And the best thing is what is to come- the train wreck that will be the GOP
convention, and that can not be understated. It is going to be a disaster. The
Democratic convention was forward looking, positive, hopeful, and constructive.
For all the talks of disunity, this party is unified and ready for battle.
Contrast that with what we can expect to see next week.
First, we know for a fact that the GOP, unlike the Democrats, will not
be able to control themselves. They will launch attack after attack at Obama,
and try to destroy him. It will fail, and they will get savaged in the media,
who were all present at the DNC. The best thing about the babble all through the
Democratic convention is that they will feel duty bound to do the same during
the RNC, and they will be shocked and taken aback by the viciousness of the GOP.
Bank on it. Either the gild will come off the McCain maverick/respectful lily,
or we will have to realize that McCain wants to be President but can not even
control his own convention. I will take either narrative for 1000, Alex.
Second, the Republicans actually are not unified. Just yesterday their
platform took a step toward the troglodyte right, as a call for a ban of ALL
stem cell research, public and private, was placed in the platform. The base
currently hates their candidate, and are trying to will themselves through this
election with a greater hate for Obama. They have NOTHING positive to say about
McCain; it is all anti-Obama all the time. Not only will this not play well with
the middle of the electorate, but it also provides minute-by-minute
opportunities for them to over-reach and go to far in the attacks.
Third, forget about the PUMA’s. Ron Paul is going to outdraw the RNC.
Hell, half the Republican party is not even attending the RNC.
Fourth, it looks like Hurricane Gustav is going to make a guest
appearance on the first night of the convention, giving us all sorts of
opportunities to remember the Katrina response...Even better, Bush is speaking
the first night.
Finally, McCain is a horrible speaker. Just tragic. There may be camera
angles that can hide the growth on his face (a result of his skin cancer), but
there is no camera angle that I am aware of that covers up grating diction and
shitty delivery.
Not to mention the drama if McCain picks a pro-choice VP candidate. As I see it, he better have an ace up his sleeve, because I don't think that the anti-choice, er, choices get it done. Mitt Romney combines economic experience and executive experience with repugnant ultra-partisanship and not even a veneer to hide his phoniness, and the lowest conceivable "regular Joe" factor imaginable. Tim Pawlenty is known for being governor of Minnesota when the bridge collapsed. Seriously. This is the one thing he's known for. It will be child's play to paint Pawlenty as an extremely right-wing Republican who would let bridges fall rather than fund them, and it would be exactly right. From what I've seen of Bobby Jindal and Sarah Palin they're just not ready for that yet. And they both have stories about them that could be used to define them in a negative fashion fairly easily (brother-in-law, exorcism).
