A "Really Bad Disney Movie"

Listen to this clip of Matt Damon scared out of his wits about the possiblity that Sarah Palin could possibly become President if something happens to McCain. (Everyone seems to think McCain is ready to drop dead -- yes I know the statistics). What is so ironic here is that many of the concerns that he lists about Palin are the VERY SAME things that conservatives find disturbing about Obama (minus the part about being a hockey mom). Mr. Damon outlines how little experience she's had. Well that's been a concern for conservatives regarding Obama long before Palin came along.

They all downplay the role that a governor plays and the level of executive experince this brings. Damon says, "she was mayor of a REALLY REALLY small town and then governor of Alaska for less than two years". I guess Alaska is just too remote and disconnected from the Washington Beltway to bring any type of credibility to the table. I thought this election was about change. Both McCain/Palin and Obama/Biden are selling change. It really depends on what type of nuanced change you're looking for. Let's face it, regardless of who wins (and I'm not implying that it's not important who wins, nor am I cynical enough to suggest that nothing good can come from trying to change entrenched bureaucracy) there is much that WILL NOT change about how things are done in Washington. But it's always a tactic of the party who's running against the incumbent to run on a platform of change from their opposition from the last four or eight or twelve years. We've seen this from both sides in all previous presidential elections.

I know of a governor from a state which is sterotyped as a backward, small, insigificant state who became President. The fact that his state was small (Arkansas) did not seem to disqualify him (Clinton) from being a credible candidate. Obama has only been in the senate for three years and he was running for President for two of them. Once again, there's really no debate regarding the level of governance or executive experience when you compare a senator with 2-3 years of experience with a governor with 2-3 years of experience. The liberals made that argument with Clinton but somehow cannot connect the dots with a Republican governor.

There is a lot of rhetoric about race and gender and experience, but really it comes down to your political ideology. If you agree with their politics then you can take any issues with race, gender and experience in stride. It's easier to overlook the small amount of experience of your candidate if you agree with their politics -- but at the same time easy to highlight that same fact in the opponent.

I've said this before......if Sarah Palin were a stauch liberal, I don't think that those who are complaining about her would be doing so. I think they would be lauding her as a wonderful choice and her candidacy as something worthy of celebration as an acheivement for all women everywhere. Likewise, if Obama was a fiscal and social conservative, then Republicans and conservatives would be rushing to rally around him, pushing for an historic moment as the first Black president.

This has truly been a no-spin post. Nuff said.