PS - Discussion question: Whaddya think of McCain’s Veep? That choice was rather unexpected. Pragmatic or pandering?
No more pandering that what any number of other candidates--including Obama--have done. Obama took someone who was the opposite of him in many ways, to appear to balance his flaws and things he's lacking, and McCain has done the same. (Those who shout that she's so young and lacking in experience should probably think for a moment about the fact that yes, that's true, but she's running for vice president; if it's such a problem that she's young and inexperienced, doesn't that kind of support the argument of those who say the same about Obama, who's running for presidentPlus, I really believe that even if Hillary hadn't come so close, and Obama got the nomination without Hillary ever being a main contender, there's a good chance McCain would have chosen a woman. It's a smart way of generating excitement for himself. Vote one way, you get a black man. Vote the other, you get a woman. Either way, history is made
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This sounds quite interesting -- I find American politics fascinating, not least because the candidates actually inspire the populace. People actually care about politics. In the UK, often, because the party leaders are so stupid, or boring, or both, we tend to pay them very little attention, save to satirise them. Quite often, people will vote knowing very little about what the person they are voting for stands for. In the end, it might just come down to looks!
I'm sure the same thing happens in the US, sometimes, but this particular Obama/Clinton nomination race, has really captured our imagination as well.
(Sorry to waffle! Thanks for adding me as a friend, by the way, and as you can probably tell, I'm back from my Internet hiatus!)
I don't know if was an accident that you replied to my comment instead of the entry, but I'll reply to your reply anyway :)
Quite often, people will vote knowing very little about what the person they are voting for stands for. In the end, it might just come down to looks!
I'm sure the same thing happens in the US, sometimes, but this particular Obama/Clinton nomination race, has really captured our imagination as well.
The same thing happens here, without a doubt. Looks and youth were a HUGE part of the Bill Clinton/Bob Dole race. Clinton was young and smooth and played the saxophone on a cool late-night talk show. Bob Dole was old and stiff. What either of them actually said or did was secondary. And now, with Obama, a huge part of it is his looks. And I'm not just talking about race. I'm talking about his youth and good looks. He's so dapper! There's no question that many people respond to that.
People actually care about politics. In the UK, often, because the party leaders are so stupid, or boring, or both, we tend
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Interesting. I hope we can get copies here. I put in for a copy with LT early reviewers but didn't snag one, possibly because I have no other books on religion or American politics!
PS - Discussion question: Whaddya think of McCain’s Veep? That choice was rather unexpected. Pragmatic or pandering?Not unexpected, in retrospect. And yes, pandering, but thus is most of politics. I see it as an attempt to, for one, balance out McCain platform with a more conservative platform; for another, to try and "pick up" some would-be-Hillary Clinton voters via a female VP nomination. The former is how VP picks work, really, and doesn't surprise me one whit. The latter is sad, but not surprising either; mostly, though, I hope it fails. I hope it fails because the two women are alike only in that they are women. It's sexism of the most essential sortthat an individual is entirely defined, labeled, and preferred or discriminated against on the basis of one factor: their gender and sex
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I loved both of Obama's books. They seemed very honest, grounded, and sincere. In his books you get much more of a sense of the centrist views he has, as opposed to the ultra liberal left winger he's portrayed as.
As to Palin...I'm kind of insulted as a woman that Mcain thinks he can get women's votes just by picking a female VP. And he really should have more carefully considered his VP pick, seeing as he's 71 years old and really does have a chance of dying while in office.
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No more pandering that what any number of other candidates--including Obama--have done. Obama took someone who was the opposite of him in many ways, to appear to balance his flaws and things he's lacking, and McCain has done the same. (Those who shout that she's so young and lacking in experience should probably think for a moment about the fact that yes, that's true, but she's running for vice president; if it's such a problem that she's young and inexperienced, doesn't that kind of support the argument of those who say the same about Obama, who's running for presidentPlus, I really believe that even if Hillary hadn't come so close, and Obama got the nomination without Hillary ever being a main contender, there's a good chance McCain would have chosen a woman. It's a smart way of generating excitement for himself. Vote one way, you get a black man. Vote the other, you get a woman. Either way, history is made ( ... )
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I'm sure the same thing happens in the US, sometimes, but this particular Obama/Clinton nomination race, has really captured our imagination as well.
(Sorry to waffle! Thanks for adding me as a friend, by the way, and as you can probably tell, I'm back from my Internet hiatus!)
Reply
Reply
Quite often, people will vote knowing very little about what the person they are voting for stands for. In the end, it might just come down to looks!
I'm sure the same thing happens in the US, sometimes, but this particular Obama/Clinton nomination race, has really captured our imagination as well.
The same thing happens here, without a doubt. Looks and youth were a HUGE part of the Bill Clinton/Bob Dole race. Clinton was young and smooth and played the saxophone on a cool late-night talk show. Bob Dole was old and stiff. What either of them actually said or did was secondary. And now, with Obama, a huge part of it is his looks. And I'm not just talking about race. I'm talking about his youth and good looks. He's so dapper! There's no question that many people respond to that.
People actually care about politics. In the UK, often, because the party leaders are so stupid, or boring, or both, we tend ( ... )
Reply
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As to Palin...I'm kind of insulted as a woman that Mcain thinks he can get women's votes just by picking a female VP. And he really should have more carefully considered his VP pick, seeing as he's 71 years old and really does have a chance of dying while in office.
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