Hey Baby, Why Don’t You Come Sit on Grandpa’s Lap?

I don’t think anyone can avoid noting the fact that John McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate kept him well within his comfort zone of preferring to associate with younger “beauty queen” type women.

It was as if he was told by his handlers after Barack Obama chose Joe Biden that he "had to take a woman" in order to poach some disgruntled Hillary supporters, and he thought to himself:

“I can take someone with a notable history of public service accomplishments, like Kay Bailey Hutchison or Margaret Spellings, or I can take someone with an understanding of how to succeed in a complex economy, like Carly Fiorina or Meg Whitman, or (heh, heh heh!) I can get me some eye candy!”

Meanwhile, the supposed “game changing” pick leaves the game exactly where it was following Barack Obama’s brilliant convention speech in which he forcefully made the remaining race about judgment and temperament!

[Update 1] If you think the image I’m invoking is a bit too harsh, let me just add, without further comment, this quote from top McCain aide and lobbyist, Charlie Black:

“She’s going to learn national security at the foot of the master for the next four years, and most doctors think that he’ll be around at least that long”

[Update 2] OK, just one more comment! Does this mean that Monica Lewinsky is qualified to be Commander in Chief?

It’s Sarah Palin (Yawn!) And How About That Obama Speech?

Really, after last night’s speech, there wasn’t anything McCain could do to preempt the buzz that will follow what was quite possibly the best organized, best written, and best delivered political speech in American history!

I guess the Republicans won’t be spending next week’s RNC trying to tear down Obama over a lack of experience! In fact, Palin’s lack of experience on both foreign and domestic issues immediately pulls McCain’s age front and center, even for Republicans!

They will probably still try to hit Obama for being "too popular," but only because he drew more people to watch his convention speech than the combined total who voted in both party primaries in the State where his new running mate is Governor. By a factor of 4!

Among the few discernable advantages of selecting Palin (aside from the fact that all the other choices were deeply flawed and Palin is merely deeply unknown) is that in the VP debate, Joe Biden will have to be careful not to look like he’s beating up a woman. The choice also keeps alive the charade that disgruntled Hillary supporters might provide McCain with a margin of victory!

But perhaps the best reason for selecting the former beauty queen as his running mate, is that if McCain decides it’s a show stopping political disadvantage to own seven houses, he can always use his pretty new VP choice to make his rich, older, “make-up caked trollop” wife jealous enough to leave him!

Or maybe, after Obama’s speech, McCain realized that since he’s been cut off from Vicki Iseman, the only thing he’s likely to get out of this presidential run is one last chance to spend a few months campaigning with a pretty young woman, instead of Mitt Romney!

A Few Quick Thoughts On Obama's Speech

First of all, it was brilliant, making me alternately cry, cheer and yell "Take that, McCain" while raising my middle finger.

It seems Obama decided to make sure earlier convention speakers kept a relatively positive tone, even if it meant hearing calls to get tougher for three days, so that he could come out and show that he doesn't need anyone else to be his "attack dog." And yet, he still did it with class and dignified respect (unlike me and my middle finger!)

I can already see the only possible Republican response starting to form among the talking heads: "The speech was so perfect, it could only be fiction written by Aaron Sorkin!"

McCain's congratulatory ad that was immediately released after the speech is the most hollow sounding compliment I've ever heard.

Michelle Bernard, who I'm watching analyze the speech right now on MSNBC, has the best legs of anyone I've seen in recent memory, other than Ms Seenos, of course!

Please Senator McCain, Make Mitt Your Sidekick!

(I guess, according to Bob Casey, that would make him a “sidesidekick” to George W. Bush!)

Boy would I love to see Mitt Romney be the one debating Joe Biden on October 2nd. I’ve written repeatedly about what a bumbling fool Romney is, but it seems he just found a way to surpass his previous high water mark for political ineptitude:

Speaking to reporters at a lunch sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor, Romney said that while McCain deserved his houses because of the "hard work" of himself and his family, "Barack Obama got a special deal from a convicted felon."

Following Obama’s choice of Biden as his running mate, McCain is in the position of desperately needing a partner who can help him on the economy, which he has admitted he knows nothing about. Romney was supposed to be that guy (if only because his personal wealth is greater than the economies of many small countries!)

But shoring up the economic front is not going to be easy for McCain. So far, his primary options appear to be: a) selecting Meg Whitman, and running on the dream of fending off another Great Depression by having everyone get rich selling their used shit on Ebay; or b) selecting Romney, who apparently believes that adultery for the purpose of trading in a disfigured wife for a rich one is honorable and deserving work!

Even McCain says the reason he can’t count the houses is because they belong to his wife. You think Joe Biden would be able to pick up on that interesting bit of irony if it came up in a debate?

Asked whether he was ready to debate Joe Biden, Romney said it might be a challenge, calling the Democratic vice presidential nominee "an impenetrable thicket of words."

How could Biden be soooooo unreasonable as to debate using words? I guess in Mittworld, debates must be conducted with an impenetrable wad of money! Memo to Mitt: One man’s “impenetrable thicket of words” just might be another man’s inspirational wisdom!

Careful What You Pray For!

When Stuart Shepard of Focus On the Family made his "funny" little video asking people to pray for rain on Obama's acceptance speech in Denver on Thursday - I don't think he fully realized the power of prayer. Those who took his advice obviously weren't precise with what they asked for.

Now there's a potential Category 3 Hurricane heading towards the gulf (track it here) that may just hit New Orleans the first day of the Republican Convention. This would obviously bring into focus - one of the Bush Administrations' worst episodes and their complete disregard for the people of that region.

Oh and where was McCain?

Heck-of-a job - Stuart!

Stick That in Your PUMA and Smoke it!

So this is what it looks like when Hillary gets Mark Penn’s fat, grubby paws off of her message and speaks from her heart and mind!

After Mark Warner’s ponderous keynote speech, I made an offhand comment to Ms Seenos that there’s nobody else who can give a speech like Barack . . . except Michelle!

And then Hillary came out and proved me wrong!

Brian Schweitzer was a great lead in, because his infectious enthusiasm got the crowd loose and ready to rock.

And for most of the speech, Hillary kept it going, but with an exceptional level of substance and sophistication and purpose that should leave no doubt that any future media reports of discord among her supporters is merely Republican hype, or psychotic ideation worthy of a visit from the Secret Service.

Oh, and will someone in the media please, please, please do your job and go interview Deborah Bartoshevich to see if she watched Hillary’s speech, and make her explain whether she's still going to defy Hillary’s wishes by supporting John McCain?

Nah, screw the media! How great would it be if the Democrats could convince her to make an ad saying that Hillary's speech convinced her to change her mind and support Obama?

Live Blogging HIllary Speech Thread

Direct from my Left-Over couch.

Warner speech was awful. I'm so glad the networks weren't showing it.

Schweitzer was great. He should have been the keynote - although his time slot was better anyway.

Hillary up next.

Wow is that suit orange!!!

Time to count the bill cut-aways.

Bill mouthing "I love you...I love you. That should be cool but was just plain weird!

She seems to be hitting the points that need to be hit - but still seems not to be connected to the words she is speaking. But she has always seemed that way to me - just emotionally disconnected.

Michelle looks a little scared about what might come out of Hillary's mouth next.

OK time to hit McCain already!

Love the line about McCain and Bush meeting in the Twin Cities!

Not so sure all of the references to freeing slaves is helpful here. Bet the right is going to seize on that.

KO calls it a grand slam of a speech! Mathews calls it uplifting and a compact with her voters!

Good night!

No Way - No How - No McCain!

Could a Small Number of Supporters Make Hillary Look Like a Political Arsonist?

It’s no big surprise that both the traditional media and the GOP are obsessed with the idea that a significant number of disgruntled Hillary supporters might end up voting for John McCain over Barack Obama.

While I don’t share their apparent “optimism” over the possibility that this will actually occur, I suppose it’s notable at least because the McCain campaign was able to find one who was willing to put herself in a McCain ad claiming to support him.



Of course, I’m counting on the vast majority of Hillary backers to realize that voting for McCain won’t do anything to help Hillary, or the issues she has championed. In fact, if they think Ralph Nader was blasted into political oblivion after his supporters’ provided the margin for Bush to beat Gore in 2000, just wait and see what happens to Hillary if her supporters provide the winning margin for McCain!

Hillary took a calculated gamble that she could try to win the Democratic nomination by demonizing Obama, and then walk it back if necessary by throwing her support to him. If she is now unable to control the flames she stoked in her supporters, she is going to be convicted, in the court of public opinion, of burning down the Democratic Party!

[Update] As I was writing this post, I had a bit of a chill run down my spine as it hit me that McCain’s ad could be a very strong hint that the Rovian wing of the GOP are going to try to steal this election and blame it on Hillary supporters voting for McCain, while counting on the traditional media to cement their version of the story!

Read the last line again slowly.

If they could pull it off, the GOP would get the double win of keeping the White House and destroying the political future of the Clintons! They don’t even need Clinton supporters to vote for McCain. They just need the media to create the appearance that it’s happening and keeping the race close, while they rig the vote in order to win another nailbiter.

I certainly hope I’m wrong, but if I was a Clinton supporter, I’d be making absolutely certain that I’m not going to be used in this way . . . by letting the traditional media hear loud and clear that supporting Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee is, at this point, the same as supporting Hillary Clinton!

The Biden Bonus!

Sure, Joe Biden makes the ticket stronger on foreign policy, but perhaps the biggest advantage of Obama’s choice of running mate is that Biden reinforces the ability to make this election about the economy. Biden is one of the most senior members of the Senate, and yet his yet worth is closer than any other Senator to that of ordinary Americans.

This gives Obama-Biden the ability to establish as one of their primary campaign themes the goal of ending The Politics of Personal Enrichment!^TM Biden, as the poster child for selfless public service, makes John McCain look even more craven and opportunistic in his own Senatorial career.

McCain-SomeOtherRichWhiteGuy will be such a sharp contrast to Obama-Biden, and so clearly the heir apparent to the Bush brand of lobbyist driven cronyism, that McCain will have no choice but to absorb some of the voters’ current disgust with the direction of the country under Bush.

I Guess this Means Mitt’s off the Short List

The walking, talking disaster that is John McCain stepped in its largest crap pile of the campaign, as he followed his admission to the belief that one has to make $5 million a year to be considered “rich,” with an even more out-of-touch admission that he can’t remember how many homes he owns!

As Barack Obama, his surrogates, and the entire liberal blogosphere jump on the opportunity to remind voters of how little McCain understands about ordinary people actually live, perhaps the biggest loser of all is Mitt Romney, whose reputation for business acumen (as measured by his net worth) has kept him on the GOP short list.

I’m a little disappointed, however, because aside from Joe Lieberman, who makes McCain’s speaking style seem dynamic and inspiring, Romney has been my preferred choice. The man a gaffe machine, who is completely oblivious to the fact that he’s not nearly as charming as he thinks he is (think Sam Malone without funny scriptwriters!)

Rather than explain why Romney can’t be the guy, I’ll just let a couple of graphs tell the story. Here’s McCain’s perception of “rich” on a spectrum that includes annual income quintiles, and other potential definitions of "rich" (courtesy of Ezra Klein):

(Click to enlarge)

And here’s a reprise of a chart showing Romney’s net worth relative to that of McCain and the other presidential candidates:

(Click to enlarge)

Clearly, if McCain is going to put the brakes on his growing out-of-touch, elitism problem, Romney won’t be the guy to help him do it. On the other hand, McCain may find himself in the position where he has absolutely no choice but to go with it:

Three Card VP Monty?

Last Saturday as the Wesley Clark VP talk was beginning to fill the tubes - Steve Clemons wrote this post with the headline - "Obama to General Wesley Clark: Your Services Not Needed" which just as quickly threw water on the Internet fire. It seemed odd to me at the time. It's just not Obama's m.o. to publicly disrespect anyone - let alone someone of Clark's stature.

Now Clemons has just posted a new piece calling on Obama to reconsider and invite Clark to participate at the convention and in his potential administration.

And once again his post seems fishy to me. Might Clemons be being used here - a la Drudge? Might he be a participant in the Obama Campaign's game of three card VP monty? First he threw us off the scent quoting inside Clark sources. Now he is calling on Obama to do the right thing by reconsidering Clark's role. This new post may reignite the smoldering Clark VP fire.

I don't know what's going on here but its interesting. I guess we'll all know soon!

The Word for Today is “McCainery!”

As I was posting my comments a few days ago on Pastor Rick Warren’s forum with Obama and McCain, I instinctively made up a word, “McCainery,” which I think needs to be developed further. As a part of due diligence, I’ll admit up front that I’m not the first to use this term, as I’ve discovered you can find two alternative definitions at this website.

However, I think my definition has the potential to stick because of its direct parallel to the word most similar in sound and usage.

Here’s a definition I found at Your Dictionary.com:

Chicanery: the use of clever but tricky talk or action to deceive, evade, etc., as in legal dealings.

And here’s my definition:

McCainery: the use of blatantly simple-minded platitudes to fool the extremely gullible, as in contemporary GOP politics.

When John McCain starts talking about “chasing Osama Bin Laden to the gates of Hell” . . . McCainery!

When he starts prattling on about how “we’re winning in Iraq” . . . McCainery!

When he keeps calling to fix the recession with an “economic surge” . . . Classic McCainery!

And here’s how it could stick, besides me using it as often as I can on our little-read blog (or, of course, getting Stephen Colbert to push it as the new “Truthiness!”)

All it would take would be for Barack Obama to wait until the right moment in his first debate - at the point when McCain has gotten frustrated and started to sound petulant and dismissive toward Obama, allowing it to be seen a “defensive” maneuver. At that point, he could jokingly suggest that his opponent is engaging in more “McCainery.”

Such a response from Obama would certainly become the headline of every newspaper in the country. TV pundits would be scrambling to offer their opinions on what Obama meant by it. Endless possible examples would be discussed and debated 24/7. Obama surrogates and, of course, the progressive netroots, could fill in the details to seal the definition in the public consciousness.

With Obama’s charm and delivery, it could even become the new “There you go again!”

Once the term is out there, stuck in peoples’ heads, they won’t be able to help but see it, as McCain repeatedly has to cover up his lack of ideas or specific policy plans with more and more McCainery!

And if they see it, and they still decided to vote for John McCain? Well, then I guess they’re just determined to keep on hunting with Cheney!

All the Networks Should Take the Rick Davis Challenge!

Apparently Rick Davis, Campaign Manager for John McCain, is hot after NBC News President Steve Capus over Andrea Mitchell’s comments pointing out that McCain wasn’t really in a “Cone of Silence” as Pastor Rick Warren interviewed Barack Obama, leading some to wonder if McCain cheated by knowing the questions in advance.

Here are Mitchell’s comments:

The Obama people must feel that he didn't do quite as well as they might have wanted to in that context, because that — what they're putting out privately is that McCain may not have been in the cone of silence and may have had some ability to overhear what the questions were to Obama.... He seemed so well-prepared.

And here's what I consider to be the money quote from Davis’ angry letter to Capus (who incidentally is the same guy who suspended David Shuster after a similar letter from Hillary Clinton)

Make no mistake: This is a serious charge. Andrea Mitchell is repeating, uncritically, a completely unsubstantiated Obama campaign claim that John McCain somehow cheated in last night's forum at Saddleback Church. Instead of trying to substantiate this blatant falsehood in any way, Andrea Mitchell felt that she needed to repeat it on air to millions of "Meet the Press" viewers with no indication that . . . there's not one shred of evidence that it's true (my emphasis)

I think the perfect response to Davis’ whining would be for all the networks to take a pledge that they will not repeat either campaign’s claims - without critically evaluating the evidence to determine if the claims can be substantiated, or whether they are blatant falsehoods with not one shred of evidence.

And then, they should report what they find!

By the way, Davis claims McCain was “in his motorcade on the way to the church” while Obama was being interviewed by Warren, but that he didn’t cheat. If he was traveling in his campaign bus, and the networks were to critically evaluate the evidence, this is what they would find:

I’d guess that TV on the bus gets CNN, wouldn’t you?

A Few Thoughts on the Civil Forum

Pastor Rick Warren (C), introduces US presidential candidates as Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) waves to the audience and Senator John McCain (R-AZ) indicates the size of the fish story he's planning to tell. California, August 16, 2008.
(Reuters)

In general, if this format demonstrated one thing very clearly, it’s that Barack Obama can listen to tough questions and answer in a thoughtful and authentic way, even when he knows he’s got to give a partly unwelcome answer; while John McCain can’t open his mouth without:

a) Spouting simplistic platitudes that he’s memorized. ("I'll follow Bin Laden to the gates of hell!")

b) Filibustering with stories of being a POW ("Being a Christian to me means that once in the prison camp someone traced a cross in the dirt, and I knew we were two Christians.")

or

c) Accidentally giving Obama perfect campaign ad material ("I will be a pro-life President!)

Here are a few more of my favorite moments of classic McCainery:

• Admitting that the failure of his first marriage was his greatest moral failure. (Of course, a follow-up question on what was immoral about it would have been nice!)

• Saying he’s proud of President Bush for nominating Alito and Roberts, and then looking down awkwardly as if he suddenly realized he’d been repeatedly warned not to praise Bush.

• Responding to a request for an example of a dramatic change in his position with a stump-speech rally cry to “drill here, drill now,” apparently right in the Saddleback Church!

• Pandering to the Flat Earth Society by referring to the “four corners of the world.”

• And, of course, admitting that he thinks the line separating the middle class from the wealthy is an annual income of $5 million per year.

Meanwhile, Al Giordano thinks the candidates’ answers during the Forum will be less lasting than the idea that bringing them together in a respectful exchange will help offset GOP attempts to dehumanize Obama and give credence to his message of post-partisanship for independent minded voters.

Picture of the Day

Crisis in the world - must be time for a vacation! I think even Barney is disgusted.



President Bush, carrying his dog Barney, salutes as he arrives at TSTC airfield in Waco, Texas, Friday Aug. 15, 2008, to begin his summer vacation at his ranch near Crawford Texas.(AP Photo/Rod Aydelotte)

Young Elvis or Fat Elvis?

A couple of days ago, I suggested that John McCain was using the Georgia Russia conflict to try to invoke a resumption of the Cold War, in the hope that this would make people yearn for the return of an old president (i.e.: Ronald Reagan).

While discussing his decision, unprecedented for a presidential candidate, to send Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman as his emissaries to a war zone, McCain seemed to confirm my guess, while showing that he doesn’t do “subtle.”

Asked about his tough rhetoric on the ongoing conflict in Georgia, McCain began: "If I may be so bold, there was another president . . ."

He caught himself and started again: "At one time, there was a president named Ronald Reagan who spoke very strongly about America's advocacy for democracy and freedom."

So McCain obviously wants us to think he’s the new Reagan, prepared to fight the new Cold War.

Of course, I’m also guessing that he wants to be seen as Charming Reagan; but with his frequent gaffes, the American people are more likely to worry that his election would be the equivalent of starting a presidential term with Senile Reagan!

Baracky II

No Class!

You think he might want to let his injured wife into the car first.

Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., center, arrives in Gypsum, Colo. with his wife Cindy, Thursday, Aug. 14, 2008.(AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Where’s Condi?

(click to enlarge)

After doing nothing noteworthy as Secretary of State, and doing less than nothing as National Security Advisor, I was going to suggest that the current situation in Georgia was a perfect time for Condoleezza Rice to step up and prove that she’s worth more than the gum stuck to the bottom of her Ferragamos? After all, she did get her PhD and build her entire academic career as an “expert” in the region then controlled by the Soviet Union!

It seemed odd that she would stay on vacation during a conflict in the one place she should be expected to understand better than she seems to understand, say, the Middle East!

But now it turns out that she met with President Saakashvili of Georgia, and was the person whose advice could have left a clear impression that invading South Ossetia and antagonizing Russia would not be supported by the United States! But she didn’t, which leads me to believe that 1) she knows more about former Soviet relations than I gave her credit for, and 2) the world would have been better off if she’d gotten a double major in Soviet Studies and Ethics!

If I had to guess, I’d say the Bush Administration decided to manipulate the Republic of Georgia in order to get them to instigate a conflict in which they knew Russia would engage. This, in turn, could be followed by bellicose posturing and characterizing by John McCain as a resumption of the Cold War, presumably in the hope that the American people would decide that the return of an old conflict requires the return to an old president!

McCain's VP Pick?

Its got a ring to it! What do you think?

Or how about this one?