An Open Letter To The GOP

To: The Republican Party

From: Tony

Re: What now?

Well, it’s over. After at least two long years, Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America come January. John McCain lost. Really, the Republican Party lost, as well it should. And here’s why:

1. The Bush Administration. This alone should have guaranteed a Democratic landslide. Eight years of lies, corruption, big government, it had it all. Face it: you got drunk, broke some furniture, and were asked to leave in no uncertain terms. But wait, there’s more!

2. John McCain. Here you had a candidate that, let’s face it, none of you really cared for in the first place. McCain-Feingold, immigration, “The Gang of 14.” This was a guy who was far too “maverick-y” for your taste. But for reasons I have yet to fully understand, the party circled the wagons around a multi-term senator when it was clear the national mood was one begging for change. Not Mitt Romney, not Mike Huckabee, not Rudy Guiliani…John McCain. And then, after you filed lock step behind this senatorial relic, the campaign essentially took 5 months off. At no point did John McCain take any vigorous, passionate steps to define himself, his candidacy, or what his presidency would look like. No, he waited until the Democrats finished their squabbles and then went about attacking Barack Obama, again never really defining himself as anything other than a “maverick” who, in case you didn’t know, was once a POW.

3. Sarah Palin. The most important and most telling decision a presidential candidate can make is the choice of running mate. It speaks volumes about their judgment and decision-making ability. The Vice President will assume the duties of the President when called upon, so clearly this must be a person that, as Senator McCain himself said, must be ready on “day one.” So who does McCain pick in keeping with his campaign slogan of “Country First”? Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska. A governor for about 21 months, prior to that a SMALL town mayor, and prior to that a member of that SMALL town’s city council. Bold, to say the least. Risky. Maverick-y, even. Our first real taste of Governor Palin was her nomination speech at the convention and by all standards she knocked it out of the park. The “base”, i.e., evangelicals and social conservatives, were orgasmic. FINALLY they had a reason to go to the polls in November. In the days that followed, McCain’s campaign gained steam, passion, energy. The VP nominee even threatened to overshadow the presidential nominee! And then the interviews came, first with Charlie Gibson and then with Katie Couric. And the wheels began to come off. Sarah Palin, hidden away for days to be briefed and prepped, showed little sign of understanding domestic or foreign policy and away from a teleprompter was lost in a maze of incoherent sentences, winks, and cute catchphrases. Not to mention that she’s a pathological liar. While she may have held her own in her (thankfully) only debate with Senator Joe Biden, many felt she did no real good for her or her ticket, certainly after Senator McCain himself “lost” all his debates with Barack Obama. In the days and weeks to come, when the post-mortem of the McCain campaign is fully written, I will not be surprised to see that the selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate was ultimately the fatal blow to his campaign. A Tom Ridge or Mitt Romney pick would have permanently changed the dynamic of this election and perhaps even swung the presidency his way. Alas, we will never know because rather than pick Romney (someone McCain is reported to not like very much) or Ridge (a pro-choice Republican who just happens to have been the GOVERNOR OF PENNSYLVANIA!) or even go with his gut and pick his BFF Joe Lieberman, McCain made a last minute decision (with apparently little or no vetting) to go with Sarah Palin. Not good. Not good a’tall.

4. Intolerance. McCain-Palin rallies were scary things to behold. People holding up monkeys to represent Barack Obama, attendees proudly stating they would NEVER vote for a Black man, and let’s not forget the frequent calls to “KILL HIM!” or descriptions of Obama as a “TERRORIST!” That in itself was a horrifying spectacle to witness. But worse, perhaps worst of all, was the deafening silence from both McCain and Palin in repudiating these remarks. Oh sure, John McCain, with righteous indignation, snatched a microphone from a crazy old woman at a rally who referred to Senator Obama as an “Arab.” But that was too little FAR too late. And to top it off, rather than rebuke his supporters he gushed about his pride of the people who came to his rallies, virtually endorsing the hatred and fear these people stirred up.

5. Barack Obama. It’s been said that if there was no George W. Bush there would be no Barack Obama. That may be so. But the young senator’s gifts and talents have not been seen for some time on the American political landscape. The perfect storm of 8 years of corruption and a shredding of the Constitution, combined with an aging senator forever enshrined in many people’s memories as warmly hugging the aforementioned Bush, created an opportunity for, here comes the word du jour…wait for it…wait for it…change. Newness. Freshness. A calm temperament even in the face of a hostile enemy (or enemies) reassured people that in this man there would be no more “cowboy diplomacy”, “you’re either with us or against us” bluster, or “dead or alive/bring ‘em on” bravado. An oratorical gift unmatched perhaps in generations lifted people’s spirits and inspired millions to act and work for something greater than themselves. A curious intellect that refused to see things in black and white, which refused to run a drama-filled campaign that focused on a small number of states but rather, looked at a broad arc that is a presidential campaign and saw no reason that a Democrat couldn’t campaign vigorously in states that historically have voted for Republicans. Policies that seemed pragmatic and some that were bold made people remember that politicians CAN have the greater good in mind when leading. It is his time. And perhaps, just perhaps, America will be better for electing him as its President.

So now where do you go, Grand Old Party? What is next for you after such a historic election? You are basically a party in exile, adrift in the wilderness. The first step in dealing with any tragedy or problem is to acknowledge it. So, in time, you must come to grips with the fact that the party has lost its moorings. It has been separated from its core values and is in danger of becoming irrelevant in an increasingly multicultural country that will soon be run by a new generation that sees beyond bitter partisan politics.

I think the best thing to do is convene the best and brightest minds of the Republican Party and the conservative movement to chart a course for 2009 through 2016. Not only presidential elections but smaller races in the house, races in the senate, and Governors races throughout the country. Call it “Conservatism: What Now?” Take a week, 10 days, maybe even two weeks at a remote mountaintop resort to figure out exactly what you believe, what you will and will not tolerate, and just how big you want your tent (and the national government) to be. Here are some suggestions:

1. Get Newt Gingrich. He should never run for elected office again in his life, but he is the smartest guy in the party as far as I can tell and has some really good ideas. He should be your Yoda, your Obi-Wan.

2. Darken the complexion of the party. This is a tall order, but you have to get more people of color in key positions within the party and elected to national office if you have a prayer of making inroads to minority constituencies. Think Bobby Jindal and Michael Steele.

3. Keep the “Religious Right” at arms length. Don’t throw them under the bus. You need them. But don’t run to the embrace of the Dobsons and Falwells. Let them come to you. Don’t allow them to have so much control over the party platform, but hear them out and understand that certain socially conservative issues are good for you and some you’re probably going to have to get rid of.

4. Out with the old. Fresh blood, new ideas, THIS is the future of the Republican Party. For several election cycles it seems that the GOP picks whatever old white guy seems to be “in line” for the nomination and runs with it. With the exception of 1964 and 2008, there has been a Nixon, Bush, or Dole on every Republican presidential ticket since 1952. That’s a problem. Yes, you’ve won way more than you’ve lost, but how long can that last? The electorate is getting younger and they want someone they can relate to. Start grooming young talent NOW.

5. Have no tolerance for disrespect or hate. Decide on your principles and stick to them, but folks are tired of the Karl Rove playbook. Demand decency from your candidates and from your party members. Immediately and forcefully rebuke any who put the party in an embarrassing light. This means have no tolerance for racism or bigotry of any kind. If your candidate hears people making threats against the life of an opponent, they MUST repudiate it immediately and call for decorum. The party is seen as a party of hatred and intolerance and you have MUCH to do to restore and refurbish the brand.

So there you have it, Republicans. Just some advice from someone who loves the political process no matter how flawed it may be and wants to see a clean, fair fight every time. If you’ve made it this far, thanks. It will be an interesting four years but we’ll get through it. And I promise you: if Barack Obama and Joe Biden screw this up, AND you run a candidate with energy, enthusiasm, and vision, I’ll give you a look in 2012.

May the force be with you.

44

Barack Obama Has Been Elected The 44th President Of The United States of America

It's over. He won. Our "long national nightmare is over." Next is the governing. But for now, history.

Make History

The War Within

From Andrew Sullivan:
I think it's now fair to say it's a war. My view is that after the McCain peeps had made that crazy decision and realized after the fact what they had on their hands, they put their best face on it. They knew that the normal rules for a veep - a press conference, full media accessibility, airing of all the biographical details - would have required the candidate to quit before November. So they tried to shield her from actual democracy - a dangerous decision for the rest of us, but a rational, cynical decision for a campaign running a delusional liar as the potential next president of the US. Palin of course, lives in her own little, somewhat nutty, world and now believes her manifest destiny has been thwarted.

It's a massive, unmissable clusterfuck and has been for two months. They just can't hide it any longer. And the pick is a devastating one - because it basically destroys John McCain's credibility as a presidential decision-maker. His first major decision as a future president is one of the worst in American political history. That alone should be enough to seal his fate next Tuesday. You need nothing else.

(Photo: Robyn Beck/Getty.)

A PSA

Charles Meets Barack

A Wink

Why He's Winning

I get goosebumps I tell ya.

Olbermann's Special Comment

Colin Powell Endorses Barack Obama

The Washington Post For Obama

Barack Obama for President
Friday, October 17, 2008; Page A24

THE NOMINATING process this year produced two unusually talented and qualified presidential candidates. There are few public figures we have respected more over the years than Sen. John McCain. Yet it is without ambivalence that we endorse Sen. Barack Obama for president.

The choice is made easy in part by Mr. McCain's disappointing campaign, above all his irresponsible selection of a running mate who is not ready to be president. It is made easy in larger part, though, because of our admiration for Mr. Obama and the impressive qualities he has shown during this long race. Yes, we have reservations and concerns, almost inevitably, given Mr. Obama's relatively brief experience in national politics. But we also have enormous hopes.

Read the rest here.

Fact Checking The Debate

Debate Reactions

Peter Suderman:

Neither McCain nor Obama are doing themselves any favors bickering back and
forth about who has the nastiest campaign, but McCain, after a strong initial
attack pushing Obama to repudiate some especially nasty attacks that didn’t come
from the Obama campaign, comes off looking petulant, rambling, and cranky – a
spoiled bully nagging the principal to punish another kid who once called him a
name.

Brian Beutler:
John McCain says Sarah Palin knows a lot about having children with autism. Presumably he thinks she knows more about this than anybody in the country. Presumably he also thinks autism is approximately equal to Down Syndrome.

James Joyner:
Overall, I don’t see how McCain helped himself tonight, much less hit the home run he needed to put himself back into this thing.

Dreher:
OK, that's over. And so is the McCain campaign. He was more aggressive than he's been so far, and he came close to landing some blows on Obama. But he never really connected, and for the most part this debate was as platitudinous as they all have been. McCain came off as sour, agitated and petulant. Obama -- man, nothing rattles that guy. McCain was two tics away from a vein-popping "You can't handle the truth!" Jack Nicholson moment, I felt. At one point, I thought: Which one of these men would I want in the White House when the 3 a.m. phone call comes in?

Why So Angry?

Challenging the Fear

Backlash: Six Challenges to McCain's Racist Fearmongering

By Liliana Segura, AlterNet. Posted October 15, 2008.

In the minutes following the second presidential debate last week, CNN analyst and former Reaganite David Gergen was gripped by an apparent fit of honesty. Amid the prevailing view that Obama had come out ahead, Gergen warned that it was still too soon to say that Obama had the race in the bag. "I think it's too early to declare victory," he said. "because Barack Obama is black."

Gergen's blunt analysis acknowledged what many Americans know to be true, but have not vocally admitted in this historic presidential campaign. "Until we play out the issue of race in this country," Gergen said, "I don't think we'll know (how Obama's race will affect him)." So much for "post-racial" America. As we see the country "play out the issue of race" in these closing weeks of the presidential campaign, fearmongering attacks from the McCain camp have spiked to obscene new levels. While forced recently to push back against some of the most blatantly racist public remarks about his opponent, McCain is largely responsible for stoking mistrust for Obama, repeatedly calling Obama "too risky" for America, asking "Who is the real Barack Obama?" and approving campaign ads that plumb the lowest depths of racist fearmongering. Even the often-repeated claim that Obama will "kill jobs" characterizes Obama as a predator politician who will endanger Americans.

McCain may be the one who "approved this message," but much of the dirty work has been carried out by the campaign's resident pit bull, Sarah Palin. On Oct. 4, at an appearance at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., Palin warned about the Democratic presidential candidate:

"This is not a man who sees America as you and I see America. We see America as a force for good in this world. We see America as a force for exceptionalism. … Our opponents see America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who would bomb their own country."

The well-documented result has been a chillingly heightened lynch mob atmosphere at McCain/Palin rallies, where McCain's lines asking, "Who is Barack Obama" now meet with shouts of "terrorist!" and "kill him!" At an event in Allentown, Penn., according to MSNBC, "At one point one man could be heard yelling, 'Off with his head,' when McCain spoke about Obama's tax plan."

This "is the Willie Hortonization of Obama," University of San Francisco associate professor James Taylor told the San Francisco Chronicle. Or perhaps more accurately, it is the "Osamafication" of Obama -- a brutal and nasty campaign to appeal to Americans' basest instincts and worst fears.

Read the rest here.

Olbermann Takes On The Lunatics

14 Points

Poll: Obama Opens 14-Point Lead On McCain
CBS News/New York Times Survey Shows Major Swing Among Independents, Suggests McCain's Strategy May Be Hurting Him

(CBS) Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is entering the third and final presidential debate Wednesday with a wide lead over Republican rival John McCain nationally, a new CBS News/New York Times poll shows.

The Obama-Biden ticket now leads the McCain-Palin ticket 53 percent to 39 percent among likely voters, a 14-point margin. One week ago, prior to the Town Hall debate that uncommitted voters saw as a win for Obama, that margin was just three points.

Among independents who are likely voters - a group that has swung back and forth between McCain and Obama over the course of the campaign - the Democratic ticket now leads by 18 points. McCain led among independents last week.

McCain's campaign strategy may be hurting hurt him: Twenty-one percent of voters say their opinion of the Republican has changed for the worse in the last few weeks. The top two reasons cited for the change of heart are McCain's attacks on Obama and his choice of Sarah Palin as running mate.

Read the rest here.

Palin's Alternate Universe

Grand Old Panic?

"Kill Him"

A McCain*Palin supporter has a suggestion.

http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/articles/2008/10/14/news/doc48f4ba8994588930223377.txt

Fanning the Flames

McCain-Palin supporter at a rally, Oct. 11 (Screen Shot Courtesy of YouTube)

McCain and the Raging Right
By E. J. Dionne Jr.

Are we witnessing the reemergence of the far right as a power in American politics? Has John McCain, inadvertently perhaps, become the midwife of a new movement built around fear, xenophobia, racism and anger?

McCain has clearly become uneasy with some of the forces that have gathered around him. He has begun to insist, against the sometimes loud protests from his crowds, that Barack Obama is, among things, a "decent person."

Yet McCain's own campaign is playing with powerful extremist themes to denigrate Obama. When his running mate, Sarah Palin, first brought up Obama's association with 1960s radical Bill Ayers, who has become a centerpiece of McCain's attacks, she accused Obama of "palling around with terrorists." What other "terrorists" was she thinking about?

Read the rest here.

Six Decisions That Might Have Changed The Election

A PreMortem for The McCain Campaign

By Howard Wolfson
The economic crisis dealt the McCain campaign a fatal body blow. None the less, the choices that Senator McCain has made during this race will impact the margin of his defeat and the fortunes of other Republicans on the ballot. Today it's worth considering what Senator McCain could have done differently. The usual caveats about hindsight apply.

1) Avoid Faustian Bargains.
Campaigns don't begin on announcement day and Senator McCain's most fateful decision predated his. Following the election of 2000 John McCain enjoyed a national reputation as a moderate maverick who was willing to challenge the voices of intolerance within his own party and work across the partisan divide. After 9/11 Senator McCain changed course dramatically and yoked his fortunes with President Bush's. This strategy clearly helped Senator McCain capture his party's nomination — but it left him poorly positioned to compete in a general election in the current political environment. The John McCain of 2000 would still be giving Senator Obama a run for his money — unfortunately for him that John McCain no longer exists.

2) A Second Act for Sarah Palin.
Sarah Palin's introduction to the American public was a strong one. She helped to rally the Republican base and drew interest from blue collar voters and some women who might not have otherwise given John McCain a second look. Since then her performance has been poor. Her interviews with Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric were embarrassments and instead of rallying swing voters she spends her days on the campaign trail engaged in increasingly vitriolic attacks on Barack Obama. What if Gov. Palin had instead spent September engaged in a series of round table discussions with families struggling to balance work and family and unveiled innovative family friendly policies designed to appeal to those blue collar women who had served as the backbone of Hillary Clinton's campaign?

3) A Different VP Choice Entirely.
The choice of a VP speaks volumes to the American public about the candidate making it. Given her performance on the trail it's hard to argue that Gov. Palin has helped Senator McCain. What if he had chosen Gov. Tom Ridge, a pro-choice former Governor or former Senator Joe Lieberman instead? Either would have burnished Senator McCain's bipartisan credentials in a way that Gov. Palin did not. Would the choice of Mitt Romney have helped credential Senator McCain on the economy? At least Romney could discuss the economic collapse with some degree of knowledge.

4) Distance from George W. Bush.
George W. Bush ends his second term in office as the most unpopular President in the last fifty years. Once Senator McCain had secured his party's nomination he should have been out every day trying to find a high profile way to demonstrate that he would be a very different President than Bush had been — especially on the issue of the economy. Instead he allowed Senator Obama and Democrats to define his prospective first term as President Bush's third. The last thing the American public wants is four more years of the last eight. Senator McCain never made a compelling case that he would do anything differently. In 1992 Bill Clinton ran as a "different kind of Democrat." in 2000 George W. Bush ran as a "compassionate conservative." Both men sought to distance themselves from unpopular associations with their own parties. That approach was arguably more important this election cycle and Senator McCain never even made a serious attempt to implement it.

5) Attempt to Define Senator Obama Earlier.
Senator McCain's efforts to hang Bill Ayers around Senator Obama's shoulders are totally irrelevent to the current mood of the country and only serve to reinforce how out of touch he is with the real concerns of the American people. They are also much too late to do any good. The swiftboating of John Kerry began in August of 2004. If John McCain had wanted to tag Senator Obama with Mr. Ayers he should have begun months earlier.

6) A Coherent Response to the Economic Crisis.
Senator McCain's response to the economic crisis — first lauding the economy, then suspending his campaign to pass a bill that failed on its first try, threatening to skip the first debate — was lurching, incoherent, and tone deaf. This was a critically important test in the campaign; an opportunity for voters to assess the actions of both candidates in the midst of a real time crisis. John McCain failed this test. A high profile, bipartisan summit with a mix of economists, business leaders and ordinary Americans to consider and articulate solutions to the crisis would have served Senator McCain much better.

What am I missing?

Hitchens For Obama

Money quote: Obama is greatly overrated in my opinion, but the Obama-Biden ticket is not a capitulationist one, even if it does accept the support of the surrender faction, and it does show some signs of being able and willing to profit from experience. With McCain, the "experience" is subject to sharply diminishing returns, as is the rest of him, and with Palin the very word itself is a sick joke. One only wishes that the election could be over now and a proper and dignified verdict rendered, so as to spare democracy and civility the degradation to which they look like being subjected in the remaining days of a low, dishonest campaign.

Vote For Obama
McCain lacks the character and temperament to be president. And Palin is simply a disgrace.

By Christopher Hitchens Posted Monday, Oct. 13, 2008, at 10:44 AM ET

I used to nod wisely when people said: "Let's discuss issues rather than personalities." It seemed so obvious that in politics an issue was an issue and a personality was a personality, and that the more one could separate the two, the more serious one was. After all, in a debate on serious issues, any mention of the opponent's personality would be ad hominem at best and at worst would stoop as low as ad feminam.

At my old English boarding school, we had a sporting saying that one should "tackle the ball and not the man." I carried on echoing this sort of unexamined nonsense for quite some time—in fact, until the New Hampshire primary of 1992, when it hit me very forcibly that the "personality" of one of the candidates was itself an "issue." In later years, I had little cause to revise my view that Bill Clinton's abysmal character was such as to be a "game changer" in itself, at least as important as his claim to be a "new Democrat." To summarize what little I learned from all this: A candidate may well change his or her position on, say, universal health care or Bosnia. But he or she cannot change the fact—if it happens to be a fact—that he or she is a pathological liar, or a dimwit, or a proud ignoramus. And even in the short run, this must and will tell.

Read the rest here.

The Boilerplate "Socialist" Smear

What Right Wingers Mean When They Call Obama a "Socialist"

Right-wing attempts to paint Barack Obama as a socialist aren't just disingenuous. They're rooted in a history of conservative smears against black leaders.


Adam Serwer October 13, 2008 web only

On Saturday, Georgia Congressman John Lewis went nuclear on John McCain, releasing a statement that seemed to compare McCain to segregationist George Wallace. "George Wallace never threw a bomb," Lewis wrote. "He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who only desired to exercise their constitutional rights." The civil rights icon continued, "Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed one Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama."

Lewis accused McCain and his running mate Sarah Palin of "sowing the seeds of hatred and division." He was referring to the angry tone of recent McCain rallies, where cries of "kill him" and "off with his head" have made many people anxious about the potential for violence against the Democratic nominee.

It's no wonder that the tone at McCain rallies remind Lewis of the bad old days. In recent months, conservatives have sounded increasingly retro with their attempts to paint Obama as a socialist or communist. In some ways, this accusation is typical far-right boilerplate. Obama certainly isn't the first Democrat running for president to be accused of communist sympathies. And as usual, the accusations are rarely linked to policy specifics. But the difference with Obama is that, in the eyes of the right, it's not just his political affiliation that implicates him as a socialist. It's his ethnic background.

Read the rest here.

Funny of the Day

McCain Endorsed By Financial Sponsor of Terrorists

Okay, this was only SLIGHTLY tongue in cheek, but yesterday the McCain campaign put out a press release announcing its endorsement by Leonora Annenberg. Who cares, you might ask. Annenberg and her husband Walter gave the former terrorist William Ayers $50 million. They also gave money to Rick Santorum, Strom Thurmond and Mitt Romney. Annenberg was Nixon's ambassador to Britain. If Obama is "palling around with terrorists," the Republican Annenbergs are funding them.

Don't Sweat the Polls

Why the Polls Drive Us Crazy (and Shouldn't)
By Joshua Holland, AlterNet. Posted September 20, 2008.

There was a lot of talk last week about John McCain's "momentum" -- about the Republican brand rebounding.

And a dark cloud of gloom descended over many of those hoping to bring an end to the Bush era. "We've seen this before," was a common sentiment. A reader recently sent me a story, written during the lead-up to the 2004 election, about Kerry's seemingly indomitable lead in the polls -- a lead similar to Barack Obama's 8-point (average) advantage in the horse race a few weeks ago.
Then, this week, the storm clouds parted and the sun shone down on progressive America as Obama seemingly regained his mojo. Now he has surged back into the lead!

This emotional roller coaster is bad for one's psychic health and entirely unwarranted. The bigger picture is this: For about 10 days during the past 10 months -- after Sarah Palin's introduction to the country but before Americans got a good look at her beliefs -- McCain inched ahead of Obama in the national head-to-heads. Now, the tide appears to be turning back in Obama's favor: As the electorate has gotten enough of a look at Palin to distrust her, her once-high approval numbers have taken a nosedive. And McCain continues to say brilliant things like the economy is fundamentally sound and he won't meet with the dastardly prime minister of Spain.

More to the point, the significance of those head-to-head polls -- the yardstick featured in so much political reporting -- is completely overblown.

Read the whole story here.

WaPo on Palin

Palin Attuned More to Public Will, Less to Job's Details


By Amy Goldstein, Kimberly Kindy and Steven Mufson
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, September 19, 2008; Page A04

It was three days before the legislature was to go home, and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was frustrated. The state Senate was thwarting a reduction she wanted in the fee for business licenses. So the governor's aides culled records at the state Department of Commerce for the e-mail addresses of nearly 23,000 Alaskan business owners.

Using the addresses, Palin sent a mass "special message" with her official portrait, the state seal and a backdrop of snow-rimmed mountains. "I urge you to contact your senator TODAY," she wrote, enclosing the phone number of every member of the state Senate.

Lawmakers and other critics were livid. The governor, they complained, had misused state records, violating people's privacy and flouting an ethics rule that forbids Alaska's state employees to use information to which they have access for personal or political benefit. Palin insisted she had done nothing wrong. And the legislature reduced the fee.

Read the whole story here.

Are Conservatives Turning on McCain-Palin?

David Brooks writes in the New York Times that Sarah Palin is unqualified:

In the current Weekly Standard, Steven Hayward argues that the nation's founders wanted uncertified citizens to hold the highest offices in the land. They did not believe in a separate class of professional executives. They wanted rough and rooted people like Palin.
I would have more sympathy for this view if I hadn't just lived through the last eight years. For if the Bush administration was anything, it was the anti-establishment attitude put into executive practice.

And the problem with this attitude is that, especially in his first term, it made Bush inept at governance. It turns out that governance, the creation and execution of policy, is hard. It requires acquired skills. Most of all, it requires prudence.
...
Sarah Palin has many virtues. If you wanted someone to destroy a corrupt establishment, she'd be your woman. But the constructive act of governance is another matter. She has not been engaged in national issues, does not have a repertoire of historic patterns and, like President Bush, she seems to compensate for her lack of experience with brashness and excessive decisiveness.

More here.

McCain Tones Down Bush Criticism

McCain Camp Removed Bush Criticism From Wall Street Statement

In private late Tuesday evening, the McCain campaign circulated a draft statement on the Wall Street crisis that attacked the Bush administration for a slow and "inconsistent" response, and charged that executives at several financial firms had made "misleading and false" statements.

But the criticism never appeared. After being circulated not only among McCain aides but also major campaign donors who have worked in the investment industry, the language was softened.

The official McCain statement released Wednesday morning made no mention of the Bush administration, instead accusing management and speculators of "creat[ing] this mess."

The earlier draft, obtained by the Huffington Post, was circulated among top advisers such as Douglas Holtz-Eakin and Matt McDonald, as well as some major donors, including Greg Wendt of the Capital Group. It expressed "concern[s] that the Administration has been inconsistent with the way they have dealt with each crisis. Taxpayer money was used for Bear Stearns, it was not used for Lehman Brothers and now it is used again for AIG. The American people need to know the thinking and the standards behind using taxpayer's money to support these private sector institutions."

Read the whole story here.

Palin Hacked!

AP Refuses To Comply With Secret Service Request On Sarah Palin's Hacked E-Mails

WASHINGTON -- Hackers broke into the Yahoo! e-mail account that Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin used for official business as Alaska's governor, revealing as evidence a few inconsequential personal messages she has received since John McCain selected her as his running mate.

"This is a shocking invasion of the governor's privacy and a violation of law. The matter has been turned over to the appropriate authorities and we hope that anyone in possession of these e-mails will destroy them," the McCain campaign said in a statement.
The Secret Service contacted The Associated Press on Wednesday and asked for copies of the leaked e-mails, which circulated widely on the Internet. The AP did not comply.

Read the whole story here.

The Truth Be Damned

"...increasing numbers of otherwise sober observers, even such august institutions as the New York Times editorial board, are calling John McCain a liar."

John McCain and the Lying Game

By Joe Klein Wednesday, Sep. 17, 2008

Politics has always been lousy with blather and chicanery. But there are rules and traditions too. In the early weeks of the general-election campaign, a consensus has grown in the political community — a consensus that ranges from practitioners like Karl Rove to commentators like, well, me — that John McCain has allowed his campaign to slip the normal bounds of political propriety. The situation has gotten so intense that we in the media have slipped our normal rules as well. Usually when a candidate tells something less than the truth, we mince words. We use euphemisms like mendacity and inaccuracy ... or, as the Associated Press put it, "McCain's claims skirt facts." But increasing numbers of otherwise sober observers, even such august institutions as the New York Times editorial board, are calling John McCain a liar. You might well ask, What has McCain done to deserve this? What unwritten rules did he break? Are his transgressions of degree or of kind?

Read the whole story here.

Obama's Gaining

(CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama has widened his lead over Sen. John McCain, according to CNN's latest "poll of polls."

The senator from Illinois is ahead of McCain in national polls by 3 percentage points, 47 percent to 44 percent. Obama was up by 2 points in the poll of polls released earlier Thursday.

McCain led in national polls last week, but by the weekend, the candidates were tied. Obama recaptured the lead for the first time in 10 days Wednesday.

The latest poll of polls consists of four surveys: CBS/The New York Times (September 12-16), Gallup (September 15-17), Diageo/Hotline (September 14-16) and American Research Group (September 13-15). It does not have a sampling error.

Read the whole story here.

Megalomania Anyone?

Not Again?!

Cronyism, secrecy, personal vendettas against critics; yeah, that's JUST what we need as VP.

Once Elected, Palin Hired Friends and Lashed Foes

This article is by Jo Becker, Peter S. Goodman and Michael Powell.

WASILLA, Alaska — Gov. Sarah Palin lives by the maxim that all politics is local, not to mention personal.

So when there was a vacancy at the top of the State Division of Agriculture, she appointed a high school classmate, Franci Havemeister, to the $95,000-a-year directorship. A former real estate agent, Ms. Havemeister cited her childhood love of cows as a qualification for running the roughly $2 million agency.

Ms. Havemeister was one of at least five schoolmates Ms. Palin hired, often at salaries far exceeding their private sector wages.

When Ms. Palin had to cut her first state budget, she avoided the legion of frustrated legislators and mayors. Instead, she huddled with her budget director and her husband, Todd, an oil field worker who is not a state employee, and vetoed millions of dollars of legislative projects.

Read the whole story here.

A Message from Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton

Still

Real Change

John McCain: Liar, Liar Pants On Fire

The Palin Interview, Pt. II

http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=5793131

The Straight Talk Express Is Dead

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/09/12/1382169.aspx

The Palin Interview

Were this a JOB interview, she'd never get to the next step. Michael Seitzman echoes my sentiments.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-seitzman/sarah-palin-naked_b_125861.html

McCain's Ads Are Full of Lies

Why Don't You Just Go Get Osama John???

A Fact Free Ad

Here on the Internets, there are a lot of rumors, charges, slanders, accusations, calumnies and lies circulating about this intriguing woman named Sarah Palin, who sources tell Stumper has been asked to join John McCain's presidential ticket in the No. 2 slot. I mean, who knew?

Some of these claims have been substantiated. It's true that Palin raised the sales tax as mayor of Wasilla (mostly to pay for a new hockey rink). It's true that she sought and obtained earmarks (about $27 million between 2000 and 2003 as mayor and more than $200 million last year as governor). And it's true that she worked with Sen. Ted Stevens and was for the "Bridge to Nowhere" before she was against it.

That said, much of the information cycling through our beloved series of tubes is patently false. Palin never belonged to the secessionist Alaska Independence Party (that would be her husband, Todd). She never supported Pat Buchanan for president. She never mandated the teaching of creationism in public schools (even if she didn't oppose it). She never banned any books from the Wasilla library (that list you received by e-mail--it's a hoax). She never slashed special-needs funding. She certainly never covered up her daughter Bristol's pregnancy by pretending the baby was hers. And those are among the milder smears.

Given all the lies, I can understand why the McCain campaign has just launched what they're calling the "Palin Truth Squad." It's kind of like when Barack Obama--who's also been besieged by false internet rumors--unveiled his "Fight the Smears" Web site earlier this summer. A campaign has the right to correct the record.

But here's what I don't understand: if the purpose of your truth squad is to spread the truth about Palin, why kick off your campaign with an ad that's full of falsehoods?

Read the rest here.

"Community Organizer" Is Not A Bad Word

I'll be the first to admit that until recently, I had no idea what a "community organizer" was. I knew enough not to disparage it in the smug, arrogant way that Sarah Palin and others did at the Republican Convention, but if you asked me what a community organizer's responsibilities and job were, I wouldn't have been able to tell you. I now know more, and my respect for these people is enormous. If you don't know what a community organizer is, thank you lucky stars because it means you've never needed one. A community organizer helps underserved communities get the help and relief they need to live their lives. It might be job training or better bus routes or property repair or trash pick up.

Peter Dreier has an excellent piece about Karen Bass, a former community organizer who is now the Speaker of the California Assembly.

Obama And The Economy: Score One For Obama!

Obama has the advantage on the economy. The Obama message is simple: cut taxes on 95% of us, while McCain sounds like Bush.

From Gerald Seib at the Wall Street Journal

Does The Truth Matter Anymore?

A great piece from E.J. Dionne, Jr.

Could The Polls Be Wrong

This week's mainstream coverage of the presidential horse-race has been dominated by a series of polls showing the McCain-Palin ticket with its first stable lead over Obama and Biden. Gallup's tracking poll, USA Today and CBS News all show the Republicans with some kind of lead over the Democratic ticket. But, interestingly, all three polls were also conducted using a higher sampling of Republican voters than in July, raising a question of methodology.
In a year in which Democrats have a lead of 11 million registered voters over Republicans, and have been adding to that advantage through a robust field operation, are pollsters over-sampling Republicans?

Read the whole story here.

McCain Sex Ed Ad: "Perverse"

John McCain is out with a response ad to Barack Obama's attacks today on his education policy, accusing the Democratic nominee of not accomplishing a single education-related goal other than to promote "comprehensive sex education" to kindergartners. Seriously, it's come to this.



In essence, Obama supported "age appropriate" sex-education for children as a means of teaching them what was proper or inproper touching, as well as to protect them against pedophiles, his campaign has said. Used in the context of the McCain campaign ad, however, Obama's stance becomes another one of those cultural issues that seems designed to alienate the Illinois Democrat from more socially moderate voters.

And very quickly, the Obama campaign came out with a hard hitting response, pointing to a series of education accomplishments made by Obama, and calling McCain "perverse" for the latest attack.

"It is shameful and downright perverse for the McCain campaign to use a bill that was written to protect young children from sexual predators as a recycled and discredited political attack against a father of two young girls - a position that his friend Mitt Romney also holds. Last week, John McCain told Time magazine he couldn't define what honor was. Now we know why," said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton.

If You Tell A Lie Long Enough...

Sarah Palin's stump speeches have largely stuck to the same script (what the AP describes as "a greatest hits of her convention speech). However, one line that constantly shows up is that Palin said "thanks, but no thanks, to that 'bridge to nowhere.'" Palin's claim of opposing the 'bridge to nowhere' has proven to be a stretch, yet she keeps repeating the same line. Watch Palin use this exact line in seven different stump speeches since the end of the Republican Convention.

See the clip here.

Questions for Sarah Palin From The Anchorage Daily News

There's no polite way to say it: Sarah Palin has been hiding out from hard questions. It took 10 days from when John McCain announced his pick until the McCain campaign agreed to schedule Palin an unscripted interview with a serious journalist.

ABC landed the big "get" with Palin. She'll talk to Charlie Gibson of "Good Morning America" later this week.

Read the whole story here.

Why A Christian Supports Obama

My man Omar.

McCain & The New GI Bill

The Real McCain

Sliming Sarah

From factcheck.org. Here's what's NOT true in all those emails you've been receiving.

Temper, Temper

McClatchy Newspapers is reporting a story on John McCain's legendary temper, including an incident in which the former POW "ALLEGEDLY" pushed a woman in a wheelchair.

Nice.

Facts From Joe

Fight, Barack, Fight!! Pt. 2

It's not a game, Barack. Take Apollo's advice. :)

Fight, Barack, Fight!!

I watched parts of Sen. Obama's interviews with Keith Olbermann and George Stephanopolous and found myself thinking, "when is this guy gonna fight?" Obama is cerebral, and that's great. The problem is, he thinks EVERYBODY is cerebral. And we're not. People respond emotionally, they act emotionally. They follow their hearts, not always their heads. How else could you explain McCain's momentum after announcing Sarah Palin as his running mate (besides pure unadulterated racism)?

Barack Obama has to get fired up and come out swinging. No more talk of "change." We get it. Tell us HOW you're going to fix things. Talk about gas (don't say energy), the economy, and healthcare. Talk about it all day and all night. Let Joe and your surrogates go after McCain and Palin's lies. You tell the American people in no uncertain terms why you should be President and, more importantly, what you're going to do to make things better. Otherwise, you lose.

Here are three great opinion pieces from today's Washington Post, from Richard Cohen, E.J. Dionne, Jr., and Eugene Robinson.

Signs of Hope and Change

More Questionable Palin Firings

The hits just keep on comin' for Caribou Barbie! Seems Gov. Palin fired an old classmate and legislative director for having an affair. Weeks after praising him at a news conference by telling him, "Whatever you did, you did it right," Palin fired him for "poor job performance."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122092043531812813.html?mod=special_page_campaign2008_topbox

Mavericks? Not!

John McCain vs. John McCain

Alaskanomics!

#1 in taxes per resident
#1 in spending per resident

Yeah, that's SOME maverick!

Palin Took Per Diem To Stay At Home

"We cover the expenses of anyone who's conducting state business. I can't imagine kids could be doing that." -Kim Garnero, Alaska State Finance Director

"It was quite the little scandal. I gave a direction to all my commissioners if they were ever in their house, whether it was Juneau or elsewhere, they were not to get a per diem because, clearly, it is and it looks like a scam -- you pay yourself to live at home." - Tony Knowles, Alaska Governor, 1994-2000

The Time Is Now

It's been over a year since my last post on this blog. I am reactivating it for the sole purpose of working to elect Barack Obama and Joe Biden in November.

Our country stands at a crossroads in our history. The past 8 years of incompetence and cronyism has been an utter failure, almost to the point of being criminal (and perhaps it SHOULD be criminal). Our economy is in the tank, unemployment is rising, we are saddled with a tremendous energy crisis, and our moral and political standing in the world is at its lowest in my lifetime. The need for change could not be more evident. The party in power is a disaster but polls show the Republican ticket on the rise. None of it makes sense to me. When you're in a hole, stop digging!

I want desperately to see a new administration and a new party in the White House. This blog will be dedicated to putting Obama/Biden there and to tell THE TRUTH about John McCain and Sarah Palin. It is partisan, it is biased, and it's mine. You're free to comment and perhaps discussion and debate will ensue, but make no mistake: the Republican party must NOT be reelected in November.