Possibly the Dumbest Challenge Yet to Obama

Ever heard of Wayne Allyn Root? You’re not alone. 
Root is the Libertarian candidate for vice president.  He says that Barack Obama is a commie who only got into Harvard Law School because he’s black.  He also says that he doesn’t have a racist bone in his body, although he does admit that some of his [...]

Sarah Palin Interview Watch II

Sarah Palin is now the Republican nominee for vice president.  She has never done an interview as a national candidate.
Yesterday, sassy muckraker Matt Drudge reported that Oprah Winfrey, an Obama supporter, has refused to have Palin on her show. He posted this item:
BIG DILEMMA: OPRAH BALKS AT HOSTING SARAH PALIN; STAFF DIVIDED Fri Sep 05 [...]

Twelve Second Summary of the Republican National Convention

Let’s see: John McCain votes with George Bush 90% of the time.  But McCain says that Bush has done a poor job as president. 
Lloyd Christmas, channeling McCain, wraps up the Republican prescription nicely.  Double down on Republicanism…

Electoral Count: Obama 301, McCain, 224

This is all pre-RNC, of course, but it’s nice to see a map this blue:

  Go look at it before it changes.

Sarah Palin Interview Watch

The way we learn about candidates and their preparedness to deal with difficult issues is through their records and interviews.  Sarah Palin has no record on foreign and defense policy and, despite her speech to the RNC, her views are virtually unknown to the American people. 
By contrast, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and John McCain have [...]

Those Who Forget History Are Doomed to Repeat It

A lot was said about John McCain’s decision to appear in front a bright green backdrop the night Barack Obama clinched the Democratic nomination.  None of it was good.  Much of the criticism dealt with the way bright green made him look even older than he is. This is what that looked like:

Tonight, McCain began his [...]

The DNC Has Its Shit Together

McCain = Bush.  That’s all this election is about, and the DNC nails it.

John McCain Served in Vietnam?

John McCain served honorably in Vietnam.  He cites that service whenever he’s questioned about an issue for which he doesn’t have a good answer.  Instead of describing any particular policy or his twenty six year record in Washington, his convention has been a three day description McCain’s military record.  Expect to hear even more about [...]

The Point Exactly

Steve Benen makes it:

Seriously, what’s the message of the week in St. Paul? That Republican governing works? No. That Republicans have a legitimate policy agenda? No. That the next four years should be different from the last eight? No. It’s simple: “Your house may be on fire, but don’t trust that man standing outside with [...]

Seen on the Floor of the RNC

Isn’t that sweet?  Someone made a cross out of a John McCain “Service” placard. (Sorry for the grainy photo.)

McCain Picks Up Doocy’s Talking Points

John McCain agrees with Fox News weatherman/foreign policy expert Steve Doocy. 
Alaska is right next to Russia. She understands that.
So apparently Sarah Palin is qualified to be vice president and president for two reasons:

She is aware of Alaska’s geographic location; and
As governor of Alaska, she conducted diplomacy with Russia.

UPDATE:
Steve Benen agrees.
Remember, when Doocy first made the [...]

Tomorrow the Media Will Love Sarah Palin

Yesterday, I said that a pro-Sarah Palin backlash was on its way:  
Sarah Palin is not Dan Quayle.  She can put a sentence together and can get through a speech.  She may sound like the girl making Blizzards at the Anchorage Dairy Queen, but she is not without rhetorical skills.  And now that her family [...]

Another Ad Obama Ought to Run

I have to admit that when I first heard Sarah Palin speak, I immediately thought of Linda Novotny from Election.  But this, from Australian Hugh Atkin, is so much better:

An Ad Obama Ought to Run: Updated

On August 29th, I posted this:
John McCain’s response to everything is to point out that he was a POW.  When defending himself for not being able to remember how many houses he owns, McCain said that there was a time in his life when he didn’t have any homes, didn’t have a table and didn’t [...]

Repost of Sarah Palin: Failed Governor of a Small State

I believe in recycling, so I thought this would be a good time to note that a few days ago, I wondered about Sarah Palin’s experience as governor.  She’s going to accept the Republican nomination for vice president tonight, and I’m thinking you’ll be hearing very little about this:  
 In 1992, George H.W. Bush and the Republicans referred [...]

Obama’s Convention Bounce

There’s apparently no new state-by-state polling, but the national polls seem to have moved substantially:

Pollster
Obama
McCain
Leader

ARG
49%
43%
Obama +6%

CBS
48%
40%
Obama +8%

Gallup
50%
43%
Obama +7%

Gallup tracking
50%
42%
Obama +8%

Hotline
48%
39%
Obama +9%

Rasmussen tracking
48%
43%
Obama +5%

Should Someone With Ties to a Radical Anti-American Group be Getting Sensitive Security Briefings?

Yesterday, CNN reported that once officially nominated, Sarah Palin will receive high level security briefings 
from the office of the Director of National Intelligence, according to officials at the campaign and at the DNI’s office.  DNI spokesman Richard Willing said the briefings were on “topics of national security interest.”
Also yesterday,
The founder of the Alaska Independence Party — a group [...]

Bush at the RNC Via Satellite

Wow.  Bush gave a horrible speech.  First, it was entirely political and given from the White House.  Unseemly.
Second, and more substantively, he said nothing about out of control gas prices.  Nothing about the mortgage crisis.  He promised that McCain would make tax cuts for the rich — the ones McCain opposed — permanent.
And now CNN [...]

Joementum About to Speak at RNC

I’ve liked and admired Joe Lieberman for a long time. I was in the hall in LA at the 2000 Democratic Convention and watched with enormous pride as he accepted the vice presidential nomination.  Even after he lost the Democratic Senate primary to Ned Lamont, I continued to believe in him.  No more.
Speak at the [...]

Who Said it?

Who do you think said this?

When a President makes life and death decisions he should draw strength and wisdom from the broad and deep experience with the reasons for and the risks of committing our children to our defense. For no matter how many others are involved in the decision, the President is a lonely man [...]

New Obama Ad: “Same”

Well done and on point: McCain=Bush.

The Coming Palin Backlash

It’s been fun beating up on John McCain for picking Sarah Palin as his running mate.  As any number of writers, pundits, bloggers, and I have pointed out, she’s uniquely unqualified to be vice president or president.  McCain’s decision to put her on the ticket and potentially a heartbeat away from the presidency is unforgivably [...]

Congresswoman Michele Bachmann: New Feminist

Michele Bachmann of Minnesota is against a lot of things.  She opposes legislation to strengthen women’s’ rights in the workplace, wants to outlaw abortion, voted no on more funding for schools, and voted no — twice — on SCHIP, which would have provided health insurance to two to four million children.  One of her biggest boosters [...]

New Campaign Poster

Stammering, Dumbfounded McCain Spokesman Can’t Figure Out How to Answer Palin Questions

Tucker Bounds, McCain spokesman, to John McCain*:
‘I have good news and I have bad news. 
The good news is that we’re going to stop making jackasses out of ourselves by saying that Sarah Palin has foreign policy experience because Alaska is right next to Russia. 
The bad news is that we’re not yet sure exactly what we’ll [...]