Obama and Palin Fantasy Team
Barack Obama & Sarah Palin May Have Both Won in a Fantasy Election
Oct 26, 2008
By crossing party lines to select Democrat Barrack Obama and Republican Sarah Palin for their fantasy team, Americans could have buried two lingering discrimination complaints in 2008, electing their first African-American president and their first female vice president. Obama and Palin could have been paired, in the words of Saturday Night Live’s George Bush, as "the hot lady and the Tiger Woods guy."
Imagine the possibilities. Political ceilings for both blacks and women would have been shattered in one dramatic election. Both Democrats and Republicans would have something to be happy about after the election.
Obama-Palin Ticket Unbeatable
An Obama-Palin ticket may have been unbeatable. Ruben Navarrette Jr. of the San Diego Union Tribune wrote in September that Palin was providing the excitement for the Republican ticket, as Obama was doing for the Democratic ticket. If voters could vote for them individually, Obama would win the presidency and Palin would win the vice-presidency, Navarrette said.
Her popularity declined a bit in October, but would it have slipped on a fantasy team with Obama, a less aggressive media and fewer George Bush consultants guiding her?
Their winning would not be the first time that representatives of two different parties headed the administrative branch. Prior to passage of the 12th Amendment in 1804, the candidate getting the second highest number of electoral votes in the presidential election became the vice president. Federalist John Adams did so under Republican George Washington and Republican Thomas Jefferson served as vice president under Adams.
Obama and Palin on the same ticket? Why not? They’re both parents, they’re from the same generation, they both want to change Washington, and they both say they can "cross the aisle" to solve problems, suggeting they might have been able to work together had they met under different circumstances.
Obama, 47, and Palin, 44, would have been one of the youngest teams in American presidential campaign history. They could have used a lot of age innuendo against a fantasy ticket composed of John McCain, 72, and Joe Biden, 66.
Joint Obama-Palin rallies would have attracted record-sized crowds.
Eloquent Speeches and Soccer Mom Folksiness
Obama could have inspired the mammoth crowds with his eloquent liberal speeches. Palin could have charmed them with her soccer mom folksiness.
She probably could have gotten him an invitation to Saturday Night Live.
Instead of splitting the support of America’s two newest states, they could have not only won Hawaii’s four electoral votes, but also Alaska’s three votes, giving them a running start toward the required 270 electoral votes.
Together they would have to carry only a fraction of the political baggage that veteran Senators McCain and Biden carry. They can call it experience, but 58 years in the U.S. Senate (McCain’s 22 and Biden’s 36) leaves candidates with much more to answer for than two years in the Alaska governor’s office and two years in the Senate.
Forget the $150,000 Wardrobe
Obama wouldn’t have had to put up with Palin suggesting he was a terrorist. He probably could have quelled the criticism of her $150,000 wardrobe.
Palin could probably convince Joe the Plumber that Barrack wouldn’t increase Joe’s taxes until he was making $250,000 per year.
And after eight years as vice president under Obama, Palin could claim enough experience to be president.
In a fantasy election, anything is possible, as it would be in a fantasy administration.
Reference:
Ruben Navarrette Jr., CNN.com, Sept. 12, 2008
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