Yes, a very specific reason :) The Palin Veep pick this morning. Something I've been waiting my entire adult life to happen -- a woman on the ticket! I am full of squee this morning! You know what a political geek girl I am!
I was rather surprised and delighted by the pick myself by I'm not sure if she's going to help him or hurt him in the overall "image" issue. If elected, I hope she helps him, particularly if she's an active VP. But I'm certainly leaning more towards McCain now than I was.
Well, I'm old enough to remember Geraldine Ferraro running, but I didn't turn eighteen until the month after the election. I must admit, though, I'm finding it absolutely HIGH-larious to listen to Obama supporters complaining about Palin's lack of experience.
Ah. I wouldn't have voted for Mondale/Ferraro either, even if I could have.
I'm amused by how excited my husband is by the choice of Palin as McCain's running mate. (Three phone calls in the last two hours, all to talk about how much he's liking the ticket now.)
He needed to energize the base, and it looks like he has. I know I'm now energized! McCain's actually getting money from me now. and no one is more surprised by that than I am ! [g]
I'm pretty impressed, too. I'm a conservative Libertarian myself, so McCain is the lesser of two evils in my view, but I really like what I know of Palin. For instance, I'm very, very impressed by her willingness to have a Down's Syndrome child (and I hope the campaigning isn't a problem for her or her family since it's still a newborn.) That's a bit more on my mind these days because I'm pregnant again and in my mid-30s, where the risks of birth defects start to increase more rapidly.
Palin was also apparently willing to take on some ethics issues within the Alaskan GOP, though, which is a point in her favor for me. I'm not overly thrilled with the records of the Alaskan Senators, so anyone that challenges their colossal pork projects gets my encouragement.
It also makes the "game" a little more interesting, and historical (if you like that kind of thing.) Two older white guys on the GOP ticket would have been portrayed as kinda boring, no matter what their positions/policies were. Having a "first" on each ticket gives the media & country something to celebrate no matter which way the elections goes.
And honestly, that's something that's really worried me lately: I don't like how much our society has become us-versus-them. I know it makes for more drama & more headlines to set things up as Democrats vs Republicans, pro-life vs pro-choice, liberal vs conservative, blue state vs red state, rich vs poor, corporations vs workers (and so on for forever!), but those sharp divisions aren't reflective of real life, and don't encourage working together. Americans used to be able to pull together when it mattered, and to have a great deal of tolerance for others even if they didn't agree with us about everything. I worry that the tendency to set up opposing sides for dramatic effect, or for simplicity's sake will inadvertently create sharper divisions in our society.
*sigh* Ok, sorry for my long-winded 2 cents' worth!
It also cool for me since my mum's family is from those parts on the B.C. side of the border, so she reminds me a lot of my own family and family friends.
Heh! Don't worry, this will probably be the last politically themed post for a very long while. Actually, I think it's the first one I've ever made on my LJ.
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chiming
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Date: 2008-08-29 05:01 pm (UTC)From:I'm amused by how excited my husband is by the choice of Palin as McCain's running mate. (Three phone calls in the last two hours, all to talk about how much he's liking the ticket now.)
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Date: 2008-08-29 05:57 pm (UTC)From:Palin was also apparently willing to take on some ethics issues within the Alaskan GOP, though, which is a point in her favor for me. I'm not overly thrilled with the records of the Alaskan Senators, so anyone that challenges their colossal pork projects gets my encouragement.
It also makes the "game" a little more interesting, and historical (if you like that kind of thing.) Two older white guys on the GOP ticket would have been portrayed as kinda boring, no matter what their positions/policies were. Having a "first" on each ticket gives the media & country something to celebrate no matter which way the elections goes.
And honestly, that's something that's really worried me lately: I don't like how much our society has become us-versus-them. I know it makes for more drama & more headlines to set things up as Democrats vs Republicans, pro-life vs pro-choice, liberal vs conservative, blue state vs red state, rich vs poor, corporations vs workers (and so on for forever!), but those sharp divisions aren't reflective of real life, and don't encourage working together. Americans used to be able to pull together when it mattered, and to have a great deal of tolerance for others even if they didn't agree with us about everything. I worry that the tendency to set up opposing sides for dramatic effect, or for simplicity's sake will inadvertently create sharper divisions in our society.
*sigh* Ok, sorry for my long-winded 2 cents' worth!
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