:: Govind Talwalkar

Republican Party rescued itself, now it needs to clinch victory

Govind Talwalkar

Senator John McCain is now the official nominee of the Republican Party, which rescued itself in the St. Paul convention. The party had been disheartened and bewildered until then. Though Senator McCain was not far behind his Democratic rival, Senator Barack Obama, in the polls, his campaign was faltering and had no life. Moreover, the conservative Republicans were lukewarm towards Mr McCain, while the Evangelicals were downright against him.

To make things worse, four states — Louisiana, Florida, Texas and Alabama — were hit by the terrible hurricane Gustav just a few days before the convention, thereby disrupting the convention schedule. People had very bitter memories of the utter failure of the federal, state and local administrations during hurricane Katrina three years ago, resulting in the deaths of several hundred people and rendering hundreds of thousand homeless.

If this had been repeated, when Gustav hit, the Republican Party had no option but to fold up its election campaign. But fortunately, the administration at all levels met the expectations and performed remarkably well.

Mr McCain was facing a divided party and it was thought that he would either select a conservative as a running mate or, not being knowledgeable of economic problems, he would opt for Mitt Romney, a successful businessman and former governor of Massachusetts. So when he announced the name of Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska, he might have kept his reputation as a maverick, but with the exception of few, everybody asked, who is Sarah Palin? Ms Palin has been the governor of Alaska for less than two years, and prior to that she was the mayor of a small town in Alaska. This very scanty experience generated discussions.

Several hundred newspaper columns and several days on TV channels were spent questioning the judgment of Mr McCain in choosing her and asking how she would step in the President’s shoes in case Mr McCain were to become incapacitated or expire. He is 72-years-old and is prone to skin cancer. It was assumed that Joe Biden, a Democratic nominee for the vice-presidential race, who has been a senator for the last 35 years, would make mince meat of Ms Palin in the debate.

The print and electronic media was mad at her and started digging her past. The New York Times did not mind printing three stories about her on the front page on the same day. As is expected with almost all public figures, Ms Palin has several unsavoury incidents in her life. When it was found that her 17-year-old daughter was five-months pregnant, legal and moral issues were raised. Thus, the Republican convention started under a cloud of doubt and apprehension.

Conservative Republicans, on the contrary, were enthused by the selection of Ms Palin, an extreme conservative. Being a working woman, she evoked natural empathy from the same category of women, many of whom are angry at the way the media treated Hillary Clinton and how Mr Obama discarded Ms Clinton. They think that Mc Clinton would have attracted several states and sections of people, which Mr Biden cannot. But it cannot be assumed that Ms Clinton’s women voters who feel hurt, would all switch over to the Republicans. This is because Ms Palin is a diehard conservative.

When Ms Palin addressed the convention, which was her debut on the national stage, unexpectedly she not only galvanised the party but electrified it.

It is generally expected that a vice-presidential nominee should go after the rival party. Ms Palin went beyond expectations. She went hammer and tongs against both, Mr Obama and Mr Biden, but more against the former. Her cuts and thrusts were devastating. Some of her critics were aghast when she critically examined Mr Obama’s record. As the Democratic Senator is a media icon, the media considers it its duty to defend him with all the weapons in its arsenal. Ms Palin also took on the mainstream media as well.

It has to be admitted that though Ms Palin has proved that she can attack forcefully, she could not dispel doubts about her ability to take over from Mr McCain, if the necessity arose. She has managed her state tolerably well, and most of all, has seen to it that the natural resources are properly exploited to increase oil production. But the economic problems facing the country are enormous and very intricate. Unfortunately, both Mr Obama and Mr McCain have fuzzy ideas about solving these problems.

Mr McCain had the difficult task of garnering the support of the Republican Party which has failed the people for the last seven-and-a-half years. He had the courage to tell the party that it had failed and that reforms were essential. Some critics found fault with Mr McCain’s acceptance speech as he did not do anything to appeal to the "independent" voters who, if convinced, might vote for him. But these critics forget that he has to first take his party with him to win the elections.

Mr McCain has also recognised that public opinion is not in favour of Iraq war. So, in spite his own position, he barely mentioned the Iraq war and dwelt instead on the menace of Islamic terrorism. Even though Mr McCain branded Iran as a State which sponsors terrorism, he assured that he would use diplomacy, and if that failed, would stand up to the dictators.

Mr McCain is generally in tune with the economic policies of the Bush administration. So he would cut the taxes when necessary. But he wants to invest more in education and new technology. This, he thinks, is the way to create new jobs. To avoid discontent in the party’s rank and file, he did not spell out in detail his economic plan for the country’s revival. But in the three ensuing debates between him and Mr Obama, both candidates would not be able to dwell on generalities.

The problem facing Mr McCain and Mr Obama is that they would not be able to win the election solely on the support of ardent party supporters. They have to appeal to the non-committed. There is still some grumbling in the Democratic Party, which is yet to attract the white working women, who happen to be in a commanding position. The Republican Party has, at present, consolidated itself. But if the vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin is let lose to preach her reactionary creed, its chances would be dimmed.