US Politics 08: Watch Palin push Mccain Out of her way during speech

Interesting clip...It actually shows Palin forgetting that she is the VP candidate and pushing Mccain out of the way, by calling it her administration:

Think Progress » Hagel On Palin: ‘I Think It’s A Stretch To…Say She’s Got The Experience To Be President’

Think Progress » Hagel On Palin: ‘I Think It’s A Stretch To…Say She’s Got The Experience To Be President’:

"In an interview with the Omaha World-Herald, Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) questioned whether John McCain’s running mate, Sarah Palin, has the experience to be president of the United States:

“I do think in a world that is so complicated, so interconnected and so combustible, you really got to have some people in charge that have some sense of the bigger scope of the world,” Hagel said. “I think that’s just a requirement.”

US Elections 08: Swiftboaters Aggresively Target Mccain

Nowadays its like impossible for me to go onto you tube without seeing new swift boat ads coming out against Mccain and Palin. Here is one that uses his own words to draw out some rather obvious conclusions. If you are not careful on this one you might think you're watching a Chappelle re-run or something because let's face it. Mccain can say some comical stuff.

Palin Contradicts Mccain on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

From Think Progress:

"During his interview with Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK), Fox’s Sean Hannity asked Palin if she believed an investigation was needed into the “relationships between political donations from Fannie and Freddie Mac and the bankruptcy.” Hannity’s question was presumably inspired by Sen. John

McCain’s (R-AZ) recent emphasis on the significant number of campaign contributions that the two firms have made in recent years.

Tonight, however, Palin played down the role that campaign contributions might have played in the Fannie-Freddie collapse. Instead, she emphasized “the role that lobbyists play in an issue like this"

US Elections 08: America I'm sorry but somebody must be confused

A few minutes ago I got a really cool email from an Obama supporter. Unfortunately, I don't know who to credit or who wrote it, but I'm sorry this one is just so timely and representative of my own personal thoughts and questions on the presidential election coverage that I just couldn't resist sharing it with you...

I'm a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight.....

• If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you're "exotic, different."

• Grow up in Alaska eating moose burgers, a quintessential American story.

• If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.

• Name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, you're a maverick.

• Graduate from Harvard law School you are unstable.

• Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well grounded.

• If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while sponsoring or co-sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience.

• If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you're qualified to become the country's second highest ranking executive.

• If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian.

• If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.

• If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.

• If , while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state's school system while your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant , you're very responsible.

• If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values don't represent America's.

• If you're husband is nicknamed "First Dude", with at least one DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.

OK, much clearer now.

by anonymous author

US Elections 08: Obama Back Up in Polls

Obama is back up in the national polls, accortding to Gallup Poll.  As of  today what they are saying is Obama-47% and Mccain-45%-with a 4 point margin of error.

CNN's poll of polls shows Obama-46% and Mccain-45% and they call their poll a 0% margin of error poll.

US Elections 2008: Top Mccain Campaign Official-Mccain Incapable of Running a Company

From CNN Chief National Correspondent John King:

"...Top McCain-Palin official Carly Fiorina is facing criticism from some within the campaign for a day of what they call "very Biden-like" comments, after the former Hewlett-Packard CEO told two separate interviewers that neither member of the Republican ticket would be capable of running a company.

Asked by a St. Louis radio station whether she thought Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin could run a company like Hewlett-Packard, Fiorina responded: "No, I don't.

“But that's not what she's running for. Running a corporation is a different set of things."

Asked about that remark on MSNBC, she made the same unprompted assessment of the GOP presidential nominee. "I don't think John McCain could run a major corporation..."

US Elections 2008 & the Economy: Stop Whining!

From Americablog:

Another strong case for a 3rd Bush term from the McCain team. Another right wing extremist economist who advises McCain telling everyone that the economy is robust, despite what your lying eyes are telling you. According to right wing theorist (and haven't we had enough of them in the last eight years?) Donald Luskin, the "problem" is purely political and of course, it's Obama's fault. Uh huh. Whoopee for the Bush/McCain economy. If this McCain economic adviser thinks the US economy is so strong, why isn't McCain making this point on the campaign trail? You would think that a proud owner of this Bush/McCain economy would want to brag about the impressive numbers, no? Do tell, Mr Luskin, do tell.

That's not putting country first...

Will McCain now condemn the Bush administration's decision to go into Pakistan? Probably not right? Let's face it, Mccain does not really have a clearly defined foreign policy plan. Probably the closest thing to it is just to try to poke holes into Obama's foreign policy plan.As Andrew correctly points out, when Mccain tried attacking Obama for saying that if president he would consider going into Pakistan the idea was only naive because it came from Obama. That's not putting country first....That's keeping partisanship first.

read more | digg story

Rove Calls Mccain a Liar...No Way, watch it for yourself

Hat tip to Oliver Willis for showing us this one!

2008 US Elections: Obama and the war of hope versus fear

by photobucketbryan

This recent press back that we are seeing in the media against Senator Obama is probably to be expected. Here is why...

I think that it is representative of a greater issue than the US elections that is taking place within the US-what we are actually witnessing is a tug of war between two opposing right here within the United States borders. One one side of the rope you have something that seems to be representative of today's conservative movement-that is an outlook dominated by fear, pessimism, and a feeling of moral superiority and on the other side you have a group that today seems to present in the vast majority on the left-hope (for a better future).

Abraham Lincoln photo from Public Domain.
Library of Congress via pingnews.com

Historical

From a historical point of view, I believe that the mid 1990's saw a conservative base that was growing steadily in strength, yet found it very difficult to fully flex their muscles given the brilliance of former President Bill Clinton. President Clinton was an enigma of sorts, came in on social issues adopting a stance that was difficult to neatly categorize. On some issues he was liberal but on many others he appeared to be centrist or to the right of the center and on fiscal/trade issues he was extremely bullish. He faced a republican controlled congress, but somehow found ways to implement measures that benefited a very large cross section of the US population, while still doing things like balancing the national budget. I think that him being able to make his accomplishments look so easy greatly infuriated the majority of the Republican party and followers. Naturally, when word got out about the Monica Lewinsky situation the conservative base saw the event as if it was manna that had fallen from heaven. So in spite of his many gains for our nation, Clinton became vilified by the conservative talk show hosts and the un-biased media followed suit. The practical side of this vilification is that democrats or liberals, as they like to call us, began to become very unpopular in politics at this time.

Conservative Backlash

image by ndifference

So given that as a backdrop Al Gore's task of campaigning to become US President in 2000, while trying to distance himself from Clinton was an uphill battle. The person that had been touted as a moral and business, George W. was sworn in as the US president following a bitter and contested election. And it seemed that the energy had been drained from the Republican Party because after winning they became quiet whilst the rest of the country was still crying foul. On top of that a steady stream of stories began coming out about prominent and visible members of the republican party-like corruption, sex scandals, and the like...

Lo and behold comes the tragedy of 9/11 and things began to turn around for the conservative movement. But at first, like for the first few weeks after the tragic events of 9/11, our nation saw a coming together of America's previously separate communities. It was very amazing and inspiring to see everyone displaying so much unity, pride, and togetherness in our country. In contrast to today even the international community surrounding us was eager to come to our aid.

Can Someone Say Subliminal Programming?

photo by mangee

But against this new found all encompassing mood of togetherness there was a rather quiet, but deliberate change in rhetoric. This change in tone came from the top-the Oval Office or from very powerful people that influence the oval office. Somehow, we the people, were slowly and carefully wound up with fear. Every day on the radio, in the airports, and on the TV we began hearing something rather foreign to us-terror alert warnings. One day it was being said that the code has been changed from yellow to orange and the next day it was red. And this continued, the days became weeks and the weeks became months and so on and so on. And by and large it was really hammered home to the American collective psyche that we were in trouble and no matter who or what stood in our way we were going to get justice. This was only the beginning of how extreme elements in the conservative movement tricked us in to becoming a nation led by fear.

Soon Washington began openly criticizing both the international community and any American who was not 100% behind going into Iraq. Following that the talk show hosts, radio personalities , and other right wing media outlets that were once powerful in the Clinton era found a new spring in their steps and had a new purpose. They were going to rid the entire globe of terrorists by going into one country...Of course Iraq's leader at the time really did give dictators a bad name and there isn't any disputing that point. But perhaps what mattered more to the current Bush Administration is the idea that, "we shoulda' gottem' the first time when my dad reined".

So for the next several months there were tons of false allegations that were meant to link the terrorist attacks from September 11 to Saddam. Now up until then Iraq had been regarded simply as a secular Muslim nation that was surrounded by much more fundamentalist states. And so it follows that Saddam and terrorists got along like oil and water. Saddam probably more closely resembled the Shah's that were installed in various parts of the Middle East to assist the UK in getting oil, prior to their ousting by fundamentalists, than he did a terrorist. But unfortunately, because of all the propaganda that we were hit with after 9/11 we did not ask enough questions when G.W. started the country down the path of threatening to take action irrespective of an international coalition to invade Iraq.

I am sure that around this time you, like me, started hearing everyday ordinary citizens on the street talking about things like, "let's bring in those terrorists" or "Osama your Mama" and other things like this. Please note that I am not saying that those slogans or the mindsets that created them were right or wrong, but am just trying to put it into context that this mindset proved to be like clay for that ultra right faction of the republican party-because 1) they did not try to stop it or discourage it but rather seemed to encourage this behavior 2) they almost got to the point where they questioned you if you didn't blindly go along with some of their mantras. So ultimately they were able to shape the minds of the American people into whatever they wanted...And from there America's collective conciousness then became fixated upon immigration. Again, it started sort of against the backdrop of making our borders safer by doing a tighter screen on immigrants, but somehow it turned into a full scale movement where nearly the entire nation turned against the international and immigrant communities. This caught many of us who were not buying into the anti immigrant feeling off guard and we were sort of caught speechless. After all, we have always been known as a land of immigrants, right? Even more importantly America would not be able to function without immigrants.

"Un-Patriotic"

photo by McBeth

After being able to manipulate the mindsets of ordinary, everyday, hard working Americans this successfully the fear mongers felt that it was time to implement the next phase of their plan. This is the one where that can take one word to label someone and that one word could end up affecting how everyone looked at that person. We are talking about that word "Un-Patriotic". if you call a liberal politician that long enough or even just an ordinary person looking for a low paying job un-patriotic for long enough their career will suffer. It's like when someone is called that all of the fury left over from 9/11 gets chanelled at that person as if they were somehow complicate in the act.

And that is how the un-patriotic axe was wielded...first it started out with Washington elite saying things like, "if you don't support us invading Iraq, you aren't supporting the troops, and by default not supporting the troops makes you un-patriotic". But somehow (and I still have not figured this one out) they the elite powerbrokers of the conservative party at the time added a new twist to this un-patriotic thing. Also, it should be mentioned who I am referring to when I say the elite power brokers within the republican party-I am talking about those who started using "faith and morals" as a hammer against anyone who didn't agree with them and who took over the republican party around the time of the Iraq invasion by using fear. After they were firmly entrenched in every corner of America what they did is they started combining the message of patriotism with family values. In essence, they almost made the two inter-changeable.

The way that it worked is that if someone was called un-patriotic and as someone who lacked family values it meant that you were either:

• were against the Iraq invasion
• a democrat
  
• or representated a minority group-whether it be ethnic, religious, sexual orientation, or etc
  

And sadly, if you happened to fall into one of these groups then you had to work extra hard to gain the approval of the new republican leadership. In fact, I might not be exaggerating to say that it at this time it was even common to for no reason be randomly labeled as un-American, liberal, socialist, and etc just because you couldn't be classified as patriotic or morally correct".

Let me now point out that by the time each of the above phases that I mentioned took place that the conservative's doom and gloom ideology had fully taken a hold of our country. They had their way in Washington and were able to re-write the script for what it means to be an American. Whereas once America has had an air of inclusion and fairness, these folks have somehow found a way to go beyond their base and sell the idea that Americans should be mad or contemptuous towards anyone who is not "like us". Actors who willingly acted along in this disastrous play were none other than our trusted community leaders-our pastors, politicians, local media spokes persons, and even neighbors. I am not mad at them and would not advocate you being mad, but just want you to understand what you are dealing with.

The Matrix

Image by twiztid_juggalo09

Just like the movie, "The Matrix", so many of us Americans fell for this bait, became like zombies, and jumped onto the band wagon. In my opinion this is how so many who do not fit the traditional mold of the Republican Party got drawn in to the republican party during Bush's first and second terms. As long as you had that counter culture, pessimistic, fear leaning attitude you felt at home in the new republican party. All the while though, while this "anti-everything" cloud swept through our country you had this quiet group that pretty much just kept their mouth shut during conversations that veered towards American politics, religion, or race. We stayed quiet because we were intimidated by the aggression, the anger, and the fact that we often felt very out numbered in these situations.

Hope and Change Prevail

photo by Joshua Wanyama/African Path

Then in 2004 at the Democratic National Convention someone that most Americans had never heard of before took the stage. He had a really weird name but when he spoke, people felt him...those that heard him instantly loved him because he spoke the language that America's heart yearned to hear for so long. Senator Barack Obama spoke the universal language of hope. And then when he announced his candidacy in 2007 everyone that he had inspired back in 2004 became re-energized. No body thought that he could emerge from the primary contest by appealing to America's sense of hope and love. But somehow he did. And that very moment when he accepted the nomination signified to those that had fallen for and championed the twin traps of pessimism and division that there time of glory was about to end. As soon as the DNC was over the conservative base became like a swarm of angry ants that had been awaken. So when you look at it from that light, everything that the conservative base is doing should really be expected. Because the republican party is more adept at getting the general public to fall for their tactics and because they know how to sensationalize the mundane the media has pretty much taken the bait too. I mean after all let's face it, there isn't much that attracts viewers, listeners, and readers like good old fashion sensationalism.

This is why Mccain was able to make a strong rally last week without tweeking or correcting any of his campaign's policy or ethical lapses, it is also why no matter how much empirical or statistical evidence you present to some folks they still say things like, "I still don't know who Obama is" or "I just don't think he's one of us" or "Obama's going to raise taxes" or "is a socialist" or "I don't think he has enough judgment and experience" . Sidenote on the socialist thing, which administration just effectively nationalized Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? Is anyone calling Bush a socialist? This backdrop should explain why. This is also why the architects of this pessimistic movement are running scared right now and are willing to do anything to change the game. We have just been so thoroughly brainwashed and our minds are so numb that we get mad when we should be happy and get happy when we should be afraid.

Bringing it Home

One more point or statement that I would like to make is that I am not saying that the republicans are bad and that democrats by default are good, because in life you always want to have balance rather than inequity. Afterall, there are some republicans who are doing some stellar jobs and there are some democrats who do the opposite. For crying out loud, I used to vote republican. So it is not really about finely drawn partisanship. What I am saying is that in the last 10 to 12 years the republican party and our country got hijacked if you will by this very negative outlook on life. It is that negative, gloomy, and often sarcastic approach to life that I am against not one party or another. It just so happens that today it is the republican party that has more often carried that mood.

It's time to take our country back, people. This is not the time to panic every time a slanderous article is written about Senator Obama or every time the polls show unfavorable numbers or any of the like. After all, strategically Obama has run probably the best campaign of most of our lifetimes. If he stumbles it will still be ok and get back up to keep moving forward. What people of hope for our nation, like you and me who are supporting Obama, should do is stay focused. Keep donating, keep registering voters, keep blogging, keep talking to neighbors, and just stay involved.

2008 US Politics: Straight Talk Express Derails Itself becoming the newly proclaimed Backtrack Express

Image by DJShay1

Charles Babington, (Associated Press) AP:

"Republican presidential nominee John McCain, a self-proclaimed tell-it-like-it-is maverick, keeps saying his running mate, Sarah Palin, killed the federally funded Bridge to Nowhere when, in fact, she pulled her support only after the project became a political embarrassment. He accuses Democrat Barack Obama of calling Palin a pig, which did not happen. He says Obama would raise nearly everyone's taxes, when independent groups say 80 percent of families would get tax cuts instead.

Even in a political culture accustomed to truth-stretching, McCain's skirting of facts has stood out this week. It has infuriated and flustered Obama's campaign, and campaign pros are watching to see how much voters disregard news reports noting factual holes in the claims."

Also from Associated Press:

"...Questions about Palin's knowledge of foreign policy dominated the interview with ABC's Charles Gibson. Palin repeated her earlier assertions that she's ready to be president if called upon, yet she sidestepped questions on whether she had the national security credentials needed to be commander in chief.

Asked whether she agreed with that, Palin said: "In what respect, Charlie?" Gibson pressed her for an interpretation of it. She said: "His world view." That prompted Gibson to say "no, the Bush doctrine, enunciated September 2002, before the Iraq war" and describe it to her..."

Hat tips to Daily Kos and DJShay for the awesome and hard hitting story.

So should we expect to hear more flip-flopping and eye brow raisers from the opposing camp? Stay tuned for more....

Barack Obama and Joe Biden: The Change We Need | Benin's Blog: US Elections 2008: Leading Psychologist Analyzes What's at Stake

Barack Obama and Joe Biden: The Change We Need | Benin's Blog: US Elections 2008: Leading Psychologist Analyzes What's at Stake: "This is from Deepak Chopra:

"Sometimes politics has the uncanny effect of mirroring the national psyche even when nobody intended to do that. This is perfectly illustrated by the rousing effect that Gov. Sarah Palin had on the Republican convention in Minneapolis this week. On the surface, she outdoes former Vice President Dan Quayle as an unlikely choice, given her negligent parochial expertise in the complex affairs of governing. Her state of Alaska has less than 700,000 residents, which reduces the job of governor to the scale of running one-tenth of New York City. By comparison, Rudy Giuliani is a towering international figure. Palin's pluck has been admired, and her forthrightness, but her real appeal goes deeper.

She is the reverse of Barack Obama, in essence his shadow, deriding his idealism and exhorting people to obey their worst impulses . In psychological terms the shadow is that part of the psyche that hides out of sight, countering our aspirations, virtue, and vision with qualities we are ashamed to face: anger, fear, revenge, violence, selfishness, and suspicion of "the other." For millions of Americans, Obama triggers those feelings, but they don't want to express them. He is calling for us to reach for our higher selves, and frankly, that stirs up hidden reactions of an unsavory kind. (Just to be perfectly clear, I am not making a verbal play out of the fact that Sen. Obama is black. The shadow is a metaphor widely in use before his arrival on the scene.) I recognize that psychological analysis of politics is usually not welcome by the public, but I believe such a perspective can be helpful here to understand Palin’s message. In her acceptance speech Gov. Palin sent a rousing call to those who want to celebrate their resistance to change and a higher vision.

Look at what she stands for:
--Small town values -- a denial of America's global role, a return to petty, small-minded parochialism.
--Ignorance of world affairs -- a repudiation of the need to repair America's image abroad.
--Family values -- a code for walling out anybody who makes a claim for social justice. Such strangers, being outside the family, don't need to be heeded.
--Rigid stands on guns and abortion -- a scornful repudiation that these issues can be negotiated with those who disagree.
--Patriotism -- the usual fallback in a failed war.
--"Reform" -- an italicized term, since in addition to cleaning out corruption and excessive spending, one also throws out anyone who doesn't fit your ideology."

US Elections 2008: Endorsing sexism when convenient

Mccain in this video laughs as his supporter calls Hillary the "B-word". Yesterday, he tries to pawn himself off as the champion of women's rights and issues...

Can Mccain Connect Himself with Secessionists and Still put Country First?

This video shows the connection between Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska and the AIP (Alaskan Independence Party).

How can Mccain run on a platform of putting the country first, while at the same time elevating a someone who is openly a secessionist onto the national stage? What does this say about his judgment and intentions?

Is it safe to say that someone who takes such extreme views is only a step away from being a terrorist? Just thoughts...

Fact Check: Palin Video

Fact Check video on Palin's record. The video seems to uncover some disturbing trends...

Obama takes first hard hit at Palin - Carrie Budoff Brown - Politico.com

Obama takes first hard hit at Palin - Carrie Budoff Brown - Politico.com: "Barack Obama took his first direct swipe at Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin on Saturday, criticizing her for supporting congressional earmarks before opposing them.

“I know the governor of Alaska has been, you know, saying she is change,” Obama said at a town hall meeting here. “And that is great. She is a skillful politician. But when you [have] been taking all these earmarks when it is convenient and then suddenly you are the champion anti-earmark person.

“That is not change, come on,” Obama continued. “I mean, words mean something. You can’t just make stuff up. You can’t just make stuff up. We have a choice to make and the choice is clear.”

The comments were his harshest attack yet on Palin, who sought millions of dollars in earmarks as mayor of Wasilla but later began criticizing them as governor."

MoveOn.org Political Action: Democracy in Action

MoveOn.org Political Action: Democracy in Action: "Who is Sarah Palin? Here's some basic background:

* She was elected Alaska's governor a little over a year and a half ago. Her previous office was mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside Anchorage.1
* Palin is strongly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of rape or incest.2
* She supported right-wing extremist Pat Buchanan for president in 2000. 3
* Palin thinks creationism should be taught in public schools.4
* She's doesn't think humans are the cause of climate change.5
* She's solidly in line with John McCain's 'Big Oil first' energy policy. She's pushed hard for more oil drilling and says renewables won't be ready for years. She also sued the Bush administration for listing polar bears as a threatened species-she was worried it would interfere with more oil drilling in Alaska.6"

Enquirer responds to Mcain and Palin re: alleged affair

Daily Kos: State of the Nation: "ENQUIRER RESPONDS TO MCCAIN/PALIN
Wed Sep 03 2008 18:19:21 ET

'The National Enquirer's coverage of a vicious war within Sarah Palin's extended family includes several newsworthy revelations, including the resulting incredible charge of an affair plus details of family strife when the Governor's daughter revealed her pregnancy.

Following our John Edwards' exclusives, our political reporting has obviously proven to be more detail-oriented than the McCain campaign's vetting process. Despite the McCain camp's attempts to control press coverage they find unfavorable, The Enquirer will continue to pursue news on both sides of the political spectrum.'"

Obama sends supporters to blunt Palin's impact - Yahoo! News

Obama sends supporters to blunt Palin's impact - Yahoo! News: "

The solution, at least in the short term, will be have top-tier female supporters vouch for Obama to largely female audiences and keep the candidate himself away.

Sebelius started on Thursday, linking Palin to the unpopular President Bush.

"She mastered the words written by the Bush speechwriters and delivered them well. But what we didn't hear was what people talk to me about every day," Sebelius told reporters.

Clinton, a one-time presidential front runner, was set to arrive Monday in Florida. Obama aides had long planned to have Clinton as a surrogate even before Palin was named.

Clinton's camp says the message will be honed on her long-standing appeal to kitchen-table issues that helped her win 18 million votes, but not the nomination. There are no plans for Clinton to directly engage Palin, largely because the election is about the president, not vice president.

Obama's senior advisers say they cannot allow Palin to paint herself as the come-from-nowhere insurgent — a role that once belonged to Obama.

"For someone who makes the point that she's not from Washington, she looked very much like she'd fit in very well there when you see how she brings these attacks, they all felt very familiar to Americans who are used to this kind of thing from Washington," Axelrod said.

Obama himself dodged the question about how to treat Palin, only the second woman nominated as a major party's vice presidential pick and the GOP's first.

"I think she's got a compelling story, but I assume that she wants to be treated the same way that guys want to be treated, which means that their records are under scrutiny," Obama told reporters in York. "I've been through this for 19 months. She has been through it — what — four days so far?"

"

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$8 Million+ Reasons To Thank Sarah Palin » Oliver Willis

$8 Million+ Reasons To Thank Sarah Palin » Oliver Willis: "As I pointed out, Sarah Palin’s partisan screed activated the Republican base, but while it probably turned off the middle and other independents, it also activated the Democratic base. I’m hearing that since Palin’s speech, Obama’s campaign has pulled in around $8 million — and growing."

Barack and Michelle Obama

Barack and Michelle Obama, originally uploaded by Wa-J.

From Daily Kos

Thu Sep 04, 2008 at 11:15:35 AM PDT

Time/CNN polls swing states in the Midwest. The big prize first: Ohio, where Obama enjoys a very narrow lead.

Obama (D) 47
McCain (R) 45

With third-party candidates:

Obama (D) 45
McCain (R) 44
Nader (I) 5
Barr (L) 2
McKinney (G) 1

Let's slide over to Minnesota, where the convention is not helping the Elephants:

Obama (D) 53
McCain (R) 41

Obama (D) 51
McCain (R) 37
Nader (I) 4
Barr (L) 2
McKinney (G) 1

Daily Kos: Open Thread for Night Owl, Early Birds & Ex-Pats

Daily Kos: Open Thread for Night Owl, Early Birds & Ex-Pats: "PALIN: 'I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending ... and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress 'thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge to Nowhere.'

THE FACTS: As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a 'bridge to nowhere.'"

Of course, I love your comments. But, if you can't comment at this particular time- but would like to let us know that you were here; please sign and View my guestbook