"New And Improved!" - "You Can Win Big!" - "Now Without Rat Feces!" - And Other Gimmicks

Among many others, there are two significant lessons that have occurred to me, to be learned from the Palin pick.

The first is that the Republican Party now considers the Federal government and the governing of our country to be of little more importance than a game show. The choice of McCain - and McCain's choice of Palin - both demonstrate a lack of good judgment, and the complete refusal by the Republican Party, politicians involved in the Republican Party, and rank and file Republican voters, to take the governing of our country seriously. To Republicans, it is little more than a joke, and is useful only as a vehicle to personal enrichment. Their approach to the serious business of governing is tantamount to gimmicky advertising slogans - a whole lot of flash, very little substance.

The second concerns Palin herself, and rather confirms the first lesson. Without doubt, Sarah Palin must know she is unqualified to be VP, let alone President. The fact that she accepted the position from McCain wholly demonstrates who she is, and what she stands for. The fact that she would place herself in this position, without stating the obvious fact that there are others imminently more qualified for the job than she, tells us that she is not a serious minded person, which further disqualifies her for the job. Historically, Vice Presidents have been strong leaders in their own right (except a few, like Quayle), and while many performed their jobs without distinction, at least eight of them came forward and led the nation competently after their President died.

I intend to point these lessons out, given the opportunity, to every Republican I encounter. I will tell them that Democrats, take the job of governing seriously. I will tell them they have only to look at their own nominees, to see the difference. How many Nobel laureates do the Republicans have? How many serious minded people do Republicans actually have looking after the serious issues of our world?

Judging from recent events - not many. Not many at all. So don't forget - "If you vote Republican, YOU could WIN BIG!!!!!!" Ding ding ding ding ding ding!!!!!!!

evident with this VP pick. They're basically saying that a ham sandwich can be President, and daring the American people to out themselves as being as stupid as the GOP thinks they are by voting for the old man and the ham sandwich.

(Disclaimer: This is a broad-brush, step back and look at the long view kind of opinion, so, please don't attack on details. I do not mean to deal with details, here.)

Obama doesn't look like your typical presidential candidate. We've chosen him on substance: Harvard PHD, and impressive, solid, understated performance in the senate, with the Chicago grass roots background. Scrappy. Get it done earthiness. Not selected on image, but substance. Same with Biden, more or less. (Like I said, long view, not details.)

So, boiling it down, the Dem pick is function over fashion. (Being simplistic on purpose, here!)

If you can just go along with that kind of thinking for 20 seconds, what does that say about the GOP?

Did they choose McCain and Palin for their incredible educational credentials? Foreign policy experience/knowledge/skill? If we boil down their substance we get a senile, flip-flopping Bush party hack, and a pretty cream puff. The GOP electorate was so embarassed by their initial choices, that they went with the McCain tough-guy image, regardless of the lack of substance behind him. Lousy student, pilot, legislator. But his image, in the minds of the voters, comforted them. And it's obvious that Palin is nothing but image.

So, I think american voters are going to size this entire year up as this:

Dems: Serious.
GOP: Comic relief.

Now, I know that many americans can't or won't go beyond image, and so the GOP may be deliberately going for the Forest Gump ticket. Benny Hill had a nice, long run, after all.

But these days, with the economy in the toilet and everyone's job at risk and all prices soaring, people are looking for the reasons. The learning curve is improving. I think the last week of talk shows proves that americans as a group are looking for more substance as their financial security is threatened.

And I think they're re-evaluating their previous attachment to the GOP as the serious, military, tough, bottom line party.

I think the GOP is now fluff.

But I fear the learning curve may be a bit steeper than anticipated, given crap like this:

I don't know if I should laugh, or hurl...