Turn Left @ hypocrisy.com

Sarah Palin declared during her debate with Joe Biden that she was going to take her message directly to the American people. I’ve decided to do the same tonight. I’m not writing about John McCain in the third person. I’m taking my case directly to the Senator himself after watching the third and final debate.

Senator McCain, I’m here to tell you why you do not deserve to lead this nation. You are simply not worthy of the task. Now, of course, the Republican pundits have you winning the third and final debate. Unfortunately, the American people didn’t quite see it that way, and they are all that matters in the final analysis. While you were indeed more aggressive than Barack Obama last night, the fact is that you have no plans. All you do is keep repeating over and over that you are going to bring about change in Washington. What change? Where are your plans? Let’s hear some specifics. You seem to have picked up some of your running mate’s bad habits. Instead of answering the moderator’s questions, you talked around them. It’s a case of Creeping Palinitis. There is no cure for this short of transporting Sarah Palin back to Alaska and obscurity.

Now, let’s address this “Joe the Plumber” guy. It’s all a lie, Senator McCain. You invented him so that you could use him to make your point during the debate. I can never figure out how people like you think you won’t be found out. Today I decided to find out more about Joe the Plumber. I found that he is a registered Republican who just happens to think that Barack Obama is a Socialist. He is also the brother of Charles Keating’s son-in-law. He owes the government back taxes, and he doesn’t even have a plumber’s license. It’s pretty apparent that you are a fraud, Senator McCain. There’s no way to spin it.

There’s also that matter of how low your campaign has gone. Now, you said that there have been some attendees at Senator Obama’s rallys that have worn offensive T-shirts. Let’s talk about your crowd. They yell things like, “kill him,” “terrorist,” or “off with his head” when referring to Senator Obama. Your crowds, Senator McCain, call for blood. Your campaign is out of control, yet you lied during the debate and said you repudiated every attack on Barack Obama. You have not. In fact, you have participated. Today, the day after the debate, your campaign released a ‘robocall’ linking Obama to William Ayers, even after vowing to return to a respectful campaign. At least two of your supporters have spent a considerable amount of time linking Barack Obama to Osama bin Laden, even going to the extreme in suggesting that the campaign should waterboard Senator Obama. And a California group has released a racist, tasteless cartoon of Barack Obama on the face of a food stamp (as opposed to actual currency). Pictured with Obama is some watermelon, a carafe of Kool Aid, some barbecued ribs and a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken. Of course, the perpetrator insists she meant nothing racist by it. I believe she said, “It’s just food to me.” Right. Senator McCain, you are the commander of the ship. Therefore, you are fully responsible for spreading the fear that has dredged up the worst in our society. These people take their cue from nobody but you and your running mate.

Senator McCain, the lowlife campaign you have run in desperation for a win is quite convincing. It’s clear that you are not the right choice to lead this nation back to greatness.

*For those of you who do not know about the Keating Five, It’s unlikely that Senator McCain will fill you in. Please click here for details!

Last night’s debate is barely worth talking about. John McCain reprised his role as the seething old man with an unexplainable dislike for Barack Obama. It is so obvious now that it cannot be denied. Throughout the first debate, McCain refused to even look at Obama. Last night, McCain paced and seethed just under the skin every time Obama spoke. When he wanted to make a point, McCain would say (and I am paraphrasing a bit), ‘you know who voted for that legislation, this guy.’ McCain could not even say his name. You have to be wondering about McCain’s mental acuity at this stage of the game.  At this point, it’s hard to explain. It’s not based in any kind of rationality, but none of McCain’s campaign is either.

It was also pretty clear that McCain was much more aggressive and on the attack. As usual, he wasn’t direct. McCain leaves that to the pit bull with lipstick and her traveling side show. (To watch Palin’s base is truly something to behold. They truly are the Joe Six Packs she’s referring to.)  This perception about McCain, however, is not just mine alone. Many of the debate viewers felt the same. At this stage, McCain is no longer concerned with having character of any type. He’s fully invested in winning at any cost. The McCain-Palin ticket has committed to the final slap in the face of Americans. They aren’t going to even address the real issues facing America.  McCain and Palin are going to indulge in a smear campaign instead.

I urge you to visit this video. It was from about five months ago, before it was clear who was even going to be the Democratic nominee. In the video, McCain commits to no swiftboating or character attacks on national television. The interviewer is Chris Matthews and he is very clear about what he’s asking McCain to commit to. Well, here we are with McCain behind in the polls and he has already launched his swiftboat attack. Done deal. Now, he’s working on smearing Obama’s character by associating him with William Ayers. (By the way, in my next article we’re going to talk about McCain’s friendship with G. Gordon Liddy.) It is in this spirit that I link you all to the polls following last night’s debate.

Someone should tell John McCain that the American people want to talk about the economy, first and foremost. Like it or not. This election is about the American people, not John McCain. McCain’s present campaign strategy isn’t playing well in Peoria, as they say. John McCain’s seeming uncontrollable seething anger isn’t the type of personality that the American people want representing them. It does not put them in the comfort zone with the world in such a precarious situation. The people simply want more. They want something better than what he’s offering.

I blogged live on Twitter last night during the vice presidential debate. The consensus? Sarah Palin exceeded expectations, but that’s because she was allowed to run her own circus side show.  Sarah Palin didn’t answer any of the questions posed by Gwen Ifill. As for Gwen Ifill? Well, the big “to do” that the McCain camp made of her book on the history of black politicians (and her supposed preference for Barack Obama) certainly hampered her ability to moderate the debate. The McCain camp planned it that way. McCain insisted he didn’t know about the book until just days before the debate. This bolsters my belief that McCain and his staff spend most of their time under a rock because the book was announced in July and everybody else knew about it.  As a result, Ifill was clearly overly cautious about keeping Sarah Palin on topic.

On the first question of the evening, Ifill stated that neither candidate answered what was asked. That was the last time she noted that in spite of the fact that Sarah Palin followed her own agenda and responded to nothing that was asked. I certainly believe that there should be some flexibility in the debate to respond to issues raised and change the scope slightly to clarify positions. However, it was truly mind boggling because Sarah Palin was entirely in another place. In her mind, she was at a campaign rally talking to supporters. Palin came well prepped with a set of talking points and stuck to them like glue. She changed the very topics of the debate so that she could not fail and to make McCain look like the maverick that he really isn’t. How many times did you count the word maverick in her incoherent babble last night? She continued to portray herself as “Joe Six Pack” just like the American middle class, a portrait that some find offensive, by the way. Someone should tell Sarah Palin that not all middle class Americans are beer swilling hockey moms and dads. Someone should also tell her that she is not really a member of the middle class.

The Palins earned $230,000 in 2007, of which $125,000 was Palin’s income as Governor of Alaska. The figures do not include the $17,000 in per diem payments Palin received for 312 nights she spent in her own home since becoming governor, the $43,490 she received to cover travel costs for her family, or the $1,654 each member of the Palin family received in state oil royalties paid to all Alaskans. Census Bureau figures put the median Alaskan income at $64,333 a year, and the median American (non-Alaskan) income at $50,740. The Palin’s estimated net worth is listed at $1.2 million. They own a half million dollar home on a lake with a float plane at the dock and two vacation retreats. I don’t believe that most “middle class” Americans share that fortune. Do you? While this doesn’t come close to the McCain fortune, including 13 cars and 8 homes, the notion that either member of this regime will champion the middle class is hard to swallow.

Palin kept on with the “a change is coming” statement, but she never talked about what change was coming. She never once distinguished McCain-Palin from Bush-Cheney, and that’s because there really is no difference. There were no specifics about policies and plans. There were just broad talking points and she never veered from them. She repeated the same thing over and over. Palin did make one statement that showed how closely aligned Bush-Cheney and McCain-Palin are. Gwen Ifill correctly noted that Palin once stated that she didn’t exactly know what the vice president’s role was, so she asked the candidates how they would handle the role of the vice president if elected:

First came a lame joke, then Palin stated, “…Of course, we know what a vice president does. And that’s not only to preside over the Senate and will take that position very seriously also. I’m thankful the Constitution would allow a bit more authority given to the vice president if that vice president so chose to exert it in working with the Senate and making sure that we are supportive of the president’s policies and making sure too that our president understands what our strengths are…”

It is clear that, like her predecessor Dick Cheney, Palin favors expansion of the powers of the executive branch at her whim. She could care less about the Constitution. It is not the role of the Senate to provide blanket support of the president’s policies. It is the role of the Senate (and the House) to represent the American people in Washington, and to provide a voice for those who have no voice. Rather than differentiate the ticket from Bush-Cheney, she aligned the ticket with Bush-Cheney because that is exactly the way our elected representatives have been manipulated since the 9-11 terrorist attacks. Americans be warned. It’s the same old wine in a brand new bottle.

Finally, a comment about the notion that Sarah Palin successfully took her cause directly to the American people. I believe she took her cause successfully to her conservative base and to those who were in a panic over the uncertainty of her performance. There was a style of sorts, but I simply have a hard time seeing Sarah Palin as having “folksy charm.” In fact, I don’t find her charming at all. She winked into the camera more than once, which is obnoxious and condescending. When Biden spoke, there were times when she sometimes snickered and rolled her eyes. She played the “mom” card far too many times in her effort to attract women voters. When Biden finally spoke of the personal pain he suffered after losing his wife and daughter in an accident and then having to take care of two sons by himself, Palin showed not one ounce of empathy and offered no comfort. In fact, she smiled throughout the entire story and then simply went coldly back to her talking points when he was finished. It could be the basis for a new movie: The Stepford Wife Goes to Washington.

While Joe Biden isn’t the most exciting speaker, he is knowledgeable, understands the real issues facing Americans, and can think on his feet. He can respond to statements and challenges without reading canned notes or changing the subject. He has a mind and uses it. He was clearly focused on differentiating Barack Obama from John McCain and his policies. This is the kind of information Americans are looking for after eight years of Republican rule. What Sarah Palin did was successfully stop the bleeding. The McCain camp has no intention of allowing her to be interviewed one-on-one for the next 32 days. Prior to the debate, the McCain camp said she will hold one press conference, but I’m willing to bet that never happens. Now, the focus goes back to Obama and McCain.  After watching McCain self destruct over the past several weeks, I don’t think this bodes well for him.