Truths Denied

Douglas MacKinnon
Monday, October 20, 2008

Ironically, but not surprisingly, politics is a business where the truth is not always embraced. Many times, it´s outright shunned and denied. While numerous examples abound, here are a few “truths” that one side or the other will froth at the mouth disavowing.

With regard to improving their election chances come November 4th, some in the Obama campaign would be quite happy if the economy stayed in the tank just a bit longer.

Obviously, there is absolutely no one in the Obama campaign who would admit to this. Such an admission would foolishly put the interests of Barack Obama before the financial solvency of the American people. That said, Democrats I speak with off the record -- while shocked with what´s happening to their mutual funds and 401K plans -- are thrilled that the horrific economic news not only stopped the Palin bounce, but moved Mr. Obama solidly up in the polls. Privately, they tell me that two more weeks of this would be just what the doctor could order for Mr. Obama´s political health.

There are some McCain supporters who are privately pleased with the notion that a certain percentage of Americans won´t vote for Mr. Obama simply because he is black.

While suicidal for the McCain campaign to even acknowledge these voters, they are out there. Most, if not all associated with John McCain think Mr. Obama is stupendously unqualified for the office of president. That said, if that argument won´t fly for them, then some are quite open to having Republican and Democrat racists either vote for their guy, or sit out the election. Sadly, in the America of 2008, racism is alive and well and is going to have an impact on this election.

For her future political life, it would be much better for Sen. Hillary Clinton if Mr. Obama lost this election.

Again, while a blinding flash of the obvious, no one associated with camp Clinton is ever going to admit to this. Ever. Mrs. Clinton, and many Republicans I know, felt that she was head and shoulders more suitable than Mr. Obama. She, and a number of her advisors, felt that some in the media did not give her a fair shake. She felt that sexism played too negative a role in the coverage of her campaign. If Mr. Obama wins and is reelected, Mrs. Clinton will be almost 70 years of age come the 2016 election. Commonsense and the truth dictates that 2012 would make much more sense for try at the Oval Office. A truth that can´t be spoken by Mrs. Clinton.

Conservative women can and have shattered glass ceilings and are feminists.

My dictionary defines feminism as “the belief in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes.” I think most rational people would admit that Governor Sarah Palin has advanced the social, political and economic interests of women by word and deed. And yet, her candidacy for vice president has elicited a visceral response from some self-described liberal feminists, some democrats, and some in the media, that borders on outright hatred. The “truth” for many on the left, is that you can only be a feminist if you are liberal.

Most of the mainstream media is pulling for Mr. Obama.

Even in the face of study after study that proves otherwise, the knee-jerk reaction of the MSM is to vehemently deny this obvious bias. Just recently, a study of campaign coverage released by the Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University showed that ABC, CBS and NBC had the Obama virus: "61 percent of the stories that appeared on the networks between Aug. 23 and Sept. 30 were positive toward the Democratic Party," while "just 39 percent of the stories covering Republicans were favorable."

Beyond the networks, Mr. Obama has almost all of the top 100 papers in the country in his corner as well as various cable networks, including… the Weather channel. It´s gotten so bad, that a friend of mine, and a self-described liberal editor at a top-ten newspaper, has decided to quit in disgust over the blatant bias of her own paper.

How telling is it when the media denies a truth that in the end, brings it great shame while rigging our democratic process.

Global Warming is becoming Global Cooling.

For years, the left leaning media pounded George W. Bush because he “could not admit a mistake.” As the planet cools, will Al Gore and his army of eco-sycophants admit that they were wrong? Hardly. The truth here is that Gore and the left will simply substitute “Climate Change” for “Global Warming.”

Experience does matter.

Leaving aside political correctness and affirmative action, for most jobs in the public and private sector, experience does matter. It is usually the deciding factor between one applicant and the other. Be it newspapers, the network news, or a presidential campaign, chances are, the more experienced candidate is going to get the position. In a private poll I took several months ago, I asked 20 people from very diverse backgrounds and who did not follow politics at all, to pick between two candidates to head up their local government. For the poll, I stripped off the gender, color and age of the candidates. I simply listed their educational, job and political experience. With some qualifiers, all 20 picked candidate “B.” Candidate “A” was Mr. Obama. Candidate “B” was… drum roll please… Dan Quayle.

Experience does matter. That is a fact of life for everything it seems, but this election. Mr. McCain has basically two weeks to contrast his military, congressional and life experience with that of Mr. Obama´s and ask the American people if they honestly think Mr. Obama is more qualified and experienced for the job.

Two weeks for Mr. McCain to sell the experience argument or else. And that´s the truth.