Recently in Politics::Election2008 Category
US House Redistricting: Oklahoma
Would it have been possible to draw a congressional district in Oklahoma that Barack Obama would have won in 2008? Two different possibilities are presented, both of them long and narrow -- one stretching from north Tulsa to Lawton, the other a four-tentacled beast centered on Okmulgee, reaching into Tulsa, Oklahoma City and Logan County, the Lake Eufaula area, and Muskogee, Wagoner, and Tahlequah. But even in these districts, the best Obama could do was 51.9%.
New York Magazine: Saint Elizabeth and the Ego Monster
A stark, profanity-laced portrait of Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards and his wife Elizabeth, excerpted from the new 2008 campaign book Game Change by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin.
The sins of Sarah Palin - Yahoo! News
"Palin announces she is quitting her job as governor of Alaska, and she catches everybody by surprise. What is up with that?
"Where were the leaks and the trial balloons? Why weren't the media alerted so they could have predicted it?
"When you do what the media have predicted, you are 'savvy.' You are a 'skilled' and 'adept' politician.
"If you surprise the media, however, you are 'out of control' and 'bizarre' and even 'egotistical.'"
About that Sarah Palin resignation thing ... (Wizbang)
Oklahoma City's Michael Laprairie explains why Palin's outsider appeal hurt her with the professional political class:
"We know that John McCain's campaign staff harbored a lot of resentment toward Sarah Palin. Perhaps jealousy is a better word. Palin immediately eclipsed McCain on the campaign trail, simply by being herself.... She politely, but firmly, refused to be turned into a puppet by the McCain campaign staff. And that burned them up.
"In spite of the wholesome nature ascribed to political outsiders, within the world of politics outsiders are thought of as foolish amateurs, and their ignorance of the system is considered to be a dangerous liability by political veterans.... I think Palin was somewhat prepared for the attacks from Democrats.... But I don't believe that she was prepared to be handled in such a rough and patronizing manner by staffers from her own party.
"I think Palin learned an important lesson from her vice presidential candidacy: the Washington, DC political establishment did not like her, and no one -- not even the national Republican party -- could be trusted to back her if she decided to pursue a Senate or Presidential candidacy.
"I always believed that Sarah Palin entered politics to make a real difference. That's why she got involved in her local school board, then ran for city council and mayor. When she was appointed Chairperson of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, she refused to go along with the "good old boy" system and eventually filed ethics complaints against Oil and Gas Conservation Commissioner Randy Ruedrich and former Alaskan Attorney General Gregg Renkes. Both of these men were Republicans, and Sarah's commitment to ethics above party politics is a marvel that few political figures are capable of. (Honestly, can you imagine Barack Obama taking on the Chicago Democrat political machine in a similar fashion?) I think we can take Palin at her word when she says that being a lightning rod for the Republican party has severely crippled her effectiveness as an elected leader."
RealClearPolitics - HorseRaceBlog - Maybe She Doesn't Want To Be President
Jay Cost makes the should-be-obvious point that seems to have escaped many in the right-wing blogosphere who dumped on Sarah Palin on Friday.
"My guess is that Palin had not seriously considered a run for the top job when McCain came calling last August. After all, the governorship of Alaska is a lousy perch from which to start a run for the White House. In fact, of the 150 governorships and Senate seats - I'd say that being governor of Alaska is the worst place to begin....
"It's important to remember that it was John McCain who invited her to the national stage.... She was there by his request. Since her introduction to the nation - it hasn't gone all that well for her. Her performance generated mixed reviews.... Worse, she and her family have become fodder for wild speculation from irresponsible bloggers, salacious stories from celebrity magazines, groundless ethics complaints from political opponents, lousy jokes from late-night comedians who should have retired a decade ago, and criticisms from former McCain flacks looking to deflect blame for the haphazard, incoherent campaign they ran. You would have to really want to be president to press forward in the face of the headwind she has faced.
"It's hard to blame her for doing what she did on Friday, although many critics still managed. If I were in her shoes, having been asked by my party's nominee to accept the vice-presidential nomination, then having been put through the wringer the way she and her family have, I wouldn't want to run for the presidency. I wouldn't want to run for reelection as governor. And I too would be inclined to resign altogether. One difference between her and me: I would not have been as gracious as she was last Friday."
The Greenroom: It Always Has Been About Trig
"If Sarah Palin had aborted Trig, the left would have been okay with it. If she hid Trig offstage and out of sight, all would be good. But treat the child as you would any other child, and that cannot be tolerated.
"There is something about a Down syndrome child in plain view which has exposed the moral and emotional bankruptcy of the left-wing of the Democratic party. And they hate Sarah Palin because deep down, they hate themselves for being who they are."
Rene Wanner's Poster Page / Shepard Fairey posters for Barack Obama
A collection of 149 parodies of the red and blue Obama HOPE poster. (But they missed the arugula poster!) (Via 423smith.)
Create an Inspirational Vector Political Poster - VECTORTUTS
Make your own Obama HOPE-style poster with Photoshop.
CitizenLink: Dr. Dobson: 'We Won't Be Silenced'
Focus on the Family founder replies to Kathleen Parker and others who want conservative Christians to be excluded from the public debate.
Remember the shady campaign contributions from Chinese and Indonesian sources? James Riady? John Huang? The slimy pay-to-play pardons at the end of Slick Willie's second term? Christopher Hitchens does: "In matters of foreign policy, it has been proved time and again, the Clintons are devoted to no interest other than their own. A president absolutely has to know of his chief foreign-policy executive that he or she has no other agenda than the one he has set. Who can say with a straight face that this is true of a woman whose personal ambition is without limit; whose second loyalty is to an impeached and disbarred and discredited former president; and who is ready at any moment, and on government time, to take a wheedling call from either of her bulbous brothers?"
