That Girl from Derwent dwells on the value of religion this Christmas.
That Girl from Derwent has learned a few more things about prejudice since moving up North.
That Girl From Derwent reckons if you're going to be offensive, you should find a better reason.
That Girl from Derwent considers why it is that some words have wider implications than others.
Written by Jay Walker
Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against John McCain. He served his country in Vietnam and he used to have the good sense to be a Democrat. Heck, he even appeared in the film The Wedding Crashers a few years back! However, I would not be happy if he was to come to power, and whilst I don't subscribe to the view of some of my peers that "Sarah Palin is actually insane", I would be devastated if someone who is anti-abortion, pro-gun and currently under investigation for abusing her power as Governor of Alaska to get her ex-brother-in-law fired as a highway patrolman became the second-in-command of the most powerful country in the world.
The problem is though, and this is what really worries me, is that there is a fair chance that the McCain-Palin ticket may be successful tonight for a number of reasons.
McCain has played a blinder in picking Sarah Palin
Firstly, John McCain, to use footballing terminology for a second, has played a blinder in picking Sarah Palin as his running mate. In one swift move, the Republicans have attracted a lot of female voters to their ticket who were disenchanted by the fact that Hillary didn’t win the Democratic nomination race, as well as also proving the old adage that 'sex sells' really is true. Before announcing Palin as his running mate, McCain was pretty much dead in the water. Obama had a sizeable lead on him, and was starting to look like a sure thing to become the next President. By putting Palin on his ticket, McCain injected new life into his campaign and renewed hope that a win was possible. Despite all the stick she's gotten from the likes of Tina Fey's Palin sketches on Saturday Night Live and her mind-blowingly neo-conservative views on guns, abortion, pre-marital sex and the like, she is still polling very well and has seemingly got a lot of otherwise disenchanted men interested in politics again!
Secondly, in my opinion, although it must be said not the vast majority of my peers' opinions, Joe Biden is not exactly the most inspiring of running mates for Obama. Whilst Obama is this very charismatic, media-savvy, handsome, cool candidate (essentially the black Clinton!), Biden strikes me as being someone who, if the Democratic ticket was to get elected, could cause the party a lot of embarrassment in the future, as he evidently has done in the past. Apparently he has been chosen because of his many years of foreign policy experience and to nullify the nay-sayers who say that Obama doesn’t have the experience to be President. However, whilst Biden's experience can’t be questioned, his forthright opinions, which have previously landed him in trouble, can.
Finally, and what I am most worried about, is the potential for the Bradley Effect to take hold in the polling booths tomorrow. For those not familiar with the concept, the Bradley Effect states that an element of inherent racism is bound to occur when a person comes to cast their vote. This is what terrifies me; that good-hearted voters will enter the booth fully supporting Obama, but will then vote for McCain.
I would like to think that none of these factors will come into play and the Obama-Biden ticket will win, but until the early hours of Wednesday morning when the official results are announced, I will be silently nervous.
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