Republican Pride

McCain, 72, is presented as the candidate of the future and of change in United States politics

The Republican Convention, that on Thursday night proclaimed Senator John McCain as the candidate for the United States Presidency and the controversial Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, as Vice President, has turned out interesting for many reasons, and not just for the final speech of the White House hopeful, which was confusing, poorly read, even more poorly put together and flat out impossible to believe in some key parts.

The Republicans started off worried that Hurricane Gustav might ruin the party; they breathed a sigh of relief when George W. Bush didn’t attend; they went crazy with Palin’s speech against the establishment, Palin being a woman firmly resolved in making all radical conservative topics a reality (weapons, creationism, more oil rigs on US soil); and in general, they considered it correct and credible that the Presidential candidate present himself as the leader of all Americans, of all reforms and of the future.

McCain attempted to recover the pride of the Elephant party, damaged by the eight years of Bush’s abysmal term in office, by playing up his captivity as a prisoner of war in Vietnam for five years. Nobody is debating it. However, apart from the gesture, it seems paradoxical to see the Veteran Senator, the oldest politician to aspire for the Presidency, speak of the future, having recently turned 72 years old, and above all his insistence in the need to “change” Washington, ignoring that his party has governed the White House for 22 of the last 30 years – including the catastrophe of the last eight.

The most interesting thing turns out to be Palin’s right-wing populism. The Governor of Alaska decided to face up to the whirlwind of critics and considered her best defense to be the attack. She charged against the political elite of Washington and against the press: “I’m not going to Washington to seek their good opinion. I’m going to Washington to serve the people of this country”. She settled like that, before an easy and devoted audience, the controversy for her positions against abortion and in favor of the death penalty, her anti-scientific nonsense against the theory of evolution, for not speaking of an alleged case of abuse of power, or already in the private arena, the pregnancy of her 17 year old daughter. Palin deeply wants to identify with the problems of American citizens, because she herself is one of them. That is why McCain picked her. It is still to be seen whether it will work in the polls; or if they win, whether the ticket -she and he- turn out to be the best for the first world power.