Notes from the Other Camp

"That Palin-- I like her; she's smart as a whip".

To those who know me, this will not be surprising: My mother is voting for McCain & Co.

Left- vs Right-wing posturing aside, the interesting thing about this revelation is that Palin, while really making no changes to the Republican/McCain platform, is rallying support through her sheer... shall we say, "personality".

Keep in mind that white, middle-aged women (usually married ones) are oft-considered the most important demographic in this election, and considering how they went for Clinton, it is apparent and uncontroversial at least in some fashion that sex and race are huge factors in this election.

However, what is strange is that hearing Palin's oratory and realising she said a whole lot of (albeit slightly-witty) nothing (not surprising for a politican), I realise she is just what she is-- a small-town conservative Alaskan wife who also happens to be a politician.

We all thought that having a pregnant teenage daughter getting shacked up would be a negative-- wrong. This is a plus in the eyes of the likes of my mother (who are, as crazy as she is, not uncommon). The shacked-up part is what makes it redeeming-- as long as you get married, it's admirable. If not, it's an atrocity.

The point is that the McCain team was smart in picking a sharp-tongued, former beauty-queen religious poly-child country wife as a running mate, because the American public has proven itself to consistently vote for that which is most like their self-image, regardless of the candidate's qualification for office-- Kerry was eschewed for being not as "average-Joe" as Bush (despite Bush being heir to a lavish estate and personal trust). Apparently Kerry's fluency in French was a bad thing. Kerry was a douchebag, but his douchebaggery paled in comparison to the bloody whore of Babylon that is Bush. Nevertheless, Bush was often said to be someone you could "have a beer with" (or something to that effect).

I don't hire employees because I like them; I hire people because they can do the job well. I don't know about you, but I personally wouldn't vote for just any 24-year-old angry left-wing university student, just because he's that and so am I. Actually, being a 24-year-old angry university student would detract from a candidate's appeal to me. I am not qualified to be VP, and neither is Palin.

Sarah Palin is the image of the perfect conservative succer mom. She is what they all look up to, the equivalent of boy racers looking up to Kimi Raikkonen for inspiration. Obama and his cohorts have to battle an old, rich "straight-talking" war hero and his equally unabashed former sexpot churchgoing WASP homemaker. He has all the bases covered. The only way Obama can win now is with a home run.

Remember, folks, this is a woman who asked Alaskans to pray for God's will in building an oil pipeline. But my mother would say that's a good thing too.

Pray that soccer mums can be defeated.