How McCain lost me

And found me, and lost me again. Let's take it in (more or less) chronological order (pre-primary, primary, generals)

1. Immigration. McCain's policy on immigration is irresponsible, in my view. I just moved from the southwest, where illegal immigration is rampant. The drain on local and regional resources is crazy. I can't imagine how much just having to print everything twice must cost, let alone all the other services that we provide. To criminals. That is my main beef, I suppose. There's a reason that "migrants" used to be called "illegal immigrants". They broke the law, and it seems like poor policy to reward people for breaking the law by giving the thing they broke the law for: "Hey shoplifter, would you like to keep that Wii? I suppose it would be inhumane to take it back, as they're so awesome and all." We put our own citizens in prison and sometimes strip away their right to vote for breaking the law. Seems like we should deport people who aren't ours. Why do we want to import thousands of people who, by fact of being here, are already criminals? (Hoo boy, I'm gonna get it for that one.)

2. "Honor Politics", as Ramesh Ponnuru(? I can't seem to find the link, but I'm pretty sure it was an article by Ponnuru in National Review during the primary season. If I can find the link, I'll post it, along with quotes) called it. McCain's career has been in large part defined by his explosive anger towards people whose views he didn't agree with. Ponnuru's thesis was that McCain views his positions as THE honorable position-- disagreement is by definition dishonorable. I agree with Ponnuru-- and McCain's behavior towards those he views as "dishonorable" is inexcusable. Calling a fellow senator a "chickensh*t" during a policy disagreement is not the mark of someone who should be anywhere near international negotiations. I don't care to think of the consequences if McCain were to call Ahmadinejad a pig turd-- even if he would be right to do so. However, McCain hasn't lost it (so far) during the campaign. Maybe he's mellowed. I surely hope so. A person who is not in control of their temper is a dangerous person in the Oval Office.
At the other end of honor politics is McCain's seeming belief that compromise is honorable, as is disagreeing with your supporters. It's as if McCain saw the benefit reaped by Bill Clinton after his Sister Souljah moment and decided that that was always the way to go. Compromise can be honorable, as disagreeing with your supporters can be. But they are not honorable in and of themselves, and sometimes McCain supports bad policy (immigration) and/or goes out of his way to poke conservatives in the eye (immigration. See also the primaries of 2000).

3. McCain's treatment of Mitt Romney during the primaries. When it became clear that Romney was going to be the last serious contender for the nomination (did anyone really think that Huckabee would win?), McCain began to lie concerning Romney's position on withdrawal from Iraq. It's this form of political victory at any cost that most Americans (including me) despise.

That about covers McCain losing me. How he found me:

1. The Surge. It takes plain nerve to a) be highly visible to the President, b) be a member of his party, and c) tell him he's wrong, consistently, for 3 years. The Dems in Congress are great at telling the President he's wrong, but awful at coming up with good solutions. McCain should be credited with saving Iraq, and as Iraq is the major foreign policy dilemma at the moment, that seems like a stellar commendation for McCain as Commander in Chief.

2. Sarah Palin. Actually, this could swing either way-- find or lose. I was over the moon about Palin after she was announced. She's an actual reformer, with massive approval ratings and solid conservative principles. You can relate to Palin in a way that I've never seen with another politician. She served as a reassurance that McCain was listening to conservatives, and if he still didn't agree with us on everything, at least he thought our ideas were valid and worthy of nominal support.
I'm still a Palin fan. But judging by her interviews, she MAY be out of her league. If she is, then McCain's choice was obviously a gimmick (and he blew her post-convention introduction to the country). I'm going to give Palin throught the debate and see how she does. If she does well, then I will stay solidly supportive of her and McCain. If she's not ready, then I will stay supportive of her-- in 2012. And I will go back to holding my nose when I pull the lever for McCain.

How McCain lost me redux:

1. His reaction to the economic crisis. I (naively) thought he might have won the election when he suspended his campaign. Gimmick? Sure. Good idea anyway? I thought so. McCain has been warning about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for years-- the man is prescient, if nothing else. It was a pleasure to see a politican stop bloviating about his mighty self and go to work... or it would have been if McCain had accomplished anything. Instead, he introduced another element to tricky negotiations, contributed nothing to the discussions, and then let Obama pressure him into announcing that the bill was far enough along that he could participate in the debate after all. Well, Senator, it's Tuesday, nothing's going to be voted on until Thursday at the earliest, and whatever passes is likely to resemble a lefty Christmas tree (MAN that simile's getting old. How about a lefty Easter basket?). And the House Republicans have been disgraced (the whole House has been disgraced, but that's not how the spin will work out). That's far enough along? Great.

2. Debate. I only caught the economic section, but I was not impressed. Yes, people hate them. But Obama was right-- earmarks are only a fraction of this country's budgetary woes. For pity's sake, hit back! Mentioning that the spending Obama's already proposed is going to cost more than the bailout would have been a good place to start.

So yeah. I'm back to agnostic on McCain. I'll vote for what I perceive as the lesser of two evils, but I'll not do it gladly.

Note: I'll add links to the post shortly-- but my little guy is calling, and toddler wails reduce surfing skills by 10.

I am beyond words

If this is true, I am speechless. Listen to the first two minutes. It's Karl Rove (yes, I know, I know) discussing the wind up to the House bailout vote today.

Bailout fails to pass House

One wonders if this is what sliding over the brink looks like.

What kind of crap is this?!?

The House Republicans have introduced an alternative to the Paulson Plan. All well and good. That is their prerogative.

It is NOT the prerogative of the House Democrats to say that the Republicans are holding up the Paulson Plan. There's a reason that Rep. Boehner is called the MINORITY leader-- the Republicans are a solid minority in the House. Pelosi is holding up the vote to provide political cover for House Dems.

I don't have the energy to deal with Dems turning the bailout into what people on The Corner are describing as a lefty Christmas tree with pork dripping off every branch.

Can we fire the entire political class from Congress on up and start over?

More random thoughts and a new link

There's a new blog up in the links section: Jac. It's written by Althouse's son, which should be reason enough to check it out, but the guy is a good thinker, and a good writer, on his own account. Jac and I don't agree (he will be voting for Obama), but from what I've read of his blog, he's a sane voice, as I hope to be. He doesn't write exclusively about politics, but a good and necessary part of politics writing (for me at least) is a reminder that the other side of the aisle contains real people too.

Anyway. After reading Jac's "How Obama Lost Me" pieces, I'm contemplating writing a "How McCain Lost Me and Found Me Again (Sorta)" piece. I still have major issues, but at least it's gotten to the point that I won't be gagging in the voting booth, which is a relief. I may also write a "How Obama Lost Me" piece, as I was tempted by the... well, what Obama could have been, had he been what he was selling. As someone who has followed politics closely since 2004, I am very tired of the bickering.

On the bailout: The more I read, the more convinced I am of two things:
1. The bailout is a terrible idea, and
2. It is absolutely necessary.

I have no desire to add $10,000 dollars of debt per household to the already staggering national debt (thanks, W). I have no desire to give irresponsible greedy people a "get out of jail free" card. But it seems that we have little choice-- although if my taxes go towards multimillion dollar severance packages for said greedy and irresponsible people, I intend to scream loud, long and hard. I also sincerely hope that the Paulson Plan has been amended to have oversight-- the original plan had buyouts as the sole purview of the Secretary of the Treasury, and explicitly forbade oversight and review. That is insane, and another cause for screaming bloody murder.
I have nothing else to add, except that this had darn well better work.

As for the McCain capaign "suspension": when my sister told me about it, I nearly had a heart attack. She didn't give me any context at first, and my first thought was, "What, like Hillary's suspension?!" Once my heart went back to its normal pace, I heartily approved. People can call it a gimmick or stupid, but I don't think that's how most people will see it. They will see an adult putting aside the glory of a presidential run for his real job at the Senate. You know, the one he gets paid for. As for Obama saying "we can do both" when asked about postponing the debate, he strikes me as a cocky teenager who thinks he can conquer the world after he finishes his homework. Or, to use a more geeky comparison, he seems like the Scout from Team Fortress 2. Ridiculously fast, cocky, and young, the Scout says "I'm not even winded!" when he scores a capture in the game-- often right before he gets blown up by some more durable class. Obama's statements have all the hallmarks of a teenager who didn't get his way in the first place (It was McCain who first announced his intentions of returning to Washington-- Obama didn't commit to it until after the President summoned him) and is now trying to save face by saying, "Oh yeah? Well I can multi-task better than you can!"

Sorry

Lots of inactivity around here. Which does not mean that I haven't been keeping up-- I'm just flabbergasted. Economics are not my forte, and I've been scrambling trying to figure out what the heck is going on. I still haven't gotten it figured out, although I am a fan of leaving what McCain has been calling the "moral hazard" intact-- that if your company fails, you've, well, failed, and I should NOT have to bail you out. I understand that a couple of these companies were so big and enmeshed that not bailing them out could have been catastrophic-- but for pity's sake, we've just added, what, $700 BILLION to the national debt?!? C'mon, folks.

On top of that, I've seen several hard-core feminists telling me that I'm not a real woman. Or at least, Sarah Palin isn't because she thinks abortion is wrong-- ergo, I'm not a real woman either because I agree with her (I'm less extreme than Palin-- I think that abortion should be an option in cases of rape or incest, even if I would never do it). Apparently, the status of womanhood is not determined by chromosomes or even anatomy. It is determined by whether or not someone wishing to be designated "woman" agrees with the chianti-sipping, free-loving, abortion extremists in New York.

Peachy.

And, even better, the hard-core feminists will never get called on it in the MSM. Just in the pages of conservative blogs and mags, which are oh-so convenient to ignore. The HCFs (hard-core feminists takes too long to type) are supposed to be all about choice-- so how come I don't get to choose to think for myself? According to the, I'm only a "real" woman if I agree with them. They've thought this as long as I can remember, but this the first time I remember them actually saying it.

How repulsive can they get?

Good stuff

This article in the Financial Times is good stuff. It makes an excellent point that the Dems had better get through their skulls if they want any sort of lasting success. Read, as they say, the whole thing. Registration is required, but it's fast and free.
Via Tigerhawk.

Palinpalooza

It turns out that that bogus list of Palin-banned books was on Obama's official website. Now, I'm not one to hold campaigns accountable for everything their supporters say. But if it's on your official website, you'd better be DARN sure that it's correct-- you are responsible for that. And when it's not correct, just shooting it down the memory hole is not sufficient.

Anyway. I've had a few days to ruminate about the Palin pick. I don't know if anyone could have predicted what picking her for VP would do to the race. If McCain knew, then he is exactly what Limbaugh has been calling him: McBrilliant. In one simple, usually symbolic move, McCain changed the entire race and gave himself a decent chance at winning. I think the reason for that is simple: Palin is a real person.

She doesn't pontificate about her father having a blue collar job-- instead she talks about the jobs she and her husband have held. Americans are able to relate to Sarah Palin in a way that they haven't related to anyone in the White House in my memory. And in one swipe, McCain stripped away the glories of elitism. Sarah Palin is confident, capable, and winning. And she did all these things without a trust fund, an Ivy-league education, or a papered pedigree. To me, it feels like government has just been given back to me-- that government really can work for me after all. It's as if McCain has reaffirmed what most Americans have known all along-- that someone who graduated from an obscure university in Idaho is just as capable as someone from Harvard. That government isn't a Kennedy-esque birthright, it's an American birthright. That you don't have to be born to privilege or even rise to it to make a difference.

Like there really is a shot for putting average Americans back in control of their government.

There'll be more on the policy and politics of Palin coming up. But I wanted to capture the mood of one reinvigorated conservative.

Convention and Commentary

I'll have (a lot) more thoughts up soon, but to all those commentating about Sarah Palin (*cough*MSNBC*cough*), listen to an Alaskan: Wasilla does NOT rhyme with Godzilla. Sibilant 's', folks, sibilant!

You've noticed the media

Saying that Governor Palin is under investigation for alleged misconduct involving the firing of an Alaska State Trooper. What the media hasn't been telling you is that the trooper allegedly harassed the Palins, to say nothing of the death threats.

Would it really have hurt the media that much to, well, put the news in context?

Hat tip: The Wall Street Journal