Daniel Lovell has won more than two dozen awards for his columns, editorials and investigative journalism. He is actively addicted to the Internet, soda and New York Yankees baseball.
I guess I should have been far less shocked to hear Susan Sarandon's take on the election last night. The ultra-liberal actress whose husband made headlines four years ago for promising to leave the US if Bush were reelected looked angry as she forcefully spewed the strangest words I've ever heard in the context of an election:
"Jesus was a community organizer. Pontius Pilate was a governor. That's all I have to say about that."
While strange, the words resonated for me -- and not in the way Ms. Sarandon intended, I'm sure. See, Obama is no Jesus. Nor is Sarah Palin anywhere close to being Pilate.
I've been struck over the past week or so at the attacks Mrs. Palin has endured from Obama fanatics, who can't seem to accept that there is a strong female candidate -- in many ways stronger than Hillary Clinton -- on the ticket. It's as if they're angry that history will more likely be made by Republicans than by Democrats.
Obamites question Palin's experience. A few years as a small-town mayor and a couple as governor of Alaska aren't enough, they say -- as if running Alaska were a small job. Anyone who argues such may want to check out political scientist Thad Beyle's index of institutional powers in state offices, which shows only one governor in America wields more power in their state than did Palin in Alaska.
Those same critics may want to look at their own presidential candidate's credentials. Indeed, half the voting members of the Democrat party supported Clinton -- many of them because they agreed with her assertion that Obama was ill prepared for the job. And what argument can be made to the contrary? Mr. Obama voted "present" an inordinate number of times when he served in the state Senate and has never introduced a major piece of legislation during his time as an elected official. And the most important point? He's never served in the executive branch. He's never been the top decision-maker. He's never been in a position of accountability. Palin has.
Sarah Palin's speech at the Republican National Convention proved her mettle. She jumped headlong into what is sure to be a dogfight. To those who say she hasn't earned her place on the ticket and was chosen at the last minute, I can only shake my head. Like Palin, my mom raised five children. I can assure you, that's no small task. A quick search online will reveal numerous bloggers calling for Palin to be drafted for the vice-presidential spot, long before she appeared on the scene. She is well respected, intelligent, and she's not afraid to speak her mind.
The genius of McCain's choice here is that it shows the two-faced tendencies of the left. Those same liberals who once supported Clinton for president and proclaimed that it was time to break the glass ceiling in American politics now shun Palin, not just because of her views, but because she's a woman who dares have views counter to those of the Democrat machine. They've shown us that they only want the glass ceiling broken by their own candidate.
The laughable part of that, as an aside, is that Republicans have been far better on diversity than Democrats. George W. Bush had the most diverse cabinet of any president in history. Not something he's gotten much credit for.
The other genius part of the Palin nomination is that it forces Obama to run against the vice-presidential candidate. He cannot stand up to McCain in experience, in dedication, in breaking from party politics, in foreign policy expertise -- hell, in almost any aspect, save oratory. And while Obama is a good speaker, his promises are the same we've heard from Democrats since Al Gore.
While the Obama camp can attack Palin's experience, they'll only do so knowing it calls into question his own experience. And that's a fight he can't win.
Sarandon's words illustrate one glaring fact: Democrats are terrified of Sarah Palin. And well they should be. Her first major speech showed her unafraid to point out Emperor Obama's lack of clothing. And with just a few well-placed jabs, showed exposed the glass jaw of the entire myth surrounding Obama. Sarandon, in comparing her candidate of choice to Christ, showed just how large that myth has grown for those too lost in rhetoric to think for themselves.
Before making another biblical allusion, Ms. Sarandon may also want to brush up on her Bible study. Those of us who have actually read the book know that it wasn't Pilate who sent Christ to his death, but the crowds, who made a horrible decision amid fanatic fervor.
One must wonder if that same type of fanaticism isn't directing a host of Americans into making another big mistake.
