McCain surrenders once again, GOP throwing in the towel on 2008

Well, it had to happen sooner or later, I suppose.  The GOP has been an ailing, flailing, wounded duck since 2006, and with the planets and stars all aligning for the DNC in 2008, there seemed little, if anything, that the hapless, corrupt, shattered party once called "the republican party" to do. 

In fact, in recent months, they've been reduced to chanting nothing but absurd ad hominim attacks against the democrat's presumptive presidential candidate, Barak Obama.  "He's Muslim"..."He's got a funny name"..."He's not one of us"..."He's the most liberal senator"..."He went to school at a terrorist training camp"..."His father was a terrorist"..."his minister is a terrorist"..."his friends are all terrorists"..."he's too inexperienced," and, after he selected a 36 year veteran of congress as his running mate, "Biden is too experienced"...and on, and on and on. 

The critical point for the hapless, rudderless, ethically and factually challenged McCain was to stay completely clear of all issues, at any and all costs.  Up until this week, the strategy seemed to be working...Obama's numbers nudged down slightly, and McCain's nudged slightly upward, even though he's yet to clearly illustrate a single substantive discussion of any important issue of the day. 

While Obama's critics had railed him for being all about emotion, and lacking specifics about his agenda, it was impossible to ignore that McCain has only been about negative, dishonest, hypocritical smear attacks, with zero specifics of his own agenda. 

Well, last night, the democratic contender not only made history, and did so on the 45th anniversary of another critical, emotionally charged moment in US history, the "I have a dream" speech of MLK (ironically, McCain stood firmly in opposition to setting aside a day to honor MLK with a national holiday...that is, he was opposed to it, until it became politically expediant for him to be FOR it, of course!), but in the process, he eviscerated the very weak GOP candidate with virtually every word delivered. 

Beyond the brilliant speech and delivery, the pageantry of this convention, from the moment it opened, was simply spectacular, in every way.  This will be extremely difficult to match, let alone top. 

And, to make matters even WORSE for the GOP, it appears that God is no longer a republiCON, either.  In spite of some rightwing loonie toon's prayers to deliver poor weather to Denver last evening, the weather was virtually spot perfect for the event, and it appears that God is aiming a major hurricane, not at the democrats, but instead, directly at the GOP. 

As if the republiCONs don't already have enough stacked against them this election year, now they've got to battle God as well.  It's perfectly fitting, is it not?  The party that has abused religion and bastardized the Christian faith for political gain over the past several years is finally getting its due. 

There's even talk now of postponing the GOP convention, so that it doesn't take place during what may well be a catastrophic reminder of the republiCON failure of governance during the Katrina disaster.  What more definitive sign could there be that God is NOT voting republiCON this year? 

But, I digress...

The point of my article is to address McCain's incredibly lame apparent VP choice.  Don't get me wrong...all of the choices this year were pathetic beyond words, but this bizarre selection of a woman that virtually NOBODY has ever heard of, from a state that doesn't have any chance of swaying other states to McCain signals to me an all-out surrender on the part of McCain and the GOP.  After witnessing the incredible DNC convention, and especially one of the most important and brilliant political speeches in history, it appears that the GOP has just flat out given up. 

Who could blame them?  Honestly, watching McCain flip flop like a carp on the dock, hearing his endless outright lies, watching him display a complete lack of understanding of economics and geopolitics, seeing his utter lack of a credible and worthy agenda, and his inexplicible passion to link himself directly and inseparably with the worst president in US history, has been nothing short of incredibly painful for anyone to watch, but most certainly for republicans to watch.  It's no surprise that so few republicans actually like him.  He's pathetic.

Sarah WHO?  Seriously.  Granted, she's a fetching woman, at least in appearance, but who in their right mind is going to pretend that she's ready to assume the CIC role?  Isn't that the first qualification of a VP selection?  That he/she be fully up to the job of the presidency, since that's who would step in, if the need arose?  And, given McCain's rather shaky health and lofty age, it seems entirely possible that, sometime in an assumed McCain term, the VP may WELL have to step in. 

So, does he choose someone that nobody would question as a potential CIC?  Does he choose any of the other GOP primary contenders even?  Does he at least choose someone who anybody knows?  Nope.  He chooses an unknown, virtually unproven young governor from a state that nobody really pays much attention to.  This is the equivalent of political suicide, imo. 

In fact, about the only thing that I can think of offhand, that McCain could do to more significantly damage his chances of even making this a competitive race, would be to be caught on camera hugging bush like a little child or something...wait, I guess he's already done that, hasn't he?  Suffice to say, this selection is NOT going to help his chances, imo. 

Not only does it once again raise questions about his already questionable judgement, not only does it negate the ONLY talking point that they had about Obama, but it also raises the spectre of his illicit, adultrous affair and subsequent marriage to a woman nearly 20 years his junior, after divorcing his first wife. 

For these reasons and more, it is my opinion that this very odd VP selection signifies the official white flag of surrender for the GOP.  I commend him choosing a woman, even though it is clearly an overt, cheap attempt to gather votes from former Hillarybots.  Nonetheless, it does truly magnify the significant changes that election 2008 brings to America.  Ultimately, changes for the better, no doubt.

 Thoughts? 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080829/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_veepstakes