill him.'

There have been dirty campaigns before. Both Bush's have plenty of egg on their faces for engaging in some low behavior and McCain himself knows how low George W. was willing to stoop, and now McCain had ruined his own record as a beloved maverick. This is part of the heritage of American politics. Even my hero Abraham Lincoln was known to have written anonymously published editorials in friendly newspapers. His secretary, John Hay, did this for him also.

I guess I'm plugging today's Washington Post. Well worth reading in this same issue is the article by Harold Ford Jr. who talks from first hand experience of what it's like to be smeared. As an Illinois legislator Lincoln was known to have so bitterly attacked an opponent that he reduced the poor man to tears on the floor of the Illinois House of Representatives, back when the state capitol was still in Vandalia. But Lincoln left a record of honor and compassion even toward former Southern insurrectionists at the end of the war.

We've all heard "If you can't stand the heat..." but there have to be some limits to how far those seeking office can go, and McCain and Palin, to my way have thinking have joined hands and skipped way over the line.

Debates as sport

John Calvin the 16th century Protestant reformer definitely wasn't known as a humorist. He was, however, credited with saying one thing that brings at least a chuckle. When asked what God was doing before he created heaven and earth, Calvin replied that God was creating hell for the overly curious.

I'm close to not tuning in very much to television news programs these days, largely caused I think by the 'fatigue of predictability' which is emitted by the experts on such channels as MSNBC and CNN. The programs are on day and night, usually with a different host each hour, but it seems the same guest experts, one from the Left and one from the Right who repeat the same expected positions. Pat Buchanan, for example must work 20 plus hours, 7 days a week which may account for his raspy voice as he touts Sarah Palin as the certain one to defeat Hillary Clinton in 2012. He actually took this position on Morning Joe I'm not exactly stopping cold turkey but try to limit myself to an hour in the morning, Brian Williams in the evening. Tonight of course our household will watch the debate but I'll snap off the spin room following it. You know at the moment who the various spinmeisters will say will have won tonight's event. Chuck Todd on MSNBC will show his map and interpret polling results tomorrow morning as well as anyone, and there will be the NY Times and Washington Post online.

I don't think this election should be relegated to the level of the Texas/ Oklahoma game this weekend, it is far more important to the future of the country and perhaps the world than that. But exposing oneself to this constant bickering one-up-manship almost lowers it to that level. Deep down I really don't care who wins the game, but I do think this election is as important as any in my lifetime, both by who gets in, and equally by who is kept out. And if Sarah 'YouBethca' Palin is around as a national personage in 2012, God help us all.

Last night

Golly gee, hee haw, she showed up fer the big de-bate, and, yeah, she did herself proud -at least to the faithful Republican base, I suspect especially the neo-con wing.

Darn right, that might be the best we can say for her in last night's Vice Presidential debate between Gov. Palin and Sen. Biden. It seems that she must have pleased the handlers who had spent days carefully preparing her for this joust. She had undergone an intense week of attacks by the 'liberal eastern tv media' and we got to see clips rolled out by CBS of the interview between Katie and Sarah.

Last night Gov. Palin performed well, right down to the last wink. She quickly threw in the Joe-six pack, hockey mom, main street badges of merit and kept the slang style very small town hickish to show that she isn't from D.C. or even knows much about it. She made her talking points and actually showed skill in not answering the questions posed by an unusually mild and soft Gwen Ifil.

Today and for the weekend we'll hear and read the opinions and verdicts of news types about both Palin and Biden. Liberals will be well pleased with Biden and the conservatives will be happy about Palin. I don't think that either candidate stumbled and both accomplished what they set out to do.

When Tuesday comes around we'll be ready to see Obama and McCain face each other in the real contest for who will be our next President of the United States.