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To: cirrus who wrote (141900)	8/26/2008 9:14:49 PM
From: Mac Con Ulaidh	Respond to of 362752

Cirrus - some of the brightest most interesting women I know had an immediate and ongoing dislike of Hillary beginning in '92. Don't think it is racism. It is more her as a woman than color. Sad, but true. I still argue with many an intelligent woman about Hillary. It is oddly sadly deep the dislike of a strong woman, and that is what Michelle is more than a strong 'black' woman. But on a good note, my 79 year old aunt, born and raised and always in Alabama, is considering Obama for her vote. She is leaning towards him.

To: cirrus who wrote (141900)	8/26/2008 9:34:38 PM
From: Wharf Rat	Respond to of 362752

I watch rasslin'; male soaps.

To: cirrus who wrote (141900)	8/27/2008 3:40:02 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 362752

“A Dozen Reasons Why McCain Won’t Win: Money-Back Guarantee” msa4.wordpress.com

To: cirrus who wrote (141900)	8/29/2008 11:08:51 AM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 362752

The Russian Bogeyman and The October Surprise dailykos.com

To: cirrus who wrote (141900)	8/29/2008 11:48:25 AM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 362752

Palin Makes McCain's OLD AGE THE #1 ISSUE in November dailykos.com

To: cirrus who wrote (141900)	8/29/2008 2:23:56 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 362752

38 million watch Obama speech (more than the Olympic opening ceremony) dailykos.com

To: cirrus who wrote (141900)	8/29/2008 3:00:21 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 362752

McCain to Obama: “We Can Too.”.... By Dan Schnur / Dan Schnur, the director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California, was the national communications director for John McCain’s presidential campaign in 2000. (Full biography.) The selection of Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska, as his running mate tells us a great deal about John McCain. But it tells us even more about how he and his advisers see this election shaping up. First, it demonstrates how strongly his campaign believes that Hillary Clinton’s supporters will decide this election. The pundit-ocracy has talked endlessly over the last several months about the importance of white working-class voters in this election and the difficulty that Barack Obama has had in securing their support. Mr. McCain’s campaign did their best to stir resentment among Mrs. Clinton’s backers over the last several days. Now they’re making a full frontal effort to win them over, particularly the 35-to-44-year-old women who they see as a particularly important voting bloc. Mr. McCain’s advisers will go to great pains to point out that the 44-year-old Ms. Palin drives to work every day in her family Jetta, and hope that she can establish an emotional connection with these voters that neither Mr. Obama or their own candidate has been able to accomplish. Second, it shows that Mr. McCain’s criticisms of Mr. Obama’s lack of experience are having no more impact on undecided voters than Mrs. Clinton’s attacks on him did last spring. Ms. Palin is a first-term governor with little experience in elected office. Her selection makes it almost impossible for Mr. McCain and his allies to continue to denigrate Mr. Obama on this front. (By Monday morning, assume that every Republican in the country who believed that experience was important will no longer think so, and that every Democrat who didn’t think it was a big deal will now decide it is absolutely critical.) Mr. McCain and his team have probably concluded that suffering through the stature gap in a vice presidential debate is a sacrifice worth making given Ms. Palin’s other potential advantages. Third, it motivates the conservative base of the Republican Party. Although Mr. McCain has made steady strides in shoring up his support from conservative voters, that support has appeared more dutiful than heartfelt. Strains of that conservatism may not wear well with some swing voters, but the working class in Ohio and Michigan tend to be economically populist and socially conservative. Mr. McCain is gambling that support from these voters will offset losses among socially moderate and economically upscale suburbanites. Fourth, it suggests that Mr. McCain’s advisers are not that confident about the current trajectory of the race. When their candidate was running 10 or 12 points behind, it seemed likely that Mr. McCain would be forced to take a gamble by naming a moderate like Tom Ridge, a former Pennsylvania governor; Joe Lieberman, a Democrat-turned-independent senator; or a woman or a minority like Ms. Palin or Bobby Jindahl, the governor of Louisiana. As the polls tightened, a more conventional alternative like Mitt Romney appeared to be a safer choice. But even with their candidate running even with Mr. Obama, John McCain’s senior staff must have decided that a more dramatic selection was necessary. And finally, it reminds us how much John McCain enjoys his reputation as a maverick. As he’s made his way back in the polls over the last several weeks, Mr. McCain has been running an effective but very conventional campaign. But this type of surprise and such a sizable gamble illustrates how badly John McCain misses being seen as an unconventional politician. Ms. Palin is the first female vice presidential nominee of one of the two major parties in almost a quarter of a century. Mr. McCain obviously couldn’t make as much history as Obama did this week, but he did make some of his own. Thursday night, Barack Obama effectively made the case for change. Friday morning, John McCain did the same.

To: cirrus who wrote (141900)	9/2/2008 10:14:13 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 362752

Head for the High Road _______________________________________________________________ By BOB HERBERT Op-Ed Columnist The New York Times September 2, 2008 The Democrats need to be careful about the intensity of their criticism of Sarah Palin. She may look like an easy target, an appalling lightweight who will send serious voters scurrying to the more substantive Obama-Biden ticket. And the temptation to get on her case probably became greater with Ms. Palin’s disclosure Monday that her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant. But the Democrats should not push this stuff too far. Ms. Palin is a lot more appealing personally than the often testy guy at the top of her ticket. And the inescapable reality is that there are millions of voters who identify with her, and may be quick to resent attacks that they perceive as bullying or overkill. Here’s the deal: Palin is the latest G.O.P. distraction. She’s meant to shift attention away from the real issue of this campaign — the awful state of the nation after eight years of Republican rule. The Republicans are brilliant at distractions. Willie Horton was a distraction. The chatter about gays, guns and God has been a long-running distraction. And we all remember the Swift-boat campaign. If you want a real issue, forget all of the above and revisit Monday’s front page of The New York Times. Hundreds of families are being forced out of their homes each month in Louisville, Ky., because of mortgage foreclosures. With record numbers of poor and homeless students, the public schools are struggling. The crisis has only been made worse by fiscal difficulties facing the schools. Higher energy and other costs, combined with a $43 million cut in state aid, have left the school system in a sorry state. The reason this should be high on the presidential campaign agendas is that the problems in Louisville are widespread. As Sam Dillon of The Times reported: “As 50 million children return to classes across the nation, crippling increases in the price of fuel and food, coupled with the economic downturn, have left schools from California to Florida to Maine cutting costs.” Even as these districts are cutting back, wrote Mr. Dillon, “the number of poor and homeless children is rising.” That is the kind of substantive issue the Democrats should be focused on: how to educate America’s children and improve the quality of their lives; how to bring health care to those going without; how to put America back to work. To their credit, Senators Obama and Biden seem unwilling to jump aboard the bash-Ms.-Palin bandwagon. Both have been exceedingly mild in their comments about the Alaska governor. Last week’s Democratic convention dramatically illustrated the most effective approach available to the party. The convention built in intensity night by night with featured speakers who focused powerfully on substantive matters. Bill Clinton may be wildly unpredictable, but last Wednesday he was magnificent, laying out the challenges that will face the next administration. Listen: “Our nation is in trouble on two fronts. The American dream is under siege at home, and America’s leadership in the world has been weakened. Middle-class and low-income Americans are hurting — with incomes declining; job losses, poverty and inequality rising; mortgage foreclosures and credit card debt increasing; health care coverage disappearing; and a very big spike in the cost of food, utilities and gasoline. “And our position in the world has been weakened by too much unilateralism and too little cooperation, by a perilous dependence on imported oil, by a refusal to lead on global warming, by a growing indebtedness and a dependence on foreign lenders, by a severely burdened military, by a backsliding on global nonproliferation and arms control agreements, and by a failure to consistently use the power of diplomacy, from the Middle East to Africa to Latin America to Central and Eastern Europe.” Respectful criticism of Sarah Palin is fine. But the great issues of this campaign loom like giant redwoods over the pathetic weeds of politics as usual and the myriad distractions that have turned one presidential election after another into a national embarrassment. Seventy-two years ago, in his renomination acceptance speech at the Democratic convention in Philadelphia (before more than 100,000 people gathered in Franklin Field), Franklin D. Roosevelt rose above the boiler-plate rhetoric of political speeches and spoke of his generation’s “rendezvous with destiny.” He warned of the perils to the nation of economic inequality. “Liberty,” he said, “requires opportunity to make a living, a living decent according to the standard of the time, a living which gives man not only enough to live by, but something to live for.” Roosevelt’s words echo across the decades because they resonate with the very meaning of America, a meaning that is so much deeper than what our politics have become. “We are fighting,” he told his audience, “to save a great and precious form of government, for ourselves and for the world.”

To: cirrus who wrote (141900)	9/3/2008 1:52:01 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 362752

the latest comments from Time Magazine columnist Joe Klein... time-blog.com The Republicans Tonight Posted by Joe Klein September 2, 2008 11:04 This was a very effective night for the Republicans--strong speeches from Fred Thompson (where was that during the primary campaign?) and Joe Lieberman, who mischaracterized himself as a Democrat. Thompson gave an effective recounting of John McCain's biography--did you know that he was a POW?--and some old-fashioned Republican red meat, criticizing Democrats for proposing tax increases for corporations--uhhh, the very sort of tax increases that Sarah Palin successfully imposed in Alaska. (Interesting that he didn't mention the Democrats' desire to restore the Clinton tax rates for the wealthy--it must not be testing as well as it did in the past). Lieberman's plea for bipartisanship was the weirdest speech I've ever seen at a Republican Convention in the Age of Reagan--and not nearly the disgrace that Zell Miller's was 4 years ago. Much as I've come to dislike Lieberman for his warmongering and constant questioning of the patriotism of Barack Obama and the Democratic Party, I've got to say that his testimony to McCain's bipartisanship and his anti-gridlock rant may have hit home in a country sick of hyper-partisanship...even if he was quite inaccurate about Obama's willingness to reach across the aisle--as his efforts on ethics, non-proliferation and veterans benefits have shown. It is a measure of the weakness of the Republicans this year that the party that has disdained and besmirched Democrats constantly over the past twenty years suddenly wants to make peace. But the most striking thing about the evening was what was missing: even the slightest wisp of substance. Not even a detailed tax cutting proposal, not even a paean to anti-missile defense or a rant against Iran. The strategy here seems crystal clear--indeed, it was stated today by McCain's campaign manager, "Issues don't matter." The Republicans are gambling that John McCain's inspiring biography will overcome the overwhelming--80%--feeling that the country has been moving in the wrong direction. They are gambling that people will turn to Republicans to clean up the mess that Republicans made. And they may be right, but I'd guess the euphoria over John McCain's story will last no longer than the next time most Americans have to pull out their checkbooks and pay the bills.

To: cirrus who wrote (141900)	9/3/2008 11:26:05 PM
From: stockman_scott	1 Recommendation Respond to of 362752

The Obama campaign responds to Palin's speech: The speech that Governor Palin gave was well delivered, but it was written by George Bush's speechwriter and sounds exactly like the same divisive, partisan attacks we've heard from George Bush for the last eight years. If Governor Palin and John McCain want to define 'change' as voting with George Bush 90% of the time, that's their choice, but we don't think the American people are ready to take a 10% chance on change," said Bill Burton, Obama Campaign Spokesman.

To: cirrus who wrote (141900)	9/4/2008 12:51:59 PM
From: stockman_scott	1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 362752

Palin: Likely Not Enough mydd.com

To: cirrus who wrote (141900)	9/4/2008 3:03:04 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 362752

Who is Prepared to be President? Nobody _______________________________________________________________ By Richard Reeves* Syndicated Columnist AUGUST 29, 2008 DENVER — Is Barack Obama prepared to be president? No. Neither is John McCain. I have written about 12 pounds of books on the presidency over the past 22 years, three long studies that focused on the day-to-day work of John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. This is the most important thing I learned in doing that, a paragraph at the end of the introduction to "President Kennedy: Profile of Power": "John F. Kennedy was one of only 42 men who truly knew what it is like to be president. He was not prepared for it, but I doubt that anyone ever was or ever will be. The job is sui generis. The presidency is an act of faith." The Kennedy book was published during the presidency of Bill Clinton, so now 43 men know. Obama, as I said, is obviously not one of them. But in praise of his acceptance speech here after winning the Democratic nomination, I did think the senator from Illinois, four years older than Kennedy was when he was inaugurated, showed he had a clue when he said: "We need a president who can face the threats of the future, not keep grasping at the ideas of the past." That is not a particularly graceful or articulate line, but it is the most important fact about being president. The toughest job in the world is essentially reactive. The president does not run the country and is not paid by the hour. He is there to respond to events unanticipated: bizarre attacks on New York City, the blockade of a European city occupied by American troops, the rising of young black men and women against legal segregation, civil wars and genocides in places we never knew existed, the shelling of an American fort off South Carolina by other Americans. Presidents are alone, facing the unknown. The job is not about running the country; it is about leading the nation in unexpected crisis or danger. No one remembers whether Lincoln balanced the budget. Obama touched on what we anticipate will be the issues faced by the next president, as McCain will this week: a fading economy and place in the world, terrorism, health care, climate change. All important, critical, even, but no one knows what will be the issue that defines the next president. John Kennedy and Richard Nixon debated about defending Quemoy and Matsu, two islands off what we then called "Red China," but Kennedy's presidency was defined by surprising events in the Cold War against communism, and by civil rights and a civil war in what was called French Indo-China. And if you are interested in what being president is like, look at the day 45 years ago, Aug. 28, 1963, when Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. That made Kennedy realize that his historical destiny would be to put the government on the side of a minority, no small thing in a democracy of majority rule. Until that day, Kennedy had never allowed himself to be photographed with King, who was seen, rather suspiciously, as a man of the left. That day, he invited the black minister to the White House. Waiting for King to arrive, Kennedy met with the National Security Council and signed off on a plot to depose President Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam, an action that turned that far country into an American military colony — an action that led to disaster. That is what it was like to president. No one, least of all Kennedy, knew. In the end, we choose a president on our own sense of character and judgment. In the end, it is not about the candidate; it is about the character and judgment of the American people. We decide. It is a great gamble. Then, the president's real job is to bring out the best in us. _____________________________________________ *Richard Reeves is a visiting professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California and the former Regents Professor of Political Science at UCLA. He has also taught political writing at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. His weekly column has been distributed by Universal Press Syndicate since 1979 and appears in such newspapers as the Los Angeles Times, The Denver Post and Dallas Morning News. He is a former chief political correspondent of The New York Times and has written extensively for numerous magazines including The New Yorker and The New York Times Magazine.

To: cirrus who wrote (141900)	9/5/2008 7:55:05 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 362752

McCain's Walter Reed Debacle Blowing Up mydd.com

To: cirrus who wrote (141900)	9/6/2008 11:13:59 AM
From: stockman_scott	1 Recommendation Respond to of 362752

Bad News for McCain Campaign...The registration trends are in... dailykos.com

To: cirrus who wrote (141900)	9/7/2008 4:35:51 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 362752

Maverick McCain? scootmandubious.blogspot.com