Dear Swami:
With all these news flashes coming out about John McCain's vice-presidential nominee in early September, can you predict the "October Surprise" and who it will hit? I'm going to place a bet between Obama and McCain, so I want to get the dirt as early as possible.
The Gambler
Dear Kenny:
What news flashes are you referring to regarding Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin? The fired state trooper investigation? The pregnant daughter? The affiliation with an Alaskan secessionist movement? The effort to ban books at the town library? Makes you wonder if the McCain camp had her simply fill out a standard employment application from Wendy's or Taco Bell.
To your question: Between now and election day, the following Gotcha moments will grab headlines, muddy the waters and distract American voters from trivial things like the economy and Iraq:
... Barack Obama will be revealed to have $1.40 worth of outstanding late fines at the Chicago Public Library ...
... a former neighbor of Joe Biden will come forward with photos showing the Delaware senator dumping a bag of grass clippings in a wooded area near their neighborhood ...
... and John McCain, under pressure following leaks to the Internet media, will admit to frequently parking his car across two spaces at strip malls across the nation.
But be reminded that all of this will come to nothing in the 2008 American political culture, where we rationalize the bad behavior of our favored parties -- Bill Clinton's womanizing, George W. Bush's Air National Guard record, etcetera, etcetera -- or ignore it entirely.
At the end of the day, those "moral values" we pound our chest about finish a distant second to "winning elections."
Leave a comment