30 August 2008

A Borrowed Thought And A New Thought

This isn't at all original to me, but it is worth noting how tone deaf the Obamaniacs response to Sarah Palin (she doesn't have enough experience) is. Now, I agree that she has only limited experience and I think that, substantively, that's an issue. But the juxtaposition of "don't vote for the experienced [sic] woman, vote for hope and change" with "that woman's not experienced. You can't vote for her" is bound to alienate some women.

The thought that I haven't seen anywhere else has to do with how hard and overtly McCain is going after Hillary voters. Not just nominating Palin, but having Palin pay tribute to Hillary and having her argue, all but explicitly, that a vote for McCain/Palin is a vote for Hillary's crusade to break the glass ceiling. But doesn't that seem dangerous, given that Hillary could go on national television and squash any suggestion that she supports McCain/Palin and tell her supporters, in no uncertain terms, that M/P is bad for women and O/B is good for women. ("O/B for Women" really needs to be a bumper sticker.)

So, the question is: Is John McCain reckless (not, of course, a merely rhetorical question) or does he have some reason to believe that his friend Hillary is not going to make too much of a protest?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Suppose Clinton did make such a statement. Would it matter? Is she not of the same party that believes anything moderate thing Obama says about his Presidential policies is just a lie of convenience to get elected? Why wouldn't they believe the same thing about any Clinton statement, that she's just saying for political purposes and it's not what she actually believes?

Anonymous said...

First, Hillary wants McCain to win. Her path to the White House is gone forever if Obama wins. If he loses, she gets the nomination unopposed in 2012. This complicates things a bit, but the fundamental fact still holds.

Second, there actually aren't anywhere near 18 million "Hillary voters." It's not like 80% of KY voters were longing to see a woman "break the ultimate glass ceiling." They were voting against Obama, period. Hillary's support is very deep but quite narrow. The hardcore Hillary voters ain't voting for Maverick. But many of the anti-Obama voters will vote for Mac+Palin, and many leaners just might now that he's reinforced his Maverick-ness.