Gov. Palin may disappoint when “seriously questioned” about policy or her own issues, assuming that ever takes place, by handling the generally softball questions that will inevitably be lobbed her way.  She appears to be fairly bright and almost as instinctive a politician as Bill Clinton and may do fairly well, if she is also a quick study.  Granted that, so far, she has only been delivering the party line of her prepared (by someone else) remarks.  However, that does not mean she cannot think on her feet (or rather her seat, as most interviews are staged seated).

The only reason some are dismissing convention bounce is because the Dems didn’t end up with any.  Had it been the other way ‘round, those same people would have very likely maintained it to be the harbinger of the remainder of the campaign.  The fact that Obama and McCain are “virtually tied” at this point, after Obama’s spectacular speech and McCain’s snorer (with shots of bored or offended delegates) is significant.

Obama’s campaign has a superior organization everywhere it will count and lots more money.  It will depend on how they marshal those resources and upon what they spend their money which way this campaign will go.  Obama is making the mistake of directing his attention toward Palin instead of McCain.  That’s what Biden was brought on for.  With Obama lashing out and thus drawing media attention, he short-circuits any attempt for Biden to be heard “clarifying” Palin’s credentials and positions.  He is a master at it, but he’s effectively being upstaged by his boss.

If we are just nattering on about how terrible it is, without making a contribution to Obama’s campaign, either by volunteering or monetarily, we are all wasting one another’s time here.  Saying, “Woe is me,” and, “I told you so,” is no substitute for action.  If Obama fails, we fail, and no amount of smug commentary will disguise that fact.

The GOP’s selection of Palin was supremely cynical and makes a mockery of the democratic process, but at the same time it was brilliant.  I have to agree with Anarcissie that she will do really well in the debates.  McCain has just a few talking points and that’s what she’ll learn.  It has been noted elsewhere that she is very good at giving nonanswers, which will serve her well. 

If Biden makes any attempt to get a serious answer out of her or otherwise tries to expose how truly uninformed she is he will be smacked down by the mccain campaign and the press as being sexist.  The GOP watched the Dem primary closely and they realized that Hillary’s mistake was not crying sexist earlier and louder.  What ever else the repubs are, they’re masters at running a shallow and dirty campaign.

Like Charlie the Tuna learned, tasting good is more important than good taste.  And it appears that with the selection of Palin, looking good is more important than being good!  But of course, US national elections have always been a beauty contest with victory going to the candidate with the most effective PR and other campaign subterfuge.  It appear, at this juncture, that Obama has lost his mogo.  Could it be Palin sucking the essence out of Obama?!  Anymore gaffes from Obama and he may just become a footnote in the history books!  Oh, by the way, where is that fossil Biden?

I gotta tell ya...I’m starting to worry about the mentality of people in this country. When you ask Repubs just WHAT it is they like about Palin, I hear stuff like..."she hunts, she fishes, she shops at Wal-mart just like regular moms, and she’s REAL.” “She could’ve had an abortion but gave birth to a DS baby anyway.” “She comes from a small town & understands small town values” But when you ask them what policies she supports that they approve of, all I get is, “she wants drilling & she’s against abortion”. THAT’S IT!!! With all thats facing this country after 8yrs under Bush, the fact that she bring NOTHING to the table other than a beauty queen smile, the ability to read a prepared speech & a questionable record as mayor/govenor (which somehow qualifies her to potentially lead our nation). Since the RNC, she’s made a few campaign stops with McCain, where she’s trotted out to make a 15min version of the speech she already gave at the RNC (complete with the same lies I might add) then MCain takes over and repeats HIS same lies about Obama raising their taxes and these people cheer like the sheep they are. Of course, when the camera pans the crowd, you see mostly older white men & women (the kind that don’t use the internet to check the facts & get most of their information from Fox/Fix news & Bill O’Reilly.) Don’t believe me?

Check this out:  http://foxattacks.com/

We are being cheated people. Cheated out our 1 chance to REALLY make a difference in our children’s lives. McCain talks about change then turns around and hires Steve Schmidt to head his campaign. The same man who ran Bush’s campaign in ‘00. The same man who was behind the smear campaign AGAINST MCCAIN in SC by suggesting his adopted black daughter was really his illegitimate love child!!!  Does that matter to McShame? HELL NO!!! Its all about winning now and ALL the stops are being pulled out. Lets face it, at his age (72) this is his last shot at the Oval office and he’s going to do EVERYTHING to acheive his goal. Even run the kind of negative campaign he swore he wouldn’t. Even if it means using Karl Rove behind the scenes. After all, “Bush’s Brain” did such a great job beating him before, didn’t he???

Matter of fact, I think its time to take this criminal out of the equation don’t you?!? 

http://sendkarlrovetojail.com

Wake up people...Our country needs you to make the right choice!  Eight is Enough!!!!!!

When I first heard on a live ABC television special report while at the doctors office, was John had chosen Sarah Palin on Aug. 29 th, as the V.P. pick after having only talked to her on the phone for less than 3 minutes,so he said. Claimed that was the only time he had met her. I used to think that when you “met someone, it was in person, but this was only over the phone lines, so it really wasn’t that he had met her at all.

Her only qualification I could see, was that she was yet another filly for John’s stable, as his first two filly’s became brood mares, then old nags, and John needed to update his resume for the third run around the racetrack.  The fact that she, too, was a former beauty pageant contestant probably played the only role in her getting this nomination.

Dragon_Eye: The outing of her son by Sarah guarantees he will not go there, if anywhere at all. He will no doubt get a free pass home. This was a deliberate move on her part, she is a well seasoned underhanded “Rovette” in female skin.

Much of what she claims to be fact/truth has already been exposed as lies, which she fails to give the correct information about and she still is giving those same lies to audiences across the country as truth and these ignorant people are enthralled with her. It is obvious that those of the republican persuasion are very limited in the IQ department. Another 4 years of repug rule will be the end of America as we all knew it. It is in critical condition now and the throws of death are on the horizon.

This recent story is pretty unvetted, but if you Google Palin + Racism you get a slew of reports about a very racist (and sexist) comment supposedly made by Palin after the Democratic primaries. I’m not sure if it’s true, but it surely is making a splash in the blogosphere.

Dr. N

There is no need to panic over McCain/Palin possibly winning in November because of a convention bounce. When they finally expose Palin to the press and she has to deviate from her script, she will be exposed for the fraud she is. McCain bought himself a short term insurance policy and has created excitement in his base but the reality is he did likewise on the Democratic side - more Democrats volunteering to help and more donations to Obama, ten million dollars in one day. Obama and Biden are still drawing overflow crowds where ever they go. Democrats also have a huge registration edge over Republicans and still lead in the swing states and the electoral college. Obama and Biden should both do well in the debates. Obama has a huge volunteer group that far surpasses McCain. So don’t believe the polls all that much.

“The Media” is owned by 4 big corporations.  Corporations do what’s best for the corporation and the stock-holders, and, usually in the short term. And the party of the corporations is.....THE GOP! (since it’s founding when it was to push back against the agrarian interests).

So “The Media” is being pushed by its Republican corporate masters, and, just to make it seem that’s NOT what is going on, the Right attacks them as “Liberal”.

They’ve robbed us of the elections in 2000, 2002, and 2004, tried and failed in 2006, but made the leaders in the House and Senate too timid to do anything.

And now they are going to rob us again. Abortion, no gay marriage, “A Christian America”, and the continual lie that Democrats “Tax and Spend” will convince our ignorant, and downright stupid countrymen to vote to end The Great Experiment after 233 years.

Unless we stop them.

Rick Davis, McCain’s campaign manager, gave the game away when he said on “Fox News Sunday” that she would not meet with reporters until they showed a willingness to treat her “with some level of respect and deference.”

Deference? That’s a word used in monarchies or aristocracies. Democracies don’t give “deference” to politicians. When have McCain, Obama, Biden or, for that matter, Hillary Clinton asked for deference?

The Republican Party hypocrisy on what is and isn’t acceptable behavior to candidates depends on whether it is Sarah Palin or Hillary Clinton. If the latter, fire away and treat her as badly as you can. If the former, blast the media for being sexist and mean to boot.

I hope the media starts to speak out more about the double standards in play here. And they all need to start calling out McCain on his stump speech misstatements. He talks about Obama tax increases when the reality is that Obama is giving tax decreases to 95% of the tax payers.

By Tony, September 9 at 10:27 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

The Biden/Palin debate will not matter.  The Obama/McCain debate will hardly make a difference.  Remember not too long ago Bush making himself look like an incompetent clown at the hands of John Kerry, in 3 presidential debates.  The only thing that matters is who counts the votes and who reports the news.
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The most important thing anyone interested in saving our democracy can do is to watch the polls this November and participate in the vote counting in some way. We have to put everything into preventing the Republicans from stealing it again.

By Gerald Myers, September 9 at 9:08 am #

Two things are at work here.  The childish rebelliousness of McCain masquerading as an adult maverick and the maddeningly, brilliant cynicism of his party who rightly believe that you can fool all the people all of the time.  God help us all!
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Gerald,

I’m afraid God doesn’t help fools. People have been endowed with a brain. The rest is up to us. Can you fool all the people all the time? Lincoln didn’t think so. Obama says not this time. We can only do what we can and pray he’s right.

Two things are at work here.  The childish rebelliousness of McCain masquerading as an adult maverick and the maddeningly, brilliant cynicism of his party who rightly believe that you can fool all the people all of the time.  God help us all!

“Cran Berry: Unprepared or not, Palin will be vice president. Get used to it. The campaign is over and the dems once again are finished. We need change, especially a new party to replace the failed democrats.”

After eight years of Republican disaster, we need to replace the failed Democratic party? That’s really logical. Can the people really be hoodwinked that badly? Are they as incredibly stupid as you are? We will see this November.

Cran Berry: Unprepared or not, Palin will be vice president. Get used to it. The campaign is over and the dems once again are finished. We need change, especially a new party to replace the failed democrats.

Oh, I don’t think the Democrats are finished by any means.  Obama is a smart politician and he can appear more vigorous, intelligent, informed and generally likeable than McCain.  The Democrats can win as long as they don’t indulge in too much more policy wonking, as evidenced by such terms as “vet”, “experience”, “hypocrisy”.  It didn’t work for Clinton and it certainly won’t work for Obama.

Our attacks on Palin must not be based on personality or qualifications. This will only confuse the people. What we need to keep hammering is that McCain-Palin is a continuation (and worsening) of Bush-Cheney. Even the American people are not so gullible that the Republican propaganda machine can make them think that after eight years of Republcan disaster, the way to change things is to elect more Republicans. They can’t claim to run against what their own party has done for the past eight years just by calling themselves “maverics”, while at the same time never specifying a single policy difference, foreign or domestic. Obama’s campaign is based on the idea that you can’t fool the people all the time, and this is the time. If that’s not so, he will lose.

We will see Gov. Palin soon enough answering questions and she will do very well. The democratic handlers need to be worried and coaching their candidates to respond well. This is a woman who has on any number of occasions paraded in front of large audiences in a swimsuit and heels; she has no shame. What she has is a grasp of the importance of image, spin, and poise (beauty contests teach that; substance is completely optional). When she gets in front of the camera the audience will love her because she expertly plays to the audience. Charlie Gibson will love her and treat her with the bemused adoring candor that she solicits. If the campaigns of the democrats are on the ball they will watch the tape of the Alaskan gubernatorial debate like a football coach and team watch game films. Enlist the assistance of the actors who are supporting them to teach particularly Joe Biden how to “play” the next in line to the presidency. Otherwise we are doomed.

But McCain’s campaign manager, Rick Davis, simply must get those reporters in line, DJ. There’s a new mess popping up every day and God only knows what messy question they might ask Candidate Palin.

This morning I read in the Washington Post that Candidate Palin was billing the people of Alaska to spend the night in her own home.  Last night I watched the 2006 Alaska Gubernatorial Debate and listened as Candidate Palin assured the people of Alaska that building a road to the bridge to nowhere was progress and “she would not stand in the way of progress.”

The fact that one of her fellow gubernatorial opponents (Halcro) had pointed out it would be “poor public policy to build a road to a bridge that will never be built,” didn’t seem to matter to Candidate Palin.  I guess a road is a road to Palin - even if the road goes nowhere - and besides the taxpayers were paying for it, she wasn’t.

http://www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/20080908_palin_th e_debater/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2 008/09/08/AR2008090803088.html?hpid=topnews

Ronny Reagan and GW were kept from the press intentionally. The repugs figured out a long time ago that the media can be your best friend by making them come to you. That way you set the agenda, the tone of the interview, you tell them what questions to ask.
The sunday morning talking head, dog and pony shows carried by all the networks have two things in common. First, they are moderated by empty suits who ask inane questions of pols that come there with their talking points in hand and only one goal in mind, push the company line. If the talking head asks you a question you aren’t prepared for, you simply repeat the question and say “but we really should be”.. and go back to your last 3X5 and repeat what you said 30 seconds ago. Ah, the sunday waltz!
The Second problem with this kind of info dissemination is that almost nobody watches this crap! Most americans could not have identified Tim Russert in a police lineup if you had a gun to their head!
Sarah and the repugs have figured out that the only news you can make on a sunday talking head show is bad news. Especially if your an idiot, like GW, Reagan, Quail, ect.

The republican strategy is to accuse the other side of what they are blatently doing themselves.

Thinkprogress says that according to today’s WSJ Palin has requested the largest per capita amount in earmarks in the country this year - $750 million.  And she and McCain spent yesterday accusing Obama of trying to get more earmarks for Illinois.

It’s now become apparent the vetting of Sarah Palin was both shoddy and hasty; in fact they lied about the FBI doing a thorough check, and McCain’s people hit the ground in Alaska just one day before the announcement of his strange choice in a running mate.

I honestly don’t know if keeping her insulated will help or hurt McCain’s chances, but if I were them, I’d duct tape her mouth shut.

She may know Wasilla and she may have a handle on Alaska, but her limited knowledge, and for that matter her limited INTEREST (unless it’s to lobby Washington for earmarks), in the lower 48 is well documented. Forget understanding the international scene...even she admits she does not.

As a female and a mother, I’m insulted by the McCain camp’s assumption any ol’ woman will sway my vote. As an American, I’m downright pissed he’s trying to pass Palin off as qualified to lead the free world if necessary.

As my late husband used to say....what horse shit!

E. J. Dionne: ‘John McCain’s campaign acknowledged this weekend that Sarah Palin is unprepared to be vice president or president of the United States. ....’

I think you are way off, and if the Democratic Party’s general staff are making the same mistake you are, Palin is going to eat their lunch before they know what’s happened to them.

The Democratic Party, being conservative, has a sort of mandarin attitude towards government: one earns the right to high office by policy-wonking over a long period of time, during which time one is judged by more senior policy wonks.  This is called “experience” although in fact it has little to do with experience.

In any case, policy is like bologna: you can buy it by the pound and slice it however you like.  Anyone can hire a team of policy wonks to produce as much policy as they think they need.  What counts in electoral politics is image, association and tradition, and policy affects these only very slightly.  Obama beat Clinton in spite of her advantages, including her “experience”, with all that vague, woolly talk about hope and change, plus his image, that of a very smart young Black man who providentially doesn’t hate White People.  (This image is known as “the Great White Hope”, incidentally.)

If Palin is as smart as she appears to be she can inhale all the policy she needs in a week and dump it all over Biden when they joust, if necessary.  It probably won’t be necessary; she’ll just play hockey mom and fire some one-liners.

And why is Palin being hidden from the press?  My guess is that it’s precisely to encourage the idea among her opponents that she’s ineffective and weak.  Judo, in other words.  The Democrats better wake up.