This is the Presidential Campaign Thread.

Barack Obama Vs. John McCain.

Edited November 6, 200817 yr by Toups

Ok. Question.

Who was that guy who played Joe Biden on SNL? He NAILED it!

And TF......knocks it out the park again. And QL.......my goodness.

Oh [!@#$%^&*], I missed it. I hope it makes YouTube

Here's the SNL Clip:

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/vid...n-biden/727421/

I transcribed some of the it. I bolded the best parts.

Eiffel: And finally, we would like to remind our audience that due to historically low expectations for Governor Palin, were she simply to do an adequate job tonight, that no point cry, faint, run out of the building, or vomit, you should consider the debate, a tie.

Biden: I love John McCain. He’s one of my dear friends, but at the same time, he’s also dangerously unbalanced…….this is a man I would take a bullet for, but he’s bad at his job and mentally unstable. As my mother would say, ‘God love him, but he’s a raging maniac,’ and a dear dear friend.

Eiffel: Governor Palin, would you like to respond to Senator Biden’s comments about John McCain

Palin: No thank you, but I would like to talk about being an outsider. You see, while Senator Biden has been in Washington all these years, I’ve been with regular people: hockey moms and Joe-six-packs. I’d also like to give a shout out to the 3rd graders of Gladis Woods Elementary who were so helpful to me in my debate practice. *winks* Also to you see, I think a little differently from an insider. I don’t think it’s patriotic to pay more taxes. I don’t think it’s patriotic to criticize these wars we got going on. I do think it’s patriotic to tell the government, ‘Hey, get out of my way. Stop trying to impose on my right to shoot wolves from a helicopter.’ But a Washington insider like Joe Biden probably disagrees.

Eiffel: [Governor] Palin, address your position on global warming and whether or not it’s man made or not.

Palin: Gwen, we don’t know if this climate change, whosy-what’s-it, is man made or not or if it’s just a natural part of the end of days. But I’m not going to talk about that. I would like to talk about taxes because with Barack Obama, you’re gonna be paying higher taxes but not with me and my fellow Maverick. We are not afraid to get Mavericky in there, ruffle feathers, and not got to allow that, and also to, the great Ronald Regan.

Eiffel: So to clarify, do you support gay marriage?

Biden: Absolutely not. But I do think they should be allowed to finish one another in the hospital and it a lot of ways, that’s just as good if not better.

Eiffel: Governor Palin, would you extend same sex rights to the entire country?

Palin: You know, I would be afraid of where that would lead. I believe marriage is meant to be a sacred institution between two unwilling teenagers. But don’t think I tolerate gay people because I do. I tolerate them with all my heart and I know quite a few too, not personally but I know of them. I’ve seen Ellen, oh, and there was this one girl on my college basketball team. She wasn’t officially a gay, but you know, we were pretty sure.

Eiffel: Governor Palin, what is your position on health care regulation?

Palin: I’m going to ignore that question and instead talk about Israel. I love Israel so much, bless its heart. There’s a special place for Israel in heaven. And I know some people are going to say I’m only saying that to pander to Florida voters…..but from an very young age, my two greatest loves were always Jews and Cuban food. *mouths ‘Thank s’ and blows a kiss*

Eiffel: I would now like to give each of you a chance to make a closing statement.

Palin (with a flute): Are we not doing the talent portion? *plays a bit of the flute and then winks*

Eiffel: Senator Biden, your closing statement.

Biden: My goal tonight was a simple one. To come up here and at no point seem like a condescending, egomaniacal bully and I’m going to be honest, I think I nailed it. Sure, there were moments I wanted to say, ‘Hey! This lady is a dummy!’ But I didn’t….because Joe Biden is better than that. I repeat. *points to himself* Joe Biden…is better….*points to Palin*…than that. So to all the pundits who said I would seem cocky or arrogant….you just got schooled, Biden style.

Eiffel: Governor Palin.

Palin: I liked being here tonight, answering these tough questions without the filter of the mainsteam ‘gotcha’ media with their follow up questions and fact checking or incessant need to figure out what your words mean and why you put them in that order. I’m happy to be speaking directly to the American people, to let them know if you want an outsider who doesn’t like politics as usual or pronouncing the ‘G’ at the end of the words she’s saying, I think you know who to vote for. Oh…and for those Joe-six-packs out there playing a drinking game at home, ‘Maverick!’ *pretends to open a beer can and drinks, then winks*

Tina Fey is a Goddess!!!

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/09/30/g...he-middle-east/

Get This Man An Atlas! John McCain Says Venezuela Is In The Middle East

You think he talking about their skin complexion.

Edited October 5, 200817 yr by MoTheGreat

My appologies, everyone.

If that is the bullshit game Palin/McCain want to play, then let's do this.

That man has absolutely NO PLAN whatsoever for this country. Now, to quote another complete [!@#$%^&*].....

"The McCain campaign may be in the last throws......"

What are you apologizing for, Roman? Did I miss something?

You see, this is typical Republican politics. To misinform and scare people into voting for their ticket. They can't win talking about the issues, because they would lose. Big time. So they resort to this bullshit in order to achieve their goal of the WH.

McCain should be [!@#$%^&*] ashamed of himself.

Ok. Question.

Who was that guy who played Joe Biden on SNL? He NAILED it!

And TF......knocks it out the park again. And QL.......my goodness.

All three of them were [!@#$%^&*] fabulous. It was hilarious!

Here's the SNL Clip:

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/vid...n-biden/727421/

Tina Fey is a Goddess!!!

Thanks for posting it, Toups! TF was great. I loved the "talent portion".

See, this just gets under my skin.

Palin, Alaska's governor, said that donors on a greeting line had encouraged her and McCain to get tougher on Obama. She said an aide then advised her, "Sarah, the gloves are off, the heels are on, go get to them."

If they can go after Obama on Rev. Wright and Ayers, why do they cry when someone brings up Palin's own questionable church or her pregnant 17 year old daughter?

But if the Obama campaign were to do that, the whining from McCain and the MSM of how he'd do "anything to win the White House" would be deafening.

Witness this thread. Some McCain supporters would rather discuss Ayers, Rev. Wright and the "October Surprise" than the issues. There have been several unanswered questions over the last few days. The latest issue being the death penalty.

Besides the attacks on Obama at that rally yesterday, Palin referred to a quote by Madelene Albright that Palin got from a Starbucks coffee cup:

"'There's a place hell reserved for women who don't support other women,' " Palin quoted. "Let's see how that comment is turned into whatever it's turned into in tomorrow's papers."

The reason it's turning up in the papers is because she misquoted it as the quote says "who don't help other women" instead of "support."

I know there were attacks made on Obama earlier by Karl Rove and some others about his being elite and someone else complained that he drinks Starbucks so this is truly funny. Joe Six Pack and Starbucks.

See, this just gets under my skin.

If they can go after Obama on Rev. Wright and Ayers, why do they cry when someone brings up Palin's own questionable church or her pregnant 17 year old daughter?

But if the Obama campaign were to do that, the whining from McCain and the MSM of how he'd do "anything to win the White House" would be deafening.

Witness this thread. Some McCain supporters would rather discuss Ayers, Rev. Wright and the "October Surprise" than the issues. There have been several unanswered questions over the last few days. The latest issue being the death penalty.

Well, GGL, that's what happenens when your issues are not accepted by the majority of people. Many are not in favor of McCain's stand on the issues. Since he is behind in the polls and losing ground daily, he and his campaign will start using the Rove tactics (again);smear and fear. It worked in 2004 and they are hoping it will work again. I pray not. We cannot continue to move forward if we are motivated by fear.

There have been many issues that have not been discussed because the economy is forefront in everyone's mind. Most people I talk to say that is their major concern.

I am torn between the idea of Obama taking the high road, or his laying all of McCain's stuff out in the open. It's definitely there to use.

If they can go after Obama on Rev. Wright and Ayers, why do they cry when someone brings up Palin's own questionable church or her pregnant 17 year old daughter?

But if the Obama campaign were to do that, the whining from McCain and the MSM of how he'd do "anything to win the White House" would be deafening.

I think they will stick to reaching on Ayers and maybe Raines but I think they will use 527s if they bring up Wright and the Democrats can use 527s to bring up the witch doctor or whatever he is that is praying for her in that video clip.

Maybe I'm just being optimistic but I don't think that the condtions are right to go too negative and it's very risky to start playing on people's fears. I don't think enough people are going to think that someone "just like them" is going to be the right fix for the economy right now and the economy is a much more prevalent issue than fear of terrorism in general.

What are you apologizing for, Roman? Did I miss something?

You see, this is typical Republican politics. To misinform and scare people into voting for their ticket. They can't win talking about the issues, because they would lose. Big time. So they resort to this bullshit in order to achieve their goal of the WH.

McCain should be [!@#$%^&*] ashamed of himself.

All three of them were [!@#$%^&*] fabulous. It was hilarious!

Thanks for posting it, Toups! TF was great. I loved the "talent portion".

I'm sorry, GGL. I had people telling me that I'm too one-sided and that they didn't have to link to anything to prove whatever point they were trying to make.

It just.......hurt me.

Anyway.......he should be ashamed. Make sure that you all watch MTP and Reliable Sources, and This Week. The McCain campaign people are really pushing this Willaim Ayers stuff, and the Obama campaign people are pushing back hard.

I think they will stick to reaching on Ayers and maybe Raines but I think they will use 527s if they bring up Wright and the Democrats can use 527s to bring up the witch doctor or whatever he is that is praying for her in that video clip.

Maybe I'm just being optimistic but I don't think that the condtions are right to go too negative and it's very risky to start playing on people's fears. I don't think enough people are going to think that someone "just like them" is going to be the right fix for the economy right now and the economy is a much more prevalent issue than fear of terrorism in general.

I welcome it. If this is what they want to focus on, so be it. Like a Des Moines reporter said this morning on MTP, people on Main Street in Iowa don't give one tinker's damn about Willaim Ayers. They know WA won't put gas in their cars or food on their table. And he felt that the McCain camaign looks rather desperate by going to this tactic, showing that they would rather discuss this BS than stay on the issues.

And Paul Begala was on MTP, and brought up a board that McCain sat on, that apparently was extremely ultra-right-wing. He then said that McCain really doesn't want to do this.

Fact Check: Is Obama 'palling around with terrorists'?

Posted: 09:00 AM ET

Gov. Palin commented about Sen. Obama and William Ayers at a rally in Carson, California Saturday.

Gov. Palin commented about Sen. Obama and William Ayers at a rally in Carson, California Saturday.

The Statement: Republican vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin said Saturday, October 4, that Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is "someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect that he's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country."

Get the facts!

The Facts: In making the charge at a fund-raising event in Englewood, Colorado, and a rally in Carson, California, Palin was referring at least in part to William Ayers, a 1960s radical. In both appearances, Palin cited a front-page article in Saturday's New York Times detailing the working relationship between Obama and Ayers.

In the 1960s, Ayers was a founding member of the radical Weather Underground group that carried out a string of bombings of federal buildings, including the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol, in protest against the Vietnam War. The now-defunct group was labeled a "domestic terrorist group" by the FBI, and Ayers and his wife, Bernadine Dohrn — also a Weather Underground member — spent 10 years as fugitives in the 1970s. Federal charges against them were dropped due to FBI misconduct in gathering evidence against them, and they resurfaced in 1980. Both Ayers and Dohrn ultimately became university professors in Chicago, with Ayers, 63, now an education professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Obama's Chicago home is in the same neighborhood where Ayers and Dohrn live. Beginning in 1995, Ayers and Obama worked with the non-profit Chicago Annenberg Challenge on a huge school improvement project. The Annenberg Challenge was for cities to compete for $50 million grants to improve public education. Ayers fought to bring the grant to Chicago, and Obama was recruited onto the board. Also from 1999 through 2001 both were board members on the Woods Fund, a charitable foundation that gave money to various causes, including the Trinity United Church that Obama attended and Northwestern University Law Schools' Children and Family Justice Center, where Dohrn worked.

CNN's review of project records found nothing to suggest anything inappropriate in the volunteer projects in which the two men were involved.

Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt told CNN that after meeting Obama through the Annenberg project, Ayers hosted a campaign event for him that same year when then-Illinois state Sen. Alice Palmer, who planned to run for Congress, introduced the young community organizer as her chosen successor. LaBolt also said the two have not spoken by phone or exchanged e-mail messages since Obama came to the U.S. Senate in 2005 and last met more than a year ago when they encountered each other on the street in their Hyde Park neighborhood.

The extent of Obama's relationship with Ayers came up during the Democratic presidential primaries earlier this year, and Obama explained it by saying, "This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood … the notion that somehow as a consequence of me knowing somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago — when I was 8 years old — somehow reflects on me and my values doesn't make much sense."

The New York Times article cited by Palin concluded that "the two men do not appear to have been close. Nor has Mr. Obama ever expressed sympathy for the radical views and actions of Mr. Ayers." Other publications, including the Washington Post, Time magazine, the Chicago Sun-Times, The New Yorker and The New Republic, have said that their reporting doesn't support the idea that Obama and Ayers had a close relationship.

The McCain campaign did not respond Saturday to a request for elaboration on Palin's use of the plural "terrorists."

Verdict: False. There is no indication that Ayers and Obama are now "palling around," or that they have had an ongoing relationship in the past three years. Also, there is nothing to suggest that Ayers is now involved in terrorist activity or that other Obama associates are.

The following is an article from Newsweek. It's pretty long.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/162396

-------

The Palin Problem

Yes, she won the debate by not imploding. But governing requires knowledge, and mindless populism is just that—mindless.

Jon Meacham

NEWSWEEK

From the magazine issue dated Oct 13, 2008

The question, the McCain campaign later acknowledged, was a fair one. In one of her sit-downs with Katie Couric of CBS News, Sarah Palin was asked to discuss a Supreme Court decision with which she disagreed. "Well, let's see," Palin replied, pausing. "There's, of course in the great history of America 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 followed up: "Can you think of any?" Palin, still pondering, said: "Well, I could think 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." Asked about the exchange afterward, a McCain adviser who didn't want to be named talking about a sensitive matter said the question was fair, but added: "I wonder how many Americans would be able to name decisions they disagree with. The court is very important, but Palin is on the ticket because she connects with everyday Americans."

Palin is on the ticket because she connects with everyday Americans. It is not shocking to learn that politics played a big role in the making of a presidential team (ticket-balancing to attract different constituencies has been with us at least since Andrew Jackson ran with John C. Calhoun, a man he later said he would like to kill). But that honest explanation of the rationale for her candidacy—not her preparedness for office, but her personality and nascent maverickism in Alaska—raises an important question, not only about this election but about democratic leadership. Do we want leaders who are everyday folks, or do we want leaders who understand everyday folks? Therein lies an enormous difference, one that could decide the presidential election and, if McCain and Palin were to win, shape the governance of the nation.

In an interview before her debate with Sen. Joseph R. Biden, Palin offered a revealing answer to radio host Hugh Hewitt. "Governor, your candidacy has ignited extreme hostility, even some hatred on the left and in some parts of the media," Hewitt said. "Are you surprised? And what do you attribute this reaction to?"

On the phone from McCain's retreat in Sedona, Palin replied: "I think they're just not used to someone coming in from the outside saying, 'You know what? It's time that normal Joe Six-Pack American is finally represented in the position of vice presidency.' I think that that's kind of taken some people off guard, and they're out of sorts, and they're ticked off about it, but it's motivation for John McCain and I to work that much harder to make sure that our ticket is victorious, and we put government back on the side of the people of Joe Six-Pack like me, and we start doing those things that are expected of our government, and we get rid of corruption, and we commit to the reform that is not only desired, but is deserved by Americans." This is, presumably, good politics: it makes a strength out of a weakness, always a shrewd tactic.

A key argument for Palin, in essence, is this: Washington and Wall Street are serving their own interests rather than those of the broad whole of the country, and the moment requires a vice president who will, Cincinnatus-like, help a new president come to the rescue. The problem with the argument is that Cincinnatus knew things. Palin sometimes seems an odd combination of Chauncey Gardiner from "Being There" and Marge from "Fargo."

Is this an elitist point of view? Perhaps, though it seems only reasonable and patriotic to hold candidates for high office to high standards. Elitism in this sense is not about educational or class credentials, not about where you went to school or whether you use "summer" as a verb. It is, rather, about the pursuit of excellence no matter where you started out in life. Jackson, Lincoln, Truman, Eisenhower, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan and Clinton were born to ordinary families, but they spent their lives doing extraordinary things, demonstrating an interest in, and a curiosity about, the world around them. This is much less evident in Palin's case.

John McCain is a man of accomplishment and curiosity, of wide and deep reading, travel and experience. He is smart without being a snob. He has authored legislation and books. He is a man of parts—the kind of figure whom one could effortlessly imagine being president. Are there many politically attuned people in America now who can honestly say the same thing of Sarah Palin? That they can effortlessly envision President Palin in the Oval Office, ready on day one to manage a market meltdown or a terror attack? Whether one agrees or disagrees with his politics, there is no arguing that McCain is qualified to be president of the United States. But there is plenty of argument about Palin's qualifications. Why should we apply a different standard to the vice president who would stand to succeed him?

Even devoted Republicans doubt whether the Sarah Six-Pack case is the best one to make. After the vice presidential debate, a senior figure in the party, who asked not to be named because he was telling the truth, told me that Palin should talk less about being "just-folks" and more about being governor of a large state.

We have been here before. In 1970 a Nebraska senator, Roman L. Hruska, was defending Richard Nixon's nomination of U.S. circuit Judge G. Harrold Carswell to the Supreme Court. An underwhelming figure, Carswell was facing criticism that he was too "mediocre" for elevation. Hruska tried an interesting counterargument: "Even if he were mediocre, there are a lot of mediocre judges and people and lawyers. They are entitled to a little representation, aren't they, and a little chance? We can't have all Brandeises, Frankfurters and Cardozos." Fair enough, but it still seems sensible to aspire to surpass mediocrity rather than embrace it.

The capacity of the common man (and now woman) to serve in government is the subject of ancient debate. The philosophers Robert Dale Owen and Jeremy Bentham believed in the principle of rotation in office—the idea that citizens could do the work of government for a time, then return to private life—and Andrew Jackson, in the beginning of the modern democratic era, spoke in similar terms about the federal government: "The duties of all public officers are, or at least admit to being made, so plain and simple that men of intelligence may readily qualify themselves for their performance." But Jackson was thinking about postmasters, not presidents.

We have had terrific presidents and vice presidents from humble backgrounds, and we have had terrible presidents and vice presidents from privileged ones. The unease with Palin is not class-based. It is empirically based. She is a rising political star, a young woman—she is only 44—who has done extraordinary things. It takes guts to offer oneself for election, and to serve. It is far easier to throw spitballs from the stands than it is to seek and hold office. She is a governor, and she has the courage to go into the arena. For that she should be honored and respected. If she were seeking a Senate seat, or being nominated for a cabinet post—secretary of energy, say, or interior—the conversation about her would be totally different.

But she is not seeking a Senate seat, nor is she being nominated for a cabinet post, and so it is only prudent to ask whether she is in fact someone who should be president of the United States in the event of disaster. She may be ready in a year or two, but disaster does not coordinate its calendar with ours. Would we muddle through if Palin were to become president? Yes, we would, but it is worth asking whether we should have to.

What do we know about Palin after, as she put it with a wink, "like, five weeks"? That she can be a superb political performer (she held her own against Biden, projecting an image of warmth and toughness) and she can be a poor one (too many questions in the debate went completely unanswered, and the Couric interview is full of moments no candidate would like to have out there). But that is only human. Everyone has good days and bad days. Her syntax is sometimes a world unto itself. But George H.W. Bush occasionally sounded as though English were more foe than friend, and he was an astute president who managed complexity with skill and balance. The arsenal of folksy phrases—"doggone it," "you betcha"—grates on some, but seems just great to others.

The story of Palin's brief national career helps explain her uneven performances. She had virtually no time to prepare, and has had virtually no time since. Her star turn began quickly, and mysteriously. When Nicolle Wallace and Matthew Scully, two former Bush aides who now work for McCain, showed up at a dingy Ohio hotel in late August to meet the new running mate, they had no idea who might be waiting for them. Just a day before, Wallace had been in a dentist's chair in New York, getting a root canal, when Steve Schmidt, McCain's top strategist, summoned her to Ohio. She tried to say no, but her dentist, a McCain fan, insisted she could make it, giving her a prescription for Vicodin to numb the pain. The next morning, dazed by the meds, Wallace arrived in Cincinnati and drove with Scully to Middletown, Ohio, where McCain's VP was holed up until the big announcement the following day.

As Wallace and Scully drove up, they were met outside by Schmidt and Mark Salter, McCain's longtime aide and speechwriter. Schmidt escorted the two upstairs, where he dramatically paused before a closed door. "You're No. 7 and 8," Schmidt said, referring to the number of people who were privy to McCain's choice. As the door opened, a woman rose to greet them, shaking their hands enthusiastically. Scully and Wallace, still numb from her procedure, smiled and introduced themselves. The woman, Sarah Palin, looked very familiar, but, as both later recounted to other McCain aides, they did not immediately know who she was. (McCain loves this story, relishing the success of his bid to keep the selection process secret.)

When she shook their hands, the governor of Alaska was already in the surreal bubble of a modern presidential campaign, an odd ethos in which one is rarely alone and yet often lonely. Remembering how John Edwards had brought his own staff to the ticket with John Kerry in 2004, creating immediate and lasting tensions, the McCain camp wanted to exert complete control over their running mate. Schmidt and others assembled a team of well-known Republican hands for the veep squad. The campaign pointedly did not hire anyone from Palinworld.

The governor, meanwhile, is only a recent visitor to McCainworld. After the announcement in Dayton, the Friday before the convention in St. Paul, aides gave her thick binders full of policies and arranged sit-downs with some of McCain's top advisers, including Randy Scheunemann, Doug Holtz-Eakin and Sens. Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham. On the day she was nominated, Palin, joining McCain on a bus tour, was given reading material: every policy speech McCain has given in this campaign.

Some who know her from Alaska suggest that Palin is a deft crammer, and her performance against Biden supports that. Larry Persily, a former Anchorage Daily News editorial-page editor, left the newspaper in May 2007 and worked as an associate director in Palin's Washington, D.C., office until June 2008. He says he left on good terms—Palin offered him another job when he resigned—but he believes she is not qualified to be vice president and is speaking out for that reason. He describes Palin as an easily distracted manager. "Her preppings [briefings] were accentuated by the brevity of them. She's not going to pore over briefing books and charts and white papers and reports for hours and hours. She knows how to connect with people, and it's like, 'Give me bullet points and I'll run with it' … I don't think she had trouble focusing. She didn't have an interest in focusing."

Her isolation in recent weeks has taken a toll, and she has been hungry for company. It has been difficult for Palin to be isolated from her friends not only by distance, but also electronically. Palin's Yahoo account was hacked into in mid-September and messages between her and friends were posted online. (In one such message, a colleague tells Palin not to let the negative press get to her.) Wasilla friend Kristan Cole says that in the initial days after Palin was picked she regularly communicated with Palin via e-mail. That stopped after the hacking incident. The women have always talked electronically. "You can do it on the go and respond at 2 o'clock in the morning, and with all the time changes that was the best way to communicate." Since Palin's account was hacked into, Cole has not sent her a single e-mail or received one from her. "I'm more gun-shy, because when you've had the relationship we have had—my son was in a critical car accident, and working through all that and her family and Trig—it's made me hesitant to say anything very personal [via e-mail], and that's sad."

A turning point came last week, when Kris Perry returned to Palin's immediate orbit. Perry, who worked as her scheduler, was stuck in Anchorage for the past month, waiting to see if she would be deposed in the ongoing "Troopergate" investigation. Only on the Friday before the Thursday debate, after a delay in the investigation, did Perry feel able to leave town and fly south. (Troopergate could make headlines again this Friday, when a special counsel is due to issue his report on the matter.) It was Perry who helped Palin relax and regain her footing prior to last Thursday night's debate.

Sealing Palin off from Perry, whom she met when both were in the hospital giving birth to their children six years ago (in Palin's case it was her fourth, daughter Piper), was a mistake, say those in Palinworld. Next to Todd, says one former aide who did not want to be named discussing sensitive personnel matters, Perry was the person most responsible for "creating a sense of peace around Sarah." Despite recent media reports of a wild temper, those who know Palin say she is more prone to anxiety and frantic overdrive than tantrums. "She's the world's worst multitasker," says the aide. "She'll have a cell phone in one hand, the BlackBerry in the other while she is reading two position papers. You have to tell her prior to the debate, 'Put that down, breathe deep.' They [the McCain staff] are not going to know that."

What Palin knows, and what the country knows about her, is an issue for the next few weeks. Barack Obama is not the Messiah, and Biden is no Simon Peter, but it stretches credulity to say that Obama is no more qualified to be president than Palin is. Though you may prefer McCain-Palin to Obama-Biden, there is not the same threshold question about the Democrats that is now being asked about Palin.

Sitting with her for part of the Couric interview, McCain implicitly compared Palin to Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan, saying that they, too, had been caricatured and dismissed by mainstream voices. The linkages are untenable. For all of his manifold sins, Clinton was a longtime governor, and George H.W. Bush's attacks on his qualifications failed for a reason: people may not have respected Clinton's character, but they did not doubt the quality of his mind. A successful two-term governor of California, Reagan had spent decades immersed in politics (of both the left and the right) before running for president. He did like to call himself a citizen-politician, and Lord knows he had an occasionally ambiguous relationship with facts, but he was a serious man who had spent a great deal of time thinking about the central issues of the age. To put it kindly, Palin, however promising a governor she is, has not done similar work.

I could be wrong. Perhaps Sarah Palin will somehow emerge from the hurly-burly of history as a transformative figure who was underestimated in her time by journalists who could not see, or refused to acknowledge, her virtues. But do I think I am right in saying that Palin's populist view of high office—hey, Vice President Six-Pack, what should we do about Pakistan?—is dangerous? You betcha.

With Holly Bailey, Karen Breslau, Suzanne Smalley, Michael Isikoff and Sarah Kliff

However, I don't think you're smart enough to figure out that if I really wanted to... I could run circles around you on my very worst day......not very modest I know.....but very very true.

I agree with you wholeheartedly if the goal is to be self-righteous, then you do run circles around me. Wales you run circles around every other poster in this thread..by far..in the arena of self-righteousness.

I find it hard to believe that you have been holding back your intellectual prowess in the effort of being fair or sweet. (If you reaaally wanted to....um sure...)Why haven't you? Why have you hidden your ability to debate on objective matters up to this point.? What has finally urged you to unleash your surperior abilities?..I am waiting with upmost anticipation for your studious display of knowledge..

Do you still think it doesn't make sense for the Senate to vote after the House rejected the rescue bill? Or was that a farce to hide your true understanding so that you could come back and ambush me with your wealth of wisdom?

Edited October 5, 200817 yr by Casey008

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081005/ap_on_..._words_analysis

Analysis: Palin's words may backfire on McCain

By DOUGLASS K. DANIEL, Associated Press Writer 11 minutes ago

By claiming that Democrat Barack Obama is "palling around with terrorists" and doesn't see the U.S. like other Americans, vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin targeted key goals for a faltering campaign.

And though she may have scored a political hit each time, her attack was unsubstantiated and carried a racially tinged subtext that John McCain himself may come to regret.

First, Palin's attack shows that her energetic debate with rival Joe Biden may be just the beginning, not the end, of a sharpened role in the battle to win the presidency.

"Our opponent ... is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect, imperfect enough, that he's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country," Palin told a group of donors in Englewood, Colo. A deliberate attempt to smear Obama, McCain's ticket-mate echoed the line at three separate events Saturday.

"This is not a man who sees America like you and I see America," she said. "We see America as a force of good in this world. We see an America of exceptionalism."

Obama isn't above attacking McCain with loaded words, releasing an ad on Sunday that calls the Arizona Republican "erratic" — a hard-to miss suggestion that McCain's age, 71, might be an issue. A harsh judgment, certainly, but not on the level of accusing a fellow senator of being un-American and even a friend of terrorists.

"Our financial system in turmoil," an announcer says in Obama's new ad. "And John McCain? Erratic in a crisis. Out of touch on the economy."

The ad, slated to start running Monday on national cable, seeks to capitalize on McCain's response to the nation's financial crisis — he suspended his campaign, suggested he might not attend a debate, then switched and did attend — and raise questions about his character.

In her character attack, Palin references questions Obama's associations. Her context is inaccurate.

She is referring to Obama's relationship with William Ayers, a member of the Vietnam-era Weather Underground, was exaggerated at best if not outright false. No evidence shows they were "pals" or even close when they worked on community boards years ago and Ayers hosted a political event for Obama early in his career.

Obama, who was a child when the Weathermen were planting bombs, has denounced Ayers' radical views and actions.

With her criticism, Palin is taking on the running mate's traditional role of attacker, said Rich Galen, a Republican strategist.

"There appears to be a newfound sense of confidence in Sarah Palin as a candidate, given her performance the other night," Galen said. "I think that they are comfortable enough with her now that she's got the standing with the electorate to take off after Obama."

Second, Palin's incendiary charge draws media and voter attention away from the worsening economy. It also comes after McCain supported a pork-laden Wall Street bailout plan in spite of conservative anger and his own misgivings.

"It's a giant changing of the subject," said Jenny Backus, a Democratic strategist. "The problem is the messenger. If you want to start throwing fire bombs, you don't send out the fluffy bunny to do it. I think people don't take Sarah Palin seriously."

The larger purpose behind Palin's broadside is to reintroduce the question of Obama's associations. Millions of voters, many of them open to being swayed to one side or the other, are starting to pay attention to an election a month away.

For the McCain campaign, that makes Obama's ties to Ayers as well as convicted felon Antoin "Tony" Rezko and the controversial minister Jeremiah Wright ripe for renewed criticism. And Palin brings a fresh voice to the argument.

Effective character attacks have come earlier in campaigns. In June 1988, Republican George H.W. Bush criticized Democrat Michael Dukakis over the furlough granted to Willie Horton, a convicted murderer who then raped a woman and stabbed her companion. Related TV ads followed in September and October.

The Vietnam-era Swift Boat veterans who attacked Democrat John Kerry's war record started in the spring of 2004 and gained traction in late summer.

"The four weeks that are left are an eternity. There's plenty of time in the campaign," said Republican strategist Joe Gaylord. "I think it is a legitimate strategy to talk about Obama and to talk about his background and who he pals around with."

Palin's words avoid repulsing voters with overt racism. But is there another subtext for creating the false image of a black presidential nominee "palling around" with terrorists while assuring a predominantly white audience that he doesn't see their America?

In a post-Sept. 11 America, terrorists are envisioned as dark-skinned radical Muslims, not the homegrown anarchists of Ayers' day 40 years ago. With Obama a relative unknown when he began his campaign, the Internet hummed with false e-mails about ties to radical Islam of a foreign-born candidate.

Whether intended or not by the McCain campaign, portraying Obama as "not like us" is another potential appeal to racism. It suggests that the Hawaiian-born Christian is, at heart, un-American.

The fact is that when racism creeps into the discussion serves a purpose for McCain. As the fallout from Wright's sermons showed earlier this year, forcing Obama to abandon issues to talk about race leads to unresolved arguments about America's promise to treat all people equally.

John McCain occasionally says he looks back on decisions with regret. He has apologized for opposing a holiday to honor Martin Luther King Jr. He has apologized for refusing to call for the removal of a Confederate flag from South Carolina's Capitol.

When the 2008 campaign is over will McCain say he regrets appeals such as Palin's? ___

EDITOR'S NOTE — Douglass K. Daniel is a writer and editor with the Washington bureau of The Associated Press.