Open Thread

But benson, didn’t it worry you that Palin could have ended up in the #1 position? That made me very uncomfortable on a number of fronts. Palin exhibited so much hubris (not moxie), it was my fear that she would try to fake her way through it. We have problems enough without adding someone with such extreme views into the mix.

I have family up and down both coasts and in 6 states throughout the middle. I talk to them, I’m fully aware of their concerns/interests. They range from Phd’s to working/middle class, athiests to at least two evangelicals, and one gay couple (and one evangelical and gay person are siblings!). Over the last two years, I have been to visit most of them or they’ve been here. Granted not many of them are republican, but some are. Interestingly, the wealthier ones tend to be right wing while the less wealthy tend toward the left to varying degrees. None of them voted for McCain/Palin, while some of them had voted for Bush.

I agree that the religious right should have a voice, but I believe they exert a growing and undue influence on the direction in this country. (33% sounds like a high number). My evangelical relative wishes I would convert but accepts my right to not convert. And I kiss and hug her.

I’m all for religious freedom. I’m not for religious intolerance. My feeling is that the religious right is trying to legislate it’s beliefs, and that Palin shares that agenda. And I take issue with that. My cousins just worries that the unconverted are all going to hell – dear heart that she is.

As a woman, I don’t want anyone legislating against options for me, my step-daughter, my niece, my cousins, any woman.

And I really think we’ve lowered the bar with Bush and Palin. We need to raise the bar intellectually, and policy-wise. We can’t keep saying that it’s ok for our leaders to be un-educated, anti-intellectual, or poorly-spoken or untravelled or unthoughtful. We need more intelligent discourse, we need more awareness of other cultures and religious tolerance. We need to focus on diplomacy and taking care of the problems at home instead of offensive expensive war.

We cannot give over to the lowest common denominator. We can say it’s fine to be a hockey mom, and listen to her concerns but we cannot accept that she should run the country. There are plenty of Nascar loving, soccor moms, bowlers, etc. in my family, but they want the smart, the fair, the honest person. They want this country to be represented by the best and the brightest.

We need to aim higher Benson. We need to raise the bar, not lower it, or this country will sink.

Cobblehiller;

OK, I’ll try to answer your follow-on question.

Foreign policy experience. Palin: zip!! Would I prefer that she had some? You bet. However, that was not a deal-breaker to me. She was running for the number 2 position. I prefer a team where the #1 guy (McCain) has extensive foreign policy experience and the #2 person is the novice. On the democrat side, it was inverted. Once again, I’ll use the Harry Truman example. FDR had so much disdain for him that he didn’t let him in on any major policy decisions. He wasn’t even aware that we were developing an A-bomb when he took office.

I am curious about your statement about the “religious right” the “bogeyman” of the left,if you will. I travel to middle America in my position, and meet these folks often. While I am not in complete agreement with them on all issues, I do find that they share alot of common values with me. I am not going to trap myself into some type of mentality that says “I’m from the east coast, I’m smarter than these folks, and I know better”. Moreover, if they represent something like 33% of the population (and growing), I think their voice must be heard.

OK ladies, I have to go. Once again, we’ll just have to agree to disagree. A few last words:

Bxgrl: I salute your integrity wrt your opinion about Caroline Kennedy. Would that the some of the elite have the same opinion, I might respect them.

Cobblehiller: a politician making a speech prepared for them by speechwriters. I’m shocked, SHOCKED, I tell you!!

😉

Have a great day.

Cobblehiller;

What you call pandering is good old fashioned politics. The ecumencial voters are something like 33% of the population in this country. Why should McCain not have thrown them a bone, given that this was not his base? All candidates try to shore up their base with their choice of a VP. Don’t you think that Obama chose Biden to make up for his lack of foreign experience? I think Obama made a smart pick, just as McCain did. Politics 101.

Answering for myself, I already stated above what I liked about her. I found it refreshing to have a candidate from “Middle America”, if you will. As I said above, I admire her grit and determination, and the fact that she comes from a part of the coutry where people still have their feet planted on the ground. She is a true “Washington outsider”. To me, these were qualities that were once admired in the Democrat party. I remind you that Harry Truman was a haberdasher and a small-town politician from mid-America. FDR had so little regard for him – he chose him solely for political reasons – and yet he turned out to be a great president.

Now, I’ve answered your question. I’m still waiting for a response to my question: why is it not hypocrisy that Palin was so scorned for her lack of qualifications, and the same folks have nothing to say about Caroline Kennedy?

Benson,

I find it interesting that you are trying to deflect the conversation on Palin to criticize Caroline Kennedy.

Kennedy aside, what ‘good’ effect precisely do you think Palin would have on this country. I’m curious.

And why do you think Palin was chosen by McCain over Lieberman who had been his personal favorite for quite sometime?

Do you think that McCain was in any way pandering to the religious right/the republican base in that selection?