So, this is where as lifetime of being bi-partisan has gotten John McCain. Several points behind in all the polls to a left-winger with radical ideas. I hope he's happy cause I'm not! McCain did so many things wrong in this campaign, the only thing he did right was at the begining when he hung in there and watched his competiton fall away. But it's not going to happen again, not with a young, charismatic speaker like Obama as an opponent. His posturing on the financial crisis seems silly and contrived now. His leadership was non-existent, and embarrassing because it became clear that no one really cared what McCain had to say.

 

McCain has had several opportunities to damage Obama's credibility and question his credentials. In stead, all we have gotten is McCain trying to be all thing to all people and he keeps reaching his hand across the aisle only to have it slapped. Now is not the time for bi-partisanship cooperation! It's the time to stand up strongly for your party and its beliefs, and to proclaim loudly that YOU would be the best person for the most important job in the world and HE would not, and here's why.

 

Whatever happened to the Tony Rezko investigation? Shouldn't it be brought up? Obama was very close to this man, who many say helped him buy his Hyde Park mansion. And whatever happened to William Ayers and that whole thing? Ayers history as a violent radical would be a perfect foil for McCain given his POW war hero status. Yet we haven't even heard the name mentioned in weeks. In fact, I heard McCain say a couple of times, and once unbelieveably during the debate, that he respected Obama's work as a community organizer! why in the world would he say that? Even it were true, you don't heap praise on your opponent's controversial involvement in a quasi-radical organization! Does he think that's going to win him some votes? From whom - the black community? that'll be the day! I wonder who is handling McCain - maybe the answer is no one?! Maybe he's a candidate who cannot be managed, being the maverick he is, he marches to the beat of his own drum. Unfortunately, he might be marching himself right out of contention for the job he supposedly has always wanted.

Who are McCain's campaign strategists? whoever they are, they should be lined up against a wall, and shot by a firing squad at dawn tomorrow. McCain is doing NOTHING to counter Obama's fecklessness during this financial crisis. He didn't bring up Obama's lucrative ties to Fannie Mae in the debate, nor his liberal tax schemes. Why? Is it his age? Did he just forget? McCain is simply being too nice to Obama, and it doesn't work for him. Perhaps he feels a civil tone is what people want - WRONG! People are yearning for strength in their next leader. Not some some old geezer with bad teeth grimmacing a crusty smile in a deathly pale, skeletal visage! I'm sorry to attack poor sen. McCain, but I am getting frustrated as things slowly go south for him and the GOP.

 

By contrast, Obama seems like he is just patronizing an old man. He called him by his first name throughout the debate (McCain should have stopped him mid-sentence, and said, "It's SENATOR McCain to you, pal!" Obama never called Sen. Clinton "Hillary"!) Obama's arrogance is working this time because it makes him appear cool under pressure, and in total control. McCain looked like he couldn't divert from his talking points to save his life. WAKE UP, MAN! you've been in the senate for 22 years! You're supposed to run rings around this novice!

 

And now, the whole financial debacle is blowing up in McCain's face, as he keeps straining to provide leadership, but was embarrassing today when he had to backtrack after proclaiming that he had helped broker a deal, and then it turned out there wasn't a deal! He just looked obviously opportunistic.

and now, Thursday, it's the debate - Palin vs. Biden. Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse...

 

I've enjoyed reading the comments posted on my blog thus far - thank you all for your kind words of support. As I was listening to conservative talk radio today, and heard the endless whinning about how mean, nasty, and vitriolic the left has been during this election, I just had to shout, "enough already! I'm sick and tired of victim politics!" I think it's counterproductive and creates a kind of inertia. McCain should be attacking Obama just as vociferously as he and his minions are doing. Because of McCain's age, taking the high ground doesn't make him look gentlemanly or classy, it just makes him look old! It makes him look like he can't get up off the mat after he's been knocked down. I just get the sense that his campaign is scrambling, as if they aren't able to get a step ahead of whatever the Obama camp is throwing at them. Part of that has to do with Sarah Palin, but I'll get to that later.

 

As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, I'm still waiting for the Republican Attack Machine to kick it into high gear. HRC prophesized that Obama could not withstand its wrath, but so far there's been zip, zilch, nada! Did Hillary use all the good stuff herself against the Big O? She made it seem like there was a lot more out there. At any rate, McCain and Co. can learn another lesson from Hillary and her primary run. That is, that Hispanics throughout the nation did not support Obama, and that fact was never more evident than in the primary results for states like California and Texas, not to mention several states in the south and lower midwest which has seen its Hispanic population grow in the past ten years or so. In fact, the southern states may be more at risk to turn blue than one would think. Black voters have typically voted Democratic, but not in such huge numbers as this election. Plus, Obama has engerized the young, and many of the states have several large universities where the under 25 voter demographic might come heavily into play. The point is that if McCain would court Hispanic voters, he could stem that tide, and possibly  make a difference in key swing states. Yes, Hispanics tend to vote Dem, but they also have, shall we say, "issues" with a candidate like Barak Obama. Although it bewilders and flummoxes the left, the fact is that Hispanic and blacks don't like each other very much. Anyone who lives in California knows that score. So why not capitalize on it? I know that it is the height of cynical politics to play one racial/ethnic group off the other, but at this point, if it works, who cares?! 

 

John McCain has earned a reputaion as a politican who is not afraid to tackle the icky subject of illegal immigration. Has anyone else noticed it has not come up as camapaign issue for either candidate? That's because it can be a lose/lose proposition,and one must tread carefully. McCain has already angered the Republican base by his doomed Kennedy-McCain immigration reform legislation, so I'm sure he doesn't want to go there (hence the derisive "Juan Pablo" moniker  bestowed upon him). But what about the millions of Hispanic voters to whom John McCain is something of a cultural hero? If he doesn't do some wooing of this group of voters, the Dems will surely scare them into voting for a candiate they don't really like or want. I just hope he will reach out to these voters, who could very well tip the balance in this election.

As we near the end of this election cycle,  I find myself with a lot of unanswered questions. As a Republican and proud conservative, I am deeply puzzled by the lack of confrontation, aggressiveness, and proactivity my party has shown since their convention. I watch in helpless frustration as McCain and Palin undure endless attacks without ever mounting any of their own. They have been on the defensive for weeks now, and this has rendered them impotent (no McCain jokes, please!). I'm still waiting for the mythical and much-feared Republican Attack Machine, the one that Hillary Clinton warned voters that Barak Obama could never withstand. Well...where is it? What are they waiting for, and are they waiting at all? Hillary already did a lot of the dirty work for them : photos of Obama in Muslim garb, the Rev. Wright scandal, a little bit about Rezko and Ayers, playing the race card, etc. You mean to tell me that the Repubs got nothing left? Somehow, I don't believe that, and I'm sure Obama and co. don't either.

But while they have their shields up, deflecting the slings and arrows of the Dems and the mainstream media, so much is going left unsaid. Rezko is a convicted felon, and a close friend of Obama's, yet he has still not sat on the hot seat and been questioned aboiut his full relationship with this man. Obama lives in a Hyde Park mansion, and his tax returns showed he made millions. When and how did he amass this great wealth? Because if he's claiming he made it all off his two books, then he's a liar. It would be easy to check his salary as a senator, or as a law professor, or as an author. What advance did he receive? What were his royalties for his first and then subsequent printings?

 

Then there's William Ayers. After the initial frenzy when the documents detailing the Annenberg Project became public, we have heard very little about its contents. Why? According to some, there was a lot of worthwile information there that warranted scrutiny.Apparently, millions in grant money was squandered, and perhaps even federal matching funds, as well. Yet again, McCain/Palin is silent, prefering to argue about name-calling and dirty campaign ads. Doesn't the American public deserve to know just what the relationship was between the ex-radical Ayers and Obama? Perhaps they are waiting for the debates, but that would be silly, as the debate format is so limited that no candidate is given time to formlate questions or answers.

 

 

It hasn't escaped my notice that ever since the primaries, no one from either party has brought up the issue of immigration, or talked about McCain's controversial support for immigration legislation, or Obama's credibility issues with Hispanic voters. It is such a hot-button, divisive issue that no one dares touch it -  until today. Obama ran a scurrilous, sneaky and erroneous campaign ad in Spanish, which involved none other than Rush Limbaugh. The ad was soon repudiated by the msm, and called fraudulent, but had the damage already been done? If the Repubs play their cards right, this could be one sticky wicket for the Big O. his unpopularity with Hispanics has not changed since the spring primaries, and there is certainly an undercurrent of racial tension in all of that. It would behoove McCain to subtlely exploit that, and turn the race-baiting back onto the Obama campaign. After all, his operatives have been making little noises about race being a deciding factor in this close contest, coded language, etc. It would be wrong and hurtful for McCain to just ignore these tactics, and try to weather the storm.

 

Where have all the loudmouths gone?

There seems to be a conspiracy afoot to shame people into voting for Barak Obama simply because he is a person of color. In the past couple of weeks, there's been articles and commentaries about how McCain is ahead in the polls (or at least very close) because people have suddenly turned racist, and are turning away from the Chosen One because he is semi-black. Today, we get the news that Obama has a slight lead. Ummm...does that mean people have shed their racist tendencies overnight? What happens if the polls swing the other way next week? Did those mercurial voters take their hooded white robes out of the closet again? This is similar to the tactics Hillary used when her campaign was ebbing. She played the sexism card, and it worked for awhile. The difference is that some people are hinting that if Obama isn't elected, there will be hell to pay in the form of race riots and other forms of cultural turmoil. I don't buy it, but there might be a few car burnings in cities like Detroit and Chicago. will our country be held hostage in fear of what minority groups might do if disappointed?

 

I haven't heard anyone mention this, but what if McCain turned the tables? He could easily claim that lower poll numbers were a reult of ageism, which is the prejudice against older people. It's interesting at what the media will tolerate. No one dare utter a word of negativity about Obama's mixed race heritage, but boy, John McCain's senior status is sure fair game! There has been constant jokes or mention about McCain's age, and speculation over whether he's competent to perform his presidential duties. What about those recent ads mocking him for being old, out of touch and not tech-savvy? Heck, most of his critics have him kicking the bucket while in office! Would anyone even dare to suggest that Obama's race skews his perspective on America, and he wouldn't be fit to serve as commander in chief. Why is ageism less henious than racism or sexism? The truth is that Obama wouldn't even be where he is if whites were not voting for him large numbers. He simply would not have been able to secure the Dem nomination. But then again, the Dems are bad losers. They always have an excuse if they fail, and it's usually someone else's fault -- "Bush and the Supreme Court stole the election 2000" or "evil Karl Rove played on the fears of the Christian Right in 2004". Well, I guess they'll have another convenient excuse when they lose again in '08! :)