When you're a political party - you would, I think, want an attractive figurehead. You'd want leadership that's at least SOMEWHAT charismatic and memorable.
And, let's face it - the Democratic Party's been falling down on the job in that respect. There's no visible figurehead at this point, nobody that actually is the 'face' of the Democratic party like Obama and Pelosi. And the faces that are being put UP on the news representing Republicans...
Sigh. It's a bit odd that Sanford's now the 'face' of the Republican party. Bizzare, isn't it?
Think quickly - who, aside from McCain, would you picture as being emblematic of the Republican party? Gingrich? Cheney? Bush? (Well, the last two aren't exactly major players in the political scheme of things now...)
How about Palin?
Oh, wait - we can't use her...
McCain's Camp Praises Sanford and Trashes Palin?I'm really starting to think that the subculture inside the DC Beltway's so toxic and so dedicated to maintaining the status quo that they can't see the damage that's being inflicted by the petty games they play.There something wrong, very wrong, when Sarah Palin, a bright, shining light for conservatives remains the prime target of the existing Washington machine, while Mark Sanford and other hypocritical liars are serenaded as getting a raw deal by the very public daughter of a defacto leader of the party.
Let's see - McCain lost, so it couldn't be he was out-charismaed by Obama and outmaneuvered by the Chicago political machine writ large in ACORN's tactics - no, far better to blame 'Caribou Barbie' for the loss.
Frankly, I think if it hadn't been for her he'd have lost by a much wider margin. I felt a lot better about voting for McCain because he picked her as a running mate.
The Republican Party badly needs to reinvent itself - and clean out a lot of the entrenched deadwood. It needs new ideas, it needs new faces. (And so does the Democratic party. Really, who would you rather listen to all day - Pelosi or Palin?)
But hey - what will actually happen is most likely the status quo staying quo - because nobody wants to upset the system that gives them their goodies...
J.