In her RNC debut, Governer Sarah Palin’s stepped onto the scene with her small town, girl-next-door charm, dazzling us with her maverick-like stance in telling congress “Thanks but no thanks on that bridge to nowhere,” and eventually portraying herself as an environmentalist. This created a bubble of excitement which put McCain ahead in National polls, and it really shook up and reinvigorated an unmotivated Republican base. It appears she was even able to siphon off a few Hillary supporters.
Weeks of fact checking and a couple of interviews later, the Palin-bubble would soon burst. Her cute quips got old after awhile and she seemed less girl-next-door-like with the odd troopergate situation and her not-so-subtle dabbling at library book banning. Everyone who bought in to the bridge to nowhere refusal had egg on their face after videos showed that she was for it, before she was against it. On top of this, a cursory search shows she “killed” the program when it was already dead. Environmentalist? Go to a Sierra Club meeting and show your support for aerial wolf hunting, suing to have polar bears delisted as a threatened species, and grossly low-balling the effect that drilling in ANWR would have on the local wildlife. As the public got to know Palin, McCain’s delayed but inevitable slip in the polls would begin to take effect.
Palin’s role in tonight was to apparently defend the Bush-Cheney-like policies her ticket represents, at least in regard to Iraq and the economy; and apparently to use the word maverick as often as possible. Biden had his facts in hand, and was able to catch Palin’s misstatements time and time again. Palin looked frustrated, as though she was struggling to make words come out of her mouth. Biden’s responses were seamless.
Tonight, mainstream America finally got to know Joe Biden, who has been so far, an unknown on the national scene. His years of experience in foreign policy and his great standing with the middle class actually made him my favorite of the early Democratic nominees (unlike Hillary fans, I was ecstatic when Obama chose him). Leading up to tonight's debate, I was worried he would slip up and say something inappropriate (which he occasionally does), but this never happened. Tonight Joe Biden made his prolonged national debut, and concurrently wiped the proverbial floor with his opponent. I guess public opinion will tell us.
Ok so I spent the entire day walking around nice, well-to-do Las Vegas (Nevada is a swing state) neighborhoods and this went far better than I imagined. Before I describe my experience I just want to say that I am typically horrible at any kind of door to door activity (ie. sales). Why? Because of a nagging suspicion that I may be wasting this person’s time. Because I know deep down, that what I have to talk about may not really benefit the person I will talk to, even if it may benefit me. Because I’m too objective to only read spin, and my objective research generally tells me that the product or idea I’m about to talk about is, at least partially, overhyped. Walking door-to-door in neighborhoods that were partially Republican or something else (ie Independent, Libertarian, non-affiliated) I didn’t have this same inhibition. Why? Because I really feel that Obama is the better man, not just because I agree with the vast majority of his stances (and even the stances where I disagree, McCain doesn’t represent them much, if any better), but because I firmly believe they will be better for the people I was talking to, along with their children who will benefit from higher education standards and a United States that hasn’t alienated its allies while suffering from blowback from underhanded meddling in other parts of the world. I wasn’t worried that the next person who opened the door would be an overzealous NRA member who believes Barack Obama is a crazy Muslim who secretly hates the US. I was happy to talk to this person, listen to his/her ideas, and explain (not argue) why I believe Barack Obama had both our best interests in mind. I wasn’t even inhibited by the thought that karma had awaited this moment, get even for all the times I’ve slammed the door on salesmen and Jehova Witinesses (after chiding them for all the paper they waste with pamphlets and newsletters). But enough about me and my usual overly analytical self. Here is what happened today: Not one person I talked to was pro-McCain. I was constantly amazed by statements like “Oh, I support Obama all the way,” and “well, I’m for Obama, and so is my husband, even though he usually votes Republican,” and last but not least “I'm afraid of Sarah Palin.” Several times I was invited into people’s homes and offered food and water. Several times I wanted to say something stupid like “wait, you look like you make enough money to where you might actually get a tax increase, are you suuuure you want Obama????” People I talked to included union workers who were disgusted by how the Republicans have been allowing union busting to toss unions and with them, living wages to the wayside. It included people who were sick of the Republicans pretending their demonstrably false trickle-down mantra really worked. It included people who understand that, as McCain nears his 156th birthday, Sarah Palin, who can’t even give a straight interview and who’s only argument has been “look I’m just an average girl next door who really overemphasizes her accent to drive that very point” and whose energy and foreign policy are unnervingly married to her end times prophecy beliefs could be running things in our country. Then of course, were the undecided voters who were happy to hear what I thought about Obama and why I supported him, and were happy to listen to me recap the many reasons why McCain is really Bush 2.0. I’m always chiding people (my friends especially) for stereotyping people and things. But I was guilty of this myself. I expected to walk into Republican territory (because these people were, or at least seemed, so well-off). I expected to have doors slam in my face. I expected to have to debate supply and demand, the pros and cons of minimum-wage salary increases, and explain what drilling in ANWR would really do to the local wildlife. In reality, many of them were just tired. They knew something was fundamentally wrong with the ethos of our executive branch. They knew that change was needed, and even if they remain skeptical of Obama, they know that the policies that have been stubbornly held in place haven’t worked, and that McCain is essentially part of the club. They are not excited about McCain and they dread Palin. I believe, that the more those two open their mouths over the coming weeks, and have to explain their policies in the face of skillful politicians who will be ready to challenge their every unsupported and misleading claim, their distrust for these two will only be exacerbated. I guess we’ll know in 5 weeks. Maybe I‘m wrong. Maybe I’ll have egg on my face for having made these claims. But if McCain and Palin become our leaders, egg on my face will be the least of my worries. --Chris
