Be wise. Be brave. Be tricky. ([info]slithytove) wrote,
@ 2008-09-26 22:35:00
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Current mood: dorky

Now, here's my plan...
Okay, the debate.

Good debate. Gooooood debate.

If you took a drink every time McCain said, "I've been to SomeOtherCountryCurrentlyInTurmoil, and I've talked to people there, and therefore GeneraliziedPolicyProposal," you'd have to be admitted to the ICU for acute alcohol poisoning. Even if you were drinking 3.2.

Obama doesn't want to attack McCain. He wants to articulate policy, and his attacks on McCain feel forced, like stuff he doesn't really want to say, but feels forced into by his handlers.

I'm watching the CNN 'Audience reaction' meter. Man. People *hate* it when one candidate attacks the other. The best levels of Rep, Dem, and Ind were when both McCain and Obama were basically on agreement on our response to Russian aggressiveness. Ordinary people, not policy nerds, not flame-brained partisans, don't like dissension. They don't like intramural squabbling. They want R and D to agree, and work together.

The Founding Fathers hated partisanship, too. They called it 'faction', and they just hated it. Yet, the nation drifted into it soon enough.

Why is this? It's not just "I think A, but you think B, therefore you are a wingnut/moonbat." There are other, darker forces pushing us towards partisanship.

Look, I've got a modest proposal.

McCain dumps Palin, and takes Obama as his VP candidate.

Obama dumps Biden, and takes McCain as his VP candidate.

This would be a huge improvement on both sides, and the right thing to do for the nation.

So, of course, it won't happen.


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[info]ruralwriter
2008-09-27 02:56 am UTC (link)
McCain dumps Palin, and takes Obama as his VP candidate.

Obama dumps Biden, and takes McCain as his VP candidate.

Now that would be change I could believe in.

If rumor's to be believed, Kerry tried to talk McCain into being his VP candidate in 2004. And this year, McCain wanted Liebermman to be his VP candidate, but the party wouldn't have it.

I think candidates have tried to break out of the party system...but it seems like we're all victims of the self-perpetuating system.

Wow; few things get me to talk politics on LJ. And it wasn't because I was playing the McCain drinking game!!

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[info]slithytove
2008-09-28 01:06 am UTC (link)
McCain is not a very good Republican. Like certain military men, he seems to have a disdain for those whose hands are 'soiled with trade'. He doesn't understand money or business. See his recent comments on oil companies making 'obscene profits'. He has a strong pull towards solutions with a populist, feel-good appeal, that involve heavy-handed government. See: McCain-Feingold. I can easily imagine him running with Kerry.

Lieberman would, IMO, have been a terrible choice from a political stand. He is hated hated hated by Democrats, and little loved by Republicans, because except for his stand on the Iraq War (and rare other issues, like tort reform), he is still a liberal Democrat, and votes that way. He is not a favorite of independents, either. He is loved in his own state, but I can't imagine he would have picked up any votes at all.

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[info]st_crispins
2008-09-27 03:07 am UTC (link)
The Founding Fathers hated partisanship, too. They called it 'faction', and they just hated it.

Ummmm... you have heard of the 1800 election right? We have not yet reached the level of vitriol or dirty tricks of Jefferson vs Adams (actually, it was Hamilton behind the scenes vs Jefferson but Adams got caught in the middle, and that's not even addressing what Burr did)

Washington may have tried to avoid partisanship, but that lasted just about through his first term.

Edited at 2008-09-27 03:09 am UTC

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[info]slithytove
2008-09-28 01:07 am UTC (link)
I am not very familiar with the election of 1800, although I'm aware that 19th Century American politics was colorful and dirty, probably dirtier than the politics of today, which people tend to forget. Yes, partisanship reared its head very quickly.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]ruxpin_exe
2008-09-27 04:25 am UTC (link)
I was amused by a struggle that I was having within myself while watching this debate.

One of the reasons that I liked Obama is that he was very.. I hesitate to use the word democratic here, but I think its the most suitable maybe. Like you said, he wasnt out to attack Mcain or his policies, the only things that seemed to annoy him was when he felt misrepresented by something that Mcain had said. He seemed to be acting largely on logic and reason, two things I'm a big supporter of. Willing to hear his opponents side of the story and then state his, pure and simple.

Mcain was "strong". Most of the debate comes down to opinion, and I'm a big believer of people taking into consideration the fact that they COULD be wrong. Just to have someone say "I believe entirely that I am correct, but I will state that there is the minute possibility that I am incorrect." scores HUGE points with me. This is something that Mcain seems like he would never say, which you would think I wouldn't like, but at the same time he seems SO sure of his ways that I think he leads you to believe in him in some fashion?

I didn't articulate what I was trying to get across there as well as I wanted to but I don't really care enough to go back and edit it ;\

Either way, I wish that I could stand to not care about this election. I'm Canadian, so no matter who is chosen, they aint my leader.. but I'm sure the ripples in the American pond will drift up our way. Go Obama I guess.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]slithytove
2008-09-28 01:17 am UTC (link)
I think that the idea that McCain can't admit that he might be wrong is incorrect. You might get that idea from this debate, but take a look at his acceptance speech at the Republican convention. Large chunks of it were so outright humble I was shocked. He admitted that the current Republican Congress were a bunch of scoundrels, and had not treated the country well, and begged the voters' forgiveness.

I, too, think it's a little odd that Canadians care so much about US politics. We are, admittedly, the big fish in the continental pond, and both culture and economics flow pretty freely across the border. Still, surely what goes on in Ottawa affects Canadians and their future more than what happens in Washington.

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[info]dr_phil_physics
2008-09-27 07:35 am UTC (link)
No matter how cool your modest proposal, I think if you tried to implement a McCain/Obama versus Obsma/McCain race, there'd be little explody bits all over the floor from the Diebold machines. Frankly this would've been the year to try a modified Australian voting system like they use for the Hugos.

Dr. Phil

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[info]slithytove
2008-09-28 01:10 am UTC (link)
But I don't want an Australian as my president! Or a science fiction writer! That's a terrible idea!

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]mroctober
2008-09-27 12:25 pm UTC (link)
The fact that McCain would never address Obama by his first name or even look at it really bothered me.

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[info]slithytove
2008-09-28 01:09 am UTC (link)
I was listening to a commentator on CNN afterward who said that Obama's referring to McCain as 'John' was condescension.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

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