Context for Journal Entries: I'm in the process of compiling all the columns/articles written by "conservatives" either (a) against McCain/Palin, or (b) for Obama/Biden. Yes, I know that many are frequently posted in the Editorials or Other Articles. However, they're always mixed in with the many articles on other topics and I, personally want a "set" all in one place, for easy reference when discussing issues with conservatives. So, I'm posting them in my journal. America not quite at its best; The election has taken a nasty turn. This is mainly the Republicans’ fault Editorial, The Economist, Sept. 18, 2008 Print EditionAS RECENTLY as a few months ago, it seemed possible to hope that this year’s presidential election would be a civilised affair. Barack Obama and John McCain both represent much that is best about their respective parties. ..... An intelligent debate about issues of the utmost importance—how America should rebuild its standing in the world, how more Americans could share in the proceeds of growth—seemed an attainable proposition.
It doesn’t seem so now. In the past two weeks, while banks have tottered and markets reeled, the contending Democrats and Republicans have squabbled and lied rather than debated. Mr McCain’s team has been nastier, accusing Mr Obama of sexism for calling the Republican vice-presidential candidate a pig, when he clearly did no such thing. Much nastier has been the assertion that Mr Obama once backed a bill that would give kindergarten children comprehensive sex education. Again, this was a distortion: the bill Mr Obama backed provided for age-appropriate sex education, and was intended to protect children from sex offenders.
These kinds of slurs seem much more personal, and therefore unpleasant, than the more routine distortions seen on both sides. ....
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The decision to play this election, like that of 2004, as a fresh instalment of the culture wars is disappointing to those who thought Mr McCain was more principled than that. By choosing Sarah Palin as his running-mate he made a cynical tryst with a party base that he has never much liked and that has never much liked him. Mr McCain’s whole candidacy rests on his assertion that these are perilous times that require a strong and experienced commander-in-chief; but he has chosen, as the person who may be a 72-year-old heartbeat away from the presidency, someone who demonstrably knows very little about international affairs or the economy.
What Mrs Palin does do, as a committed pro-lifer, is to ensure that the evangelical wing of the Republican party will turn out in their multitudes. Mr McCain has thus placed abortion, the most divisive cultural issue in America, at the centre of his campaign. His defenders claim that it is too big an issue to be ignored, that he has always opposed abortion, that culture wars are an inevitable part of American elections, and that it was only when he appointed Mrs Palin that the American public started to listen to him. All this is true: but the old Mr McCain, who derided the religious right as “agents of intolerance”, would not have stooped to that.
Per other DU-ers' requests, I'm cross-posting links to these articles in the Research Forum: Conservatives Against McCain/Palin and Conservatives For Obama/Biden.
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