Sounds like Buddha .me "it's all about you"

Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com writes:

"...and Speaking of Head-Fakes

That's what I think we got from Barack Obama at Invesco Field tonight. A gigantic head-fake. The Republicans were probably anticipating a more abstract, uplifting, grandiose address -- one more in line with the Obama caricature, and one which would make for easy critique in the context of the grandiose setting of an NFL stadium. Instead, Obama's speech was specific, hard-hitting, and functional. It wasn't a speech intended for the Rhetoric Hall of Fame; it was one intended to be responsive to the political winds of August 28, 2008. One needn't worry about trying to beat expectations when one is able to defy them."

::::::::::::::::;;;;

Joan McCarter of DailyKos.com writes:

Not "Yes We Can," but rather "We Have To"

"As a highly partisan Dem who has been wishing and hoping and waiting for Obama to do what we in the blogosphere have been asking for for so long from our Dem leadership--draw a sharp contrast with the Republicans and bring the fight to them--I'm a satisfied customer tonight.

Barack Obama left behind some of the more squishy "post-partisan" rhetoric and did what he had to do--define McCain as Bush's third term. "Eight is enough" might be a slightly cheesy tag line, but it works. You'll remember it and you'll say "Yeah, eight IS enough," and we can't afford Republican rule any more.

This was the speech from someone who is ready to roll up his sleeves and get in the fight. Good show."

::::::::::::

Markos Moulitsas -- a.k.a. "kos" writes:

"When was the last time we saw a speech like tonight's -- a full-throated defense of progressive principles, devoid of mushy "centrist" crap? It didn't avoid the tough social issues like abortion, guns, or gay marriage. It wasn't apologetic. Unlike Bill Clinton's and Biden's, it didn't unnecessarily praise John McCain. It drew sharp distinctions between Democrats and Republicans.

It came from the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party.

To be honest, this is the speech -- aggressive and unabashedly populist -- I expected Biden to give. I couldn't be more pleased to have gotten it instead from the standard bearer himself.

Tomorrow, the McCain campaign will try to "steal Obama's thunder" by announcing Pawlenty. Or Mittens.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

Bring 'em on. This battle has been engaged."

Obama: "It's not about me, it's about you."
- Gotham

Perhaps you interpreted it this way.

This still is an expression of duality.

I would say: "It is about you AND me"

Mieke

Thanks for the news Gotham, I haven't heard the speech. So he is saying that it's about change, and he's telling us that it's not about him, but about ourselves??
Aha... :)

So when you say "if you're ready for a brave new world there's only one alternative" I guess you realize it's not merely about change in whom we vote for, how we act and look- we're not out to be a representation, but the real thing, right? This is about turning our attention inward, looking at our image of ourselves and changing that. It's not about who he is and how real he is, it's about who we are and how real we can get.

What I love about Obama is that he knows what this is about, even if the message comes through him encoded in all this political clothing. It is the language of his time, and he speaks it perfectly.

Obama's yogi-like quality...

"he separates himself from the moment and assesses."

"he's participating in these things but also watching them."

See the artcile below.
____________

"His initial instincts were off from where regular people's were."

"He was an outsider but within the ultimate insider clubs."

"His idea is that you should always be challenging the institution."

_______________________________________________

This artcile focuses on the personal side of Obama than his politics.

For a new political age, a self-made man
By Jodi Kantor
August 28, 2008
The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/28/us/politics/28obama.html?hp=&pagewanted=print

From the earliest days of his presidential campaign, those around Senator Barack Obama have heard the same mantra. He repeated it after he announced his candidacy and after debates, after victories and defeats.

"I need to get better," he would say.

In the way Obama has trained himself for competition, he can sometimes seem as much athlete as politician. Even before he entered public life, he began honing not only his political skills, but also his mental and emotional ones. He developed a self-discipline so complete, friends and aides say, that he has established dominion over not only what he does but also how he feels. He does not easily exult, despair or anger: to do so would be an indulgence, a distraction from his goals. Instead, they say, he separates himself from the moment and assesses.

"He doesn't inhale," said David Axelrod, his chief strategist.

But with Barack Hussein Obama officially becoming the Democratic presidential nominee on Wednesday night, some of the same qualities that have brought him just one election away from the White House — his virtuosity, his seriousness, his ability to inspire, his seeming immunity from the strains that afflict others — may be among his biggest obstacles to getting there.

There is little about him that feels spontaneous or unpolished, and even after two books, thousands of campaign events and countless hours on television, many Americans say they do not feel they know him. The charges of elusiveness puzzle those closest to the candidate. Far more than most politicians, they say, he is the same in public as he is in private.

The mystery and the consistency may share the same root: Obama, 47, is the first presidential candidate to come of age during an era of relentless, 24-hour scrutiny. "He is, more than any other contemporary political figure, a creature of these times," said Representative Earl Blumenauer, a fellow Democrat who campaigned this spring with Obama in Oregon, Blumenauer's home state.

Last month, while visiting Jerusalem, Obama crammed a note in the Western Wall that was promptly fished out and posted on the Internet. The message was elegantly phrased, as if Mr. Obama, a Christian, had anticipated that his private words to the Almighty would soon be on public display.

In the note, Obama asked for protection, forgiveness and wisdom, a message in keeping with the humility he tries to emphasize. But his uncanny self-assurance and seemingly smooth glide upward have stoked complaints from his critics and his opponents...that he has not spent enough time earning and learning, that his main project in life has been his own ascent.

Because he betrays little hint of struggle, Obama can seem far removed from the troubles of some voters. Older working-class whites may be uncomfortable with his race — he is the son of a white mother from Kansas and a black father from Kenya — and his age. But they may also find it hard to identify with him, even though he tries to assure them that they have much in common,mentioning that his mother relied on food stamps at times and that he worked as a community organizer in Chicago’s poorest neighborhoods. His command of crowds of 75,000, his unfailing eloquence and his comparing himself to Joshua and Lincoln can belie his point.

These voters are not the first to see a contradiction between Mr. Obama’s aura of specialness and his insistence that he is just like everyone else.

“I’m just a first among equal folks,” Mr. Obama’s fellow editors at the Harvard Law Review wrote about him in an affectionate but biting parody issue after he was elected its president....

>>>>>>>>>>>>Racing to the Top

...From an early age, Obama's mother taught him to think grandly about his potential to help others.

...As a law student, he mused about wanting to be mayor of Chicago; as a law professor, he talked about running for governor of Illinois; not long after that, he was running for president.

...Obama groomed himself more carefully than he sometimes admits. [...]his Harvard law school classmates say that Obama was already talking about a future run for public office.... To truly address the poverty and injustice he had seen as an organizer, he would need to gain some power.

Starting in law school, Obama began pulling together a large cast of mentors, well-connected and civic-minded friends who rose in Chicago and Illinois politics along with him, including a spouse he thought was ideal.

"He loved Michelle," said Gerald Kellman, Obama's community organizing boss, but he was also looking for the kind of partner who could join him in his endeavors. "This is a person who could help him manage the pressures of the life he thought he wanted," he said.

Obama won his army of powerful champions — including Abner Mikva, a former federal judge; Tom Daschle, a former Senate majority leader; Senator Edward Kennedy; and too many Chicago leaders to count — by impressing them with his intellectual heft and idealism, but also with his eagerness to absorb their lessons. As a man who barely knew his own father, Obama might have sought many things from these figures: authority, security, even love. But his needs were more concrete, Kellman said. "He forms mentorships in order to learn," he said. "He wants to know what they know."

Both allies and critics sometimes concluded that Obama was too gifted, or in too much of a hurry, for the tasks that consumed others.

"I thought of him much more as a colleague" than a student, said Laurence Tribe, a law professor at Harvard for whom Obama worked.

...Obama's campaign promotes accomplishments from his days in the Illinois State Senate: he successfully championed campaign finance and racial profiling laws, as well as child-care subsidies and tax credits for the working poor. But "he didn't participate in rank-and-file things," said John Corrigan, a former consultant to the state Senate's Democratic caucus. "He was destined for something bigger than potholes."

And in the United States Senate, Obama leads a subcommittee on European affairs, but he has not held any oversight hearings to probe foreign policy issues, just a few to discuss nominations.

The McCain campaign has seized on this pattern, mocking their opponent as a self-consumed star, even suggesting that he has a messianic complex.

Obama has heard the charges before. Long before the presidential race, some around him seemed to resent his ability to galvanize a following....

>>>>>>>>>>>Disciplined and Detached

If there is one quality that those closest to Obama marvel at, it is his emotional control. This is partly a matter of temperament, they say, partly an effort by Obama to step away from his own feelings so he can make dispassionate judgments. "He doesn't allow himself the luxury of any distraction," said Valerie Jarrett, a close advisor. "He is able to use his disciplined mind to not get caught up in the emotional swirl."

In 2006, Obama backed Alexi Giannoulias, a 29-year-old friend from the basketball court, for Illinois state treasurer. Opponents accused Giannoulias of corruption, citing thin evidence: a loan his family's bank made to a convicted felon. After Giannoulias worsened the situation by calling the felon a nice guy, Obama told him to fix his campaign or get out of the race.

"I was almost crying," said Giannoulias, who eventually won. "He was almost upset at how thin-skinned I was."

It is not that Obama does not experience emotion, friends say. But he detaches and observes, revealing more in his books than he does in the moment. "He has the qualities of a writer," Axelrod said. "I get the sense that he's participating in these things but also watching them."

Obama watches no one more avidly than himself. During the primary season, supporters who complimented him on debate appearances found that he often disagreed. "I wasn't great nor was I wonderful," Obama responded last spring at a fund-raiser in Seattle. Then came his usual refrain: "I have to get better, and I will do better," he said, according to Michael Parham, a donor.

As a campaigner, Obama had to learn to sometimes let simple emotion rule. When Axelrod first devised "Yes We Can" as a slogan during Obama's Senate campaign, the candidate resisted: it was a little corny for his taste. "That's where the high-minded and big-thinking Barack came in," said Peter Giangreco, a consultant to the Obama campaign. "His initial instincts were off from where regular people's were."

While he speeds through rope lines, Obama sometimes connects better one on one. In spare moments, he will surprise supporters — a doorman who scraped together a small contribution, an elderly woman he heard enjoyed his memoir — with an out-of-the blue phone call. Waiting backstage to speak to 20,000 people in Seattle in February, Obama grew so absorbed in talking to a retired Michigan couple that he had to be reminded not to miss his entrance cue.

Once in a very long while, Obama will relax his guard completely. Two years ago at a party celebrating the publication of his second book, "The Audacity of Hope," the new senator rose to say a few words, recalled Jarrett. As he talked about what his new job in Washington had cost his wife and two daughters, tears began to course down his face, leaving him unable to continue.

Michelle Obama rescued him with a kiss, and after a moment, everyone started to applaud.

>>>>>>>>>>>>An Outsider's New Role

Obama is often called a perpetual outsider — racially, geographically, politically. But his story is more complicated than that. "He's been an outsider at Columbia and Harvard," said Matthew McGuire, a friend. "He was an outsider but within the ultimate insider clubs."

Within those and other powerful institutions, Obama has always appointed himself critic. After being elected the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review, Obama gave a speech to black students and alumni that was so rousing, some recall it nearly two decades later. "Don't let Harvard change you," went the refrain. As a community organizer, he led Chicago residents to challenge the local authorities. In the Illinois State Senate, Obama was not only a reformer who pushed for tighter campaign finance rules, but an everyday skeptic who often pointed out hilarities and hypocrisies to colleagues.

Despite the speed of his rise, Obama often talks of politics as a closed system, one stacked against outsiders who lack powerful patrons or fat donor bases.

These sorts of criticisms have become the cornerstone of his political identity. Changing government, making it more responsive to citizens' needs, has been the promise of every campaign he has ever run. Today, despite the millions of people and dollars devoted to his election, Obama insists, improbably enough, that he is still the same advocate for the poor he was 20 years ago on the streets of Chicago.

"All the time, he says, let's keep in mind that this is not about Barack Obama," said Jarrett, an advisor. "He still sees himself as the community organizer."

But after he accepts his party's nomination on Thursday night, it will be hard to call Obama anything but the establishment. As head of his party, he will preside over everything he says he objects to about politics: the artifice, the influence of special interests, the partisanship. If he wins the presidency, there will be no more rungs on the ladder for Obama to climb, only re-election. The system he says is broken will become his.

Even those closest to him are not quite sure how he would make the transformation.

"That's uncomfortable," said Axelrod, about the prospect of Obama becoming the ultimate insider. "You need to accept that role to a degree if you're the nominee or the president," he acknowledged.

And yet, "I don't think that's a role he wants to play," Axelrod said. "His idea is that you should always be challenging the institution."

Here's the convention's Obama tribute, a 10 minute film directed by Davis Guggenheim, who made Al Gore's "Inconvenient Truth."... reminds of Al Gore's 2000 convention film.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=KpDbfvTkIeY

Pat Buchanan on Obama's Speech

http://youtube.com/watch?v=j0Fru4dZLGA

People are stunned by his reaction. He is a quintessential Conservative and a critic of Democrats and Obama on MSNBC.

Conservative and Republican Abbreviated Pundit Round-up

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/29/74242/7095/846/577845

What a night last night. A threat of a winning Democrat begets lots of dumb stuff from conservatives and Republicans.

Start with Fox News: Gustav Threatens GOP Convention Plans.

The Gulf Coast? Not Fox's concern.

***

David Brooks: My column demonstrates how disappointed elitists amuse themselves.

"As a child, I was abandoned by my parents and lived with a colony of ants. We didn’t have much in the way of material possession, but we did have each other and the ability to carry far more than our own body weights. When I was young, I was temporarily paralyzed in a horrible anteater accident, but I never gave up my dream: the dream of speaking at a national political convention so my speech could be talked over by Wolf Blitzer and a gang of pundits."

***

SF Chronicle:

"The Democrats gathered in Denver with questions about the level of their unity and the toughness of their nominee. They left with the answers they needed."

***

Andrew Sullivan:

"What he didn't do was give an airy, abstract, dreamy confection of rhetoric. The McCain campaign set Obama up as a celebrity airhead, a Paris Hilton of wealth and elitism. And he let them portray him that way, and let them over-reach, and let them punch him again and again ... and then he turned around and destroyed them. If the Rove Republicans thought they were playing with a patsy, they just got a reality check."

*******************

Reality check missed (not just K-Lo):

Jonah Goldberg: "Terrible speech. In all seriousness."

K-Lo: "Mean, too."

Andy McCarthy: "Lame speech, weak candidate. Election's over and we win."

Dick Morris: "Dems’s Big Blunder and McCain’s Big Chance. Since the Democrats were stupid enough to equate Bush and John (I voted with him 90%) McCain, we should take advantage of this colossal blunder, and substitute Abraham Lincoln or Teddy Roosevelt for Bush in the WH the next few months. No one will notice.

People, I'm serious about this. Hello, is this on?"

*********************

The grown-ups:

Ezra Klein: "McCain's trying to take Obama's strength away, but here's the counter. Trust first, inspiration second. And Biden will help tremendously."

***

Ron Brownstein:

"Democrats prepared for tonight's culminating rally with a Wednesday night program that quickened the pace and sharpened the somewhat diffuse focus of the convention's first two nights. It was highlighted by Biden's address and perhaps even more so by Bill Clinton's brisk and cogent speech, which appeared to draw a more enthusiastic response than the remarks from his wife on Tuesday night.

Relegated to a secondary spot before the networks' prime time, Bill Clinton was greeted with a lengthy ovation that sounded cathartic after all the tension between him and Obama supporters this year."

***

Cass Sunstein: "Obama's a pragmatic progressive, not a doctrinaire liberal."

***
Mort Kondracke: "Two words: ground game."

I like Obama, not because of his looks, and how he "speaks", or his personal bio, or his education and achievements, but because I see him as a man of reason, and his critical thinking skills are excellent which can be seen from his many interviews and his books.

If you interested in learning more about Obama's vision and his specific plan for Change, the campaign is releasing a policy book on September 9.

Change We Can Believe In: Barack Obama's Plan to Renew America's Promise

You can pre-order it on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Change-We-Can-Believe-Americas/dp/0307460452

Freyja, thanks for posting the Pat Buchanan clip (#7.)

"Staunch conservative Pat Buchanan had nothing but love for Barack Obama's acceptance speech"

He says it is the "greatest convention speech ever." That coming from a staunch conservative.

Rachel Maddow was stunned and wise to let pat speak.

It is also important, as mentioned by Pat, that OBAMA WRITES HIS OWN SPEECHES (most of them, especially the important ones.) Few politicians do that in the modern era. I see the same gift and critical thinking in his writings in books.

#9 Of course, Mr Irv, one needs superior critical thinking skills in order to see that Obama has critical thinking skills.

I had no reason to write that, sure!.

Ed, that sounds part (il-)logical and part sarcasm, but I am no match to your meta-thinking skills though. Logical is fine with me, Intuitive is fine too. But Mystical, not my realm.

Can you imagine what Deepak and Gotham will do when they get to meet Obama? They'll dissolve into giggles like the little eighth grade girl when the Senior Quarterback winks at her!

We're talking serious "Man-crush" here!!

I think I might just have to vote for him...cause I like the way he looks!! :-) )-:

One big Obagasm after another! Bet Candace (sp?) is getting jealous!

Someone said, "sometimes you pick your moves and sometimes moments pick you."

"It'll be pretty simple though when the dust settles: if you want more of the same - and I don't just mean the Bush regime, I mean politics as usual - go McCain. But if you are ready for a brave new world, there's only one alternative."Gotham Chopra

I like your point here, Gotham...
perhaps it is like hitting your head against the wall...perhaps..
love, Carolyn

Obama DNC Speech Reactions

~~Senator Hillary Clinton:

"Barack Obama's speech tonight laid out his specific, bold solutions and optimistic vision for our nation and our children's future.

"His speech crystallized the clear choice between he and Senator McCain. Four more years of the same failed policies or a leader who can tackle the great challenges we face: revitalizing our economy and restoring our standing in the world. I am proud to support Senator Obama, our next President of the United States and Joe Biden, our next Vice President of the United States."

~~Andrew Sullivan:

"It was a deeply substantive speech, full of policy detail, full of people other than the candidate, centered overwhelmingly on domestic economic anxiety. It was a liberal speech, more unabashedly, unashamedly liberal than any Democratic acceptance speech since the great era of American liberalism. But it made the case for that liberalism - in the context of the decline of the American dream, and the rise of cynicism and the collapse of cultural unity. His ability to portray that liberalism as a patriotic, unifying, ennobling tradition makes him the most lethal and remarkable Democratic figure since John F Kennedy.

What he didn't do was give an airy, abstract, dreamy confection of rhetoric. The McCain campaign set Obama up as a celebrity airhead, a Paris Hilton of wealth and elitism. And he let them portray him that way, and let them over-reach, and let them punch him again and again ... and then he turned around and destroyed them. If the Rove Republicans thought they were playing with a patsy, they just got a reality check."

~~TPM's Josh Marshall:

" I thought this was a very strong speech. About exactly what was needed. It was a strong speech. He made the case for himself; he laid out clear policy goals; and he aggressively set forth the stakes of the campaign. He made the case against John McCain while not attacking his character -- which makes a clear contrast with McCain's aggressively personal, denigrating campaign strategy.

I've heard a few people say that he seemed to hold back from giving the soaring speech he might have given. But I suspect that was intentional and I think a good decision. Meta-themes and tonality form the deeper structure of political communication. And the aim of this speech was not eloquence but strength."

~~Washington Post's Chris Cillizza:

"The optics of the event - the first national party convention to be held outdoors since John F. Kennedy accepted the Democratic nomination at the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1960 -- were breathtaking. Television screens filled with images of Obama supporters dancing in the aisles to the tunes of Stevie Wonder and Sheryl Crow; a blazing orange sun set on an arid Colorado night as Obama prepared to take the stage. The speech ended with fireworks and confetti, as Obama, his runningmate, Sen. Joe Biden, and their families stood together waving to the crowd of delegates and supporters, at the climax of the Democratic National Convention."

~~Radar's Charles Kaiser:

"It was the perfect culmination of a convention that was just as well-choreographed as the campaign that preceded it. Obama's speech was a splendid blend of stagecraft and substance. If you read the text, it hardly jumps off the page. But in Obama's hands it came alive, particularly here:

* We are the party of Roosevelt. We are the party of Kennedy. So don't tell me that Democrats won't defend this country. Don't tell me that Democrats won't keep us safe.

And here:

* If you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare voters.

The cumulative effect of the words of Michelle, Teddy Kennedy, Bill Clinton, and Obama himself should give the him a noticeable bounce."

~~MotherJones' David Corn:

"It was a historic speech on a historic night--in a remarkable setting. A crowd of tens of thousands of Americans, filling an entire stadium in the middle of the country, waved American flags and signs calling for "Change." Never in the nation's history had more Americans attended such an event. Never before had an African-American accepted the presidential nomination of a major party in the United States. And the speech of Barack Obama matched the moment.

He connected his own history--the history of a not-quite-ordinary American family--to the mythical promise of America. His rhetoric soared--as usual--but it was tethered to reality: in particular, the stark differences between how Obama would approach the challenges the nation now faces and how John McCain would do so. Obama laced his criticism of the Bush years and the possible McCain years with a dose of populism, which gave portions of the speech a sharp edge. And he brought his pitch for hope and change down to the ground with a succinct description of policy ideas he would work for as president."

A Real Messianic Celebrity

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/29/9501/06512/350/577324

That's George Bush.

Politics as usual, more of the same, vote McCain? Really?
Looks like he will choose a woman, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

So let's see, Obama chooses a older white male not Clinton, very safe and boring , gives a traditional Democratic speech, moving to the center and John McCain chooses a female Governor from Alaska.

I guess that's more of the same.

I suppose it's enough to give a great speech with impossible goals. I couldn't imagine why one wouldn't be energized by that.

See you all in St. Paul.

Cheers,

Steve

CNN is saying that a private plane landed from Alaska and that it looks like Palin.

Palin is a bold choice. I'll give him that.

But after the initial shock, McCain standing next to Palin looks downright creepy. And what does she know about solving our nations problems. If McCain was to drop dead the first day of office, we are all basically f@ucked.

I welcome a VP nominee who has demonstrated that she has realized that the Republicans are the party of complete corruption and are void of any moral compass, let alone any patriotism.

Palin has moved against, accused, and turned in Murkowsky, Don Young, Ted Stevens, and others.

McCain needs to be asked: in just a few years Palin has moved against the total corruption that has gutted the Republican Party in Alaska. What, Sir, have you done in Washington to address the total corruption of the Republicans there?

And Palin needs to be asked: has the Republican Party served Alaska well? Is this what we need for the country?

Not that they all don't have targets painted on their backs, but Palin would be sent from heaven.

Her ethics investigation was filed only 1 month ago and it looks BAD.

http://www.ktva.com/ci_10026165

But then, it's all but impossible to find a clean Republican these days, isn't it?

Experience? Congratulations - 43yo Palin is 3 years younger than Barack, and her 18 months as Gov (that's all the political experience she has) makes Obama look like a veteran.

Joe Biden will shake her around like a limp doll in the debates.

And if McCain thinks anti-choice Palin will deliver the Hillary faction he's been slavering over, he's been smoking it.

How many debates did Biden win during his primary debates?

I thought so, Palin is the real deal, Biden better be prepared and pleeze Joe don't start every sentence with the wordw "literally" or "folks".

Good luck

Steve

It looks like Palin. Fox News seems to confirm it. Let the games begin!

In my opinion, its a sign of a desperate campaign.

Palin would be a disaster for McCain -- she has little experience on policy and is scandal tainted, and would fuel a million questions re McCain's age and health. McCain could not breath another word about his primary attack on Obama.

These folks seem to have a different take
on Obama:

Age of Katrina Not Obama

http://www.blackagendareport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=755&Itemid=1

CNN calls it for Plain. MSNBC confirms it.

Not like this might make us question McCain's judgment, let alone his sanity. Talk about winging it. Just the kind of temperament needed to be President.

So whose base is bigger? Dem or Repub? Because this is going to be an election about base support, turnout and enthusiasm, all of which Obama has in place.

I also think Biden brings Independents.

McCain had to choose. He chose red meat for the Fundie base.

I would be willing to bet that McCain has some idea that because HE is independent, HE will bring in independents.

Um...That would be wrong.

And moreover Gov. Plain( She is to Alaksa what Bush is to America) will turn off many indies.

On a different note, I believe this is a mistake on McCain's part if he thinks this will get HRC supporters he is wrong.

A lot of HRC supporters and women in general are uninformed about McCain's record on Roe v. Wade. With the pick of Palin, it puts her record and McCain's front and center. The confusion ends.

Markos @ Daily Kos:

Betraying McCain's desperation

Let's be honest: John McCain clearly wanted Tom Ridge or Joe Lieberman, but he was afraid to buck his party's choice ideologues. So then they looked at Mittens, but having a baker's dozen homes wasn't looking so hot. So he figured that with Pawlenty, he might make a play for Minnesota, but that got shot down over the last week as it become increasingly obvious that Biden would wipe the floor with him in their debate.

Throw in Obama's ground-shifting speech last night, and it was clear that McCain had to throw a hail mary to just 'remain' in the game, much less be competitive.

So we get Sarah Palin, who has a fairly compelling personal story and is an attractive woman, but has scant political experience, zero name recognition outside of political junky circles, faces an ethical investigation by her own legislature, and will now be forced to run a grueling national campaign despite having an infant child at home.

Those are the marks of desperation, and really, given his precarious electoral position, John McCain had no choice.

Update: MSNBC chatter:

Chuck Todd

"They really wanted to pick a woman, and there were no obvious choices."

Pat Buchanan

"Biggest political gamble I believe just about in American political history...that is not hyberbole. I can think of no choice of VP that approaches this."

Joe Scarborough

"I can't imagine a woman that's been a governor for a year and a half, but to debate Joe Biden on Georgia, a remerging Russia, an emerging China and India, on the Middle East, my God, how does she do that?"

"Given her current ethical troubles, it seems par for the GOP course. And Republicans nationally will be thrilled to hear that her husband works in Big Oil. But at least McCain gets to lock down Alaska."

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/29/104243/090/219/578464

"But after the initial shock, McCain standing next to Palin looks downright creepy. And what does she know about solving our nations problems. If McCain was to drop dead the first day of office, we are all basically f@ucked."

"Experience? Congratulations - 43yo Palin is 3 years younger than Barack, and her 18 months as Gov (that's all the political experience she has) makes Obama look like a veteran."

I had to laugh at these two commments from "pretty".

Because of her lack of experience, if McCain drops dead, we're all fucked. Hehehe...if Obama wins...we're all fucked! The idea that he looks like a veteran? He's served 140 days in the Senate! Oh, shit...i forgot...he was a community organizer!! :)

Life is fun! It's gonna get 'funner'in the next few weeks!

I've had a little time on my hands this week to get on here and blow off a little bit. The next few weeks are going to be busy, so I won't have nearly as much time.

I said that to say this: I will be on here the day after the election. If the Repulicans lose, most repubs will believe they deserve it, and we do... The party has strayed so far from true conservative principals. However, if Obama goes down in flames...the hysteria on these left wing kook web sites...will be a beautiful thing to behold....y'all will scream racism, fraud, low info electorate...a million things...but it'll never cross your minds that it may simply be a rejection of your left wing, socialist fantasies!

Have fun till november! If it wasn't for the supreme court, i'd vote for Obama! Just to watch the messiah go up in smoke....we're going to see incompetence like we've never seen it! Well...since Jimmy Carter, anyway...

:)

hi there folks

Gotham you write, "It's not about me, it's about you."

Obama is right about that....but the YOU's of our Nations voted for Bush twice.....so it will be very interesting to see if they are, in fact, unhappy with the state of our affairs at these repubs hands. I do wonder.

Really, I think it will come down to how happy and satisfied our fellow Americans are with what the repubs have been doing, and anyone who is unhappy and unsatisfied will vote them out.

So, the question, is, how desparate for change is the American public? The Democrats decided with Barak Obama's nomination, last night, to go for broke with the change platform by choosing a relative newcomer to the national arena instead of easing into all out change....I still question the wisdom of that choice when it comes to Democrats trying to win votes from other than die-hard Democrats.

Obviously many Democrats do not share my uncertainty..

Obama has his work cut out for him.

great day all ruth

Oh Yeah.... Check out the pics of this VP nominee!! She's a babe!!

I only bring this up, because Gotham is so entranced by Obama's looks! She's a whole lot better looking....and i just can't be gay enough to get tore up over Obama's 'handsomeness'!

Y'all have to give us one thing...these right wing women are a lot better looking than the ones y'all put front and center.

Laura Bush and Hillary...
Condi and Madeleine Albright..
Gonzales and Janet Reno...Oh wait a minute...
Palin and Hilary...
Palin and Ferraro...
Anybody...and Gloria Allred....

Dem's some homely old gals!

just an observer!

Oh, Skinny, you are such a died in the wool repub...you write,..........

"Have fun till november! If it wasn't for the supreme court, i'd vote for Obama! Just to watch the messiah go up in smoke....we're going to see incompetence like we've never seen it! Well...since Jimmy Carter, anyway

We're GOING TO see incompetence?? wha??

Like I said, Gotham.....it will be interesting to see how many actual Americans are really unhappy and dissatified with how the Nation has been governed these last eight years...

Skinny and Amba are two of those fellow Americans and they are two very Happy Campers...so, I, really do wonder...

have a grand day all...ruth

Shithead stinky, Obama was a state legislator for 8 years before he became a Senator, and after he was a community organizer and a law professor.

Sarah Palin is Spiro Agnew

by Jonathan Singer MyDD

It has been forty years since someone as inexperienced as Sarah Palin has been put on a national ticket, and surprisingly enough there are some real similarities between Palin and her unprepared predecessor, Spiro T. Agnew, who also had been governor less than two years at the time Richard Nixon picked him to be his number two and who also had a corruption problem lingering in the background that would end up causing his running mate problems.

Prior to being sworn in as the Governor of Alaska a mere 19 months ago, Palin served as the mayor and a city councilor of the small city of Wasilla, which according to 2005 census estimates had a population of 8,471. This hardly rounds out the type of resume traditionally seen in vice presidential candidates -- and indeed is one of the two thinnest resumes of any major party vice presidential nominee since 1936, the only other nominee to match her level of inexperience being Agnew, who had also only served two years as Governor (though of the significantly larger state of Maryland) by the time he was sworn in as Vice President in January 1969.

But the comparisons between Palin and Agnew do not end there. Just as a corruption scandal from Agnew's time as Maryland Governor plagued him throughout his Vice Presidential tenure -- in the end forcing him to resign -- so too does Palin have a corruption problem brewing in the background. What's more, her corruption and abuse of power problem is one easily understood by voters: She allegedly attempted to have fired a state trooper in a custody battle with her sister.

"Gov. Sarah Palin on Wednesday revealed an audio recording that shows an aide pressuring the Public Safety Department to fire a state trooper embroiled in a custody battle with her sister.

Palin, who has previously said her administration didn't exert pressure to get rid of trooper Mike Wooten, also disclosed that members of her staff had made about two dozen contacts with public safety officials about the trooper.

[...]

But Palin said her decision to fire Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan last month had nothing to do with his refusal to dump trooper Mike Wooten.

The governor said evidence of what she called a "smoking gun" conversation, and other calls made by her aides, only recently surfaced as the attorney general started an inquiry at her request into the circumstances surrounding her firing of Monegan. Palin wanted the review because a special investigator hired by the Legislature is about to investigate the firing and a legislator has been quoted in a newspaper story talking about impeachment.

The majority of the calls came from Palin's chief of staff at the time, Mike Tibbles, according to information gathered by the state attorney general's office. Attorney General Talis Colberg and Palin's husband, Todd, also contacted Monegan about the trooper."

http://www.adn.com/monegan/story/492964.html

Do we really need to put another wildly inexperienced, purely political choice into the White House, only to see issues from that candidate's past potentially stain the Vice Presidency?

Palin as McCain's VP
by: tremayne
Open Left

From Wikipedia:

- Sarah Palin is 44 years old

- Has served less than 2 years as Governor of Alaska

- Pro-life

- Helped to pass an ethics reform bill

- Is accused of trying to get her ex-brother in law fired and last month fired the Commissioner of Public Safety. Investigation still underway.

- Has four five children. The oldest deploys to Iraq next month and youngest has Down's Syndrome.

- Big supporter of more drilling

- 2nd place, Miss Alaska Beauty pageant, 1984

There appears to be a battle at her Wiki page as "brother in law" recently disappeared from it although an account of the scandal still exists without those words. This pick would seem to eliminate and indeed could reverse the "not ready for the job" argument the McCain campaign has aimed at Obama. Can they argue Palin is ready to be President of the United States?

http://openleft.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=D9DF3193AAECC0C4D15D3CA5740F3C94?diaryId=7811

Kos writes:

The Sarah Quayle Palin pick is an abandonment of the "Obama is not ready to lead" attack lines. Those are dead, and to be honest, while that line didn't work for Hillary and it had limited traction for McCain, it still had some traction. That attack line is gone.

"Quayle" Palin is also a an ideologue, on choice, on the environment, on energy -- all the way down the line. This an ideological pick in an election where self-identified Republicans are a dying breed and Democratic self-identification is skyrocketing. McCain has abandoned any notion of playing for the center. He's looking to shore up his right flank and hoping that the Evangelical Right can somehow drag McCain over the line.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/29/105643/646/204/578487

Dems got some homely girls?

I love it when men attack woman's looks! They do this because they are so strong, manly, secure in their intelligence and mature. I wonder how these big strong men would feel if the heard and witnessed their daughters being appraised this way or their wives?

ugh.

I am ready to eat my words about the Eddie Hasckell thing.

It's not so much Obama but the team of experience he has been able to gather together.
When I saw all those generals and admirals standing on that stage.

Yo I watched the convention on CSPAN without any commentary. Magic. Some one here clued me into this. Thank you whoever that was, I'm sorry I don't remember.

The caliber of people he has as his base are amazing.

I will be enthusiastically watching the Republican Convention on CSPAN as well to see the caliber of people John McCain can gather for his team to make change.

I don't get the feeling the republicans have much unity.

And there's TWO storms brewin'.
I think I'll bring row my boat ashore and get myself down to the voting booth this year.

We had perfect weather here in Colorado for such an historic and healing night.

If weather were a reflection of our collective..............

peace and love

derek 'O'

Ruth Baby...that was tongue in cheek....when you're as ugly as I am...you don't truly make fun of anybody's looks! But C'mon Ruth...wasn't there a little bit of truth in that ? :)

back again

Republicans, "Do it Again" INSULT WOMEN VOTERS BY MCCAIN CHOOSING HIS TOKEN GAL PAL!!!

Really, the repubs think that this is an opportunity to pick up votes from disgruntled women??????? god, what A-holes they are!!!

The ole white haired dude pick a sweet young gal pal....to woooo Hillary voters....I must go get my puke pail.....burrruggggggg....

what a joke.

ruth

Oh Yeah.....

I have so much work to do today...but I haven't been this excited since I took my mother in law to the airport!!

Obamidiot, actually said last night, that he is his brothers keeper.....hmmmmm.....I understand the metaphor....but his blood brother....lives in a hut...absolutely poverty stricken....hmmmm...

so....I guess that's Bush's fault?

It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood, a beautiful day in the neighborwould you be mine, could you be mine?

rich, rich, rich.....what a day! I was hoping for Romney...but this is even better...

yeee hawww!!!!

Oh Yeah.....

I have so much work to do today...but I haven't been this excited since I took my mother in law to the airport!!

Obamidiot, actually said last night, that he is his brothers keeper.....hmmmmm.....I understand the metaphor....but his blood brother....lives in a hut...absolutely poverty stricken....hmmmm...

so....I guess that's Bush's fault?

It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood, a beautiful day in the neighborwould you be mine, could you be mine?

rich, rich, rich.....what a day! I was hoping for Romney...but this is even better...

yeee hawww!!!!

Maybe many misjudged McCain and he secretly wants Obama to be president, maybe he saw through all the fictions and really does love his country.

Amen Ricahard
I think McCain does love this country and knows Obama can rally the people together.

derek

Go Obama!!!

Dear Skinny,

Thanks so much for your Postings Nos. 27 and 29. I really needed a GOOD laugh and you've supplied me with several hearty guffahs!!!

Best Wishes,

"Betsy" S.

Dear Skinny,

Also, thanks for No. 38. Just read that one.

Best Wishes,

"Betsy" S.

the fat man is losing it!