McCain and the Fire Drill

John McCain is a decorated war hero. We all know that because we're told that every day. John McCain already has all the right tools needed to run this country. I've seen his ads, and they all indicate that he's the man with the plan. He may be a tad vague on the details, and on a lot of other things for that matter, but I've been listening to all that the maverick is sending my way. It's rather hard to take it all in, though, as we watch his entire campaign melt down faster than a mortgage-backed security. This campaign looks like the milling around of kids in a classroom when the teacher is out and the fire bell rings.

Let's talk about his campaign manager, Rick Davis. He is or, maybe, is not with a firm that gets thousands of dollars monthly from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for doing nothing. He quit in 2006....he quit last month. They have done no work for theses entities, yet are on a retainer. They are being paid for their access to John McCain. John tells one story....the New York Times tells another. John is on TV vouching for this man's integrity when he doesn't have the full story or just lies about the guy's involvement. Either way, this is not a good thing and indicates poor communication inside the campaign.

Then there's his running mate. I think we've all seen her. Perhaps we haven't any idea of what she's actually about, but we've seen her. Cute as a button she is, and incapable of making it through an interview with the likes of Charlie Gibson or Katie Couric, two former morning show hosts, without serious gaffes. I mean, unless I'm missing some inner intelligence that she's intentionally hiding, the lady is hopeless. It's not as if Katie and Charlie are playing Stump the Candidate in their interviews with any of these guys, and she failed to impress on any level. As with every other aspect of this campaign, what are they really trying to do to and with this woman? If they are trying to allay our fears about her leadership ability, it ain't workin'. If they are trying to make her look vice-presidential....dear God. My deepest suspicion is that there is no actual plan of how to use her....that she was and is a stunt. That doesn't speak well of this campaign.

Now we come to the Maverick's handling of serious issues. He cancels conventions because of bad weather a half-continent away. He reassures us about the economy that he told us only months ago he really doesn't understand. Several days later, he's the grim reaper on the same economy and he's back to cancelling things again. This time he's cancelling the debates that many voters use as serious tools to decide who should be running this country. His return to Washington seems to be designed to ease our worries about the economy, as John takes over and repairs things for us. Yet, no one seems very reassured by this bi-polar reaction to all the things that are frightening the American people today.
It seems to be another indication of a campaign that hasn't prepared the candidate well enough for a debate with a pretty impressive opponent. It also doesn't look very tough and presidential.

If all this weren't frenetic enough, today John, who suspended his campaign appearances to get back to Washington to solve our problem for us, is having a sit-down with George Bush, who is the author of all our turmoil. Should the campaign even be allowing McCain in the same building with Bush? Doesn't that merely remind everyone in the country which party has been minding the store horribly for the past eight years? Here's hoping they get a really good shot of him giving George a big wet one on the lips. John and George are even dragging Barack Obama into this useless photo-op that will solve nothing. The real work of trying to sort this mess out has already been done, or will be accomplished by folks who actually handle these things daily, for a living.

Watching all this I have come up with three alternatives as to why this campaign is so terribly screwed up. First, perhaps Karl Rove really is running this one, and McCain's people have some wonderfully nasty surprise left for us in October. Second, it could be that John McCain is running this himself and is such a stubborn old coot that he's going to screw it up all by himself. Lastly, and I suspect that this is really the case, everyone is running this campaign. It has that piece-meal, everything by the seat of the pants feel of desperate people throwing things up against the wall and hoping for something to just hang there for a day or two. People are running in all directions, accomplishing nothing, frightened and frightening....sort of like, well, a fire drill.

Hey, it may work. The low information voters are out there, and they don't analyze this stuff as much as we do. He might just pull this thing out.

But, God, this is terrible campaigning....and an even worse way to run a country.

Let's Run That By Todd

Sarah Palin's selling card is that she's a competent executive who has run a town and now, a state. Alaska isn't California, but still, it is a state she's running. Sarah and the GOP throw that word competent around as if they are trying to convince themselves that she's the real thing. Perhaps, she is the real thing; but there is a nagging concern in the back of my brain.

Why was Governor Palin carbon copying her husband on state e-mails? Is that something that is pretty common place? Did Mitt Romney cc his wife on state issues when he was governor of Massachusetts? Does Arnold run the e-mails about the California budget crisis past Maria Shriver to get her input and approval? I'm just a little bewildered about all this.

Todd Palin's a cutie and he races a mean snowmobile. However,shouldn't Alaskans be a little concerned whether Sarah feels all that comfortable in her position as the state's Chief Executive when she needs to see what Todd thinks about the day-to-day operations of their state?

For all of us, this could present a problem. Let's face it. John McCain just turned 72. His health is not the best, and his years of POW imprisonment can't have done him any good. Palin could be called upon to serve as our president sooner rather than later. Will she be able to make decisions without checking with her husband? What if he's out snowmobile racing or fishing or shooting moose? Will those decisions have to be put on hold until the Sercret Service can get him back, or until he's checked his e-mails, at least? Just curious.

Sarah Palin: Where Have I Met Her Before?

As I watched Sarah Palin work the crowd at the Republican Convention, I kept trying to remember where I had met her before. She looks and sounds so familiar to me. I'm getting older now, and can't always place all the people I've met over the years.

Then it dawned on me. She was the really cute and successful real estate agent I had a couple of transactions with during my career. Pretty and perky, she sold lots of houses, mostly to men who seemed very taken with her. As I remember, she was a big smiler, but beneath that smile was a really tough negotiator. In real estate, this can be a good thing, if you know what you are negotiating about. Unfortunately, Sarah was a little vague on contract law and time essences. She just did her own thing and made lots of bucks. Her manager answered all the lawsuit questions that came up later, and her malpractice insurance was frighteningly high.

Then I looked at her again and realized that isn't who she was. I kept trying to place her and came up with it, I thought. She was the area Tupperware Sales Manager, who got me, in a moment of weakness and some financial concern, to sign up as a distributor. I remembered her daily calls to see if I had been calling my Golden One Hundred closest friends trying to book some parties. I remember, too, how quickly I regretted my decision to try this. Well, she does look just like that lady, but I realized that, no, that wasn't her.

Then, I finally placed her for sure. She was the president of the Women's Service Club I joined when I was still a stay-at-home mom. She's the lady who talked us all into doing a Christmas Bazaar and making hundreds of hand-crafted items. We met every week from September until mid-November, making pine-cone wreaths, clothespin Santas, mongrammed tree skirts, sequin-coated ornaments. It was a shame that Sarah couldn't be there with us more, but she always seemed to have some other more pressing appointment on our workdays.
It's hard when you are such an involved person to do all the things you'd like to do.
As I remember, Sarah was able to make the thank-you luncheon where she received a plaque for organizing the bazaar.

Now, she's running for vice-president of the United States, a heartbeat away from the office being sought by a somewhat elderly and not terribly well-looking John McCain.

Sarah, here's hoping that unlike your look-alike friends you take the time to learn the contracts and legalities involved in the job you are undertaking, don't use your authority to push folks around, and make sure that you have the time to do the job you are up for as well as taking care of your personal obligations. And just keep on giving them all that perky smile.

Let Me Introduce You To Dr. Palin

Here's a scenario for you. You have a very serious heart ailment and require immediate surgery. You have chosen one of the best surgeons in town because he has a reputation for getting the job done.

The doctor enters the operating room accompanied by another person. He introduces his companion as Dr. Sarah Palin, a recent graduate of medical school who has always wanted to be a heart surgeon. Before they put you under, he just wants you to know that should anything happen to him during your operation, this person will be there to take over.

There....now isn't that reassuring? What? No?

Well, that's what Dr. McCain just told you. and unfortunately for you, Dr. McCain isn't looking so healthy these days. Hey, good luck.

McCain's VP pick is utterly amazing on so many levels. Not only is this choice silly, the players are as well. The Palin selection makes every decision that John McCain makes from here until he retires from public life suspect. Here is a man with health so bad that he will not release his medical records to the public, and has only allowed a couple of journalists to look them over privately. If ever there's a red flag, this would be it. Apparently, John is under the impression that he will live forever and that this lady will never need to demonstrate whether she is up to the job or not.

Then there is the matter of Sarah Palin herself. She must be supremely confident in her own ability to even consider accepting the nomination. After all, if you or I were asked to serve as vice-president, I doubt that we'd accept. I, for one, would need years to learn the things I need to know just about foreign policy. Perhaps Sarah is counting on her new VP to help her learn on the job That would be....Nancy Pelosi. Yes, that should work well. Obama has Biden to advise him if he has questions on a world scale that need answering, and, if somehting were to happen to Obama, you would be left in the hands of Joe Biden. Not exactly the samething, is it?

If John McCain chose her to mollify the far-right wing of his party and get them out there voting, it will probably work. Well, it will probably work if the abortion issue, race and gun-rights trump job creation and their childrens' futures. But the cynicism and disdain this decision shows should make everyone, left and right, very nervous about this man.

As my Dad used to say, "We shall see what we shall see."