Presidential Campaigns: Random Thoughts About the Candidates

I remember seeing Bobby Kennedy when he was campaigning on Long Island in 1968. I watched him wince when he was standing on the hood of a car shaking hands and someone in the crowd squeezed his hand really hard. He was assassinated in LA not long after day. Whether the hand shaker was an overly enthusiastic fan or an enemy, I don’t know. But politicians sign up for that kind of public risk; it’s part of the game, and they have to be willing to play it.

People keep labeling Obama “black” even though he’s half black and half white. And he was raised by Caucasians (mother, grandparents) and an Asian (stepfather). But in racist America, when you have black blood, the white blood is automatically drained out. The fact that Obama is hated by racists (as was RFK) makes him a prime candidate for assassination and he knows that. Witness the assassination plot uncovered in Denver. It’s funny that so many are worried about McCain not making it through one or two terms because of his cancer history and age, but don’t stop to think that Obama might not pull it off either because of his color. So who would you rather see become president in the event either President McCain or President Obama dies or is killed? Trend-setting fashionista (see below) and moose- murdering pro-lifer Sarah Palin? For me, without question, it would be Joe Biden, who has more street smarts, humanity and government experience than the other three candidates put together.

And since when is parading your pregnant adolescent daughter and her lover in front of millions of people a virtue? If the tables were turned and one of the Obama girls were old enough to get pregnant and did, just imagine what the hypocritical right wing would make of that! They would be yelling that Democrats raise immoral daughters so don’t vote for them. But the Rove-ites have managed to spin the teen pregnancy and future shotgun marriage (and Palin herself knowingly delivering her fifth, a Down syndrome child, on a planet already groaning under the weight of kids desperately needing homes) into something not to be criticized but admired. True to their past campaign strategy, the Rove-ites, those savvy sociopaths, have turned a negative into a positive, just as they did for Bush’s shameful military record. It’s astounding to me that anyone with a brain can still fall for that nonsense, especially since the same kind of brainwashing has been employed in the previous two presidential elections. But, alas, many Americans have distressingly short memories.

Palin and her supporters clearly want to return America to inhumane (for both the mother and fetus) back-alley and do-it-yourself coat hanger abortions. Does that sound "pro-life" to you? Because history has shown that if a woman desires to terminate a pregnancy, she will go to any lengths to do it, including risking her own life. The Rapture Right actually loves Roe v. Wade because it’s become a political rallying point for them. And besides, they don’t need it repealed because state laws already have and will continue to weaken a woman’s right to choose and force pregnant females to abort any which way they can.

Curiously, Palin seems to be regarded more as a potential First Lady than a serious candidate. Her glasses have become a fashion statement and even her clothes, shoes and hairstyle are admired and emulated, like Jackie Kennedy’s style in the 60s. That kind of sexist trivialization didn’t happen to Hillary Clinton, who was respected for the fact that she was a qualified candidate running for an important office. The focus on her fashion taste makes Sarah Palin seem even more lightweight as a vice presidential choice, if that’s possible. It’s almost as if voters care more about how she looks and what her gender is than her problematic ethics and credentials for the job.

As I write this, under pressure from the media she has agreed to her first TV interview, choosing, predictably, the political softball champ Charlie Gibson. Where’s Tim Russert when we need him? I wouldn’t be surprised if he sneaks her the questions beforehand so she can prepare her answers. Or, watch for a hidden mike in that lustrous mane of hers.