Stealing from Democrats...Smearing Themselves

Republicans know good political strategy when they steal it... from themselves! I'm talking about messiah's, celebrities, family values, and job readiness, issues that Democrats have been hit pretty hard with this year. Eugene Robinson makes a timely point in today's WAPO editorial.

"Not that Barack Obama lacks a healthy opinion of himself, mind you. And no one wants the next president to be paralyzed with insecurity, or to doubt, even for a minute, that he's the right man for the job. But after ridiculing Obama as a preening celebrity, if not a self-proclaimed messiah, McCain is campaigning on a platform that can be summed up in three words: me, me, me."

McCain is electing himself. "Vote for ME! I'm not like those old Republicans. You know the ones we're running against in this election? I'm a maverick, I'm was a war hero, I'M the anointed one." As Robinson says:

"Much has been made of the fact that he's a Republican running on a pledge to clean up the intolerable, unforgivable mess created over the past eight years by a Republican president -- and, for much of that time, a Republican-controlled Congress in which McCain himself had great power and influence. It's amusing to listen to a man in his fourth term in the Senate (after two terms in the House) rail against evil "Washington," as if he weren't one of this modern-day Sodom's most prominent denizens."

Sarah Palin is the celebrity. She's fiesty and flashy, a dominatrix with as yet to be determined substance. She hasn't been tested in the national political cauldron, or perhaps she won't have to be tested, if, as Chucky Kraut says in his column this morning,

"...she too can neutralize unreadiness with star power.. "

There you have it! Ms. Palin can help McCain if she takes a page from Obama's playbook and uses her star power! It was Jon Stewart reflecting on the recent Olympic gymnastics competition, comparing it to the rhetorical acrobatics on display at the RNC that summed it up nicely...

"To see the Republican leadership and the contortions they are having to make with this Palin nomination, it's been fascinating to me."

Amusing.....

Seems that the Republicans are all for family values and identifying with the Soccer and Hockey Moms of the world until they are against it....

"Of course, Palin's handlers are being hypocritical: They want to focus on her family life and her identity as a hockey mom when doing so helps them and to push aside any story that mars this perfect picture. Conservatives are always against identity politics until they are for it."

Until she recently agreed to an interview with Charles Gibson, Palin hadn't been allowed to take ANY questions from the press ANYWHERE. Rick Davis said it was because of the lack of "respect and deference" to her as a woman and a politician. This of course is unprecedented in the world of presidential politics. As E.J. Dionne says in this morning's WAPO,

"Deference? That's a word used in monarchies or aristocracies. Democracies don't give "deference" to politicians. When have McCain, Obama, Biden or, for that matter, Hillary Clinton asked for deference?"

It seems that the Republicans are all for playing nice...except when they don't want to.

And finally: The Republicans are all over the Democrats for questioning Palin's readiness for the office of Veep and most importantly the Presidency. Seems that qualifications and experience aren't really all that important until they are. Again from Dionne:

"Nonetheless, what matters is not Palin's personal life but whether she is prepared to assume the presidency if called upon. The actions of McCain's lieutenants suggest that they know the answer. And they are doing everything they can to keep the media from finding it. "

Republicans can't help it. They are for family values, just don't ask and don't tell. They depend on the "Star Power" of their candidates, but will villify opponents for being "celebrities." They call Obama the "chosen one" yet their own candidate spends his entire stump speech anointing himself as "Messiah." They are proponents of change, just don't ask them to change anything. Hey at least THEY know what they're talking about..... Jason Jones:

"As we've learned this week, unlike Democrats, Republicans are patriotic, honest and decent."