What's Wrong with the Republican Camp

We’re a month out, and while you can’t call it yet, things aren’t looking so hot for John McCain. He was neck-and-neck with Barack Obama until the financial crisis hit, and when that kind of event happens, it pretty much guarantees success for the party not in office. You have to give Senator Obama some credit, but he shares it, at best equally, with the McCain campaign’s long list of failures, poor decisions, and terrible strategy. Don’t get too excited though, my list of what’s wrong with the policies of Barack Obama is much longer, and I still cast my vote for John McCain. But this column isn’t about the campaign.


I’ve worked for the Republican Party. I’ve voted for Republican candidates about 85% of the time. And yet this election makes me feel good about not being a registered Republican. In the spirit of Martin Luther, I want to post a list of the serious problems I’ve seen with Republicans. Don’t worry, I’m not going to pull out 99, but I do want to cover the top 8 (in no particular order).

1. They are out of touch with the next generation of Americans. The next generation of Americans is, by-and-large, out of touch with the reality of the world, but Republicans have reverted to the purist conservative judgment that says the status quo is to be defended at all costs. Change is needed, but in our present day political climate politicians lead from the rear, evidenced by decisions being made after polls mirroring the consensus view of those polls. The change that we need is someone that leads from the front. While Senator Obama is not a frontline leader, that’s no excuse for Republicans to not take the drivers seat of changing the status quo, which obviously needs tweaking.

2. They pick the wrong fights. The Republican base has been for the last 14 years Christians, but it is looking like a significant amount of Christians will be voting for Senator Obama. On the surface this makes no sense. Historically the two most important domestic issues for Christian voters have been abortion and gay marriage, yet Senator Obama is very liberal on both. We are seeing a changing of the guard among the Christian voting bloc, yet the Republicans continue to cling to a dated value set. Say what you will about sticking up for what you think is right, but these issues are not addressed by the federal government – they are largely reverted to the states, and the Republican President and Vice President nominees should not waste their efforts on issues they will likely not address when in office.

3. They give the ten word answer. My least favorite thing, when I writing speeches, is writing the second document with the 10 word answers to each of the target issues the speech addresses so that the speaker can cut to the crux. This is an incredibly complex nation and world, and 10 words do not provide a sufficient answer to any of the issues we face. The idea of having 10 words is that you can address every issue any voter might be concerned with. This is far less convincing and far less comforting than the 100 or 1000 word answers for the 10 most important issues.

4. Ignorance and indifference to the concerns and arguments of the opposition. Chanting “drill baby drill” distorts the virtues of drilling off the shores of America. Senator McCain has always said that he supports offshore drilling as a short-term measure to help us bridge the gap from where we are to the alternative energy future we need, but every time CNN shows footage of a John McCain rally with the crowd chanting “drill baby drill” it gives off the entirely wrong impression, and the opposition latches on to it to swing moderate and undecided voters in their direction. Be smart.

5. They vote for the wrong reasons. I’ve never chosen to not vote for a Democrat because he/she is a Democrat. I actually consulted for one Democratic campaign. Most Republicans vote party line because they like Republicans and hate Democrats. The amount of bad Republican politicians competes with the amount of bad Democratic politicians. When I attended a McCain/Palin rally I was encouraged to wear red to symbolize the desire to keep Missouri a red state. Putting aside the fact that I don’t like wearing red and don’t own a single piece of red clothing, I could care less that Missouri is a red state; I’d rather it be a smart state. The issue of voting is not about voting for a party but rather about voting for the best ideas, be they red, blue, or neon lime.

6. The idea embodied by Sarah Palin. I wrote an article on this blog not too long ago making a case for Sarah Palin, and I stick by the arguments I made. But she would be a less than stellar Vice President, not because of inexperience or policy specifics, but because she represents the idea, the mentality, that embracing the common denominator, the average Joe, is striving for greatness. This is not the mentality that made this country great. More than intelligence and education, we need leaders who allow for possibilities rather than shield us from them.

7. Two decades ago Republicans stood up and told the country that “Democrat” meant soft on crime, soft on the law, soft on education, soft on values, and soft on national security. And instead of standing up to this, the Democrats cowered in the corner and said, “Please, don’t hurt us.” Now, Democrats are saying that “Republican” means stupid, barbaric, and ignorant, and Republicans are running for the same corner of the house. These are salami tactics that should not be used in the first place and responded to with positive reinforcement of ideas and policies.

8. Swinging for the fences. It’s a sign of desperation, and no one sees it the way it’s wanted to be seen.

So there they are, the 8 things I find most discouraging about the Republican Party. In fact, you could remove the party slant and write almost the same article, the same 8 things, about what is wrong with the American political system. That would be even more depressing.

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Pulling Away?

Following last night's debate, an interesting perspective from an unlikely source...

Much of what is being said about last night's presidential debate is pretty standard... they both did well, no one made a big mistake, no one landed the knockout punch, yadda yadda yadda.

But here is a perspective from the Christian Science Monitor, suggesting that McCain is having real trouble gaining traction and exciting voters throughout the Christian conservative base. The problem for McCain is, we are no longer months away from the election, we are weeks and soon days. And as the election inches closer, the story continues to be can John McCain catch up, can he kick-start his campaign, not that he is and that it is working.

I'm a sports fan, so it breaks down easiest for me like this. John McCain needs a game-saving drive, and time is running out to make it happen.

Amen to that.
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Sarah Palin's Ties to Jews for Jesus

Among everything else, does Sarah Palin support Jews for Jesus?



http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/3/10452/19058

Sarah Palin was in church two weeks ago when David Brickner, the Jews for Jesus founder, stopped by to spread a little anti-Semitism. Brickner has been quoted as describing terrorist attacks on Israeli's as God's judgment of unbelief of Jews who haven't embraced Christianity.

And here is what Palin's pastor had to say about Brickner: "He’s a leader of Jews for Jesus, a ministry that is out on the leading edge in a pressing, demanding area of witnessing and evangelism."

Does it bother you? Is Sarah Palin responsible for the actions of her church and her pastor? Is it yet more proof that Sarah Palin should not be our next VP? Let yourself be heard!
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A Live Mic Can Be A Dangerous Thing

Check out what Republican strategists say when they think the mic is off... Turns out we're not the only ones skeptical of the Palin pick for VP...

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/212920.php


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Experience? Shmexperience!

In a surprising moved aimed at hooking disgruntled Hillary Clinton supporters, the McCain campaign has tabbed Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate...

Surprised? Me too. Sure, Palin (pronounced PAY-lin) is a woman and she is supposedly a populist Republican (???) but she also has served less than two years as the governor of Alaska, making her roughly as qualified as the mayor of Baltimore (~650,000 people, give or take a grizzly bear or two)

What do you think, is this a good move? Has McCain lost all ability to attack Obama on issues of experience? (I say he has). Is this a sign that the McCain campaign is panicking, a radical effort to shake things up and change course before it is too late? Or will Sarah Palin signal a "game changing choice" as Karl Rove suggests, the first ever populist, reform minded beauty queen in the history of the Republican Party? Leave your comments here. One thing is for certain, we are in for a wild ride.

P.S. St. Louis is in for a treat when Joe Biden and Sarah Palin meet in the Vice-Presidential debate here in October. Early word is that Palin's after-party will be held at Morgan Street and the Big Bang, in order to fit in with her age group (Oh it is so much fun to be able to make experience jokes aimed at the McCain ticket!)
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Masterpiece?

People are calling Barack Obama's acceptance speech last night a political masterpiece, with one commentator likening it to a symphony...




Sometimes, there is so much hype and so much anticipation, that one can't help but disappoint. Unless, of course, your name is Barack Obama. Sure, the campaigns will get bogged back down in minutiae and silly media creations, but for one night at least we saw how great Barack Obama really can be.

NEWSFLASH: Sources are reporting that a private plane flew into Ohio, sight of today's McCain VP roll-out, late last night from Alaska, home to Alaska Governor and VP hopeful Sarah Palin. Who you ask? More to follow....
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Say It Ain't So Joe!

Former Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate to kick off Republican Convention with George Bush? Stop the world I want to get off!

I defend Joe Lieberman. Maybe it was a New England thing, maybe it was a Jew thing, maybe it was a Grandpa thing. But when he seemed in 2006 to be in his figurative political grave against up and coming, Iraq War hating Ned Lamont, I told everyone who would listen that Joe had to be the one. Sure he sounds like Bush Lite when talking about the War in Iraq, but thats just Joe being Joe. It's like when you let Grandpa ramble for 10 minutes at the dinner table about how they don't make peas like they used to. He's part of the family, so you let a few things slide.

But not this. Next week, the Democrats (Joe Lieberman's political party of choice, along with the rest of Yid Nation) will be gathering in Denver for the Democratic National Convention, aka the biggest political blow-out in 4 years. But will Joe be tapping the Rockies along with the rest of his freedom hating, latte sipping, limousine liberals? Not a chance.

Instead, Democratic Senator Joseph I. Lieberman will be hard at work preparing his speech for the week after, to be given just before our esteemed Preident Bush takes the stage in Minnesota at the Republican National Convention!

I get it Joe, you think the surge is working. That's great (wrong, but great). But what I don't get is the betrayal. You were mere millions of votes from being one mis-chewed pretzel away from the Oval Office, as a Democrat, and now all of a sudden you are supporting the other guy? The guy who is a replica of your opponent back in 2000, but with a better back story? Joe, bubbe would not be proud.

I don't know, maybe I'm giving us too much credit here, but don't you get the feeling that this sort of betrayal isn't really a Jewish thing to do? I know no one in the mainstream media is blaming the faith for his actions, but it's all a part of the story, and it does reflect badly. So shame on you Joe. You have let your people down Joe. On second thought, maybe you are more of a Republican than I thought.
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