Palin Starts Pushing Back. About Time!

Sarah Palin’s spokeswoman denies the wave of anonymous post-election criticism reportedly coming from some members of John McCain’s campaign team.

Sarah Palin’s allies are pushing back against a stream of accusations leaking out of John McCain’s campaign that the Alaska governor was incompetent during the run-up to the election. One Palin aide called the charges “sickening.”

Palin spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton on Friday denied reports that have surfaced since Election Day that there was tension between the vice presidential candidate and McCain’s staff.

They range from claims that Palin went on extensive spending sprees to accounts that campaign officials had serious doubts about her preparedness to to be vice president.

Sources told FOX News, for instance, that Palin did not realize that Africa was a continent and not a country, and that she could not name the nations that had signed the North American Free Trade Agreement.Palin herself brushed off the finger-pointing Wednesday, saying she wouldn’t engage “any of the negativity” or “pettiness” from anonymous sources.

Stapleton released a written statement Friday calling the charges “unfortunate and, quite honestly, sickening.”

“The accusations we are hearing and reading are not true and since we deny all these anonymous allegations, there is nothing specific to which we will respond,”. “We have the highest regards for Senator John McCain. Governor Palin was honored to be chosen as McCain’s running mate.”

Newsweek also reported that Palin may have spent “tens of thousands” of dollars more on wardrobe expenses than the $150,000 that was reported in the days before Election Day. The money allegedly went toward clothes for her and her family from high-end stores, even though she was originally told to buy just three suits and hire a stylist for the Republican National Convention.

One aide called the spree “Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast,” according to the magazine. Palin also reportedly asked to speak at McCain’s concession speech Tuesday, and was denied.

McCain adviser Nicole Wallace defended Palin on NBC’s “Today Show” Friday morning, saying the Alaska governor “did nothing wrong.”

“She is, perhaps, the most un-diva politician I’ve ever seen,” she said. “The only thing I’ve ever seen her ask for is a diet soda.”

Palin said right after the election that she’s sorry if she cost McCain even “one vote.”

But some are tired of what they say looks like scapegoating.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum says that McCain himself needs to come out and put a stop to the Palin criticism.

“She’s the one that energized the base, she’s the one that got the crowds out. … She’s the one that comes out of this without any scars and now they’re trying to give her some,” Santorum said. “John McCain should come out and say, ‘This is ridiculous,’ and set the record straight.”

I want to know where is John and Cindy McCain? The John and Cindy McCain I know are really too decent and savvy not to speak out….

Thank You John McCain | We will never give up

Thank you, John McCain.

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McCain Concedes, Obama Elected 44th President In Our 233rd Year Of Independence

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Senator John McCain’s Concession Speech:

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We have come to the end of a long journey. The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly.

A little while ago, I had the honor of calling senator Barack Obama to congratulate him on being elected the next president of the country that we both love. In a contest as long and difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance. But that he managed to do so by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving.

This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight.

I’ve always believed that America offers opportunities to all who have the industry and will to seize it. Senator Obama believes that, too.

But we both recognize that, though we have come a long way from the old injustices that once stained our nation’s reputation and denied some Americans the full blessings of American citizenship, the memory of them still had the power to wound.

A century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt’s invitation of Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House was taken as an outrage in many quarters.

America today is a world away from the cruel and frightful bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of this than the election of an African-American to the presidency of the United States.

Let there be no reason now for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on Earth.Senator Obama has achieved a great thing for himself and for his country. I applaud him for it, and offer him my sincere sympathy that his beloved grandmother did not live to see this day. Though our faith assures us she is at rest in the presence of her creator and so very proud of the good man she helped raise.

Senator Obama and I have had and argued our differences, and he has prevailed. No doubt many of those differences remain.

These are difficult times for our country. And I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face.

I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together to find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited.

Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans. And please believe me when I say no association has ever meant more to me than that.

It is natural. It’s natural, tonight, to feel some disappointment. But tomorrow, we must move beyond it and work together to get our country moving again.

We fought — we fought as hard as we could. And though we fell short, the failure is mine, not yours.

I am so deeply grateful to all of you for the great honor of your support and for all you have done for me. I wish the outcome had been different, my friends.

The road was a difficult one from the outset, but your support and friendship never wavered. I cannot adequately express how deeply indebted I am to you.

I’m especially grateful to my wife, Cindy, my children, my dear mother and all my family, and to the many old and dear friends who have stood by my side through the many ups and downs of this long campaign.

I have always been a fortunate man, and never more so for the love and encouragement you have given me.

You know, campaigns are often harder on a candidate’s family than on the candidate, and that’s been true in this campaign.

All I can offer in compensation is my love and gratitude and the promise of more peaceful years ahead.

for their tireless dedication to our cause, and the courage and grace they showed in the rough and tumble of a presidential campaign.

I am also — I am also, of course, very thankful to Governor Sarah Palin, one of the best campaigners I have ever seen, and an impressive new voice in our party for reform and the principles that have always been our greatest strength, her husband Todd and their five beautiful children. We can all look forward with great interest to her future service to Alaska, the Republican Party and our country.

To all my campaign comrades, from Rick Davis and Steve Schmidt and Mark Salter, to every last volunteer who fought so hard and valiantly, month after month, in what at times seemed to be the most challenged campaign in modern times, thank you so much. A lost election will never mean more to me than the privilege of your faith and friendship.

I don’t know — I don’t know what more we could have done to try to win this election. I’ll leave that to others to determine. Every candidate makes mistakes, and I’m sure I made my share of them. But I won’t spend a moment of the future regretting what might have been.

This campaign was and will remain the great honor of my life, and my heart is filled with nothing but gratitude for the experience and to the American people for giving me a fair hearing before deciding that Senator Obama and my old friend Senator Joe Biden should have the honor of leading us for the next four years.

I would not — I would not be an American worthy of the name should I regret a fate that has allowed me the extraordinary privilege of serving this country for a half a century.

Today, I was a candidate for the highest office in the country I love so much. And tonight, I remain her servant. That is blessing enough for anyone, and I thank the people of Arizona for it.

Tonight — tonight, more than any night, I hold in my heart nothing but love for this country and for all its citizens, whether they supported me or Senator Obama.

I wish Godspeed to the man who was my former opponent and will be my president. And I call on all Americans, as I have often in this campaign, to not despair of our present difficulties, but to believe, always, in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here.

Americans never quit! We never surrender! We never hide from history! We make history! Thank you, and God bless you, and God bless America.

2 Dumb Slate Staffers Split With Wiser Colleagues On Obama Vote!!

Andrew Malcom of the L.A. Times, (You know the newspaper so in the tank for Obama it is hiding a video of Obama at a Jew-bashing dinner attended by those people he hardly knows, Rashid Khalidi, William Ayers and his fellow terrorist wife, Bernadette Dohrn) reports, perhaps mocks Slate:

One writer has broken ranks with Slate’s slate of writers and intends to vote for John McCain! The Republican senator from Arizona!

No, really. We’re serious here.

And one other Slate writer intends to vote for Bob Barr! The Libertarian former Republican representative from Georgia!

Not just because Bob has a permit to carry a concealed weapon. But because the editor-at-large, Jack Shafer, explains he has chosen the Libertarian candidate ever since he started voting in 1972.

Jack admits there have been “a long line of chowderheads” atop the Libertarian ticket. But he feels that party comes closest to his ideal of limited government, free markets and noninterventionist foreign policy.

The rebel Republican over at Slate is Rachael Larimore, the deputy managing editor and copy chief, who’s a lifelong moderate GOP voter who admires McCain, is incapable of generating a ton of hate for that known Satan George W. Bush and hopes that a Democratic victory will help recharge the GOP in the long run for the benefit of our two-party system.

That leaves only 55 other Slate staffers who chose to announce their fealty to the Illinois fellow for a variety of reasons you can read for yourself here.

Editor David Plotz describes the political announcements as a sign of openness and because he, like his predecessors, says he does not believe that how writers write politically is affected by how writers think politically.

So rest assured the online vote at Slate has absolutely nothing to do with all this late-race trumped up empty chatter over media bias in favor of the handsome, eloquent Democrat with the darling family running against the grumpy old pilot who can’t use a BlackBerry or play tennis because his arms were allegedly broken so often and then shocked the media by picking as his running mate a Washington outsider, a non-Democrat female no less, who’s so opposed to abortion she didn’t get one herself.

That’s just widespread biased hooey. Forget about it because we say to.

–Andrew Malcolm

McCain Fact Versus Obama Fiction

Barack Obama and Joe Biden have consistently lied to Americans about John McCain’s plan. Their claims have failed every fact check from CBS to the Washington Post. John McCain is not going to raise taxes on middle class families.

Barack Obama and Joe Biden are the only ones in this race that plan to raise taxes. Their recent attacks have become increasingly misleading. Read the facts below to learn the truth about the McCain-Palin Health Care Plan.

The Truth about the McCain-Palin Health Care Plan

Barack Obama And Joe Biden Have Consistently Lied To Americans About John McCain’s Plan. Their claims have failed every fact-check – from CBS to the Washington Post. John McCain is not going to raise taxes on middle class families. Barack Obama and Joe Biden are the only ones in this race that plan to raise taxes.

OBAMA FICTION

John McCain Will Tax Health Care Benefits For The First Time And Will Be the Largest Middle Class Tax Increase In History.

THE FACTS

This Obama charge is a blatant mischaracterization of the McCain Health Plan. It only focuses on the fact that the value of the employer provided insurance will now show up as additional income for the employees – what he fails to mention – is that John McCain’s generous refundable tax credit ($5,000 for families and $2,500 for individuals) will not only shield millions of families from a tax increase but will actually give them MORE dollars to invest in their health care needs.

The McCain Plan DOES NOT tax:

• Premiums paid by families and individuals
• Employers for providing health care coverage
• Medical expenses like the cost of a procedure or medication
• Insurance claims

Approach Supported By Obama’s Own Advisor: This is an approach supported by Barack Obama’s own Senior Economic Advisor Jason Furman who wrote that “we could scrap the current deduction altogether and replace it with progressive tax credits that, together with other changes, would ensure that every American has affordable health insurance.”

Better Than “Members of Congress”: Under the McCain Plan, your employer can provide you with health insurance as good as a “Member of Congress” (approximately $12,000), and you would pay no  more in taxes – regardless of your tax bracket.  In fact, you would have additional money left over from the McCain tax credit to put in a health savings account.

Where Is The Middle-Class “Tax Increase”? If you or your family is in the 28% bracket, with an income of $180,000, you could receive employer provided health insurance even better than a Member of Congress, with a cost of almost $18,000, with no increase in taxes. Even the liberal leaning Tax Policy Center, agrees that the McCain proposals will result in a “net tax benefit” of more than $1,200 for an average tax payer. A recent Lewin Group study estimated savings of more than $1,400 per American family – almost three times the savings as under the Obama plan.

OBAMA FICTION
The McCain Plan Will Reduce Medicare Spending By Billions By “Cutting Benefits, Eligibility or Both.”

THE FACTS
John McCain believes that we can achieve savings in Medicare without reducing benefits or eligibility. He has proposed common-sense reforms that will not only put Medicare on a path of financial stability but ensure access to quality care for millions of Americans. Some of the policies proposed by the McCain plan include:

• Promote payment reform that allows us to move away from the current fragmented and volume-based service to a system which rewards coordinated and quality focused care.
• Eliminate Medicare fraud and abuse to ensure that nearly $60 billion a year, almost 10 percent of total Medicare spending, that goes to line the pocket of criminals instead of providing quality care for seniors.
• Ensure that drug premiums for the wealthiest Americans are not being subsidized by the middle class.
• Promote a new generation of treatment models that better manage chronic care conditions while rewarding prevention and wellness.
• Greater use of Health IT and medical homes to promote greater co-ordination of care.
• Reduce drug costs by allowing greater use of generics (including bio-generics).

The Obama Spin:  If some of the proposals above sound familiar to Senator Obama’s proposals including – better managing chronic care diseases, greater use of health IT, promoting prevention and greater use of generic drugs – because they are. Only the liberal media and the Obama campaign would characterize similar proposals as “savings” in the their plan and “cutting benefits, eligibility or both” in the McCain plan.

OBAMA FICTION
John McCain Will Tax Health Care Benefits For The First Time And Send The Money Straight To The Insurance Companies.

THE FACTS
Another desperate attack by the Obama campaign. Here is what they purposefully fail to mention – the credit goes to the insurance company that the American family chooses to get coverage from, anywhere in the nation. The power of choice lies with the family – not government bureaucrats or insurance companies.

• Putting Families In Charge: Under the McCain Plan American families will not only decide where the tax credit should be directed for their coverage needs but any additional money left over after purchasing coverage will be controlled by the family in a portable health savings account. Ridiculing this line of strange attack, The Associated Press stated, “Of course it would, because it’s meant to pay for insurance. That’s like saying money for a car loan will go straight to the car dealer.”
• Obama Criticizing His Own Approach: Most importantly, Senator Obama is criticizing an approach that is used by his own HOPE credits – where tax payer money simply goes from the federal government to colleges.

OBAMA FICTION
Americans With Pre-Existing Condition Under The McCain Plan Will Not Find Coverage.

THE FACTS
John McCain believes that no American should be denied access to quality and affordable coverage simply because of a pre-existing condition. As President, John McCain will work with governors to develop a best practice model that states can follow – a Guaranteed Access Plan or GAP – that would reflect the best experience of the states to ensure these patients have access to health coverage. There would be reasonable limits on premiums, and assistance would be available for Americans below a certain income level.

OBAMA FICTION
The McCain Health Plan Will Damage Employer Provided Insurance For Millions of Americans.

THE FACTS
The McCain health plan builds on the employer-based system. Employers will have the same incentive to provide health insurance as they do today since they will continue to deduct the cost of health insurance they provide to employees.

• Millions With Employer Coverage Will Do Better Under The McCain Plan: Millions of American families with employer sponsored coverage in all tax brackets with the same coverage as a “Members of Congress” will now come out ahead with additional funds going into a portable health savings account. Importantly, younger and healthier employees with the McCain health care tax credit will have a bigger incentive to stay with the employers. For example, a 25-year-old employee in the 25 percent tax bracket with a $2,500 tax credit could either purchase a policy in the individual market for the same amount or stay with his employer plan and receive a $5,000 policy with an additional $1,250 to invest in a portable health savings account.  Why would people choose fewer benefits for more money?

So Why Is Barack Obama Hiding Details About His Plan?

Barack Obama’s Plan Will Harm Employer Coverage
The Obama plan includes a $179 billion a year employer mandate.  The mandate requires employers to either provide “meaningful” coverage or pay a tax towards the government plan.  Faced with tough economic conditions and rising health costs this creates a clear incentive for employers to drop coverage and move families into the new government plan. A Lewin Group study which examined a similar employer mandate combined with a national plan, like the Obama plan, concluded that almost 52 million individuals would lose their private employer coverage. To maintain their competitive edge, others employers will follow – spelling the demise of the employer coverage system.

Barack Obama’s Plan Continues The Push Toward Government-Run Healthcare
The Obama plan will create a brand new government-run health plan at the cost of $243 billion a year – a financial burden of more than $3,000 a year on American families.

Barack Obama’s Plan Will Damage Private Coverage
The government-run plan will have a clear advantage over private insurance since it will be subsidized by American taxpayers. A recent analysis of both plans by the nonpartisan CATO Institute concluded that the Obama government-run plan will be able to “keep its premiums artificially low…since it can turn to the U.S. Treasury to cover any shortfalls” resulting in “undercutting the private market.” According to Wall Street Journal, the goal of the Obama plan “…like HillaryCare in the 1990s, is to displace current private coverage and switch people to the default government option.”

“Conned by Obama Mania” – How McCain Can Win

Despite polls that show Barack Obama ahead, one McCain stratagist sees a scenerio that will give victory to John McCain. Lewis Oliver is the Chairman of McCain’s campaign in Central Florida. He says little things such as Palin on Saturday Night Live and gaffs by Joe Biden have given McCain momentum and undecideds will break towards the candidate who looks like he is going to win.

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McCain Criticism of Obama & Administration Stepped Up

Sen. John McCain meets with local business leaders at Buckingham Smokehouse Bar-B-Q in Columbia, Mo.

John McCain told those gathered for a town hall meeting in Lima, in northwest Ohio, that Obama is a talented orator with an agenda that could be boiled down to simple policies the Arizona Republican opposes.

After the two waged a fierce campaign for the Republican nomination in 2000, McCain has remained a persistent burr in Bush’s side, White House insiders have recounted. Some recent quotes from McCain seem to indicate he has finally figured out what really concerns Americans:

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Government is too big, Obama wants to grow it. Taxes are to high, he wants to raise them, Congress spends too much and he proposes more. We need more energy and he’s against producing it. We’re finally winning in Iraq, and he wants to forfeit.”

I am so disturbed that this administration has not done what we have to do, and that is to go out and buy up these bad mortgages,”

Pew Research: Most Voters Say Media Wants Obama to Win

Voters overwhelmingly believe that the media wants Barack Obama to win the presidential election. By a margin of 70%-9%, Americans say most journalists want to see Obama, not John McCain, win on Nov. 4. Another 8% say journalists don’t favor either candidate, and 13% say they don’t know which candidate most reporters support.

In recent presidential campaigns, voters repeatedly have said they thought journalists favored the Democratic candidate over the Republican. But this year’s margin is particularly wide.

At this stage of the 2004 campaign, 50% of voters said most journalists wanted to see John Kerry win the election, while 22% said most journalists favored George Bush. In October 2000, 47% of voters said journalists wanted to see Al Gore win and 23% said most journalists wanted Bush to win. In 1996, 59% said journalists were pulling for Bill Clinton.

In the current campaign, Republicans, Democrats and independents all feel that the media wants to see Obama win the election. Republicans are almost unanimous in their opinion: 90% of GOP voters say most journalists are pulling for Obama. More than six-in-ten Democratic and independent voters (62% each) say the same.

The media coverage of the race for president has not so much cast Barack Obama in a favorable light as it has portrayed John McCain in a substantially negative one, according to a new study of the media since the two national political conventions ended.

Coverage of McCain has been heavily unfavorable — and has become more so over time. In the six weeks following the conventions through the final debate, unfavorable stories about McCain outweighed favorable ones by a factor of more than three-to-one — the most unfavorable of all four candidates — according to the study by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism.

For Obama during this period, just over a third of the stories were clearly positive in tone (36%), while a similar number (35%) were neutral or mixed. A smaller number (29%) were negative.

For McCain, by comparison, nearly six-in-ten stories studied were decidedly negative in nature (57%), while fewer than two-in-ten (14%) were positive.

Read the full report at journalism.org

J-O-B-S or T-A-X-E-S: We Can’t Have Both

By Brian Sullivan

Higher taxes and job creation are the oil and water of economics.  They simply don’t go together.

It’s a basic concept.  The more a business gives to the government, the less free cash it has to use on new salaries.   It’s why John McCain wants to cut the corporate tax rate to 25% from 35%.   That extra 10% can go toward hiring a lot of workers and keeping jobs in the U.S.   Remember America has the 4th highest corporate tax rate in the world.   It’s no wonder jobs continue to move overseas.

This is not a partisan argument.   Many Democratic leaders feel the same way and understand the damage higher taxes will mean for job creation.  Consider this excerpt from today’s Wall Street Journal:

The Obama plan is an incentive to hire fewer workers.   Barack Obama declared last week that his economic plan begins with “one word that’s on everyone’s mind and it’s spelled J-O-B-S.”. This raises the stubborn question that Senator Obama has never satisfactorily answered: How do you create more jobs when you want to levy higher tax rates on the small business owners who are the nation’s primary employers?  Loyal Democrats have howled over the claim that small businesses will get soaked by the Obama tax plan, so we thought we would seek an authority they might trust on the issue: Democratic Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus of Montana.

Here is what Mr. Baucus wrote in a joint press release with Iowa Republican Charles Grassley on August 20, 2001, when they supported the income tax rate cuts that Mr. Obama wants to repeal: “. . . when the new tax relief law is fully phased in, entrepreneurs and small businesses — owners of sole proprietorships, partnerships, S corporations, and farms — will  receive 80 percent of the tax relief associated with reducing the top income tax rates of 36 percent to 33 percent and 39.6 percent to 35 percent.”. Then they continued with a useful economics tutorial: “Experts agree that lower taxes increase a business’ cash flow, which helps with liquidity constraints during an economic slowdown and could increase the demand for investment and labor.”. Twelve Senate Democrats voted for those same tax cuts.  And just to be clear on one point: An increase in “the demand for investment and labor” translates into an increase in J-O-B-S.

So if lowering these tax rates creates jobs, then it stands to reason that raising these taxes will mean fewer jobs.  From 2003 to 2007 with the lower tax rates in place, the U.S. economy added eight million jobs, or about 125,000 per month.  The Small Business Administration says small business wrote the paychecks for up to 80% of new jobs in 2005, for example.  Mr. Obama’s tax increase would hit the bottom line of small businesses in three direct ways.

Since Senator Baucus is on the record agreeing lower taxes are good for jobs, why has he and the other Democratic leaders who voted for this suddenly clammed up?    They have either done the world’s greatest flip-flop on the impact of tax hikes on jobs, or have spoken up privately and been ignored by the Obama camp.

So that’s small business.   But what about the big boys?    If you believe the hype that big business doesn’t pay taxes, consider this: last year ExxonMobil paid more in taxes than the bottom 50% of the entire population of American taxpayers.   So if you are one that has come to believe you should hate “big oil,” consider what your tax burden would be if that $30+ billion (which is on its way to $40 billion for 2008) in tax revenue paid by Exxon suddenly dried up.

So since the Congressional record proves that many Democrats understand the relationship between jobs and taxes as well as any supply-side Republican, their silence surrounding the proposed tax increases speaks volumes about where their true interests lie.

More Endorsements Roll McCain’s Way

The Dallas Morning News endorsed McCain on Oct. 18:

In better times, America could afford to consider entrusting the White House to an appealing newcomer like Mr. Obama and giving control of the presidency and Congress to the same party.

But in this time of great anxiety, the American people need a leader of experience guiding the ship of state. Mr. McCain offers the continuity, stability and sense of authority people want, as well as a decisive break from the Bush years.

The Democrat talks about change, but only the Republican has made change happen. Only one candidate has a solid record of standing up to his own party on principle and working hand in hand with legislators from the opposing party to get things done.

That candidate is John McCain, a progressive conservative we recommend.”

The Tampa (Fla.) Tribune endorsed McCain on Oct. 17:

Hard economic times, a disappointing Republican administration and the seductive promises of a master orator are pushing America toward a European-style social democracy. If you don’t want that to happen, vote for Republican Sen. John McCain. …

McCain brings a lifetime of useful experience, including his grueling captivity in Vietnam and long Senate service. He believes in federalism, a strong defense and disciplined self-interest.

McCain has been willing to cross party lines to work on tough problems. He co-authored a campaign finance law that failed to fulfill its objective, but he did muster the bipartisan support needed to try to control the buying and selling of public office. …

(Barack) Obama’s vision of hope shines like a rainbow, appealing but just out of reach. McCain’s call to freedom and responsibility is less exciting, but you know it works. The Tribune encourages voters to vote what they believe, not what they wish were true. The nation needs a stable leader in these unpredictable times.”

Annual Alfred Smith Dinner: McCain, Obama Roasted

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Edward Cardinal Egan is flanked by presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama at Thursday nights annual Al Smith dinner

Appropriately, Republican John McCain was seated to Edward Cardinal Egan’s right at Thursday night’s annual Al Smith Dinner – Democrat Barack Obama to his left. Donning white tie and tails, they put aside political rancor to roast and toast each other with equal relish.

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McCain got the ball rolling with a mock announcement that he had fired his entire team of high-priced advisers, as he once did last summer. “All of their positions will now be held by a man named Joe the Plumber,” deadpanned McCain, referring to real-life plumber Joe Wurzelbacher of Ohio, who became a minor star of the candidates’ final debate Wednesday.

As for those who question whether Joe would have enough money to pay his taxes under an Obama administration, McCain whispered that Joe “recently signed a very lucrative contract with a wealthy couple to handle all the work on all seven of their houses” – a reference to McCain’s many homes.

Obama got off his own zingers, beginning by telling the tuxedoed crowd that there is no other group in America that he would rather be “palling around” with, a dig at McCain ads asserting that Obama consorted with one-time radical William Ayers.

“It’s often been said that I share the politics of Alfred E. Smith,” said Obama, “and the ears of Alfred E. Neuman.” The Illinois senator also paid homage to the dinner’s location at the Waldorf-Astoria. “I hear from the doorstep, you can see all the way to the Russian Tea Room,” he cracked in a shot at GOP veep nominee Sarah Palin’s boast that she can see Russia from Alaska.

In another riff, Obama said “contrary to the rumors you have heard, I was not born in a manger. I was actually born on Krypton and sent here by my father, Jor-el, to save the planet Earth,” a shoutout to Superman.

With Mayor Bloomberg sitting just a few feet away, Obama also got in a dig at the mayor’s bid to seek a third term. “The mayor recently announced some news … by announcing he is going to be rewriting the rules and running for a third term, which caused Bill Clinton to say, ‘You can do that?’” joked Obama, causing the nearby Hillary Clinton to throw back her head in laughter.

But both men’s jokes ended with poignant salutes to each other for a battle well-fought, offering what amounted to a goodbye. The two men are not expected to share the same stage again this election.

“There was a time when a mere invitation of an African-American citizen to dine at the White House was taken as an outrage and an insult,” said McCain, adding, “I can’t wish my opponent luck, but I do wish him well.”

Said Obama, “There are very few of us that have served this country with the same dedication and honor and distinction as Senator McCain.”

The 63rd annual dinner, named in honor of the four-term governor of New York in the 1920s, raised $4 million for the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation. Smith’s great-grandson, Alfred Smith 4th, began the evening by joking that he hoped both vice presidential nominees, Palin and Democrat Joe Biden, would also attend. “But Sarah Palin is at the state troopers’ ball,” quipped Smith, “and Joe Biden couldn’t find a white tie and tails at Home Depot.”

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“Senator Obama…..”

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“Senator Obama, I am not President Bush. If you want to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago.”

Fight!

Didn’t Obama say, at last night’s debate, that 100% of all McCain ads were negative smears?

Just another example of how Obama constantly lies and distorts…all with that snide grin on his face.

Biden Seriously Misinformed, Likely Due To Alcohol Problem

When you interview for a job, here is a hint: make sure you know what the job is. Joe Biden failed that test last Thursday. He couldn’t even get right what a vice president does, but the media didn’t notice.

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The media is all over itself about how smart and experienced Biden is. Political analyst Charlie Cook is quoted in the Washington Post on Saturday as saying “Biden is clearly so much more knowledgeable, by a factor of about a million.” Saturday Night Live does a skit about Biden being smart, if slimy. Meanwhile, Governor Sarah Palin is treated as being nothing more than a simpleton.

Yet, take Biden’s statement from the debate on the role of the vice president:

Vice President Cheney has been the most dangerous vice president we’ve had probably in American history. The idea he doesn’t realize that Article I of the Constitution defines the role of the vice president of the United States, that’s the Executive Branch. He works in the Executive Branch. He should understand that. Everyone should understand that.

And the primary role of the vice president of the United States of America is to support the president of the United States of America, give that president his or her best judgment when sought, and as vice president, to preside over the Senate, only in a time when in fact there’s a tie vote. The Constitution is explicit.

The only authority the vice president has from the legislative standpoint is the vote, only when there is a tie vote. He has no authority relative to the Congress. The idea he’s part of the Legislative Branch is a bizarre notion invented by Cheney to aggrandize the power of a unitary executive, and look where it has gotten us. It has been very dangerous.”

One should be careful when throwing around terms such as “most dangerous” and “bizarre.” But Biden is confusing which part of the Constitution covers the Executive Branch (it is Article II, not Article I). More importantly, the notion that the vice president can preside over the Senate only when there is a tie vote is simply wrong. Nor is it true that the only legislative involvement the vice president has is to break tie votes. The vice president is the president of the Senate, where he interprets the rules and can only be overridden by a vote of 60 senators.

Early vice presidents spent a lot of time in the Senate. Thomas Jefferson even spent his time writing “A Manual of Parliamentary Practice: for the Use of the Senate of the United States.” Modern vice presidents may show up only when they think tie votes will occur, but that is their choice.

This isn’t rocket science. The Constitution on this point is very straightforward: “The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.”

Instead, it was Palin who got it right. Besides correctly stating that the vice president holds positions in both the executive and legislative branches, she also noted that:

Of course, we know what a vice president does. And that’s not only to preside over the Senate and [I] will take that position very seriously also. I’m thankful the Constitution would allow a bit more authority given to the vice president if that vice president so chooses to exert it in working with the Senate and making sure that we are supportive of the president’s policies and making sure too that our president understands what our strengths are.

But just as the vice president’s job includes more than simply being ready to assume the presidency if the president dies, the Constitution merely states what the vice president’s minimum responsibilities are.

Compare the uproar over Palin’s answer to Charlie Gibson about the “Bush Doctrine,” a doctrine that Gibson clearly didn’t understand and for which there apparently exist at least four different versions. Where is the outrage over Biden not understanding what vice presidents do? For Biden, his inability to correctly say what vice presidents do was surely his “gotcha” moment.

Yet, this mistake during the debate was hardly unique. Biden got a lot of things wrong in the debate that are going unnoticed by the fact-check media. Take just a few:

– Will McCain’s health care proposals raise taxes? Biden says that McCain’s proposal will cost people money. The Tax Foundation finds that could easily be “roughly deficit-neutral over ten years.”

– Under an Obama Administration the middle class will “pay no more than they did under Ronald Reagan”? No, the tax rates will be similar to the higher rates under Clinton.

– Did “we spend more money in three weeks on combat in Iraq than we spent on the entirety of the last seven years that we have been in Afghanistan building that country”? No, one year’s worth of spending in Iraq equaled five in Afghanistan.

– France and the U.S. “kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon”? No, and it wouldn’t have made much more sense if he had said “Syria” instead.

– Is it really “simply not true” that Obama said that he would meet with the leader of countries such as Iran without preconditions? No, Obama said “I would.”

– Did Obama warn against letting Hamas participate in Palestinian legislative elections in 2005? No.

– Do “Iraqis have an $80 billion surplus”? No. If oil prices had remained high, it might have reached $50 billion by the end of this year.

– Finally, an amusing point as evidence that Biden is just one of the people he pointed to, inviting anyone to have a beer with him at “Katie’s Restaurant” in Wilmington, Del. Unfortunately, people will have a hard time taking him up on his offer, since the restaurant hasn’t had that name for probably 15 years.

Unfortunately, voters who are trying to get an accurate count on whether the candidates are telling the truth can’t rely on the media. FactCheck.org mentions only one of these points, the size of the Iraqi surplus. The Washington Post mentioned Biden’s misstatement on Hamas and Katie’s restaurant. AOL’s coverage of the errors in the vice presidential debate was by far the worst, though that might not be too surprising given that Tommy Christopher, who wrote their news analysis, also blogs on the Obama Web site. None of these checkers mentioned Biden’s statements about the role of the vice president.

Compare this to the attacks on Sarah Palin:

– FactCheck.org criticizes Palin for claiming that McCain’s health care tax credits will be “budget neutral” – they argue that the tax credit will be larger than the new taxes that the program will impose. Fine, but if the people at FactCheck.org believe that is true and that the Tax Foundation is wrong, Biden’s claim about increased taxes is even more inaccurate. But FactCheck.org doesn’t even mention Biden’s statement from the debate.

– From AOL’s news analysis piece. “Palin: Said that it is untrue that the U.S. is killing civilians in Afghanistan. According to an analysis by the AP, however, the U.S. is killing more civilians than insurgents are.”

What Palin actually said was: “Now, Barack Obama had said that all we’re doing in Afghanistan is air-raiding villages and killing civilians.” Whether one believes the AP estimate or not, the question is whether she was accurately characterizing Obama’s statement of the job that our forces were doing. And Obama said, “We’ve got to get the job done there and that requires us to have enough troops so that we’re not just air-raiding villages and killing civilians” (emphasis added).

– FactCheck.org’s first critique claims that Palin was wrong to claim that troop levels in Iraq are down to their pre-surge levels. They are correct that after the recently announced drawdown, 6,000 more troops will be in Iraq than immediately before the surge. But why not mention that 84 percent of the 38,000 troops in the surge are home or are in the process of coming home?

The media seems to have been covering for Biden for some time. While news stories still talk about Dan Quayle’s spelling mistake 18 years later, there has been almost no news coverage of Biden’s numerous wacky statements. What if Quayle had said something similar to Biden’s recent statement that, “When the stock market crashed, Franklin D. Roosevelt got on the television and didn’t just talk about the, you know, the princes of greed. He said, ‘Look, here’s what happened.’” A neat trick given that Herbert Hoover was president in 1929 and no one was watching television.

It might not fit the simple template for a 36-year veteran of the Senate to not understand what vice presidents do (after all, eight vice presidents have served with him), but Biden knew less about this than the political outsider, Sarah Palin. Given that they are running to be vice president, why didn’t that story dominate the news coverage after the debate?

McCain’s Brother, Joe – Blasts Campaign! See Video Below

Joe McCain

Frustrations inside John McCain’s camp boiled over on the eve of tonight’s presidential debate as the candidate’s brother unleashed an e-mail blasting the campaign’s  “counter-productive” strategy.” Let John McCain be John McCain,” wrote Joe McCain in a missive sent out shortly before midnight Monday.

“Make ads that show John not as crank and curmudgeon but as a great leader for his time.”McCain’s younger brother was sharply critical of unnamed top campaign officials who “so tightly ‘control the message’”  that they are preventing reporters from speaking with those, like himself, who know the candidate best.

His complaint echoed those of other McCain intimates who have chafed for months at orders not to speak with the news media without advance permission from the campaign. The younger McCain called this news management strategy “counter-intuitive, counter-experiential, and counter-productive” because it conflicts with his brother’s reputation for openness.

The clampdown “has gradually bled away all the good will that this great man had from the press,” he wrote. He described himself as a sailor warning that the campaign is sailing into shoals “while the rest of the officers and warrants are poring over plans and maps and high-minded thoughts.”

The McCain campaign declined to comment. His angry dispatch to McCain campaign and Republican Party officials appears to reflect growing restiveness among supporters over the direction of the presidential contest.

more about “McCain’s Brother Blasts Campaign “, posted with vodpod

Nets Condemn McCain Calling Obama ‘That One’; CNN: Palin Racist | NewsBusters.org

Matching the Obama campaign spin, the network reporters and analysts were upset by John McCain, at one moment in the second presidential debate on Tuesday night, referring to Barack Obama as “that one.” CBS’s Jeff Greenfield asserted “there is going to be clearly a major headline soundbite” and insisted “those two words are going to be what the water cooler conversation is tomorrow. Was it demeaning? Was it an insult?  Hell no!

Katie Couric turned to a group of “undecided voters” for their reaction to the phrase. One man “thought it was a little bit childish” and another “undecided” man declared: “I’m really tired of the last eight years of for us or against us and to me that showed that side of McCain coming out and the picky and childish and we’ve had eight years of that.”

On CNN a little past 11 PM EDT, reporter Suzanne Malveaux compared it to Bill Clinton’s characterization of Monica Lewinsky: “It’s like ‘that woman,’ you know, that we’ve heard ‘that woman,’ I mean a lot of people are saying that was the kind of language that was very condescending.” A few minutes later, Democratic hack Paul Begala slimed Sarah Palin as a racist, citing the Associated Press and how “they said her attack on this whole Bill Ayers thing was ‘racially-tinged.’ That’s not what a Democrat said, that’s what the Associated Press said.” There’s a difference? MSNBC viewers heard Chris Matthews pleased by Obama’s “wonderful smile” before he charged McCain’s smile “has a somewhat menacing quality.”

In the post-debate 25 minutes on NBC, Brian Williams relied on Internet chatter as he contended “John McCain took some heat from a lot of people” for ” when he referred to his Senate colleague, an opponent in this race, Senator Obama, as, quote, ‘that one.’ That line got a lot of response on the Internet.”

“I thank you my friend, thanks for serving.”

John McCain had one of the best moments of Tuesday’s debate in connecting with a Navy veteran, saying “Everything I ever learned about leadership I learned from a chief petty officer, and I thank you. And I thank you my friend, thanks for serving.”

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The ‘Pre-Determined Order Of Things’ Was Upset By Palin

Watching the “opinion elite” quietly, calmly go about their “business” after the debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin is, unfortunately, just more of the same we have all come to expect of the impostor journalists that pass for what once was a noble profession, once upon a time.

Look at the carefully crafted headlines, served up for the morning spin:

• The VP Debate: Sarah the Speedy
• The VP Debate: Palin Good, Biden Better
• The VP Debate: Palin’s Big Mistake
• The VP Debate: She Won Fersure, Also
• The VP Debate: A Victory — of Sorts
• Palin Takes On A New Foe: Her Image

It is quite apparent from those, and any other headlines you might search for on the Net, in relation to the just-concluded Biden/Palin debate, that the Pundit’s CW (Conventional Wisdom) sensibilities were mightily offended at Palin’s temerity at coming off as credible, and not as some (their words) “trailer trash” red-neck. The MSM / Bloggers simply cannot abide their pre-determined judgments being upset by anyone. Especially a conservative someone.

One might feel terribly out of place to point out to the media mavens what the Founding Fathers envisioned was not a ruling political class, but citizen politicians almost exactly like Sarah Palin, and not anything like Barack Obama, Joe Biden or even John McCain.  What matters most in our politicians is outlook and common sense, not an encyclopedic knowledge of who is President of every country on the planet, or even a working knowledge of the Monroe Doctrine.  After all, Monroe has been dead over one hundred years, hasn’t he?  It is highly doubtful any future President will invoke it as his justification for some unforeseen action.

Make no mistake about it, The Press is very much of and from our modern day ruling class.  They are no longer the watchers, but an integral part of “protecting” citizens from their own ignorance, by constantly preaching to us just what is needed in a plausible leader. This is only due to their unabashed, and undeniable liberalism, which they no longer bother to hide or apologize for.

I listened to the debate on the radio before watching the TiVo of it later. I thought Palin did a great job of softening up Biden, even using Obama as a club to beat the head of his running mate. Whenever she pointed out some instance where Biden and Obama disagreed, where she thought Biden was right and Obama was wrong, she sincerely congratulated his good judgment.  There was no knockout. But Palin has a good, steady (and deadly) jab.

Later, when I saw the debate on television, I was even more impressed. Palin loves the camera, and it loves her back. This is her medium, and debates are her forum. She’s a natural communicator, cut of the same cloth as Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton.

So, who won?  Palin, of course, you dolts!  She won the moment she decided to ignore Gwen Ifill and Joe Biden and do what Ronald Reagan was so hated by The Press and The Pundits, and beloved by the voters for so doing:  Talking directly to “the folks”. She reaffirmed their worst fear of fears, that of being superfluous, supercilious and completely unneeded, and I predict a new round of frenzied PDS (Palin Derangement Syndrome) in the final weeks of this campaign.

Bob Beckel huffed about how lacking in “stature” Palin was.  Excuse me?  Vice Presidents, historically, have been completely lacking in it!  Gravitas?  No Presidential candidate has ever been accused of seeking it in naming their running mates, that’s for damn sure. His talking points, furnished by the Obama campaign as their surrogate, are once again making the same old (and by now completely tired and pedantic) liberal mistake of being dismissive of anyone not sharing their left-wing POV.  Somehow, after being bludgeoned with Ronald Reagan for eight years in California as Governor, and again for an equally long period of time with President Reagan, one almost expects the liberals to have learned their lesson. It really does seem improbable they can be this obtuse, and actually keep repeating their mistakes, decade after decade.

The important thing is, “the folks” understood.  They know she is one of them, perhaps more so than any politician they can remember, since Ronald Reagan.  That is why Governor Palin is still the game-changer she first appeared to be. The more she is denigrated, marginalized, degraded and smeared, the more the people hate her attackers and are drawn to her, and by extension, John McCain.

Famously, years ago, in discussing the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers partnership, someone said she gave him sex and he gave her class.  McCain and Palin have such a symbiosis. McCain gives Palin his gravitas, and Palin gives McCain her unique connectivity to “the folks”.

Other posts of interest:

• Pundita Op-Ed: Sarah Palin takes command
• Personalilty Cult, Personality Cult, Personality Cult
• 15′ tall Obama mural in Houston, Texas

Election Fraud In Ohio: Officially Sanctioned

New Ad: Embarrass, Ohio Secretary of State’s spokesperson all but hangs up on Talk Radio host…….

Even Obama Is Coming Around….

The McCain Campaign is damn quick….this new commercial was ready and released before the debate was over!

And about that debate…..and Obama’s repeated lies about Henry Kissinger supporting Obama’s position about never having pre-condidtions before meeting with the likes of Chavez and the Little Gnome from Iran:

Henry Kissinger believes Barack Obama misstated his views on diplomacy with US adversaries and is not happy about being mischaracterized. He says: “Senator McCain is right. I would not recommend the next President of the United States engage in talks with Iran at the Presidential level. My views on this issue are entirely compatible with the views of my friend Senator John McCain. We do not agree on everything, but we do agree that any negotiations with Iran must be geared to reality.”

Obama can’t remember the soldier’s name on his bracelet!

I’m surprised more hasn’t been made of this in the debate coverage, but it’s something that should hit everyone on a personal level, demonstrating what a insincere person Obama really is.  Michelle Malkin also mentioned the same debate incident on her blogg, as did Mary Katharine Ham in a post at the Weekly Standard.

His answer was arrogant and completely lacking in sincerity and his gesture embarrassing…showing him to be the programed candidate he is.

McCain a Bush clone? Numbers Dispute That

John Lott, a Senior Research Scientist at the University of Maryland, has gathered together some impressive documentation that makes the “McSame” moniker given him by the Obama Campaign a lie.

“Does John McCain represent a third Bush term? The Obama campaign claims the two are almost indistinguishable. It was the mantra during the Democratic convention, and it is the theme of new ads Barack Obama is running. The ads claim that McCain is “no maverick when he votes with Bush 90 percent of the time.”

This week Obama has begun a constant refrain that there is “not a dime worth of difference” between Bush’s and McCain’s views. It is a consistent theme of Democratic pundits on talk shows.

Is this the same McCain who drove Republicans nuts on campaign finance, the environment, taxes, torture, immigration and more? Where has McCain not crossed swords with his own party?

As it’s being used, the 90 percent figure, from Congressional Quarterly, is nonsensical. As Washington Post congressional reporter Jonathan Weisman explained, “The vast majority of those votes are procedural, and virtually every member of Congress votes with his or her leadership on procedural motions.”

Obama might want to be a little careful with these attacks, as the same measure has him voting with Democrats 97 percent of the time.

Fortunately, a number of organizations on the left and right provide useful evaluations on how congressmen and senators vote each year. These conservative and liberal groups pick the votes they care about most and figure out how often lawmakers match up with their positions.

Well-known organizations that rank congressional voting include the American Conservative Union on the right, Americans for Democratic Action on the left, and the nonpartisan National Journal in the middle. The League of Conservation Voters also ranks politicians from an environmentalist position.

These groups’ rankings from 2001 to 2007 paint fairly similar pictures, putting McCain to the left of most Republican senators and to the right of most Democratic senators – though usually much closer to the average Republican.

The American Conservative Union finds that the average Republican senator voted conservatively 85 percent of the time, and that the average Democrat voted conservatively 13 percent of the time. McCain voted conservatively 74 percent of the time.

Although it’s at the opposite end of the political spectrum, Americans for Democratic Action essentially agreed. It found that the average Republican senator voted liberally just over 12 percent of the time, and the average Democrat voted liberally 89 percent of the time. McCain voted liberally 24 percent of the time – twice as frequently as the average Republican.

McCain missed too many votes campaigning in 2007 to be included in the National Journal ranking for that year, but it found that he voted conservatively 59.4 percent of the time from 2001 to 2006.

According to the League of Conservation Voters, John McCain is the ultimate centrist. While the average Republican supported liberal environmentalist positions 13 percent of the time, and the average Democrat supported them 76 percent of the time, McCain’s 44% put him in the middle.

Another way to look at these numbers is to see how many of the 99 other senators voted more conservatively than McCain. In 2006, these four groups ranked McCain as the 47th, 46th, 44th and 51st most conservative member of the Senate, respectively. Surely, McCain is not nearly as liberal as the typical Democratic senator, but rankings from the left, middle and right find he is more liberal than the vast majority of Republicans in the Senate.

What issues put McCain well to the left of the average Senate Republican? The American Conservative Union lists a number of specific votes on which he differed from most other Republicans, including:

1. Taxes. He opposed reducing capital-gains tax rates, eliminating the inheritance tax and lowering income-tax rates.
2. Environment. He opposed drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, supported compliance with the Kyoto global-warming treaty, supported requiring businesses to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, favored stricter mercury-emission rules for power plants, and supported stricter fuel-efficiency standards.
3. Other regulations. McCain consistently supported stricter campaign-finance regulations and voted to mandate that handguns be sold only with locks.

A number of these votes were closely contested. Some of McCain’s votes led to a 50-50 deadlock in the Senate, requiring Vice President Cheney to break the tie.

In contrast to the very liberal ratings given to Obama, the interest groups find that there are about as many senators to McCain’s right as there are to his left. This might not endear him to many conservatives or liberals. But it is a real distortion to claim he is a Bush clone.”

Enough Is Enough – Obama Took Money From Fanny Mae & Freddie Mac!

“We’ve seen a telling moment in this campaign today. Senator Obama saw an economic crisis, and he’s found a political opportunity. My friends, this is not a time for political opportunism; this is a time for leadership.

Too often, we hear people say America’s in decline. I reject that. I believe America’s best days are ahead of us. Governor Palin and I are going to reform Wall Street. We’re going to reform Washington. I’m going to fight for you, and I’m going to lead our nation forward in the greatest periods of prosperity in its history.

And let’s have some straight talk. Senator Obama is not interested in the politics of hope, he’s interested in his political future and that’s why he is hurling in insults and making up facts about his record.

Today, he claimed that the Congressional stimulus package was his idea. That’s news to those of us in Congress who supported it. Senator Obama didn’t even show up to vote on it.

He talks a tough game on the financial crisis, but the facts tell a different story. Senator Obama took more money from Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac than anyone but the chairman of the committee they answer to, and he put Fannie Mae’s CEO, who helped create this problem in charge of finding his Vice President. That’s not change, that’s what’s broken in Washington.

He talked about siding with the people, siding with the people, just before he flew off to Hollywood for a fundraiser with Barbara Streisand and his celebrity friends. Let me tell you, my friends, there’s no place I’d rather be than here, with the working men and women of Ohio. I’m going to fight for you and together we’re going to win in November.”

Watch John McCain’s speech here:

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Newest McCain video ad, running immediately in selected markets, about the financial problems……

E-mail to Obama: dishonest TV ad, wrong audience

Jonah Goldberg:

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The Democrat’s latest attack on John McCain takes poor aim at his age and knowledge of technology.

Jonah Goldberg
September 16, 2008

After running a brilliant and historic primary battle to defeat Hillary Clinton, the Obama campaign is now in disarray. Why?

Perhaps it’s because Barack Obama has never run a competitive race against a Republican. After all, Obama won his U.S. Senate seat in Illinois by running against Alan Keyes, a fire-and-brimstone, right-wing black carpetbagger from Maryland (or perhaps Mars) who had no real ties to Illinois.

Now, facing John McCain’s blistering ads, Obama seems unable to fight fire with fire. The Democratic rank and file are furious (while simultaneously denouncing McCain’s negativity).

Obama, they may be realizing, doesn’t know how to close the deal.

Nonetheless, the Obama campaign has vowed, once again, to take the gloves off and go after McCain hard, linking him to President Bush and highlighting the fact that the Arizona senator is out of touch.

One flaw with this supposed course correction is that it isn’t one. McCain-Bush-Economy has been Obama’s message for months now. Indeed, ABC News’ Jake Tapper wrote on his blog that this is actually the fourth time Team Obama has pledged to engage in a bracing round of fisticuffs.

To prove his newfound determination to go bare knuckle against McCain, Obama unveiled a new TV ad, to air in key states.

It begins with the date “1982,” a picture of a disco ball and footage of McCain in clunky glasses from his first year in Washington. “Things have changed in the last 26 years, but McCain hasn’t,” explains the announcer. “He admits he still doesn’t know how to use a computer, can’t send an e-mail, still doesn’t understand the economy and favors $200 billion in new tax cuts for corporations, but almost nothing for the middle class.” All the while it shows ancient computers and a cordless phone that looks like a World War II-era walkie-talkie.

The tax-cuts and economy barbs are familiar boilerplate. What’s new is the charge of computer illiteracy and the blatant attempt to attack McCain as too old for the job — and that speaks volumes.

First, the ad is dishonest. McCain has been one of the Senate’s leading authorities on telecom and the Internet.

In 2000, Forbes magazine called him the “Senate’s savviest technologist.” That same year, Slate’s Jacob Weisberg gushed that McCain was the most “cybersavvy” of all the presidential candidates that year, a crop that included none other than Al Gore. Being chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, Weisberg explained, “forced him to learn about the Internet early on, and young Web entrepreneurs such as Jerry Yang and Jeff Bezos fascinate him.”

Weisberg, now an Obama booster, today disingenuously mocks McCain as “flummoxed by that newfangled doodad, the personal computer.”

One reason McCain is not versed in the mechanical details of sending e-mail and typing on a keyboard is that the North Vietnamese broke his fingers repeatedly and shattered both of his arms.  As Forbes, Slate and the Boston Globe reported in 2000, McCain’s injuries make using a keyboard painfully laborious. He mostly relies on his wife and staff to show him e-mails and websites, though he says he’s getting up to speed.

“It’s extraordinary,” Obama spokesman Dan Pfeiffer said, “that someone who wants to be our president and our commander in chief doesn’t know how to send an e-mail.”  For the record, President Clinton sent exactly two e-mails while in office, according to the archives in his presidential library.

Besides, by this logic, Obama is even less qualified to be commander in chief because, unlike McCain, Obama has never fired a gun, flown a plane or led men during wartime.

And if the Obama campaign did not intend to mock a disabled veteran, what does it say about his supposedly “cybersavvy” campaign that they don’t know how to conduct a five-minute Google search to find out these things?

But the most revealing aspect of the ad is who it speaks to. According to Gallup, Obama has a 20- to 30-point advantage over McCain among 18- to 29-year-olds. Indeed, his base (not counting African American voters) is upscale college kids and new-economy young voters. These are the voters most likely to think being able to send an e-mail is, like, totally crucial.

The only other constituency — other than the press — that will be jazzed by such an attack are the Web-symbiotes of the left-wing netroots, another demographic Obama has locked up.

Older Americans, working-class Americans, veterans and other voters Obama desperately needs probably won’t care and might even take offense at Obama’s condescension.

There are two explanations for the ad. One is that Obama released it to reassure his base that he’s serious about attacking McCain, not to win over swing voters. That, or the campaign actually thinks it’s an effective ad.

Either way, the lesson is the same: Obama doesn’t know how to get outside his echo chamber. He talks about being bipartisan to hard-core liberals who like the words, but he hates actual deviation from the liberal line. He talks about new ideas, but he merely repackages old ones.

He is a candidate who has never had to sell himself to voters who weren’t already sold. And it shows.

Governor Palin Hits Wall Street Crisis Hard

Sarah Palin opened up her remarks here focusing on the current Wall Street financial crisis and how a McCain-Palin administration will put an end to the “mismanagement and abuses” on Wall Street.

In her usual folksy language calling the crowd “guys and gals”, she addressed the excited throng of a few thousand saying that the country’s economic problems need some “shaking up and some fixin’.” She added that she was pleased to see taxpayer money wasn’t being used to bail out Lehman Brothers unlike the Bear Stearns bail out:

“It’s taking a toll on our economy and that means people’s life savings and I’m glad to see in this case the Federal Reserve and the Treasury have said no to using taxpayer money to bail out another one–this time Lehman Brothers. Every effort has to be made.’’

She blamed the government and Wall Street for today’s financial turmoil, “Guys and gals, our regulatory system is outdated and needs a complete overhaul. Washington has ignored this. Washington has been asleep at the switch and ineffective and management on Wall Street has not run these institutions responsibly and has put companies and markets at risk,” Palin told the cheering crowd, “They place their own interests first instead of their employees and the shareholders who actually own these companies.”

She pressed how important it was for America to“remain the strongest” financial market in the world and pledged that a McCain-Palin administration will restore the “integrity” and “confidence” in our markets, “We are going to reform the way Wall Street does business and stop multi-million dollar payouts and golden parachutes to CEOs who break the public trust.”

Her economic remarks come on the same day the McCain campaign released a new ad touting the duo’s ability to fix the ailing economy. The ad explains how they will do it, “Tougher rules on Wall Street to protect your life savings. No special interest giveaways. Lower taxes to create new jobs. Offshore drilling to reduce gas prices.”

Palin hit Barack Obama during her speech saying he will raise taxes, “Our opponent wants to raise income taxes and raise payroll tax and raise investment income taxes and raise business taxes and raise the death tax.”

“I knew that as I lowered taxes and got rid of business inventory taxes and then on a state level, suspended our fuel tax, those things do add to a vibrant economy, and we do have some wonderful economic indicators of success in my hometown,” Palin said. “We became part of the fastest growing area of the state because businesses wanted to be there. They knew that government would be on their side.”

Palin’s remarks were in front of an enthusiastic crowd at the Jefferson County fairgrounds. The crowd screamed her name and held signs that read, “Read my Lipstick, “Taxpayers for McCain-Palin,” and “Working Moms for Palin.” There were protestors outside of the event, one with a sign that read “The Antichrist Wears Lipstick.” But, it seemed as though only one lone protestor came inside the event–she screamed “Liar!” and “You don’t have the experience!” throughout the speech.

More Government, Socialism & No Drilling Or The Change We Need?

Today, U.S. Senator John McCain issued the following statement on the situation in the financial markets:

“The crisis in our financial markets has taken an enormous toll on our economy and the American people – first the decline of our housing markets followed by the collapse of Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and now Lehman Brothers. I am glad to see that the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department have said no to using taxpayer money to bailout Lehman Brothers, a position I have spoken about throughout this campaign. We are carefully monitoring the financial markets, including the duress at Lehman Brothers that is the latest reminder of ineffective regulation and management. Efforts must also be focused on ensuring that the deposits of hardworking Americans are protected.

“It is essential for us to make sure that the U.S. remains the pre-eminent financial market of the world. This will be a highest priority of my Administration. In order to do this, major reform must be made in Washington and on Wall Street. We cannot tolerate a system that handicaps our markets and our banks and places at risk the savings of hard-working Americans and investors. The McCain-Palin Administration will replace the outdated and ineffective patchwork quilt of regulatory oversight in Washington and bring transparency and accountability to Wall Street. We will rebuild confidence in our markets and restore our leadership in the financial world.”

Do a Google search.  John McCain has been speaking out about the recession, the U.S. Economic situation since 2006 and 2007!  He was telling us we were in a recession before any other Republican, and most Democrats.  He was warning about the government bailing out poorly run investment companies years ago! We need to elect a President who tells us what we need to hear, not someone like Obama who tells us what his polls say we want to hear.

Desperate Disrespect From The Nattering Nabobs Of Negativism

Today, the McCain-Palin campaign released its latest television ad, entitled “Disrespectful.” The ad highlights the Obama campaign’s desperate efforts to attack and smear Governor Sarah Palin. Yet, despite all their tactics, Governor Palin is demonstrating time and again that she will be the strong vice president our country needs. Obama is a sexist, a man who thinks a woman (think Hillary Clinton) isn’t good enough to stand at his side. An insecure narcissist who needs flunkies and yes men around him, who cannot accept or tolerate opinions that differ from his own, or those who upstage him. This has become more and more apparent.

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Dear Mr. Obama: Freedom Is ALWAYS Worth The Price

Perhaps the best and most moving commercial/homemade YouTube of the campaign season. It’s a must-see!

Poll: 69% Say Reporters Trying To Help Obama Win

Seven out of 10 voters (69%) are convinced that reporters try to help the candidate they want to win, and this year by a nearly five-to-one margin voters believe they are trying to help Barack Obama. 50.7% of voters think most reporters are trying to help Obama win (19% of Dems agree) versus 11% who believe they are trying to help John McCain.

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read more | digg story

The New York Post Endorses John McCain!

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.POST ENDORSES JOHN MCCAIN

September 8, 2008

THE Post today enthusiastically urges the election of Sen. John S. McCain as the 44th president of the United States.

McCain’s lifelong record of service to America, his battle-tested courage, unshakeable devotion to principle and clear grasp of the dangers and opportunities now facing the nation stand in dramatic contrast to the tissue-paper-thin résumé of his Democratic opponent, freshman Sen. Barack Obama.

McCain has been in Washington for many years now, but he is not of Washington. He knows where the levers of power are located – and how to manipulate them – but he is not controlled by them.

McCain’s selection of the charming, but rock-solid, outsider Sarah Palin as his running mate underscores the point.

Neither plays well with others.

And this is an unalloyed asset at a time when special interests – lobbyists, lawyers and organized labor chief among them – wield enormous influence in the nation’s capital.

McCain’s Democratic opponents, Obama and Sen. Joseph Biden, lead a party constructed of special interests – public-employee unionists in particular.

There are many reasons to support the McCain-Palin ticket. Here are but a few:

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• National security: The differences between McCain and Obama are especially stark.

McCain says 9/11 represented a two-decade “failure . . . to respond to . . . a [growing] global terror network.” He understood that Iraq is a critical front in the war on terror – and he urged perseverance even in the dark days that preceded the success of “the surge.”

Obama backed policies that would have abandoned Iraq to its fate, he bitterly opposed the surge, and once insisted that US forces invade Pakistan in search of Osama bin Laden – seemingly without regard for the potential consequences of attacking a nuclear-armed nation, ally or not.

Regarding a nuclear Iran, McCain has pushed for the strongest possible international sanctions and diplomatic pressure. Obama opposes sanctions.

And, when Russia invaded the former Soviet republic of Georgia, threatening a return to the Cold War, McCain reacted with stern disapprobation: “We must remind Russia’s leaders that the benefits they enjoy from being part of the civilized world require their respect for the values, stability and peace of that world.”

Obama called for UN action – unaware, apparently, that Russia’s Security Council veto would have prevented any.

• Taxes: McCain knows that when government absorbs ever-larger shares of national income, the economy suffers.

High tax rates diminish investment, killing jobs and stunting growth.

And while Obama promises tax cuts for “95 percent” of Americans, what he actually is proposing is some $650 billion in tax-credit-driven hikes in entitlement and other spending, to be paid for with heavier imposts across the board, but especially on investment – like a sharply higher capital-gains tax.

This is bad news for the millions of ordinary Americans who own stocks, either personally or through pension funds or who plan someday to sell their homes or other real property.

McCain, wisely, vows to keep capital-gains taxes at 15 percent and to keep the Bush-era tax cuts in place – understanding that new growth will boost revenue, and promising to make up the rest with spending restraint.

And he’s called for a one-year freeze on most discretionary spending and an end to pork-barrel giveaways.

• Trade:

“I object when Senator Obama and others preach the false virtues of economic isolationism,” says McCain – noting that “globalization is an opportunity” for US workers. He adds that while emerging economies like those of China and India are worrisome, the answer is competition informed by education and innovation – not protectionism.

• Energy: On the economic issue most vexing Americans today – energy prices – McCain is aggressive

He is a strong convert to offshore drilling: “We have trillions of dollars’ worth of oil and gas reserves in the US at a time we are exporting hundreds of billions of dollars a year overseas to buy energy.”

He also strongly backs nuclear power – a carbon-free form of energy that America can produce relatively cheaply.

Obama, meanwhile, hews to the Democratic Party line on energy: no nukes, no drilling and no comprehension of the consequences of such policies.

None of this implies an iota of disrespect toward Obama. It took a formidable candidacy to defeat Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton – a candidacy, by the way, which we strongly supported earlier this year.

And the intelligence, the organizational skills and the ability to communicate that Obama demonstrated from the beginning dramatically underscore the history that is being made by the first African-American to head a major-party presidential ticket.

He should be around for a long time, and we hope that he is.

In the end, though, sound security, economic and energy policies – plus allegiance to principle – are critical to keeping America safe and strong.

On all counts, John McCain and Sarah Palin understand this – and that’s why we’re in their corner to the finish.

Tammy Bruce Makes A Feminist’s Argument For Sarah Palin

Tammy Bruce is a former president of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Organization for Women, and  is the author of “The New American Revolution” . She has a daily talk radio show. A registered Democrat her entire adult life until February, she now is registered as a decline-to-state voter. So, feminist credentials established, I was happy to see her offer some clarity about Sarah Palin.

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In the shadow of the blatant and truly stunning sexism launched against the Hillary Rodham Clinton presidential campaign, and as a pro-choice feminist, I wasn’t the only one thrilled to hear Republican John McCain announce Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. For the GOP, she bridges for conservatives and independents what I term “the enthusiasm gap” for the ticket. For Democrats, she offers something even more compelling – a chance to vote for a someone who is her own woman, and who represents a party that, while we don’t agree on all the issues, at least respects women enough to take them seriously.

Whether we have a D, R or an “i for independent” after our names, women share a different life experience from men, and we bring that difference to the choices we make and the decisions we come to. Having a woman in the White House, and not as The Spouse, is a change whose time has come, despite the fact that some Democratic Party leaders have decided otherwise. But with the Palin nomination, maybe they’ll realize it’s not up to them any longer.

Clinton voters, in particular, have received a political wake-up call they never expected. Having watched their candidate and their principles betrayed by the very people who are supposed to be the flame-holders for equal rights and fairness, they now look across the aisle and see a woman who represents everything the feminist movement claimed it stood for. Women can have a family and a career. We can be whatever we choose, on our own terms. For some, that might mean shooting a moose. For others, perhaps it’s about shooting a movie or shooting for a career as a teacher. However diverse our passions, we will vote for a system that allows us to make the choices that best suit us. It’s that simple.

The rank bullying of the Clinton candidacy during the primary season has the distinction of simply being the first revelation of how misogynistic the party has become. The media led the assault, then the Obama campaign continued it. Trailblazer Geraldine Ferraro, who was the first Democratic vice presidential candidate, was so taken aback by the attacks that she publicly decried nominee Barack Obama as “terribly sexist” and openly criticized party chairman Howard Dean for his remarkable silence on the obvious sexism.

Concerned feminists noted, among other thinly veiled sexist remarks during the campaign, Obama quipping, “I understand that Sen. Clinton, periodically when she’s feeling down, launches attacks as a way of trying to boost her appeal,” and Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen in a television interview comparing Clinton to a spurned lover-turned-stalker in the film, “Fatal Attraction,” noting, “Glenn Close should have stayed in that tub, and Sen. Clinton has had a remarkable career…”. These attitudes, and more, define the tenor of the party leadership, and sent a message to the grassroots and media that it was “Bros Before Hoes,” to quote a popular Obama-supporter T-shirt.

The campaign’s chauvinistic attitude was reflected in the even more condescending Democratic National Convention. There, the Obama camp made it clear it thought a Super Special Women’s Night would be enough to quell the fervent support of the woman who had virtually tied him with votes and was on his heels with pledged delegates.

There was a lot of pandering and lip service to women’s rights, and evenings filled with anecdotes of how so many have been kept from achieving their dreams, or failed to be promoted, simply because they were women. Clinton’s “18 million cracks in the glass ceiling” were mentioned a heck of a lot. More people began to wonder, though, how many cracks does it take to break the thing?

Ironically, all this at an event that was negotiated and twisted at every turn in an astounding effort not to promote a woman.

Virtually moments after the GOP announcement of Palin for vice president, pundits on both sides of the aisle began to wonder if Clinton supporters – pro-choice women and gays to be specific – would be attracted to the McCain-Palin ticket. The answer is, of course. There is a point where all of our issues, including abortion rights, are made safer not only if the people we vote for agree with us – but when those people and our society embrace a respect for women and promote policies that increase our personal wealth, power and political influence.

Make no mistake – the Democratic Party and its nominee have created the powerhouse that is Sarah Palin, and the party’s increased attacks on her (and even on her daughter) reflect that panic.

The party has moved from taking the female vote for granted to outright contempt for women. That’s why Palin represents the most serious conservative threat ever to the modern liberal claim on issues of cultural and social superiority. Why? Because men and women who never before would have considered voting for a Republican have either decided, or are seriously considering, doing so.

They are deciding women’s rights must be more than a slogan and actually belong to every woman, not just the sort approved of by left-wing special interest groups.

Palin’s candidacy brings both figurative and literal feminist change. The simple act of thinking outside the liberal box, which has insisted for generations that only liberals and Democrats can be trusted on issues of import to women, is the political equivalent of a nuclear explosion.

The idea of feminists willing to look to the right changes not only electoral politics, but will put more women in power at lightning speed as we move from being taken for granted to being pursued, nominated and appointed and ultimately, sworn in.

It should be no surprise that the Democratic response to the McCain-Palin ticket was to immediately attack by playing the liberal trump card that keeps Democrats in line – the abortion card – where the party daily tells restless feminists the other side is going to police their wombs.

The power of that accusation is interesting, coming from the Democrats – a group that just told the world that if you have ovaries, then you don’t count.

Yes, both McCain and Palin identify as anti-abortion, but neither has led a political life with that belief, or their other religious principles, as their signature issue. Politicians act on their passions – the passion of McCain and Palin is reform. In her time in office, Palin’s focus has not been to kick the gays and make abortion illegal; it has been to kick the corrupt and make wasteful spending illegal. The Republicans are now making direct appeals to Clinton supporters, knowingly crafting a political base that would include pro-choice voters.

On the day McCain announced her selection as his running mate, Palin thanked Clinton and Ferraro for blazing her trail. A day later, Ferraro noted her shock at Palin’s comment. You see, none of her peers, not one of them, had ever publicly thanked her in the 24 years since her historic run for the White House. Ferraro has since refused to divulge for whom she’s voting. Many more now are realizing that it does indeed take a woman – who happens to be a Republican named Sarah Palin.

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Tammy Bruce is an openly gay, pro-choice, gun owning, pro-death penalty, voted-for-President Bush authentic feminist. A lifelong Democrat, in the 1990s she worked to help elect Senators Feinstein and Boxer, and aided the Clinton for President campaign. Before we knew he was a sexual compulsive and “did not have sexual relations with that woman.”

She was drawn into feminist activism in the late 1980′s to contribute to the ongoing effort to ensure safe and legal abortion for all women, and with a special focus on violence against women and ending international subjugation of women. Just two years after joining the National Organization for Women, with a brand of feminism that places her somewhere between Donna Reed and Thelma and Louise, Ms. Bruce was elected president of the Los Angeles chapter of NOW at the age of 27. The youngest ever to achieve that position, she doubled the chapter’s membership from 2,000 to 4,000 within a year with issue campaigns that introduced a fresh view of feminist activism. In her seven years as president (1990-1996, the longest continuous tenure in the chapter’s 30 year history) she mobilized activists locally and nationally on a whole range of issues, including women’s image in media, child care, health care, violence against women, economics, and domestic violence. Ms. Bruce also served two years as a member of the National NOW Board of Directors.

An important contributor to the author’s position on the relevance of free speech comes from her experience as a radio talk show host. Flagshipped at KABC Radio and nationally syndicated with 153 affiliates, The “Tammy Bruce Show” premiered in 1993 in Los Angeles. Additionally, her editorials and commentaries on significant social issues have been published nationally and internationally in a wide variety of magazines, newspapers, and on television and radio programming. Ms. Bruce is also a Fox News Channel Political Analyst, and served on California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Transition Team.

Ms. Bruce’s first book, “The New Thought Police,” was published by Forum, an imprint of Crown/Random House, in October 2001. An analysis of freedom of expression and the culture wars, it explores the importance of freedom of expression and personal liberty and how that liberty is under attack by the dangerous rise of Left-wing McCarthyism. Her second book, “The Death of Right and Wrong,”also for Random House (April 2003), addresses the rise of moral relativism in society and quickly became a New York Times best seller. Ms. Bruce’s latest work,“The New American Revolution,” was published by Harper Collins/Morrow in November 2005. The paperback edition was released November 2006. She is currently working on her fourth book, with a subject matter yet to be revealed.

A native of Los Angeles, Ms. Bruce holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from the University of Southern California. She also notes her interest in politics and individual liberty was sparked during her childhood in part because of the work of authors Ray Bradbury and George Orwell, both of whom remain her favorite writers. Ms. Bruce lives in Los Angeles with Snoopy the Cat, Snoopy’s best friend Sydney the Dog, and puts up with a raccoon she has named Rocky, who refuses to leave her outside patio.

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Top 8 Myths, Lies and Untruths About Sarah Palin (Updated)

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has been subjected to an intense amount of media and public scrutiny since she was named as John McCain’s vice presidential pick one week ago. Many of the attacks have come in the form of unconfirmed reports on the Internet. Among them:

by FOXNews.com

Friday, September 5, 2008

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1) Palin “Joined a Secessionist Political Party”

The Charge: Unsubstantiated Internet reports insisted Palin was once a member of the Alaska Independence Party, which critics call a secessionist political movement and supporters say is dedicated to seeking greater state control over federal lands across Alaska.

The Facts: Palin has been a registered Republican since 1982. There is no record of her ever being a member of the AIP, or any party but the GOP. Palin’s husband has been a member of the AIP in the past, but since 2002 has been a registered independent.

(See: Party Official Says Palin Was Not a Member)

2) Palin Supported a “Nazi Sympathizer”

The Charge: “Palin was a supporter of Pat Buchanan, a right-winger or, as many Jews call him: a Nazi sympathizer,” Obama Florida spokesman Mark Bubriski was quoted as saying in a Miami Herald article.

The Facts: While mayor of Wasilla, Palin wore a Buchanan button during the sometimes presidential candidate’s 1999 visit. But Palin actually supported Steve Forbes in 2000, and served as a co-chair on his Alaska campaign.

In the weeks after the 1999 report of her wearing the Buchanan button, Palin said: “When presidential candidates visit our community, I am always happy to meet them. I’ll even put on their button when handed one as a polite gesture of respect. … The article may have left your readers with the perception that I am endorsing this candidate, as opposed to welcoming his visit to Wasilla.”

(See: Obama campaign advisor quote is from an e-mail sent to the Miami Herald )

3) Palin “Wants Creationism Taught in School”

The Charge: Palin opposes the teaching of evolution, and would mandate the teaching of creationism in the state’s public schools.

The Facts: Palin said during her 2006 gubernatorial campaign that she would not push the state Board of Education to add creation-based alternatives to the state’s required curriculum, or look for creationism advocates when she appointed board members. She has kept this pledge, according to the Associated Press.

Palin has spoken in favor of classroom discussions of creationism, in some cases. “I don’t think there should be a prohibition against debate if it comes up in class. It doesn’t have to be part of the curriculum,” Palin told the Anchorage Daily News in a 2006 interview.

(See: ‘Creation science’ enters the race; Palin is only candidate to suggest it should be discussed in schools. By Tom Kizzia, Anchorage Daily News, 27 October 2006)

4) Palin “Was Nearly Recalled” While Mayor

The Charge: Palin was so controversial as mayor of Wasilla that she was almost recalled by a popular voter movement.

The Facts: The Wasilla City Council considered but never took up a recall motion after she fired a longtime police chief, who subsequently brought a lawsuit. A citizen’s group dropped their recall bid, and a judge ruled Palin had the authority to fire the chief.

(See: Foes Back Off Push to Recall Mayor)

5) Palin “Opposes Sex Education”

The Charge: Palin opponents say she supported the end of all sex education in public schools. In light of her daughter’s presumably unplanned teen pregnancy, this has been a particularly well discussed Internet topic.

The Facts: “The explicit sex-ed programs will not find my support,” Palin wrote in a 2006 questionnaire distributed among gubernatorial candidates. Palin favors abstinence-based sex education programs.

(See: McCain fought money on teen pregnancy programs, By Sharon Theimer, Associated Press, Sept. 2, 2008)

6) “This Picture Proves Palin is …”

This doctored photo of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is one of a number of falsifications and rumors to emerge since she became Sen. John McCain

The Charge: A slew of fake, Photoshopped or misdated photographs on the Internet purport to show Palin in any number of embarrassing or compromising poses. One photo claimed to show Palin standing poolside, wearing an American flag-themed bikini, toting a rifle with telescopic sight.

The Facts: The various photos are being discredited and shown to be fake on a number of Web sites. The original of the so-called bikini shot, probably the best-known of the pictures, was shown to have been taken of another woman, with Palin’s head Photoshopped above the body.

(See: Call to Arms)

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.7) Palin is the grandmother, and not the mother, of Trig Palin

The Charge: The most salacious rumor of all, this theory holds that Palin did not give birth to her son Trig in April, and was actually covering up for her daughter, Bristol.

The Facts: There are a number of photographs showing an apparently pregnant Sarah Palin, as well as a number of published eyewitness accounts of her pregnancy. These include First Lady Laura Bush, who says she spoke with a pregnant Palin at a governor’s conference in February. An assignment manager for KTVA news in Anchorage, Cherie Shirey, has also been quoted saying: “We worked with Governor Palin many times in 2008. Our reporters worked her on location and in the studio and I worked with her myself. She was definitely pregnant. You could see it in her belly and her face. The whole idea that Sarah Palin wasn’t pregnant with Trig is completely, absolutely absurd.”

The McCain campaign, in an apparent effort to counteract the rumors, announced last weekend that Bristol Palin is five months pregnant, which indicated she would have become pregnant before Trig was born.

(See: Palin Rebuts Rumors, Says Daughter Pregnant,
Anchorage TV Station: Palin Was ‘Definitely Pregnant’ With Trig’ )

8 ) Governor Palin slashed funding for a program supporting teen mothers

The Charge: he Washington Post’s Paul Kane reported that “Palin Slashed Funding for Teen Moms.” The far-left Huffington Post repeated the story the next day, and it was off and running. To support this contention, Kane produced the 2008 Alaska budget, along with Governor Palin’s line-item reductions. Kane said, “Palin reduced funding for Covenant House Alaska by more than 20 percent, cutting funds from $5 million to $3.9 million.”

The Facts: Covenant House Alaska is a faith-based, not-for-profit agency which provides a variety of services to troubled teens, including a home for teen moms. Although the work with adolescent mothers is only one component of Covenant’s services, Kane focused on this particular aspect of its work. His focus was not a surprise, given the revelation that Governor Palin’s teen daughter is five months pregnant. Covenant House requested additional state funding to help expand housing capacity. The legislature agreed that expansion was a worthy objective and allocated the substantial sum of $5 million in the proposed budget.

In Alaska, the governor is allowed to reduce budget allocations in the service of sound management and fiscal accountability. It is true that Mrs. Palin trimmed the proposed $5 million allocation to $3.9 million. However, the Washington Post did not tell readers that the state of Alaska’s 2008 allocation was three times more than Covenant House Alaska received from all government grants in 2007. According to records posted on the Covenant House Alaska website, the organization received just over $1.3 million dollars from grants in 2007 and nearly $1.2 million in 2006. Even with the reductions, Governor Palin signed a budget which provided a massive influx of support for troubled teens.

Thus, the Post report is misleading on three counts. One, the funding in question went to an organization which provides many different services, including work with teen mothers. There was no funding at issue exclusively earmarked for pregnant teens. No funds directly allocated to teen moms were slashed.

Two, the report gives the impression that the Governor reduced prior state funding levels, when, in fact, the Palin-approved budget allowed a massive expansion of funding for this faith-based organization. The organization’s total revenue for 2007, from all sources, was just over $3 million. Thus, the amount approved by Palin and the Alaska legislature was a huge increase. The money given to Covenant House cannot be considered a cut in funding; it was a raise, even if the raise was not as great as originally contemplated by the legislature.

Three, Covenant House Alaska experienced no cut in operating expenses as the result of the Palin budget. The center’s executive director, Deirdre Cronin, explained it this way in a September 4 statement:

“Despite some press reports to the contrary, our operating budget was not reduced. Our $3.9 million appropriation is directed toward a multi-year capital project and it is our understanding that the state simply opted to phase in its support for this project over several years, rather than all at once in the current budget year.”

Viewed within the context of prior expenditures, it becomes clear that Governor Palin increased funding for social services which benefit kids, not “slashed” them as the Post reported. The increase is the beginning of a multi-year investment in help for vulnerable teens. A prudent course, the state will monitor the progress of Covenant House and allocate funds over time. In this way, Palin demonstrated she is not afraid to exercise fiscal caution, even when that decision involves those of similar ideology.

Taking everything into account, a dramatically different picture of Governor Palin’s actions comes into focus. Executive Director Cronin sees it differently than Mr. Kane, saying, “We are grateful for the support we have received from Governor Sarah Palin, the Alaska legislature and our Congressional delegation over the years.”

In Washington, D.C., sometimes more is less. In Alaska, more is still more.

Your submissions and additions are welcome!

‘Stand up and fight! We’re Americans, and we never give up…

COUNTRY FIRST!

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• “I’m very proud to have introduced our next Vice President to the country.  But I can’t wait until I introduce her to Washington.  And let me offer an advance warning to the old, big spending, do nothing, me first, country second Washington crowd: change is coming.”

• “The constant partisan rancor that stops us from solving these problems isn’t a cause, it’s a symptom.  It’s what happens when people go to Washington to work for themselves and not you. Again and again, I’ve worked with members of both parties to fix problems that need to be fixed.  That’s how I will govern as President.  I will reach out my hand to anyone to help me get this country moving again.  I have that record and the scars to prove it.  Senator Obama does not.”

• “I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in someone else’s.  I loved it not just for the many comforts of life here.  I loved it for its decency; for its faith in the wisdom, justice and goodness of its people.  I loved it because it was not just a place, but an idea, a cause worth fighting for.  I was never the same again.  I wasn’t my own man anymore.  I was my country’s.”

• I’m going to fight for my cause every day as your President. I’m going to fight to make sure every American has every reason to thank God, as I thank Him: that I’m an American, a proud citizen of the greatest country on earth, and with hard work, strong faith and a little courage, great things are always within our reach. Fight with me. Fight with me!

  Fight for what’s right for our country!

  Fight for the ideals and character of a free people!

  Fight for our children’s future!

  Fight for justice and opportunity for all!

  Stand up to defend our country from its enemies!

  Stand up for each other; for beautiful, blessed, bountiful America!

  Stand up, stand up, stand up and fight! Nothing is inevitable here. We’re Americans, and we never give up. We never quit. We never hide from history. We make history.

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This Faux Palin Business: Nothing But Deflection

The whole “Palin Controversy” isn’t. It is a concoction whipped up that is lighter than Meringue,  by David Plouffe, Obama’s campaign manager, to deflect attention away from the real subject of this election:  Barack Obama.

The media and Obama’s campaign couldn’t wait to tell the public about Palin’s husband getting a driving under the influence arrest 25 years ago, something they breathlessly announced as “proof” Palin wasn’t vetted properly.

What about the vetting of Barack H. Obama? You know, the PRESIDENTIAL candidate who himself used cocaine and other drugs about 20-30 years ago?? Are the media aware of what crimes Obama committed back then? Nope, didn’t think so… Why not? Because they did not VET him!  Why isn’t anyone screaming about the lack of proper vetting of Barack Obama?

Who did Obama live with, room with in college?  Where are they now?  Where are the legislative records, transcripts from all his massive amount of work in the Illinois Senate?  Surely a man so accomplished as Obama would have left a gigantic amount of statements in support or opposition to the thousands of proposals and bills submitted to such a large body.  Who in the media poured over them? No one did.

Thomas Sowell, writing at Townhall. com raised some good points:

Now that the Democrats have recovered from the shock of Governor Sarah Palin’s nomination as the Republican’s candidate for vice president, they have suddenly discovered that her lack of experience in general– and foreign policy experience in particular– is a terrible danger in someone just a heartbeat away from being President of the United States.

For those who are satisfied with talking points, there is no need to go any further. But, for those who still consider substance relevant, this is an incredible argument coming from those whose presidential candidate has even less experience in public office than Sarah Palin, and none in foreign policy.

Moreover, if Senator Barack Obama is elected, he will not be a heartbeat away from the presidency, his would be the heartbeat of the president– and he would be the one making foreign policy.

But the big talking point is that the Democrats’ vice-presidential nominee, Senator Joe Biden, has years of foreign policy experience as a member, and now chairman, of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

That all depends on what the definition of “experience” is.

Before getting into that, however, a plain fact should be noted: No governor ever had foreign policy experience before becoming president– not Ronald Reagan, not Franklin D. Roosevelt, nor any other governor.

It is hard to know how many people could possibly have had foreign policy experience before reaching the White House besides a Secretary of State or a Secretary of Defense.

The last Secretary of War (the old title of Secretaries of Defense) to later become President of the United States was William Howard Taft, a hundred years ago. The last Secretary of State to become President of the United States was James Buchanan, a century and a half ago.

The first President Bush had been head of the C.I.A., which certainly gave him a lot of knowledge of what was happening around the world, though still not experience in making the country’s foreign policy.

Senator Joe Biden’s years of service on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is even further removed from foreign policy experience. He has had a front-row seat as an observer of foreign policy. But Senator Biden has never had any real experience of making foreign policy and taking the consequences of the results.

The difference between being a spectator and being a participant, with responsibility for the consequences of what you say and do, is fundamental.

You can read books about crime or attend lectures by criminologists, but you have no real experience or expertise about crime unless you have been a criminal or a policeman.

Although I served in the Marine Corps, I have no military experience in any meaningful sense. The closest I ever came to combat was being assigned to photograph the maneuvers of the Second Marine Division at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

That was photographic experience, not military experience. If someone gave me a policy-making job in the Pentagon, I wouldn’t have a clue.

The fact that Senator Joe Biden has for years listened to all sorts of people testify on all sorts of foreign policy issues tells us nothing about how well he understood the issues.

Out of the four presidential and vice-presidential candidates this year, only Governor Palin has had to make executive decisions and live with the consequences.

As for Senator Obama, his various pronouncements on foreign policy have been as immature as they have been presumptuous.

He talked publicly about taking military action against Pakistan, one of our few Islamic allies and a nation with nuclear weapons.

Barack Obama’s first response to the Russian invasion of Georgia was to urge “all sides” to negotiate a cease-fire and take their issues to the United Nations. That is standard liberal talk, which even Obama had second thoughts about, after Senator John McCain gave a more grown-up response.

We should all have second thoughts about what is, and is not, foreign policy “experience.”

Palin Delivers A ‘News Flash’ To Media Pundits

Palin Takes On Obama in Convention Speech

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican Party’s vice presidential nominee, went on the offense during her address to the 2008 Republican National Convention, drawing sharp distinctions between the Republican ticket and Obama-Biden and taking on the media for its coverage of her in recent days. Excerpts from her speech are below:

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“I had the privilege of living most of my life in a small town. I was just your average hockey mom, and signed up for the PTA because I wanted to make my kids’ public education better. When I ran for city council, I didn’t need focus groups and voter profiles because I knew those voters, and knew their families, too. Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown. And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves. I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a ‘community organizer,’ except that you have actual responsibilities.”

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“I’m not a member of the permanent political establishment. And I’ve learned quickly, these past few days, that if you’re not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone. But here’s a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I’m not going to Washington to seek their good opinion – I’m going to Washington to serve the people of this country.”

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“Our opponents say, again and again, that drilling will not solve all of America’s energy problems — as if we all didn’t know that already,” she said. “But the fact that drilling won’t solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all.”

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“Here’s how I look at the choice Americans face in this election. In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers. And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change.”

More on Sarah Palin’s speech later, when I have had a chance to sleep on it, sort out my feelings, which are basically positive.

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Alaska Maverick

Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign today released its latest television ad, entitled “Alaska Maverick.” The ad highlights Governor Sarah Palin’s record of taking on the special interests in Alaska and bringing reform and change. While Barack Obama talks about change, Governor Sarah Palin has actually done it.

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AD FACTS: Script For “Alaska Maverick” (TV :30)

ANNCR: The Journal says: “Governor Palin’s credentials as an agent of reform exceed Barack Obama’s.” They’re right.

· The Wall Street Journal‘s Editorial: “We’d Say Governor Palin’s Credentials As An Agent Of Reform Exceed Barack Obama’s.” “For starters, we’d say Governor Palin’s credentials as an agent of reform exceed Barack Obama’s. Mr. Obama rose through the Chicago Democratic machine without a peep of push-back. Alaska’s politics are deeply inbred and backed by energy-industry money. Mr. Obama slid past the kind of forces that Mrs. Palin took head on.” (Editorial, “A Reform Ticket,” The Wall Street Journal, 8/30/08)

ANNCR: She “has a record of bi-partisan reform.”

· The Associated Press: Governor Palin “Has A Record Of Bipartisan Reform.” “It is true, as the statement said, that Palin has a record of bipartisan reform. She has a growing reputation as a maverick for bucking her party’s establishment and Alaska’s powerful oil industry.” (Ron Fournier, “Analysis: Palin’s Age, Inexperience Rival Obama’s,” The Associated Press, 8/29/08)

ANNCR: He’s the Senate’s “most liberal.”

· “Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., Was The Most Liberal Senator In 2007, According To National Journal’s 27th Annual Vote Ratings.” (Brian Friel, Richard E. Cohen and Kirk Victor, “Obama: Most Liberal Senator In 2007,” National Journal, 1/31/07)

ANNCR: She “took on the oil producers.”

· Anchorage Daily News: Governor Palin “Took On The Oil Producers.” “Palin took on the oil producers, especially Exxon Mobil, saying they had been dragging their feet on a gasline. She persuaded the Legislature to pass a bill authorizing an independent company to build the line with state subsidy.” (Tom Kizzia, “The Joan Of Arc Of Alaska Politics,” Anchorage Daily News, 8/29/08)

ANNCR: He gave big oil billions in subsidies and giveaways.

· Barack Obama Voted For The 2005 Energy Bill. (H.R. 6, CQ Vote #152: Motion Agreed To 92-4: R 53-1; D 38-3; I 1-0, 6/23/05, Obama Voted Yea; H.R. 6, CQ Vote #158: Passed 85-12: R 49-5; D 35-7; I 1-0, 6/28/05, Obama Voted Yea; H.R. 6, CQ Vote #213: Adopted 74-26: R 49-6; D 25-19; I 0-1, 7/29/05, Obama Voted Yea)

· The 2005 Energy Bill Included $2.8 Billion In Subsidies For Oil And Natural Gas Production. “The conference agreement provides for $14.6 billion in tax breaks and credits between 2005 and 2015, including: –$2.8 billion for fossil fuel production …” (Toni Johnson, “CQ Bill Analysis: HR 6,” Congressional Quarterly‘s “CQ Bill Analysis,” www.cq.com, Accessed 7/14/08)

ANNCR: She’s “earned a reputation as a reformer.” His reputation? Empty words.

· Seattle Times: Governor Palin “Has Earned A Reputation As A Reformer.” “Since moving into the governor’s mansion in Juneau in December of 2006, Palin has earned a reputation as a reformer who worked with both Democrats and Republicans to overhaul the state oil-tax system and to restore confidence in state government shaken by political-corruption scandals.” (Hal Bernton, “Alaska Governor Palin Comes From Small Town To National Stage,” Seattle Times, 8/29/08)

An American Patriot

Joseph Isadore “Joe” Lieberman

Senator Joseph Lieberman, Connecticut

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In these prepared remarks, speaking before the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Senator Joseph Lieberman says he supports John McCain because “country matters more than party” and McCain is the person to break through the partisan divide.

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Thank you for that warm welcome. I am honored to be here.

We meet tonight in the wake of a terrible storm that has hit the Gulf Coast but that hurts all of us, because we are all members of our larger American family.

At times like this, we set aside all that divides us, and we come together to help our fellow citizens in need. What matters is certainly not whether we are Democrats or Republicans, but that we are all Americans. The truth is, it shouldn’t take a hurricane to bring us together like this.

Every day, across our country, millions of our fellow citizens are facing huge problems.

They are worried about their homes, their jobs, and their businesses; they are worried about the outrageous cost of gas and of health insurance; and they are worried about the threats from our enemies abroad.

But when they look to Washington, all too often they do not see their leaders coming together to tackle these problems.

Instead they see Democrats and Republicans fighting each other, rather than fighting for the American people.

Our Founding Fathers foresaw the danger of this kind of senseless partisanship. George Washington himself — in his farewell address to our country — warned that the “spirit of party” is “the worst enemy” of our democracy and “enfeebles” our government’s ability to do its job.

George Washington was absolutely right. The sad truth is — today we are living through his worst nightmare, in the capital city that bears his name.

And that brings me directly to why I am here tonight. What, after all, is a Democrat like me doing at a Republican convention like this?

The answer is simple.

I’m here to support John McCain because country matters more than party.

I’m here tonight because John McCain is the best choice to bring our country together and lead our country forward.

I’m here because John McCain’s whole life testifies to a great truth: being a Democrat or a Republican is important.

But it is not more important than being an American.

Both presidential candidates this year talk about changing the culture of Washington, about breaking through the partisan gridlock and special interests that are poisoning our politics. But only one of them has actually done it. Only one leader has shown the courage and the capability to rise above the smallness of our politics to get big things done for our country and our people. And that leader is John McCain.

John understands that it shouldn’t take a natural disaster like Hurricane Gustav to get us to take off our partisan blinders and work together to get things done.

It shouldn’t take a natural disaster to teach us that the American people don’t care much if you have an “R” or a “D” after your name.

What they care about is, are we solving the problems they are up against every day?

What you can expect from John McCain as president is precisely what he has done this week: which is to put country first. That is the code by which he has lived his entire life, and that is the code he will carry with him into the White House.

I have personally seen John, over and over again, bring people together from both parties to tackle our toughest problems we face —to reform our campaign finance, lobbying and ethics laws, to create the 9/11 Commission and pass its critical national security reforms, and to end the partisan paralysis over judicial confirmations.

My Democratic friends know all about John’s record of independence and accomplishment. Maybe that’s why some of them are spending so much time and so much money trying to convince voters that John McCain is someone else.  I’m here, as a Democrat myself, to tell you: Don’t be fooled. God only made one John McCain, and he is his own man.

If John McCain was just another go-along partisan politician, he never would have taken on corrupt Republican lobbyists, or big corporations that were cheating the American people, or powerful colleagues in Congress who were wasting taxpayer money.

But he did.

If John McCain was just another go-along partisan politician, he never would have led the fight to fix our broken immigration system or to do something about global warming.

But he did.

As a matter of fact, if John McCain is just another partisan Republican, then I’m Michael Moore’s favorite Democrat.

And I’m not.

Senator Obama is a gifted and eloquent young man who can do great things for our country in the years ahead. But eloquence is no substitute for a record — not in these tough times. In the Senate he has not reached across party lines to get anything significant done, nor has he been willing to take on powerful interest groups in the Democratic Party.

Contrast that to John McCain’s record, or the record of the last Democratic president, Bill Clinton, who stood up to some of those same Democratic interest groups and worked with Republicans to get important things done like welfare reform, free-trade agreements, and a balanced budget.

Governor Sarah Palin, like John McCain, is a reformer who has taken on the special interests and reached across party lines. She is a leader we can count on to help John shake up Washington.

That’s why the McCain-Palin ticket is the real ticket for change this year.

The Washington bureaucrats and power brokers can’t build a pen strong enough to hold these two mavericks.

And together, you can count on John McCain and Sarah Palin to fight for America and to fight for you! And that’s what our country needs most right now.

What we need most is not more party unity in America but more national unity.

Especially at a time of war, we need a president we can count on to fight for what’s right for our country — not only when it is easy, but when it is hard.

When others were silent, John McCain had the judgment to sound the alarm about the mistakes we were making in Iraq. When others wanted to retreat in defeat from the field of battle, when Barack Obama was voting to cut off funding for our troops on the ground, John McCain had the courage to stand against the tide of public opinion and support the surge, and because of that, today, our troops are at last beginning to come home, not in failure, but in honor.

Before I conclude, I ask the indulgence of those in this hall tonight, as I want to speak directly to my fellow Democrats and independents who are watching.

I know many of you are angry and frustrated by our government and our politics and for good reason. You may be thinking of voting for John McCain, but you’re not sure. Some of you have never voted for a Republican before and in an ordinary election, you probably wouldn’t.  But this is no ordinary election, because these are not ordinary times, and John McCain is no ordinary candidate. You may not agree with John McCain on every issue. But you can always count on him to be straight with you about where he stands, and to stand for what he thinks is right regardless of politics.

As president, you can count on John McCain to be a restless reformer, who will clean up Washington and get our government working again for you.

So tonight, I ask you whether you are an independent, a Reagan Democrat or a Clinton Democrat, or just a Democrat: This year, when you vote for president, vote for the person you believe is best for the country, not for the party you happen to belong to.

Vote for the leader who, since the age of 17, when he raised his hand and took an oath to defend and protect our Constitution, has always put our country first.

So, let’s come together to make a great American patriot our next great president.

You can view the entire speech via C-Span by clicking here.

Remote Control

This pretty much speaks for itself. Why doesn’t the MSM (Mainstream Media) dissect this Obama psycho-babble?

Any of you readers have thoughts on this ad?  Its effectiveness?  Its message?

KUDOS TO MCCAIN FOR CHOOSING SARAH PALIN FOR HIS VP!

By Dick Morris

08.29.2008

“McCain has reached for the stars and grabbed one. On a recent cruise to Alaska, I had the pleasure of spending an afternoon with Sarah Palin. She is brilliant and articulate and, in Alaska politics, is a breath of fresh air as an alternative to their corruption epitomized by Alaska Republican Senator Ted Stevens. Now Obama, who has spent two years preventing a woman from being president, will spend two months preventing one from becoming vice president – and hopes to do so with women votes. The entire premise of the Democratic convention was the fungibility of Bush and McCain. Now McCain has vividly demonstrated the difference. Sarah Palin is no Dick Cheney!”

Obama Responses To Palin: Why So Mean & Petty?

Thursday, Senator John McCain sent a personal message to Senator Barack Obama congratulating him on his historic nomination, and telling him: “Job well done!”

There is something pretty telling in Obama’s response, the responses of his surrogates and staff, (shown below) isn’t there?  Is this the “new politics” they speak of?  Is this the “change we need”?

Do they really think the American people want snide, wink-and-nod, smirking remarks meant to let us know McCain is old?  So was Ronald Reagan.  Are you ageists in addition to being misogynists?

It is also disturbing to see Obama’s chief operatives dissing small-population areas as well. It wasn’t a mis-speak either.  It directly relates to Barack Obama’s documented comments about bitter, religious, gun-owning rural Americans.  It is indicative as to how those closest to Obama, and how Obama really does feel.

• CNN’s John Roberts, after briefly alluding to the issue of Republican  vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s experience he called into question earlier on Friday’s “Newsroom” program, asked correspondent Dana Bash about how the Alaska governor’s newborn son with Down’s syndrome might be affected if she were elected: “There’s also this issue that on April 18th, she gave birth to a baby with Down’s Syndrome…. Children with Down’s syndrome require an awful lot of attention. The role of Vice President, it seems to me, would take up an awful lot of her time, and it raises the issue of how much time will she have to dedicate to her newborn child?”Bash deftly answered this question, which has the implication that Palin could neglect her infant son, and made a possible counter-argument the McCain camp would use, that a question like Roberts’ would be sexist: “That’s a very good question, and I guess — my guess is that, perhaps, the line inside the McCain campaign would be, if it were a man being picked who also had a baby, but — you know, four months ago with Down’s Syndrome, would you ask the same question?The CNN correspondent continued by briefly describing the Palin’s family situation and the thinking that may have gone into the situation for both McCain and Palin herself. She concluded by reporting on the Alaska governor’s appeal to social conservatives because she is “very staunchly anti-abortion,” in Bash’s words.The full transcript of the exchange between John Roberts and Dana Bash, which began 7 minutes into the 11 am Eastern hour of CNN’s “Newsroom”

• House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel said the choice represented “political panic,” and the Obama campaign put out a quick dismissive statement, saying Mrs. Palin had “zero foreign policy experience.”

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• Obama Campaign Reactions: Inexperience A “Heartbeat Away”

29 Aug 2008 11:58 am

From Obama spokesman Bill Burton:

“Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency.  Governor Palin shares John McCain’s commitment to overturning Roe v. Wade, the agenda of Big Oil and continuing George Bush’s failed economic policies — that’s not the change we need, it’s just more of the same,” said Bill Burton, Obama Campaign Spokesman.

FACT:

Governor Palin fought for large increases in taxes on the oil companies, and rebated the money to the people of Alaska!  Does that sound like a “friend” of big oil, or Bush’s economic policies?

More Obama Camp Reactions:

• Ohio Democratic Party Executive Director Doug Kelly said that by putting the “former mayor of a town of 9,000 just a heartbeat away from the presidency,” McCain has undercut his entire campaign argument that experience matters. “Today’s announcement was an act of political desperation by the McCain campaign, but it does not alter the fact that the Republican ticket promises Ohioans more of the same,” Kelly said.
• Palin: You’re no Hillary Clinton “None of my pro-Hillary female friends are falling for this obvious GOP pander. To the contrary, McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin as his VP is drawing hoots of derision. One female friend did some quick internet research and said, “Sarah Palin has a great deal of surface appeal, at first. But once America’s women look behind that cheerleader smile and see at her extreme social agenda, they will run the other direction.”Then she added, with a laugh, “The only thing he is going to let her do in the White House is teach him how to use the internet.”Another said, “It just seems desperate and calculated.”She added, “Palin makes McCain look ancient, out-of-touch and totally yesterday. McCain makes her look like a perky kid. Each one dramatically and perfectly underscores the other’s weakness. At least, nobody can criticize Obama’s alleged youth and inexperience now. But this is not the best team America could produce, by any stretch.”John McCain has gone from maverick to “me too” — trying to out-Democrat the Democrats and pick up some Hillary voters.But it ain’t working.

• I’m Just Sayin’: Choice of Sarah Palin is an Insult to Women Voters

John McCain’s choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as a running mate is a searing insult to women.

Clearly, Palin was chosen in hopes of attracting women voters. There is virtually no other explanation for picking a right-wing leader of a state with a population of fewer than 680,000 people.

The decision argues that McCain has such a low opinion of women voters that they would overlook education, abortion, foreign policy, civil rights, health care, family leave and more simply to vote for a candidate with two x chromosomes.

As Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida said: “I know Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin is no Hillary Clinton.”

• Obama Camp Plays Good Cop/Bad Cop

More than an hour prior to laudatory statements, Obama spokesman Bill Burton implied the little known 44-year-old governor with less than two years in office was not qualified to be president and tied her to the Bush/McCain brand of politics.

• Palin’s Age, Inexperience May Be Worse than Obama’s

  townhall.com — If Obama is an empty suit, as McCain has suggested, is Palin suited for the Oval Office herself? She is younger and less experienced than the first-term Illinois senator… A governor for just 20 months, she was two-term mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, a town of 6,500 where the biggest civic worry is whether there will be enough snow for the Iditarod.

Newsmax Interview With Sarah Palin

Alaska Governor Sarah H. Palin

Sarah Palin has emerged as John McCain’s vice-presidential running mate. Palin talked to Newsmax magazine for its upcoming September 2008 issue about Alaskan oil, global warming, and John McCain.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is a God-fearing, gun-toting former beauty queen who could just become America’s next vice president.

In Alaska, the right to bear arms means staying on top of the food chain. Palin, a lifelong member of the National Rifle Association, hunts, shoots, and fishes.

Husband Todd holds a commercial fishing license for salmon. In the mid-1990s, when Todd got a job working on Alaska’s North Slope, Palin decided to occupy herself by becoming mayor of Wasilla, the state’s fastest-growing community.

As mayor, she gradually grew frustrated with Alaska’s “good ol’ boy” style of governance — so she decided to do something about it. She ran for governor in 2006 and won, defeating popular former Democratic Gov. Tony Knowles.

Palin’s victory made her Alaska’s first female chief executive, and its youngest.

Now, many insiders believe this 44-year-old mother of five would add a strong conservative presence to the GOP ticket.

Palin tells Newsmax that it’s high time Congress allows the development of Alaska’s wealth of oil and gas. She doubts global warming stems from human activity, and she considers herself both a fiscal and social conservative.

Are you open to running as McCain’s vice president?

Palin: I have so much on my plate as governor, it’s hard to even imagine such an offer. I would just have to cross that bridge when it comes.

What do you think of McCain’s chances, and what should he and the GOP do to win in November?

I believe John McCain will be our next president. To win, he needs to continue his message that America needs leadership devoted to the public interest — not the special interest. The GOP needs to live the planks of its platform, not just offer lip service.

How did you pull off your election victory as governor?

Alaska was ready for a positive change and tired of the good ol’ boy network. It caused many Alaskans to lose faith in their government. People want faith in their government. I have been able to pass a comprehensive reform law and place the state’s checkbook online. You can be a reformer and also be a conservative.

And your stand on abortion?

I’m pro-life. I’ll do all I can to see every baby is created with a future and potential. The legislature should do all it can to protect human life.

Politically, how would you describe yourself?

Fiscally and socially, I am a conservative. My respect for the three different branches of government and the balance between them has been my guide.

If you were running for president, what causes would you champion?

I would push for a strong military and a sound energy policy. I believe that Alaska can help set an example on energy policy.

Speaking of energy, how much oil and gas does America really have?

We have billions and billions of barrels of oil and trillions of feet of natural gas. We have so much potential from tapping our resources here in Alaska. And we can do this with minimum environmental impact. We have a very pro-development president in President Bush, and yet he failed to push for opening up parts of Alaska to drilling through Congress — and a Republican-controlled Congress, I might add.

I thought when we hit $100 a barrel for oil it would have been a psychological barrier that would have caused Congress to reconsider, but they didn’t. Now we are approaching $200 a barrel. It’s nonsense not to tap a safe domestic source of oil. I think Americans need to hold Congress accountable on this one.

What is your take on global warming and how is it affecting our country?

A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location. I’m not one though who would attribute it to being 100% man-made.

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SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSMAX!

An Alaska-Sized Gamble — And Possibly A Brilliant One

“McCain, I thought, had just made his first important decision as presidential nominee and blown it. I began mentally formulating jokes and one-liners. Then I Googled Palin’s background and began to learn more about her. As I did, I sobered up. Here was a self-made woman with political and leadership skills.   In a state known for corruption, she had — as a mayor, chair of a state commission, and governor — faced down at every stage the good-ole-boy network accustomed to running things. She had beaten better known candidates in her campaigns for office. She had called out and fired public officials for corruption. She had successfully taken on corporations, lobbyists, and special-interest types when they challenged her. She was pro-life and an NRA member but, nonethless, known for acknowledging the good faith of those who disagreed with her. Her husband, a commercial fisherman and pipeline worker, was a Steelworker. Palin herself was a former union member. They have five children, the oldest on his way to Iraq as an Army enlisted man, the youngest a Down Syndrome baby. Her parents, a teacher and school secretary, were hard working people who earned extra money by coaching school teams. She chaired a 50-state governors’ natural resources committee. As McCain, she was known for speaking her mind directly and breaking with Republican party-line positions when she thought they were wrong. She was aggressive and smart as hell.

Then I witnessed the rally in Dayton, Ohio, at which McCain introduced her. She was more poised than McCain. She was direct, no-nonsense, speaking to constituencies beyond the Republican base, and clearly at home with herself and her role. She appealed to Sen. Hillary Clinton supporters to come on over and break the glass ceiling with her. I found myself rooting for her — just as I had for Obama and Biden the night before — as an underdog and outsider living out the American Dream. If I felt that way, I thought, millions of others might be having the same thoughts at that moment.

So. What seemed at first glance an improbable, out-of-the-blue political gamble — and perhaps a world-class blunder — began to appear to be a gamble, alright, but perhaps a brilliant one.

The Obama campaign will issue more condescending put-downs at its peril.

read more | digg story

All You Need To Know About Sarah Palin

Background:

• Born: February 11, 1964 (44 years old) – Sandpoint, Idaho
• College: University of Idaho
• Profession: Journalist
• Spouse: Todd Palin
• Children: 5
• Interesting Facts:
  • Placed Second in “Miss Alaska”
  • Nickname: “Sarah Barracuda”
  • Has one son in the military, Army. Soon to deploy to Iraq
  • Has one child with Downs Syndrome
  • Husband is three-time champion of the world’s longest snowmachine race
  • Husband is a Union Member & Commercial Fisherman, Oil Worker

Political Experience:

• Wasilla City Council
• Wasilla Mayor
• Ethics Commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission
• Governor of Alaska
  • Approval rating continually around 90%

On the Issues:

• Abortion: Pro-Life
• Energy Exploration: Supports drilling in ANWR
• Second Amendment: Strong supporter of gun-owner rights
• Health Care: Supports relaxing insurance regulations to increase competition, and lower costs
• Taxes: Opposed to “nuisance” taxes and high fees for small business owners
• Gay Marriage: Opposes same sex marriages

Memberships:

• Lifetime NRA Member
• Iditarod PTA
• Former Salvation Army Board
• Chamber of Commerce
• Valley Youth Sports Coach, Hockey Team Manager
• Honorary Member, Rotary

Controversy:

• Palin staff pushed to have trooper fired

Philosophy on Governing (from Gubernatorial Campaign Page):

I look forward to building a team that will put Alaskans first!  I believe in fairness and inclusion and will call on the public to work together for Alaska’s common good.  I refuse to use divisive tactics that polarize us for political gain. As Mayor of Wasilla, the fastest growing area of Alaska; as President of the Alaska Conference of Mayor; as Chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission; and as a business owner and mom, I approached issues with a fair, balanced, common sense approach. I love the challenge of hiring and appointing the best people to serve with me and I will bring this positive approach to Alaska as Governor. In building a public service team, my commitment to my home state is to always put Alaskans first and never allow special interests to take advantage of us. I know that government has its place, and it should be limited. My focus is on education, public safety, infrastructure and access to our resources. As manager of our vast public resources, the Governor must act as an effective CEO on behalf of all Alaskans in negotiating the best deals for the state, and I am prepared to tackle that challenge.

Note: This is a collaborative effort, so if you’re a blogger covering this and would like to have some info listed, simply mention it in the comments section.

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Articles on Sarah Palin:

• Weekly Standard: The Most Popular Governor

And McCain Chooses Sarah Heath Palin! An Extraordinary Choice

Alaska Governor Sarah H. Palin

What a surprise she is!  Especially after watching the Democrats debate for nearly two years having a female in the person of Hilliary Clinton at the top or No. 2 spot on their ticket, it was actually the Republicans, with a candidate who turns 72 today, picking a pro-life woman three years younger than Obama, who’s been a city councilwoman, a tax-cutting mayor and an anti-pork barrel state chief executive.  Some might say it is fitting coming from a “maverick” Republican.  Remember, it was Ronald Reagan who gave America its first female Supreme Court Justice!

And for you crazy Obamabots, try to remember this before you make bigger fools out of yourselves: How many years was John F. Kennedy a Senator before becoming President? And before he was a United States Senator, what was his executive experience?  None.  Palin was a City Councilman and Mayor before getting elected Governor.

Ohio House Speaker Jon Husted said that backers of Hillary Clinton have “found someone to support today. If they weren’t already in McCain’s camp, this is just another reason to be there.”

From the Seattle Times:

Republicans in Congress this June united to defeat a proposed windfall tax on oil companies, deriding it as a bad idea that would discourage investment in U.S. oil exploration.

Things worked out far differently in the GOP stronghold of Alaska, a state whose economic fate is closely tied to the oil industry.

Over the opposition of oil companies, Republican Gov. Sarah Palin and Alaska’s Legislature last year approved a major increase in taxes on the oil industry — a step that has generated stunning new wealth for the state as oil prices soared.

Also see this post, and others in this blog about Governor Palin!

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Short Biography

Sarah Heath Palin (born February 11, 1964) is the current Governor of Alaska, and a member of the Republican Party. She is the first female governor of Alaska, its youngest, and is the first governor born after Alaska achieved statehood. Brought to statewide attention because of her whistleblowing on ethical violations by state Republican Party leaders, she won election in 2006 by first defeating the incumbent Governor in the Republican primary, then a former Democratic Alaskan Governor in the general election.

Details of Palin’s personal life have contributed to her political image. She hunts, eats moose burgers, ice fishes, rides snowmobiles, and owns a float plane. Palin holds a lifetime membership with the National Rifle Association. She admits that she used marijuana when it was legal in Alaska, but says that she did not really like it.

Palin holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Idaho where she also minored in politics. She briefly worked as a sports reporter for local Anchorage television stations, while also working as a commercial fisherman with her husband, Todd, her high school sweetheart. One summer when she was working on Todd’s fishing boat, the boat collided with a tender while she was holding onto the railing; Palin broke several fingers. Outside the fishing season, Todd works for BP at an oil field on the North Slope and is a champion snowmobiler, winning the 2000-mile “Iron Dog” race four times. The two eloped shortly after Palin graduated college; when they learned they needed witnesses for the civil ceremony, they recruited two residents from the old-age home down the street. Todd is a Native Yup’ik Eskimo. The Palin family lives in Wasilla, about 40 miles (64 km) north of Anchorage.

On September 11, 2007, the Palins’ son Track joined the Army. Eighteen years old at the time, he is the eldest of Palin’s five children. Track now serves in an infantry brigade, and will be deployed to Iraq in September. She also has three daughters, Bristol, 17, Willow, 13, and Piper, 7. On April 18, 2008, Palin gave birth to her second son, Trig Paxson Van Palin, who has Down syndrome.(Sarah returned to the office three days after giving birth.) Palin refused to let the results of pre-natal genetic testing change her decision to have the baby. “I’m looking at him right now, and I see perfection,” Palin said. “Yeah, he has an extra chromosome. I keep thinking, in our world, what is normal and what is perfect?” .From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Posted by Ridgeliner on August 29, 2008 at 3:59 am PDT

McCain VP Choice – I Can Reveal This Much….

But who?

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You’ll have to wait a few more hours….but here is a hint. 

Published on:
August 29, 2008 at 3:43 am

John McCain To Barack Obama: “Congratulations, Job Well Done!”

“Senator Obama, this is truly a good day for America. Too often the achievements of our opponents go unnoticed. So I wanted to stop and say congratulations.

How perfect that your nomination acceptance would come on this historic day, the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech.

Tomorrow, we’ll be back at it. But for tonight Senator, congratulations on a job well done!”

–John

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Colin Powell More Likely To Beat McCain Than Obama! Powell Would Beat Obama!

Rasmussen is reporting results from one of their newest surveys, and the results are startling…

“It’s a good thing for Republicans that Colin Powell is still one of them.

Powell, the popular former Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, handily beats Republican presidential candidate John McCain in a one-on-one match-up. This comes at a time when Barack Obama holds a very slight lead over McCain in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll.

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Powell, the best-known African-American in the Republican Party, beats McCain more than two-to-one, 54% to 26%, with 21% of voters undecided.

An identical number of Democrats (75%) prefer either Obama or Powell over McCain.
But while 84% of GOP voters favor McCain against Obama, just 48% favor him over Powell, who pulls 35% of GOP voters in a contest with his fellow Republican.

Unaffiliated voters give the edge to McCain over Obama 41% to 35%.  But Powell beats McCain among unaffiliateds 44% to 21%. Female voters prefer Powell 56% to 22%. Men are divided.”

And of course, there is still that constant rumor out there that McCain has persuaded Colin Powell to run with him.  The polls show that combination would be unstoppable. Too bad most Obama supporters are radical leftist atheists.  Obama could use their prayers about now.

Hillary Supporters Voting For Obama?

Think again…

Over 25% of Clinton supporters will be voting for John McCain. Why?

They are choosing their country over partisan politics. Principle over “politics as usual”. Experience over the lack of it.

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Biden Urged McCain To Join Kerry Ticket – More Proof Obama, Biden & Kerry Lying About McCain

NOTE:

When I originally saw this story on Digg, August 23rd, clicking the link took me to a fairly blank MSNBC page.  Only the headline below was showing, and the entire story was “missing”.  Here is what I saw:

McCain urged to join Kerry ticket

Biden says a joint ticket would help heal ‘vicious rift’ dividing U.S.

“The page you are seeking has expired and is no longer available at msnbc.com.”

Using the links on the MSNBC site, I sent a trouble report about it, never expecting to hear back from anyone.  Amazingly enough, someone in Microsoft Technical Support emailed me back the following day!  “Rebecca” told me they would look into it.  After a couple of emails back and forth, for additional information and links, I clicked the link this morning and it was completely restored! So some of my faith in MSNBC has been restored. But of course it is not clear who, within hours of Obama naming Biden as his running-mate, removed the story and the included links to the Meet The Press transcript.  My guess would be some of those highly partisan NBC News people.

I know my friends at Liberal Values, The Moderate Voice and at The Atlantic will be so, so shocked to read that Biden and John Kerry have recently been making themselves into even bigger liars than usual lately. It has only been four years, mind you.  John McCain, in spite of what some will say, is exactly the same as in 2004.  So, question is, why have Joe Biden and John Kerry been lying to the American people?  And when, exactly, were they lying, now or then?

The story from 2004, clearly makes several points:

• Biden thought McCain was one of the most bi-partisan leaders in America.

• Kerry thought John McCain to be the perfect person to be Secretary of Defense to help him navigate an end to the war in Iraq.

• Biden believed John McCain was the only man who could help heal the highly partisan rift in America.

• The MSM, Reuters in this case, stated categorically McCain was a frequent critic of George W. Bush’s policies. From the Meet The Press transcript and news reports from 2004, Joe Biden, John Kerry and other Democrats thought so as well.

That being so, it is completely inaccurate, more likely it is a conspiracy of deceit, for Obama, Kerry and Biden to now be claiming McCain is like a third Bush term. It completely disqualifies all of them from elective office, IMO.

Anyway, read the full article below, and do click the link and read the transcript from Meet the Press. Let me know what you think….

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Biden says a joint ticket would help heal ‘vicious rift’ dividing U.S.

Updated: 8:48 p.m. ET May 16, 2004 – Reuters

WASHINGTON – Sen. Joseph Biden, a senior Democrat, on Sunday urged Republican Sen. John McCain to run for vice president with the Democratic hopeful, Sen. John Kerry, in order to heal the “vicious rift” dividing America. McCain, of Arizona, “categorically” ruled out standing with Kerry, but Biden, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he had no second choice.

“I’m sticking with McCain,” Biden said.

“I think John McCain would be a great candidate for vice president,” Biden, from Delaware, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” where the two senators appeared together to take questions on Iraq and other subjects.

“Do I think it’s going to happen?  No,” he said. “But I think it is a reflection of the desire of this country and the desire of people in both parties to want to see this God-awful, vicious rift that exists in the nation healed, and John and John could go a long way to heal in that rift.”

McCain, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee and in line to take over the Senate Armed Services panel in two years, endorsed Biden’s call for bridging the political gap between Democrats and Republicans.

“There’s too much partisanship in America, and there’s too much partisanship in the Senate,” he said. “And we’re not doing our job as our constituents expect us to do.”

“I will always take anyone’s phone calls,” McCain said of any call he might get from Kerry, a fellow decorated Vietnam War veteran. “But I will not, I categorically will not do it.”

[Sen. John] Kerry said Wednesday that McCain, a frequent critic of President Bush, would be his first choice to replace Donald Rumsfeld, the secretary of defense now wrestling with the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal.

“I have any number of people that I would make secretary of Defense, beginning with our good friend John McCain,” Kerry said last week.

But on “Meet the Press” Sunday, McCain also indicated he was not interested in becoming secretary of defense in the event of a Kerry victory in November.

Biden Speaks Out On Obama & McCain

Let Joe Biden tell you about Barack Obama and John McCain…….

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Kansas: McCain Holds 15-point Lead Over Obama 52 to 37%

Rasmussen Reports:

John McCain still leads his Democratic opponent by 15 percentage points 52% to 37% in the reliably red state of Kansas.

When “leaners” are included, the Republican presidential candidate is ahead 55% to 41%, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Kansas voters.

In mid-July, McCain had a 20-point lead over Obama 52% to 32%. Obama was within 10 points of McCain in June just after Hillary Clinton dropped out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Also in Kansas, incumbent Republican Senator Pat Roberts is maintaining a solid 55% to 36% lead over Democratic challenger Jim Slattery.

In Kansas, both presidential candidates have attracted more support from their respective parties. McCain is now backed by 83% of Kansas Republicans, Obama by 76% of the state’s Democrats.
Unaffiliated voters are evenly divided – 38% for McCain, 37% for Obama – with 14% preferring an unspecified third-party candidate and 11% undecided.

For the second month in a row, McCain is viewed favorably by 66% of Kansas voters. Obama ranks favorably with 48%, up four percent from July and nearly identical with where he was in June. Fifty-two percent (52%) have an unfavorable view of Obama, compared to 33% who feel that way about his GOP rival.