Rank Incompetence

How would a McCain Administration run the country?

Let's examine a small part of his campaign .....

It is reasonable to assume that many of the Campaign managers, on the winning side of the aisle, will form the Executive staff in the White House.

These people will, on a day-to-day basis, be charged with running the country. While Congress is tasked with making laws, that is a process which is reactive, and rarely proactive, almost by definition. The Executive has to be responsive, on an immediate basis, and has also to anticipate.

Doing all of this requires that the Executive is staffed with able people. Folk who are knowledgeable and who possess good instincts, and have access to informed advice.

A key component of this is the application of finely tuned political skills and acumen. It isn't enough to be right more often than you are wrong; it is also important to appear to be right, and not be so unskilled that you do the right thing, but make it look bad.

Barack Obama passes this test easily, and we need have no concerns. Despite the most ferocious attacks on character witnessed in US political campaigning, he has appeared to handle it all very comfortably.John Kerry, arguably, came under an equally sustained personal attack from the SwiftBoat group. The differences are in how he responded. Equally arguable is that the attempt to link BO to terrorism was actually rather harder to manage. The ins and out of that are another debate.

Despite the vitriol, BO has, and continues to inspire ordinary Americans in extraordinary numbers. Witness his ground game. Barack Obama has, over the last two years, demonstrated an Executive competence unparalleled in it's efficiency and effectiveness.

Let's cross the aisle.

I only want to look at a single, topical, example of the executive talents of the RNC and the McCain Campaign. It is an example that goes right to the heart of managerial skills, with particular reference to their political skills.

Sarah Palin's frock, or frocks, and shoes, hair and other girl stuff.

How on earth did the campaign allow the cost of outfitting Saracuda to become public knowledge so close to the election? It is almost so bad to make me wonder if they are deliberately trying to sabotage their own chances.

If the Campaign had given me $150 000 (I wish), and asked me to spend it in such a way that it made them look as out of touch, and reckless as possible, I could not have done better than they managed themselves.

Where were the managerial skill? Where was the political acumen? Are these the people we will entrust delicate International negotiations to? This mindset is the same as "You are with us, or you are against us" school of thought, or more of the same.

I don't much care how much her frocks cost, quite frankly. It's a minor expenditure. But they surely realised that this trivial amount (Obama will spend upwards of $600 million), is probably the most politically charged expense of the McCain Campaign. Was it entirely beyond them to hide it? Jeez .... a $150k charge off to a marketing agency for "marketing expenses incurred" would never have been noticed. And if it had, and folk wanted it specifying, then the response "We'll get back to you with the details ..... call us on the 5th Nov. we're kinda busy right now", would have sufficed.

I am not advocating fraud and deception here. I am simply saying that the RNC and the McCain Campaign lacks the skills even to manage clothing it's VP nominee.

How on earth do they expect us to trust them to run the country?

Crossposted with discussion