Politics Recap

Oh how much can change in just one week! Obama gives a stirring speech in accepting his historic nomination as the Democratic candidate for President, and then McCain stuns the country by providing a little history of his own by selecting Alaska's young, female reformer Governor Sarah Palin!

Some of what Obama spoke of I agreed with and greatly appreciated. He spoke of America's enduring promise, and of the character of this country and of his hope that we can recapture the optimism that has been lacking during the past few years.

"What -- what is that American promise? It's a promise that says each of us has the freedom to make of our own lives what we will, but that we also have obligations to treat each other with dignity and respect.

It's a promise that says the market should reward drive and innovation and generate growth, but that businesses should live up to their responsibilities to create American jobs, to look out for American workers, and play by the rules of the road.

Ours -- ours is a promise that says government cannot solve all our problems, but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves: protect us from harm and provide every child a decent education; keep our water clean and our toys safe; invest in new schools, and new roads, and science, and technology.

Our government should work for us, not against us. It should help us, not hurt us. It should ensure opportunity not just for those with the most money and influence, but for every American who's willing to work.

That's the promise of America, the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation, the fundamental belief that I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper.

That's the promise we need to keep. That's the change we need right now."

That's about where my agreement ends (although I could nitpick and find disagreements in those paragraphs as well). Most of the rest of his speech was a mix of vague wishes, distortions about McCain's record and policies, and standard Democratic fare. Unsurprisingly, Obama tried to paint McCain as Bush's clone and heir, in part by pointing to McCain supposedly voting with Bush 90% of the time. It's a great line, except for the fact that it is a distortion. Not only is Bush not a legislator who casts votes, but in fact the vast majority of Senate votes are unanimous and uncontentious votes naming post offices, congratulating sports teams, and passing minor bills. To count these in any tally determining the similarity of two peoples' voting records is disingenuous and misleading. By this approach I would not be surprised if Obama "voted with Bush" over 80% of the time! Distortion number two came when Obama talked about the comments made by Senator Gramm, a former advisor to McCain, calling the country "whiners." Aside from the fact that Obama took the quote out of context, he also gave the impression that McCain agreed with the comments, despite McCain's actual immediate denunciation of the comments and Gramm subsequently leaving his position. Distortion number three came when Obama claimed that McCain defined the middle class as being anybody earning under $5 million a year. Anybody who watched McCain's actual comments on the matter, which came during the recent Saddleback forum, knows that McCain never defined the middle class, and made a joke about someone earning $5 million a year being rich, where he also joked that Obama would likely take it out of context (how prescient...).

When it came to substance, Obama continues to prove that he is no post-partisan healer or policy innovator, but is rather just another standard liberal Democrat who can smooth over his positions with vague and inspiring rhetoric. Obama talked about McCain risking peoples's Social Security, but consider the fact: McCain would like workers to be able to put a portion of their payroll taxes into accounts with their names on it, far away from the legislators who currently are leading the system into bankruptcy. Obama, on the other hand, offers the same-old Democratic prescription for Social Security-- no reform, but more money and redistribution.

John McCain chooses Sarah Palin for VP

John McCain followed up Obama's speech with a bit of great timing and political theater of his own. Contrary to everybody's expectations, McCain bypassed Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, and Joe Lieberman, among others, to pick Sarah Palin as his VP. She has her drawbacks-- she has only been in what I would call a major elected office for 2 years. However, she has many strengths-- she took on corrupt members of her own party in order to become Governor and before that as a member of the Oil and Natural Gas Conservation Commission, including some of their shady dealings with the oil companies, she is an expert when it comes to energy policy and a strong advocate for drilling and effectively using our natural resources, she has a compelling personal story which is different from that of the stereotypical Republican, and is a no-nonsense reformer and political maverick. In the coming days I am sure I will discuss this issue at more length, but my first impression: brilliant pick.