New Orleans is being evacuated as Hurricane Gustav approaches. Three years after the governmental debacle of Katrina, the Republican convention is turning into a sideshow.
** BUSH AND CHENEY OUT OF REPUBLICAN CONVENTION, MCCAIN MAY GIVE ACCEPTANCE SPEECH FROM DISASTER ZONE. Hurricane Gustav is expected to make landfall on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico on Monday. So President Bush and Vice President Cheney, whose administration spectacularly bungled Hurricane Katrina three years ago this week, a gross failure shared by local and state government in Louisiana, will not be in St. Paul, Minnesota for the Republican national convention. In addition, John McCain is strongly considering delivering his acceptance speech to the convention from somewhere within the disaster zone.
Now, here’s a question. Is the collapse of the Republican national convention into a political sideshow a bad thing for McCain, or a good thing? One thing is for sure. It means that years of planning for a powerful week for the Republican nominee are reduced to improvisational moves, much of it, ironically, dictated by extreme weather.
** SUNDAY — WHERE THEY ARE TODAY.
Barack Obama and Joe Biden are in Toledo, Ohio and Battle Creek, Michigan.
John McCain and Sarah Palin are in Jackson, Mississippi and O’Fallon, Missouri.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE: SUNDAY. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will hold private meetings and discussions in and around the Capitol with a focus on the chronic California budget crisis. Unless there is a budget by Monday, which doesn’t appear likely, he will not open the Republican national convention in prime time, as he has been scheduled to do. A sad moment for him, to be sure.
Meanwhile, the Legislature is going through a series of complicated maneuvers this Labor Day weekend, as it has now achieved the distinction of the latest budget in California history. I could run through the various legislative permutations of the weekend, or I could explain it all as the usual Capitol wheel-spinning.
** PALIN SEEN BY VOTERS AS UNQUALIFIED. A new USA Today/Gallup Poll shows that Sarah Palin is seen as unqualified to be vice president. Only 39% say Palin’s qualified, a number that is below the baseline Republican vote in a national election and is by far the lowest since the selection of Dan Quayle in 1988. Democrat Joe Biden is seen as qualified by 57%.
There’s more to say about Palin, who has major contradictions in her sparse record, but it’s a holiday weekend and perhaps not that big a deal.
It’s opening weekend of the college football season. This is the video shown at the Friday team meeting of the USC Trojans. Best-in-the-West SC is on the road Saturday afternoon against Virginia. (USC won, 52-7).
** WELCOME TO WASILLA. POPULATION 6,715. Here is the web site for the City of Wasilla, Alaska. Designated Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin served as mayor of Wasilla until a year-and-a-half ago. As you see, her post as mayor consisted of presiding over city council meetings — she didn’t have a vote unless there was a tie — and presiding over various civic events.
The Wasilla City Council meets twice a month.
According to the city, Wasilla has a population of 6,715. Which is less than the 8000 I reported yesterday. And far less than Karl Rove implied early yesterday morning on Fox News, when he erroneously claimed that Wasilla is the second largest city in Alaska.
** LIEBERMAN WAS MCCAIN’S REAL FIRST CHOICE FOR VEEP. As I suspected. But he was vetoed by the far right wing of the Republican Party.
** SATURDAY — WHERE THEY ARE TODAY.
Barack Obama and Joe Biden are in Youngstown, Cleveland, and Dublin, Ohio.
John McCain and Sarah Palin are in Washington, Pennsylvania.
** 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 yesterday’s column.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE: SATURDAY. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has meetings and discussions in and around the Capitol Saturday, with a focus on the chronic California budget crisis.
There is a “98% chance” that he will not be going to St. Paul, Minnesota, as scheduled to opening the Republican National Convention in prime time.
** 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 recent Huffington Post column.
** 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 closed at $115.46 per barrel on Friday. Energy markets are closed on the weekend.
The drop of over $32 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.
Read 
| Comments (0) |
Great USC Football video.
I’ve had a day to think about it. Picking Palin feels even more irresponsible than it did yesterday.
Good analysis of the Palin pick. Your friend Steve Schmidt is too clever for the country’s good, or his own.
I like the USC video, too, but GO CAL!
At least it’s not the Eagles. I thought you didn’t like rap music.
… and only one more week until the opening season of the NFL!!! [happy dancing emoticon here]
Indeed.
Thanks. It’s grown on me. Some.
>Ann:
At least it’s not the Eagles. I thought you didn’t like rap music.
Aug 30, 2008 – 11:26 am
Yep. They play later this afternoon at home against Michigan State.
>Capitol Boy:
I like the USC video, too, but GO CAL!
Aug 30, 2008 – 10:27 am
Thanks.
Perhaps so ….
>Capitol Boy:
Good analysis of the Palin pick. Your friend Steve Schmidt is too clever for the country’s good, or his own.
Aug 30, 2008 – 10:25 am
Palin vs. Putin.
aka
Bambi vs. Godzilla.
>Jonas Blane:
I’ve had a day to think about it. Picking Palin feels even more irresponsible than it did yesterday.
Aug 30, 2008 – 10:06 am
It’s pretty cool.
>Jonas Blane:
Great USC Football video.
Aug 30, 2008 – 10:06 am
Speaking of Steve Schmidt, there’s a cute (and insightful) fictional (maybe) dialogue between Schmidt and McCain over at :
http://www.electoral-vote.com/
Bill,
Thanks for the great video on the West’s number one team!
i can’t believe i’m quoting USA TODAY, but i was looking for the “average Josaphine” perspective.
under any circumstance (even if she had tons of experience), this seems like a helluva hill to overcome, given the timeframe.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-08-30-palin-poll_N.htm
By Susan Page, USA TODAY
ST. PAUL — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin faces a getting-to-know-you process as the Republican vice presidential candidate, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds: Most Americans say they’ve never heard of her.
There is also wide uncertainty about whether she’s qualified to be president. In the poll, taken Friday, 39% say she is ready to serve as president if needed, 33% say she isn’t and 29% have no opinion.
RATING THE RUNNING MATES
Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of…
Favorable Un-
favorable Never heard of No opinion
Sarah
Palin 22 7 51 20
Joe
Biden 34 15 23 28
Based on what you know, do you think he/she is qualified to serve as president if it becomes necessary?
Yes,
qualified No,
not No
opinion
Sarah
Palin 39 33 29
Joe
Biden 57 18 26
seems a little late in the game to be “making the case” from this far back.
Mayor of a town of 6700. Wow. Experience you can’t buy. What a joke.
Okay, folks, haven’t been feeling well and I just woke up from a rather long sleep. You wont’ believe the strange dream I had…well, it was more like a nightmare.
Dreamed that John McCain had slected someone as his running mate who had no real experience…something like mayor of a very small city…and then became the Governor of Alaska. It was a lady who was anti pro-choice, anti gay marriage, in favor of teaching Creationism and was currently being investigated for abuse of power.
I came out of this dream dazed and in a cold sweat. Then I realized that no rationial person whould select someone like that. Not even inane McCain, who has more respect for the country, would put someone on as his running mate who is totally unqualified. No, he wouldn’t. That’s when I realized that be must have been a dream.
But, folks, I must tell, it truly was one scary dream. Sure am glad it’s not true!
Cal’s win over Michigan State was exciting but a little too close for comfort. Just like USC’s win.
When I explained to my wife that THIS was the MOST qualified vice presidential candidate the Republicans had in the entire United States, she said, “I didn’t realize it had gotten that bad for them.”
Does she even have a passport?
The Bears were the better team yesterday, but they could have easily lost the game had Michigan State kept a couple touchdowns overturned by a penalty and a close out-of-bounds call. Nate Longshore decisively settled the quarterback controversy by throwing two horrible interceptions, one at the goaline to thwart a long drive and another which was returned for a touchdown. After those two buzz-killing performances, the alumni section was nervous everytime he resumed his place kick holding role.
Gustav arrives Monday, keeping Bush and Cheney from the Republican convention. The hurricane cuts into coverage of the convention. The Republicans have all the luck.
A friend who spent the past academic year at the University of Alaska says there is a lot stil to come out about Palin. On the plus side, her mayoral experience at cutting ribbons will serve her in good stead when she is called upon to attend state funerals, the usual duty of a vice-president.
It is obvious you prefer women in the supine position. Keep it up…:)This can only get more interesting.
More to say about Sarah Palin? Like she was for the “Bridge to Nowhere,” not against it? Like that?
McCain and your buddies around him are showing how contemptuous they are of women by thinking they will fall for a lightweight fraud with the same plumbing.
I was talking to Bill referring to his friends running the McCain campaign.Not you, Carole. I have no idea what to say to you.
At least Sarah Palin isn’t Rush Limbaugh in a skirt. Oh wait. lol
I wish McCain had picked a ridiculous man instead of a ridiculous woman.
“It is obvious you prefer women in the supine position. Keep it up…:)This can only get more interesting.”
simply being a woman with some political experience does not make her a qualified candidate for VP. she is not Hilary, and does not have Hilary’s experience or connections. Hilary was and remains a very qualified candidate. a couple of weeks ago, Palin didn’t know what the job of that VP’s is. (her quote) not to mention that she’s got no international experience, hell… no experience in the lower 48. she has no experience in Washington, no experience with a reasonably sized budget, no experience with infrastructure or, hell… really anything at all. the town had just over 4,000 people when she was Mayor.
she may be a great woman, a great person, a great Mayor and perhaps Gov, and maybe even have great political potential; i’ll even give her (blindly ’cause we don’t have any freakin’ clue) the presumption that she’s in politics because she is motivated from the greatest good… NONE of that qualifies her to be (gulp) President of the US (if something were to happen to McCain).
in some ways an election is like pregnancy… you have a few months of intense speculation and fanfare, and then you’re actually left with the mechanics of raising the kid. she may be great in the hype — good for base motivation, maybe move some disaffected Hillary supporters, or give a staid ticket a fresher face — but there is absolutely nothing in her background that suggests that she is any way qualified to do the job. doesn’t mean she couldn’t be down the road –but right now, for the country… this was not a decision made in the best interests of our people.
it is not a game. when the fanfare is over, the people who ultimately end up with these positions will have to do some very, very, very difficult things in order to fix some substantial problems.
we elected (well some people did) an utterly unqualified person into the White House for the last 2 terms. people died in Iraq; people died in New Orleans, our country is in profound debt, our image in the greater world is a joke, and on…
i feel you’ve made fun of people who are appalled, but it seems to me that you are being very casual, as tho it’s an easter egg hunt, or some kind of popularity contest. its not.
if you have some substantive opinion of why she’s an appropriate pick, have at it; i would genuinely wish to know. but to belittle the opinions of others, claiming sexism, is just silly.
I’m not offended by Sarah Palin because she’s a woman. I’m offended by Palin because she’s a token.
The real airhead isn’t Palin. She’s just another opportunist. The real airhead is McCain. He’s more irresponsible and cynical than I thought.
i’ve been reading the geek blogs re: Gustav. they have no idea what size he’ll be when he hits land (somewhere b/t high Cat. 2 to mid Cat. 3 probably) or where, exactly, he’ll hit, or how the surge will affect land (and thus flooding and levee breaks). the Hurricane Center has a reasonable prediction of probability, but at this point everything looks different every 1/2 hour. it would be awfully tough to plan a convention event around… not to mention that given the security issues etc. of the convention speakers… seems like more of that focus would need to be on what’s happening as a result of the hurricane.
if they want to postpone a week (god, what a nightmare), i can see that (altho there are more lined up behind this one)… but to move any speech to a disaster zone that just had a mandatory evac of 240,000 people seems crazy. (and i feel sorry for any of the officials that would have to decide how to divide their resources.)
Marcus…
i was responding to Carole’s comments (all of them at once, really).
i understand your position perfectly.
Ann wrote:
I wish McCain had picked a ridiculous man instead of a ridiculous woman.
I think that’s unfair to Gov. Palin. She is not ridiculous, McCain’s choice was ridiculous, and dangerous. As Bill has pointed out, McCain is an old 72, with a history of repeated melanoma incidents, the skin cancer most likely to be fatal. This choice is so irresponsible it calls into question not only the judgment but the patriotism of the people who made it. Do they think so little of their country and its future that they would endanger it for a short-term political gotcha? Evidently so.
Hey, Bill!
Is that little baby with the Down’s Syndrome Sarah Palin’s, or her daughter’s?
Nobody thought Palin was pregnant till she announced it at SEVEN MONTHS. Her staff the press were shocked.
Her water broke when she was in Dallas. She’s 44 years old and the child has Down’s Syndrome.
Did she go to have it in Dallas? No. She got on an 8-hour flight from Dallas, Texas to Anchorage, Alaska. Nobody on the flight had any idea her water had broken, she was pregnant, nothing.
Did she have the baby in Anchorage when she finally got there 9 hours after her water broke? No. She drove to Wasilla, another hour, and had it with her private doctor.
Was her daughter there at the hospital when Palin gave birth? She might have still been away. She quit high school for 7 months because she had mononucleosis. The same time.
I read the questions about Palin’s pregnancy and the daughter over at Andrew Sullivan’s blog, and confess they made me a little queasy. No one — no one at all — would enter national political life with that in their baggage. I know you can’t be too rich, too thin or too cynical, but this story strikes me as just a bit nauseating. There’s plenty of vacuity here to criticize; folks who try this hard to create scandal only make themselves look bad.
(God, I hope I’m not wrong about this. . . )
You mean no one would try this. No one, like, John Edwards, who ran for President knowing every rumor about him was true.
No one. Like that. Get real. These are egomaniacs. What mayor of a tiny village with less than 2 years in the state house of a little state think she is ready to be President?
You have got to be kidding me.
I wrote this wrong. Palin didn’t fly from Texas to Alaska after her water supposedly broke. She gave a speech after her water supposedly broke. Then she flew from Texas to Alaska. Then she drove from Anchorage to her private doctor in Wasilla.
What mayor of a tiny village with less than 2 years in the state house of a little state think she is ready to be President? — She is running for Vice President, and comment period is now open for listing of the lengthy qualifications of Obama to be the president of the US on day one.
What movie star from the tiny village of Santa Monica with less than 2 minutes of experience in the state house thinks he is ready to be governor of the state with more than a tenth of the US population?
I supported Arnold, and I am supporting McCain, but I had no problem with either choice, and I supported McCain even more after he decided to go outside the professional politician class for his VP selection. Shows class in my opinion. In my opinion, being a DC politician mostly qualifies one for the lobbying corps. Gee, impressive.
And you know what, I doubt the real Mickey Kaus would be saying these things.
Good you finally stopped pretending to be an Obama supporter and admit you are supporting an extreme right-winger in Palin.
Schwarzenegger is Schwarzenegger. Palin is an ant.
You are right about one thing, Hap.
Mickey Kaus would never get into Palin’s scandals the way he does Democrats like John Edwards.
Have a happy and restful Labor Day, CB. I was a supporter of Obama in the democratic primary, and voted for him. I was a big McCain supporter in 2000, but voted for Gore in the election. But now that the campaign has moved along, I realized a while ago that I think McCain will be great in the Executive Branch — much better than he was in the Congress, where he was a split-the-difference pol. I still like Obama, but I don’t think it is his time yet, may never be. I should have been more forthcoming earlier on, but I haven’t been real sure about it to the point that I can admit it in public, and to my family, but that is over the bridge now as well.. Anyway, point well taken on the self-declarations. Have a good holiday. If you are truly a Capitol employee, hope you get a day or two off before they go at it again Wednesday. Maybe there is a deal in the works. It seems that way from out here in the hinterlands…
Hap,
Here’s the problem I having…and it’s probably because I’m just a feeble minded old person. Perhaps you will be nice enough to answer me…
How does one go from supporting Obama to McCain? What issues are they so close on that allow you to do this? I mean, issues are importantant, aren’t they? Aren’t these chaps quite far apart on most/all issues???
Thank you in advance for helping the senior citizen understand things.
Solon – Briefly, I wanted this year to be the start of a different way in the political dynamics in DC. I thought Obama represented the best shot at that, but have since come to doubt that he is very different than most other politicians, but I started to think McCain is finished playing inside politics, and is the one who really does want to change the way business is conducted in DC. He has always struck me more as a commander/executive than a legislator in any event. Plus, I support McCain’s approach to Iraq, and have always had a hard time with Obama’s get outta there no matter what strategy.
Hap,
Thank you. Sadly, you have managed to confuse me more.
One might think that’s Iraq is a major issue and that if you disagreed with a candidate on it you couldn’t support him/her…ever.
Oh, well, for whatever it’s worth…just because I disagree with you doesn’t mean I don’t like you! Have yourself a great Labor Day. I will see if I can find some nice quiet place where a feeble old person, like person, can ponder where you went astray!
Typo alert…
I will see if I can find some nice quiet place where a feeble old person, like person, can ponder where you went astray!
Sould have read:
I will see if I can find some nice quiet place where a feeble old person, like myself…
—–
Sorry, neither my eyes nor fingers work quite as well as in my youth. Must have been the long, hard, years I served in the military. I’ve told you the stories of how I protected you all when you were young…some of you not even born…haven’t I???
Solon – Didn’t it all start at a 5000-watt radio station in Fresno?
Yep…sure did!
Enjoy you Labor Day…think I’ll go crawl into a book.
What new video today?
Bill,
Labor Day would not be complete without thank you for all your hard work in keeping us well informed. Thank you!
I join with Solon. Thank you. We appreciate it.
Kill ‘em all.