I really don’t have to put a disclaimer at the beginning of this post because you will know I am a supporter of John McCain and Sarah Palin, if you have read any of my previous articles about this election. You will also know I dislike Barack Obama intensely and do not trust him and his policy of “change”. However, the campaign tactics we all saw playing out yesterday were a little much to say the least and were very much of a distraction to the real issues at hand.

Yesterday, Barack Obama was at a campaign stop, giving his standard stump speech and was talking about John McCain and President Bush. He was doing his best to make the point that McCain had voted with the President most of the time and even though he says he is for change, he wasn’t. The remark he made was not sexist, in my opinion and it probably had nothing to do with Sarah Palin. You can watch the clip and judge for yourself.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnkI0lyIzcc]

Of course, the McCain campaign had to jump on the band wagon and have called Obama out for supposedly referring to Sarah Palin as a pig with the lipstick remark. They couldn’t just leave it alone and stick to the issues because that wouldn’t get them as much free media time.

One of the reasons I supported Mike Huckabee for the Republican nomination for President was the way he did his best to stick to the issues that concerned him and the rest of America. Huckabee himself has came out in support of McCain, but he also said we needed to cut Barack Obama a little slack with the lipstick remarks and I have to agree. I personally do not believe he was making snide remarks about Sarah Palin, but was rather referring to the policies of President Bush and John McCain.

I have made it no secret, I do not like Barack Obama.  I believe he has more of a change in mind for America than you and I could ever realize and I do not want to see him elected as our next President.  However, the Republicans in general and the McCain campaign in particular are going about this all wrong. By jumping on every stray remark Obama makes as being sexist or prejudiced against women, they are distracting the tone of the campaign away from the issues that should be concerning us all as this election approaches.

Instead of talking about lipstick on a pig, we need to be discussing Barack Obama’s plans for taxes. Instead of making fun of his middle name, we need to be asking about his plans for a civilian national security force that would rival our own military. So, what does the McCain campaign do in response to Obama’s statement? They call for an apology and express outrage, instead of questioning Obama on his policies.

As for Sarah Palin, the McCain campaign needs to stop trying to protect her at every turn and let her loose to campaign. I understand they are trying to manipulate the campaign in the direction they want it to go, but Governor Palin is not a novice at campaigning. She has been around and has went up against some pretty tough opponents. Instead of focusing on her being a woman, they need to focus on the issues and her position on them. Doing anything else is not giving her the credit she is due, both as a woman and a politician.

Enough with the lipstick and pigs. Enough with the outrage over every little remark. As Republicans or Democrats, let’s get back to the issues and talk about something that really matters to Americans. Anything less is an injustice to us all.

That’s my take!

Larry

Tags: Barack Obama, Campaign, Democrat, Election, Issues, John McCain, Lipstick on a pig, Mike Huckabee, Policies, President, Republican, Sarah Palin, Vice President

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 11th, 2008 at 5:52 am and is filed under News/Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.