Palin in the Face - The Long-Awaited Death of the G.O.P.

Boy Oh Boy.

As Sarah Palin prepares to speak at the RNC tonight, and as millions of people prepare to tune in an judge her, we are confronted with an appalling reality. Not since the selection of Dan Quayle as Bush 41's running mate have we seen such a bizzare twist of events, and not since Monica Lewinsky have we seen so much attention paid to the personal escapades of a political figure or his or her relatives. Such is the dirty game of politics.

So who is Sarah Palin?

The question of the hour, it seems. Why, in his wildest dreams, would John McCain have passed up Mitt Romney, who seems like the only viable candidate for a campaign that is mired in the filth of a dirty election, the legacy of an unpopular president, and the stigma of an elderly candidate? Despite what may be said about Gov. Palin herself, the move is at best reactionary, at worst desperate.

If the selection of Palin is meant to curry favor with supporters of HIlary Clinton, then the McCain camp failed to realize that her proponents were so staunchly loyal that they took great offense at the prospect of throwing support behind her party's own candidate. What makes them think they will be ready and willing to defect to a campaign that throws her most important issues under the bus? While Palin's appointment to the ticket was certainly aimed at quieting the anti-choice cohort, it appears as if the McCain campaign forgot that abortion rights are one of Senator Clinton's biggest issues, alongside healthcare reform and equal pay for equal work. As much as Clinton supporters can be said to represent perhaps the most annoying, aggressive, and abrasive contingents in the history of American politics, they are not stupid. They understand that the Republican party will stop at nothing to curry favor amongst the very populace they love to exploit. They understand pandering tactics when they see them, and they understand that Gov. Palin's nomination represents an attempt to categorically qualify all women as a single demographic. I have faith that they will reject this debasing and sexist assumption on the part of the McCain campaign.

Putting aside her gender, Gov. Palin's selection could be explained as a move to satisfy the social conservatives who so emphatically rejected the nomination of Tom Ridge (R-NJ) or Joe Lieberman (R - Conn.), the two figures it is widely reported were Senator McCain's first choices. And yet her limited track record and skimpy political resume make it uncertain what she would do if pressed into duty. The recent revelations about her family's personal life, including the completely botched handling of daughter Bristol's pregnancy, will call her conservative values further into question, even if we agree that such matters are of a baser nature that ought not to be considered. This is the American political machine, however, and if the McCain camp is going to use negative ads and Karl Rove -style tactics, it should expect nothing less of its opponents. Had the GOP nominee caught wind of an unfaithful Obama, there is no doubt that its subversive hit men would have staged nothing less than a complete character assassination before the verdict of truth could even begin to be examined. While some conservatives, particularly in the South, will be drawn to Gov. Palin's story and that of her daughter, there are opinions floating in the dark somewhere, being whispered in back rooms and private parlors. I suspect they will take on the same grotesque nature as the unmentionable but tangibly present characterizations about Barack Obama that go on behind closed doors. And in the voting booth, there are no censors, no politically correct gauges, no collective shame.

The third argument for Gov. Palin centers around her supposed reputation as a reformer, an agent of change. The party line paints a picture of a superstar mom who conquered the PTA en route to a fiery and aggressive mayoral stint that changed the nature of her hometown's politics. Once becoming governor, she pursued a reformist agenda that put Alaska back into the hands of its citizens and beyond the behest of special interests that sought to exploit it. Very convincing rhetoric. Really good stuff. Yet the McCain campaign managers didn't have the benefit of time in the task of preparing their remarks, and the media has punched a number of holes in this oh-so-appealing facade. Palin was once part of a movement to force a vote on Alaska's secession from the union. She was a key player in the Bridge-to-Nowhere debacle that saw Alaska's resources become a bargaining chip for corporate interests. She has repeatedly played to the whims of Big Oil, and is an avid proponent of drilling in the Alaskan wilderness, even as the arctic ice shelf disappears on a new daily basis (News today shows an alarmingly large portion of the ice sheet has broken into the Arctic sea, a trend that not only confirms global warming but has the potential to accelerate it. Gov. Palin has said that "the jury is still out" on climate change). While these allegations don't necessarily mean that Palin isn't a reformer (she certainly is a "Washington outsider), it does cast a strange light on this year's Republican ticket, a ticket that is, in a word, fuckin' confusing.

What is this ticket? What does it represent? Experience, or New Blood? Is it Women's Rights, or Pro-Life? Is it for Tradition, or for Change? The choice of Palin as VP was a calculated gamble - and it has failed. What's left is a Party divided that doesn't know what it stands for, has no idea what it wants to be, and can't find an issue to stand on. A geriatric candidate and an unqualified vice-president seem to have little chance against the most impressive grassroots organizing machine ever seen. We have heard little if anything from the Obama camp since the announcement of Palin's nomination, and the silence is no mistake. Barack is hard at work on the campaign trail in Ohio, courting voters on a one to one basis, listening to the working people who the Republican party is targeting. But the G.O.P. is living up to only to the last two letters of its acronym, and have outed themselves as severely out of touch with what the nation wants. There is no time in 2008 to fuddle with political gimicks and radical gambles. The democratic party has presented a candidate who is viable, eloquent, and prepared. He has delivered a consistent and comprehensive message that appeals to voters of all ages, classes, and genders. We have seen the face of a candidate and a campaign that is organized, directed, and thoughtful. We have seen the rebirth of a politics that shuns the character assassinations, mudslinging, and interest lobbying of the recent past. We have seen a candidate with the ability to lead a new American into a new century - a century that will be defined by our collective integrity and conviction and marked by the unusual American capacity for innovation and evolution. No matter what Sarah Palin says tonight, she has been dragged onto a sinking boat - and brought with her some seriously heavy baggage.

If the RNC has seemed to you like a sideshow, you are not alone. A flat crowd, a slew of white, wrinkled faces, and a complete disregard for the issues at hand. The G.O.P. is crumbling before us, victim of an uncertain strategy, an unspectacular candidate, and a frightening adherence to the politics of the past. Like a washed up prize fighter struggling to his feet, the Republican Party is calling on the ghost of Reagan to win it one last fight - but this time it's too late. The inbred swine have failed to realize the folly of their ways, and they will sit be sitting at their television sets on November 8th with their bottles of swill when the new dawn shines on an America represented by hard work and integrity that is healthy, smart, and sustainable.

So enjoy your sideshow, G.O.P. - but the real deal is here to stay.