Sunday, September 14, 2008
Opinion
Sarah Palin: Four more years of Bush
In the space of 10 days, she's succeeded in distracting the entire country from the horrific George Bush record...
By Arianna Huffington
Her critics like to say that Sarah Palin, Republican John McCain’s running mate, hasn't accomplished anything. I disagree: In the space of 10 days, she's succeeded in distracting the entire country from the horrific George Bush record—and McCain's complicity in it.
John McCain—the current one, not the one who vanished eight years ago—has no major disagreements with George Bush (and I'm sorry, wanting to fire Donald Rumsfeld a bit sooner doesn't qualify) and wants to continue his incredibly unpopular policies for another four years. The solution? Enter Sarah Palin, a Trojan Moose carrying four more years of disaster.
And the plan has worked beautifully. Just look at what's being discussed just 50-plus days before the election. Is it the highest unemployment rate in five years? The bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? The suicide bombing in Iraq that killed six people and wounded 54—in the same market where last month a bomb killed 28 people and wounded 72? The fact that the political reconciliation that was supposedly the point of "the surge" is nowhere near happening? That Iraq's Shiite government is now rounding up the American-backed Sunni leaders of the Awakening? That 8,000 soldiers may be leaving Iraq soon so more can be deployed to Afghanistan, where the Taliban is steadily retaking the country?
No. We're talking about whether Sarah Palin was or was not a good mayor, whether she was or was not a good mother, whether her skirts are too short and her zingers too sarcastic.
Democrat Barack Obama needs to dramatically redirect this election back to a discussion of the issues that really matter—the issues that will impact the future of this country. The country is already angry about what's happened over the last seven-plus years—he shouldn't be afraid to give voice to that anger. Obama has spent years adopting a non-threatening persona; but he can't let his fear of appearing like an "angry black man" (a stereotype not-too-subtly fueled by Fox News) keep him from channeling the disgust and outrage felt by so many voters—swing and otherwise.
SP