I choose Excellence

I caught Giuliani's speech this evening. I absolutely love Giuliani. I get that he's not Presidential material but he has a very special place in my heart. This evening, though, I didn't like him that much. He came across sort of trite, maybe? I can't find the word, but he fell short. He hasn't lost that special place, though; I still love him.

Sarah delivered her speech and I listened. During her speech, I could not stop thinking about Obama. I hold in very high esteem his success at Harvard and how he carries himself as a father. I know they want to drill down that he's not a leader but I beg to differ. He's leading America to voting for a black man. He makes people want to go to the polls and vote and I believe that Washington is ready to embrace his charisma. I've never donated to a campaign before but I donated to his. I'm excited about switching parties. I don't feel like I'm voting against something but that I'm voting for something.

Sarah doesn't inspire me. I think she let her daughter down by not empowering her so she could better decisions for her future. I'm also aware that Sarah was plucked from the bottom of the hill and put onto the top. Hillary climbed it. She faced Kenneth Starr and Carl Rove and overcame lots of baggage to get as far as she did. Hillary planned every step of her campaign and she did it on her terms.

I think that Sarah is an excellent choice to help the ticket but she is not the right choice for the position she is supposed to fill. And if McCain believes that she is the right choice, then it leaves me wondering if maybe National Security really isn't the threat the Republicans are leading us to believe it is. I'm giving McCain the benefit of the doubt that he analyzed the severity and decided that she could handle the job.

I have a tremendous amount of respect for Dick Cheney. I don't agree with his politics but that man is smart, cool headed, solid and he carries a lot of self respect. He's someone I would want to listent to. If he will get up in front of America and put his reputation on the line and tell us that he genuinely believes that Sarah Palin is the right choice for the role of VP, one heart beat away from President, then I'll reconsider my opinion. But you know what? Mr. Cheney isn't a bullshit kinda guy; he values his reputation. That's why we don't see a lot of him. He's not....a politician. His silence on this issue is noted.

I am sick of cynicism and that was what the RNC oozed this evening. I believe that Obama is setting the pace of this campaign. Sarah's presence in this campaign is a direct response to Obama's success; I genuinely don't believe she represents change. I don't think that Obama is going to lose ground but I do believe that gaining ground might be a bit more difficult. He beat Hillary, so I'm fairly certain he'll beat McCain.

Obama is my choice. He's intelligent, he's ambitious, he cares about people and he doesn't try to piss on my leg and tell me it's raining. I feel inspired and I believe in a better future when I hear him speak. I believe he's the one.

More campaign observations - Sarah Palin

I've had a chance to cool down and determine what was really bothering me about this nomination. It's that nothing has changed. I don't just mean in the here and now but that McCain and the Republican party really do not get why they are in so much trouble.

I remember in '92 when Bush Sr. was at a debate with Perot and Clinton. Someone from the audience asked how each of them were effected personally by the economy. Bush couldn't even understand the question. I don't think he ever answered it. I recall how incredibly disconnected he was and how his elitist persona oozed out of him.

I remember that debate and I remember how frustrated I was. I was a loyal Republican and as frustrated as I was, I could not vote for a Democrat. That election, I voted for Perot. My hope at that point was that the Republicans would learn what they had done wrong. I hoped that the party would scratch it head, regroup and revisit it's policies and approach.

So, we've watched Bush for 8 years operate as "the decider". He decides what's best for me and my neighbors and if we don't like it, we're unpatriotic. Karl Rove gets into action and begins destroying lives. We don't have values or we're outside of the "circle". Basically we become invisible. I have lost count of the different groups this party has managed to alienate over the last 8 years.

So here we are with this choice that McCain makes for VP. How did this decision come about, really? Did he call women and get their input on this choice and how it might be perceived? Did he do his due diligence and make sure it was the right decision. Somehow, I don't think so. I think, being the typical "deciding" Republican who is above reproach, he just decided. And then, true to form, when he wakes up and wonders if he made a mistake, he'll just go into denial. Just like Bush. I think this is so typical of someone who doesn't connect with or even want to understand the very people whose votes he wants.

I'm bothered because it's just a reminder to me of what the last 8 years has been.

I absolutely cannot relate to Palin. If I had a 14 year old that was raped, I couldn't in good conscience force her to carry a baby to term if the outcome of this heinous crime was pregnancy. This woman is as "righteous" as Bush. And I believe she would plow over anyone who stood in the way of her moral platform. I also believe that neither she nor McCain is interested in the bigger picture. I would expect that she would have some sort of Masters Degree. If not a degree in Law, an MBA. Something to show that there is more to America than drilling for oil, protecting gun rights and reversing Roe v. Wade.

So, maybe what McCain means by her being a Maverick is that she'll ramrod her fundamental Right Wing agenda through the party and sniff out any existing Republicans that aren't completely towing the party line.

Then, there's the second description. She's also tagged as a "Game Changer". Is that a Republican term or a term derived from the Press. If it comes from the Republicans, then it highlights again that this is just a game that needs to be won. No matter how....another Rove-ism. The end justifies the means.

So, basically, this whole thing leaves me really depressed. And it underscores how imperative it is that Obama win this election.

I donated money to the Obama campaign immediately after his speech. I wonder how often are we allowed to donate?

WTF? - Sarah Palin for VP

Does McCain really think I'm that stupid?

I am so angered by this choice he made. I looked at Palin's credentials. A Bachelor's Degree in Journalism, a Beauty Contestant, Mayor of a small town and then Governor of Alaska. That's it. Is it that he has little respect for the role of Vice President that his standards for qualifying a candidate don't really matter? Is the role of VP so unimportant in our country? They don't expect her to have any real impact in Washington, do they?

As much as I dislike Bush, he at least had no trouble surrounding himself with very intelligent people. He assigned a very capable, seasoned, and experienced woman to be Secretary of State. She came with an impressive resume. Even the Houston Chronicle wrote a piece on her back in 2000 titled "Condoleezza Rice for President". No one in this country could question her credentials. They were spotless.

If McCain truly wants me to think he's demonstrating a belief that it is time to put a Woman on the ticket, then I would be far more convinced he believed this himself if he put someone on there with experience. Someone who can actually be President if it came to that.

Do you really think that if McCain passes away in office that this girl can step into the role of President of the US? I don't believe so, and they know that; if it comes to that they will pressure her to step aside and let a "man" handle the job. I wouldn't be surprised if they already had that discussion with her. They brought a young, green, female in because they know she can be "managed".

Hillary Clinton wasn't just a pair of boobs running for office. She was very well qualified and capable of actually stepping into the role of President of the U.S. She graduated with a degree in Law from Yale. She worked her way up the ranks and successfully faced the Rove smear machine. And this is the Republican's response? Their nomination gives me the impression that as long as the VP nomination is a woman, then that will be enough to draw in the Clinton supporters. As though we supported Hillary just because she was a woman and we can't distinguish one woman from another.

This nomination is a slap in the face to women. Condoleezza Rice or Kay Bailey Hutchison, now that would have been a statement that McCain is serious about his nomination. It would have been a message that he was thinking long term and addressing the real possibility that he might pass away during his term and his female VP might actually have to become President of the U.S. But this VP pick, it smells like a political tactic meant only to help him win an election. This is a decision made for the now without any regard to the future of our country.

Obama said it when he said that McCain just doesn't get it.

I think that when all the hoopla is done about this nomination, the reality of his decision is going to kick in and it's going to cost him.

And I quote: "As for that VP talk all the time, I'll tell you, I still can't answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day?" Sara Palin