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Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Oh Dear

As a blogger, I tend to understate things, and to crawl to conclusions. As I wrote in my earlier post on the Palin nomination, when I first heard her campaign for governor, I thought she was in over her head. But her standing up to the oil companies and the passage of AGIA gave her lots of points in my book. That ties to a larger issue of importance for me - the power of large corporation - and whatever her other possible failings, this was, for me, a powerful achievement by an Alaskan politician. It was only the first step, but it was a giant step compared to what other governors did with the oil companies.

My initial posts were an attempt to offer a balance of what she'd done well, with some suggestions that there were also some weaknesses that had come out. My positive marks on her speech were not so much an endorsement of her, but my belief that she had delivered exactly the right message to the target audience. Having underestimated her once before, I was suppressing my original gut reaction, that she was in over her head. I figured what would happen would happen. I thought I had bent over backwards to be fair to her, yet one commenter chided me,
Why not give Palin the time to be vetted fairly and fully as she surely will be, in the court of public opinion?
But others thought I'd gone over to the dark side. Chicago Dyke offered a list of Alaska bloggers for people doing oppo research that was sent to her from an Alaskan contact. It described the blog this way:
What Do I Know — http://whatdoino-steve.blogspot.com/ — Normally Democratic blogger who has been very supportive of Palin and Palin’s pick by McCain. I’d be careful…
[9/2/08 5pm - It was late last night. I would say that I look at the world from a perspective that would be closer to Democratic than Republican, but that this is NOT a Democratic blog in the sense that I only say good things about Dems and bad things about Repubs. I have pointed out that Palin had more to her than I originally thought, but I don't remember posting anything that said I supported her being picked as VP.] I don't know how much being out of state when all this hit affected my coverage. I've been out and about visiting with friends and doing things away from the computer. My drafts are still drafts as I have tried to figure out ways to talk about my misgivings objectively. The jobs duty post was one quick attempt to do that. But I just haven't taken the time to do it right.

In any case, I missed all of today's news visiting with friends and my daughter most of the day. Progressive Alaska suggests that things are starting to unravel quickly. It looks like McCain's Hail Mary pass, as one tv commentator reported it, isn't going to result in a touchdown, and it may well be intercepted.

If that's the case, then McCain's rash decision making will be revealed as a failure. Palin's acceptance of the nomination when she wasn't nearly ready will have cost her dearly. How will this affect the oil companies' ability to scuttle AGIA? How's McCain get out of this mess?
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2 comments:

  1. MaiaTuesday, September 2, 2008 at 7:33:00 AM AKDT

    I've been getting those "give her a break, give her time" comments too. I find them confusing. What is the blogosphere if not one branch of the "court of public opinion"? And why should we refrain from commenting on the qualifications, policies and experience of a woman who could potentially become the leader of the country? Particularly when we Alaskans are the people most qualified to comment on her executive experience?

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  2. AnonymousTuesday, September 2, 2008 at 4:40:00 PM AKDT

    I never think of you as liberal, Steve. I think of you as wise. I know some wise conservatives, too, but Phil is probably thinking that "wise conservative" is the granddaddy of oxymorons!

    I am really annoyed with some conservatives right now. I mention that I am having second thoughts about our governor and they get defensive. Today a group of mommies at the homeschool coffee talk were talking about BP. I mentioned that if her pregnancy didn't matter, why were they spending more than four minutes discussing it? I was explained to that God was happy that she didn't abort. I said that Jesus would have been thrilled had BP simply saved herself until marriage. I realize that she is 17, almost an adult, but it doesn't matter since she is her daughter. How fast they are to defend this and Sarah's other misgivings with, "Well, at least she is honest!" Like in today's world that is an issue?

    I feel like we are being set up, that this is all a stage in a circus. Sarah is to get an award from Phillis "By getting married, the woman has consented to sex, and I don't think you can call it rape" Schlafly? Gahhh! Has the great machine decided who it wants to impress and is giving out little bits to everyone?

    I think it is good for Alaska if she becomes VP, but she will set us back 50 years. She takes from her own state. I've been to Ketchikan and IMNSHO they needed the bridge that would have eventually gone to somewhere. What about the Anchorage bridge? Will that ever happen? Will she sell her home state short?

    ReplyDelete

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