2008 VP Debate

Last night was an intriguing night.  Gov. Sarah Palin and Sen. Joe Biden went head to head in the only Vice-Presidential debate of this election.  This morning both parties are claiming a win last night.  This is one of those nights where both parties seem to have needed different things from their candidates - and they both seemed to accomplish what they needed to for their primary candidates.

I liked the spirited chivalry that went on last night.  Both had a canned phrase or two that they found their opportunities to share - "ultimate bridge to nowhere" statement from Biden, and the "say it ain't so, Joe" from Palin.

Here is who I really liked last night...for the most part.  I liked the moderator - Gwen Ifill.  She was minimal in this debate and I really appreciated that.  She let the candidates talk and talk the way they wanted to.  Last week, this was not the case.  Jim Lehrer spent a lot of time trying to get Obama and McCain to talk to each other.  Part of that was because the presidential candidates had a harder time directly answering questions, in my opinion.

All in all, I had a good night.  Rhonda and I sat and watched it together with her and we stopped and discussed some and we heard things differently at times.  In the end, I love the fact that we live in a country where we get to watch debates like this and in the end we get to vote.  We get to vote!  Monday, October 6th is the deadline to register, by the way.  Make sure you are registered here.  Tina Fey is funny and talented, but she cannot be our barometer.  Pros and cons surround both tickets, so learn about the primary issues that separate the candidates and vote based on your own conscience and convictions.  

In the end, we have neighbors on both sides, coworkers on both sides, and friends on both sides.  Discussing the issues does not have to be a negative experience, but I have to admit that it often leads to more tension than I wish it did!

Have a great Friday and Go Chargers - Beat Lake!

Nice Job Governor

Tonight was a very different story than last night in relation to the RNC.  Earlier this year, I praised a speech given by Senator Obama.  Tonight I have to give equal praise to Gov. Palin for her speech tonight.  I realize that most of the speech was written by someone else, but I'm not thinking that the Senator writes all of his speeches.  However, both know how to deliver a speech.  She was staunch and was strong enough to say what many people seem to think.  Any thought that she might not be strong enough was squelched.  I'm still not sure I agree with all of her positions and I am really looking forward to hearing more from her and the others in the next two months, but tonight was fun.  Again, I was proud to be an American because my parents never would have seen this at my age...wait they did, but it was at the other convention!  Regardless, we've come a long way to see a female in a position like Sarah Palin is in right now.

My favorite line of her speech tonight was:

"Some people use change to promote their careers, while others use their career to promote change."

I was also stopped in my tracks by another statement made during the night.

"How dare they question whether Sarah Palin has enough time to spend with her children and be vice president? When do they ever ask a man that same question?" 

- Rudy Guliani

Does asking that question infer a certain amount of sexism on my part?  I like to consider myself open and an advocate for women's rights in our culture and especially in our churches.  I am more "liberal" than most of my friends when it comes to women's positions of leadership and authority, but tonight I felt like that was being challenged.  Maybe rightly so, and maybe not.  I don't think that we never ask a man that same question.  I often think about that when a father takes a job that removes him from the home more than not, whether it's president, vice-president, shift-worker, coach, CEO, CFO or whatever.  The difference is that it is so frequent with men, that to ask the question every single time would simply ask it all the time.  For the first time, I'm asking it of a woman and it hasn't been asked.  I am concerned for our nation, but I am also concerned for our families.  Our kids need us as parents, and our country needs parents in the White House.  I think that Governor Palin could do great good in explaining how she does manage to raise a family and manage a high profile career.  Even the great Billy Graham has admitted his failings as a father during his traveling and high profile career.  Nobody is above a hard look for their family's sake.  Maybe she and Todd, a business owner and world champion snow mobiler, have taken a hard look and made the decision they believe is right for their family and their country.  

Nice night.  I am looking forward to more from her.

It's been a long 7 days...

Well, it's been an eventful seven days, that's for sure.  Last week I really thought I'd comment on what I watched at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, but I wasn't blown away by any of it, and I just kept waiting.  Michelle Obama gave a nice speech for her husband, I liked it.  Hillary gave a pretty good Hillary speech, it was better than I expected.  Bill is good when he speaks, but not sure I believed it.  Joe Biden was Joe Biden.  Barack's finale was grand.  75,000+ people gathered was quite a spectacle.  I was however disappointed that he spent the first 1/3 of his speech doing what he's convinced many of us that he wouldn't do - typical political bashing of the other candidate.  The back 2/3 I thought were good, but in the end, I thought his 2004 speech was better and his speech last spring when his former pastor made the idiotic remarks were both more inspiring speeches.  DNC 08, in the books.

Friday brought another whirlwind with the selection of Alaskan governer Sarah Palin as John McCain's VP candidate.  Wow, that seemed to come out of left field.  I am neither for her nor against her, for I know her not.  It was pretty funny watching all of the media scramble on Friday because it seemed to catch everyone off-guard.  I like some of the things I hear about her, but I am concerned about other things.  I definitely think that it makes the next 60 days much more interesting.  I'm still liking the Meghan McCain blog.

Saturday came and an email from my mom changed the course of the weekend.  She asked us to come visit her and wait there until we determined where Gustav was going to make landfall.  Rhonda and I had already decided we weren't moving until the storm made a shift toward us, but when mom's ask, sons pretty much go, right?  We packed up and went west to Ganado, Texas.  We played a little golf, I got sick, was laid up all day Sunday, then played a little more golf on Monday, then headed back home.  I must say that being at my mom's was the best place to be sick, though.  Not for her and Dad, but for me.  She hooked me up with some meds that kept it all to a minimum.  

We watched Gustav push through Louisiana and heard about Gov. Palin's family situation.  I really wish her kids were grown and out of the house, because I know how valuable she is to her family right now and I think it might be more than the value she is to our country.  That's just me, though and I could be wrong.  I also happen to think that she just might make a great vice president.  I was proud of the political parties for their stances over the weekend with Gustav and I was proud to see Senator McCain request a tone-down of the convention-as-usual affairs for yesterday.  I am however looking forward to tonight and hopefully something will wow me enough to write about it in the morning.

Either way, I'm back and planning to be here every morning this week.  For the record, my blog is not a political blog, but rather a blog about how we are embracing the Christ-life in every place, with everything every day and one of the most exciting presidential elections of my time just happens to be falling in the middle of my "in every place, with everything everyday."  My apologies if my views don't line up with yours and you think they should.  Don't celebrate if they happen to line up anywhere today, because tomorrow might be a whole new story.  I'm not a journalist, so I am not always trying to be unbiased (though they aren't very good at it either).  I just want to spur those of us who follow Jesus to be more willing to listen and discuss with each other.  We may not always like each other's positions but that doesn't mean we can't have meaningful, intelligent conversation does it?  Have fun, don't take yourself or others too seriously.