It’s politics, bitches. Get over it.
This is going to be one of those posts in which I start talking about something serious, but then might possibly sort of drum down to video games. I’m not a serious person and I really don’t have adult, serious conversations. So while this may start out sounding witty, don’t hold your breath on it remaining that way.
As some of you may be aware, last night was the first and only VP debate. Now, first of all, I’m confused as to why that is. Maybe it’s something that’s only happening this election, I don’t know. I’ve never really kept up with the whole Presidential BS, and so this is the first time I’ve ever watched them. I guess I sort of got a bit interested in this running for the following reasons:
1. My roommate is living/breathing this running. It’s all she does: Read about politics. Which, you know, hey. That’s great. If you want to keep up with the times, more power to you. It’s nice having someone in the house that I know I can go to and question, if I have something I’m curious about, in regards to the political/economical state of the world right now.
2. This country, as we currently know it, is in a state of remarkable disrepair and I, personally, blame GWB for that in it’s entirety. From our economy to our current foreign relations, this guy has screwed us royally, and this will be his last year in office. The new President that’s elected will, hopefully, change the way shit works, and we can get this country back on it’s feet.
3. While I do it in the utter privacy of my own mind, I am a patriotic person. I understand in full the countless people that have died so that this country can have the freedoms that it does. While I am discontent with the current situation of this nation, I am proud to be American and I am eternally grateful to the men and women, of every race and color that came before me, that have sacrificed as much as they have, to see to it that I live with the freedoms that I do.
4. This is a sort of ground-breaking running: We’ve got a black man, Barack Obama, running for President, we HAD a woman running for President, Hillary Clinton, and we now have a woman on a ticket for VP, Sarah Palin. This is one of those elections that’s interesting in that it’s a lot of ‘firsts’ for this country.
5. The woman on the ticket for VP, Sarah Palin, has proved to be a complete moron, and there’s nothing I love more than someone being a complete idiot, with the passion that she does, on public television. God, it’s great.
So last night, the roommate and I sat down to watch the VP debates. I didn’t know much about Palin, outside what little research that I’ve done, including watching several clips of the interview she did with Katie that made her look like a box of damned rocks. I knew nothing of Joe Biden, going into watching the broadcast. Absolutely nothing, which was actually a good thing, IMO. This isn’t a review, but more of an opinion of what I saw, while I was watching.
Joe Biden: This man came off as remarkably polished, professional, and yet personal. He was articulate, well-spoken, intelligent, and yet not so intelligent that I didn’t understand him. Sure, when he started getting into the policies and big political words, I didn’t always follow him. Otherwise, he struck me as experienced(as he obviously is!), and yet understanding of many parents out there in the world, both single or married, with children who worry about what the future holds. I think he might have stumbled here and there, but when he found his footing, it was rock solid beneath him and he didn’t waver for a second. That reassured me in a lot of ways, that this guy not only meant what he said, but knew what he was talking about. This is the kind of guy that I would not hesitate to walk up to, and ask questions about politics. I know he would give me straight answers because he’s ridiculously experienced and yet I know he could explain things without baffling me. That’s a good thing.
Sarah Palin: To be honest, I really expected this woman to just stumble all over the place. While I have to say that she didn’t–she managed to get out complete, whole sentences, you see-that didn’t change my opinion of her. She seemed to have safety zones; Areas that she stuck to, no matter what. There is a word in the political world called ‘pivoting’. What that means is how smoothly one steers a conversation in the direction they want it to go, from topic to topic. Sarah Palin ‘pivots’ as if she were driving a sportscar that runs on blocks instead of wheels. There were several of the questions asked that she simply didn’t answer. Either she directly ignored them or didn’t understand the question, or went back to a previous topic. I think I was most horrified when, after being asked what her ‘achille’s heel’ was, she pointed out her strong points. As if she didn’t know what an achille’s heel was. Part of me wanted to laugh so hard and yet the other part was absolutely terrified. This woman might be the Vice President–and let’s face it, John McCain has cancer. He’s 72 years old. There’s a big chance that he might die during his term. This woman will become President. That scares the hell out of me.
She also tried to pull her folksy, Goofy, “Well, gawrsh” sort of talk, and I personally found it a little insulting. You can explain things to people in a simple way, without making people feel simple. That was the vibe I got from her, that she was trying to talk up her ‘hometown nature’, and in the process, kind of made it sound like she was, in fact, saying, “I’m not smart like everyone in Capital Hill because I come from a backwoods town, so don’t expect fancy words from me.” That totally rubbed me the wrong way. Does that mean she’s saying that people from small, backwater towns can’t go to school, bust their ass, and learn how to talk like the big boys? I cry bullshit! Maybe I just read into it the wrong way, but that’s how it felt to me.
At one point she even stated, point blank, that she didn’t want to talk about something. When asked about global warming, she stated that she didn’t want to discuss it’s cause. I was beyond myself. Look, princess, if you become VP, there are going to be times where you’re going to talk about shit that you’re not comfortable with. Sorry, but it’s true. Not answering people when they have questions, no matter how controversial or taboo the subject may be to you, is not going to endear you in people’s eyes. If nothing else, there were FAR better ways to have handled that than just shooting it down utterly.
The whole business of her winking at the camera just made me want to slap myself in the forehead. This was a televised, live event. This wasn’t some commercial for make-up. I don’t want a cover-girl in office. I want a responsible, professional, mature person there. This wasn’t a beauty pageant and you’re not supposed to act like some moron in a bikini. She often made comments that sounded like they’d belong more on a commercial than anything else. Like..slogans. “This is who I am and this is what I care about.” I felt like I was watching Ray Zalinsky in Tommy Boy. I understand that as a VP candidate(and as a VP, should that come to pass), she’s supposed to be behind her running mate all the way and that’s great, but I often felt like her methodology was cheap and rehersed.
Maybe I’m being too hard on her. Maybe, in my distinct lack of knowledge, I’m not looking at this from all angles. Part of me hopes that’s the case–because if it is, it means I might be wrong here. It means I might have no clue what I’m talking about and thus, this woman might be okay.
Unfortunately, according to my roommate and every other political blog I’ve been reading up on doesn’t seem to agree with me.
…Well, shit.
Tags: McCain, Obama, Politics, Presidential Race, VP, VP Joe Biden, VP Sarah Palin