Yesterday my friend and I were having a talk about Palin. She's a Hilary supporter who doesn't much care for Obama but thinks the Republican party shot themselves in the foot by picking up Palin. (More on this later). She told me that Palin is going to alienate the moderate vote because she's so socially conservative and that the moderate vote is where the election is really decided.
I disagreed. I believe that the Moderates don't usually even get out there too vote, almost too apathetic about the big ticket issues to make a decision on the lesser of two evils. Though Palin probably seemed like she would alienate moderates, however, moderates like McCain. He had to pick up Palin because he had alienated most of the far Right with his socially leaning liberal views. Moderates also like minorities and women being elected. I digress.
Though I don't believe Moderates hold the vote, Independents do. Independents like Libertarians and those who just don't want to pick a major party, like most of the State of Alaska. Oh wait, Palin got elected there. Interesting.
So where are the Libertarians going to check in the polls? Larry "The Libertarian" Elder came out on CNN today and stated quite clearly he's backing McCain. Oh, what's that sound I hear? Is it the independent swing vote headed towards the Right? It might just be.
Elder went on to state that he made his decision based on the fact that he's an American. Standing as a Libertarian you might just consider him bipartisan, like me, he calls himself a Fiscal Conservative and a Social Liberal. We're part of the group that wants the best of both worlds and just has to decide who is going to do the overall best job for the country. He stated that he supports McCain on a number of issues and thinks it's ridiculous to want to tax the Class that provides the jobs and opportunities to all the other classes. Senor Elder, I couldn't agree more.
Plus, I caught up on @sleepyguy007 post on who would be taxes more under what candidate and Obama's administration would cost FI and I more in taxes than McCain's. And we're not even balling out of control!
Anyway, the current debate on whether or not independents are going to pick Conservative with Palin on the ticket remains to be seen. I'll leave you with a poll result from after Palin's speech yesterday though (yes, that is post babygate)
"Among Independents who watched Palin’s speech, respondents who reported
they will “probably” or “definitely” vote for McCain increased by 10
percent across both genders -- around 38 percent for females and 36
percent for males."
Comments (4)
I think it will be an interesting election. Senator McCain will have to be on top of his game to keep the charge that Gov. Palin made last night.
@Evowookiee - I was really impressed that Palin did the whole speech without a teleprompter. It's makes her seem all the more genuine. What do you think about the attacks on the RNC stating that there wasn't enough talk on the issues and too much Obama bashing?
@LanaMia - I did not know that she didn't have a teleprompter. Interesting.
I would agree with them; though I did really enjoy all the shots at the democrats, There was also a lack of solid talk on the issues. However when they DID talk about the issues, it was always "What we are doing now" or "What I HAVE accomplished" instead of "what I want to do." That impresses me.
Keep in mind that it is really McCains job to present his plan... Not Palin. Palin referencing her past accomplishments just builds a foundation of experience for McCain to then tell us his plan. If his speech is short on the path forward then we have a bit of a problem.
In the end, the VP should always be the one qualified to do the job, but not doing it while there is a president in office. Its kinda like we got to interview her last night for the "shit hit the fan" scenario.