Wrappin' it up with Joe, O, Hill and Sarah

Well, it's time to wrap this baby up. After a year of blogging and reading and talking we're three days away from electing a new POTUS.

I'm going to present a few random thoughts about the election's twists and turns and then on Monday I'll present my official endorsement.

Joe the Plumber

I really hate to sound like an East Coast elitist, but I've got to say it: Joe is everything that's wrong with America right now.

First of all, he's a fraud. He says he's a plumber, when he actually is not a licensed plumber in Ohio. He told Barack Obama that he was thinking of buying his plumbing business and wanted to know if his taxes would go up (because Obama's tax plan would restore the Clinton tax rates for those individuals and businesses making more than $250,000.) The truth is, Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher is about as close to buying his plumbing business as I am to buying that Gulfstream 5 I've been coveting. He has a tax lien on his house--which would be the first impediment to buying a business. He makes about $40,000, which would be another. And the banks aren't lending people money, which would also get in the way of his upward mobility.

But that hasn't stopped the McCain campaign--or the conservative punditry, from making Joe the new Joan--as in Arc; as in being sacrificed on the stake for the common man. As in declaring that Obama's tax plan would be a type of 'socialism'.

But what has been fascinating--and sad--is the way in which the country has jumped on this bandwagon. Joe now has a publicist! He has offers to be a part of the McCain admnistration. He wants to turn his celebrity into a country music career. He might get to do it.

The fact is, we, as a nation, have abandonded all regard for knowledge, for expertise, for the truth. Those are the obfuscative (look it up, people) tools of the elite. Fox News's Megan Kelly, whom I actually like, became incensed when it was pointed out that Joe wasn't who he said he was, that his name was really Samuel etc. "What does that matter?!!", she shrieked several times. And this is a journalist who is asking why the facts should get in the way of a good story.

Apparently, we want to be reassured that it's ok to be average. If that means canonizing someone who asks a disingenuous question and doesn't even listen to the answer, we'll do it if he helps us make a negative point about something. If that means marveling at a person who can get important people to regard him with respect even though he doesn't know what 's good for him, no problem-- (if Obama is elected Joe will recieve a tax cut). If he wants to talk about things of which he has no clue (Joe, could you tell us what 'socialism' really is?), we won't call him on it. In fact, we'll give him a national platfom.

Glorifying the mediocre because they remind us of us, is not how we move forward as a country.

Hillary, Obama and Sarah

Ok, it's gotta be personal. At first, I figured that Obama didn't choose Hillary as a running mate because he couldn't make the case for real change with her strapped to his ankles like a ball and chain. But with the twists and turns of the economy shifting the tenor of the campaign to steady stewardship and a break from Bush policies, she would have represented that change as much as Obama. And as I look at what Obama has asked of Joe Biden, it's clear that Hillary could have done a much better job as a running mate. Plus, the only thing that could snatch victory from Obama is low support from those blue-collar women in Pennsylvania. Yep, the same women who all voted for Hillary.

Check out this poll. Bottom line is that 1 out 7 voters are undecided. And 4 out 10 of those undecideds voted for...guess who? Yup. Hillary. So, everyone who kept saying that Obama and Hillary would be a dream team were right. With her on the ballot, this election would be over. Biggest landslide since LBJ. More than 50% of the vote. A true mandate. Without her, it's still anyone's game.

So now, I've concluded that Obama's Veep choice was personal. He doesn't like Hillary. And he's lucky she's being a mensch. She has been on the hustings in support of Obama more than 65 times since the convention. That's more than any vanquished primary opponent in support of the victor in US political history. So if you're an Obama supporter, thank Hillary Clinton if he wins. And you better hope he can survive the one major misstep in his campaign.

And it's a misstep for another reason if you're Democrat. With no Hillary on the ticket, guess who walked through that open feminist door in national politics? You betcha. Sarah Palin. While it's true that the VP pick on a losing ticket doesn't often have a great political career (Geraldine Ferraro, John Edwards and Dan Quayle come to mind), she could be different. And she could be the right wing thorn in Democrats' sides for the next two decades.

And you know who she'll be representin'. Good ol' Joe the Plumber and all those other folks that want to have their 15 minutes of fame--without knowing anything.

We'll see how it shakes out. But Obama may have some serious 'splainin' to do if it doesn't go his way. And if it doesn't go his way, somewhere the Clintons'll be saying--'told you so'.

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