Observations and Some Heresies About US Electoral Politics

The Democratic Convention

The Democrats, in an effort both to unify and to reach the working class, elaborated a "message" that convention speakers were asked to reiterate.  Speakers stayed so close to message that I found the Convention quite boring.  If I heard one more comment about a unemployed factory worker from Scranton or a struggling single mother from Cleveland, I was going to throw a sneaker at my tv screen.  Mainly, I just pressed "mute" on my clicker.

Another bad mistake the Democrats made was to ignore Hispanic voters.  With the exception of Bill Richardson, I never heard any Spanish in all the hours I watched the proceedings.  I never even heard Spanish accents.  Where was Sal Si Puede? Hispanics are a large voting bloc that Democrats need to win big.  Inadequate attention to Hispanics hurt Kerry in 2004.  Ignoring them could hurt Obama as well, unless Democrats do something dramatic to appeal to that democraphic.

Convention Highlights

The Obama Family was delightful.  I kept pinching myself, thinking this amazing Afro-American family could well be in the White House.  In honor of our multi-racialism, maybe we should paint the White House beige.

Hillary did a fine and gracious job in her speech and even better when she moved to nominate Barack by acclamation. (I missed Bill's speech, not intentionally but probably subconsciously since I've never been a Clinton fan.)  Happily, the Clintons played their parts, even if their prime motivation was 2012.

Using the Stadium on the last night of the convention was a brilliant move.  I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Democrats dance to Stevie Wonder and watching firecrackers take the place of balloons, although the Democrats should have hired the Chinese for an even better extravaganza.

The Choice of Palin

My husband called out to me, "McCain has chosen a woman." I yelled out "Who?" He responded, "Sarah Palin." I again yelled out "Who?"  Okay, now we know who she is and she's seems impressive for an Alaska politician, but, as a friend of mine put it, the elephant in the room wonders if she could be President.  Let's acknowledge that elephant, and I don't mean the Republican symbol.

The Daily Show did a funny, although fairly tasteless, skit on Palin being chosen for her gender. But the point is right on.  If she were everything she is but male, she would never have made McCain's short or long list. It's a strange time when being female makes you Number One -- or Two.

Of course, I have many reasons to oppose Palin -- she is anti-abortion, pro-gun, anti-gay marriage, and perhaps even anti-birth control. I mean, five kids is ridiculous. Her fiscal conservatism and readiness to sacrifice Alaskan wildlife for oil rigs are also strong negatives. What is appealing is her partisan unconventionality, e.g., naming Geraldine Ferraro and Hillary Clinton in her first national speech in which she thanked McCain for the nomination.  

The big problem is not Palin, but McCain. If he chose Palin because she is young to his "old," a social conservative to his "maverick" image, that's understandable. If he chose her to pick up women supporters of Hillary, that's wacky reasoning. Hillary women are not looking for a Hockey Mom who belongs to Feminists for Life (an anti-choice group), but for someone who is a feminist for life.

The Democrats should check out Palin's passport -- if she has one.  She may have been to Canada, but I doubt she's seen, or even knows, anything of the rest of the world.  Even if she's tutored three hours every day from now until the election, she's not likely to pass International Relations 101.  As Jon Stewart said, visiting the Bering Straits doesn't make you an expert on Putin.

Bring Back Experience

According to the pundits, this year, experience is no longer an asset that wins campaigns. Hillary didn't make it work against Barack, and McCain also seems to have given up on using the "experience factor" in his own campaign. Reportedly, he wants to project an image not as an experienced Republican (Bush) clone, but as someone new, risk-taking, on the vanguard.

Dismissing experience is scary. Whenever someone argued to me that Barack lacked experience, I responded that his experience was different and extremely important -- being raised in mulitcultural and mulitnational worlds, working as a Chicago community organizer, achieving one of the most impressive legal honors in the US, knowing state legislative politics and Washington politics, being well-versed in the ways and desires of African-Americans, youth, and religious believers.  Unfortunately, I find both McCain and Palin short on experience despite McCain's many years in the Senate and Palin's term as Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska.  

Experience should not be based only on years in office or knowledge of the issues, although these help.  Experience also needs to based on breadth and depth of national and international exposure. Wouldn't it be amazing to choose our leaders on these criteria?