It’s one thing to play to the crowd and get them fired up. One of Sarah Palin’s strengths is her ability to get McCain supporters fired up and enthusiastic. But what is she getting them enthusiastic about? It’s not about how McCain is going to be a great leader. It’s not about his secret plan to capture Bin Ladin. It’s not even about his vision of buying up all the failed mortgages with money that doesn’t exist while cutting taxes for his rich buddies. She’s on the attack. She takes tiny kernels of truth, wraps an inflammable comment around it and tosses it into the bonfire.
Now, a certain amount of rabble rousing happens in every campaign. But a line is crossed when people in the crowd start shouting out “Kill Obama” and shout racial epithets at a black cameraman, and the politician standing there on stage says nothing.
What does it say about Sarah Palin?
I don’t know if Sarah Palin is a bigot, and I won’t accuse her of being one on the basis of not shutting down that kind of stuff at her rally. What I think her behavior demonstrates is a lot more important than her racial attitudes. It shows that her instincts for political leadership are poor. If she can’t think on her feet, recognizing that the ugly remarks being made are going to hurt her rather than help her, than she isn’t ready to lead this country.
We’ve had enough clumsy leadership for a dozen administrations. We can’t survive any more. Even if I believed that John McCain were the better man for the job of President, I couldn’t vote for him, because he was foolish enough to accept Sarah Palin as a running mate. To me, that indicates that he doesn’t have enough control over his own party to show he can lead this nation, or that his judgment is badly flawed when it comes to political associations. I would have thought after the mess with Keating twenty years ago, that McCain would be a lot more careful about picking his political associates.
On the other hand, I continue to be impressed with Obama’s even-handedness and his coolness, even under the pressure of this campaign. In the town-hall meeting style debate, Obama appeared to be at ease, while McCain wandered around aimlessly, his face set in a kind of rigid smile that I suspect was intended to hide a man who is seething with anger.
We need a leader who can think on his feet, one who can reassure a frightened nation that there is someone who understands what it’s like to be in the middle-class, working for a living. We need someone who people respond to, that they trust. I think Barak Obama is that man.
I also wonder why this mccain was this unintelligent but hang on, this tells me that pple tend to go for pple who are like them. Identity is something that was not to be ignored in this compaign. Mccain also looked like he was dethering and wavering quiet often.
Even a school kid could define him just by listening to him. He should have listen after he realised that Sarah is not qualified enough. Beauty is nothing when it comes to leadership.
Obama was endorsed by many and the rally attendees could explain this