So I have watched some of the Democratic convention tonight. I heard a speech on energy that made a lot of sense though I think it was less than completely honest about McCain’s position. McCain would like to include nuclear power as well as more drilling. It was poorly delivered as well.
I heard some of Biden’s speech as well. The parts I heard were very well done. But I also watched a lot of commentary by Democrats on Twitter. That really ticked me off. Oh not because they loved it all or even because they disagree with me. No what bothers me is these seemingly intelligent people (most are in education) do not appear to have the least understanding of the people who disagree with them. They are too caught up in the emotion of the event to understand any of the politics either. Scary.
Now to be fair a lot of Republicans don’t understand Democrats either. But I expect more from educators. When I hear people say that pro-life people are anti-women I want to scream. That is one of the stupidest things in the world to say. It is a gross admission that one doesn’t even try to understand the objection to abortion. Anyone who says that is either too stupid closed-minded or too dishonest to be elected to public office. Oh it gets me so upset. Pro-choice is pro-women in the same way that pro-slavery is pro-African-American. At least it is to pro-life people. Actually if you look at how abortion is used in China and India you’d have to be blind not to see pro-choice as seriously anti-women. I admit that I do not understand why the Democratic party is not violently pro-life. I mean I understand why some people are pro-choice but if any party on earth should be pro-life it is the Democrats.
But I digress. One person on Twitter didn’t understand why Biden wasn’t hitting on the issue of the Supreme Court in his speech. The obvious answer is because Biden is not a complete idiot. For a lot of people the Supreme Court is a defining issue. It is the main reason I voted in the last two presidential elections and probably the only reason I will vote (if I vote) this time around. During the convention a lot of people who are undecided are listening. Why would Biden use that platform to say “we’ll make sure baby killing stays legal and take away all your guns?” The Supreme Court is an issue to take up with your supporters to get out the vote not a platform to win votes.
A week ago I was pretty sure Obama would win. Now I’m not so sure. I think Biden was really a bad choice. If people were starting to believe that Obama wasn’t too far to the left the choice of Biden will likely convince them otherwise. You have to run to the middle to win. Of course McCain could similarly blow his choice of a running mate so it is still too early by far to place bets. This one is going to the wire I think.
I’m very curious to see who McCain is going to pick… A few comments he’s made have suggested that he’s leaning towards at least a partial conservative.
Biden is an all-around weird pick IMHO. While it’s certainly not Obama’s _main_ qualification, part of thing about him is that he’s “exciting.” There were several VP picks who could have done the same, I think. But Biden’s not one of them. There was a lot of talk about a couple moderate Democrats in red/purple states, and I think they would have been stellar picks.
Obama’s said that Biden was picked because he has a lot of foreign policy experience, which I guess does help and shows that he’s in it for the “long haul,” not to assemble people who sound really good but are actually flimsy in office. But still, I don’t know a single person who’s excited about Biden.
No what bothers me is these seemingly intelligent people (most are in education) do not appear to have the least understanding of the people who disagree with them.
By the way, I agree with you on this. (Though you’re right: it definitely happens from both sides.)
I’ve always thought that “good” politics was about meeting with the other side and working together to develop a solution that satisfies everyone. (I’d call it a compromise, but that implies an, err, “compromised” position.) What’s happening now is that both sides are just railing against each other, and whatever one side proposes is automatically struck down by the other. It drives me crazy.