Palin the tethered goat

It seems to me that the McCain campaign is using Sarah Palin to draw out the worst of the democratic leaning population, which will cause the not that interested voter to associate the Obama campaign with the Move-On/Cindy Sheehan crowd, and hence be turned to Obama. Pretty clever.

On another note, isn't Palin a wonderful blank canvas on which people can project their hopes and desires? She's the equal of Obama in that regard.

North To Alaska!

Sarah Palin was a good choice. Why?

The voters have made it clear that they do not care about experience this year. If they did, then the election would be between Richardson (governor, former cabinet secretary) and Romney (former governor, businessman and olympic organizer). Nor do they care about ideology, if they cared about that, the campaign would be between Fred Thompson (remember him), the closest follower of Reagan running in 2008, and Clinton, who basically (along with Bill) defined the modern Democratic party.

Instead it's a contest of tribes.

The Republicans quickly split off into the evangelicals (with Huckabee as their champion) vs Everybody Else (featuring St John of Arizona).

The Democrats presented a more interesting conflict. They split off into the Black vote, the white working class vote, the over 35 woman vote, the progressive (aka elitist) vote, with a little "Return to Normalcy" tribe (sort of like the Druse or Mormons) sprinkled in.

The Black and Progressive tribes roped in the Return to Normalcy tribe and triumphed over the over 35 woman and white working class tribes, and annointed their chosen one. (On a side note, isn't tribal warfare in America better than in other countries?)

McCain accurately saw the rules of the game as they are currently defined and saw a chance to pick off the dead enders in the WWC and over 35 woman tribes, and took it. I still think Obama is going to win in November, but it's going to be much closer than it would be if he nominated, say, Romney or Ridge.

Palin!

Via the Agitator - I bring you VPILF.com!

And I now coin the term "McCain's other trophy wife" which the Dems will start using in approximately fifteen minutes.

Obama, Ayers and history

An interesting article about Bill Ayers and the WeatherMen. I would expect to hear lots more about this as the election nears. The obvious parallel is McCain being associated with abortion clinic bombers.

My one Edwards adultery post

And why adultery matters.

Marriage, among other things, is a legal contract between two people. A contract that can be terminated by either party at any time. Adultery is a breach of that contract. It matters politically since it is (again, among other things) a breach of contract, arguably the most important contract anyone ever into into. Marriage is, by design, not a private matter.

If someone breaks a contract with someone he or she knows quite well, and at least at one point cared deeply about, shouldn't that factor into one's decision on who to elect president? Especially in our current age when presidents have enormous discretionary power and can make people disappear unilaterally?

The analogy I use in these situations is: suppose someone defaults on a car loan, does that affect the likelihood that they will default on a mortgage?

And yes, McCain's adultery was equally horrible, and an equal sign of low character and trustworthiness.

Massive insight - Obama in Europe edition

With the rich, popular, and good looking candidate playing in Europe to adoring crowds, and with McCain unable to draw flies here in America, despite being the more experienced deserving candidate; McCain must feel like he's in an Adam Sandler movie.

The Republicans effort to hit rock bottom, and start digging

It seems that John McCain knows that the Republican party needs to rebuild, and wants to make sure they start from the ground up. Case in point, this quote where he seemingly doesn't know the meaning of habeas corpus. This misstatement seems so flagrant, in conjunction with his lack of anything new in his campaign platform, that it seems intentional.

McCain's first wife

Check out this story about McCain's first wife. Oddly, the hero of the tale is Ross Perot; a crazy nut, but a classy guy.

The amazing McCain

According the the wonderful site, Electoral-Vote.com, Clinton (who won't be the nominee) beats McCain 280-241 in the electoral college, whereas Obama loses to McCain 237-290. Granted, it's quite early, but it's amazing nonetheless.