This thread will be deleted by a mod. Previous political threads bear this out.?
posted by eyeballkid at 3:50 PM on October 1
It will not be deleted. I bet some sweet homeade moose stew on it you commie bastard.
posted by eyeballkid at 3:51 PM on October 1
Is there a Sarah Palin VP Debate Drinking Game (tm) yet?Drink whenever you remember that there's a decent chance that this woman will become the President of the United States of America.
COURIC: What other Supreme Court decisions [than Roe v. Wade] do you disagree with?Video.
PALIN: Well, let's see. There's --of course --in the great history of America rulings there have been rulings, that's never going to be absolute consensus by every American. And there are--those issues, again, like Roe v Wade where I believe are best held on a state level and addressed there. So you know--going through the history of America, there would be others but--
COURIC: Can you think of any?
PALIN: Well, I could think of--of any again, that could be best dealt with on a more local level. Maybe I would take issue with. But you know, as mayor, and then as governor and even as a Vice President, if I'm so privileged to serve, wouldn't be in a position of changing those things but in supporting the law of the land as it reads today.
I sincerely doubt that Gwen Ifill is going to let any shit fly.Let's see what Gwen Ifill lets her get away with.Likely quite a bit, given the raking over the coals that Ifill's gotten in the past couple of days.
At the insistence of the McCain campaign, the Oct. 2 debate between the Republican nominee for vice president, Gov. Sarah Palin, and her Democratic rival, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., will have shorter question-and-answer segments than those for the presidential nominees, the advisers said. There will also be much less opportunity for free-wheeling, direct exchanges between the running mates.posted by kirkaracha at 6:12 PM on October 1, 2008
McCain advisers said they had been concerned that a loose format could leave Ms. Palin, a relatively inexperienced debater, at a disadvantage and largely on the defensive.
...
Commission members wanted a relaxed format that included time for unpredictable questioning and challenges between the two vice-presidential candidates. On Wednesday, the commission unanimously rejected a proposal sought by advisers to Ms. Palin and Senator John McCain of Arizona, the Republican presidential nominee, to have the moderator ask questions and the candidates answer, with no time for unfettered exchanges. Advisers to Mr. Biden say they were comfortable with either format.
COURIC: I know you're heading to Sedona to work on your debate. What is your coach advising you?
Gov. PALIN: I don't have a debate coach.
COURIC: Well, what are your coaches?
Gov. PALIN: I have quite a few people who are giving us information about the record of Obama and Biden, and at the end of the day, though, it is -- it's so clear, again, what those choices are. Either new ideas, new energy and reform of Washington, DC, or more of the same.
I think she has pretty thoroughly — and probably irretrievably — proven that she is not up to the job of being president of the United States,” David Frum, a former speechwriter for President Bush who is now a conservative columnist, said in an interview. “If she doesn’t perform well, then people see it.[...]"I knew Dan Quayle, and you, Madame, are no Dan Quayle!"
Mr. Frum noted the difficulty that Dan Quayle, who was elected vice president in 1988, had in recovering from an early set of mistakes that led him to be ridiculed as an intellectual lightweight. “The story of Dan Quayle is he did probably 1,000 smart things as vice president, but his image was locked in and it was very difficult to turn around,” he said. “And Dan Quayle never in his life has performed as badly as Sarah Palin in the last month.”
"I am extremely disappointed with today's decision by the U.S. Supreme Court," Palin said.
She would have to lay down a nuclear debate, replete with pie charts, graphs, and a Wagner soundtrack to convince anybody but those already voting McCain that she's ready for the job.
This election will be decided by women, and the ladies seem to be crushing on Obama.
For more than three years starting in 2005, there has been a reduction in the number of voters who register with the Republican Party and a rise among voters who affiliate with Democrats and, almost as often, with no party at all.posted by kirkaracha at 9:56 PM on October 1, 2008
...
Among the 26 states with registration data, the percentage of those who have signed on with Democrats has risen in 15 states since 2004, and the percentage for Republicans has risen in six, according to state data. The number of registered Democrats fell in 11 states, compared with 20 states where Republican registration numbers fell.
"In the new Post-ABC poll, Palin matches the Democratic vice presidential candidate, Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., on empathy, one of McCain's clear deficits against Obama, while fewer than half of voters think she understands 'complex issues.'posted by ericb at 5:58 AM on October 2, 2008
But it is the experience question that may prove her highest hurdle, particularly when paired with widespread public concern about McCain's age. About half of all voters said they were uncomfortable with the idea of McCain taking office at age 72, and 85 percent of those voters said Palin does not have the requisite experience to be president.
The 60 percent who now see Palin as insufficiently experienced to step into the presidency is steeply higher than in a Post-ABC poll after her nomination early last month. Democrats and Republicans alike are now more apt to doubt her qualifications, but the biggest shift has come among independents.
In early September, independents offered a divided verdict on Palin's experience; now they take the negative view by about 2 to 1. Nearly two-thirds of both independent men and women in the new poll said Palin has insufficient experience to run the White House."
I don't know that refusing to acknowledge Obama means McCain is racist.Yeah. John McCain may very well be racist -- I wouldn't be surprised -- but what he's showing is merely that he's a small, petty, bitter man.
The Palin-Drome: Two candidates enter. Both will emerge victorious, in the eyes of their camps.That's true of more or less every presidential debate ever, specifically including even the McCain-Obama one from last week.
"Katie Couric: Thomas Jefferson wrote about the First Amendment, building a wall of separation between church and state. Why do you think that's so important?Not only does Palin get so twisted up in herself that it's tough to remember what the question was in the first place, but I went hunting for the Jefferson quote she references and couldn't find it. I did dig up this:
Sarah Palin: His intention in expressing that was so that government did not mandate a religion on people. And Thomas Jefferson also said never underestimate the wisdom of the people. And the wisdom of the people, I think in this issue is that people have the right and the ability and the desire to express their own religious views, be it a very personal level, which is why I choose to express my faith, or in a more public forum.
And the wisdom of the people, thankfully, engrained in the foundation of our country, is so extremely important. And Thomas Jefferson wanted to protect that.
'It is not wisdom alone but public confidence in that wisdom which can support an administration.'If this is what Palin was going for, she not only took it out of context, but she wasn't even close.
--Thomas Jefferson to James Monroe, 1824.
"Getting to speak directly to Americans without that filter of mainstream media trying to I think maybe censor some of my comments as we lay out those contrasts between these two different tickets."LOL!
Subject: How long will Sarah tolerate McCain?I can't seem to link to individual posts.
Comment: Following in the footsteps of the other failed Rino leader, McCain could care less about a fair and honest moderator in the Palin/Biden debate. Sarah not being part of a path being broken by family privilege may not appreciate being thrown overboard by another Bush look a like. All she needs to do is look to John Bolton or any other true conservative abandoned by another weak Rino screaming put me in Dad. These new age Rino's have no interest in conservative causes or defending their own, a Democrap named Sandy Berger is all the proof needed here. Ask Scooter Libby or our jailed border agents how well this has gone. Sarah must realize the only reason McCain is even in the race is conservative support of her. The polls show conservative support dropping daily for McCain as he heaps praise on the Liberal Lion and screams for no accountability for Dodd, Schumer, Frank and Raines. Sarah is much smarter than these children and time will tell if she will be another emasculated Cheney sitting in the corner looking at his watch waiting to go home in defeat.
Livermore, California
"The San Francisco Chronicle says tonight's debate is 'must-see TV - even if you loathe politics - for its sheer unpredictability.' Both candidates 'display a marked tendency to set off America's collective gaffe-o-meter,' the Hartford Courant writes, producing a 'ghoulish fascination -- like waiting for a crash at a NASCAR race -- with tonight's debate.' Politico notes that media figures expect it to be a ratings juggernaut, likely overtaking those of the first presidential debate." *posted by ericb at 7:48 AM on October 2, 2008
Katie Couric: Thomas Jefferson wrote about the First Amendment, building a wall of separation between church and state. Why do you think that's so important?posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 8:11 AM on October 2, 2008
Sarah Palin: His intention in expressing that was so that government did not mandate a religion on people. And Thomas Jefferson also said never underestimate the wisdom of the people. And the wisdom of the people, I think in this issue is that people have the right and the ability and the desire to express their own religious views, be it a very personal level, which is why I choose to express my faith, or in a more public forum.
And the wisdom of the people, thankfully, engrained in the foundation of our country, is so extremely important. And Thomas Jefferson wanted to protect that.
The English translation of caption under it says that during interviews, Palin is hesitant, troubled and clumsy but didn’t offer more on where the picture was taken and who was on the right.This would all be so much more fun if only I knew for sure there would be a happy ending.
This just goes to show that In Palin’s case, it’s difficult to separate fact from fiction!
Palin Says She's Eager To Debate Since Media Has Been 'Censoring' Her
McCain will go off TV in Michigan, stop dropping mail there and send most of his staff to more competitive states, including Wisconsin, Ohio and Florida.
Listening to surrogates and aides to John McCain on Thursday, one is left with the impression that there is no great need for Gov. Sarah Palin to actually answer questions during tonight's vice presidential debate.posted by ericb at 1:41 PM on October 2, 2008
Indeed, the spin coming from McCain surrogates and strategists is that all Palin has to do is pass a sort of artificial personality test, in which she strikes an emotional thread with the average voter -- question, answers, or intellectual capacity be damned.
Such were the talking points mere hours before the debate in St. Louis, which peaked with Sen. Joe Lieberman - a man not unaccustomed to the pressures of such a forum - actually proclaiming that Palin's relative ignorance helped her relate to ‘regular people.’
‘She's not lived in the world of Washington, so she doesn't know every detail of all the questions senators deal with,’ Lieberman told NBC's Andrea Mitchell. ‘But, frankly, that's her strength. I think that's why a lot of regular people out across America think she's going to be their voice.’
Mitchell interjected, ‘Senator, she wants to be a heartbeat away from the presidency. You know, that doesn't mean just being an average mom, it means bringing other skills.’
But Lieberman stayed on the point, stating later, ‘I think tonight is not a kind of final college exam. I think the point is who is she as a person... Whether she can answer every detailed question, I don't think that ultimately matters to the American people so long as they think she passes those other personal thresholds.’”
Sarah Palin plans to go on the attack in tonight’s debate, hitting Joe Biden for what she will call his foreign policy blunders and penchant for adopting liberal positions on taxes and other issues, according to campaign officials involved in prepping her for tonight’s showdown.Biden's got the right idea, and so does the Palin camp. Keep building up those expectations, guys. Next they'll tell us she's been up all night watching Thumbsucker and has a PowerPoint presentation ready.
The Palin camp is projecting surprising self-confidence in the pre-debate hours, despite the vice presidential nominee’s uneven — and, at some points, peculiar — performances in recent television interviews, the officials say. Top advisers to John McCain privately say Palin’s recent CBS interview was a borderline disaster, especially since it played out in several segments over several days. Tonight will be different, they say.
“This is going to finally put her back into a position where we see her like we saw her the first couple weeks,” a McCain official said. “She was herself. She was authentic, and people related to that. ... Tonight, she’ll get into a rhythm. You’re going to see her in a way that you haven’t seen her yet.”
By contrast, Biden plans what an aide calls "a just-the-facts, prosecutorial approach laying out the case against McCain and defending Obama." The aide said Biden will be "keeping the eye on the target, which is McCain."
...public assessments of Sarah Palin's readiness have plummeted, and she may now be a drag on the Republican ticket among key voter groups, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.posted by kirkaracha at 3:31 PM on October 2, 2008
...
Six in 10 voters see her as lacking the experience to be an effective president, and a third are now less likely to vote for McCain because of her.
...
In early September, independents offered a divided verdict on Palin's experience; now they take the negative view by about 2 to 1. Nearly two-thirds of both independent men and women in the new poll said Palin has insufficient experience to run the White House.
Well... she probably knows that the NYT is viewed by her fellow crazies as communist propaganda. And maybe WaPo too.I reckon she thought the question was a trap, and hesitated to commit to a certain newspaper.Yeah. You can't say the Washington Post or the New York Times; those are elitist liberal papers. But, geez, what about the Wall Street Journal? Surely that would be a safe answer.
Her fellow bartender, Crystal Porter, chimed in. “I know [Obama's] wife runs a liberalist camp for teenagers, and when he gets elected, he wants to make it mandatory for all teenagers to go there. I also heard as a hobby he makes flags, like home made flags, one for each race. He has one for black people and one for white people and one for Indians.”...somebody having a laugh at the expense of the big-city Eastern reporter who'll believe anything about rural Nevadans, or a serious expression of concern that Obama is a secret vexillographer?
As I headed east on a long stretch of Interstate 80 toward Utah, I kept imaging Mr. Obama, his head bent over a Butterick pattern for race-based flags, sewing in his spare time.
— Road to November: Lamoille, Nev.
Disgusting that they share the position on making marriage unavailable to same-sex couples.This is true of Obama and Biden in terms of the religious sense of marriage. In terms of the civil sense of marriage, they're all for it.
did he say "Bosniac's" ?Yes. I was surprised by that, so I looked it up, and according to both the OED and Merriam-Websters, "Bosniacs" is a synonym for "Bosnians".
So if it’s a pod of whales and a murder of crows, do you call it a team of mavericks?I just looked this up in the OED, too. It turns out that the proper term is actually "a coven of mavericks".
And yeah, the way he executed that momentary choke-up at the end was a performance of Oscar-winning calibre.You're suggesting that he was faking emotion about the death of his wife and baby daughter?
I did find it amusing that Palin co-opted the phrase "Never Again" from the Holocaust and used it in reference to... the credit crisis.Well dontcha know, gee golly, maybe it's just because I'm a Joe Six Pack Hockey Mom Washington Outsider, but whillikers, dontcha know they really are the same thing, because our Jewish brother and sisters, God bless 'em, dontcha know they were right there in the middle of the Holocaust and the credit crisis, dontcha know.
The CBS poll of undecideds had Biden winning the debate 46-21, with 33 percent calling it a tie. But few votes were moved as as result. Among the undecideds, 18 percent committed to Obama, and 10 percent committed to McCain, but 71 percent remained uncommitted.posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 8:22 PM on October 2, 2008
Biden won the CNN and CBS focus groups. Palin won the Luntz focus group. The candidates tied in the Halperin focus group.
the Lord will be our God and delight to dwell among us....hee shall make us a prayse and glory, that men shall say of succeeding plantacions: the lord make it like that of New England: for wee must Consider that wee shall be as a Citty upon a Hill, the eies of all people are uppon us...GO SOX!
"Serge the man came striding into the pool area like the Colossus of Rome and shot me a look of raw passion that heroes have been shooting at heroes for thousands and thousands of years. I froze."posted by ericb at 8:43 PM on October 2, 2008
....were very wise there in allowing through the Constitution much flexibility thereWhy is she constructing her sentences like this?! AAARGH. It's like Babel fish being used to double translate.
And it is my executive experience that is partly to be attributed to my pick as V.P. with McCainI had to read through this slowly to figure out what it means. I think she means, "The reason why John McCain picked me to be his running mate is partly because of my executive experience..."
This evening, Joe Biden had a moment that I can really, personally relate two. He was talking about understanding how it is to have a child in jeopardy when he choked up. Of course, he was referring to his own personal tragedy - his loss of a child and his wife in a car accident, along with the critical injury of two more children.posted by scody at 12:22 AM on October 3, 2008 [12 favorites]
I lost 3 children with my first wife many years ago. They were triplets born at 22 and 1/2 weeks. Old enough to try to breathe, but with no lungs to breathe with. None of them survived more than minutes. Each had a name, and each still stays with me - even as I am years past this with a wonderful family now. It was more than devestating, it made my first wife crazy, and destroyed that marriage.
Now, I'm not telling all of you this to engender sympathy. As I mentioned, I now have a wonderful, full life with an incredible wife and beautiful children. I'm bringing this up, because of what that experience was - and how horrendous it was that Sarah You-Betcha ignored it.
It is the worst thing that any adult could ever go through, and every parent - thankfully most never experience it - but they all know that's the case. I'm assuming that includes Sarah Palin, since she has five children.
But her response - well, her response was to not even acknowledge that this very authentic, very real man - a candidate with no veneer - had suffered through this and that it still hurt. No, "I'm so sorry for your loss" or any compassion of any kind. Rather, she talked about how she and McCain were mavericks.
It was so blatant and stupid. And I wouldn't have blamed Joe Biden if he had walked across the stage and slapped her. And she surely deserved it.
More importantly, it was at that moment - the very moment when it was time to be a "compassionate conservative," she acted just like the valley girl teenager she speaks like. And that immature stupidity is how she lost the debate.
"Conservatives must be breathing a little easier tonight because Sarah Palin passed a test," Donna Brazile said on ABC. "She did her homework. ... Overall, there were no moose in the headlight moments."Also on the front page of Yahoo: "See Biden choke up". I appreciate the fact that a sincere show of emotion touched people, but I think they could have phrased that better.
Biden, for his part, was respectful of Palin and steered clear of any hint of condescension.
"He decided he was not gonna take her on directly," MSNBC's David Gregory said. "She challenged him, she mocked him, she chided him. He decided to train his responses and just talk about (John) McCain's record."
A click away on CNN, Soledad O'Brien asked another panel whether they had made up their mind as a result of the debate. Ten people raised their hands — one sided with McCain, and nine with Barack Obama.
Instant polls conducted by CBS and CNN about the debate reflected trends in overall opinion polls toward Obama the past couple of weeks.
A CBS News/Knowledge Networks Poll of uncommitted voters who watched the debate found 46 percent thinking Biden won, with 21 percent siding with Palin. A CNN poll found respondents judging Biden the winner by a 51 percent to 39 percent margin.
Republican strategist Mike Murphy, on MSNBC, said the debate "became a bit of a nothing-burger."
PALIN: Criticized Obama's "plan to mandate health care coverage and have universal government run program" for health care, and added: "I don't think it's going to be real pleasing for Americans to consider health care being taken over by the Feds."posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 2:25 AM on October 3, 2008
THE FACTS: Wrong on several counts. Obama's plan does not provide for universal coverage, only mandates insurance for children and doesn't turn the system over to the government. Most people would still get private insurance through their work. Obama proposes that the government subsidize the cost of health coverage for millions who have trouble affording it and he'd set up an exchange to negotiate prices and benefits with private insurers — with one option being a government-run plan.
PALIN: Said the United States has reduced its troop level in Iraq to a number below where it was when the troop increase began in early 2007.
THE FACTS: Not correct. The Pentagon says there are currently 152,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, about 17,000 more than there were before the 2007 military buildup began.
PALIN: "Barack Obama even supported increasing taxes as late as last year for those families making only $42,000 a year."
BIDEN: "The charge is absolutely not true. Barack Obama did not vote to raise taxes. The vote she's referring to, John McCain voted the exact same way."
THE FACTS: The vote was on a nonbinding budget resolution that assumed that President Bush's tax cuts would expire, as scheduled, in 2011. If that actually happened, it could mean higher taxes for people making as little as about $42,000. But Obama is proposing tax increases only on the wealthy, and would cut taxes for most others. In the March 14 budget resolution supported by Obama and Biden, McCain actually did not vote.
"Harold Ford remarked on Sarah Palin’s lack of responsiveness to Gwen Ifill’s questions: 'she had a set of answers to a set of questions, even if the question was not asked she was going to provide the answer.'posted by ericb at 6:46 AM on October 3, 2008
CBS’s Bob Schieffer: 'I found it disconcerting, time and again Governor Palin chose not to answer the question.'"
"Discussing Palin’s seeming confusion on McCain’s record, CNN’s Anderson Cooper said, On equal rights for gays and lesbians, it came off as if she actually supports the same policies as Obama and Biden do, which is just factually not the case.' Paul Begala agreed: 'She seemed to say she supported the Biden-Obama position that we should all treat all Americans equally. That would be a radical step for Republicans.' Another pundit said evangelicals heard Palin’s answer and wondered, 'What in the world is she doing?' Read more about Palin’s record on gay rights here."posted by ericb at 6:49 AM on October 3, 2008
"Not only did she say I'm not going to do any more interviews, it seemed, but she was saying, I'm not going to listen to Gwen Ifill tonight. She said I'm not going to give the answers the moderator wants to ask for. What an extraordinary statement. I'm not going to play by the rules and when I get elected I want more power in the office than it's had before. Hmm... Not too much humility here."posted by ericb at 6:59 AM on October 3, 2008 [6 favorites]
"And how long have I been at this, like five weeks?"posted by ericb at 7:01 AM on October 3, 2008 [5 favorites]
Torie Clarke, who worked with McCain back in Arizona and with the Bush Administration's Department of Defense, had the following remarks on ABC: " I think Joe Biden had his best night tonight. He came with one mission, and that was to go after John McCain, and he did it, backed up by facts. I think he did a better job tonight of tying McCain to the Bush administration than Obama did last week. Matthew Dowd, who worked for George Bush's communications team while in the White House, followed Clarke and he too agreed that the Delaware Democrat took the evening.It's pretty meaningful when former Bush staffers hand the debate win to a Democrat, because those people are sworn to fealty through a blood oath with Satan. Now their only way to escape the Prince of Darkness will be a fiddle contest, or smuggling in some oxycontin for Rush Limbaugh.
“Can I respond to that?posted by ericb at 7:27 AM on October 3, 2008 [1 favorite]
Look, let's talk about the maverick John McCain is. And again I love him, he's been a maverick on some issues but he's been no maverick on things that matter to people's lives.
He voted four out of five times for George Bush's budget which put us half a trillion in debt this year and over three trillion in debt since he got there.
He has not been a maverick in providing healthcare for people. He voted against including another 3.6 million children in coverage of the existing health care plan in the United States Senate.
He's not been a maverick when it comes to education. He has not supported tax cuts and significant changes for people being able to send their kids to college.
He's not been a maverick on the war, not been a maverick on virtually anything that generally affects the things that people really talk about around the kitchen table.
Can we get mom's MRI? Can we send Mary back to school next semester? We can't make it. How we gonna heat the house this winter? He even voted against what they call LIHEAP, for assistance for people with oil prices going through the roof in the winter.
So a maverick he is not, on the important critical issues that affect people at the kitchen table.”
John McCain has become the candidate of change, while Barack Obama would be happy with more of the same – at least when it comes to the last month of the presidential campaign.posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 7:33 AM on October 3, 2008
For the conclusion of Thursday's debate failed to alter a trajectory that has favored the Democratic ticket. The campaign is still handcuffed to the nation's financial crisis, with voters willing to take a risk on change and reminded of what they don't like about Republicans and the Bush administration.
John McCain is pulling out of Michigan, according to two Republicans, a stunning move a month away from Election Day that indicates the difficulty Republicans are having in finding blue states to put in play. McCain will now turn his attention to bolstering his defenses in Ohio and Florida while putting more resources into Wisconsin, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and the second congressional district of Maine, where there is a sole electoral vote available.posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 7:41 AM on October 3, 2008
thanks to John McCain's bipartisan efforts that he was so instrumental in bringing folksposted by Secret Life of Gravy at 7:42 AM on October 3, 2008 [6 favorites]
And the American workforce is the greatest in this world, with the ingenuity and the work ethic that is just entrenched in our workforce.
Now, that's not what we need to create jobs and really bolster and heat up our economy.
I do take issue with some of the principle there with that redistribution of wealth principle that seems to be espoused by you.
Barack Obama believes we need to repeal the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy and allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military. His campaign literature says, "The key test for military service should be patriotism, a sense of duty, and a willingness to serve."Well, here's the only problem I see:
Barack Obama co-sponsored legislation to expand federal hate crimes laws to include crimes perpetrated because of sexual orientation and gender identity. (...) ...supports the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and believes it should be expanded to include sexual orientation and gender identity. (...) ...believes gays and lesbians should have the same rights to adopt children as heterosexuals.
He said he would support civil unions between gay and lesbian couples, as well as letting individual states determine if marriage between gay and lesbian couples should be legalized.But honestly I think if he had campaigned on a platform of a federal mandate for legalization of gay marriage in all 50 states he would have not been elected.
The university's administration has sparked outrage by telling faculty, staff and graduate students that a 5-year-old state law designed to prevent state workers from campaigning for candidates on state time or with state resources meant they could not express support for candidates or parties through pins, T-shirts or bumper stickers while on campus. Nor could they attend any political rally or event on campus, the administration said.No political rallies on campus? That is crazy. No pins or T-shirts? That's outrageous.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) now must win Pennsylvania, Wisconsin or Minnesota in order to get enough electoral votes to win the presidency, his campaign says.The McCain campaign is also going after one electoral vote from Maine.
...
McCain figures that winning one of those three big remaining swing states, plus those he considers safe, would put him 10 shy of the 270 electoral votes he needs to win.
"We can dig up an additional 10 electoral votes in Nevada, Colorado and New Hampshire," the official said.
Recent polls have showed Obama running strong in some states Bush won in 2004. But the McCain official said the campaign is confident: "We feel strongly that we’re going to win in Florida, Missouri and the traditional Republican states of Virginia and North Carolina."
The faux Sarah is Lisa Ann, who "will be nailing the Russians who come knocking on her back-door." In another scene -- a flashback -- "young Paylin's creationist college professor will explain a 'big bang' theory even she can't deny!"See what happens when you wink and flirt with the camera?
There's also a threeway with Hillary and Condoleezza look-alikes. The video is in pre-production, but is being fast tracked for release before the election.
If bin Laden were captured in the next few weeks, it'd be seen as a transparent stunt by the Bush administration
"The Sarah Palin in those interviews was a little bit annoyed because no matter what you say you're gonna get clobbered," she said.Man, try doing this for your job interviews. "The me you saw yesterday was actually a little bit annoyed because even though I desperately wanted to make the best possible impression on the most important audience I've ever faced, I knew I was gonna get clobbered, so I deliberately made myself look worse. I read the same industry publications as everyone else, including Major Journal and the Harvard Business Review, even though I couldn't think of any yesterday. And I shouldn't have been so flippant when you asked me about whether I disagreed with any of the major decisions in the company's history. I can cite a lot of decisions I disagree on, now that I've looked some of them up with the help of some researchers."
Asked by Couric to name the periodicals she reads, Palin repeatedly declined. She also would not name any Supreme Court decisions she disagreed with, other than the Roe v. Wade abortion ruling.
Palin told FOX News on Friday that she reads the same newspapers and magazines as everyone else, "including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal and The Economist."
She said she "shouldn't have been so flippant" on the Supreme Court question. "I can cite a lot of cases that I absolutely disagree with the Supreme Court on."
She cited the June decision that child rapists cannot be executed, as well as the 2005 decision that local governments can seize private land for purposes of economic development.
"Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said Friday that she disagrees with the John McCain campaign’s decision to pull staff and resources out of Michigan.posted by ericb at 2:30 PM on October 3, 2008
'I want to get back to Michigan, and I want to try,' Palin said in an interview on Fox News. 'Todd and I, we'd be happy to get to Michigan. We'd be so happy to speak to the people there in Michigan who are hurting.
...The Alaska governor first heard the news this morning and fired off a quick e-mail to campaign officials expressing her displeasure with the move.
'Oh c’mon, do we have to?' Palin said she wrote."
Sen. John McCain's senior foreign policy adviser cites a steamy romance 50 years ago with a Brazilian babe among the things that illustrate the candidate's decades-long interest in Latin America.[...]Oh man. I really want to go to a McCain event so I can call him "sweet coconut."
''I called him John but also my darling and my sweet coconut,'' she said. ``He was a great kisser. I liked it so much that I bought a book to learn how to kiss myself.''[...]
Asked afterward about whether he was suggesting that McCain's fling with a Latin hottie counted as Latin America foreign policy experience, Fontaine said: ''The only thing I was trying to convey was that his experience goes back a long way,'' Fontaine said.
"Steve Doocy...[pointed] out the fact that although both Biden and Palin were wearing flag pins, Palin’s was 'about three times the size of his. So I would say flag-pin wise, she is a hands-down winner,' said Doocy. [Gretchen] Carlson noted that her pin had 'a few more jewels' too. Watch it.This has gotta be an SNL skit, amirite? No. Holy shit.
"Let’s be clear. We've observed no comparison between these ground campaigns. To begin with, there’s a 4-1 ratio of offices in most states. We walk into McCain offices to find them closed, empty, one person, two people, sometimes three people making calls. Many times one person is calling while the other small clutch of volunteers are chatting amongst themselves. In one state, McCain’s state field director sat in one of these offices and, sotto voce, complained to us that only one man was making calls while the others were talking to each other about how much they didn't like Obama, which was true. But the field director made no effort to change this. This was the state field director."It really feels that way here in Reno as well.
...
"You could take every McCain volunteer we’ve seen doing actual work in the entire trip, over six states, and it would add up to the same as Obama’s single Thornton, CO office. Or his single Durango, CO office. These ground campaigns bear no relationship to each other."
...
"Here on out, our skepticism is going to be higher. We truly respect organizers on both sides, because it is grindingly hard work for minimal pay. It’s powered by a belief in doing what’s right. We do not quote them or get them in trouble. Moreover, we truly respect direct action by volunteers – who do exist on the McCain side, just as a tiny, tiny fraction of the Obama side – but if the attitude continues on this unhelpful and obstructive turn, we’re going to spend less time making excuses for what we observe. Less benefit of the doubt. "
I'm sure I'm not the only male in America who, when Palin dropped her first wink, sat up a little straighter on the couch and said, "Hey, I think she just winked at me." And her smile. By the end, when she clearly knew she was doing well, it was so sparkling it was almost mesmerizing. It sent little starbursts through the screen and ricocheting around the living rooms of America. This is a quality that can't be learned; it's either something you have or you don't, and man, she's got it.Now I need to bleach my brain.
In 2007, the family reported earning a gross income of $166,080 ($107,987.00 of which came from Gov. Palin) and paid taxes totaling $24,738, for a rate of 14.9 percent.Pay particular not to the comments as well:
But there is some discrepancy with the latter number. According to an accompanying 2007 personal financial disclosure report, Palin's "income" as governor of Alaska was $196,531.50, well above the $107,987.00 that was noted on her W2 form from that same year. An email was sent to the McCain campaign for clarification. And this story will be updated should aides reply.
Author: CRAIG MEDREDWait for the news to be all over this.
Date: February 18, 2006
... Scott Davis and Todd Palin were in the Interior village of Tanana on Friday night poised to win another Tesoro Iron Dog snowmobile race. ... the F6 Arctic Cats of Kenai's Davis and Wasilla's Palin will purr across the Iron Dog finish line in Fairbanks around noon today to claim a top prize of more than $25,000 from the race's $90,000 purse.
this would be a fourth victory
I noticed this also, since Todd received $60k - 100k from his retirement account he should've paid 30% in on these funds since he is younger than 59 1/2 per ERISA rules. ERISA states any distribution is taxed 20% upon distribution and an additional 10% is assessed at the end of the tax year, this applies to ALL retirement payments regardless of your state of residency, just using the $60,000 amount his tax liability is $18,000 PLUS it will increase their taxable income by this same amount.
Where are the 1099's?
Total charitable donations came to $3,325, or about 2 percent of total income. These included $2,500 in various non-itemized gifts and an $825 in-kind donation to the Salvation Army.Far from tithing 10%, the Palins donate 2 % which includes bags of used clothes no doubt.
Palin said she had been "annoyed" in her interviews with CBS News anchor Katie Couric and had been caught off guard when asked what newspapers and magazines she read and to name Supreme Court decisions she disagreed with — questions Palin appeared not to be able to answer.So, wait a second ... she claims that she does read magazines and newspapers, and can cite Supreme Court cases, as was quoted up thread. And in the same breath, couldn't come up with the any examples because she's "outside of the Washington elite"?
Her responses, Palin said, were "an indication of being outside that Washington elite, outside of the media elite also."
The second bit of predebate news, percolating under the radar, involved the still-unanswered questions about McCain’s health. Back in May, you will recall, the McCain campaign allowed a select group of 20 reporters to spend a mere three hours examining (but not photocopying) 1,173 pages of the candidate’s health records on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend. Conspicuously uninvited was Lawrence Altman, a doctor who covers medicine for The New York Times. Altman instead canvassed melanoma experts to evaluate the sketchy data that did emerge. They found the information too “unclear” to determine McCain’s cancer prognosis.As we are now less than 30-days away from the election, I suspect more questions will be raised about McCain's health by the MSM and blogosphere.
There was, however, at least one doctor-journalist among those 20 reporters in May, the CNN correspondent Sanjay Gupta. At the time, Gupta told Katie Couric on CBS that the medical records were “pretty comprehensive” and wrote on his CNN blog that he was “pretty convinced there was no ‘smoking gun’ about the senator’s health.” (Physical health, that is; Gupta wrote there was hardly any information on McCain’s mental health.)
That was then. Now McCain is looking increasingly shaky, whether he’s repeating his “Miss Congeniality” joke twice in the same debate or speaking from notecards even when reciting a line for (literally) the 17th time (“The fundamentals of our economy are strong”) or repeatedly confusing proper nouns that begin with S (Sunni, Shia, Sudan, Somalia, Spain). McCain’s “dismaying temperament,” as George Will labeled it, only thickens the concerns. His kamikaze mission into Washington during the bailout crisis seemed crazed. His seething, hostile debate countenance — a replay of Al Gore’s sarcastic sighing in 2000 — didn’t make the deferential Obama look weak (as many Democrats feared) but elevated him into looking like the sole presidential grown-up.
Though CNN and MSNBC wouldn’t run a political ad with doctors questioning McCain’s medical status, Gupta revisited the issue in an interview published last Tuesday by The Huffington Post. While maintaining a pretty upbeat take on the candidate’s health, the doctor-journalist told the reporter Sam Stein that he couldn’t vouch “by any means” for the completeness of the records the campaign showed him four months ago. “The pages weren’t numbered,” Gupta said, “so I had no way of knowing what was missing.” At least in Watergate we knew that the gap on Rose Mary Woods’s tape ran 18 and a half minutes.
It’s against this backdrop that Palin’s public pronouncements, culminating with her debate performance, have been so striking. The standard take has it that she’s either speaking utter ignorant gibberish (as to Couric) or reciting highly polished, campaign-written sound bites that she’s memorized (as at the convention and the debate). But there’s a steady unnerving undertone to Palin’s utterances, a consistent message of hubristic self-confidence and hyper-ambition. She wants to be president, she thinks she can be president, she thinks she will be president. And perhaps soon. She often sounds like someone who sees herself as half-a-heartbeat away from the presidency. Or who is seen that way by her own camp, the hard-right G.O.P. base that never liked McCain anyway and views him as, at best, a White House place holder.
Branding his opponent as “erratic in a crisis,” Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is preempting plans by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to portray him as having sinister connections to controversial Chicagoans.posted by ericb at 8:54 AM on October 5, 2008 [2 favorites]
Obama officials call it political jujitsu – turning the attacks back on the attacker.
McCain officials had said early in the weekend that they plan to begin advertising after Tuesday’s debate that will tie Obama to convicted money launderer Tony Rezko and former Weathermen radical William Ayers.
But Obama isn’t waiting to respond. His campaign is going up Monday on national cable stations with a scathing ad saying: “Three quarters of a million jobs lost this year. Our financial system in turmoil. And John McCain? Erratic in a crisis. Out of touch on the economy. No wonder his campaign wants to change the subject.
“Turn the page on the financial crisis by launching dishonorable, dishonest ‘assaults’ against Barack Obama. Struggling families can't turn the page on this economy, and we can't afford another president who is this out of touch.”
Then Obama says: “I'm Barack Obama and I approved this message.”
.....We think the McCain campaign made a huge error by telling the press that their strategy was to distract from the most important issue facing voters,” a senior Obama official said. “Every attack going forward will be easy to characterize for what it is – an attempt to distract from the Bush-McCain economic record."
At a rally today in California, Gov. Sarah Palin offered up a rather jarring argument for supporting the Republican ticket. "There's a place in Hell reserved for women who don't support other women," the Alaska Governor said, claiming she was quoting former Clinton Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.posted by ericb at 10:01 AM on October 5, 2008
The statement came after Palin had recounted a "providential" moment she experienced on Saturday: "I'm reading on my Starbucks mocha cup, ok? The quote of the day... It was Madeleine Albright, former Secretary of State [crowd boos] and UN ambassador. ... Now she said it, I didn't. She said, 'There's a place in Hell reserved for women who don't support other women.'"
Actually, Albright didn't say that. The real quote is, "There's a place in Hell reserved for women who don't help other women." (Sources made the same point to CBS's Scott Conroy.)
Palin seemed to realize that the line could be viewed as grating. As the audience cheered, she remarked: "Okay, now, thank you so much for receiving that well. I didn't know how that was gonna go over. And now, California, let's see what a comment like I just made, how that is turned into whatever it'll be turned into tomorrow with the newspaper."
"Though I am flattered that Governor Palin has chosen to cite me as a source of wisdom, what I said had nothing to do with politics. This is yet another example of McCain and Palin distorting the truth, and all the more reason to remember that this campaign is not about gender, it is about which candidate has an agenda that will improve the lives of all Americans, including women. The truth is, if you care about the status of women in our society and in our troubled economy, the best choice by far is Obama-Biden."posted by ericb at 12:53 PM on October 5, 2008 [12 favorites]
'he is palling around with terrorists who would target their own country,' Palin said of Obama
"George Will made an excellent point this morning on ABC's 'This Week.' Americans are about to get a mailing that is going to do wonders for Obama's campaign. They're going to be getting their quarterly statements from their 401ks and their pension plans. And it ain't going to be pretty. John McCain wants to change the subject away from the economy. He wants to pull the plug on the number one discussion, the number one issue of importance to every American, because he doesn't know much about economics. And Sarah Palin? Yeah. Imagine Sarah Palin being in charge of your 401k."*posted by ericb at 1:15 PM on October 5, 2008 [2 favorites]
"...in a post on his website, Rove projected that if the election were held today, Obama would get at least 273 electoral votes and become the next president of the United States. The architect of George W. Bush's two presidential campaigns attributed the Democratic nominee's rise to the current economic woes and cautioned that landscape is fluid. But, he added:posted by ericb at 1:36 PM on October 5, 2008'39 new state polls released in the first three days of October have given Barack Obama his first lead over the magic number of 270 since mid-July. Minnesota (10 EV) and New Hampshire (4 EV) both moved from toss-up to Obama, giving him 273 electoral votes to McCain's 163, with 102 votes remaining as a toss-up. If the election were held today, Obama would win every state John Kerry won in 2004, while adding New Mexico (5 EV), Iowa (7 EV), and Colorado (9 EV) to his coalition.'"
First interview: having fun with inner monologuesWhat happened, John? You used to be cool.
"We're so delighted he's joining us, he has a reputation as a bit of a maverick"
"We're gonna find poo-poo!"
He has jackets
Sick and tired of negative campaigning
Criticizing Bush's State of the Union (that "studying bears in Montana" joke is older than I thought, btw)
Thoughts on the Iraq war
"You're my president, from now on"
"We should view the other party as our opponents and not our enemies"
But then, some troubling shifts:
Defending Cheney on torture
Debating Iraq
"Are you freaking out on us? Are you going into Crazy Base World?"
Their banter tightens:
Sparring over the war
Arguing talking points
And at McCain's final appearance: "I'd like to see the old John McCain"
"Financial markets need governments to set rules for them; and when markets fail, governments are often best placed to get them going again. That’s pragmatism, not socialism. Helping bankers is not an end in itself. If the government could save the credit markets without bailing out the bankers, it should do so. But it cannot. Main Street needs Wall Street; and both need Washington. Politicians—and President George Bush is the most culpable among them (see article)—have failed to explain this."So, basically, it's still going to get worse before it gets better, especially if the politicians and we remain blind to the true extent of the crisis, and what's really needed for recovery. On that we can probaly agree.
"Reforms put into place in 1995 reduced compliance costs for all banks and streamlined CRA regulations even further for the smallest institutions. Evidence suggests the reforms worked. In 2002, the Independent Community Bankers of America surveyed its membership about the cost of CRA regulation. Although the study is designed to highlight the high compliance costs of CRA, the data reported in the study suggest otherwise."That same testimony indicated that the CRA should have done more to combat abuses in the subprime market.
"Hello Philly,posted by shiu mai baby at 5:33 AM on October 6, 2008 [7 favorites]
"I am glad to be here today for this voter registration drive and for Barack Obama, the next President of the United States.
"I've spent 35 years writing about America, its people, and the meaning of the American Promise. The Promise that was handed down to us, right here in this city from our founding fathers, with one instruction: Do your best to make these things real. Opportunity, equality, social and economic justice, a fair shake for all of our citizens, the American idea, as a positive influence, around the world for a more just and peaceful existence. These are the things that give our lives hope, shape, and meaning. They are the ties that bind us together and give us faith in our contract with one another.
"I've spent most of my creative life measuring the distance between that American promise and American reality. For many Americans, who are today losing their jobs, their homes, seeing their retirement funds disappear, who have no healthcare, or who have been abandoned in our inner cities. The distance between that promise and that reality has never been greater or more painful.
"I believe Senator Obama has taken the measure of that distance in his own life and in his work. I believe he understands, in his heart, the cost of that distance, in blood and suffering, in the lives of everyday Americans. I believe as president, he would work to restore that promise to so many of our fellow citizens who have justifiably lost faith in its meaning. After the disastrous administration of the past 8 years, we need someone to lead us in an American reclamation project. In my job, I travel the world, and occasionally play big stadiums, just like Senator Obama. I've continued to find, wherever I go, America remains a repository of people's hopes, possibilities, and desires, and that despite the terrible erosion to our standing around the world, accomplished by our recent administration, we remain, for many, a house of dreams. One thousand George Bushes and one thousand Dick Cheneys will never be able to tear that house down.
"They will, however, be leaving office, dropping the national tragedies of Katrina, Iraq, and our financial crisis in our laps. Our sacred house of dreams has been abused, looted, and left in a terrible state of disrepair. It needs care; it needs saving, it needs defending against those who would sell it down the river for power or a quick buck. It needs strong arms, hearts, and minds. It needs someone with Senator Obama's understanding, temperateness, deliberativeness, maturity, compassion, toughness, and faith, to help us rebuild our house once again. But most importantly, it needs us. You and me. To build that house with the generosity that is at the heart of the American spirit. A house that is truer and big enough to contain the hopes and dreams of all of our fellow citizens. That is where our future lies. We will rise or fall as a people by our ability to accomplish this task. Now I don't know about you, but I want that dream back, I want my America back, I want my country back.
"So now is the time to stand with Barack Obama and Joe Biden, roll up our sleeves, and come on up for the rising."
"America's youngest voters are mindful of history and the impact on their own lives as they prepare to cast ballots on Nov. 4. Among 18- to 29-year-old registered voters surveyed for a USA Today/MTV/Gallup poll, 61% support the Obama-Biden ticket, versus 32% who prefer the McCain-Palin ticket, with Obama's voters being far more likely to be certain about their vote than McCain's."posted by ericb at 6:42 AM on October 6, 2008
"Perpetually fretting Democrats will not want to accept it. The campaigns themselves can't afford to believe it. Many journalists know it but can't say it. And there will certainly be some twists and turns along the way. But take it to a well capitalized bank: Bill Ayers isn't going to save John McCain. The race is over.posted by ericb at 6:45 AM on October 6, 2008
John McCain's candidacy is as much a casualty of Wall Street as Lehman or Merrill. Like those once vibrant institutions, McCain's collapse was stunning and quick. One minute you are a well-respected brand. The next you are yelling at the messengers of your demise as all around you the numbers start blinking red and stop adding up." [more...]
Obama-Biden communications director Dan Pfeiffer:The campaign is set to release a 13-minute documentary about McCain and The Keating 5 scandal at noon today at the Keating Economics website (cited above in other comments)"While John McCain may want to turn the page on his erratic response to the current economic crisis, we think voters will find his involvement in a similar crisis to be particularly interesting. His involvement with Keating is a window into McCain’s economic past, present, and future.'"
John McCain's candidacy is as much a casualty of Wall Street as Lehman or Merrill.
the media wasn't permitted to wander around inside Coachman Park to talk to Sarah Palin supporters.[...]When one reporter asked an escort, who would not give her name, why the press wasn't allowed to mingle, she said that in the past, negative things had been written. The campaign wanted to avoid that possibility Monday.posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 1:24 PM on October 6, 2008
posted by iamkimiam at 3:36 PM on October 1, 2008