2008 Republican National Convention

In an odd wrinkle in reality, Matt and I didn't watch the Democratic National Convention, but did watch both Sarah Palin and John McCain's speeches during the Republican National Convention during the past two days.

I expected Palin to do well with her acceptance speech, but not as well as she did. She was poised, engaging and well-paced. I wish I would have watched Obama's and Biden's speeches so I have some comparison, but I would have liked to have heard more of her views and less Obama bashing. I also think her remarks to families of special needs children about having "a friend and advocate in the White House" is more about strategy than sincerity, especially considering that she hid her pregnancy -- and then her son's disability -- from everyone, including her children, until her son was born. Special needs children in something that wouldn’t have mattered much to her before she had a baby with Down’s Syndrome.

I thought McCain's was a good speech in that it aspired to be inspirational and somewhat bi-partisan. In my usual reluctant optimist way, I choose to believe he is sincere in his love for his country, his desire to make it better, and – even if he can’t bring it to fruition – his goal to work across party lines. I agree with his more of viewpoints than of any other Republicans in recent memory. That said, I didn’t learn anything about his policy plans -- "lower taxes," "reform the education system" and "reduce independence on foreign oil" are not plans until you tell me how you would achieve those things -- and he had some contradictions in his speech (war is terrible and I am against it … we’re there to win this war!; we can't do anything without oil ... Americans can do anything we put our minds to!), and though I felt bad for him that he was getting heckled so badly, his speech was way too long.

Knowing that choosing a running mate is an art and a science, it will be interesting to see whether McCain's choice of a running mate will prove to be a ruinous miscalculation or a stroke of tactical genious. It seems Palen pushes the Republican ticket further to the right, so it may lose those who are uncommitted or in the center who may have voted for McCain because he is a "milder" Republican, or it may gain him the vote of Conservatives who think he is too liberal. Most likely, it will do both.

Palin was a brave choice either way. I think she's a tough cookie and would love it if she and I shared ideology, but she's too fundamental for me: anti-abortion, creationist-Christian, supportive of abstinence-only approaches to sex-ed (oh, the irony!)... not exactly someone I expect to fight for female rights. She also doesn't think that humans contribute to global warming, which is a big concern to me. I'm hoping the story about her trying to ban books in the library when she was mayor aren't true... Really, the more I learn about her views, the more concerned I become.

Now that we got the Americana backdrops and patriotic balloons out of the way, I’m looking forward to the debates. Stay tuned... and no matter what your views are, I hope you go out there and vote!!!