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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2008 > September > 03 > Entry
Conventional Observations
You’re in good company:
Know where John McCain and Barack Obama were during the Republican convention, at least at first? Right: In Ohio.
Not your average Joe:
I’ve always liked Joe Lieberman. Thoughtful, independent, skeptical of the dogma enforcers among the Democrats, usually pretty close to right. For my money, he lived up to this billing for much of his pro-McCain speech at the convention.
Moreover, his denunciation of mindless, hard-core partisanship was more creditable, more meaningful than most, because he was risking his Senate committee chairmanship by ticking off the Democrats.
He was OK until he got to the subject of the vice presidency.
He needn’t have gotten to that subject, at all. Could have skipped right over it. But, no, he had to insist that Sarah Palin was a great addition to the ticket.
This is just partisanship in another form. If partisanship is “my party, right or wrong,” he was living “my candidate, right or wrong.” All of a sudden, he finds himself spinning, denying the obvious, all in the name of political loyalty. That’s where partisanship starts.
Norman Ornstein, a respected, genuinely nonpartisan political analyst at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said, “He’s just got to be churning inside about Palin. … Lieberman has said this is all about the transcendental threat of Islamic fundamentalist, transatlantic terrorism. And here’s this pick who is not ready on Day 1, 2 or 100.”
In one form, nonpartisanship is about the “straight talk” John McCain once espoused. It’s about calling them as one sees them, following the truth wherever it goes. But that is not the form Lieberman was deploying.
Also on this nonpartisan thing:
If McCain wants to be an antidote to berserk partisanship, the Palin selection isn’t helping. It is sending the most partisan forces in the Republican coalition into paroxysms of martyrdom. They are battening down the hatches and entering an us-against-them mode. They are telling their audience that Palin’s critics don’t like her because she’s a conservative. We have to embrace her because she’s one of us. The merits be damned. (They don’t say that last part, but they might as well.)
So much for the concern that conservatives wouldn’t be energized in behalf of McCain. The Palin selection might not have done it. The fight over her is doing it.
It’s the media’s fault:
Part of the pro-Palin effort is a bash-the-media thrust. The Democrats “and their friends in the media,” said Fred Thompson. Never mind that John McCain has always been a favorite of the press corps. (In fact, Republican conservatives have often accused him of playing to the media, instead of to them). It’ll be interesting to see how much he joins in this.
Many of the complaints about media coverage have to do with the pursuit of stories about her personal life, her background and her family life. Truth is, media people needn’t be partisans to lust after stuff like that.
Slip of the tongue:
Did anybody else hear Jo Ann Davidson, the former speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives (who now has a high position with the national party), say in a speech “Sarah Pawlenty”?
(Though he may be forgotten now, Tim Pawlenty, of Minnesota, is a slightly less obscure governor who was considered for the No. 2 spot.)
Ready for his close-up:
Television cameras have shown close-ups of Dayton-area personalities Jon Husted and Kevin DeWine on the convention floor. In fact, Husted keeps showing up. One night, at least, he seemed to have a close-in seat, from which he had to crane his neck to see the speaker. The shot of him doing so suggested a very young idealist who’s a bit awestruck by the whole thing. You have to wonder if the camera operator knew he’s the speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives.
Permalink | Comments (8) | Post your comment | Categories: National politics
Comments
By Jim
September 4, 2008 2:00 AM | Link to this
The selection of Gov. Palin highlights the knee jerk, poor decision making of John McCain. He caved in to the group who smeared him in 2000, and we’re suppose to believe all this maverick BS? While Obama was teaching at the university of Chicago and working in community,with a Harvard law degree, Ms. Palin was a sportscaster and PTA volunteer. Anyone who wants to censor public libraries cannot be trusted. The tenor of her speech tonight was offensive and pathetic.By Brad Kleinholtz
September 4, 2008 8:55 AM | Link to this
This newspaper has become a complete joke. After 25 years I will be cancelling my subscription to what has become nothing more than a notebook for angry liberals. The American people want NEWS, unbiased, unapologetic NEWS…not the opinion of some left wing, freedom hating, tax loving, sexist. The hypocracy of the DDN and other liberals is amazing for lack of a better word. If Palin was an angry, unatractive woman in Birkenstocks, the liberal media would be beside themselves with giddiness. But because this woman is a free thinking, corruption crushing, maverick she is deemed a threat by the “Do Nothing Democrats”. Good riddance to this liberal rag of a newspaper. I wouldn’t wrap dead fish with this paper, because it would be a disgusting insult to the fish.By Raoul
September 4, 2008 9:16 AM | Link to this
The coverage of John McCain’s vice presidential pick by the DDN has unveiled a weird sort of provincialism that exposes Gottlieb, et al, as small minded, small town hicks clinging to an old world view of big government, big name fascination, big speeches by Democrats that use slogans instead of specific ideas, and a disdain for the conservatives living in and around your center of the universe, Dayton, OH. Someone made the point that John McCain’s pick for VP was a great look forward, while Obama’s was backward looking. I think that describes the situation quite well, and places the views expressed by the DDN in the ‘look back’ category. With one swoop, the GOP has trumped the Democrats, and even with current approval ratings of Bush dragging on the GOP, the coming elections will excite a lot more people than just the conservative base. I expect more small minded rhetoric from the DDN in the days ahead, because you (Gottlieb and others) are a little peeved that you did not see this coming, and now the debate will truly be about change. But not the change Obama was talking about.By Sherry
September 4, 2008 5:24 PM | Link to this
How long will it take for the liberal-spewing news media take to realize that people are getting wise to you? The way the left-wing media has treated Sarah Palin simply solidifies the opinion that many people already had about the media — that finally, in 2008, we have observed the death of journalism. There are only opinion pages now, not news pages. That’s how blatant the liberal bias has become. Sarah Palin has now totally changed the game between Obama and McCain. She is an inspiration to women, conservatives, and Republicans all. After the awesome performance last night of Sarah Palin, the DDN/Middletown Journal editors decide that the topic that seems the most relevant today for the home page of their website is a picture and story of a man who walked off 100 pounds?! In the same way that Obama energized the Democrat Party, so has Sarah energized the Republican Party. I would argue that she has electrified them. And the truth is, the liberal Democrats have been thrown for a loop, and now they are running scared. They will continue to employ every nasty, slimy tactic they can dream up to try to take Sarah down. But Sarah Palin is a tough lady, and she will do more than handle it. She will turn it back on the media, as she did last night. The liberal media should watch out, because those tactics may backfire on them in a BIG way. Americans are smarter than the liberal media gives us credit for being.By Martin Gottlieb
September 4, 2008 7:47 PM | Link to this
Some of these notes demonstrate a point I made (a point that’s kind of obvious to political junkies, admittedly): that the Palin fight has energized the right-wing warriors. Personally, I had never taken seriously the possibility that they wouldn’t get strongly on board for McCain. The Supreme Court-nominations issue is always enough to get them behind the Republican eventually. I also have never taken seriously the possibility that the Hillary people won’t be there for Obama. They will. The election is about the independents. It’s on.By Nancy
September 4, 2008 8:01 PM | Link to this
How can any mother in her right mind expose her unwed 17 year old daughter to the entire world? Sarah Palin is a greedy ambitous woman who will run over anyone to get what she wants. I shudder to think of what will happen to this country if ever she becomes President.By Sherry in FL
September 7, 2008 5:32 PM | Link to this
Our economy is in a sorry state of affairs I feel directly related to the high cost of fuel which affects everything from loss of jobs to a record loss of homes not to mention the rise in cost of all consumer goods. We have become so dependant on foreign oil that we have neglected to fully utilize such natural sources of energy such wind power & solar power. Along with modern technology such as plug in cars, hybrid cars, v2g technology ,and regenerative braking, technology we still seem to be floundering as a nation as to devising the best plan utilize all that is available to us and lift ourselves out of this mess we are in. We need to take our closest look at which candidates put our economy and energy crisis at the forefront of their agenda. Interesting site should you be interested. www.themanhattanprojectof2009.comBy Sherry
September 7, 2008 6:15 PM | Link to this
She did not expose her daughter to the whole world. And…furthermore how would that further her career. Viscous rumors were circulating on the Internet that her mother covered up for her and said the 4 month baby was hers. She just classified the situation. it is people like you that keep it going.