McCain - Grumpy?

It was a surprising rebuke from a politician who once was famous for palling around with reporters, and who was so media-friendly that he was sometimes known as “the senator from ‘Meet the Press.’” 

But what friends call “grumpy McCain” is showing up regularly on the campaign trail, and several top advisers worry that it’s hurting his campaign by making him appear peevish and hunkered down when the country is looking for a larger and more optimistic brand of leadership. 

After his first debate with Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), both spectators in the hall and commentators on TV noted that McCain had deliberately avoided looking at his rival. 

A close McCain friend said the reason is clear: McCain is miserable about having to run a campaign that’s antithetical to his persona. 

“He is basically having to be somebody that he isn’t,” said the friend, who remains strongly supportive. “He is just not a guy that goes on the attack in public. For him to be on the attack constantly, attacking Obama’s character … McCain is uncomfortable with that, and it’s made him grumpy.”  Read Article Here.

I am not sure that if I were McCain I would want anyone describing me as grumpy.  The only times that I think someone is grumpy is either a child after a nap or a mean spirited old man.

Clinton vs Palin

But Palin's gender is at the center of another set of reactions I've been hearing and reading among women who don't support her ticket, filled with ambivalence over how bad she is. Laugh at the Tina Fey parodies that make Palin ridiculous just by quoting her verbatim. And then cry. When Palin tanks, it's good for the country if you want Obama and Biden to win, but it's bad for the future of women in national politics. I'm in this boat, too. Should we feel sorry for Sarah Palin? No. But if she fails miserably, we might be excused for feeling a bit sorry for ourselves.

Palin is the most prominent woman on the political stage at the moment. By taking unprepared hesitancy and lack of preparation to a sentence-stopping level, she's yanking us back to the old assumption that women can't hack it at these heights. We know that's not true—we've just watched Hillary Clinton power through a campaign with a masterful grasp of policy and detail. Clinton lost in part because she was the girl grind. Complex sentences, the names of Supreme Court cases, and bizarre warnings about foreign heads of state invading our airspace weren't her problem. The fear now is that Palin is the anti-Hillary and that her lack of competence threatens to undo what the Democratic primary did for women. Palin won't bust through the ceiling that has Hillary's 18 million cracks in it. She'll give men an excuse to replace it with a new one.  Read Article Here.

It is hard to argue with this piece.  Palin is the anti-Clinton.  Hillary Clinton is academic, well spoken, has the best education possible, and probably was President during Bill's impeachment trial.  She pissed off Republicans, and just about everyone else, because she was so accomplished and is able to beat men at their own game.  She is a high end brand, only something the elite and powerful get to enjoy and understand.  Palin, on the other hand, comes off as pedestrian, has fallen apart in interviews, went to five colleges that are not known for academics, and has no experience in government.  Before she became Mayor and Governor, she was a beauty queen and a TV personality.  Unfortunately this seems to sum up women in media right now: the librarian vs the playboy bunny.

VP Debate - Social Issues

It seems unlikely that social issues will be discussed this debate with all the economic and foreign turmoil going on currently.  If they are discussed though it should be interesting.  Slate has gathered up past answers Biden and Palin have provided on gay marriage, abortion and more.  Check it out here.

Incase you are tired of Classic and Indie Rock

Jay-Z will preform a pair of free voter registration shows in the swing states of Florida and Michigan.  I would guess he supports McCain, since the two share so much in common and McCain mentions that he has HOVA on his ipod, but I could be wrong.  Read About it Here

Palin and the Debate

Yet a review of Palin's experience during her 2006 campaign for governor, when she engaged in a long series of debates with her opponents, suggests she is a more formidable adversary than is widely thought.

Unlike her opponent Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, who has considerable presidential-level debate experience, Palin has never been involved in a debate where the questions were national and global in scope.

But she is familiar operating in a high-stakes debate environment against older, more seasoned pols who seemingly have better command of the issues.

In 2006, with no experience as a statewide officeholder, Palin ran what amounted to a debate gauntlet, beginning in the Republican primary against incumbent Gov. Frank Murkowski and former state Sen. John Binkley, and then in the general election, against former Democratic Gov. Tony Knowles and former state Rep. Andrew Halcro, an independent.

Against that experienced opposition, Palin proved herself to be a comfortable and confident debater, not exactly deeply versed in the issues but unusually adept at dodging controversy and quick to take advantage of opponents' missteps. Not one to throw an unnecessary punch, Palin took a patient approach, waiting for her rivals to expose their weak points - and then striking fast.  Read Article Here.

At this point, I think I know more about Palin than Biden.  The media has focused on Palin but largely ignored Biden.  I know that Biden has lots of foreign policy experience, has been in Washington almost as long as McCain and is a Senator from Delaware, other than that I do not know much.  He is a big reason why I am watching the debate.  I want to see what he brings to the table.

More Obama Events

This is pretty rocking. Not quite Ohio but still good.

The Bruce Springsteen/Billy Joel show is not as sweet to me.  Mostly because I really don't like Billy Joel.  Read About It Here.

VP Debate - The Very Definition of Low Impact

The amount of time and staff power being devoted to this was evidence of concern among Mr. McCain’s associates that Ms. Palin’s early triumphs — a well-received convention speech, her drawing of big crowds — has been overtaken by a series of setbacks, creating higher stakes for her in the debate Thursday with the Democratic nominee for vice president, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware.

“I think she has pretty thoroughly — and probably irretrievably — proven that she is not up to the job of being president of the United States,” David Frum, a former speechwriter for President Bush who is now a conservative columnist, said in an interview. “If she doesn’t perform well, then people see it.

“And this is a moment of real high anxiety, a little bit like 9/11, when people look to Washington for comfort and leadership and want to know that people in charge know what they are doing.”  Read Article Here.

There are three reasons for this. First, Biden does not want to look condescending. For the same reason, he plans on referring to Palin as “Gov. Palin” during the debate and never as “Sarah.” (He will sometimes refer to John McCain as “John,” however, because they have been senators together for many years.)

Second, Biden knows the press is going to pounce on any mistakes, and so he does not need to.

Third, and most important, Sarah Palin is not Biden’s true target.

“Joe Biden’s No. 1 job during the vice presidential debate is to keep the focus on the top of the ticket,” the Biden debate prepper told me. “He is going to keep the focus on John McCain.”

This is an arguable strategy. After all, McCain is the experienced one on the Republican ticket, the one whose credentials to be commander in chief from Day One are not in much question.  Read Article Here.

The title of this post comes from a West Wing quote, Josh is afraid that Leo is unprepared for the VP debate and Toby reminds him that the debate doesn't really matter.  It is hard to say if this debate truly matters.  As the articles point out America votes for the top of the ticket.  Biden is going to have to walk a tight rope so he does not seem: cruel, patronizing, or elitist.  Palin has to demonstrate that she is more than an SNL skit gone horribly wrong.  I will be blogging live throughout the event, mostly to mock Palin.

Palin: Should Scare You

Jack Cafferty unloaded on Sarah Palin's "disastrous" interview with Katie Couric Friday afternoon on CNN, telling Wolf Blitzer, "There's a reason the McCain campaign keeps Governor Palin away from the press."

After showing a clip of Palin stumbling over Couric's question about the bailout and offering an answer connecting the bailout to healthcare, Cafferty asked, "Did you get that?"

He warned the viewers: "If John McCain wins this woman will be one 72-year-old's heartbeat away from being President of the United States. And if that doesn't scare the hell out of you, it should."  Read Article Here.

The Debate

I have not commented on the debate.  This is partially due to the fact that I did not see all of it.  I was out and only saw the last half hour or so.  From what I saw:

• Obama needs to be more forceful, stop being so academic.
• McCain looks even older when he stands next to Obama
• Not sure the not looking at your opponent strategy was a good way to go for McCain
• McCain sure seemed annoyed when Obama agreed with him.  Since Obama agreed so often, is Obama really that naive? If he is, doesn't that mean that McCain is also naive?
• For all the attack ads, the debate was pretty civil.  Can we see the two of them go at it soon?  I want to watch two people go for the jugular live in a debate.

Those are my thoughts.  Can not wait for the next debates, especially the VP debate.

SNL and The Election

Every four years SNL becomes kind of relevant again.  This year mostly due to the fact that Tina Fey does a great Sarah Palin.

Check it out here.

I am not going to bother to post clips from Colbert and Daily Show, since there would be too many.

When the Going Gets Tough, Run Away

John McCain called Wednesday for the first presidential debate, scheduled for Friday in Mississippi, to be delayed and urged Barack Obama to join him in Washington for a high-level meeting of congressional leaders to address the financial crisis. Obama responded that the debate should go on.

In a roll of the dice that jolted the presidential race, McCain said in New York Wednesday that he is suspending his campaign - and his fundraising and campaign advertising - as of Thursday and will return to Washington. He also scrapped a planned appearance on David Letterman.

Aides said it was unclear how long the suspension would last. The McCain campaign also left open the possibility of agreeing to the debate if a bailout deal could be reached by early Friday.

"I am calling on the president to convene a meeting with the leadership from both houses of Congress, including Senator Obama and myself," McCain said. "It is time for both parties to come together to solve this problem."

Obama rebuffed the proposal. “It’s my belief that this is exactly the time the American people need to hear from the person who in approximately 40 days will be responsible with dealing with this mess," he told reporters in Florida, where he has been prepping for Friday's event. "What I think is important is that we don’t suddenly infuse Capitol Hill with presidential politics," he said.  Read Article Here.

Closer to the Truth

Both major party candidates for president vowed to run a different kind of campaign, implicitly promising a break from the spin-fests that past contests had become. But the close race and the tumultuous media environment in which McCain and Obama now find themselves appear to have crushed those notions.

"When you are seeking people's approval, you tend to tell them what you think they want to hear," said Brooks Jackson, a former Associated Press and CNN reporter who runs the online truth-squad effort Fact Check.org.

Analysts who have studied campaign rhetoric point out that rhetorical excess is hardly new. Plato railed against it 2,400 years ago. But even he might have been taken aback this year, particularly by the GOP ticket's recent comments and advertisements.  Read Article Here.

Major Serious Noteworthy Basic Cable changes

This is incredible. A major shift in the way politics will be covered. I personally think this is for the better. Both anchors no longer reported the news but were trying to make it. If only CNN would get ride of Dobbs and the hate he spews.