Hurricane Gustav saves the Republican's convention!
September 2nd 2008 03:49
Hurricane Gustav did more than just wreak havoc on the Gulf Coast - it saved some major Republican embarrassment. September 1st was to be the day George Bush spoke at the convention, regulated to the opening day when he could potentially do less damage to the candidate. Instead of forcing John McCain to try to make his candidacy look less like a Bush third term, Bush gets to go to Texas and act like he actually gives a damn about common people in a storm.
This time, he is talking to emergency responders and pretending to feel something beyond contempt at the fact he was having to work a little. This time, you won't hear Barbara Bush talking about how good evacuees have it. This time, you won't hear anything about Brownie doing a "heckuva job." This time, every National Guard member available was on scene well in advance. This time, the people who want to convince you government can do no good will work very hard to ensure that it does.
What Gustav did for John McCain is allow him to change focus. Away from policies that more and more Americans are recognizing as not in their own interests. Away from politics of personal destruction to a temporary common threat. Instead of Bush speaking live at the convention, he will most likely speak via satellite about how good everything went thanks to him being a man of the people.
Cindy McCain got out of a pickle too. Instead of having to go up and be compared to Michelle Obama, she got to stand up with Laura Bush and talk about giving to those affected by Gustav. Instead of a story about a socialite beer heiress and how her husband is a "Maverick" we get a charity pitch.
Sure, now that Gustav has moved on and not been nearly as bad as it could have, the convention will resume. But not without dodging a bullet. The Republicans were going to have a hard time matching the flair and excitement of the week before. They faced the prospect of being in the shadow, even with the nomination of Sarah Palin. Now, they can parlay that nomination, with Gustav, into a much more favorable news cycle.
Still, they are going to have to present some actual proposals beyond "drill, drill" or "bomb, bomb," and anti-women and anti-gay rants. More Americans are paying attention this time, and less of them are going to fall for the obvious fear mongering. If America is to emerge from the cloud of conservatism, they must.
This time, he is talking to emergency responders and pretending to feel something beyond contempt at the fact he was having to work a little. This time, you won't hear Barbara Bush talking about how good evacuees have it. This time, you won't hear anything about Brownie doing a "heckuva job." This time, every National Guard member available was on scene well in advance. This time, the people who want to convince you government can do no good will work very hard to ensure that it does.
What Gustav did for John McCain is allow him to change focus. Away from policies that more and more Americans are recognizing as not in their own interests. Away from politics of personal destruction to a temporary common threat. Instead of Bush speaking live at the convention, he will most likely speak via satellite about how good everything went thanks to him being a man of the people.
Cindy McCain got out of a pickle too. Instead of having to go up and be compared to Michelle Obama, she got to stand up with Laura Bush and talk about giving to those affected by Gustav. Instead of a story about a socialite beer heiress and how her husband is a "Maverick" we get a charity pitch.
Sure, now that Gustav has moved on and not been nearly as bad as it could have, the convention will resume. But not without dodging a bullet. The Republicans were going to have a hard time matching the flair and excitement of the week before. They faced the prospect of being in the shadow, even with the nomination of Sarah Palin. Now, they can parlay that nomination, with Gustav, into a much more favorable news cycle.
Still, they are going to have to present some actual proposals beyond "drill, drill" or "bomb, bomb," and anti-women and anti-gay rants. More Americans are paying attention this time, and less of them are going to fall for the obvious fear mongering. If America is to emerge from the cloud of conservatism, they must.
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Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
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Comment by Jeff Musall
Secular Humanity
Comment by RubySoho
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Also Australian politics has been rather boring since the conservatives lost the last election.The new centrist govt isn't fucking up the country so I have nothing to criticise them for and hence my eyes turn to you.
Mind you, world news in Australia is actually world news, so we do kinda have an advantage when it comes to knowing what is happening in the rest of the world. That and I'm a blog addict.