The Tale of the Stolen News Cycle

Last night, Barack Obama accepted his party's nomination. It was a historic moment, as he is the first person of color to be nominated for the presidency. His speech took place in the middle of Mile High Stadium, to a crowd of 85,000. The move, said to have been made to allow people to see Obama, came across as arrogant and lofty. I have said many times that people are blinded by the "rock star appeal" of Obama, and last night showed that. People in the crowd were crying, and I'm sure someone fainted. People are so blinded when it comes to Obama. His speech last night outlines his plans, but gave no "how", only "whats." Obama seems to fail to realize that he cannot just snap his fingers and achieve his policies. He, and his followers, fail to realize that his plans must go through a Congress that has the potential to look different from the one we currently have. What will the faithful think when none of the ideals and "change" Obama hopes to achieve come through?

His speech also came across as angry. In print, it is a good speech, seemingly like a State of the Union. Delivered, however, he seemed angry. At times even yelling, it seemed. Thankfully, he avoided the obvious pratfall of milking the anniversary of the "I Have A Dream" speech.

However, Obama's glory was short lived. Nearly the moment after his speech ended, attention turned towards McCain and who he would pick as his VP. Somehow, the McCain camp managed to keep his pick a secret up until an hour before he planned to reveal it himself.

His pick was from way left field. Sarah Palin is a first term governor from Alaska. At first I was worried. A woman I had never heard was going to be next in line for the presidency. So, I read up on her. She is a very strict conservative. While I'm not a fan of her view on gay rights, she seems solid in her convictions. She is a mom, was on PTA, then was elected to city council, mayor, and beat the incumbent Republican governor in a primary to then win the governorship.

Now, the Obama people are going to try and throw the experience argument back at McCain. However, Palin has eight years executive experience. Unlike anyone else running, she has actual experience running something. I believe that one year of governorship is more preparatory for the presidency than almost 4 years in the Senate.

She is new. She is fresh. And she is CHANGE! This choice was a big gamble, but McCain is gonna hit 21 with this one. I am more revved up for this campaign and more excited about politics than I have ever been, and I believe that is just the effect McCain is going for.