Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Obama in his natural habitat
I probably should be ashamed of myself, my political commentary seems to have dwindled to nothing more than posting odd YouTube videos. All I can say in my defense is that I am absolutely gobsmacked by how strange this election has been, and gah... can the media sink any lower into Democratic Poodle status?
Anyhoo, above is my latest silly YouTube offering.
Hat tip to hillaryclintonforum.net, which is a forum I've gotten addicted to lurking at. It is a forum full of PUMAs and, if you think Republicans hate Obama, they're pikers compared to these folks. They positively loathe Barrack.
It has been very interesting watching their transformation. They were kind of in despair until Sarah Palin was selected as McCain's VP. A lot of them posted that this year's Republican convention was the first they had ever watched. They were struck by how upbeat the Republicans were, and the absolutely went wild over Palin's speech.
Since then they've come to believe McCain is an honorable and decent politician, that Palin is a delight (second only to their beloved Hillary), that the MSM's Democratic campaigning is a scandal, and that ACORN's attempted vote-rigging is beyond the pale. Most of them are going to be pulling the lever for a Republican for the first time in their life, with a number of them already having switched parties. A number are also actively campaigning for McCain/Palin.
I have no idea how many of them there are, although the forum is extremely active (this, with their registration locked to prevent it from being overran by Obamabots). It is quite an interesting daily visit.
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And after Obama is hung out to dry the PUMAs want to go after Pelosi, Brazile, and Reid. Hey, I can dig that ;) But first we got to get through the next two weeks...
It's fascinating to watch so many of the PUMAs go through the same estrangement from the Democrats as I did back in 2003-4. The Republicans won't be the same if many of them come into the party. Might not be a bad thing. Too many Noonans and Brooks about to my way of thinking. It's something of a populist revolt at it's heart.
I'll see your PUMA and raise you this disenchanted libertarian. It would seem that the Republicans have become too Big Government, so he's responding self-righteously by voting for the Biggest Government we've seen in our lifetimes. That'll show 'em!
That'll show 'em!
Heh. When I read the comments over at Reason.com I sometimes have the sense that they are just another bunch of lefties. Strange...
Libertarians like that are another example of strange political bedfellows this year.
What's interesting about the PUMAs is how they brush aside the Pro Life/Pro Choice dichotomy in their backing of Palin. It simply isn't functioning as a wedge issue for them in this election.
I suspect that their hatred of Obama, coupled with their gender identification with Palin, is allowing them to turn a blind eye to it at the moment, but what happens when the election is over?
I suspect many will drift into Independent status, but some will likely stick with the Republicans and exert a leftward pull on the Party.
Is there a significant reshuffling of the political landscape, at least at the fringes? Is some sort of oddball conservative feminist core being built around Palin and the PUMAs? Will the Democrats movement towards isolationism appeal to many Libertarians?
Probably no to either scenario, but it would be interesting to see the media cover some of these issues, instead of the trivialities and shilling they're fixated on at the moment.
Balko is an example of the expression "too clever by half". Via some sort of electoral jiu jitsu libertarian principles will one day rise to the forefront. The folks at Reason are often unReason as far as I can see. In some ways I think they despise those who are closer to their principles in practice but aren't Kool-aid drinkers than they do the big government types who make no bones about it.
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