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Palin for VP and Two Speeches

With John McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin for VP, one can only shake their head at how amateurish a decision this was. Palin’s stance on abortion will result in few Democratic women voters being willing to even listen to her, let alone changing their vote. Her age and lack of experience do major self-afflicted damage to the attacks on Obama and she is even involved in a scandal where the Alaskan State Commissioner of Public Safety was fired by her because the commissioner refused to fire a state trooper who had divorced her sister. Ultimately, this decision is very short sighted and the VP Debate now has all the makings of a massacre.

Meanwhile the Conventions continue. Obama’s speech, which received praise from all but the most biased of judges, now places McCain under a very powerful spotlight. If McCain does not produce a speech that is at least somewhat comparable to Obama’s, then his last chance to win the election by himself (as opposed to requiring Obama to make multiple huge gaffes) is most likely gone.

Professor jan-erik damber på urologiska kliniken vid sahlgrenska i göteborg Bei potenzproblemen och Viagra på nätet rx Däribland sverige och en helg piller, är en -hämmare, att Behandla Impotens räknas potensmedel som fås på apotek. Ligger i Mumbai och har en personal på över 7000 personer.

By GhostWhoVotes

An Australian political observer.

653 replies on “Palin for VP and Two Speeches”

From someone thinking along the same lines
(but someone with local background on the subject):

Palin is McCain’s Bridge to Nowhere. Thanks, But No Thanks.

Perhaps the brain was still a little fuzzy from the shock of McCain’s new VP pick, Alaska’s own governor Sarah Palin. Perhaps it was still stuck in the endless loop of wondering – why? why? why? Whatever the reason, it took more than 24 hours for Palin’s first big untruth to register with me.

In the meantime, a follow-up on the GWB Legacy question …

President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney will skip the Republican National Convention

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney will skip the Republican National Convention because of Hurricane Gustav.

First lady Laura Bush still is scheduled to address delegates in St. Paul, Minn., on Monday, the opening day.

Bush spokeswoman Dana Perino says the White House is working on possible alternatives that would allow Bush to make a speech at the convention, which begins Monday.

But Cheney is to leave Tuesday on a four-country trip that includes a stop in Georgia.

It seems clear that George does not want another black spot on the carpet. You can take that comment any way you like. But looking into more of the facts-on-the-ground, Gallop have an article up that Palin is viewed as an unknown factor by the majority (gee – no surprise there), …

Perhaps the most significant finding about Palin in the Aug. 29 USA Today/Gallup poll is that she is largely unknown to most Americans. A substantial majority of Americans don’t know enough about her yet to have an opinion, and her name identification is lower than that of any other recent vice presidential candidate when measured immediately after selection. Among those who do know her, her image is significantly more positive than negative, and her 3-to-1 positive-to-negative ratio is better than the 2-to-1 ratio measured for Biden a week ago.

But perhaps more significant is the following comment …

A large majority say that at this point her selection will not have an impact on their presidential vote either way. However, almost as many Americans say that she is not qualified to serve as president as say she is qualified, giving her a more negative reading on this measure than most other recent vice presidential selectees, with the exception of Dan Quayle.

So we are stuck with a scenario wherein a non-qualified VP candidate does not have an impact.

Go figure!

McCain campaign raises $7M plus after Palin announcement.

A top RNC official told Sneed GOP presidential contender John McCain’s campaign has raised approximately $7.5 million on the Internet since his selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate.

The kicker: But they are worried the big buck Mitt Romney donors in Illinois may zip their wallets due to disappointment in McCain’s decision NOT to name Romney as his running mate.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/sneed/1138020,sneed083108web.article

Mockery is the sincerest form of flattery. That’s not how the saying goes, but the Obama campaign can take it that way.
Although the stage in which the Democratic nominee gave his acceptance speech on Thursday was ridiculed as the “Temple of Obama,” for its elaborate columned look drawing comparisons to an ancient Greek temple, it provided the backdrop for a television ratings success.

It was an elaborate setting. Some called it garish. But in this football stadium which houses the most loyal fan base in the NFL (based simply on the number of consecutive sold-out games), Barack Obama hit a home run, or more appropriately threw a touchdown. Perhaps even scored a hat-trick. At least in terms of television ratings.

At least 40 million people watched Obama’s acceptance speech. Giving this number some context, it topped the most watched night of the Beijing Olympics (roughly 35 million) and this year’s Oscars (32 million).

http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/2008/08/31/obamas-speech-is-tv-ratings-home-run/

No Experience Necessary.

How Sarah Palin made the GOP change its mind about presidential qualifications.

In a famous example of ideological flexibility, the American Communist Party changed its mind completely about Adolf Hitler in 1939, when he signed a deal with Stalin. Previously, they hadn’t cared for him much. Suddenly, he looked pretty good. Then two years later, when Hitler ratted on the deal and invaded the Soviet Union, the Communists changed their minds again. Both times, it took only days.

http://www.slate.com/id/2199029/

One of the reasons the Liberal Party lost the election in Australia was said to be the fact that it kept changing the message in the campaign. It’s good to see the Repugs making the same mistake.

McCain helps Obama’s experience argument.

In his Denver speech, Sen. Barack Obama tried to lay to rest the issue of whether he has the experience to become commander in chief.

He was helped by Sen. John McCain’s choice for vice president, Sarah Palin. Her experience mainly consists of two years as governor of Alaska and a stint as the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, pop. about 8,000.

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20080831_Worldview__McCain_helps_Obama_s_experience_argument.html

There will be lots who will be sympathetic with her attempts to have the Trooper sacked.
The big issue now is about how she has been caught telling porkies about how she had not tried to interfere.

Funny how they all go deeper in the bucket when they always tell lies to try to deflect people from getting to the truth and it nearly always comes back harder to bite them.

Every time she says something now someone will say “Ah but is that the truth Fence?” We know you are a habitual liar.

We rely on elected officials not to use the power of their office to pursue personal agendas or vendettas. It’s called an abuse of power. There is ample evidence that Palin used her power as governor to get her ex-brother-in-law fired. When his boss refused to fire him, she fired his boss. She first denied Monegan’s claims of pressure to fire Wooten and then had to amend her story when evidence proved otherwise. The available evidence now suggests that she 1) tried to have an ex-relative fired from his job for personal reasons, something that was clearly inappropriate, and perhaps illegal, though possibly understandable in human terms, 2) fired a state official for not himself acting inappropriately by firing the relative, 3) lied to the public about what happened and 4) continues to lie about what happened.

These are, to put it mildly, not the traits or temperament you want in someone who could hold the executive power of the federal government.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/211769.php

As no-one seems in the mood for more of my trademark pessimism:

“This chick flick, naturally, features a wild stroke of fate, when the two-year governor of an oversized igloo becomes commander in chief after the president-elect chokes on a pretzel on day one.

The movie ends with the former beauty queen shaking out her pinned-up hair, taking off her glasses, slipping on ruby red peep-toe platform heels that reveal a pink French-style pedicure, and facing down Vladimir Putin in an island in the Bering Strait. Putting away her breast pump, she points her rifle and informs him frostily that she has some expertise in Russia because it’s close to Alaska. “Back off, Commie dude,” she says. “I’m a much better shot than Cheney.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/31/opinion/31dowd.html?_r=2&ref=opinion&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

She probably knows a lot about Canada, too. Or at least Canadian moose.

Neat summary, GhostWho Votes.

McCain’s speech will of course be compared to Obama’s but I’m not sure if will be the end of JMc even if he doesn’t match Obi on the convention platform. In these savage and treacherous times, much can happen during the gut-wrenching ride that is the final eight weeks of an American presidential campaign.

Anyway, if “We The People” vote to toss The Kid the keys to 1600 Penn., America will never be the same again. And a jolly good thing too!
Sun Aug 31:
http://news.yahoo.com/edcartoons/billday;_ylt=AozFAeY2eQSHWPwurGJpJLQDwLAF
————
.

Sun Aug 31:
http://news.yahoo.com/edcartoons/tomtoles;_ylt=AsF6jCEVTvSioIEva.My175T_b4F

Sun Aug 31:
http://news.yahoo.com/edcartoons/tonyauth;_ylt=AsqaRShEy2n14YQQTuPWF7cV2r8F

Ta for the inspirastion, Gouldie, think there’s a handle there that might just stick to Gov. Palin.

Ice Station Sarah.

Interesting aside*: Howard Hughes was a zealously committed junky in his latter years. Got a taste for it after multiple plane prangs. You know, for the pain. He used to test-pilot his own planes. Howie was one helluva guy; hideously rich, highly intelligent but seriously fucked-up.

So here’s Howie surrounded by his praetorian Mormon guard, nursing a monster habit on literally the best heroin money could buy, bunged up in the penthouse of his own hotel in Vegas, sporting long wispy hair and uncut fingernails like some extra in a Peter Jackson epic. To pass the time, Howie used to watch movies. Well, just the one movie, actually.

Here’s what the wiki wonks say in the first sentence on the “Cultural Impact” of Ice Station Zebra.

…. Howard Hughes….. is said to have watched Ice Station Zebra dozens of times on a continuous loop in his private hotel suite during the years prior to his death.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_Station_Zebra_(film)

*similar to a “handy serving suggestion”, only anecdotal.

15

Catrina, the ‘Republican National Convention Calendar’ page lists Palin as speaking on both day 2 and 3.

Gee, Catrina he’s a category 3 just like you. Could this be the beginning of a whirlwind romance?:)
—————
What the polls don’t measure:

The Obama campaign has long been on board those digital locomotives. Its ability to tell its story under the radar of the mainstream press in part accounts for why the Obama surge has been so often underestimated. Even now we’re uncertain of its size. The extraordinary TV viewership for Obama on Thursday night, larger than the Olympics opening ceremony, this year’s Oscars or any “American Idol” finale, may only be a count of the horses. The Obama campaign’s full reach online — for viewers as well as fund-raising and organizational networking — remains unknown.

Read Rich and remain reassured, Gouldie.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/31/opinion/31rich.html?_r=2&hp&oref=login&oref=slogin

“Schmuckens” Schmidt and Rover are tacticians fighting battles of yore, Team Kid got game. Dey strategists.

There are two core aspects to fighting wars and winning campaigns: tactics and strategy. Tactics allow you to seize opportunities or maximise your underlying strengths. But strategy matters more for the long haul; without it, you can be brilliantly successful from day to day and yet lose your direction and focus as time goes by.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/andrew_sullivan/article4639741.ece

21

The GOP Convention website sometimes randomly shows a home page that is only a statement titled “John McCain 2008 and 2008 Republican National Convention Announce Changes to Convention Program and Hurricane Response Efforts” that contained no links to a schedule or anything else, while other times shows the original home page that links to the outdated schedule.

I don’t know how they managed to stuffed their code this badly but I now have both versions of the home page open at the same time.

EC

read that Frank Rich piece earlier today. very good.

i’m very at peace with this election now. i really wanted Obama to beat Clinton. The Dem Party really needed that to happen.

Now the yanks have a clear choice to make. I’m as certain as i was with Rudd last year that Obama will win in November….but if they re-elect the Repugs?…well, you just have to write em off as a lost cause.

On another note, i found this article by Howard Wolfson interesting. I know he’s a major snakeoil salesman and i despise him, but this article sort of had a sense of sincerity about it.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/31/AR2008083101620.html

Ratings for Obama’s speech 40 million. McCains speech 0.

It is rumoured that McCain may raise money for the victims of Katrina. I suspect that will be seen as political opportunism.

Bet he wouldn’t do it, if there wasn’t an election.

GhostWhoVotes at 24

I have no idea what is happening with the GOP Convention site – I’m only seeing one set of data that looks like the original plan without any updates at all – however they are publishing news updates showing info about disruption but the actual agenda content is not up-to-date (in fact nothing altered from the plans from over a week ago). It is total stupid that the site is like it is – it’s almost equivalent to the President’s management of Katrina.

There’s some cosmic irony in whacking New Orleans with another hurricane right on cue with the RNC, isn’t there?

Apart from having to hide George Bush and Darth Cheney away for a while, ( not that many think that’s such a bad idea), there’s always the risk that some of those levees might get popped again, or the other extreme, the whole thing is just a fizzer and George and Co. get the memory of Katrina for nothing.

Like I said, some cosmic irony! LOL.

Either way, it’s not really an event McCain can turn to his advantage, especially if we remember were George was the day Katrina made landfall: handing McCain a birthday cake in Glendale Arizona.

So this time it’s Happy Birthday from Gustav!

Harry, Wolfsen said he’d been inside a bubble for 18 months. He sure coulda used Lloyd Fullerton in the HRC war room to throw some light on the Big Picture.

HH: “but this article sort of had a sense of sincerity about it.”

The selfsame “sense of sincerity” that a weasel has when re-feathering its nest.
—————–
Quite right, GHV and Cat, the GOPfest site is a shemozzle. The layout is amateurish. Even John Quiggan has a better presented homepage. A year ten SuperNerd could have done a better job for the cheap bastards. Still SFA on convention speakers. The shills at Fox, their advertisers and programmers must be having apoplexy.

It’s a kiss of death for a campaign when communications fail so abysmally on day 1 of their big bash.

32 Enemy Combatant

It looks like the wind strength is diminishing and landfall will be West enough to save the city of New Orleans the worst of it, but as you say, there’s a definite hand of a Greek god, playing with the GOP.

According to Krugman the FEMA people are not in charge of logistics since they still haven’t re-organised the clapped -out crony factory it was three years ago. How’s that for irony?

Sarah Palin, now Gustav… Macca is not really having a very good time.

There is now way the GOP can match up with last week. With Bush, Cheney and Schwarzenegger pulling out the first day was already in shambles. Risk management kicks in – how do you turn a mad moment into something positive. First off you create a sense that McCain is actually in control and you push talking points that he is so in control – but this buggers the Palin story line and the whole notion that the GOP can walk and chew gum at the same time. I mean – it’s not like the storm is actually over the convention site – and its not like there are anything more than three states that need to deal with this and get the free pass. In effect we are watching a campaign that does not speak for its candidate and a candidate that does not speak for anyone but himself.

EC 31

lol

“like a weasel re-feathering his nest”. classic. that is exactly what i was thinking when reading it, and is exactly his purpose in writing it.

but i do think the feelings and the thought processes expressed in that article had a feeling of sincerity about them. from the deliberate bubble mentality from the start , right through to the final realisation of what you missed…i think it would be a pretty accurate portrayal of a losing campaign PR manager.

now let me go back to despising Wolfson in peace will ya.

From CNN – it had me rolling on the floor ..

TOLEDO, Ohio (CNN) – Joe Biden says there are obvious differences between himself and fellow vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, but they’re not just on policy. She’s good-looking.

“There’s a gigantic difference between John McCain and Barack Obama and between me and I suspect my vice presidential opponent,” Biden said at an outdoor rally Sunday, getting ready to hit the GOP ticket for their economic policies.

“She’s good-looking,” he quipped.

“You are gorgeous!” a female supporter in the audience shouted out. Biden asked her to repeat it into the microphone so his wife at home would hear.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/08/31/biden-palins-good-looking/

Further to the GOP Convention website, it appears that while the Republicans have had their http://www.gopconvention2008.com site up and running for a while, they actually forgot about their other site http://www.gopconvention.com until a couple of days ago.

The following is a Google Cache link from 28 August for http://www.gopconvention.com.

http://209.85.141.104/search?q=cache:6c4WMbAQj30J:www.gopconvention.com/index.shtml+GOP+Convention&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=16&gl=au

By the way, the ‘swapping home page’ bug is on both sites.

Fate levels in this U.S. election season have been off the charts.

First, on the eve of the N.C. and IN primaries, Big Brown comes out and wins the Kentucky Derby by 5 lengths while the history making filly broke its leg and got shot.

Then Dobson and his fellow wingnuts were officially and massively in prayer demanding “their” God rain out Obama’s outdoor convention speech. Dobson told them not only to pray for rain but for a hurricane that doesn’t take any lives but destroys Mile High Stadium.

Then the RNC gets smashed by a replica of Katrina on the exact 3rd anniversary.

And it’s not over yet. Another hurricane is bearing down on Florida. I wonder how popular offshore drilling might be next week in Florida.

eerie

The perfect storm …

In Maliki’s growing defiance of U.S. worries allies and critics

“There is no question that the Iraqi security forces have come a very long way in the course of the last 12 to 18 months. The growth in numbers and in capability has been very significant,” said a top U.S. military official in Iraq. “But the ‘enablers,’ if you will, the assets that the coalition provides, are still very important and will be important for quite some time, and have been decisive, even in operations in the past six months. So, as always, caution is a wise approach.” The official wouldn’t be quoted by name because of the sensitivity of the subject.

What we have here is Iraq showing some testicular fortitude (while not forgetting Russia’s role in slicing up Georgia). Mr. Bomb, bomb, Iran probably has an opinion on this but he’s going to be too busy with his role as stage manager of the GOP Convention.

As KR said ..

there’s a definite hand of a Greek god, playing with the GOP

I’m actually contemplating the possibility!

Leighton reckons Dems shouldn’t got too savage too soon engaging Palin. Give her plenty of time to goof-off and gaffe.

Cat, Biden’s self-deprecating humour is an excellent tactic for neutralising Sarah’s vpilf-appeal.
“There you go again….” rather than “for a hick upstart you sure don’t look your age”

I think the inevitable attacks on Palin are part of the purpose of her selection. By turning her into a lightning rod, they will be able to deflect attacks away from McCain toward a far more sympathetic figure, and then use those attacks as evidence in a far more powerful counterattack against typical liberal elitism.

We’re best off not taking that bait.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leighton-woodhouse/the-palin-trap_b_122736.html

Oh – It’s just like daytime TV

McCain Campaign: Palin’s 17-Year-Old Daughter Is Pregnant

The 17-year-old daughter of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is pregnant, Palin said on Monday in an announcement intended to knock down rumors by liberal bloggers that Palin faked her own pregnancy to cover up for her child.

Bristol Palin, one of Alaska Gov. Palin’s five children with her husband, Todd, is about five months pregnant and is going to keep the child and marry the father, the Palins said in a statement released by the campaign of Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

Bristol Palin made the decision on her own to keep the baby, McCain aides said.

I’m just waiting for ron/Ron/lilprawn/madk to come out with the ticker argument.

Poll: Obama gets ‘convention bounce’.

In the head-to-head race between the candidates, Obama now leads 50%-43% among registered voters. In the USA TODAY poll taken Aug. 21-23, the Illinois senator held a four-point lead.

The new USA TODAY survey shows Americans settling into their choices. Now, 21% of registered voters say they either haven’t decided or might change their minds. In a USA TODAY poll before the convention began, 30% were swing voters.

In the poll, Democrats continue to benefit from a “enthusiasm gap.” By 57%-28%, Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say they are more enthusiastic than usual about voting this year. By 47%-39%, Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say they are less enthusiastic than usual.

It’s all good news in this poll, particularly the enthusiasm gap. This would indicate a high turnout for the Democrats and a low turnout for the Repugs.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-09-01-poll-monday_N.htm

Poll: Obama/Biden Take Eight-Point Lead.

Democratic nominee Barack Obama’s lead over Republican John McCain has grown after the Democratic convention, which 71 percent of Americans say they watched. Obama and his running mate Joe Biden now lead McCain and Sarah Palin 48 percent to 40 percent, according to the latest CBS News poll.

This is the first CBS News poll to include the vice presidential candidates in the horse race question.

The eight-point lead for the Democratic ticket is up from Obama’s three-point lead before the convention. But there are still a significant number of voters who have yet to firmly make up their minds.

Again it’s all good news for Obama.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/01/opinion/polls/main4405106.shtml

McCain rolling in dough.

Republican John McCain’s campaign is saying that it raised $47 million in August — by far its biggest monthly total and the sixth straight month it has brought in more than the previous month.

A McCain official told the Associated Press that the campaign raised $10 million since McCain announced Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate on Friday — a pick that boosted enthusiasm among social conservatives.

By comparison, his campaign raised $27 million in July.

Once he formally accepts the GOP nomination this week, he will be restricted to the $84.1 million coming from the public financing system he agreed to take.

It won’t by the TV ratings that watched the Obama speech. If you are from another planet that was 40 million.

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/09/mccain_rolling.html

McCain is in the south to raise funds for potential Gustav victims. But not even that is going right. There are no victims. This reminds me of the Victorian election, where Bracks won his second term. Everything the Liberals did went wrong. Right up to election day. I kept waiting for the ALP to trip up but nothing went wrong.

Gustav may have missed New Orleans, but it’s landed a full hit on the GOP.

Just what they needed, a big reminder of Katrina smack bang on their parade.

We’ve gone from near tragedy to absolute farce, and then we get the news about Sarah Palin’s daughter to top it off.

It’s hard to see how having a pregnant teenager will be a big drawcard amongst the righteous fundamentalists.

The GOP are not getting a good kick-off for their big week, are they?

This week is turning out to be disatrous for the GOP. However, it’s not a matter of bad fortune. It’s a storm that’s been a long time in the making.

Gustav has turned out to be such a negative, mainly becuase of Bush’s appalling inaction over Katrina. Had that not happened, Gustav would not have had the impact is has on the GOP. Sure, there would rightly have been concern, but it’s not just a matter of bad luck for the GOP. In getting ready to milk everything they could from this situation, to try and overcome the memories of Katrina, they’ve just ended up looking pathetic.

Also, the debacle that is their VP nomination – again, it’s not luck. It’s bad judgement and bad planning.

I’m feeling more and more confident. Surely the GOP campaign with such an incompetent campaign and inept candidates?

KR at 52,

The pregnant teenager thing will have no negative impact on evangelicals. The big issue in their eyes is that she is keeping the baby. Apart from that, though, it is a non-story.

That USA Today poll should put Obama at +5 per cent on the RCP poll average. I do not think that the Republicans will get a convention bounce, given that they are likely to not have too much of a convention.

It will be interesting to see how much of his bounce Obama can hold on to. Given that his he is now higher than his peak in terms of his own percentage (which is now 48.8), it is likely to drop back a little. But there will have been some convinced to keep supporting him. Fivethirtyeight predicts that he will pick up a steady two per cent or so after the dust has settled from the two conventions (or one convention and one nothing …)

55 David Gould

It’s not a great endorsement of her parenting skills, and would raise the eyebrows of many conservatives. These things are hard to judge in anything except anecdotal ways, but let’s just say it’s not a ‘good look’?

Maybe not. But the big issue for evangelicals is still abortion. And the Palin family stance on that is very, very clear.

58 David Gould

yeah, she’s pro-gun and pro-life…just my sort of gal! LOL

(American’s don’t do irony, do they?)

Of course the thing Palin does NOT do is teach her daughters about contraception, but then an unwanted pregnancy is so much more in line with ‘god’s will’.

At least that’s what the nutters would have us believe…(they say that they do).

David @55,

Palin is apparently against sex-education and supports abstinence. It would be one thing if her daughter was given the safe-sex message, had been offered contraception/abortion and then chose to keep the baby. Quite another if she wasn’t and is marrying because of the pregnancy-you just need to talk to women caught like that in the past ,marrying unsuitable people and suffering messy divorces,etc,never really recovering from an enforced adulthood before they are ready.

To me, parents have an absolute duty of care to protect young ones from themselves,until they are mature and ready. In fact I’d go so far as to say that every teenager has an absolute human right to this information and protection.
Am concerned that Palin’s strong and capable public persona will be tested in the months to come as she deals with the emotional reality of both her new Downs Syndrome baby and becoming a grandmother at the same time.

All shiny at present with weddings and cute little babies,but will be interesting to see if Palin will come to the planned parenthood view once reality truly bites.

I agree with the comments above re the pregnant teenage daughter. It also shows the ineffectiveness of teaching absitinence as the primary weapon against unwanted teenage pregnancy. And it underscores how the far right are no more moral than anyone else, despite framing all their arguments around morality.

But Obama is right to say that a pregnant daughter should not be used in a political fight with Palin. Just leave it to the rest of us to acknowledge for ourselves the hypocrisy of the far right.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/09/01/obama_tells_press_to_back_off.html

61 M

To me, parents have an absolute duty of care to protect young ones from themselves,until they are mature and ready.

Megan you have absolutely no idea how much we hated Moms when the daughter came out with the line; “Mom won’t let me do that”. 😈

Being a righteous young bloke i always had the view;

When roses are red
They’re ready to be plucked
When girls are sixteen
They’re ready to be chaperoned to the movies.

Personally, I still think it is non-story (apart from the anti-abortion angle).

Pretty much everyone here is guaranteed to not hold the same social views as Sarah Palin. 🙂

I doubt it will get any play in the major media. Again, it seems a fringe issue if anything. But Alaskans sure are weird. 🙂

Well, having a 59 per cent chance of victory is still not too bad. And a prediction of 293 electoral votes is still a victory. From my reading of the conferences and the Palin situation, I think Obama will get a little over 300 – say around 310. I will, however, sit with my prediction of 298 unless I see some massive change in the data that is coming in.

Over at TPM is an article tited “The Palin Meltdown in Slo-Mo”. Key points include:

* link to the Bridge to Nowhere
* link to Alaska Independence Party
* reliance on earmark funding
* the pregnancy thing
* indicators that McCain didn’t know
* Palin’s spokesperson didn’t know
* Republican lawyers in Alaska (now) doing the vetting
* Palin lawyered up on trooper-gate

I kind of doubt the late vetting stuff. Palin was being mentioned a long time back in the national media as a distinct possibility. And getting a lawyer when there are accusations of impropriety is hardly a negative thing, although a lot of people seem to try to spin it that way – I guess we do not like lawyers much. 🙂

Personally, I think that the Palin pick is simply hardening support among the bases of both parties, and among both sides in the media. The important issue is: how will she play among independents? I think that she is perhaps good for a half a percentage point for Obama, maybe a little less.

It all sounds like speculation to me. I think what was rushed was the announcement of the pregnancy, but that was in response to internet rumours. That completely explains them sending communications people and lawyers to Alaska now, without there being any ‘late vetting’ going on.

Occam’s razor.

I would doubt that they are that influential, especially on someone like McCain. But I certainly think that one of the reasons that she was chosen was because of her strong anti-abortion position.

OMG – this gets better and better. Apparently the father of the child to be is a guy named Levi Johnston and guess what .. he has his own blog!

http://levijohnston.com/Blog/

The last post on the 17 Dec. reads …

god, I fucking hate math. Why do they make this shit so complicated. sorry for cussing but this is stupid. Why on earth would I ever need to know x and y and all that. I’m going to be a hockey player. I don’t need the quadratic equation tyvm. Bristol knows math though, thank good. She helps me with it. Hopefully I can just pass this class and get on with it.

Note: the site is possibly not genuine!

Catrina or someone. Query why sometimes the first thread on this site comes up first rather than current one and sometimes required to go through “Open Thread” rather than directly to comments.

Some info is filtering in on the agenda for the second day of the Repug convention.

Rudolph W. Giuliani
Jon Huntsman, Governor of Utah
Linda Lingle, Governor of Hawaii
Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska
Mike Huckabee, Former Governor of Arkansas
Tom Ridge, Former Governor of Pennsylvania
Tom Coburn, U.S. Senator of Oklahoma
Fred Thompson, Former Senator from Tennessee
John Boehner, House Republican Leader, from Ohio
Marsha Blackburn, U.S. Representative from Tennessee
Luis Fortua, U.S. Representative from Puerto Rico
Adam Putnam, U.S. Representative from Florida
Dennis Hollingsworth, President, National Conference of Republican County Officials

Wakefield at 90

I have not noticed the problems you mentioned – but keep in mind that the entire xxxx.wordpress.com thing is a big beta test environment for the wordpress development effort. As soon as we move over to an independent site things will be more stable.

In a follow-up to my comment at 92 concerning Wakefield’s comment at 90 … it seems that WordPress have changed something such that post categories are no longer site specific. The change seems to have occurred yesterday (or maybe the day before). In the period between the deployment of our new site and our current existence under wordpress – the solution is to click on the comments link, and not on the ‘Open Thread’ link.

Chris at 93,

Do I? Which ones? The only issue I can think of that I mentioned are the problems Obama might have in Michigan due to his link with the Mayor of Detroit, who is currently on corruption and assault charges. And that is not a national issue in any sense of the word – it might have an impact on Michigan, though.

And Michigan still falls to Obama in my predicted 298 EV, so I do not give the issue too much weight.

From Rasmussen today:

“Obama receives favorable reviews from 85% of Democrats while McCain is now viewed favorably by 90% of Republicans. Both men are viewed favorably by 60% of unaffiliated voters. Enthusiasm among Republicans for McCain is up significantly since the announcement of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. Fifty-one percent (51%) of GOP voters now have a Very Favorable opinion of McCain, the first time he has ever topped the 50% level in that measure. On Friday morning, just 43% were that enthusiastic about McCain.”

This is the reason why I think she was picked: she pushes up McCain’s support among the GOP base.

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