Mind Your Own Business, Alaska

Maybe Todd Palin was on to something. The "Alaska First, Alaska Always" slogan of his former party might just be exactly what the doctor ordered for Alaskan politicians. Though I might proffer an additional clause: "Alaska Only".

You see, over the last year or so we've had a close-up look at Alaska's political elite and, plainly, it's not a pretty sight. If I may paraphrase Diane Court in Say Anything, "I've glimpsed our future with Alaskan politicians leading our country and all I can say is...go back." Please. Please, go back to your dog-sled races, moose burgers, and ice fishing. The combined effect of the loony Democratic primary candidacy of Mike Gravel, the through the looking-glass vice presidential candidacy of Sarah Palin, and that freshly-minted stain on the Senate courtesy of Ted Stevens create an unequivocal impression of unfitness for inclusion at the grown up table. And these are the folks you picked out the general population to lead you?

The travails of Gov. Palin are well known to all by now and need no rehash so, oh what the heck, here's Andrew Sullivan on a rant:


If you'll recall, we met Mike Gravel back in the Democratic primary. The crazy guy at the end of the stage who never got a question. You remember him, the one who made Dennis Kucinich appear reasonable by contrast. The one who gave this unforgettable ad:


The only thing more bizarre than this ad, is the former far-left Democratic senator's broad-minded support of Gov. Palin as a VP nominee...

Sarah has literally come to the national scene without owing anything to any party or corporate interest––not even McCain––he needs her more than she needs him. Imagine a person a heart beat away not owned by the military-industrial complex, Wall Street, corporate America or AIPAC. WOW! Can this last? Probably not. But she does have an uncanny sense of political direction and the ability to capitalize on change like putting the public interest above Republican Party interests.

...before taking a pot-shot at her running mate...

In the interest of full disclosure: I have no intention of voting for McCain. He is too steeped in the use of military power to solve problems and American imperialism—and the wars it creates. At times McCain has been a maverick, but, unfortunately, never that consistently. There are too many temptations in Washington, even for a man born on third base.

...before falling back into derangement...

Sarah: keep up the practice of having Todd hang out with you in your official capacities. Insist that he be given a clearance equal to yours, so that you are not excluded from the full depth of his counsel. If push comes to shove, he is the only one you can trust. He must study, read and grow in your office as quickly as you. What you face is more than one person can handle.

So, on behalf of everyone here in the Lower 48, go away. Leave us alone. You come down out of your crazy Alaskan/Aleutian time zone and offer naught but bewilderment. It's been a diverting reminder to all of us that you exist, but it's really time to go back where you belong: somewhere in the recesses of our collective consciousness. Let the Lower 48 handle it. We're fine, we're good, really. In the words of your own governor, "thanks, but no thanks" for your participation in national affairs. As we say (or rather sing) down here in contiguous states, "It's one (Gravel), two (Palin), three (Stevens) strikes you're out at the old ball game". Don't act like you don't know the song, I know you play baseball up there in the land of the midnight sun:

The Narratives of the Candidates

Out of retirement with this highly recommended piece by David Bordwell about Obama and McCain and the narratives they've constructed for themselves (through their memoirs and the campaign). I don't think I can do it justice in capsule review, so just read it.

Excerpted:

If McCain’s book is an adventure tale, Obama’s is a detective story. The through-line, as screenwriters might say, is Obama’s search for his identity as a African American. If McCain’s plot is driven by honor and duty, Obama’s depends on race and social responsibility. McCain steers by a fixed star, and is shamed when he goes off course. Obama is scanning the heavens for some stable pole that will give him a sense of who he is.

Obama’s tale is more complex than McCain’s, but each one reflects the image of the protagonist. McCain lives in a world of clear-cut demands, called the Code, and so any problem comes from failing to meet the obligations of duty. Obama’s world is hazy and uncertain; there is no Code. How should a man like him, with his heritage, find a way to live with dignity?

...we can say that stories create curiosity about past events, suspense about future events, and surprise by means of unexpected events. Whatever other emotions a narrative evokes, we need to feel at least one of these three states. We can distinguish the two Presidential campaigns’ “master narratives,” along these dimensions.

In the ongoing electioneering, Obama’s campaign is now driven almost completely by suspense. He’s not asking us to find out more about what led to the war in Iraq or the economic collapse or the crumbling infrastructure; it’s assumed that we know enough backstory. Everything is about what comes next...The very image of suspense.

McCain, by contrast, is running a campaign driven by curiosity and surprise. Many of his talking points dwell on the past. Who is Barack Obama, really? What did he have to do with Ayers, Rezko, the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac executives? Why did he sit in Jeremiah Wright’s church? And so on. These questions ask us to feel curiosity in the form of suspicion about McCain’s rival. The fact that most in his audience haven’t taken up the hint has driven the campaign to try to invoke another emotion: surprise. The pick of Sarah Palin is the most obvious instance, but several others have followed: suspending the campaign, promising to buy people’s mortgages, yanking Joe the Plumber out of obscurity as an emblem of small business, even the “not ready yet” tagline of a recent ad. There may be more surprises to come, as gloomy Democrats fear (which only increases their feeling of suspense). At this point, the act of winning would be the ultimate McCain surprise.

So the campaigns may teach us something of interest about narratives: You can’t have a gripping narrative without some suspense. You can do without curiosity or surprise, but a story lacking suspense won’t keep us turning enough pages to be curious or surprised. Maybe that’s why the McCain campaign never had a “compelling narrative.” It didn’t build up enough of a sense of how it would win or how, after the election, the future would be different.