the biden comments and more

~on~

so, as i was watching cnn last night, i was perplexed about what joe biden could possibly mean when he stated that obama would face an "international crisis" in the first six months. now, the basic principle of what he said seems to be correct. every president has faced some sort of crisis early in their first year. the manner in which he stated this view was, er, not so good. i grimaced because it's another talking point for the GOP and mccain/palin, and one that falls well within their purview - foreign affairs.

i like biden, so please do not misunderstand, but i do fail to see the point in broaching this subject in such a way with only two weeks until the election. in the politico arena, i think the view for why biden's comment is not a gaffe, per se, is clearly elucidated. perhaps, one of the better responses is from andrei cherny, where he points out that the essential political gaffe here is that biden told the truth. the implication the GOP is going to run with on biden's comment though is that obama will not be able to handle this international crisis, which is a patent absurdity, but one of the many absurdities that mccain/palin will be able to get to stick with some voters. whether the many undecided voters are influenced by such rhetoric is, in my opinion, uncertain, but it will definitely get the conservative base going (again).

on the subject of the vp candidates, the RNC announced yesterday that they have spent $150k on palin's outfits during the course of the campaign. the figures are since the end of august/beginning of september, which means they have spent about $2800/day on making palin look "acceptable" to the american public. i have a few issues on this point. first, mccain/palin are running on a platform of decreased spending and budget reform. yet, $2800 on clothes does not seem like anything near spending reform; in fact, i would call it wasteful. when asked to comment, an RNC representative stated:

"With all of the important issues facing the country right now, it’s remarkable that we’re spending time talking about pantsuits and blouses," said spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt. "It was always the intent that the clothing go to a charitable purpose after the campaign."

tracey, in case you have been living in a fucking bubble, one of the issues facing the country right now is how we spend our money.

my other issue with this is more along the lines of having my curiosity piqued. palin is only the second woman to be attached to a major party presidential ticket, and one thing (you can look to hillary clinton on this, too) is that the way women appear to the country is very important. there are certain do's and don'ts, which have often (perhaps until palin) tended to emphasis a lack of femininity. so, i wonder what the calculated image for palin is. they have definitely emphasized her femininity, but to what extent? she dresses powerfully, and has apparently been a topic in fashion magazines, but do "soccer moms" shop at saks fifth avenue and neiman marcus? most, i suspect, shop at the perennial middle-class favorites: walmart, target, kohls, and penny's. the image discrepancy is obvious, but i think it still begs the question: how are the republicans trying to make her appear to the public? what is the ur-presidential woman in the republican model?

also, with 13 days to go, the polls seem to suggest that despite the pundits' views that the polls had been tightening, they are actually widening. RCP's national poll average now shows obama 50.6/mccain 43.0, which amounts to one of the bigger leads obama has had in the poll averages. as david gergen (one of my favorites) stated last night on AC360, "the big story tonight is that after 2-3 days in a row of talking about tightening polls, they're now widening." whatever momentum mccain gained out of the last debate appears to have dissipated, and he now relies on changing pennsylvania red, where according to poll averages, obama has an 11.4 point lead. though obama's support has, in fact diminished slightly in PA over the last week, mccain has not gained anything. until mccain starts showing a significant (or any gain) in PA, i don't think it's in any danger of being turned red.

~off, and back to the underground.