Saturday, August 30, 2008

I'm Shocked...

Shocked! At Candidate McCain's selection of a runningmate (as they are called in politicospeak). Nothing wrong with the choice at all, really. I was pretty sure though, that it was going to be Mitt Romney, the man who looks like a clearcut choice for JayCee Man'O'The-Year. The GOP (as it is called in politicospeak) is definitely a highly heirarchical outfit, and generally selects next-in-line for the Next-In-Line.
I was a little puzzled at the selection of


Sarah Palin
Risky Business?

I remarked to a friend a little while ago that I hoped John McCain was smarter than to believe that the supporters of Hillary Clinton, AKA Femi-Nazis (You can Google Rush Limbaugh for the reference) would flock to his campaign. There are those who seem to believe that "Women are desperate to see a woman shatter the Glass Ceiling"; desperate enough to vote against their own self-interest though? Well, that remains to be seen. And is it really true that electing a woman to the Not-Worth-A-Bucket-Of-Warm-Spit office is the same as "shattering" a glass ceiling?
It took me a while to figure out what else might have prompted Candidate McCain to select now-Candidate Palin. Here it comes: the Conspiracy! Remember back in 1960 - a simpler and much less expensive time in politics. Old Joe Kennedy was reputed to have asked his son (yes, that would be JFK) how much it would cost to win the election. I heard it was around seven million. That seems like a lot to me, but these days, it wouldn't even pay the electric bill at one of the conventions, probably. Elections cost a lot. The reporting on contributions say that the Obama Campaign and the DNC are getting a bigger slice of the pie than the McCain Campaign and the RNC so far.
Not any more. With the Drill Here Drill Now Lady running for Vice, why, ExxonMobil alone will spend more than all the democrats in the universe.
If it's true, as Big Daddy Jess Unruh (anybody remember him?) said, Money is the mother's milk of politics", why then Candidate McCain has picked himself a winner. Or perhaps someone whispered in his ear. And he listened. He has money (as well as oil) to burn now. His campaign budget will probably be enough to fund the war in Iraq, except we're now "winning" that war, so the RNC can feel comfortable spending the oil money on a surge against Candidate Obama.
I hope people will take note that Alaska is a very different place from every other place. In fact Alaskans are known to refer to the rest of the United States as Outside, and (with the possible exception of Seattle) look at the whole country as being pretty exotic. Being an office holder in Alaska might not be very like being an office holder anywhere else, as well. In Alaska, the Income Tax is even different: the State pays the Citizens! Here's something from the Alaska Daily News telling about local reaction to the news.
Of course, when it comes to exotic places, people everywhere think of Washington, D.C. as pretty exotic, so perhaps it won't really be all that different from the rest of the country to Candidate Palin.

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