USA Elections
markadams99 Friday 5 September 2008 5.08pm
jackie rokotnitz wrote:So what? But false.she doesnt even have a PASSPORT for heaven's sake.
markadams99 Friday 5 September 2008 5.16pm
Katia wrote:Of course, I didn't, but ok, Katia, Maurits,Martin,Jackie, WJ, and all. I wish I'd signed up for the party now. It's fun tilting at the the bien pensants of SE1. Gosh you lot are prickly when your assumptions are challenged.Oh, and please, markadams, don't call everyone an Obaman. I do prefer Obama to McCain, but that does not make me an Obaman. Stick to Katia.
markadams99 Friday 5 September 2008 5.23pm
martinr wrote:In my lifetime, I don't think so, but many on both sides and none see Palin as a game changer. The initial polls and viewing figures bear that out. The conservative reaction is unprecedented. Articles in the UK press give her by far the highest profile I've ever seen for a VP candidate.Actually I have a very general question. Does anyone know - has the choice of vice president ever had an impact on a presidential race - either positively or negatively ? Has it ever influenced the final result ?
markadams99 Friday 5 September 2008 5.27pm
maurits wrote:If video of her debate performances in Alaska are a guide, she'll wipe the floor with Biden or the stuttering Obama.Katia wrote:I still haven't seen Bidden speak. Was he a good choice for Obama?
I have seen him yesterday in an interview. I can't say I am impressed: his answers were hardly substantiated and, to be honest, I found him a bit smug. I am sure the media trainers will be on top of him before going into debate with (the increasingly annoying) Palin.
maurits Friday 5 September 2008 5.31pm
markadams99 wrote:Katia wrote:Of course, I didn't, but ok, Katia, Maurits,Martin,Jackie, WJ, and all. I wish I'd signed up for the party now. It's fun tilting at the the bien pensants of SE1. Gosh you lot are prickly when your assumptions are challenged.Oh, and please, markadams, don't call everyone an Obaman. I do prefer Obama to McCain, but that does not make me an Obaman. Stick to Katia.
Markadams99, you seem it bit of a slow learner, so let me help you: we don't get prickly when we're challenged, but we do speak up when we feel the tone gets demeaning. It's just that. Otherwise I am enjoying the discussion.
markadams99 Friday 5 September 2008 5.36pm
martinr wrote:If I may quote myself: One day later, after McCain's fatherly speech, Sarah Palin seems even more significant. She is the future. I suppose that's what others see in Obama. Thatcherites like me are projecting their hopes onto her as liberals project onto Obama. Suddenly, if McCain loses, Palin is front-runner for 2012 nominee. In a way we want to hurry up and get there, skipping over the honourable old man, but the chemistry between McCain and Palin may be special enough that this VP has real power. She'd be an operator with a mandate and a hinterland. This piece by the admirable Barbara Amiel, who is going through her own Purgatory as is Thatcher, makes interesting play with the Thatcher/Palin idea. It reminds me of François Mitterand's aperçu about Thatcher: she has the eyes of Caligula and the lips of Marilyn Monroe.I find the comparison with Thatcher amazing simply because Palin has only been in the public eye at a national level for a matter of days... The comparison is only being made because they're both women.
markadams99 Friday 5 September 2008 5.39pm
maurits wrote:To quote myself again: I gave up after 24 minutes. He's not wrong, just boring, which may be effective in the context. My mind kept drifting to McCain's betrayals of conservatism like the Gang of 14 and shamnesty and Global Warming and offshore drilling (against, now for) and ANWR (still against) and populist slurs on speculation and Big Oil. I trust his sincerity, but not his understanding of the abstractions which underpin good, stickable, co-ordinated policy. That appreciation took Thatcher through fire. Let's face it, President McCain will need perpetually to be corraled by conservatives, but I don't know what leverage they'll have. Maybe McCain's finally internalised that the msm is a pit of snakes rather than a political base, so that he'll get his kicks from sticking it up them instead of sticking it up conservatives.
I saw the McCain speech. First thing that comes to mind: how sweet. Jacob Heilbrunn of the Huffington Post describes him as follows:"Most of McCain's speech was a snooze, delivered in a tone of a kindly old uncle reminiscing about World War II before fretting about how those pesky Russians are stirring up trouble again"
That's exactly how it felt.
markadams99 Friday 5 September 2008 5.41pm
maurits wrote:Ha ha. Stay blithe.markadams99 wrote:Katia wrote:Of course, I didn't, but ok, Katia, Maurits,Martin,Jackie, WJ, and all. I wish I'd signed up for the party now. It's fun tilting at the the bien pensants of SE1. Gosh you lot are prickly when your assumptions are challenged.Oh, and please, markadams, don't call everyone an Obaman. I do prefer Obama to McCain, but that does not make me an Obaman. Stick to Katia.
Markadams99, you seem it bit of a slow learner, so let me help you: we don't get prickly when we're challenged, but we do speak up when we feel the tone gets demeaning. It's just that. Otherwise I am enjoying the discussion.
markadams99 Friday 5 September 2008 6.22pm
This headline and poll - Palin Power: Fresh Face Now More Popular Than Obama, McCain - substantiates the initial impact she's made and explains the left's determination to destroy her by any means. She's like garlic to vampires.
martinr Friday 5 September 2008 6.54pm
markadams99 wrote:The conservative reaction is unprecedented. Articles in the UK press give her by far the highest profile I've ever seen for a VP candidate.
I think Dan Quayle probably wins that prize. But it's a close run thing.
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