Speechmaking for Dummies

As you can see, pretty much the expected fare. But ought not the Republican party in general, and this campaign in particular, strive to be above outright lying? One would think so, and one would be sorely disappointed. What do I mean?

Sarah Palin's family is not "typical." The Palins enjoy the particularly high wages of an Alaska flush with oil money that makes a "blue collar" existence decorated with the trappings of discretionary spending nearly impossible elsewhere in the country. While Sarah plays up her humble roots, and the family's "average" lifestyle, their $200,000+ in income (which puts them in the top 3% of household income) is bolstered by government disbursement of oil money-- a "negative income tax" that is not replicable in the rest of the states. Meanwhile, her husband belonged to a less-than-mainstream political party, members of which have called for secession from the union.

Palin's blue-collar family experience may be a good reason for moving to Alaska, but as a reason to vote for McCain? Not so much.

Obama and Biden don't "look down on" her experience in government. The McCain campaign has made "experience" a watchword of this election. They've constantly harped on whether Obama has the "experience" to be commander-in-chief. Obama has been facing questions about his experience for nearly two years By comparison, Palin has been facing questions about her "experience" for nearly a week. Given the twin facts that Palin (despite her speech) is still a cipher to the American public, and the McCain campaign sets a premium by "experience," it is legitimate to question whether Palin's tenure in government differs substantially from Obama's. If her "experience" is derided, it's because her running-mate has made such an issue of "experience" as a measuring stick.

"John McCain is a known quantity, who has a steadfast record." Palin attempts to paint a portrait of John McCain as steadfast in his ideals. The truth is that John McCain goes whichever way the political wind blows. He has reversed position at least 75 times and counting. Face it, he flip flops more than a Chinese gymnast.

McCain doesn't change position depending on who is listening I could go into a vast amount of detail, here, but really-- only one illustration is needed. A McCain spokesperson recently stated I want to be very clear we expect the media will afford Bristol and Governor Palin the exact same privacies that they have afforded candidates past. What sort of privacy and respect has McCain afforded candidates past? Apparently, McCain has two standards-- one for his running mate, and one for the children of potential opponents.

"Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly?
Because her father is Janet Reno."
John McCain, 1998

Sarah Palin will challenge the status quo Palin makes an effort, here to distance herself from the pork-barrel politcal gamesmanship of Washington, but the assertion rings false. Palin was more than happy to feed at the government trough. In fact, some of the very earmarks that Palin lobbied for were called "objectionable pork" by no less than John McCain, himself. And in direct contradiction to her claim to outsider status, Palin ran Ted Stevens' 527 group. That's not exactly what I would call challenging the status quo as an outsider.

The Democrats will raise your taxes Even if you ignore the fact that the current Republican administration has overseen the largest increase in the size of the government, ever, it's still political chutzpah to suggest that Obama is running on a platform of raising taxes. His tax plan cuts taxes. And while McCain's plan gives the bulk of his tax cuts to the rich, Obama's plan gives most of the cuts to the poor and middle class. Of course, this highlights the McCain campaign's intentional duplicity-- in 2001, McCain was claiming that he could not in good conscience give massive tax cuts to the rich. Of course, not being an election year, that "steadfast" position was easier to take than it is today.

Sarah Palin gave a decent, if entirely predictable, speech last night. But if anything, her speech highlights the fact that John McCain's distorted view of reality will remain unchallenged in a presumptive McCain White House. And that, if anything, reflects the failure of McCain's campaign--

--Excessive concern with appearances trumps honesty.