They're planning on scaling back on some of their festivities because of Hurricane Gustav. Such marytrs, those Republicans.
In fact, the Republicans are so concerned with the hurricane, President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney are deciding to forgo their speaking roles at the convention. So thoughtful of them.
How ever will John McCain survive without the appearance of one of the worst presidents in US history?
John McCain met her twice before offering her the spot.
I guess figuring out whether governing styles are compatible or not doesn't matter if you are solely choosing the veep for electoral gain instead of good governance.
It's official: the Republican strategy is to go after Clinton deadenders.
The problem is that the media over-estimated the discord in the Democratic party, so it gave the sense that there was a whole slew of people waiting to be plucked from the old Clinton coalition. So I guess all those PUMA stories helped spotlight a problem that doesn't really quite exist, and McCain just picked a VP to capitalize on said non-existent problem.
There probably isn't too many constituencies Palin helps with that I can see. She's not a well known figure at all, she's under investigation (so perhaps the criminal demographic will totally dig her), and Joe Biden will clean her clock when he debates her.
I personally thought that McCain would go for someone that would help strengthen his economic message, perhaps because he doesn't have one and it's the most important issue to American voters right now. Oh well.
I know I'm a little late to the party, but I wanted to wait a little to fully absorb the content of Obama's speech so that I could write something other than "it was t3h AWESOME!"
This speech was certainly different from ones he has given before-- actually, it seemed like an amalgamation of his previous speeches. I liked the fact that he came off as a wonk during a segment of the speech-- a side he rarely gets to show when speaking to that large of an audience. He was most successful, I think, in being able to portray himself as being in touch with the everyday life of the American people. This is crucial because he was able to substantively make the case that John McCain is fundamentally out of touch. As Obama put it-- McCain simply "doesn't know." Brilliant.
It was, however, a bit too long. I watched this speech with a friend who deeply understands the importance of this election and supports Obama. He began to get a bit fidgety as the speech was well in to 25 minutes, but he was drawn back in towards the last 10 minutes or so. The phrases that stuck with him the most was when Obama proclaimed that the Republicans need to own up to their failures of the last eight years, as well as the line about McCain willing to go to the gates of hell to find bin Laden, but not the cave in which he lives.
I personally think Obama could fight back against the McRove slime machine by continuing to make the case that McCain wants to win such an important election by making it about the smallest of matters. It'll work: people will begin to see that this honorable man in John McCain is stooping to such dishorable tactics.
A surprisingly amazing speech by an Iraqi war veteran. Personally, Duckworth reignited the anger I have against this administration for the way our veterans are being treated. If I get hold of the speech, I'll post here.
Whatever you may think about him, there's no doubt that he's our best attack dog when it comes to calling out the Republicans on their bullshit policies.
He finally recognized that the attacks against Obama are the same ones the Republicans leveled at him 16 years ago. Ironic that he led the charge on making those attacks against Obama.
Well, I’m relieved that it isn’t Hillary or someone who would help him win, but the idea of both of them just sickens me- there is nothing appealing about the combo. I had some respect for Biden wayyy back when, but that long ago was vanquished and will not re-emerge. Go away you two- we need a decent and true leader for once.
sunshine5573 // August 23, 2008 at 2:23 am
Now I wish Hillary and Bill would say a big fuck you to the Democratic party, turn their backs, walk away and don’t look back! They deserve so much better and have been treated like shit. I could care less who Obama picked, will not vote for him, but I’ve never liked Biden, there is something about him that I just don’t like!
WTF kind of headline is "Obama's striptease may be risky business"?
I don't think Obama's VP pick is keeping regular people up at night, but it's sure annoying the press to the point where they're writing stupid articles.
Since McMaverick told us that Reverend Wright/ Rezko/ Ayers are now "fair game" after getting butt-hurt about today's events, let's play their little game.
They attack Michelle Obama, we'll raise them a Carol McCain.
If they want to bring up Rezko, let's remind them about Charles Keating! And oh, heck, let's remind them about Jack Abramoff while we're at it.
Grasping at straws to tie Ayers the terrorist to Obama? Answer: Bush and Cheney!
When I woke up this morning and clicked "refresh" on my e-mail client, the headline read "McCain unsure of how many houses he owns" or something along those lines.
Thanks, Mr. Magoo. Not only does it reinforce how old he is (jee, gramps can't remember how many million-dollar properties he owns...??), it also plays upon our most favorite political attack: John McCain is a rich elitist who has seven homes, while millions of Americans are struggling to keep the one they've got.
“Does a guy who worries about the price of arugula and thinks regular people 'cling' to guns and religion in the face of economic hardship really want to have a debate about who’s in touch with regular Americans?"
So that leaves one to ponder: What do Republicans have against arugula?
The Democratic Party was going to paint the Republican nominee as Bush III, regardless of who won the nomination. Thus, the Republican base did the smart thing and nominated McCain, who has a (undeserved) reputation for being an independent thinker.
Ever since we've known that McCain was going to be the nominee, the Democrats haven't been able to explain just how it is that John McCain is like Bush. I know there is substance to the argument because I've been paying attention to how little by little, McCain has sold his soul in return for the Republican nomination. But the Democrats haven't done a convincing job of equating John McCain to the failures of the Bush admininstration.
When we make the argument without speaking extensively of substantive issues suh as foreign policy debacles, or the general hands-off approach conservatives employ with respect to domestic problems, the Democratic narrative of painting McCain as another Bush is thoroughly unconvincing. Are we supposed to believe that McCain is responsible for our plight because he's old, and thus, by virtue, been in Washington longer than Obama? Or, are we supposed to believe that he's running for Bush' third term simply because they are of the same political party?
Academics know why it's intellectually appropriate to label John McCain as the bearer of the status quo, but middle America doesn't listen to these folks. The party has to make the Bush-McCain connection for us. After all, merely repeating "McCain is running for Bush's third term" doesn't make it so.
The Yahoo and AOL homepages are pretty disgraceful-- one shows Alicia Sacramone flat on her back, the other shows her making unflattering facial expression. Headlines like "How did she cost Team USA the gold?" aren't too subtle in blaming Sacramone for the loss. I'm pretty sure she's taking it pretty hard, and it was tough watching it, but there's no need for any of this. Winning the silver is a great accomplishment, too. Remind that to the AP writers who are too busy licking cheeto dust off of their fingers to recognize that.
Congrats to Team USA, and props to the Chinese team.
I've noticed a bit of a trend among us young folk: the lot of us are self-aggrandizing fools. I stumbled on an old co-worker's social networking page, which included a list of accomplishments, concluding with "yeah, I'm kind of a big deal." As I recall from working alongside this person for a fairly good amount of time, he was more of a show pony than a work horse, who had a knack for hitching his star to hard-working people and brown-nosing the more influential members of the group.
Being that this is around the time when local campaign offices are opening and we're increasingly becoming a part of the scene and volunteering, it's important that young people remember that we're NOT the greatest thing since sliced bread. Young people in campaign offices have been somewhat of novelties in years past, and it's fun to get all the attention from people telling us what good things we're doing, but the novelty wears off. And when the praise starts to dissipate, remember why you're putting in the long hours-- at the end of the day, it's about your community, and the more you help your community, the better your resume looks.
If we count Florida and Michigan, and don't count the caucus states, Clinton wins.
If we count the big states and not the small states, Clinton wins.
If we count the states Clinton won, Clinton wins.
And Wolfson, doing the only thing he knows how to, introduces yet another stupid counterfactual:
So the argument is: If Edwards' affair would have been revealed earlier, Clinton would have won Iowa, and thus, she would have won the nomination.
I thought about this a little earlier, and I imagined a scenario in which Edwards' affair could have affected the race: what if the affair came out right after he dropped out? Say it did. Is there a contingent of women out there who considered voting for Obama, but the Edwards' affair reminded them too much of their painful personal circumstances with their unfaithful husbands, and that convinced them to vote for Hillary to "stick it" to their philandering husbands?
I'm sure it's plausible, but it all seems so far-fetched. But then again-- most of what Wolfson had to say during the primary had an alice-in-wonderland quality to it.
Obama finally hits back against the ludicrous series of advertisments from the McCain camp that knock on how popular Obama is:
I know campaign 101 teaches that if a candidate is responding to negative attacks, the candidate is spending time reinforcing the attack and getting off-message (the kiss of death).
But it's only August. The only people paying attention are political junkies who have already made up their minds. This ad does more in terms of quelling the chorus of Democrats who regularly complain that our candidates are terrible at responding to smears.
At least, I only hope it's just a base-rallying maneuver. These back-and-forth attack ads are truly becoming something of a farce.
Hey Republicans-- thanks again for dumbing down our discourse while we're in the midst of two wars. But hey! Someone forgot to tell John McCain that being president means more than just having the opportunity to slap Misty May-Treanor's ass while Russia invades Georgia.
The fact that John McCain has shown a bloodlust for war is the reason why we absolutely cannot afford a McCain presidency. He sees war as the primary instrument of statescraft, rather than a means of last resort.
It's quite a shame. I really, really wished the story about his affair wasn't true.
I think the most upsetting fact is that he was a serious contender for the Democratic nomination for president. What if he had won? Why was he willing to put this nation at risk for another four years of Republican rule at this critical juncture in our history?
It's not that I think that candidate's personal lives should concern the public, but we cannot ignore the fact that it does matter. And this holds especially true for the president, who serves as the chief citizen. No one wants a sleazebag as the chief representative of the American people-- so it's understandable why personal integrity is so important.
But, it's important to put this in a little perspective-- Bush just may be the most faithful motherfucker on this planet. Where the hell did that get us?
NBC (stupidly) decided to blackout live coverage of the opening games in the US. As much as I hate watching things after they happen, it was worth it: China did an amazing job. I have no doubt that the citizens of China and the millions of Chinese-Americans are feeling pretty proud.
The first memory I have of watching the Olympics was back in '96, when I was eight. I loved watching the opening ceremonies to see the parade of nations and to hear a little bit of their histories.
Personally, it was a moment of pride to hear the cheers for the US. I have to admit, I was afraid we'd be heckled.
It's not so much that "they" take pride in being ignorant-- it's that the Republican playbook puts so much stock in the ignorance of the body politic. I can't come to a different conclusion when their latest campaign tactics consist of comparing Barack Obama to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears in an advertisment, and handing out tire pressure gauges with "Obama's energy plan" written on them.
They count on us being uninformed. They hope that we don't know any better.
