I think Palin gave a very politically savvy and spot-on speech, as did both Obama, and Biden. (McCain’s text was great, but his delivery wasn’t so good. I read it and thought it was brilliant, then watched him, and thought… well, he tried.) Overall I wasn’t really impressed with either of the conventions. Long on rhetoric and misinformation. But that’s pretty typical. Kind of, what did we all expect?
I’m registered as undeclared, and hang out in those type of circles. My jewish non-partisan friends have been leaning McCain (they know Obama isn’t Muslim, but I don’t think deep-down they really believe it). The Republican non-partisany members of the family have been leaning McCain. Democrat non-partisany have been leaning Obama.
The Palin pick has deflated my non-partisany Republican family. I think they just aren’t going to vote. They’re the fiscal responsibility Republican types. The social regulation tack makes them very uncomfortable. Uniformly, they feel that Palin is a gimmick. The final nail for them was when it came out that she lobbied for earmarks, and supported the “bridge to nowhere” before she was against it. And she kept the Bridge to Nowhere money as well. Alaska gets more money from the federal government per capita than any other state. Not exactly the bastion of fiscal discipline and self-reliance that they are into. They’re really doubting McCain’s ability not to cave into bad-decision making for the sake of politics now (as this was evidence of a very bad decision for them).
The Democrat non-partisany are now solidly Obama. They were waffling because he didn’t have as much experience, and with Palin a heartbeat away they don’t see any reason not to support him now. Plus, the against abortion even in cases of rape or incest was a nail in the coffin for them.
All the Palin tabloid stuff is a non-issue for all of them. (Well, the older male non-partsany Republican types have said “Man, she is a mess!“ They don’t like the drama.)
For me, my concerns are, in order:
1) Fiscal Discipline and the Economy
2) Healthcare
3) The ability to coordinate with international groups to protect our interests abroad
4) Less partisanship
1)
I’m a small business owner, but I don’t believe in trickle down economics, which is why I get pulled between the two parties on their message. I’ve spent quite a bit of time looking through the backgrounds of McCain and Obama’s economic advisors. I think McCain has picked some really poor individuals, and some he has clearly picked as political ploys (and dont’ have the chops in my opinion, to give good advice), but I really like a few others. The problem is, all of McCain’s statements are catch-all, please-everyone statements. I can’t tell what he believes in terms of economics. His advisors, who are absolute opposites of each other, have each said that he “completely” believes in their platform. Well he can’t completely agree with all of them. I don’t think he has any opinions. And the people he likes best (like Phill Gramm), smack of the blinders-on, drink-the-kool-aid types.
Obama has also made some political ploy choices, but those political ploys have been on the level of the Biden pick. Sure, the picks are politically savvy, but these guys are also very competent and more than capable of doing their jobs. (Like that guy the union hates, but makes Obama seem more Republican) I like that he has the “two Bobs” from the Clinton era, and I like what he says about concentrating on areas of agreement and implimenting those as quickly as possible. I also like his long-time economic advisors. They all seem smart and thoughtful, and Obama usually expresses complicated economic policy. He never dumbs it down. I feel much more confident in the ideas he has laid out, and who he says he’s agreed with and disagreed with.
I also think Obama’s tax plan is clearly superior to McCains. I’ll admit that I think that raising taxes on people who make more than 250k might put more of a dent in the high end prices of homes, and I really want those prices to come down so I can live in one of them. I would classify myself as wealthy-able-to-afford-a-middle-class-house. I really want to be able to buy a house I don’t have to spend 5 years upgrading. (I know, I know, no one has any sympathy. I’m just saying. It’s deflating to have money and be competing against the insanely wealthy. )
2)
I like Obama’s healthcare plan better. I think it’s more likely to work.
3)
I worry that McCain is hotheaded. I worry that he’s more likely to alienate people and get them motivated not to work with him, than to help him (like Bush). I worry that he’s a bully. Even so, I was heavily leaning McCain on this issue, primarily b/c I believe (with no evidence) that because of his experience with Vietnam, he has a stronger understanding of what a bad move wars like this can be, but he also understands what terrible things will happen when you just up and abruptly leave. And the fact that he is very strong on the Geneva conventions, very anti-torture, and I would think he would have a better understanding that (as everyone in the Army knows) that the Army is very bad at nation building and doesn’t like to do it. You need eggheads for nation building. And international help.
Then again, I haven’t seen clear signals that McCain DOES understand this. Obama’s platform is on the record of agreeing with all the points above. Plus, the international community seems enamored of him, and I feel like he can smooth talk them into actually working with us. And life would be a lot easier if they were working with us because they really wanted to, instead of doing so begrudgingly.
4)
The conventions made me feel like neither party was really focusing on being less partisan. Kind of made me sad. The hate machines are ratcheting up full force on the internet. I thought McCain’s text was best, but it didn’t really play when he said it. Anyway, I was leaning McCain on less partisanship, just because he has a longer history of it, but picking Palin I felt was a very partisan move. I dislike Rush Limbaugh the same way I dislike Robert Wexler, and I felt Palin was a cave to Limbaugh. And the liberal friends I know find her completely alienating.
My super-liberal friends keep telling me how non-partisan Obama is. I don’t know. I do think it was a good test getting the Hillary supporters on his side. In terms of uniting a group that was divided, I think they did an amazing job. And the fact that his campaign is so low-drama is a good sign. If you can keep your staff from each other’s throats, then it’s usually a sign that you’re a good people manager. And really, the majority of the presidential job is being a good people manager. Keeping everyone focused on the issues and not each other’s personal issues.
Anyway, so I’m 70% Obama now, and I was 50/50 before the Palin pick.
Julia
