IWRC* Palin the scapegoat = Gramm-pa the Loser

By GottaLaff

A scathing piece from Politico's Roger Simon, but an apt one:

Why didn’t he get to know her [Palin] better before he made his choice?

It’s not like he was rushed. McCain wrapped up the Republican nomination in early March. He didn’t announce his choice for a running mate until late August. [...]

And so he chose Palin. Is she really a diva and a whack job? Could be. There are quite a few in politics. (And a few in journalism, too, though in journalism they are called “columnists.”) [...]

In truth, Palin’s real problem is not her personality or whether she takes orders well. Her real problem is that neither she nor McCain can make a credible case that Palin is ready to assume the presidency should she need to.

And that undercuts McCain’s entire campaign.

This was the deal McCain made with the devil. In exchange for energizing his base by picking Palin, he surrendered his chief selling point: that he was better prepared to run the nation in time of crisis, whether it be economic, an attack by terrorists or, as he has been talking about in recent days, fending off a nuclear war. [...]

But his campaign’s bad decisions have not stopped with Sarah Palin. It has made a series of questionable calls, including making Joe the Plumber the embodiment of the campaign.

Are voters really expected to warmly embrace an (unlicensed) plumber who owes back taxes and complains about the possibility of making a quarter million dollars a year?

And did McCain’s aides really believe so little in John McCain’s own likability that they thought Joe the Plumber would be more likable?

Apparently so. Which is sad.

The obituaries are pouring in before the time of death has even been called.

*"In What Respect, Charlie?"

Gramm-pa McCain's Campaign (Again) Repudiates One of Its Own Speakers

By GottaLaff

Paddy posted about one of Gramm-pa's crazies down thread. It looks like Grammps is scrambling to undo the damage. Too little, too late again, McHatemonger. You can try to look like the good guy all you want, but you've spent months smearing Obama. You can't undo it all now with only 3 weeks to go.

Pastor Arnold Conrad’s invocation before Gramm-pa’s speech in Davenport, Iowa included:

“I also would also pray, Lord, that your reputation is involved in all that happens between now and November, because there are millions of people around this world praying to their god–whether it’s Hindu, Buddha, Allah–that his opponent wins, for a variety of reasons.”

Here's the hurry-scurry-before-my-numbers-dive-even-further attempt at a duck-and-cover:

"While we understand the important role that faith plays in informing the votes of Iowans, questions about the religious background of the candidates only serve to distract from the real questions in this race about Barack Obama's judgment, policies and readiness to lead as commander in chief." - Wendy Riemann, Midwest Regional Communications Director

That's some apology. It has sincerity not written all over it.

But I have a few questions. So that Obama-is-a-scary-not-like-us-Muslim push from your side is a figment of our imaginations? Oh, it isn't. It, too, is serving as a distraction then?

Next one: Whose judgment, policies, and readiness to lead are really in question? Answer: Gramm-pa's and IWRC* Palin's.

Okay, one more: Who projects their own miserable smallness and vulgarities onto the other candidate? Answer: Gramm-pa and IWRC Palin.

That's all the questions for now.

*"In What Respect, Charlie?"

Roger Ebert: Guess who's not coming to dinner

By GottaLaff

Roger Ebert picks up where I left off. This is his take on the first debate, but it could easily apply to the second:

I do not like you, John McCain. My feeling has nothing to do with issues. It has to do with common courtesy. During the debate, you refused to look Barack Obama in the eye. [...]

Obama is my guy. If you are rude to him, you are rude to me. If you came to dinner at my house and refused to look at or speak with one of my guests, that would be bad manners and I would be offended. Same thing if I went to your house. During the debate, you were America's guest. [...]

Do you hold this man in such contempt that you cannot bear to gaze upon him? Will you not even speak to him directly? Do you think he doesn't have the right to be running for President? Were you angry because after you said you wouldn't attend the debate, he said a President should be able to concern himself with two things at the same time? He was right. The proof is, you were there. Were you angry with him because he called your bluff? [...]

What is the better leadership quality: (1) Willingness to listen to your opponent, and keep an open mind? (2) Rigidly ignoring him? Which of the two of you better demonstrated the bipartisan spirit you say you represent? [...]

I'm not the only one who noticed your odd, hostile behavior. Just about everybody did. I'm sure many of your supporters must have sensed the tension. Before the debate, pundits were wondering if you might explode in a display of your famous temper. I think we saw that happen, all right, but it was an implosion. I have instructed my wife to exclude you from any future dinner parties.

If it's about character and judgment, Obama wins hands down. If it's about grace, Obama wins hands down. Come to think of it, if it's about anything, Obama wins hands down.

H/t: Jon Lester

John Sidney McCain's questionable judgment: Press edition

By GottaLaff

Via Ambinder:

Just Asking...

Does the McCain campaign think that their ticket can win if they go to war with the press 60 days out?

He'd go to war with anyone, so why not the press?

Three questions Republicans are asking themselves about Palin

By GottaLaff

Democrats have more than these measly few questions, but at least Republicans are showing that they are able to form thoughts by coming up with three:

1) What else is out there about Palin? Monday brought the announcement that Palin's 17-year-old daughter is pregnant; news that Palin was once a member of the fringe Alaska independence party; and the revelation that Palin's husband was arrested for a DUI in the 1980s. The news about Palin has continued to come this morning, with the Washington Post reporting that Palin hired a lobbying firm during her time as the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, to lobby for millions in earmarks for the small town.

Question 1a: I'm not familiar with the Alaskan legal system, but if Bristol is 17, did her boyfriend commit statutory rape? Moving on:

2) Was the vetting process complete and professional? Reports in Tuesday's New York Times and Alaska Daily News both suggest the McCain campaign's vetting of Palin was swift and superficial, although the McCain campaign continues to insist that Palin was thoroughly and professionally vetted.

Per today's L.A. Times:

According to this Republican, who would discuss internal campaign strategizing only on condition of anonymity, the McCain team used little more than a Google Internet search as part of a rushed effort to review Palin's potential pitfalls. Just over a week ago, Palin was not on McCain's short list of potential running mates, the Republican said.

And finally:

3) And most significantly, what message will voters hear about McCain's judgment that he chose someone to be his running mate who has almost no national security experience and who is so much of an unknown quantity?

I believe that is the most important question of the three. All that talk of his vast experience resulting in superior judgment just evaporated.

As these questions continue to hang over Republicans, I'll be asking McCain's opponent for the presidency, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., for his perspective on these issues in an exclusive interview airing Sunday on "This Week."

I know who I'll be watching this Sunday.

"She's not prepared to be governor. How can she be prepared to be vice president or president?"

By GottaLaff

Keep 'em coming!

John McCain's choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate stunned and divided Alaska political leaders on Friday. Supporters said she was a shrewd choice, but others argued Palin has no business being a heartbeat away from the presidency. [...]

The reaction wasn't so rosy elsewhere. State Senate President Lyda Green said she thought it was a joke when someone called her at 6 a.m. to give her the news.

"She's not prepared to be governor. How can she be prepared to be vice president or president?" said Green, a Republican from Palin's hometown of Wasilla. "Look at what she's done to this state. What would she do to the nation?"

Wait! That name! "Lyda Green... where have we heard that before? Oh, I remember now.

But Anchorage Democratic state Sen. Hollis French said it's a huge mistake by McCain and "reflects very, very badly on his judgment." French said Palin's experience running the state for less than two years hasn't prepared her for this.

Alaska Democratic Party chairwoman Patti Higgins, attending her party's national convention in Denver, said she was shocked to hear the news this morning.

"In this very competitive election for them to go pick somebody who is ... under a cloud of suspicion, who is under investigation for abuse of power. It just sounds like a pretty slow start to me," Higgins said.

Well, when you think about it, when you're 72 it's a little hard to move fast.

H/t: Eve, AmericaBlog

Sarah Palin "can't get anything accomplished"

By GottaLaff

Here are some excerpts from a piece in the L.A. Times. Personally, I'm not sure emphasizing small dead animals and thousands of antlers from larger dead animals is the way to appeal to Hillary supporters, although I could be wrong. Wink:

Born in Idaho, she moved as a baby to Alaska with her science teacher father and school secretary mother, part-time trappers who seemed to personify the quirky Alaska spirit. (Her father, Chuck, to a Vogue magazine reporter recently angling for an interview: "Come on over, unless you have a problem with small dead animals." The magazine reported that a thousand caribou antlers were piled near the driveway of their home.)

Her dad teaches science. I guess he didn't teach Sarah Louise well enough. Now on to her governing style:

During her tenure, the flashes of the future governor arose: not terribly communicative, running a little roughshod.

Great qualification for commander in chief, a job in which communication is obviously discouraged. Who needs clarity when it comes to global conflict? Or hasn't George W. Bush's term made that point strongly enough?

John Harris, the Republican speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives:

But he added that Palin has proved to be, as she was in Wasilla, "not a great communicator." She has alienated enough Republicans that "without a very large contingent of Democrats supporting her positions, she can't get anything accomplished," Harris said.

Ringing endorsement. With every news tidbit, John Sidney McCain inspires more and more confidence in his judgment to make wise choices, whether it be in vice presidential picks or abysmal policies.

Hagel: Character and judgment more important than experience

By GottaLaff

Chuck, Chuck, Chuck, don't you realize you're sounding more like Obama every day?

“Each candidate has strengths and weaknesses, and experience does matter,” Hagel said. “But what matters more in my opinion is character and judgment. And judgment meaning who is it that you bring around, who is it that you listen to? Can you make the right decisions for the right reasons on behalf of your country and the world?”

Both Hagel and Reed spent years in the military. Reed attended West Point and retired as an Army captain, and Hagel earned two Purple Hearts fighting in the Vietnam War. Reed recounted the experience of traveling to military posts with Obama.

“There was something that was really dynamic,” he said. “We were trying to leave the headquarters of the 101st and we couldn't get down to the car because soldiers were flocking out of their duty positions to get autographs, to say hello, to take a picture, and it was just genuine, spontaneous and very, very enthusiastic throughout the entire trip.”

No, it was a photo op. Nothing more. And that's something J Sid would never, ever do. He has too much experience to waste time on that kind of thing.... unless there's a refrigerated cheese display around.