McCain's Big Gamble

A few weeks ago I wrote about two women who had been catapulted into the limelight as different as night and day; one was Palin who was riding high when I wrote about her, and the other was Rachel Maddow who had just gained her own show on MSNBC, who no doubt fewer people knew about. Things have changed already. First about Palin. I would say that the bloom is definitely off the rose: The GOP Base may still feel enthusiastic about her, but the majority of Americans are turning away from her, as her lack of qualification made her clearly unfit to be either VP or President. What hurt her credibility the most were the interviews with Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric. (I didn’t count the guy on FOX NEWS because he only tossed her softball question.) She was not only ignorant, but also nearly inarticulate, with stumbling responses. She is on the verge of becoming a liability for the McCain Campaign.

McCain is not oblivious to this downward slide of his female sidekick. He has tried to have her protected from the Media; because he had to know how ill prepared she was for the national stage. I even heard one pundit suggest that he should drop her and replace with, say, Mitt Romney. But it seems to me that would be an admission of poor judgment on his part. Obama would hammer him if he did that. He’s stuck with her; he must be having nightmares about her upcoming debate with Joe Biden. And now he has supposedly opted out of his first debate with Obama on Friday the 26^th at the University of Mississippi in Oxford. He may be reluctant himself to go one on one with Barack on the Economy, which he has often admitted is his weak point. The Guy is making it up as he goes along, stirring the pot on issues that have nothing to do with the grave problems facing the country, particularly the Middle Class and working people who live from paycheck to paycheck. Lipstick on a pig, charges of Sexism, the silly ads his campaign has put out, all the lying and distorting they have done to distract the voters, in the hopes of hiding the fact they have no cogent or fresh agenda to offer the American people, only more of the same, and we all know how unpopular President Bush is. His latest razzle-dazzle play was the so-called suspension of his campaign—he’s the only one shut down, practicing politics in another form—and rushing to the Capital (which took 22 hours) for a late Thursday afternoon meeting on the controversial Bailout plan. He was the last person to speak; he spoke for two minutes and it was of no real consequence.

His big gamble has left him square in the middle between the fragile consensus gained by the Democratic leadership and moderate Republicans in the Senate, and the rigorous cadre of GOP ultra-conservatives in the house, who have hated the Paulson plan from the start—because it was Socialism by another name and therefore, un-American. Influential GOP senator Richard Shelby of Alabama also has said he can’t accept the plan as it is. No doubt there are some Democrats too. From all indications the public is also not in favor of the Paulson plan because it rescues people who don’t deserve it. The antagonism could be summed up this way: To hell with the Bush scare tactics that the sky is falling; it’s time to go back to the drawing board and some debate on coming up with a plan upon which a consensus can be reached. It is not wise to rush to judgment. Not a bad idea.

Finally, there is Rachel Maddow. I haven’t forgotten her; I’m just saving the best to last. Today I read three articles about her and her show. Two were online, The America Prospect and the Huffington Report, which I read daily, and this morning there was a review about her and show, which she calls “Mind over Chatter,” in the New York Times. As Palin’s star sinks in the west, Rachel’s star is rising fast in the east. I haven’t missed her show since it started Sept.8. It is an hour that passes very quickly. Mentally she is very quick, lucid, on target, and very well prepared each day, having all her ducks in a row. She’s full of enthusiasm and often very funny. She’s a sheer delight in every way. Her program is on MSNBC at 6 PM Monday through Friday.