Peoria Pundit

My apologies for this post. Apparently, I had heard an edited version of Barack Obama’s “lip stick on a pig” comment, and thought that he was specifically referring to Sarah Palin. I just looked at the clip in context, and it’s obvious he critiquing John McCain’s record.

So, I’ll go back and update that post. Meanwhile here is the clip:

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Gov. Palin isn’t even mentioned. And for the record, here’s Sen. McCain talking about Hillary Clinton’s health care proposals:

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Again, he’s not talking abut Sen. Clinton, but her proposals.

So I have to side with Sen. Obama on this one. This is a manufactured outrage.

Perhaps. Andrew Sullivan thinks it’s not about experience, but about skills:

So ask yourself: could Sarah Palin have run a national election campaign against, say, a machine as powerful as the Bush family, and won? Does she have the skill set to construct a campaign that would actually have brought her to the nomination herself? I find the comparison with Obama ludicrous. But it will be made. Palin looks to me like a lovely person and a good local politician, with some inevitable rough spots. I’d be delighted if she took a leadership role in the GOP in the future. But in the same league as Obama? Do Republicans really think that little of him?

John McCain chose Palin for several reasons. She’s a social conservative. She has a compelling personal story. And, oh yeah, she’s a woman in an election where there are a lot of women ready to bolt the Dems because Hillary Clinton didn’t get the nomination.

But is Palin ready to lead the country, if the need arises? She’s been a governor about half the time Obama has been a senator. There’s some truth to the contention that governing a state is better preparation for the presidency than being one of 100 Senators.

But presidents are leaders only in as much as they can convince others to follow them. That is the beauty of campaigning for the presidency. If you don’t have the skills to capture your party’s primary and then win the general election, how can you hope to guide your agenda through Congress?

But then, who would have thought that Obama could win the Democratic primary, considering the cakewalk that was his election to the Senate in 2004.

Hat tip: Eric Zorn’s blog.

You’ve all heard the name Sarah Palin by now.

Already the pundits are at it, praising and bashing the choice, spinning their hearts out, slanting the news to suit their particular interests in the campaign. For now, let us set that aside.

Looking at the race as it now stands, with tickets for each side filled out, we are now destined to have a historic result come November. I already left a comment over at CJ’s Peoria Chronicle but I’d like to expound on it a little more. A historic outcome is probably going to be accompanied by an unprecedented campaign.

You can bet the Republicans have studied the Hillary Clinton campaign. The HRC campaign for President will serve as a trial balloon for the Sarah Palin campaign for Vice President. They will also apply the lessons to their approach against Barack Obama.

The tickets really do resemble each other is many ways.

• Each ticket has a traditional candidate (old/white/male) who has been in the Senate for quite some time and whose strength is in foreign policy.
• Each ticket has a non-traditional candidate (not old/white/male) who has little or no Washington experience. They are relatively good looking and focus on more domestic agendas.
• Each ticket represents and advocates a “Change” theme.

Say what you will about any of the four candidates, none have changed the race like the addition of Palin. Biden was the safe, insiders choice. One wonders who will actually be able to wave that “Change” banner most honestly.

Say what you will about any of the four candidates, none have changed the race like the addition of Biden. Palin is the freshest of faces. One wonders who will actually be able to wave that “Experience” banner the truest.

The debates will be more important than ever. Much like we (those of us that talk about such things) still talk of Lincoln-Douglas and Kennedy-Nixon, I think Obama/Biden vs. McCain/Palin will be spoken of long into the future. There has never been an election like this one.

One thing is for certain, the game is afoot.