At least, for Gov. Palin. Sen. Biden seems to be able to make up whatever nonsense/lies he wants on the spot without anyone blinking an eye.

I still hold that the Gov. Palin pick was brilliant strategy. I do not think McCain would be as close as he is right now in the polls without Gov. Palin. Maybe KB Hutchinson would have worked out (and would have certainly been experienced), but who knows.. So far though, and maybe because of Gov. Palin's 'handlers' (who are supposedly Bush folks), she hasn't "wowed" me (outside the RNC speech). To be fair, the only interviews that have been done have been pretty soft or included Charlie Gibson himself flubbing the Bush Doctrine (which no one but the Washington Post seemed to notice).

Tonight it's on. It's, in my opinion, the first real chance to judge her ability to be in the White House. Does it matter? Not really. Obamabots will say she was awful and the worst thing ever and that they're 'outraged' by it, and conservatives will say Biden is a moronic windbag and Gov. Palin is a hottie and McDonald's should carry moose burgers. Then in a couple of days, we'll go back to worrying about, you know, jobs and things.

But man, it's going to make for great TV. Even if it does end up being a train wreck (for either candidate, they both seem to be capable of it.. we'll see)

Seriously..

There's something tremendously awesome about Joe Biden when it comes to people in wheel chairs.

Note to Joe -- a leader instilling confidence in people after a market crash by proving he knows what he is talking about would know that FDR wasn't president in 1929 (and wasn't president for another 4 years) and Televisions weren't commercially available for at least another decade.

Good grief. Can you imagine what would happen if Gov. Palin had said this?

UPDATE: Does anyone happen to know what FDR wrote on his blog after the challenger exploded?.... ;)

If you want to point political fingers about our current housing meltdown, it might be good idea to know a little background information.

Here's a start.

Somebody might want to tell the Obama campaign exactly why McCain isn't able to use a computer and email.

McCain gets emotional at the mention of military families needing food stamps or veterans lacking health care. The outrage comes from inside: McCain's severe war injuries prevent him from combing his hair, typing on a keyboard, or tying his shoes. Friends marvel at McCain's encyclopedic knowledge of sports. He's an avid fan - Ted Williams is his hero - but he can't raise his arm above his shoulder to throw a baseball. - Boston Globe (circa 2000).

I haven't posted much about the campaign in few days or so. It's tough to know where to even start. The media/Obama campaign/DNC keeps walking into trap after trap. Regardless of what side of the aisle you are on, it's hard not to acknowledge that August was simply abysmal for the Democrats. September, so far, appears to be heading in a similar direction. Obama now trails in national polls and is dead even in EVs (he was previously dominating both).

My general thought has been that Obama has yet to run against John McCain. First, he was running against Bush, which if you follow politics outside of every four years, you'd know Bush & McCain are as close to mortal enemies as a political party would allow for (with apologies to Ron Paul, of course).

Then he was running against a VP candidate in Sarah Palin. Inexperience only calls attention to his own, religion arguments only bring up Rev. Wright, can't go after earmarks because he requested $1 billion of them, and can't say hardly anything without it being twisted into sexism charges (whether it is or isn't, i.e. "lipstick on a pig")

This ad is supposed to be the first in a long line of "sharpened attacks" against Sen. McCain. We'll have to see if this little over sight of theirs gets picked up outside political dork media (I saw it at National Review), or if Obama's camp keeps hammering on it.

If I had to stereotype a presidential election, I'd say that Dem's create a story/narrative. Republicans poke holes in it until everyone grows cynical towards that story/narrative. I read something on Politico that basically said President Clinton's whole gig is to not make the campaign about him (he'll only do that to his wife's campaign, I guess). I'd imagine that was a big part of his success. There wasn't much to poke a hole in. Compare that to war hero Kerry. By October, everyone had started to remember he and Jane Fonda and all the war protests.

The Republican camp has started picking apart Obama's narrative in a way that spins things in their direction. They've characterized Obama has a snob. Elitest, pretentious, egotistical -- the whole bit.. Making fun of someone for not being able to physically do something -- that has the potential to play right into that caricature and fuel the charges. Not to mention it's more red meat for the base to get fired up over.

Whether or not McCain's camp will respond to it, who knows. I'd suspect that they won't, actually. At least not formally. We'll likely see it on Bill O'reilly and all the conservative talk shows, and it may echo out from there.

Funny/well made. Enjoy ;)

Well, she's got grit, that's for sure.

This whole time we've been thinking that the narrative is experience vs. non experience. I criticized the Biden pick over it, as I wasn't not sure how it fit in. Damn near everyone criticized the Palin pick for the same reasons. I guess for me, there was a sense that things weren't what they seemed, and we'd have to wait for her to talk to be sure. Typically, narratives aren't set until the convention. This has just been such a long and painful campaign cycle, it felt easy to jump the gun.

I thought there might be experience and woman issues as major story lines. What I missed though, is something that I think Steve Schmidt deserves a whole lot of credit for. The narrative is neither of these things, at least, primarily.

The plot has turned into small town America vs big cities.

I had all but forgotten the "they cling to guns and religion" comment. That was truly a turning point for the Obama/Hillary showdown if you put it on a time line. I think it was Peggy Noonan who said there are ~250 cities with 100k or more, and 100k or more cities with 10k or less.

To put it in geek terms, small towns are the long tail in American politics.

So what does this mean for the race? No idea. All I know is McCain stands a much better chance today than he would have with a tradional pick. There are about 60 days left until the election though. Lot's of things can happen, and some of the dirt being thrown at Gov. Palin may very well stick. We've yet to see any real polling numbers on any of this but should start to get a better idea in a week or two.

National polls don't matter much, instead watch polling in Ohio, Colorado, Nevada, Penn, and Virginia. Penn is a long shot for republicans, it'll be more about trying to force Democrats to spend money and time defending it. Indiana and Minnesota are other long shots for both parties. To give you an idea of how close this election is, if everyone voted Today, Obama would win by less than a state. If Colorado, which has traditionally been republican and is now on the fence, again votes republican, McCain wins. This isn't the landslide a lot of folks like to pretend it'll be.

I should say, since I have a lot of friends who are over the top Obama supporters, that I'm fascinated by the guy. I keep his 2004 DNC speech on my ipod, after he gave it I immediately read his first book and then when his second book came out, I read it that week straight through. I love his story, I love his charisma, I love his feelings towards community. I just simply disagree with his view on the role of government, and I'd be a hack if I didn't acknowledge that.

Most folks take that to mean that I was going to vote McCain anyway. Perhaps, but truth be told if a pollster called and asked, I likely would have said Bob Barr. I was thinking it may very well be a protest vote kind of year. What I needed to see from McCain was vintage McCain, not robotic scripted awkward McCain. Picking a vp out of left right field that infuriates so many people? Now, that's more like it. McCain is supposed to be unpredictable. That's part of his charm. And truth be told -- I'm just as annoyed with what the GOP has done lately as everybody else. I think most fiscal conservative types are.

We'll see how all this plays out. I'm just thrilled that no matter what happens, a history changing ticket wins. We've come a long way.

When Obama was rumored to be picking Gov Kaine, we heard certain cable news networks talk about him being an outsider and enhancing the reform characteristics of Obama's ticket.

McCain picks Gov Palin, those same news networks talk about how its a desperation pick.

Both Palin and Kaine have similar amounts of governing experience. One just happens to be a female on a GOP ticket (omg its the wrong party!)

During the rally yesterday, MSNBC put in their ticker -- "How many houses does this ad to the McCain campaign?". Yeah, that's relevant and unbiased. Someone take the keyboard for the ticker away from Keith Olbermann, and stat.

Hillary's camp has long accused MSNBC of favoritism towards Obama. Hell, Mathews doesn't care if Obama gives him chills up and down his leg, he wants the world to know! You'll start hearing the republicans lobbing the same criticisms towards MSNBC. It'll be interesting to see if the Clinton's back off their statements now that he's "their guy."

Yikes.

Let me paraphrase: "I will systematically disarm our country. Walk softly, and carry absolutely no stick at all."

He sure did look and sound good saying it though. This may be the fodder McCain's camp has been looking/waiting for.

By far the coolest political video I've ever seen. There are a lot of things about Obama that I don't agree with (immediate withdrawal, for one), but man is it hard not to like this guy.


It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.

Yes we can.

It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom.

Yes we can.

It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.

Yes we can.

It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballots; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.

Yes we can to justice and equality.

Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.

Yes we can heal this nation.

Yes we can repair this world.

Yes we can.

We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.

We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics...they will only grow louder and more dissonant ........... We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.

But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.

Now the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea --

Yes. We. Can.

Bin Laden released a new tape. It's typical crazy jibber jabber, but he does outline the two conditions that this war can end. Number one, is that they win. Number two, is that we abolish our democracy (paraphrased). This isn't new information. If you read his original fatwah (his declaration of war), he says (again, paraphrased) that we shouldn't be allowed to create laws that supercede Allah's (aka, democracy).

I'm curious to hear from any Ron Paul supporters who want to explain the Congressman's stance on the war, in context to the things OBL says.

For those not politcally inclined, Congressman Paul asserts that they fight us because we've been interfering with the middle east and that if we withdrawl immediately, they'll stop. It''s an interesting argument (and is, at least, a part of his fatwah), but it seems completely counter to most of the information that comes out of Al Qaeda (especially recent, current information). Congressman Paul, of course, says that it's not/etc.

Anyone want to take this one? Ground rules: No flames, no personal attacks, no 9/11 truth movement, and everyone play nice. I'm genuinely interested in hearing explanations from the Ron Paul crowd based on non-conspiracy theory evidence.