It could be just the usual post-convention bump, but this is not good: Tuesday morning, all of the major national polls showed John McCain either ahead in the presidential race or tied with Obama.
That could change, certainly. But Obama is in a bad place. And at the moment, his campaign seems stunned. The reason for the McCain surge: the dramatically unqualified Sarah Palin.
Are Americans smart enough to choose a president?
It's not that only Democrats or Obama supporters are smart. But this country is in serious economic trouble. And with the Russia-Georgia conflict, we're beginning to see the magnitude of the foreign-policy problems George Bush is leaving us with.
If you think John McCain has the best ideas for turning the economy around and handling foreign policy, fine. Vote for him. But McCain and his ideas aren't what have put him ahead in the polls. It's Sarah Palin - and the Republicans' appeal to blind patriotism and their message of fear.
Health care? Afghanistan? Energy? Housing? A $407 billion deficit? Never mind. Where's the entertainment?
And by the way: McCain is presumed to be stronger on foreign policy than Obama is. Not to me. He's been dead wrong about Iraq. And his bellicose reaction when Russia marched into Georgia was simply scary. We are all Georgians? What does that mean? That we'll send troops?
McCain's supporters might have second thoughts if they did a bit of research on the events leading up to this mess. There's plenty to worry about with Putin and Medvedev, but there's lots blame to go around in the Georgia-Russia conflict. And the US has been up to its elbows in provocative activity. (Check the current Washington Spectator; washingtonspectator.com).
This is the kind of thing American voters should be talking about. But to suggest that would be elitist, I guess. It's easier to get excited about a hockey mom running for president-in-waiting.
Angelo Chiarella
Many of us are mourning the death last week of the courageous and visionary Angelo Chiarella.
Angelo was an architect who transformed that career into the presidency of Midtown Holdings, a position he held during Midtown Plaza's peak years - and in which he stayed through its grinding challenges as suburban development ate away at the life of downtown Rochester. He was a fierce champion of Midtown, but his commitment to Rochester went far beyond that. He was one of the most dedicated champions of downtown and city neighborhoods that Rochester has ever been blessed with.
Strong Museum is located downtown today because Angelo and some other early museum board members pushed to put it there. He was an early neighborhood leader, helping fight for the zoning and preservation legislation that literally turned the Park Avenue area from a seedy neighborhood into one of the region's most popular residential areas.
He served enthusiastically on a wide variety of Rochester institutions' boards, loving anything that was a new experience, says his wife Winnifred.
And he was intensely committed to a real downtown and to "the variety of humanity at Midtown," as Winnifred puts it. When some shoppers complained about young people hanging out there, Angelo dug in his heels, insisting that Midtown was everybody's gathering place.
For the publishers of this newspaper, Angelo was a friend, neighbor, counselor, and supporter. Much of what we learned about city planning and downtown development in the early days of this newspaper, we learned from Angelo. He was a sweet, bright, engaging, strong, often opinionated, lovable man. A wrenching series of strokes robbed him of his health and forced a move to Albany from the city he loved. Some day soon, we'll tear down his shopping center (to which, I suspect, he pretty much gave his life). Thanks to his years of dedication and activism, though, he's left plenty of other marks on this city.
Comments for "URBAN JOURNAL: Maybe we're just too dumb to vote" (4)
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Kit Nelson said on Sep. 12, 2008 at 7:45am
"Are Americans smart enough to choose a president?" Mary Anna really means are they smart enough to choose a Democrat president. Elections are won and lost on issues. McCain is a downbeat campaigner and his stance on issues was suspect, especially among Republicans. With the addition of Palin and her clear stances on issues, Republicans and others are reassured and even enthusiastic. Obama's handlers tried to sell him as a personality. His past associations with radicals like Bill Ayers and Rev. Wright popped that balloon. Now they are forced to sell him on issues and his stances are vague and suspect. Even dumb voters understand that in a bad economy, raising taxes on employers (the rich) will only make things worse. Democrats are on the wrong side of several issues, like drilling for American oil and refusing to admit that the surge in Iraq has worked. But that's not why Democrats are losing this election. The real reason is that the voters are too dumb to vote for Democrats, and they they cling to guns and religion while they're at it. Kit Nelson
Doug MIdkiff said on Sep. 14, 2008 at 8:12am
Why do many Upstate New Yorkers appear to take a self-destructive course and vote Republican? Do they vote Republican because of their history during the Civil War, or is there a later reason?
With down-sizing and multiple layoffs in the floundering Rochester region, many residents are struggling in the current economic climate, but McCain/Palin offer more of the same Bush doctrine, on the economy and in world affairs, with a domestic policy that pays little attention to the middle and lower class and a belligerant and often blind approach to foriegn policy. Yet, many will vote Republican against their own best interest. This should be of great concern to all, whether they are Democrat or Republican. Our democracy cannot survive without a well-informed and and educated electorate..
Thanks for your essay.
Dave said on Sep. 16, 2008 at 1:06pm
You say: "It's not that only Democrats or Obama supporters are smart." But the implication of the rest of the essay is that, except for the relatively few fatcats who stand to gain financially from a McCain/Palin victory, the voters who disagree with you must be, well, dumb. It's a puzzle that liberals just can't seem to solve: why do so many Americans disagree with us? The best answer they've been able to come up with so far is that a lot of Americans are dumb. You refer to "the dramatically unqualified Sarah Palin." Explain to me again how Obama--who is running for president, not president-in-waiting--is more qualified than she. You say that McCain's "been dead wrong about Iraq": I think going into Iraq was a bad idea. And I'm not ready to declare victory. But from the distance of some thousands of miles, the situation there seems to be getting better, and the Surge--which McCain had the guts to advocate at a time when to do so seemed like political suicide--seems to have played a role. So how exactly has he been "dead wrong"? You say that "McCain and his ideas aren't what have put him ahead in the polls. It's Sarah Palin - and the Republicans' appeal to blind patriotism and their message of fear." It seems to me that you have simply recast their ideas by slapping derisive labels on them, and having done so, you find it easy to dismiss them out of hand. Actually, I don't mind elitism. I would like to see more substance and less fluff in our political campaigns. I just don't think that columns like this one help move us much in that direction, nor do I presume that people who disagree with me are "dumb."
Channel said on Nov. 18, 2008 at 10:21am
Go Dave!
I don't think people are too dumb. I do think that entertainment is more important to most voters than facts. I think I'm going to make a website for the next election. TooDumbToVote.com and have it tell people who to vote for. Take a survey on where you stand on issues and let the system match you up to a candidate. Maybe have some idiot check questions too so I can give them a score of whether they should be voting at all. two results screens. 1. Are you too dumb to vote and 2. Which candidate you're closest to. Entertaining and they don't have to know the positions or issues of the candidates or parties. And they may score so low on the dumb meter that they decide to stay home. Yay.
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