Keller @ Large Blog

"THE TWO AMERICAS" -That's what is being exposed by the hoo-hah over John McCain's vice-presidential pick, according to conservative columnist Thomas Lifson. Money quote: "Sarah Palin's pending nomination for Vice President is exposing the depth of the cultural divide between Middle America and the leftists who have taken over the education, media, and cultural establishment of our country." Hmm. The Palin furor has certainly exposed the hypocrisy of those who've agitated for political opportunities for women, only to abandon that cause and retreat into hoary sexism (how can she possibly do the job AND care for those children?) when confronted with an arch-conservative female. But a re-opening of the culture wars? It seems to me that it's fair game to question her readiness for the presidency (ditto Obama's readiness), and hey, I get my coffee at Dunkin Donuts. Still, be advised that if large numbers of actual voters show up at the polls in November feeling they're passing judgement on Lifson's "cultural divide," the Democrats are toast. That is exactly what happened in 1968 and 1972 (when Nixon mobilized the "silent majority" around hot-button social and cultural issues), 1980 (when Reagan expertly exploited the culture gap) and 2000 (Al Gore: condescending elitist Starbucks drinker; George W. Bush, drinks iced DD year round). This phenomenon has been documented with fury over conservative manipulation and dismay over liberal ineptitude, but there's no denying it's real. And given the myriad reasons to expect a strong Democratic showing, it may be the only way McCain can win. Which raises the question - are the Democrats and their soul mates taking the bait yet again?

 

 

DON'T GO THERE - That's my advice to the slimeballs who are trying to de-legitimize John McCain's POW nightmare. A disgusted Democrat forwarded me an e-mail from a group that's attacking McCain's war service on the grounds that "John McCain has been exploiting his prisoner of war experience every chance he gets." And today, no less than arguably the marquee political columnist in the national paper of record, Maureen Dowd of the New York Times, oozes this conceit into the sunlight, reducing McCain's horrific incarceration experience to a shallow "P.O.W. card" he's allegedly playing in a craven manner. All the news that's fit to print, indeed. But I'm sure the McCain campaign secretly loves it. The more focus on - and attempted slander of - that incredible chapter in McCain's story, the better for them.

RIGHTEOUS ANGER - That's what I saw and heard in Barack Obama's statement today about the Bristol Palin pregnancy story. Watch the video and see what I mean. I don't fully agree with his dictum that "families are off limits"; if wives play political roles, as both Cindy McCain and Michelle Obama do, then they're fair, adult game, within reason. But he's right-on otherwise. And note the thinly-veiled emotion when he recalls that "my mother had me when she was 18." This is the Obama I like best so far, dropping the gauzy baby talk about coming together and taking an emphatic stand on principle, lecturing his own partisans to behave, being a role model for resoluteness and strength of character. He could just as easily have gone for cheap points about Gov. Palin's resistance to public-school sex education or her belief that poor women should be denied the option of ending a pregnancy they may be less equipped to handle than Bristol Palin. But he didn't. That's leadership, and class.

CAN AN ELEPHANT SWIM? - Michael Moore, the king jerk of the American left wing, was busy cementing his stature over the weekend, remarking that the coincidence of another killer hurricane threatening the Gulf Coast just as the Republicans begin their convention is "proof that there is a God in heaven." Super classy. Moore is the left’s answer to those foolish right-wing nuts in Colorado who prayed unsuccessfully for torrential rain during Barack Obama’s outdoor acceptance speech; we can only hope that they and Moore wind up spending eternity in the same downstairs bunk. And not only is Moore’s comment crude, its underlying thesis – that the hurricane could be hurtful to the Republican info-mercial that begins tomorrow – might also prove completely wrong. That is, if the Republicans have a clue, a big if. For starters, it appears that because of the storm, President Bush may not appear at all at the convention. What a lucky break. The polls don’t lie, the only thing the vast majority of Americans want to hear from Bush at this point is “goodbye,” and not having to share the spotlight with him in Minnesota is an answer to the McCain’s campaign most fervent prayers. Secondly, just as the botched response to Katrina was an indictment of governmental ineptitude at all levels, a more competent handling of Gustav might actually reflect well on government and it’s capacity to learn from mistakes. But the best news for Republicans is that the storm gives them a golden opportunity to dispel the uncaring, out of touch stereotype of them offered by the Democrats last week. The GOP convention should be turned into a giant fundraiser for aid to Gustav’s victims. All the corporate parties should be cancelled, their budgets donated to the Red Cross. Donations should be solicited by every convention speaker, with donation info printed on the front of the podium. This is a chance for the so-called party of the rich to show they DO care. But will they rise to the occasion?

TERRY MURRAY'S CREDIBILITY GAP - “I’m mad, and I’m not going to take it anymore,” snapped Senate President Therese Murray last winter after the patriarchy of Massachusetts politics – old boys Ted Kennedy and John Kerry, and new old boy Deval Patrick – dissed Murray heroine, Hillary Clinton, by lining up behind Barack Obama. "Fifty-one percent of the population, and we've all worked on campaigns, we've stuffed the envelopes, we've licked the stamps for a lot of men in our party and it's disappointing to see the men in our party walk away from a woman candidate…. I don’t want to be pushed aside anymore.” (Courtesy State House News Service.) Murray’s bile got her plenty of ink and plaudits from understandably aggrieved women everywhere. But now it seems her feminist outrage was merely cover for pedestrian partisanship. According to Murray, the elevation of GOP Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to a November victory and a heart attack away from the presidency is not something women should be “proud” of, as Sen. Clinton said yesterday, but mere pandering. “This is a desperate and cynical attempt to lure women voters,” Murray told the Herald. “You can’t just pick any woman for the job. They are not interchangeable.” Way to give a sister a chance, Terry! It seems Murray’s feminism stops at the party line. And given the public and passionate way in which this normally Sphinx-like pol vented her outrage over what the boys did to Hillary, a question is raised: how can anyone ever take Terry Murray seriously again?

TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING - Let’s start with the good news for Barack Obama fans – your guy did his usual excellent job last night. He delivered a well-written speech with his usual energy and eloquence. He looked great and sounded great. Presidential, you might say. He didn’t go on too long. He didn’t let the adoring crowd stall him out by letting their incessant cheering drag on. He was fine. He’ll get a nice bump in the polls, and probably consolidate the progress he made this week uniting his party behind him. OK, now, the bad news. The speech was too much. Too many promises of too much spending and too many profound changes without any real explanation of how they’ll actually happen. Too much talk of a magical, mystical, impossible uniting of a country that has over the last century grown profoundly diverse and ideologically divided in ways that no politician can seriously hope to reverse. Too many nice turns of phrase to the point where none will likely stand out in any swing voter’s mind past the weekend, if that. Keep in mind, this is typical of these big presidential nominee convention speeches. That’s why so few of them are memorable to anyone but the party insiders. John McCain will probably repeat the same mistakes next week at his convention. Because that’s the kind of culture we have now, a culture of too much. This has always been a big country of big plans and big appetitites. But in recent decades we’ve become almost obese in so many ways. Too much cultural license without a restraining sense of taste. Too much political extremism. Too much of an edifice complex on things like the Big Dig and the Bush "democratization" of the Middle East. Too much narcissism, too much materialism, too much of everything, when all too often, less is really more. The Republican party has suffered from this disease; that’s why they’re rightly on the banana peel. But Obama-ism fits the mold too. And it leaves you to wonder – where’s a fed-up voter to turn?

AN IDEA-FREE WEEK - Because it is my job to do so, I have been listening to or reading the complete text of most of the major speeches so far from this week’s Democratic convention in Denver. Some, like Joe Biden’s compelling address last night and Hillary Clinton’s speech on Tuesday, have been very well delivered, others, less so. But every speech I’ve heard or read so far has one thing in common – they offer virtual baby talk on the major issues of the day. What is the right thing to do about soaring energy costs, in the short and long term? With the lone exception of Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who alluded to something called coal gasification, I haven’t heard a specific fresh idea yet. What is the right way forward on affordable housing? All I’ve heard are vows to make sure every American can own a home to go with the chicken in their pot, even though we’ve just learned the painful lesson that not every American can afford to finance a home. How do we break the stranglehold of reform-averse unions over failing public schools? Apparently, there isn’t a major Democrat in the building willing to risk angering the union delegates by talking about charter schools and choice. It’s pathetic and sad. All we get are self-aggrandizing personal stories designed to show us what saints these power-seekers are, vague, insulting promises of the land of milk and honey that awaits a partisan victory, cheap trash-talking of the opposition. It’s hard to believe it could get even worse next week when the Republicans gather, but I bet it can. Listen, I’ve been around politics for a long time, I get it, too often, voters are scared away by new ideas and real challenge to the status quo. But the failure of an entire generation of political leaders to risk it is one depressing sight. Go to it, Senator Obama, make me see the light tonight. I’d settle for even a legitimate 50 watt bulb.

 

PERFORMER OR REFORMER? - Speaking of charter schools, did you know there is a prominent Democrat on hand in Denver who is a strong supporter of them, the ire of reform-hating unions notwithstanding? Read this piece, and wonder - will tonight be the night the Democratic nominee makes an impression not by feeding more feel-good boob bait to his legions of liberal Bubbas, but by doing what he promised to do way back when the campaign started: tell people not what they want to hear, but what they need to hear?

 

ROME IN DENVER - A couple of you have e-mailed me noting that Republicans have in the past also used preposterously monumental backdrops for speeches, similar to the Pantheon-like monstrosity the Obama campaign has erected for tonight's big speech. Of course they have. Neither Obama nor the Democrats have a monopoly on tasteless egomania. One would think that to be self-evident, but apparently not.