Barack Obama delivers what former Reagan and Nixon speechwriter Pat Buchanan calls the best convention address in history to 85,000 people in Denver.
** THE POPULATION OF WASILLA, ALASKA MAY HAVE BEEN SMALLER THAN I REPORTED. This town, which is not the second largest city in Alaska, despite what Karl Rove erroneously said early this morning on Fox News, has a population that I reported in my latest column as 8000 people. Which, I think I said on the radio or foreign TV, I’m losing track, is not large enough to have interested me when I was looking at winning California city council majorities many years ago. Commenters on my column say that Wasilla, during the time that brand-new Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, who has been tiny Alaska’s governor for 18 months, had a population of only 5000. Making her executive experience even more of the speed trap variety. I have an e-mail into a top McCain campaign figure to straighten out this question.
** PALIN IS A CREATIONIST. Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, John McCain’s surprise pick to be his prospective vice president, revealed herself to be a proponent of so-called creation science during his narrowly victorious 2006 gubernatorial race.
“Teach both,” opined Palin during an October 2006 debate. “You know, don’t be afraid of information. Healthy debate is so important, and it’s so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both.”
Creationism holds that the scientific theory of evolution is false, and that God created the world and everything in it in seven days. This issue was a major problem for Republican president candidate Mike Huckabee, the Baptist minister and former Arkansas governor.
The US Supreme Court has ruled that creationism is an unconstitutional injection of fundamentalist religion into the public schools.
** BUDGET VOTE FAILS IN CALIFORNIA STATE SENATE. The latest attempt by Democratic legislative leaders to push through a state budget failed today in the state Senate.
** MCCAIN AND PALIN BARELY KNOW EACH OTHER. In an interview with Roll Call earlier this month, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin revealed that she had only met John McCain one or two times.
George Herbert Walker Bush knew Dan Quayle, who was a U.S. senator, far better than that.
** OBAMA SETS TV VIEWING RECORD. Barack Obama’s Democratic presidential nomination acceptance speech set the all-time record for TV viewership of a convention speech, far outstripping past performances. Some 38.4 million people watched Obama’s speech, seen above, more than viewed the record-setting opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Olympic Games and the Academy Awards.
** 13 REASONS WHY IT’S, AH, PALIN. Sarah who?
John McCain, after a lengthy tease of multiple candidates, including word early this morning on Fox and other cable news nets that Mitt Romney was the pick, selected Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his pick for vice president of the United States. McCain is a gambler, literally, and this is a big roll of the dice.
This is a bold gambit, intended in large measure to take the focus off Barack Obama’s spectacular speech last night. Is Sarah Palin, who would be a heartbeat away from the presidency as vice president to John McCain, qualified to serve as replacement POTUS for the oldest president in American history, tortured for five-and-a-half years as POW?
Palin has served for a year-and-a-half as governor of Alaska, a state of less than 700,000. For perspective, that is a smaller population than contained in any of the 40 state senate districts in California.
Prior to that, she was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, which Karl Rove early this morning on Fox News erroneously stated is the second largest city in Alaska.
Actually, it’s not anywhere near that — perhaps the Wizard of Oz should stay behind the curtain — and is in fact a town of only about 8000 people. Palin, 44, is a favorite of the anti-abortion right-wing base, Rush Limbaugh’s favorite, an alum of the University of Idaho who earned the Miss Congeniality title while competing for Miss Alaska. She is an advocate of drilling for oil everywhere, including in the Alaska National Wildlife Reserve.
Today is the Vietnam War hero’s — that would be McCain, Palin has no national security background — 72nd birthday. So Sarah Palin would be a heartbeat away from the presidency. …
So in the end, ironically, given his status as America’s most anti-Russian politician, McCain is presenting a potential vice president from the only American state with a Russian name. Alyaska was part of Russia. But America bought it from the Russian Empire for $7 million in 1867. We’ll see if America buys this new product from the farthest Northwest. … From my new column.
** IT’S WHO?
John McCain, after a lengthy tease of multiple candidates, including early word this morning on Fox and other cable nets that Mitt Romney was the pick, selected Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his pick for vice president of the United States. Palin has served for a year-and-a-half as governor of Alaska, a state of less than 700,000. For perspective, that is a smaller population than contained in any of 40 state Senate districts in California.
Prior to that, she was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, which Karl Rove early this morning on Fox News erroneously stated is the second largest city in Alaska.
Actually, it’s not, and is a town of only about 8000 people. Palin, 44, is a favorite of the anti-abortion right-wing base, Rush Limbaugh’s favorite, an alum of the University of Idaho who earned the Miss Congeniality title while competing for Miss Alaska. She is an advocate of drilling for oil everywhere, including in the Alaska National Wildlife Reserve.
Today is the Vietnam War hero’s — that would be McCain, Palin has no military background — 72nd birthday.
More to follow.
** OBAMA NEEDS BILL CLINTON. No big-time Democrat got more sideways with the rise of Barack Obama than the big dog himself, Bill Clinton. Wouldn’t it be ironic if it turned out that the former president needs to play a very crucial role in Obama’s elevation to the office he once held?
I think that, if Obama is to win, Clinton does need to play that very crucial role, and he can play that very crucial role. From what I know of Clinton’s schedule, he will be available, assuming that he and the Obama campaign can continue bridging what has been a very large gap. And from what I know of John McCain’s strategy, Bill Clinton can be an absolute difference maker in this election. He certainly gave a rousing speech for Obama last night in Denver.
Now, I am not historically a big Bill Clinton fan. While I’ve found him likable and smart for a couple of decades, I worked against him when he ran for president in 1992. After he became president, I wrote a number of critical columns and articles about him and his administration. I did come to admire the many innovative global good works of his post-presidency. But after seeing in early 2007 that Obama was the emerging figure in the presidential race, Clintonian tactics began to grate.
I think Bill Clinton played the key role in saving Hillary Clinton’s campaign after her big loss in Iowa. He gave her good advice, raised big doubts about Obama, and played the key role in reversing Obama’s lead amongst blue collar voters in New Hampshire. Obama skidded to a stunning loss. … From my new Huffington Post column.
** WHERE THEY ARE TODAY.
Barack Obama and Joe Biden are in Denver, Colorado and Beaver, Pennsylvania.
John McCain and Sarah Palin are in Dayton, Ohio, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
** DISTRACT AND DETRACT: MCCAIN COUNTER-PROGRAMS THE D.N.C., AND HIMSELF. While the Democrats continue rolling out their convention and the Obama-Biden ticket, Team McCain is playing it tough, trying to disrupt Barack Obama’s storyline at most turns of the media cycle. Free from the no doubt horrifying responsibility to run positive TV ads during the Olympics after it was brought to their attention that John McCain is the only one ever to have run negative ads, the campaign is back to its all-attack ways.
McCain’s fast and tough new campaign, under new campaign director Steve Schmidt — who I know very well from his direction of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s landslide re-election and profiled here — is making a real race of this, when it shouldn’t be. Schmidt believes in winning or at least muddying the waters at every phase of the news cycle. Incidentally, there is no reason why Schmidt’s tactics can’t be used against McCain. The media, mind you, is not going to change. … From my recent column.
** SCHWARZENEGGER LIVE WEBCAST THIS MORNING ON BUDGET CRISIS. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger talks about the need to pass some version of his budget at a press conference with the County Supervisors Association of California. The event goes off at 10:15 AM at the San Diego County Administrative Center. It will be webcast live at www.gov.ca.gov.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the new Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti.
While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, which I know as a former DemRussia advisor, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** TRACK GLOBAL AND U.S. ENERGY PRICES IN NEAR REAL TIME VIA BLOOMBERG ENERGY MARKET WATCH. After crashing over $147 for yet another record on July 11th, crude oil is trading around $118 per barrel.
The drop of over $29 per barrel comes on acknowledgement that the weak US economy will cut future demand and the easing of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. The Russian war with Georgia, confounding much speculation and reporting to the contrary, actually decreased the geopolitical risk premium. Though the repercussions may not.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum.
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Four Waters,
Why would he want to withdrawn the perfect person?
i continue to perceive a fairly significant disparity between the “level of engagement” and the polls. and while, yesterday, i noted that the convention hosts the most active members of any party (and could account for some of the difference), the viewing numbers do not reflect that same constraint. any way you look at it… the comparison in levels of on-the-ground enthusiasm, and the differential in the polls does not match.
SS…
are you already toasting her?
No, I’m behaving myself these days. Just having a little fun on a toasty Sacramento Friday.
Have they concluded the business in the Senate?
had switched over to the Assembly, but i finally couldn’t deal with the hyperbolic rhetoric. no budget (no surprise).
by tomorrow it starts cooling down.
Perata’s really not in a good mood…
“MCCAIN AND PALIN BARELY KNOW EACH OTHER.”
Is McCain picking a VP candidate or answering a personal ad?
Jesus, being president is a trial by fire. If I was going into that foxhole, I would want someone I knew could watch my back.
Well, there is Thomas Eagleton.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Eagleton
But having Palin withdraw except for health reasons would be a blow to McCain’s prospects as he fights to stay competitive.
>four waters:
Bill (or anyone)… is there precedent for a VP’s name being withdrawn this late in the game after its been put out there?
Four Waters,
You listening via internet or do you have the legislative channels on television???
Starting to feel a little breeze out there now. Hope it cools some by tomorrow and then much by Sunday morning when I walk ten miles.
Carole,
Find it hard to believe that someone who has such good thoguhts about Steve Westly and who wanted to attend the Democratic convention as a delegate for Hillary Clinton could ever be in favor of McCain/Palin.
This is a women who is anti-abortion, anti gay rights and a favorite of Rush Limbaugh. This is someone who is also under invetigaton for using her office to attempt to have a member of law enforcement fired over a family dispute.
While we are all entitled to our opinions, would you mind telling me what you find so attractive about this ticket? How does any of this track with the issues that Steve Westly or Hillary Clinton hold dear???
today on CNN Cafferty asks…
ere’s my question to you: Does John McCain undercut his own message by naming someone even younger and more inexperienced than Barack Obama to be his running mate?
here are a couple of responses (for a chuckle, note the last one):
As a life-long Republican soccer mom living in an affluent community, I was impressed with Senator Obama’s acceptance speech last evening. Having my morning latte with a few of my Republican friends, I almost spit my coffee out when I heard the news. Is McCain really putting the best interests of our nation first? To me, he is pandering to women, trying to obtain their vote. It seems he wants another ‘trophy’ to parade around with. What is wrong with this man?
I am a true-blue Hillary supporter, but I am sure Hillary did not mean to put 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling so that a pro-life, pro-gun, home-schooling nobody from the frozen tundra of Alaska could slide in. Go Obama.
It was a bold move by John McCain to reach out to the Eskimo vote, which has been totally ignored by the media.
SS.. mostly Cal Channel, sometimes net… and (oh god i can’t believe i’m going to cop to it), sometimes both — muting one or the other.
the high today was s’posed to be 103, which it is now. i suspect at least a couple more degrees higher. (only very slight breeze) but by tomorrow, cooler and by Sun, down by over 20 degrees.
did you see the storm that just hit AZ, with winds of 75-100 mph and inches of rain in a couple of hours? wow!
Sorry for the intrusion here, but thought it was worth violating the decrees and terms of my sentence to weigh in in TOTAL support of CAROLE. — GO McCain/Palin!
I am quite sure that the giant sucking sound I heard this morning was the air going out of tires in the Obama campaign, whether or not they can say so publicly.
Palin has much more experience running things than Obama. She is CIC of National Guard, she is Governor, has been a Mayor, City Councilmember, has owned 2 businesses, and is currently Chair of National Governor’s Assn Energy Committee. Plus she was point guard (Sarah the Barracuda) on the All-State All Start basketball team.
About the only experiencee Obama has in running anything are things that turned to shit (or soon will), such as, the Chicago Annenberg Challenge
And tell me how Biden is change we can believe in? No wonder Obama is changing the campaign slogans.
Oh, and Dana, I think ( or at least hope) that Four Waters was referring to the potential removal of BIDEN, not Palin, from the ticket. Trouble with that is the only one he could substitute in is Hillary and I am sure she would turn him down in a heartbeat.
OK, you won’t have HH to kick around any more. Everybody have a great Labor Day and campaign season!
McCain/Palin ’08
4 Waters,
Addictions are fun, aren’t they! When I worked I use to get up at 5 a.m. or so to check legislation. Would actually send emails to folks in the office…they were very happy to see me retire!
Didn’t catch the Arizona stuff…need cool on Sunday. The thought of going long in this heat is not a plesant one.
You are out of your mind. This is a travesty of a selection.
I meant Hap Hazard, who is out of his mind, especially for a supposed Obama supporter. Read: TROLL.
Keep it cool.
They are?
>Sacramento Solon:
4 Waters,
Addictions are fun, aren’t they! When I worked I use to get up at 5 a.m. or so to check legislation. Would actually send emails to folks in the office…they were very happy to see me retire!
Didn’t catch the Arizona stuff…need cool on Sunday. The thought of going long in this heat is not a plesant one.
Aug 29, 2008 – 3:17 pm
Wow Hap — mayor of a town with 8,000 people. I knew a mayor of such a town — I believe he was mayor at least 6 one-year terms. The town elected the mayor based on who could raise the most money for the 4th of July celbration each year. City council too you say? Now I feel comfortable with that 3am phone call.
I don’t know what you’re talking about there, Hap, re your “sentence.”
And, on the evidence, neither do you.
>Hap Hazard:
Sorry for the intrusion here, but thought it was worth violating the decrees and terms of my sentence to weigh in in TOTAL support of CAROLE. — GO McCain/Palin!
I am quite sure that the giant sucking sound I heard this morning was the air going out of tires in the Obama campaign, whether or not they can say so publicly.
i don’t ever read this file, but i do occasionally listen to the responses on tv. i don’t ever remember hearing a set of responses to any question that were so radically one-sided. there is serious damage control to do here. not only are there not women swimming to his cause now (Carole respectfully noteithstanding), but there are women jumping ship in droves. as well as life-long male Republicans. if this is any pulse (and i recognize it’s CNN and not Fox and therefore inherently skewed), they have a problem.
(sorry Hap… not me; the 600+ comments)
http://caffertyfile.blogs.cnn.com/2008/08/29/mccain-vp-pick-younger-less-experienced-than-obama/#comments
This is a game changer of a decision, all right.
>four waters:
today on CNN Cafferty asks…
ere’s my question to you: Does John McCain undercut his own message by naming someone even younger and more inexperienced than Barack Obama to be his running mate?
here are a couple of responses (for a chuckle, note the last one):
What’s the California Legislature supposedly doing now?
>Sacramento Solon:
Four Waters,
You listening via internet or do you have the legislative channels on television???
Starting to feel a little breeze out there now. Hope it cools some by tomorrow and then much by Sunday morning when I walk ten miles.
Aug 29, 2008 – 2:54 pm
How many elections has Palin voted in? Who did she vote for in past presidential elections?
I bet I’ve voted in more elections than her.
Um,yeah … Especially since we have just been establishing the views of Bill and Hillary Clinton.
>Sacramento Solon:
Carole,
Find it hard to believe that someone who has such good thoguhts about Steve Westly and who wanted to attend the Democratic convention as a delegate for Hillary Clinton could ever be in favor of McCain/Palin.
This is a women who is anti-abortion, anti gay rights and a favorite of Rush Limbaugh. This is someone who is also under invetigaton for using her office to attempt to have a member of law enforcement fired over a family dispute.
While we are all entitled to our opinions, would you mind telling me what you find so attractive about this ticket? How does any of this track with the issues that Steve Westly or Hillary Clinton hold dear???
Aug 29, 2008 – 3:01 pm
Assembly was doing good-byes… they’ve moved back to bills. (don’t know about Senate)..
i was going to say something very inappropriately untoward, but i’ll leave it at that. (i’m both bored and painfully unimpressed by the painful rhetoric.)
They don’t even know each other. The oldest presidential candidate in history, whose body is much older due to his torture and wounds, picked somebody he doesn’t know, with no more experience than Jim Brulte, in fact, much less, to be a heartbeat away from occupying the Oval Office.
>Brasky:
“MCCAIN AND PALIN BARELY KNOW EACH OTHER.”
Is McCain picking a VP candidate or answering a personal ad?
Jesus, being president is a trial by fire. If I was going into that foxhole, I would want someone I knew could watch my back.
Aug 29, 2008 – 2:43 pm
“This is a game changer of a decision, all right.”
this is not recoverable… even if the decision itself is altered. as a demonstration of judgement, this is a real problem.
Bill… are you hearing anything thru the ground about how much input his staff had in this decision? i’ve heard none at all. could that be true?
He gets to sit on this selection for the rest of his career.
>Sacramento Solon:
Four Waters,
Why would he want to withdrawn the perfect person?
Aug 29, 2008 – 2:19 pm
This does not exactly constitute a news flash …
>four waters:
Perata’s really not in a good mood…
Aug 29, 2008 – 2:43 pm
I missed that at first, Hap.
Quite bizarre.
>Oh, and Dana, I think ( or at least hope) that Four Waters was referring to the potential removal of BIDEN, not Palin, from the ticket. Trouble with that is the only one he could substitute in is Hillary and I am sure she would turn him down in a heartbeat.
OK, you won’t have HH to kick around any more. Everybody have a great Labor Day and campaign season!
McCain/Palin ‘08
Aug 29, 2008 – 3:14 pm
Really?
What do you imagine the big slogan change is?
>And tell me how Biden is change we can believe in? No wonder Obama is changing the campaign slogans.
Hap:
I played a game like you do with fortune cookies on Palin’s resume items you list. It goes like this:
She is CIC of National Guard (in Alaska), she is Governor (in Alaska), has been a Mayor (in Alaska), etc.
The lack of people up there makes their politics close to irrelevant compared to the way national politics works. She might be fahn-TAS-tick on the national stage, or maybe not. But to claim experience in Alaska is the same as Chicago experience (for example) is a bit of a stretch.
Unless Sarah Palin acknowledges electroshock therapy, a la Tom Eagleton — who McGovern knew far better than McCain knows her — no.
>four waters:
Bill (or anyone)… is there precedent for a VP’s name being withdrawn this late in the game after its been put out there?
Aug 29, 2008 – 2:17 pm
This does not exactly constitute a news flash …
no… not so much. : )
Palin was not in the picture before McCain forgot how many houses his wife owns.
>Dana:
For me this is the money quote in the Roll Call article Bill linked to:
From her office in Anchorage just two weeks ago, Palin called a possible vice presidential bid as “out of the realm of possibility.”
Aug 29, 2008 – 2:10 pm
Unfortunately …
>four waters:
This does not exactly constitute a news flash …
no… not so much. : )
Aug 29, 2008 – 3:35 pm
Sarah Palin was mayor of a speed trap town.
She was mayor of a town so small that, back in the day when I was looking at cities to win majorities in, it was too small to consider.
>Prospero:
Hap:
I played a game like you do with fortune cookies on Palin’s resume items you list. It goes like this:
She is CIC of National Guard (in Alaska), she is Governor (in Alaska), has been a Mayor (in Alaska), etc.
The lack of people up there makes their politics close to irrelevant compared to the way national politics works. She might be fahn-TAS-tick on the national stage, or maybe not. But to claim experience in Alaska is the same as Chicago experience (for example) is a bit of a stretch.
Aug 29, 2008 – 3:35 pm
I don’t know what you’re talking about there, Hap, re your “sentence.” – “some of you have overstayed your welcome on my property…are invited to leave…we’ll see who is smart”
And, on the evidence, neither do you. — We’ll see
Hap Hazard, who is out of his mind, especially for a supposed Obama supporter. Read: TROLL — Troll is the term one apparently applies to one who doesn’t happen to share one’s own (superior) opinions. It is a shame that you would want this site to become dKos or Free Republic, but it does sort of seem headed in that direction, as opposed to what it used to be here in the Forum. I WAS an Obama supporter, and proudly voted for him in the primary, but like many DTS folks, am not locked in on party ideology or personality, and can be persuaded to change my mind as time progresses.
I repeat, everybody, have a great Labor Day and Fall campaign season! So long.
Sorry, Hap, but you have gotten into rages here before, attacking people.
Sarah Palin is a non-serious choice. I’m not going to pretend that she is a good choice. She is simply not. She is a clever choice, in a short-term way. She is totally incapable of being in the Oval Office.
For you to pretend that being mayor of a tiny speed trap town, and then very briefly governor of a state with fewer voters than any district repped by any nitwit California state senator of either party you can think of qualifies this very average person to be the president is a reflection, I’ll give you that.
If you are an Obama supporter, which your saying that actually surprised me, you have a funny way of showing it.
Better to acknowledge that you’re a Republican, and one more conservative than McCain used to be.
I call “troll” because you act like a troll. You claim one thing and present another.
Hap HAZARD:Hap Hazard, who is out of his mind, especially for a supposed Obama supporter. Read: TROLL — Troll is the term one apparently applies to one who doesn’t happen to share
Somebody who supports BarackObama is for Rush Limbaugh’s VP choice?
I don’t think so.
What in the Hell happened to John McCain?!
** PALIN IS A CREATIONIST. Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, John McCain’s surprise pick to be his prospective vice president, revealed herself to be a proponent of so-called creation science during his narrowly victorious 2006 gubernatorial race.
“Teach both,” opined Palin during an October 2006 debate. “You know, don’t be afraid of information. Healthy debate is so important, and it’s so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both.”
Creationism holds that the scientific theory of evolution is false, and that God created the world and everything in it in seven days. This issue was a major problem for Republican president candidate Mike Huckabee, the Baptist minister and former Arkansas governor.
The US Supreme Court has ruled that creationism is an unconstitutional injection of fundamentalist religion into the public schools.
But you would think that the calculus wouldn’t have left them with such a second tier choice (or is 2nd tier too generous?).
>Bill Bradley:
Palin was not in the picture before McCain forgot how many houses his wife owns.
This is an extremely rash decision which reflects very poorly on McCain as a leader. I actually feel embarrassed for him. And the campaign was really smoking right along, too.
This claptrap doesn’t even need a response. Hap you overplayed your hand. Whatever your real motives, etc. I think you have been outed and should stop wasting our time. Palin has more experience than Obama? Horsefeathers! This is as poor a choice as Quayle, maybe worse. And McCain is stuck with it.
“and Dana, I think ( or at least hope) that Four Waters was referring to the potential removal of BIDEN, not Palin, from the ticket.”
Hap,
If you’re in Sacramento, I’ll come to your defense and say the heat has gotten to you. Otherwise, you’re on your own.
Truly don’t know what has happened, but might I suggest a couple cold ones? Drink the contents and then hit yourself in the head with the bottles. One of the two actions might help.
Have a great Labor Day!
“PALIN IS A CREATIONIST”
I tried to post this earlier — it’s in her wiki.
“BUDGET VOTE FAILS IN CALIFORNIA STATE SENATE.”
Yawn.
I hope some reporter or DNC person is contacting the elections officials in Alaska to get Palin’s voting records. I’d like to know if she missed voting in any presidential elections.