On McCain

Wow, I am really shocked, and almost appalled at McCain. I didn't see this pick coming at all.

Is this a desperate attempt by McCain to show he is still a maverick? No, I really don't think so.

Having the party's support firmly in place, except by those who are closer to the middle or independents, etc -- people not die hard right wingers -- this pick actually makes no sense. Palin herself is a very conservative Republican, from the reddest of (I shudder to say, for I hate the term) red states.

Superficially, and I suppose only time will help me see further, for I really see nothing else in this pick, it seems like a desperate attempt to take the PUMA votes. (For those who don't know, PUMA stands for Party Unity My Ass, and is made up of Hilary's most devout supporters).

On the one hand, I see this maybe working. The generation of feminists that Hilary belonged to, and that makes up the majority of PUMA may appear to want a woman in charge at all costs, at least much more than I can see a black man voting for Obama because he himself (or herself, to be fucking politically correct) is black.

On the other hand, the larger one, the dominant one, I really do not see this plan working. To keep with the Obama vote comparison, I think it could compare to, though not as strongly, Having Alan Keyes or Justice Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court being selected to have some major role on the party ticket. Demographically, and purely demographically, the glove fits. However, these men I suppose could be bloodstained with the ideals that do not fit said demographic. In other words, the glove does not fit, but it might, might, stretch.

McCain is getting too old. Party politics have left him a beaten man, and frankly I do not want a beaten man as President. If this were the McCain of 2000, I probably would've, me perhaps being the right age, voted for him in a heartbeat over Gore. He has changed drastically since then, and moreso appears to be the man involved in the savings and loan scandal of the late 80's than the man who voted alone and wrote legislation across the aisle.

2004 has taught me never to vote for someone to vote against them, so I will not vote for Obama to vote for against McCain. The one caveat to me doing that would be Pennsylvania being in dire, dire trouble of losing to McCain.

It is up to Obama to give me a reason to vote for him, and so far most of what I have to go on is Biden. I am not yet set, and am still searching for third party candidates. I prefer to vote for people rather than policies, and I want to see that Obama is more than a product of the Chicago democratic political machine before I cast my vote for him.

VP's in this election may be more important than ever, as I believe there is a strong possibility neither candidate may be able to finish his first term -- McCain due to age, Obama due to threats from anti-black hate groups (yes, they still exist in America, there was in fact even a half-assed attempt on his life in Denver). So what it tells me when McCain picks Palin to be his veep is that McCain really doesn't know what he's doing anymore.