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US Republican line up for '08 McCain/Palin

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18:36 / 09.09.08

your linky not work but I'm tending to believe ya.

Still trying to get a Librarian fired for defending books is an ass kicking offense around here.

19:45 / 09.09.08

There's a ray of hope!

Basically, Palin may have used her pull to get her sister's ex husband sacked from the State Troopers. She also may have peeked into private personel files to dig up some dirt... A big no-no.

She and her staff may get subpoenaed!

She's going down! (I hope...) This better not get whitewashed...

20:46 / 09.09.08

>> Sadly, I think this will take away from what is true, that she called the librarian to ask about banning books, and then later tried to fire her.

Right - she did inquire about removing certain books from the library and got a shocked reaction. She later said she was just inquiring as a matter of theory and procedure. This fact is getting overlooked, since she did not actually present a list of specific books to be banned, but nevertheless inquired about the possibility.

Anna de Logardiere

22:30 / 09.09.08

You can't hold someone to account for not banning books. There's definitely a line there between intention and action.

Thanks XK, you've given me some stuff to think about. Namely how do you fight an election that tells the truth when the truth about your opponents is so close to dirt!

22:36 / 09.09.08

here's hoping for some truth to make it's way into the news landscape.

Palin faces brewing 'Troopergate' inquiry

08:07 / 10.09.08

Why does Palin get so much more attention than Joe Biden?

09:18 / 10.09.08

Well, Joe Biden has been around for a long time, and is pretty well-known. Palin just popped up out of virtual anonymity
Here's some depressing crap from the Washington Post:

After just a week, Palin is as popular as either Obama or McCain. White women in particular express favorable views of the Alaska governor, according to a newly released Washington Post-ABC News poll. Positive ratings of her spike to 80 percent among white women with children at home and among white women who are evangelical Protestants.

Other Obama advisers said that once women across the board begin considering Palin's stands on social issues such as human embryonic stem cell research and legalized abortion -- she opposes both -- their interest will fade. That was a line of attack used by Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., the Democratic vice presidential candidate, when he was asked Tuesday whether Palin's election would mean a step forward for women. "Look, I think the issue is: What does Sarah Palin think? What does she believe? I assume she thinks and agrees with the same policies that George Bush and John McCain think," Biden said. "And that's obviously a backward step for women."

The Republican National Committee responded by calling Biden's remarks "appalling and arrogant" and saying they are "better suited for the backrooms of his old boys' club."

...

The percentage of white women with "strongly favorable" opinions of McCain jumped 12 percentage points from before the parties' national conventions. And nearly six in 10 white women in the new poll said McCain's selection of Palin increased their confidence in the decisions he would make if elected. In the Post-ABC poll, it is white women who helped McCain erase Obama's late-August advantage and seriously cut into the Democratic nominee's lead as the one who would bring more needed change to Washington.

12:23 / 10.09.08

I think that's a fucked up spin though as all the white women I know (and I've been talking to all kinds of them in my mostly white New England town) think Palin is a shill. Most of them who were undecided before are saying they resent the patronizing bait and switch uterus swap approach.

shiny new moveon.org ad about why McCant/Pain suck.

22:04 / 10.09.08

I didn't have time to comment much on that article. The poll was a fairly large sample but polls are always slanted by the kind of people who respond to them. The fact that SPVP has had a big impact is indisputable and simultaneously inconceivable. Crazy pills indeed.
The Republicans' going after Obama and Biden as sexist is so incredibly weak, yet somehow it's not blowing back up in their faces yet. Why is that?

Closed for Business Time

08:37 / 11.09.08

Pit-pig with lip-stick? I don't know what to make of that. On the one hand I'm chuffed to see Obama playing it a tad dirtier. On the other, he's been playing the dignified statesman-cum-peacemaker - won't some of this tarnish his varnish?

12:17 / 11.09.08

Nah, Obama reads like a sane person among the desperate reaching of competitors.

I'm not a huge Matt Damon fan but I think this youtube rant of his is pretty right on.

WTF Sarah Palin?

Also this whole shit fest has finally driven me to go volunteer for the Obama campaign and to go canvasing on Sunday. Knockin' on doors chatting with people. I've also managed to convince my ultra fiscally conservative Rep sibling and their partner to vote Dem because Obama/Biden supports science and McCain/Palin creationism.

54 days until election and on this anniversary of 9/11 Americans are not safer. In fact we have lost more rights and freedoms than we could ever have imagined. We have not caught the people supposedly responsible for the attacks and we have wasted the good will of the entire world for the tragic events.

How the fuck could anyone in their right mind vote for McCain/Palin now?

Our Lady Has Left the Building

19:38 / 11.09.08

Obama: "John McCain says he’s about change, too — except for economic policy, health care policy, tax policy, education policy, foreign policy and Karl Rove-style politics. That’s just calling the same thing something different."

With a laugh, he added: "You can put lipstick on a pig; it’s still a pig. You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change; it’s still going to stink after eight years."

Anyone who thinks that he was insulting Palin can take their Bridge to Nowhere and shove it up their arse.

19:55 / 11.09.08

Didja see his Letterman response? Fantastic!

Obama on Letterman via jezebel.com

21:14 / 11.09.08

The thing that struck me about that last link XK, was that at least this time around people (even non-Americans on the sidelines) have the right to be proud of the way the guy offering himself as the alternative to the crazy/absurd platform conducts himself. At least he's fighting back, and doing so by appearing naturally rational and charming.

Not that, y'know, the election should be decided by the characters of those involved (although to some degree it inevitably will), or that the consequences of the walking timebomb party getting in again are outweighed by the individual candidate's ability to look at himself in the mirror November 5th. But I liked (disregarding policy differences for a second) that Obama wasn't prepared to back down, and even it all goes the wrong way that would still be a Good Thing.

Thoughts on Palin: Obviously popular with large segments of the Republican vote - is it the case that while her experience and positions motivate people that aren't voting Republican anyway, that voters who are traditionally Republican will still be likely to choose McCain as the strong, conservative hand at the wheel and aren't put off by some of the wilder stuff of the VP nominee? Certainly it superficially appears a shrewd appointment if the dual appeal shores up the Republican base in a way that Biden doesn't quite so sensationally do for the Democrats.

Anna de Logardiere

23:28 / 11.09.08

Thanks for the Matt Damon link, I liked his "we can't have that".

Poke it with a stick

05:12 / 12.09.08

Through the magic of youtube we find McCain got there first:

Who thought "lipstick on a pig" hadn't been used before, after all?

12:19 / 12.09.08

In the NYT there was an article stating that the Dems are ramping up their aggressive campaign to smush the Reps.

Shit's getting intense here. I've heard multiple people say they will disown any family or friends that vote for McCain/Palin because the ticket is so destructive being pro war, pro environmental exploitation, pro life etc.

There's a NARAL slogan campaign going on too. I was trying to think of something like,

"Everyone maybe created equally, but not everyone is the same. Sarah Palin is no Hillary Rodham Clinton."

13:37 / 12.09.08

"Everyone maybe created equally, but not everyone is the same. Sarah Palin is no Hillary Rodham Clinton."

Trouble is this could be used by the Reps as well as the Dems...

How about "When dealing with Bears(Russia) and Tigers(China), do we really want to send in a Pitbull?"

...
...
...
Ok, it's weak, but it just popped in my head and made me laugh.

MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!

13:49 / 12.09.08

"I liked King Ralph too, but it wasn't a documentary."

"Even if Jesus has chosen Sarah Palin, 1/12 of his staffing decisions didn't turn out so hot."

14:31 / 12.09.08

oh sweet mother of catses, my neo con dad is sending me pro Sarah cartoons.

I had to issue him the big sack down statement. Vote for a creationist in the white house and get disowned.

He's likely to vote for her because she's a 'looker' and wants to drill.

I despair sometimes.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

15:11 / 12.09.08

When dealing with Bears(Russia) and Tigers(China), do we really want to send in a Pitbull?

Is confusing, because SHE'S A FUCKING BEAR.

I'm too frightened to look at the polls now. I'm just going to pretend it isn't happening for a while.

15:21 / 12.09.08

I think she was chosen for the sheer amount of doubles she can potentially have like Gina Gershin and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
If she's seen in several places around the world at the same time the world will be terrified into submission by the Great Satan America.

15:50 / 12.09.08

BBC Poll tracker

Gallup puts McCain on 48% and Obama on 44%. WHAT THE BLINKING FLIP ARE AMERICAN PEOPLE THINKING?!

Here's a clue America, EVERYONE ELSE IN THE WORLD WANTS OBAMA;

All 22 countries in a BBC World Service poll would prefer Democratic nominee Barack Obama to be elected US president instead of his Republican rival John McCain.

Obama is preferred by a four to one margin on average across the 22,000 people polled.

The margin in favour of Obama ranges from just 9% in India to 82% in Kenya. On average 49% prefer Obama to 12% preferring McCain.

Closed for Business Time

16:01 / 12.09.08

It might be a caricature, and it might be wrong and stereotypical, but it seems to me that in a country where only about a third of the population* actually have a passport, they wouldn't care much what the rest of the world wants. In fact, with all the USA-bashing going on I wouldn't be surprised if a sizeable amount of Americans aren't positively dying to give the rest of the world a metaphorical kick in the knadgers.

* In contrast, 71% of British 16 year olds have a passport. Ref

16:23 / 12.09.08

dying to give the rest of the world a metaphorical kick in the knadgers

Starting with Pakistan?

16:45 / 12.09.08

I hate to tell you but most Americans are not thinking of the rest of the World in a kicking sort of way.

Case in point it's the fear mongering. Did you see the Olbermann piece on 9/11 TM?

The GOP has most of white America blackmailed with the fear that a Dem in the White house means invasion, surrender, the raping of white women by brown people, the bombing of white people by brown people, the uprising of brown people against white people etc.

I do love somethings about being an American but the persistent accepted levels of bigotry are unbelievable. If you look at Convention clips of the RNC it's a sea of white fat Americans in cowboy hats. Who are all afraid of Muslims, Chinese, Russians, and everyone else who isn't a bible clinging xenophobe.

Many don't identify with being racist just afraid of 'others' while some wholeheartedly embrace racial hatred.

Every single person I know who is voting for McCain/Palin is a middle to upper class older white person.

This 2006 US Consensus says 1/3 of the US population is minority.

So what's that then, 2/3 white and afraid? Ok there's a lot of us pissed off white people who prefer a smart progressive person of color as President of our country over a throwback old white man owned by corporations.

17:50 / 12.09.08

Is Palin a feminist?

From the lovely ladies at Feministing.com

Keith, like a scientist

18:32 / 12.09.08

It's a big country and it's hard to reach everyone in the same exact way, so American politics are always a bit odd from the outside looking in.

But, keep this in mind when discussing polls, a significant portion of 18-30 year old voters do not have a home phone, and do most of their phone business by cell, where polling doesn't reach. That's a large segment of likely Obama voters.

Going to be close, but... I mean, fuck, how can you vote for McCain, it boggles the mind.

To make everyone feel better, look up Palin's interview with Charles Gibson (ABC) and McCain's appearance on the View, wherein Barbara Walters goes to town on him to hopefully great effect among voters.

Keith, like a scientist

18:53 / 12.09.08

Was trying to find some decent links that represent the Palin/Gibson and McCain/View interviews... Best I could uncover is:

McCain on The View

Sarah Palin with Charles Gibson

The Palin interview is certainly the first salvo in the media trying to show that their scrutinizing of Palin is justified. Also, no one will blame you if you get tired of watching someone read the same talking points unwaveringly over the course of an entire interview.

23:02 / 12.09.08

I've really got so many thoughts and ideas about the dynamics of this race right now, it's so important and engaging and scary. But I'm not going to post about that now, because it would take a while to pick it apart. I just wanted to point out this story by NPR.

NPR has learned that the raid by helicopter-borne U.S. Special Operations forces in Pakistan last week was not an isolated incident but part of a three-phase plan, approved by President Bush, to strike at Osama bin Laden and top al-Qaida leadership.
...
The plan represents an 11th-hour effort by the Bush administration to hammer al-Qaida before the November election, two government officials told NPR.

ONLY NICE THINGS

13:07 / 13.09.08

It might be a caricature, and it might be wrong and stereotypical, but it seems to me that in a country where only about a third of the population* actually have a passport, they wouldn't care much what the rest of the world wants.

This line of thinking presupposes that what people with passports do with their passports is _in any way worthwhile_, which assumption I don't think is unquestionable. My day trip to Calais in 1984 may have turned me into a sophisticated and cosmopolitan champion of international governance, but actually I just got a flick knife.

It also fails to take into account that US citizens until fairly recently could travel by air without passports to and from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the 17 countries of the Caribbean (excepting Cuba, obvs), and can still do so by road or sea. Further, one can travel to and from these countries - participants in the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative - by air using WHTI-approved travel documentation, which includes Native American photo ID or a beefed-up version of your state driving license.

As such, the statistic about US passport ownership often seems to me more a reflection on the parochialism of those presenting it than the parochialism of Americans - it doesn't reflect how many Americans have actually left or could leave their home nation. Also, of course, the US is fucking enormous - put in Canada and Mexico and you've got a huge and varied landmass with many spoken and written languages and incredible variations of climate and scenery.

Another question that comes up here is to what extent US citizens do or should care about who the rest of the world wants as their president, and how profitable it is to draw attention to the tastes of other countries. Anyone remember Operation Clark County? In which a load of Guardian-reading douchebags provided an invaluable proof that Americans don't enjoy being patronised by douchebags, and in doing so may well have delivered Clark County to Bush.

Closed for Business Time

15:24 / 13.09.08

I agree on second thoughts that it's probably wrong - and you make a good point about the relative lack of need for a passport; I didn't know US citizens had those privileges. And of course USA is a vast and varied country. However, IMO Operation Clark County illustrates a trend that has somewhat similar results as my scenario - the perception of vociferous and somewhat hyperbolic demonization of the GOP/US right in swathes of EMEA and Asia might well lead to a resurgence in feelings of solidarity among conservative-leaning US voters.

Glad to see you're back anyway. Good break?

MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!

17:07 / 13.09.08

I couldn't help but notice some resonance between McCain and a benchmark in modern mainstream (neocon) comics, one I decided to explore a bit.

Not sure if it works or not, but it was a fun experiment.

02:22 / 14.09.08

I have an acquaintance (actually an American expat living in England) who has a theory about those Gallup polls.

1. They only poll "likely" voters, a group which typically doesn't include... well, the Democratic base.

2. Their polling relies on land-line telephones, and most young, educated people - the enthusiastic Obama supporters - are more likely to be cellphone-only households, or primarily cellphone users. (It's illegal to solicit over cellular phones, although some organizations still do it.)

So the polls, he thinks, are skewed Republican.

It's a reasonable theory, I think.

02:48 / 14.09.08

I agree with that theory, to a certain extent. But there has been a perceptible shift in ratings the last week.
Haus, to generalize some more about Americans, I would say that overall, most probably don't care much about opinions outside the country, and many even cultivate a disdain for other countries. Which is something that probably could be said for many people worldwide. There may be more of that "independent" thinking embedded in the culture here than some European countries, though. Not very useful, I think.

In other news, Rush Limbaugh and other conservatives have spoken out about the liberal media sending in armies to dig dirt about Palin to besmirch an innocent woman's name(caution, link to the dickhead's own site), and what do you know? Here again comes a sleazy hit-job on Palin from the New York Slimes.

I don't know how much these kind of reports will end up resonating with the public at large, but if enough keeps coming out, it can't help but take the bloom off the rose.

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