Can Palin-Mania Become a Negative for McCain?
For years, my household has forgone subscribing to cable and satellite television. Although we have televisions in our home for watching DVDs and playing games, we will not subscribe to cable or satellite service. Even our rabbit ears stay in the storage closet. Sometimes--such as when we were forced to watch the Palin and McCain speeches on CNN.com streaming video--the temptation arises to cave in and let the wave of confused values wash over our little family.
Then comes a moment such as the rant of a self-appointed "representative of the global community", British heroin, sex, alcohol and attention addict, Russell Brand, this year's host of MTV's Video Music Awards. While he may have been chosen to make Britney Spears, in her re-debut, seem cultured and stable, I believe he was sent to give me strength and reaffirm the decision to keep the mainstream video media out of my family's home.
Brand's grand pique (or was it really a grand mal?) was to suggest that opposition to an Obama presidency is motivated by racism.
We can't really blame Brand for not recognizing the arrogance and hypocrisy of coming to America and insinuating that not voting for Obama is tantamount to racism. His drug-addled mind should not be held to the same standards of lucidity as the rest of us.
Let's ignore, of course, the fact that the alleged enlightened nations of Northern and Western Europe (that includes the blessed United Kingdom, Mr. Brand), have yet to elect anyone of color to their highest office or even anyone who wouldn't require SPF 2000 to sustain a moment in the sun. I'll ignore this glaring oversight because none of us need be worried about Mr. Brand being instrumental in sending any voters to the polls who might vote for Obama.
Everyone is aware of the inverse rule of political action when it comes to the 18-25 crowd. The louder and meaner the mockery becomes, the greater the probability of that person hitting the snooze button on November 4th instead of rising early to get to the polls.
Forget about the Hurricane Sarah bump in the polls, or the convention bump, I will be looking for a "Brand bump" in recoil from the lunacy of Brand's rambling endorsement of Obama and childish attacks on Governor Sarah Palin. Nothing mobilizes a parent like the reality of a Pied Piper is lusting after their child's soul. When a candidate like Obama does not adequately distance himself from voices such as Brand he fails to lead but he also passively endorses the ideas Brand spews forth.
Americans have always been the world's last and best guardians of common sense. Surely, on the fringes--where Brand bounces and jangles like a court jester--the lunacy will always seem reasonable. But at the end of the day, when Hollywood and the left play the fool it reminds the greater population their values and mobilizes them to react against things that threaten those values.
Where are the "new politics" Obama has promised? Brand's comments are just part of the crescendo in a flurry of attacks against Sarah Palin, her family, people who identify with Sarah Palin, or people who believe that simply being black isn't a reason to give a candidate their vote.
Obama might earn some respect from the electorate if he at least attempted to lead the younger generation (and the older generations, for that matter) into a more evolved notion of the responsibilities of citizenship. Perhaps he will become our president, but he will never be a leader until he learns how to step into the breach and promote the values of common sense that have made America great.
Thus far he has been a spectator in the great circus of chaos that has been the Democratic Party since the post-Carter schism, and this Brand spectacle is just one example. Another was Code Pink's disruption of McCain's acceptance speech (not that it hurt the ratings), and we again saw that Obama has no control over his own followers. When he requests civility, Code Pink ignores him. When he sends the clear message that he will not tolerate personal attacks on Palin or her family, his campaign and associated mouthpieces push forward and conduct a campaign of smearing her and her family. How can Obama unite a country that is divided by harsh rhetoric when he can not even convince the far fringes of his party to act their age and play nice?
(There is also some reason to believe that his campaign has actively begun a media push to accentuate Obama's clean family image as a contrast to the perception being created in the media that Palin's family is not perfect. The Obama campaign almost certainly had input on the glowing portrayal of the clean, happy Obama family on OK Magazine's cover that sits directly beside the notorious US Weekly Palin hit piece at most grocery checkouts.)
Voters do not need to wait for Obama to show leadership. He has had ample opportunity since the beginning of this, the longest election period in American history. We only need to look at the lack of respect he receives from those who support his candidacy. The "Recreate '68" and MoveOn.org crowd has a greater hold over the liberal mind than their candidate for president. Alas, we all hoped that age would mature the activist fervor that plagues the Democratic Party so that our nation could get around to solving some of the major issues we face.
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