US Politics: Still Weird

As a citizen of the rest of the world, man, I gotta say, that Obama guy you got in your election race can sure deliver a hell of a speech. The acceptance speech at the Denver convention? That is a thing of beauty. Almost enough to make us rest-of-worlders start to hope.
(Any of my fellow rest-of-worlders who haven’t encountered the speech yet, you can find video and transcript here – this thing is seriously worth your time.)
And this is, what, the third? fourth? incredible speech by Obama during this campaign, speeches for the ages that will be studied in schools for decades or longer. And the speeches aren’t just wind-up toy messages, they are the product of the man and his campaign. This is the guy the Dems want you to vote for.
And on the other side of the ballot paper? John McCain, who is basically a missile in a rumpled suit, and who managed to snatch the media eye away from Obama the only way he could, with a completely frikkin’ insane nomination decision for his VP. I mean, Sarah Palin? This is his counterpoint? Its such a wacked-out move that it doesn’t even make sense on its own terms. Is she meant to grab the Clinton voters? Seriously, you figure a fundy Christian anti-abortion hardliner is going to win over disgruntled feminists?
Then again, this is the US, and up is usually down over there. Political engagement there has advanced further from rationality than in any other first-world nation (though most of the others are racing to catch up, it must be noted). Just hold it in your head for a moment – the truly insane thing is that in the US, a country economically wounded, deeply corrupted and compromised, locked in a tortuous unwinnable war, in this country there will be an election between Barack Obama and John McCain – conjure up the images in your mind, these two men, and all that they represent – there will be an election between these two men, and John McCain has a good chance of winning.
It doesn’t make the slightest lick of sense, but I’ll tell you this: it makes for one hell of an interesting show.

8 thoughts on “US Politics: Still Weird”

  1. Interesting.
    A guy I know from the UK, Robin, is actually a converted Republican. And he raises these things in a very different light.
    For example, Obama preaches that “Washington needs a change”, yet he chooses as his running mate Joe Biden is a seasoned Washington insider.
    Additionally, if you believe reports, Obama has been caught “waffling” or “backtracking” in some of his speaches.
    I like Obama, and I hope he wins. But I also believe in trying to view things from a neutral standpoint. While Obama is scoring points, McCain is too.
    Just my 2c.

  2. Oops, I didn’t proof read my response before posting. Apologies for the spelling mistake I can see, and the gramatical error in the 3rd paragraph (counting the first word as a paragraph).

  3. Oh, yeah, Obama is by no means the messiah that his many followers fervently hope him to be. Look too close at his policies and it starts to seem quite middle of the road. He has weaknesses and McCain’s election team can, and will, zero in on them. One of my favourite writers on US politics, Michael Ventura, is (as he put it) “not a believer” in Obama.
    But for all that Obama is flawed, McCain is just
    in a whole different ballpark of wrongitude. He and his campaign have completely failed to mark out a different course from the BushCheney America – and with Bush settling in as “worst president of all time” in the opinion polls, with the country wrecked economically and militarily, with Republicans themselves splintering and losing faith in BushCheney in their masses, it seems incredible that someone offering “more of the same only with a batshit woman VP” is even in the contest against someone with the PR gifts and clear positioning of Obama.

  4. As one of the few actual eligible voters who read this blog, I must say that our political system at the moment is something akin to a Jerry Springer episode. And, coincidentally, Springer was in politics, and has been characterized as “the most naturally gifted politician since Bobby Kennedy.” He was in Ohio politics, most notably as Cincinnati’s mayor….and with a hooker from Indiana.
    Anyways, I digress.
    Palin is kind of hot; remember, she came in second in Miss Alaska (not saying much though…) and has the hot teacher thing going for her. And she’s claimed she’s a “hockey mom,” whatever the fuck weight that carries….wait! Now I know her! I saw her in a movie called, “High Stickin’ 2: Icing in the Crease.” I think that either starred a chimp that could play hockey, or some dude named Joey Zamboni….

  7. Or, as scary reasoner puts it:
    “On the bright side, if McCain/Palin win in 2008, as horribly depressing as that would be, I expect NBC would be paying Tina Fey a whole double-f***ing s***load of money to come back on SNL to make fun of her. It’s like some science fiction movie in which some weird experiment produced identical twins, except one’s a genius (Tina Fey) and one’s a moron (Palin), then they were separated at birth, and one became a comedian, and one became a politician…”
    http://scaryreasoner.wordpress.com/2008/09/01/now-mccains-palin-choice-makes-sense-to-me/

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