Trend Watch

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Personality versus candidate; emotion versus reality..

The "conventions" are done. We now have official candidates to represent each of the two major parties. But do we?
Do we have candidates or do we have personalities? Obama has been marketed and presented like a rock star offering lots of sparkling rhetoric while mocked as being famous for being famous. Joe Biden is being pushed as the grounded mature father simultaneously being called a drunk by the other side. John McCain is the "rebel", no one's patsy and being portrayed as a Johnny One Note and a befuddled old fool. Governor Palin is Joan of Arc and a terrible mother at the same time. When do McCain and Palin talk about issues and not attack the Democrats for policies implemented by the Republican party? How are Obama and Biden going to convince us they are the change candidates when they are the ones who turned their backs on public money and are seeking the big money donors?
Do we not vote for people who stand for anything anymore? Are we so easily swayed by speeches and hairdos and wardrobes and wrinkles and wives and husbands and their kids? What about substance?
Who is going to give us universal health care? Who is going to stop the bleeding dry of the Social Security fund to pay for wars? What about NAFTA? SCHIP? Stem cell research? Are the civil liberties our ancestors fought so hard to give us going to be restored? By whom? When? Are we going to give more drilling rights to Big Oil before they even drill into the ones they already have? Is it time to integrate the Church into the Federal government? Who will stop that? Who is going to keep a check on the private militia re: Blackwater permeating our land? Do we care? Is it even possible to fix this mess?
Or is Governor Palin's pregnant daughter more important? What would happen if we threw out the rumors and conjecture about Obama? Biden? McCain? Can we even do that? That is a legitimate question as exemplified by the results of the last Presidential election. As that British newspaper headline said "How could 59,000,000 Americans be so stupid?".
Are we going to vote selfish or vote smart? Principles, core values or hurt feelings? Or are we going to do what we have done all along? Vote for the packaging, ignoring and condoning the negatives or doing just the opposite for the person who we like the most this week? Are we going to fix this mess or are we going to choose to dig the hole deeper?
There are people out there right now who were 100% behind one candidate last week and this week are 110% behind a candidate who is the polar opposite? We saw another candidate get cheered for sneezing. Personality or candidate? Style or substance? Principles or packaging?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

wanted to share the wonderful news with you and Rima and others here who are no longer there that Drummajors numbers dropped from 177 to 50 with her new chemo treatments. She has to be on cloud nine!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for sharing..I'm watching hanna approach and could use some VERY good news? I won't speak for Jack who can speak for himself, but I certainly have no issues with the PEOPLE on Bitter...just the leadership syle.

I guess I'm just used to the courtroom, where we most certainly would fight things out as hard as we could, then...go have a drink together and talk about what we DID agree on, not our differences.

This year, it seems that anyone who is not in political lockstep is our "enemy" and also obviously a moron, and subject to being called names..and gagged. (It's pretty bad when you can make TM lok "thoughtful" and "tolerant.")

But I digress, my VERY best to Drum, and my hopes that the good news just keeps getting better.

democraticjack said...

Thanks ainnj, I am very happy for her and I hope they continue to drop to a normal level. She is a sticker.

NJB said...

Hi Djack!

What's shakin?!!

NJB said...

It's me NJBITCH! Miss you!

democraticjack said...

I miss you too. I lurked over there for a bit. Getting just a little too rabid right for me to even lurk. People are saying terrible things about Ferraro as if they know her personally. It's pitiful, in my book..

Anonymous said...

I don't understand the wild mood swings and the utter hatred some spew against those who they disagree with (today anyway, as you say, last week..the same person was a hero in many cases.)

Geraldine Ferraro has become an intersting person to listen to. She..like you Jack..has come to a different conclusion than I have about how to vote this year, but that doesn't change the fact that..she has, and articulates, valid reasons.

I don't lurk "over there" any more than I "hang out" at TM..as with TM I might try driving by now and then as we drive by the "Wonderful" house we grew up in..and wonder why it now looks so small and shabby.

Anonymous said...

Hi, Jack! Portia Elizabeth here (not able to post as myself for some reason).I just dropped in to say how much I miss your acerbic wit at Bitter Politicz. You are a valued voice even if we agree to disagree. ;)