Politics In this section, MFP examines the twists and turns of the 2008 election and ones to come, as well as the inner workings of Sarah's team vs. the other teams.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

The Handshake:  A transcendent moment the pundits overlooked

by John Philoponus

There was a transcendent moment at the second presidential debate, and the jaded talking heads - even the ones on Fox News - missed it.  The spontaneous handshake (pictured below) was the only truly emotional moment of the night.  Caught up in their bloviating, the Drive-Bies missed the forest for the trees.  Big Mac talked to the American people free of the media filter.  He communicated with us.  He was human.

American Hero John McCain took to the stage tonight in Tennessee in a town hall forum with Barack H. Obama.  The inside-the-beltway crowd, which, yes, includes Britt Hume and his band of merry pundits, told the world that McCain needed to force an Obama error.  The beltway crowd, Republican, Democrat or otherwise likes to analyze the debate through the prism of the battleground polls whatever other crystal ball or tea leaves they use.  When they analyze the polling data and talk about the horse race, their goal is to look knowledgeable, to look like insiders.

They do that at the expense of talking about what is really happening in front of them.

Big Mac spoke straight to the American people without the intervention of the New York Times or the Washington Post or the Associated Press.  That - in and of itself - is an advantage for Big Mac.  If only he could do this every day on television.

He demonstrated his humanity.  There was one transcendent moment, when a retired Navy Chief Petty Officer asked whether the candidates would commit American troops to defend Israel if Islamic Republic of Iran were to attack Israel.  The gentleman in the audience idenitified himself as a former Chief Petty Officer.  Big Mac thanked the gentleman for his service, and gently laid his left hand on his shoulder.  Then he did something that Barack Obama would never do:  He said that everything that he had learned about leadership he had learned from a Chief Petty Officer.  It was a moment of humility, a moment of truth. 

Spontaneously, the Chief Petty Officer reached out and shook Big Mac’s hand.

There are many Chief Petty Officers in the world.  In the army, they are master sergeants.  At the court house, it might be the court administrator.  In every successful outfit, there is someone who knows the meat and potatoes of the business, who does the hard work of the business, who is willing to make decisions and make them work.  They do so without a spotlight.  We can not live without them, whether we are on a swiftboat in the Navy or whether we are in a small business on Main Street USA.

Sure, there was the surprise of how Big Mac dominated the first hour of the debate, which was about the economy.  Sure, he mad important points about Obama’s ties to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and how he had shunned proposed reforms during his short time in the US Senate.  Sure, he scored points when he tied our economic recovery to re-developing our energy industry.  Sure, he could have said more, and he did not produce that great sound bite.  All of those things matter. 

But regardless of all that, and regardless of what the punditocracy says, Big Mac connected.  Overall, the nation saw what people see several times each day at rallies across the republic:  That Big Mac is very human, very sincere and has the experience to lead the Republic.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Boston Herald Endorses Big Mac

by John Philoponus

With Sarah Palin squarely in the crosshairs of the Drive-By Media, it is nice to see a newspaper endorsement.  The Boston Herald recently endorsed Big Mac.  What follows is the complete text of the endorsement.

The Boston Herald opined:

“Another sobering start to an exceedingly sobering week - but one which points to the need for a political leader who is steady in the face of crisis, mature in judgment and able to reach across the aisle to break the gridlock that has for too long gripped Washington.

That man is Sen. John McCain and at this critical moment in history, this paper is pleased to endorse his candidacy for president of the United States.

McCain won a lot of hearts and minds around here in 2000, and we can’t help but wonder how history might have been different had he won his party’s nomination and the White House back then.

But there is no going back. There is only the future and it is impossible to envision the future of this great nation being put in the hands of an articulate but inexperienced first-term senator from Illinois.

Being commander in chief isn’t the place for on-the-job training; it’s a job for someone who has already proven his leadership skills - in battle, as a prisoner of war and during more than two decades on the floor of the Senate.

John McCain’s heroic resume isn’t just about his sacrifice and his experience; it’s about what he learned from those experiences. And on that issue his own words from “Faith of My Fathers” are telling:

“In Vietnam I had come to understand how brief a moment a life is. That discovery did not, however, make me overly fearful of time’s brisk passing. For I had also learned that you can fill the moment with purpose and experiences that will make your life greater than the sum of its days. I have learned to acknowledge my failings and to recognize opportunities for redemption.”

John McCain sought that purpose - and, yes, at times redemption - in public life and in public service. And that helps account for that independent streak that has often driven members of his own party slightly wild, but has endeared him to millions of American voters who, truth be told, usually put doing the right thing ahead of party too.

•This Senate maverick has spent years forging coalitions - on campaign finance reform, immigration reform, on judicial nominations - all with the intent of getting things done in the toxically partisan world of Washington.

His efforts at budget reform, at controlling congressional earmarks - not just because taxpayers can no longer afford them, but because of the corrupting effect they have on the political process - have surely not endeared him to fellow Republicans. But McCain has never shied away from a good fight - on issues worth fighting for.

•The economic future of this nation surely has to top the list of those issues right now.

Whatever becomes of the latest version of a bailout proposal, it is clear that this nation is in for years of economic uncertainty.

So who do we want to help guide us through that uncertainty?

McCain insisted during his Friday night debate with Barack Obama that “the first thing we need to do [post-bailout] is get spending under control in Washington.

“We’ve let government get completely out of control… the point is we need to examine every agency of government,” he said, adding that cutting ethanol subsidies and doing away with Defense Department cost-plus contracts would top his list. And he’d support a spending freeze on everything but entitlement programs, defense and veterans benefits.

The most that Obama will concede is that some of the $800 billion in new spending programs he’s proposing “are probably going to have to be delayed.”

Then, of course, he reiterated all the things on his agenda that simply “have to” be done.

One thing is clear: John McCain has the courage to make those cuts; Barack Obama has no interest in doing so.

•These are also times that demand experienced leadership in foreign affairs. When Russian troops invaded the sovereign democratic nation of Georgia, it took Obama three full days to figure it all out. Not so McCain, who immediately pinned the aggressor label on Russia.

And during Friday’s debate McCain spoofed Obama’s plan to have face to face talks with some of the world’s tyrants, including Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, forcing us all to imagine the scenario:

“So let me get this right,” McCain said. “We sit down with Ahmadinejad and he says, ‘We’re going to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth,’ and we say, ‘No, you’re not?’ Oh, please!”

There is no room for a naif in the Oval Office.

Being president is about policy and about getting that policy right.

But being president is also about character. During his decades of service to his country John McCain has given us all ample evidence of his courage, his character and his leadership. And never more has this nation needed a president with all that John McCain has to offer.”

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

BRING ON AMTRAK JOE!

by Charles W. Fairbanks

The big debate is upon us.  In less than twenty-four hours Americans will gather in taverns, restaurants and living rooms across the republic to watch a heroic performance by the Governor of Alaska as she pummels the fine senator from AMTRAK.  Joe Biden has already had his words used against the ticket in a surprise newspaper endorsement of Big Mac.  What will he say tomorrow night to shoot his running mate in the foot?

It never fails.  The more the driveby media struggles against Sarah Palin, the tighter her hold on the American imagination becomes.  Palin Derangement Syndrome has reached a fever pitch, and it doesn’t seem to phase the governor.  Now in a classic American moment, the supposedly neutral moderator for the October 2 Vice Presidential debate has been exposed as another press liberal who is in the tank for Obama-Biden.  The controversy surrounding Gwen Ifill’s blatant conflict of interest will no doubt increase the interest in the debate.

It is a classic debate between a rock-ribbed conservative maverick and an incontinent inside-the-beltway liberal.

Make no mistake, Joe Biden is a liberal.  His National Journal liberal ratings tell the story:  Economic Lilberal 94%, Foreign Policy Liberal 98%, Social Liberal 86% and composite liberal rating of 94.2%.  When I was in college, 94.2% was an A, but from our perspective now, 94.2% is a dismal failure.  You can’t lead from the extremes.  Big Mac has hammered home that point.  Nancy Pelosi proved Big Mac right when she failed miserably to deliver a bailout bill.

Joe Biden doesn’t look like a liberal.  He hides it well.  By hiding it well, he often stumbles over his own words.  He stumbled over his own words recently when he stated that when the stock market crashed in 1929, FDR went on TV and made a speech right to the American public.  Hello, FDR wasn’t president in 1929.  Hello, zero Americans had televisions in their homes in 1929.  That was a silly mistake.

But AMTRAK Joe has made statements about his running mate that have now been used against him, to wit:  “I think he (Obama) can be ready, but right now I don’t believe he is.  The presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job-training.” That very accurate statement was used by Big Mac in the first presidential debate, and used again when a Boston newspaper endorsed Senator McCain for president today.  The Boston Herald endorsed McCain-Palin, using Senator Biden’s own words against him:  “Being commander in cheir ins’t the place for on-the-job-training; it’s a job for someone who has already proven his leadership skills - in battle, as a prisoner of war and during more than two decades on the floor of the Senate.”

Thanks, AMTRAK Joe, keep the materail coming.