Palin Takes the Show; McCain Looks Forward to Nov. 4

“All’s well that ends well” appears to be the mantra of the 2008 Republican convention in St. Paul. A gathering that started late and in a far from celebratory atmosphere, is ending strong. McCain gave his speech on Thursday with the party unified, party activists energized and the polling virtually tied.

This 2008 Republican convention marks the eighth one attended by David Tyson, past state party official and current delegate. Discussing the different gatherings, he contrasted the energy of this convention to the lack of enthusiasm at the 1996 convention that nominated Bob Dole.

At that convention Dole’s selection of Jack Kemp did little to energize the conservative base. In contrast, McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin did much to unify the party and energize the base.

Tyson met Palin’s brother and father at the Minneapolis convention center. They were looking for Palin buttons, just as Tyson was. The fact that none could be found was an indicator of the Governor’s popularity after her Wednesday speech.

Palin’s address electrified the convention audience. A factor in the response was the perception that the media attacks on the Governor of Alaska were personal, sexist and elitist. Palin’s speech prompts one to believe that her theme song will be John Mellencamp’s “I was born in small town.”

Her address was interrupted eight times by boos from the audience. One time when she referred to journalist attacks, many of the delegates turned and booed the media section in the stands

McCain’s nomination is a tribute to persistence. Many of the West Virginia supporters were with the Arizona senator in his 2000 campaign and in 2008 stayed with him in the dark days before New Hampshire when he had low standings in the polls.

Today the voter surveys have McCain tied with 60 days left. The degree of parity in the polls suggests that each party accomplished their convention goals when it came to party unity and activists’ energy.

It seemed appropriate that a session would close with country music star John Rich singing “Raising McCain.”

- Dr. Rupp is professor of political science and history at West Virginia Wesleyan College

Issues vs. Character…or are They the Same?

Professor Galarneau discusses the "issues" of this 2008 presidential campaign, with similar implications as if one were to give a mouse a cookie. Enjoy...

Here we go. Again. The campaigns are already starting to cloud what should be considered the most important aspect of presidential campaign arguments. The 2008 election is moving into that very subjective junction where Jerry Springer meets talk radio: Character opinion.

When was the last time that ISSUES maintained enough momentum to make it through the name-calling cycles of the media slaughterhouse all the way up to election day? He said, she said, they said...I’m telling!!!

Is the Environment still important, or is it more important that Sarah Palin’s daughter is pregnant? Are we concerned with a rough economy or are we more concerned with a perception that Obama and Paris Hilton have anything in common.

Jobs? Health care? National security? Who needs to talk about these when our society absorbs media confluence of gossip and bias that can only be satiated by sponging more of what the media provides in an endless, self-satisfying cycle. Real issues are boring. Real gossip…yummy.

What is the number one concern in this country? The character of the candidates? It makes you wonder if what the candidates plan to do once they get into office holds much weight (at least at this point in the campaigns, Sept. 2).

I guess I’ll have to ask Oprah Winfrey.

-Professor Pete Galarneau (the satirical approach)

Republican Convention: Day 1

The agenda of the 2008 Republican convention was held hostage by the hurricane in the Gulf as the leaders here pivoted quickly from convention focus to a worry and relief focus.

The result was a downsized opening day as virtually all the scheduled speakers were dealing with hurricane Gustav. The lesson of political inaction has been learned in the aftermath of Katrina three years ago.

The only major speaker was First Lady Laura Bush. Absent was the President, the Vice-President and the nominee. Also not present was California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger but his reason was the continued failure of his state to approve a budget.

The Monday session of the convention would have canceled, but legally a meeting had to be held Monday to do some technical things required by law to get McCain’s name on the ballot in some states.

Here with the West Virginia delegation, our day started with a breakfast which featured several speakers. The most dramatic was John McCain’s brother who brought with him the navy flyer flight jacket his brother had on the aircraft carrier, Oriskany, in October, 1967. John did not see the jacket until he came back from POW camp four years later.

Also speaking was a fellow prisoner of war who was with McCain in Hanoi camp.

Vietnam, a war almost a half century ago, has dominated the recent elections. Four years ago at the Democratic convention in Boston I heard from John Kerry’s fellow soldiers whom he served with in Vietnam.

Also speaking this morning was Governor Blount of Missouri who said that 600 National Guardsmen from his state have already been deployed to Louisiana. He had earlier spoken to Governor Jindal.

At noon I went with some delegates to the Fine Arts Center to hear Republican strategist Mary Matlin at a luncheon which focused attention on women and heat attack awareness.

Of her husband, Democratic strategist James Carville, Matlin said “He’s never right, but he’s never dumb.” She deals with him by “not listening to him on the television.”

Having a woman on the ticket was “a testament to the country,” Matlin said and criticism of Paylin was “so lame, patronizing, elitist and sexist.”

After the luncheon, the delegates got an early look at the Xcel Center- a large arena that serves as during the season as a hockey rink. The arena is dominated by huge screen on the stage which shows a waving American flag.

Compared to the Pepsi Center at Denver, the arena has smaller space , but the seating goes high and steep allowing for a better viewing and more intimacy. However, it may still be site of gridlock when the sessions are not scaled down.

It is interesting after being at the scripted and intense Denver convention, to now watch a convention, as Mary Matlin said, “flip overnight.” For within a day the event went away from the standard convention format of political rhetoric and image.

Here in what was expected to be political central for a week, the topic was stayed focused on the weather. What happens next may well depend on extent of hurricane damage and relief efforts.

- Dr. Rupp is a professor of political science and history at West Virginia Wesleyan College

McCain-Palin

On Friday morning, news broke that John McCain official chose Gov. Sarah Biden (R-AK). The politico world was expecting some sort of shake-up candidate for the maverick, but few suspected Palin.

Her little known background will certainly benefit McCain in the next two months, but some are critical of his choice saying she is without the necessary experience, having only been a governor for two years, and she lacks the economic flare that a Romney would have brought to the ticket.

However, it is no secret why he chose her: disgruntled Clintonites.

In her debut appearance in Dayton, Ohio, Gov. Palin spent no time beating around the Bush, and praised Sen. Hillary Clinton for a job well done in her respective race.

Palin also offers valid experience and a diverse background. She has a history of cleaning up corruption in Alaska, especially with energy producers. Also, she offers a solid conservative ideology, coupled with a beautiful family, life time NRA membership, and a pro-union household.

As a large group of Wesleyan students is traveling to Washington, PA on Saturday to a McCain-Palin rally, they will see first hand how effective the Republican ticket will be in the coming months.

Dr. Rupp Wraps Up the DNC

The irony of the outcome of the 2008 Democratic convention in Denver was that for the first time in political history, women delegates outnumbered men. In terms of gender makeup, the West Virginia delegation is exactly 50/50. Such division follows party rules. In terms of race makeup, four African Americans represent West Virginia and the rest Caucasian, although the party rules require only three minorities.

Although the selection of Hillary would have made history, so did the nomination of Barack Obama.

One must realize that until 1940’s the Democratic Party was seen as a white man’s party. In 1924 there was only one alternate delegate who was black. Change was slow even though majority of blacks started voting Democratic during the Roosevelt administration. As late as 1960 there were only 33 black delegates at the Democratic convention in Los Angeles.

The two hits at the convention represented the age spectrum. On Tuesday night Obama’s two daughters stole the show when they talked to their father on the screen. The next night it became Joe Biden’s mother who became the celebrity. In fact when Obama made his surprise visit to the stage, he mentioned her.

Speaking of a small world, when I went to get a floor pass, the DNC worker Shawna Blair told me about her grandparents Melvin and Sally Peluchette who live in Wheeling.

She still made me return it after 30 minute time limit.

Walking on the floor at the Pepsi Center was quite difficult, not just because of the number of people, but because of the space occupied by the media. Almost one-third of the floor area was taken up by television. The irony of the CNN set was that the commentaters faced away from the podium. So that they had to turn their heads to see what was actually occurring on stage- a feat they mastered during their continuous broadcast.

Outside the Pepsi Center on Wednesday protests were planned, but for the most part not well performed. Ironically one of the groups called itself “Recreate 1968”- referring to extensive protest mounted in the streets of Chicago at the 1968 convention.

What is interesting about the protests at Denver forty years later was that it was preceded by a concert by “Rage Against the Machine”- a group known for instigating their audiences.

Meanwhile inside the Pepsi Center, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley was endorsing Obama. Forty years before his father was mayor and drew national attention when he when he shouted at an alleged obscenity at a speaker criticizing the Chicago police force. The “macaca moment” was captured on camera and symbolized the chaos inside and outside the convention hall.

Such factionalism is absent from 2008 convention as current mayor of Chicago is supporting a black senator who won his 2004 primary without the help of the city machine. After that primary victory, however, the Chicago mayor became a key supporter. And some attribute the efficiency of the Obama campaign to its Chicago origins.

The Obama campaign provided some good news to the West Virginia delegation in the form of more visitor passes to the Thursday speech at the stadium. Perhaps the generosity reflects the announced increase in commitment of resources to the state by his campaign.

The move to the football stadium for tonight’s acceptance was novel. In 1960 John Kennedy spoke at the Rose Bowl stadium home in Los Angeles. But the Denver move poses a logistically problems since all the media and security equipment could not be moved out the Pepsi Center until 10:00pm last night.

Obama’s speech tonight will end the 2008 Democratic convention on both an historic a unified note. It also will mark the start of intense campaigning in electoral cycle that started more than 16 months ago.

-Dr. Rupp is a Professor of political science and history at West Virginia Wesleyan College

What is Your Perception?

While Dr. Rupp’s fascination with this year’s DNC has been the unique experience of seeing, being and feeling as a participant in Denver (envy, envy, envy) I have had the opportunity to live the DNC as most of us do…through the tube. In fact, I actually watch it on two different TVs. But that’s crazy! But not really if you know my purpose. You see, one set is tuned to MSNBC while the other is tuned to FOX News. And last night, Hillary’s speech was of particular interest. I wrote down a bet to myself; I bet that as soon as the speech was over, there would be almost polar opposite opinions by the commentators of these two “news” stations. Oberman’s (MSNBC) first response was “She hit a home run!” while Hume (Fox) had this sour, nonchalant (boring) look on his face as he announced something to the effect of “Well there you have it.”

Commentary among the panelists on both channels continued the polarized responses. “She supported Obama right from the beginning” (MSNBC). “She rarely mentioned Obama and instead promoted herself” (FOX).

So who was right? Can they both be right? Let’s ask this in another way. Traditional journalism demands that news tells you the information in a nonpartisan way so YOU can make the judgment that’s best for you. What perception does Fox have? What Perception does MSNBC have? Are their perceptions dictated by those who write their checks? And, more troublesome, do these anchors present these Administrative dictates as “real news” to you the watcher of the tube? What do you believe?

I’m going to make another bet with myself (mostly since I haven’t asked anyone to bet with me) that when I watch on my two TV sets the higher profile speeches at the Rep Nat. Convention next week, these “newspeople” will conduct a classic case of role reversal.

-Pete Galarneau, Assistant Professor of Communication

Dr. Rupp Updates

Wednesday evening at the Democratic convention in Denver features two speeches-of which the most important may be the ex-president rather then the vice-presidential nominee.

Yesterday Hillary Clinton did a dramatic call for unity in a speech Senator Jay Rockefeller said was a “homerun.” Her speech helped to put to rest the concerns that she or more importantly her supporters would sit out this election.

Tonight her husband , the only Democratic president re-elected in two generations, did the same call for unity. Although in private he was apparently more reluctant, in public he rallied the delegates who showed their support for him.

The question will be for the remaining 10 weeks whatever Clinton is asked to do more, and if asked, if he will do more. In 2000 he was willing to campaign for Al Gore, but was not asked. In 2008 one wonders what his role will be.

Perhaps the best measure for both Clinton will be the time they spend campaigning for the 2008 ticket-especially in those areas she did so well in such as West Virginia, southern Ohio, and western Pennsylvania.

In many ways Clinton’s speech overshadowed the Joe Biden’s speech-for despite all the talk unity is actually more important than the Vice-presidency. To win the election Obama will need more than 80% of Democratic voters.

Vice-presidents may strengthen a ticket as Gore did Clinton, or Dick Cheney did for George W. Bush, but they do not decide it. The best they can do is to follow the tenet of the Hippocratic oath taken by doctors- “First do no harm.”

The last time such a Vice-Presidential selection had a direct impact on an election was in 1960 when Lyndon Johnson delivered Texas electoral vote to John Kennedy. In terms of electoral votes, Biden’s home state of Delaware has only 3 votes and those were already in the Obama column.

Democrats in 2008 hope that Biden will shore up Obama’s foreign policy stance much like Dick Cheney from the small state of Wyoming was used to strengthen George W. Bush’s credentials.

Democrats also hope that Biden will provide “constituency relief” by appealing to those group of voters that Obama lost to Hillary in the primaries. A good campaigner with a strong personal story, Biden relates easily with blue collar and Catholic voters.

If Biden works well in the diners, Obama works best in the arenas-so well that he will follow John Kennedy’s action and make his acceptance speech at Invesco field, home of the Denver Broncos. But tickets even for that large an arena are hard to get since supposedly 90,000 Colorado citizens have requested a ticket.

It seems that those in the state who hosted the convention also want to be an eyewitness to history. The irony is that initially organizers were worried about attendance and made plans to bus in supporters.

The dilemma for the convention organizers- displeasure delegates or Colorado voters in a swing state. (Obama is statistically tied with McCain in this traditionally Republican state.

While many want to see history, many want to blog about it. The importance of blogs to 2008 campaign was demonstrated at the breakfast meeting of the West Virginia delegation. It was announced that West Virginia Blue was featured by CNN. When the station announced that blogs were very busy after Michelle Obama’s speech, but CNN only showed only that blog.

Blogs which have provided accessibility to information unimaginable five years ago. Certainly the DNC recognizes it having issued press credentials to more than 100 blog site here at the convention.

As there is an explosion of blogs in America has fueled the debate continues on whatever more is better. The debate is not new. When Henry David Thoreau learned that the invention of the telegraph allowed Americans to communicate from Maine to Texas, he asked “will we have anything to say?” The answer is that we hope we do.

- Dr. Rupp is a professor of Political Science/ History at West Virginia Wesleyan College