Politics::Election2008: September 2008 Archives
Memorable Debate Moments - TIME
Clips from past presidential debates, including Gerald Ford's "no Soviet domination" gaffe, Reagan's refusal to exploit Mondale's "youth and inexperience," Dukakis's disastrously detached death penalty response, "You're no Jack Kennedy," Gore's sighing.
Instapundit.com - A READER AT A MAJOR NEWSROOM EMAILS
"Off the record, every suspicion you have about MSM being in the tank for O is true. We have a team of 4 people going thru dumpsters in Alaska and 4 in arizona. Not a single one looking into Acorn, Ayers or Freddiemae. Editor refuses to publish anything that would jeopardize election for O, and betting you dollars to donuts same is true at NYT, others. People cheer when CNN or NBC run another Palin-mocking but raising any reasonable inquiry into obama is derided or flat out ignored. The fix is in, and its working." Anchoress has more.
A brief moment of candor and decency, disavowed after further instructions from campaign HQ.
Independent Women's Forum - The Q Word from Charlie Gibson to Sarah Palin: Are You Qualified?
Former Democratic Oklahoma state representative Cleta Deatherage Mitchell writes: "It is not that we don't want to assure qualified people are the ones who get the jobs. It is only offensive for Charlie Gibson to ask that question of Sarah Palin because neither he nor his colleagues of the 'mainstream media' talking heads have ever posed that question to Barack Obama." (Via NRO Web Briefing.)
ObamaSoundoff.com: Obama Soundboard
Amusing: Click the words to hear Barack Obama saying some common, some odd, and some vulgar phrases. Many of the sound bites seem to be from his audiobook narration of his first memoir, Dreams from My Father, and I suspect he is quoting other people's words in the worst of them. Some of them would make for fun talk radio sounders.
On Sex-Ed Ad, McCain Is Right by Byron York on National Review Online
Barack Obama really did vote for a bill in the Illinois State Senate that includes this requirement: "Each class or course in comprehensive sex education in any of grades K through 12 shall include instruction on the prevention of sexually transmitted infections, including the prevention, transmission and spread of HIV."
BaylyBlog: Covenant College faculty members take courageous stand...
Tim Bayly analyzes a poll of the faculty of the PCA-affiliated college: "Also, note that whereas fourteen faculty members are sure of Senator McCain's faith, sixteen are sure of the Christian faith of Senator Obama. Not to put too fine a point on it, but more Covenant faculty members are certain that a promoter of baby-slaughter and sodomite marriage is a Christian than a man who opposes baby-slaughter and sodomite marriage.... After the above, no one will be shocked to find out thirty-five percent of Covenant's faculty members say they're likely to vote for Senator Obama. That's one third of the faculty supporting the presidential candidacy of the most radically pro-baby slaughter politician in Washington D.C."
Meet Sarah Palin - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
A profile written in July 2007: "Sarah Palin can teach Republicans how to be Republicans. It's a simple lesson. But it won't be easy for anyone who believes being pragmatic and principled are mutually exclusive.... Gov. Palin vetoed about a third or more of the capital budget, she says. 'It's not an open, transparent process at all. The way (the Legislature) works, the administration doesn't even know what's in it until the gavel falls. It's handed to the governor without public process and public debate. It's a nonsensical way of budgeting.'
"Many of the vetoed items were earmarks by her fellow Republicans. Little wonder she and her party are estranged political bedfellows."
Political Punch: Why Doesn't McCain Use a Computer?
It's not because John McCain isn't tech-savvy, as Obama's recent ad suggests, but McCain prefers to downplay the real reason: "Assuredly McCain isn't comfortable talking about this -- and the McCain campaign discouraged me from writing about this -- but the reason the aged Arizonan doesn't use a computer or send email is because of his war wounds.
"I realize some of the nastier liberals in the blogosphere will see this as McCain once again 'playing the POW card,' but it's simply a fact: typing on a regular keyboard for any sustained period of time bothers McCain physically.
"He can type, he occasionally does type, but in general the injuries he sustained as a POW -- ones that make it impossible for him to raise his arms high enough to comb his hair -- mean that small tasks make his shoulders ache, so he tries to avoid any repetitive exercise."
Barack Obama the speechmaker is being rumbled | Gerard Baker - Times Online
Europeans are puzzled at the thought that their preferred presidential candidates could lose: "The essential problem coming to light is a profound disconnect between the Barack Obama of the candidate's speeches, and the Barack Obama who has actually been in politics for the past decade or so.... There are just too many contradictions between the eloquent poetry of the man's stirring rhetoric and the dull, familiar prose of his political record."
BRING YOUR OWN CAMERA - New York Post
If you're afraid an interview might be edited to put you in a bad light, record it yourself and post it on the web, says Glenn Reynolds: "TV journalists won't be happy with this, of course, but it's hard to see a principled basis for objecting. In the past, the tools for broadcast newsgathering were expensive and specialized, and much of the media's power came from the fact that no one else had them. Those times are long gone, and candidates, and journalists, are going to have to adapt. "
Gallup: Battle for Congress Suddenly Looks Competitive
GOP leads generic House ballot among likely voters. Voter party identification is shifting to the Republicans, and GOP voters are more motivated than before the convention to show up on election day.
The American Conservative -- Value Voters
The gap between "red" and "blue" states may be explained by the gap in the affordability of starting a family and owning a home.
Hot Air: Comedy gold: Lefty radio hosts crestfallen as Palin defended by ... Mike Gravel
Former Senator and Democratic presidential candidate blasts stupid media attacks against Sarah Palin.
An End to the Old Boys by Rudy Takala
"Anyone who has been very involved in politics knows immediately what 'good old boys' describes; it refers to men who, by virtue of gray hair and accumulated wealth, appear respectable and are therefore granted power. Unfortunately, it is exactly their lack of virtue that defines them as good old 'boys.'
"To anyone who has had the unfortunate experience of dealing with such people, it should be obvious that Palin would not fit in with them. There would be some immediate aspersion cast upon her because she is a woman, yes, but that would be one of her smaller problems.
"Larger problems would arise because of her attitude. She too readily speaks her mind without first understanding the 'structure' of things. She doesn't know who has been around or for how long. Worse yet, she probably doesn't even know how much money they have.
"Unbelievably, she probably doesn't care about those things as much as she cares about ideas. While she's talking about abortion or corruption in government, the 'good old boys' would be staring blankly at her and wondering who invited this moron to their club. (The 'club,' of course, is a local city council meeting or some similar body of government.) They'll scoff at her as being someone who doesn't understand that politics is all about money and connections, and that any so-called 'corruption' is simply the creative use of those things.
"Imagine their surprise and anger when this naïve, idealistic blowhard actually runs against them and wins."
Sarah Palin is not such a small-town girl after all - Telegraph
"Far from being a reprise of Mr Smith Goes to Washington, Palin was a clear-eyed politician who, from the day she took office, knew exactly what she had to do and whose toes she would step on to do it.
"The surprise is not that she has been in office for such a short time but that she has succeeded in each of her objectives. She has exposed corruption; given the state a bigger share in Alaska's energy wealth; and negotiated a deal involving big corporate players, the US and Canadian governments, Canadian provincial governments, and native tribes - the result of which was a £13 billion deal to launch the pipeline and increase the amount of domestic energy available to consumers. This deal makes the charge of having 'no international experience' particularly absurd."
RealClearPolitics - HorseRaceBlog - Thoughts on McCain's Speech
"I couldn't get a few of the lines out of my head, which made me wonder if I had misjudged it.
"I have to say that it grew on me by leaps and bounds. Over two weeks of speechifying and politicking, it was my favorite.
"Obviously, McCain is not an eloquent speaker. He's a plain speaker with a blunt, flat delivery. The speech was written for a man with that kind of style, which made it extremely direct. So, everybody got the gist of the McCain candidacy last night. That's a very good thing for any candidate: his message got across."
Dutch, Reformed: Is It Just Me ...
"... or does anyone else see the similarities between these two insufferable blowhards from Scranton, PA?"
