lb, i get what you're saying, and in 2004 (the first presidential election in which i could vote), i voted for a few Republicans down ticket just so I didn't vote straight-ticket, but McCain was maybe not as virulently anti-choice as he is now, but he certainly supported making abortion illegal in all cases except rape and incest, as well as overturning Roe v. Wade. By 2006, however, I'd realized that in almost all cases a moderate Democrat is better than a liberal Republican. Sure, there are exceptions, but few and far between. I vote by party, and within the party by person, but I know that one party largely supports my views, and one represents the complete opposite of those views. I disagree on many issues, and with many policy proposals of the party I support, but I would much rather work on electing people more closely aligned with my views in party primaries and changing the party from within rather than cast a vote for someone of a party that I see as detrimental to the progress of our country. Someone earlier said something along the lines of not knowing how someone could be undecided between opposites like McCain and Obama, and I often wonder the same thing at the larger party level. John McCain, even if he was a maverick, was selected, funded and is now nominated by a far right party that seeks to expand our military interventionalism, further cut social services, and basically continue the obviously failed policies of neoliberalism begun with Volcker and Reagan. Whether it's 2000 or2008, how unlike that party could he really be?

anti i read that 70% have a net worth over $500K

This is the guy running with SP:



I love it when you can read about public people who the main line press ignores or makes Mavericks.

[img]http://www.usvetdsp.com/jan07/mccain_myth.html

I just don't want to be voting for the same party as this guy:

its sad, but the majority of this country is truly uneducated, what's even sadder is this guy will vote for the GOP and they could really give a shit less about guys like this. but he's too ignorant to know. it really saddens me

Did you see Barack Obama go on The O'Reilly Factor last night-right into the belly of the beast? While we didn't want Obama to appear on FOX initially, he wisely chose the same night John McCain delivered his RNC speech (the same night FOX received some of its highest ratings) to make an appearance. Talk about stealing the GOP's thunder!


Obama was no doubt trying to appeal to conservative voters, since 88% of FOX viewers voted Republican in 2004. But FOX won't let their conservative base go without a fight. That's why O'Reilly needled and interrupted Obama, trying to get him to simplify many of his answers-a far cry from the softballs O'Reilly lobbed at many prominent Republicans like Rudy Giuliani in the past. And that's why FOX has been attacking Obama with the same relentless smear tactics that they used against John Kerry four years ago. Watch them use the exact same attacks.

http://bravenewfilms.org/watch/29281607/51974

that's pretty disgusting on its own, but especially when you put it in the context of the countless attacks on the 'liberal' media recently calling for truthful and fair reporting.

Ooh, ooh, we all love a good graphic!!

And vado: The lovely Heart sisters are pissed that the Repubs used Barracuda, but would have been just as pissed about Magic Man too, it sounds like!

mccain is from arizona he knows the mormons(a racist hate group against people of color with their very own 'jesus' myth and native exploitation) too well so he would never have picked romley like rove/bush wanted/advised, and went from the gut with this dimwitted generic relgious hate monger to go down for the record loss.

wooohoo, it just gets more exciting for naturalistic rational people, worldwide.


shout out to all my ex Mormon friends who have escaped!

all i have to say...if the republicans win this election i'll be convinced finally that the election system has to change...

i've felt for a while that a two party system really doesn't make sense...and it seems especially true in recent elections where people seem to vote solely along party lines..or to vote against the other party's candidate...

is there any way that an election could make for the inclusion of more than one candidate per party...or more than two viable candidates?
(until a third or fourth party is included in the debates or gets the same television coverage as the main two parties..and actually has members in congress...i don't really consider them viable)

what's been interesting is how excited people were for palin's speech and how mccain's speech put them to sleep...

lb, that is an awesome graphic. so much can be read into it, i wouldn't know where to being.

er.. where to begin.

lars, i agree. I'd much rather see the US adopt more of a parliamentary style system, or at the very least a partially proportional election system, similar to the German system

representative and run off voting and some direct democracy? get out of here!

we could learn allot from the Scandinavians

according to that fox news clip germans fondness for obama is a red flag for americans. huh?

unless this message appears in a grilled cheese next to the virgin mary's face, good luck convincing anyone on the right that adopting anything from 'socialist' europe is a good idea

mmm...sacrilicious.

i hope they don't get upset with me lb, as i often use magic man as my theme song.

maybe we can at least adopt the bratwurst and lederhosen.

doh i thought romley was 'magic' man. i guess that is what being raised outside mainstream culture will do to you.

not magic man, magic underwear

he's got magic hair, too. republican hair.

Well Magic Man is totally appropriate to you, vado, so I'm sure Anne-n-Nancy won't mind!

Thanks for the Sarah Smile song upthread, BTW. It's been a long dry spell for vado songs 'round here lately!

yes, ironically the socially positive aspects about europe, especially "old" europe are looked down upon.

thankfully, the old socialist countries that will do almost anything to get on our good side and they are infinitely superior (superfluous?) because they want to be like us. except without the privatized healthcare fiasco.

Sarah Palin will make an outstanding Vise President for the State of Israel.



America? Woefully unqualified...

but there is nothing elitist about that... nosiree.

If someone wants to be an American leader, they need to think about America first before their silly archaic legends and folklores.

Resemblance to Lorraine Bracco?

haha ~ damn well played A'med

I was appalled that the newscasters from both CNN and MSNBC were going on and on about what a great speach Mccain delivered. The speech was a bore, badly delivered, and made no sense whatsoever. As far as I could tell there were no periods or commas- it was just one long sentence making the whole thing incompressible.

The only good critique I've seen from the mainstream press was from this NY times blogger

On Sarah Palin, this letter supposedly written by Anee Kilkenny ( a resident of Wasilla) is a great critique of both her political and personal life. Not sure if its really written by her, but she appears to be a real person.

here's a correct link to Sarah's NYTimes post.

link to NY times didn't seem to work-
here it is again

opps too slow. thanks.

meant to write "incomprehensible" not "incompressible " (but I suppose it could make sense to a poet somewhere) and " it's" (post 1), and "oops" (post 3.) Should read what I write before posting. my apologies.

Below is reaction to John McCain's Republican convention speech.


David Gergen thought the speech repeated the same old GOP ideas:

I did not think that the substantive part of the speech worked very well. It was mostly a rerun, retread of a lot of old Republican ideas that have brought us to where we are now. I think the country is looking for fresh answers. It's hard to separate yourself out from President Bush when you essentially have the same economic policies as President Bush. I thought that the policy presentation was a little thin."


Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson slammed McCain's speech on MSNBC

The policy in the speech was rather typical for a Republican. Pretty disappointing. It didn't do a lot of outreach to moderates and independents on issues that they care about. It talked, about issues like drilling and school choice which was really speaking to the converted. I think that was a missed opportunity. Many Americans needed to hear from this speech something they have never heard from Republicans before. And in reality, a lot of the policy they've heard from Republicans before.


The New Republic thought the speech was flat:

It's not over yet but this is a very underwhelming speech. Familiar points explained in pedestrian terms. No overarching themes--right now it's sounding like a State of the Union laundry list. Even the crowd in the hall isn't jazzed. This is the sort of reception Tom Ridge got.
MSNBC pointed out that the biggest applause of the night was for Sarah Palin.


Jeffrey Toobin told Wolf Blitzer on CNN that:

I thought it was the worst speech by a nominee that I've heard since Jimmy Carter in 1980.

I thought it was disorganized, themeless, I thought it was very, very boring until the end when he started talking about his personal story, which is, of course, remarkable and always important to hear. I personally cannot remember a single policy proposal that he made because they had nothing connecting them. I found it shockingly bad.


The National Review also thought it fell flat:

Ehhhhh...maybe I'm missing some grand strategy or tactics, but I think it was a missed opportunity. Good that he did some policy. I liked that he championed free trade -- something he didn't have to do. I liked the fight, fight, fight stuff. Good that he was specific. I can come up with specific compliments about this or that. But it was flat, forced and basically a free pass for Obama.


The New York Times blog said people were falling asleep:

Sleepy? Our colleague Patrick Healy reports from the floor: There is a delegate in the Utah section and a delegate in Puerto Rico who are both drooping, eyes closed - look asleep - both are men.


ABC News asks whether McCain has a different take on community organizing:

ABC News' Deputy Political Director Karen Travers points out that despite all the "community organizer"-bashing at this convention, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., seems to like the notion, at least based on this passage:

If you find faults with our country, make it a better one. If you're disappointed with the mistakes of government, join its ranks and work to correct them. Enlist in our Armed Forces. Become a teacher. Enter the ministry. Run for public office. Feed a hungry child. Teach an illiterate adult to read. Comfort the afflicted. Defend the rights of the oppressed. Our country will be the better, and you will be the happier. Because nothing brings greater happiness in life than to serve a cause greater than yourself.

If a community organizer isn't someone "defend(ing) the rights of the oppressed," or getting involved to correct the mistakes of government, what is it?


TPM asked if McCain's speech smothered Palin's sizzle?

Not a lot to say about McCain's speech but how on earth did they not avoid this: Prediction: There will be little to no bounce out of tonight; indeed, McCain's speech will smother Palin's sizzle like a wet blanket.


Time gave it a mixed review:

A mixed performance. The ending worked, though in the hall I doubt anyone could hear him very well as he spoke through the crowd's applause. The final peroration -- "We're Americans. We don't hide from history. We make history" -- was strong stuff.

It also noted McCain's struggle with the Teleprompter.

He's struggling, as he sometimes does -- misplacing the emphasis on words, sounding at times like he's reading the speech for the first time, losing energy during the sections on issues he's never been particularly passionate about, buring applause lines in a string of sentences. It's as if he can't bring himself to pretend he's not reading a teleprompter -- that the charade distracts and frustrates him.

e- impressive research. I stand corrected. I only watched about an hour of commentaries after the speech- flipping channels. guess I flipped at the wrong moments. thanks for the updates.

on diane reehm a person emailed blasting the repugs for mocking obaams's being a community organizer. she reminded us that jesus was community organizer. also, the "theme of the rnc was service. duh...

Sarah, the research was the Huffington Post. I can only take credit for copy and pasting.

Did anyone else hear that the McCain camp won't be allowing the media access to Palin until the debates? I saw it on, ahem, Facebook....

Also I got the letter by that lady from Alaska too....I feel bad, she asked that it not be posted on blogs and what not, but there it is....

Jesus was a community organizer. Pontius Pilate was a governor.

LIG I saw that on Facebook too, lol. Currently the breakdown of my friends on Facebook is 2 for McCain (crazy cousins), 2 for Bob Barr (um, sure!), and about 315 for Obama. Give or take a couple.

Hold the presses: according to a slide show on MSNBC, Rosario Dawson is a Republican. Was she lost? Confused? Sorry but this is one of those instances where I had a neutral opinion of a person and then one line item swayed me to dislike to the point of boycott.

virgin mary or rotting grape, let the GOP decide

http://buzz.yahoo.com/article/1:dallas_morning:6fb476441b3aca208de6576704934df5

On the upside, I just read that Obama had raised $8 million following Palin's speech on Wednesday night, and was poised to raise $10 million by the time McCain finished his speech Thursday. Awesome.

i gave money the night palin spoke

Maverick Man (sung to the classic rock hit Magic Man by The Heart. and dedicated to that rockin babe Liberty Bell!)

many many years ago
before most of you were born you know
A senotor i came to be
to fight graft and corruption ya see, yeah

that's my passion thats my drive
If you discount the Keating Five
I love the constitution
and my wife's in beer distribution, yeah
"Join with me, my friendsl" he said with a smile
"we'll reform Washington at
Least for awhile
But try to understand
Try to understand
Try try try to understand
I'm a maverick man."

Winter nights she could cut loose
Played outside, field dressed a moose
she set the precedent
of the underqualified vice president, yeah

The convention came she heeded the call
by unifying one and all
BabyMama says she's worried
Growing up in a hurry, yeah
"Come on Sarah" he decried on the speech
"your folksy and fiery with a populist reach!"
"Now they'll understand, now they'll understand
Try try try to understand
I'm a maverick man, mama, ah ...
He's a maverick man"

"Join me, my friendsl" he said with a grin
"I cast my spell of reform on you, amerika can win!
Now you'll understand, now you'll understand, oh ... oh ...
I'm a maverick man!" oh yeah
Oh, i take the maverick stand

did anyone else notice the countless signs at the RNC that read "mavrick?"

wk, she was in kids!


there is no way she's a republican... wait, she's probably worth a sh*t ton of money and doesn't want to pay for roads or bridges, unless it's a bridge to nowhere.

Just learned that Palin's speech really was written by the same guy who writes Bush's speeches:

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1838808,00.html

When I listened to her speak, I knew there was something about it that sounded eerily similar to Bush. So it's true, that speech by Palin, they were written by the same speech writer that writes for Bush, and what's more, Scully is supposed to be a moderating voice against Palin's right wing image...

I love that McCain is older than the state of Alaska itself! He's a magic man!