John McCain gave a gracious concession speech that did not pander at all to the sentiments of his disappointed audience. Instead, shrugging off repeated boos from his supporters, he spoke firmly...
This piece -- written by a former student of mine -- may be the funniest, raunchiest, and possibly most insightful endorsement of Obama I've read this campaign season:McCainaic No More.Oh, and also:...
This, SNL's cold-open with John McCain from this past Saturday, was quite funny. As I mentioned earlier, SNL has done a really good job pointing out the fundamental flaw in the McCain campaignIts...
is best articulated here.
I actually enjoyed last night's debate much more so than the previous three. Part of it could be that I watched with a real-live crowd of college-aged students instead of by myself at home with only my minuscule live-blog audience. But mostly, I think, it was because it was, finally, more of an actual debate and less of a set of parallel talking points. The two actually had to speak to each other and were given sufficient time to articulate a campaign position, criticize the opponent, and then respond directly to that criticism. It made for a much more lively show.Overall, I thought that...
Why, o why do I subject myself to this exciting town hall styled 'debate'? Is boring, and my prediction is that it stays boring, and in the grand scheme of things, doesn't do all that much. And yet, I feel compelled to watch and blog. I guess it gives me something to do while my brisket is in the oven. Mmmmmmmmm brisket!McCain is good in this format, its his strength. He's hitting many of the same themes of the last debate. Obama is decent as well--he's better at speaking directly to the questioner, whereas McCain is on campaign message a bit more. He told these same stories in the last...
Current polls reveal that the economy is at the top of voters' agenda and that they trust Senator Barack Obama to handle the ongoing crisis better than Senator John McCain. Today's Rasmussen Daily Tracking Poll, for example, has Obama leading 51%-44% overall and by 63-32 "among voters who name the economy as the top voting issue."However, that same poll revealed that McCain has a whopping 74-24 lead "among those who say that national security is the highest priority." Luckily for Obama, half the electorate says the economy is the most important priority, while only 19% "understand" it is...
I am now officially over Sarah Palin. Hard to believe, yes, given the odd fascination with her odd-for-a-Republican-VP nominee background, but its over.More importantly, the Republicans need to start getting over her, or they are in trouble.Palin has now done what the McCain camp needed her to do. She effectively seized the campaign narrative form Obama and brought it to the Republicans. She did so without involving President Bush. She energized the party base. She gave what everyone is going to say was a good speech last night (though I'll admit I didn't really watch it because I was...
Further thoughts on the Palin pick...There seem to be two different logics to picking a running mate.*Logic 1: Would this person make a good VP once elected? Could the person step into the role of President should the worst case scenario arise? Will the person be a partner in governing, capable of taking on a significant portfolio?Logic 2: Will this person help the ticket win the election? Does the person bring some sort of constituency into the fold? Does the person shore up a perceived weakness in the top of the ticket?You can kinda see where this is going... Obama seems to have followed...
My initial reaction to McCain's choice of Sarah Palin to be his VP was: Who?This is very out of the box for McCain. On the one hand, you kind figured he'd try something like this, because after watching Obama's speech, he really to kickstart his campaign. On the other hand, picking a VP is supposed to be a serious choice, with the heartbeat away from the presidency thing and all. Palin, with zero, and I mean zero, national political profile, just doesn't seem to fit that bill. She's a major unknown. Under-experienced and unknown.Davenoon, the resident Alaskan at LGM, drops some knowledge...
Two good articles on the US role in Georgia. The first, by Helene Cooper and Thom Shanker of the New York Times: "After Mixed U.S. Messages, a War Erupted in Georgia."One month ago, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Tbilisi, Georgia, for a high-profile visit that was planned to accomplish two very different goals.During a private dinner on July 9, Ms. Rice’s aides say, she warned President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia not to get into a military conflict with Russia that Georgia could not win. “She told him, in no uncertain terms, that he had to put a non-use of force pledge on...