Politics and the Looking Glass

9-2-08

Levelheaded Bob

Liberals have been chomping at the bit ever since the announcement from the McCain camp that Sarah Palin would be his selection for Vice President. Just when they thought they had closed the door on the only type of candidate who could battle equally with a rock star minority like Obama, the republicans offer up their own youthful conservative version of Hillary Clinton. Palin is a liberal’s worst nightmare. Choosing her was actually a stroke of genius, because any criticism of her being female, a mother, and even a governor have stereotypically been aimed at the ‘closed conservative mind’ popularly stereotyped by liberals and feminists. Yet, she has and is currently being chastised by liberals and liberal women for not being a good mother because she is balancing raising a family with being an executive officer. Suddenly, the strengths that these liberals acknowledge in women of their own party do not apply to their conservative counterparts. The song, ‘I Am Woman’ works only if liberals are singing it, which is proof enough of their hateful hypocrisy. Liberals are justifiably terrified because they are looking at a photo negative of their own ticket, with one very huge difference. There is no tolerance from the party that’s mantra has been driven by diversity. Being different is respected only if that different entity is of a liberal mind.

The match-up is once again even in the political correctness department. There is the possibility that there will be an interracial president for the first time in history, due to the defeat of Hillary Clinton who ironically could well have been the first female president. Obama, who was critical of ‘old school’ political rivals who doubted his experience shockingly, picked a Washington ‘Lifer’ like Senator Biden as his Vice Presidential running mate. Staring back at Obama/Biden from the reflection pool is McCain/Palin. Like Lazarus back from the dead, along comes Palin. She is young, charismatic and attractive like Obama. She arguably has more executive experience than the liberal Presidential candidate, but Obama is a confident seasoned strategist. Though her liberally perceived ‘inexperience’ places her within a heartbeat of the presidency if McCain wins the election; it will be the elderly Senator Biden whom will assume the Oval Office if death would befall Barack Obama should they win in the fall. Liberals have long implied that McCain is too old and feeble from his bouts of skin cancer to be a wise choice for President of the United States. Once again liberals don’t apply their own philosophy to their own political choices. McCain’s choice in Palin has made liberals have to put their money where their mouth is. He found through his own running that experience isn’t necessarily a factor among the majority of liberals. Liberals are clinging to the ‘hope’ that Barack is their political Messiah. Is Obama a leader? Can he lead? Personally, and as a conservative, I think he can. People forget that Presidents have advisors and plenty of help and opinions piped to them at their whim. A President need make good decisions and I think Barack Obama and Sarah Palin both have the ability to make great decisions based on good information. But Obama could well be the next President, taking that challenge from a very liberal stance. On the other hand, Palin is coming in as a very conservative vice serving a proven left-of-right conservative John McCain. It boils down the flavor of ice cream you prefer. Both might taste good and either might do in a pinch, but if you had your druthers you’d pick one over the other.

Today we are back to square one. We have jockeyed positions, parried and thrust home. We have finessed our game plans over and over again, and it all comes down to what it was in the beginning. For many of us, it boils down to our liberal views and our conservative views; and, the presence of an interracial man or the reemergence of a woman on a political ticket will have little if any effect on our choice come November. Once again, the politically uncommitted will decide who will become President of the United States. I am sure that Liberals had hoped that they could be the only party vying for change through the symbol of a minority or a woman as their exclusive poster child. McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin effectively neutralized that obvious ‘visual’. Many have claimed that choosing Palin was to win over disgruntled Clintonites. I emphatically disagree. Only if these women use ‘being a woman’ as their only plank in a narrow platform would this rationality hold any truth. I am sure there will be a few women who claim they are liberal who will vote for McCain simply because Palin is a woman in the same way that many, many more black men and women will vote for Obama simply because he is interracial.

Standing before the looking glass are yin and yang, tit for tat, and the 2^nd Amendment and Roe vs. Wade. They are mere reflections of each other in the opposite. However, this fall, only one pair will emerge victorious and assume flesh, while the other vanishes in the muddied wave of defeat.