What to Look for in the next 60 days

We made it. The conventions are over, and the general election campaign has begun. While I never thought this day would come (remember: campaigning for the primaries began in February--of 2007), it is finally time for us to focus on the issues of the campaign and decide who we will ultimately support in the November 4 election. As there was any doubt, but you get my point.

Here are some of the top stories to focus on in the coming weeks:

Palin and the Sunday Talking Heads

Considering that nobody knew who Sarah Palin was two weeks ago, her meteoric rise in the GOP/Fundamentalist/Psycho Killer faction of the Republican Party has been phenomenal to watch, but what adds an extra layer of fascinating to Palin is the flurry of scandals and controversies that have exploded on the national scene at an equal rate. It is patently obvious that McCain's campaign did little to no vetting prior to selecting Palin, and it took the press a whopping 48 hours to tally more suspicious stories on Palin than Bill Clinton holds mistresses (consult this blog entry for further information).

Since these stories broke, though, Palin has offered no public comment regarding any of them, even going the extra mile and refusing to speak to the press or appear on ANY of the popular Sunday news programs (a la This Week and Meet the Press). John McCain supports this decision, and why shouldn't he? A idiotic response by Palin to any of these scandals would be catastrophic to his chances for the White House.

But, this will not continue, as Palin WILL eventually appear on one of the Sunday morning talk shows. Though there is already a substantive amount of hype surrounding Palin's past, these relatively small rumblings will become all-out earthquakes when election day approaches, and Palin MUST address these questions on a nationally-televised program.

Plus, it would be great theater.

The Debates

The election season is currently embroiled in its most annoying phase, one I like to call the "Schoolyard Phase." One candidate says one thing about the other candidate. The other candidate hears about what the first candidate said and responds with his own little witticism. Evening news programs report on the repartee, and the process rinses, dries, and repeats the next days.

In other words, endless banter continues for an endless amount of time. That is, until the debates occur.

I've always had a love for debate, watching two minds square off in a pure, mano a mano fashion. It cuts through the bullshit of campaigning and allows us to see the candidates in all their eloquence, complexity, and, most importantly, stupidity. This debate between George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton is a perfect example.

But beyond the theory of it all, the debates will be worth watching because of the issues, as the candidates will finally have a chance to call each other out on any inconsistencies or contradictions that have risen on the campaign trail. In particular, look for a very interesting debate on Foreign Policy between McCain and Obama.*

Polls

I know polls are polls are polls are polls are polls, and they are unreliable. What I think we should look for, however, is John McCain's numbers, as they represent a glaring contradiction in the voting public.

John McCain has voted with George W. Bush 90% of the time. He has changed his positions on tax cuts, torture, homosexuality, and abortion to mimic Dubya's hard-right, Jesusfied platform.

So let's look at this logically:

George W. Bush has a platform that has low approval ratings.
John McCain has a platform that perfectly copies Bush's platform.
Therefore, John McCain should have low approval ratings.

Except that is not the case! Though the similarities are undeniable, McCain's current average in polls is around 42-44%, which is MUCH higher than the Bush ratings, which have dipped past the 25% mark.

The only reasonable explanation for this is stoopidity. Republican voters, simply, have not looked deeply at McCain's proposals and seen the similarities, nor payed attention to the countless journalists and pundits who pointed these mirror images long before I have.

So while I am asking a good deal here (as far as I can tell, there is still no cure for stoopidity), we should still watch the poll numbers and see what develops.



*I would mention how much I'm looking forward to the Biden/Palin debate, but we should wait and see what happens with Palin before assuming she'll debate Biden in October.