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Obama needs to give his speechwriter a raise, and other election thoughts
I have held my tongue about politics all year, so now that results are coming in, I’m going to spout off.
So we all know where I stand, let me put it out there for the record: I’m an Indepublicrat. I’m liberal on some major issues, conservative on others, conflicted on others, and sometimes change my mind. I’m no party robot. Both major presidential candidates have views I support. Both scared me just a little with their platform. I am not going to say how I voted. I am neither despondent nor ecstatic when it comes to a Democrat being in office. Outside all party lines, however, I am very pleased the the U.S. has elected an African American. It was time and more than time.
But at nearly 1 a.m., I am sitting here waiting for results from Alaska. Say what? Who cares about Alaska? It has three electoral votes and always votes Republican. Neither candidate ever goes up there, not even the Republican candidate in a “thanks for your support” kind of way. In fact, the TV station just announced Alaska for McCain, and the reporter couldn’t figure out what to say about it. I paraphrase: “Alaska goes to McCain. That’s, uh, three votes. It doesn’t really matter much.”
No, if you’re watching Alaska, you’re watching it to see what happens in the Stevens vs. Begich campaign for Senate. Stevens, as you should know, was recently found guilty on seven counts of ethics violations. And he is, right now, winning his race at 49-46%. How does that happen? I think it’s difficult to comprehend the loyalty Alaska has for Stevens. I also think that, to an extent, Stevens is getting votes by Republicans in an attempt to secure the possibility of a run-off election. If Republicans do not vote for Stevens, and the Democrat secures the seat, that seat is lost. If they vote for Stevens—even if they think he should step down—and he ends up being forced to step down (a certainty, unless he wins his appeal), the Republicans have a chance to keep that seat in the resulting run-off election. So votes for Stevens may not be votes for Stevens, per se. They may be strategic votes aimed at maintaining party control of the Senate seat.
You know what would be fascinating? If Stevens wins the elections, is forced to resign, and then Palin runs against Begich. The media likes to talk about Palin in 2012, and one of the biggest complaints about Palin is her lack of experience. This scenario would give Palin that experience. I would not be surprised to see that scenario play out. And although I believe Begich has been one of the strongest threats to Stevens in recent years, I am not sure that he could pull off a run-off election against Palin—any other candidate, and Begich would have it wrapped up, but Palin will have the aura of the VP nomination behind her, as well as a state that heavily trends Republican and is going to be very, very nervous about the Democratic sweep. I mean, right now Begich is losing to a man who was found guilty of seven felonies, whether because support for Stevens is just that strong, or Republicans are just that intent on maintaining the seat for their party.
It’s fascinating.
On a related note: Obama needs to give his speech writer a raise. I haven’t paid much attention to the speeches during this whole campaign process, but I did listen to his acceptance speech. His speech writer is very, very good. I’m excited about this. I hated Bush’s speech writer. Their (ab)use of rhetoric grated on me like fingers on a chalkboard. Obama’s speechwriter, however, plays rhetoric like a finely tuned instrument. This, people, is wordsmithing. Whether you like what he’s saying or not, realize that this stuff is crafted within an inch of its life.
Of course, it helps that Obama has much better delivery and stage presence than Bush. But still—well done, speech writer.
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