72 posts tagged “republican”
Note: This is coming from Mike Gravel (D) (L). Mike Gravel.
Wow...
I couldn't help but laugh out loud at the left-wing radio hosts thinking they were going to get an interview with Gravel where there would be a lot of agreement and then get an interview like that!
According to Newsweek anyway...
Palin seems to have lost some of her luster. Since Sept. 13, Palin's unfavorables have climbed from 30 percent to 36 percent. Meanwhile, her favorables have slipped from 52 percent to 48 percent. That's a three-day net swing of -10 points, and it leaves her in the Sept. 15 Diageo/Hotline tracking poll tied for the smallest favorability split (+12)** of any of the Final Four. Over the course of a single weekend, in other words, Palin went from being the most popular White House hopeful to the least.
Wow. The reporting here is top notch! Oh wait... there is fine print in the article...
*First, it's important to note that Palin's approval rating hasn't tanked. Far from it. And we should hold off on drawing any hard and fast conclusions until more polling comes out.*
So in the end, what was the purpose of this article again? No hard facts, just speculation? I guess they couldn't wait for a few more polls before writing this one? Normally you need multiple points to conclude a trend...
It is like the media just can't wait for her to fall...
But if the minor swing in the polls for Palin means she has gone from the most favorable to the least, then one must assume that everybody (everybody running for office) has issues.
UPDATE: I won't even come close to thinking that Palin's slip the other day is indicative of a long-term negative trend. The current poll is showing a minor rebound. Her unfavorable numbers are still lower than Obama's (35% vs. 40% unfav for Obama) and she is at 50% favorability on the 9-19-08. But let us not get ahead of ourselves... it is pretty obvious that the electorate is split (like 2000 and 2004) and we will see this bounce around within the margin of error from here to the election (unless something big happens).
If you think this ethics probe slash "Troopergate" is a fair investigation into Sarah Palin... think again...
Adam Brickley:
I can't believe I missed this column yesterday, but Townhall's Amanda Carpenter has unearthed some very disturbing audio regarding the legislative "investigation" of the "Troopergate" non-scandal. The tape was made during a Spetember 12 hearing of the state legislature's Joint Judiciary Committee, in which the committee is discussing the investigation with Investigator Steve Branchflower. The bombshell information is dropped by Branchflower when he reveals that he does not have control of the subpoena list for his own investigation. Instead, he has to defer questions to the Democratic State Senator Hollis French, who is supervising the investigation. This is the same Hollis French who is one of Barack Obama's leading Alaskan supporters, started using the term "impeachment" before the investigation even began, and is now vocally threatening the McCain-Palin campaign with an "October surprise". Such a partisan hack has no business even participating in this investigation, let alone holding final control over who Steve Branchflower can or cannot talk to.
Absolutely unbelievable.
UPDATE: I have a feeling this is going to hit the airwaves like a ton of bricks and is totally going to backfire on the Democrats. I mean big time...
Paul at Powerline on Palin.
According to the NY Times, it could all be true. That the McCain campaign did not vet Palin enough and that her experience is severely lacking. And that this is a window into McCain's soul and his decision making ability.
This is a roll of the dice beyond even Bill Clinton’s imagination. “Often my haste is a mistake,” McCain conceded in his 2002 memoir, “but I live with the consequences without complaint.” Well, maybe it’s fine if he wants to live with the consequences, but what about his country? Should the unexamined Palin prove unfit to serve at the pinnacle of American power, it will be too late for the rest of us to complain.
So does this mean in the end that Palin is truly unfit to be Vice President? Only time will tell if the voters put them in office.
But one thing is for sure. Previous "experience" that other politicians had prior to serving in office has not stopped the media elite from criticism of mistakes those individuals made serving the people. If experience was the end all be all of political success -- then history must show us that career politicians just don't screw up? They must do everything right!?
Ask Richard Nixon or Harry Truman if their political experience prior to being President helped shield them from the objections they received over the mistakes they made? Or even George W. Bush?
As for McCain... How come when it is people like the Clintons, there is this awe from the media elite regarding their political prowess and instinct, yet with McCain it is this negativity about his political sixth sense? Oh yeah, it isn't about having instinct, it is about having instinct on the side of the political aisle you agree with... too bad that isn't something they will admit...
How about this for a political olfactory sensation? Hillary running in 2012.
Or how about this one... People like Obama because he represents fresh blood and a new generation in office. To me that says why they may like Palin as well and why this inexperience talk may just amount to why people want a fresh breeze in politics. Because, obviously, those career, experienced politicians in Washington are doing such a bang up job right now...
I wonder how the moderate left is going to sort through the legitimate questions voters will have about Palin when there is this mouth-foaming hatred of her and over-the-top rumors being espoused from the far left.
There will come a point (and I think that we have passed that point) where independents will not trust their criticism of her because it is drowned out in the slander that is being propagating in what seems to be hourly events. They will feel that the criticism is not just, but merely politically motivated.
This election is not going to be won by liberals voting for McCain/Palin or conservatives voting for Obama/Biden -- but folks in the middle who sway election to election. The independents will decide this election.
I keep hearing that the Palin pick was a sign of despair from the McCain camp and the pick was highly political. There is some truth to the pick being political to make his base happy. But the fit is good for McCain so I wouldn't call it a pick made to appease the base where McCain has to "put up" with the person for the next four years.
But one has to think that this endless barrage of everything (including the kitchen sink) the left is throwing (most highly inaccurate and misleading) in order to see if something sticks so they can sink S.S. Palin looks even more like a sign of desperation.
Update: Scio, Scio has a link to the rumor list.
Wow. Just wow.
Stunned.
I have no words.
A home run.
I think Biden is going to be the underdog in the VP debates.
The stops have been pulled. It is a fight now.
You ever seriously ask yourself why John McCain got the GOP nomination over Mitt Romney? I mean think about it. Why did he get the nomination?
Don't you remember when it was Giuliani's nomination to lose and everybody was asking why McCain was still in the race when his approval was incredibly low? What happened? How did McCain, with his past love-hate relationship with the right, get the nomination?
Well, obviously, he struck a chord with Republicans. And across the board.
I think what sealed the deal was his support for the surge at the time and his presence to say he would rather lose the election than the war.
But there is this also this other current... one that runs deep...
You ever watch the beginning of a football game when the analysts breakdown the fundamentals of the game: offense, defense, special teams, and intangibles. I always thought the latter was sort of the free for all factor that really was picked out of the air in terms of giving a team an edge. Like it was something whimsical that made the analysts look stupid. Like it was made up to give the underdog with something to prove a check in the box. But, for McCain, it is the intangible that gives him the edge.
You see, I love reading other blog posts about how McCain was anti-Katrina aid because he voted against bills. That he was anti-minimum wage because he voted against it. He was this. He was that. Because he voted against it. Like he is some evil, typical conservative monster with no soul. But this is why some people just don't get politics. It seems simple to say -- you define somebody by their votes. And in a way you do. Just not by standard practical terms for John McCain.
And that is why he is the intangible.
Washington is more than a place. It is one giant continuous political football game. And the play that always scores is the one where you get a bill going based upon the masses demanding it. Katrina. War in Iraq. 9/11. Seems how it is supposed to be, right? But the real score is what other legislation and pork barrel spending gets tagged on the bill.
John McCain votes against these bills not because he is anti-Katrina aid or anti-tax cut. He votes against them because there is so much other crap on the bill! Stuff that nobody really needs! Stuff that makes the icing on the cake so sweet you wonder where the hell is the cake!
Other politicians are too weak to vote against it because they will be cast as some sort of nutter not worthy of office.
And this is probably my number one priority when I vote this election. And this is probably the core of why I like McCain. He is somebody willing to continue his quest, but in a bigger position, to take on this Washington mentality that we are just one giant pocketbook that can be raided by the Washington elites.
I like McCain because he is the intangible to the playbook. He doesn't play by the rules. He calls it like he sees it. He works in Washington, but he really is not an elite like the rest of them.
For me his quality on this issue is his willingness to take on out of control spending. Opponents will cast McCain as a gimmick, maybe even as a fumblerooski, but if we can score a touchdown on the play -- maybe we can start to turn around a very wasteful inside the beltway mentality.
Before I start going through the issues about McCain/Palin I want to write a few words about politics in general.
First off, every move that both Obama and McCain make are calculated moves. Let's not forget that they are running for the highest office in the land, they have massive campaigns, and like chess -- they are looking forward many moves to checkmate the opponent.
McCain has reasons he picked Palin and in his mind they are reasons that he thinks will help him win. But let us not think that Obama's pick wasn't selected for similar reasons. To think that one camp is being calculating and the other not is naive.
Second, there is something to be said about rhetoric. Both camps are promising the world and are trying to make the other guy look stupid. Politics is not for the faint at heart. Thus, you have to peel the onion to figure out what you think is just rhetoric because it is a campaign year and what is truth (i.e., what the candidate actually believes and what they will actually do about it).
You have to look through the political shifts and the flip-flops that candidates find themselves in because they are in an election year. You have to almost operate on instinct in certain instances and look to past actions to base your opinions.
And third, there is a lot to be said about what certain opinions and positions candidates hold. But, you have to say to yourself -- okay -- what can they actually do about that position? And what reality in the beltway will either push that position onto the country or not?
I hope that sort of gives you a feel about how my brain works and how I will cover the issues.
