Lev Lafayette's journal

This is the problem with Democrats: They assume too much. In this case, they're assuming that McCain's choice of Palin for VP is so transparent and opportunistic that no one is going to fall for it, that her corruption charges will surface and bite her in the ass, and that her anti-choice stance won't win over disgruntled Hillaryites and women. In other words, they assume the rest of America thinks just like them, when it does not. McCain made his choice knowing that:

-the media will not give proper coverage to the pending charges. Instead it will focus on her love of mooseburgers, guns, and hockey mom status...all things which work in their favor.

-Many people--in fact, quite a lot of people--don't vote based on issues. This includes those Hillary voters who voted for her simply based on her genitalia, or voted against Obama because he's black, or those who voted for her one of many other irrational reasons and now resent Obama, despite the fact that they were basically in agreement 90% of the time.

-Most Americans probably don't even know what the function of a VP actually is (to break ties in the Senate and take over should anything happen to the president..you probably know that already since you seem smart). This also explains why the angry Clinton voters are so foolish: They don't seem to realize that the VP actually doesn't have a lot of responsibilities, and that Obama is likely going to give Clinton a spot in his cabinet so she can continue her work on healthcare reform. We can partly blame Bush and Cheney for this misinformation, as Bush has given Cheney an inordinate amount of control over the past four years to mask (or perhaps emphasize) his own incompetence.

-While more Americans might be pro-choice (to some degree), those who are pro-life tend to be much louder and more obnoxious. Unfortunately those who are pro-choice just aren't as motivated. And as I said before, it's a far cry to even say that people vote on the issues.

-McCain was never really popular with the religious whackjobs who form the base of the Republican party. She is just the kind of nutter that they will flock to.

Historically, VP's have little to no influence on the final outcome, but this year is unique for many reasons, so we can't base what happens now on previous experience.

As a disclaimer, I am generally a pessimist when it comes to American politics, but my reasons for being this way are very real and very legitimate. My feeling is that if Sarah Palin has any effect, McCain will win. If not, it's still a tossup. I am not even much of an Obamaphile. He's far too moderate for my taste and like all US presidential candidates, is likely to be an egomaniac. But even then, I feel that he is too good for America. America deserved eight years of Bush, and it deserves at least four more years of Bush.

Which is why I am trying desperately to get the hell out of here. Might sound melodramatic and emotional, but it is what it is.