OK, has this image made it to TPM?

My guess is a substantial portion of America will find this pretty hot!

http://img60.imageshack.us/img60/6858/palinsn5.jpg

McCain clearly never vetted Schmidt, that's for damn sure.

As I watch the cable news coverage today, I'd hardly call the build-up to Palin's speech "trashing her". Everyone that I've been watching has been saying that more people are excited about her speech than were excited about Obama's.

But, it would be deviating from the GOP talking points to speak about the media in any way other than negative.

http://thepajamapundit.com/

What I am wondering is how long the Republicans are going to be holding Gov. Palin under "house arrest". This feels very "Stepford" to me. Will she EVER be allowed to field actual questions? How can they believe that anyone will actually vote for a ticket where the VP nominee/candidate is LITERALLY being controlled by Schmidt, Black, Rove, Wallace et al. This is really really crazy!

On posting: no avatars, but no doubles/errors (yet!).

hHs Tom DeLay ever actually paid genuine attention to a republican woman?

Because if he had, he would know that they fall into two groups:

1) Throwback '50s wives, who will NEVER vote for a woman who looks like the kind of office Barbie they're afraid will steal their husbands.

2) Secret feminists who are insulted by the elevation of a beauty contest runner-up who's barely qualified to be PTA president.

Either way, McCain couldn't have found a more effective anchor to sink him with republican women.

This tactic has worked reliably for the GOP for a long time.  The MSM are complicit owing to their corporate ownership, the buddy system with their sources, their pack mentality (echo chamber), and laziness on the part of individual reporters and editors.

It looks like it's starting to crumble just a little bit, driven by forces well beyond their control.  Dunno how fast it will happen or how it will all play out, but it's interesting to watch.

I said it the other day and I'll say it again: she is Princess Di.They're all swooning over her, and it's now about her, not boring old McCain.

Remember how Princess Di was going to revitalize the monarchy, make them fresh, modern, relevant?

Yeah, the narrative from the GOP tonight will not be about the content of her speech; but how strong of a person she is for overcoming the adversity of the past few days to deliver her speech.

Talk about setting the bar low in terms of expectations!

Greg: If you're going to put any effort/money/time at all into fixing/improving comments, may I cast a vote for a preview function? Please!

I wouldn't worry about rallying McCain's dogs. What GOP foot soldiers hate is campaigning, and they were going to rally no matter what this go round because Democrats are no longer abstaining from the practice to lure them away.

The fact that we no longer act as though office is a birthrite of Republicans, and something they have to work for like everyone else, was never going to go over well with the folks who find democracy a bureaocratic formality, but it was never really our job to win them over with our willingness to mind our place.

By choosing Palin, McCain got his "base" excited, but he is alienating anyone capable of choosing to vote for a non-Republican.

Face it - if you're voting Republican this year, you're not an undecided or independent. You're a partisan Republican who is incapable of voting for anyone without an R by their name. Republicans can't screw up any worse. This is as bad as it gets, and if they're undecided, it simply means they aren't quite as enthusiastic as before.

He can have his base. We'll take everyone else.

The same media fixated on the pregnancy of the daughter of a VP candidate previously covered up the mistress/love child scandal of John Edwards who was running for President. Why? Because Edwards the pathological liar is a Democrat and is a man.

You can see the DIFFERENCE between the way that Obama handled both his Reverend Wright crisis and the way that the McCain camp is handling Palin's roll-out to the media.

Obama took it like a man and went on interviews and even did a major speech on race that millions of people watched on TV and on youtube. When Wright went on the warpath again Obama again took the mature route and gave a news conference and answered ALL QUESTIONS.

The media respects Obama for that.

Now the McCain camp is whining about how the media is mistreating Palin, etc. Instead they should make sure that she gives a fabulous speech tonight (which I am sure she will), and then have her go on charm offensive with the media.

Palin does have charm and charisma and I am sure she can use this with the media. However, by hiding her in a "hole" for days is actually INCREASING the media frenzy.

How about making Palin available for a press conference?

Barack Obama has dealt with tremendous scrutiny since Iowa, much of it negative, but said the attention was legit since he was relatively unknown.

Now Palin comes along and, no soon than she's introduced, the McCain brains trust has her holed up in a secret bunker Dick Cheney style.

Whatever she does at this speech tonight won't mean much; it's only appearance reading off a teleprompter. No one even talks about Obama's transcendent speech in Denver anymore.

She'll ruin what was left of McCain's candidacy as their strategy now depends on reigniting the culture wars, not a good way to get middle class suburbanites to vote for you.

There is only one image and one phrase to describe the GOP at this moment:

Image:Bobby Knight hurling Chairs
Phrase: working the Refs

Then ponder this -
Will the MSM or as I'm sure it will be phrased tonight 'liberal media' aand New Kid on the Block - liberal blogs....

will they cower as certain refs do and pull punches/not make calls on 'fouls'

I think we all know what the MSM will do

Here's my question re Steve Schmidt: If it's OK for him to reference things that supposedly were said in "off-the-record" lunches, then isn't it OK for the writers who had those lunches say "that never came up in my lunch with them, but since we're no longer off the record, here's what was said:"?

Seriously, I said it on another thread, and I'll repeat it here: I think the problems with the website are directly related to all the statements coming out of the McCain camp. Most browsers can't display Whinese.

For those of you who haven't downloaded the Whinese character set, here's a transliteration of Steve Schmidt's statement: "Wooba-wooba sad-sad."

Those are actually the only two words in the Whinese language. In order to get the accent right you have make very, very sad face when you say them.

Okay first the masters of smear can't handle some actual journalism/vetting of their so-called qualified VP pick???

Then 'Tom De Lay'... well enough said... how did he get in here??? and he's just trying to get republican woman to be offended...

As a woman I will continue to make the point that Sarah Palin may have to face the leaders of North Korea, Iran, Pakistan, Russia etc.? Do you really want to play 'victim' here??? Do you honestly think that helps your case in any way?!

Give me a break! If this woman and the republican party can't withstand media coverage... they certainly should not be in the white house.

From:

Head of State

http://headofstate.blogspot.com/2008/09/unsurprised.html

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Unsurprised

"No Surprises From Palin, McCain Team Says"-Washington Post

Senior McCain officials described themselves as "unsurprised" today as huge storms of locusts flew from Wasilla, Alaska and descended upon McCain campaign headquarters. "Locusts were vetted. Locusts were vetted in the vet" said one campaign official, who spoke without attribution out of concern that he would be devoured by a verminous flying cloud. The campaign also said that they were nonplussed by reports that the rivers were running black with ashes, that family pets were begin to speak in human voices, declaiming "Release Sarah!", and that a huge spreading stain was beginning to blot out the Northern sun. "Vetted" said the campaign.

"There are exciting new studies that show that locusts can be used as a source of biodegradable fuel" said Newt Gingrich, as he hunkered down to avoid the black marble obelisks falling from the sky around him. "Palin, if she can be said to have played a role in bringing about these new biofuel resources, should be praised for her innovative role in the solution to our future energy demands".

"These events firmly demonstrate Palin's deep connection to traditional modes of traditional expression, in traditional forms, traditionally." said William Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard. "Experience, in the face of these more traditional events, is overrated..." continued Kristol, before ending the interview to wrap himself head-to-toe in mosquito netting and swallowing a bitter tasting anti-malarial drug, the taste of which, as his lips contorted, he noted to be "surprisingly refreshing."

Palin's schedule in the upcoming days of the Republican National Convention has been cut short due to, as one McCain communications aide reported, a desire not to "let the magic out of the bottle too quickly." "Sarah is a precious resource, who each moment brings a new vitality and energy to every worker on the campaign" said the aide, while fighting to remove the nest of serpents which had suddenly materialized on the floor beneath him, and were now slowly ascending his legs. "Do these bite, or just slink?" asked the aide, who spoke on conditions of anonymity so as not to provoke or otherwise alienate the reptiles.

Meanwhile, as the heavens darkened, the seas began to boil, and a voice tore through the clouds shouting, in deep, stentorian tones to one and all: "It was a Mistake!", campaign offices described themselves as "unperturbed". "Serpents materializing, house pets suddenly called to vocal advocacy, Celestial callings to revise and repent...Vetted" said the spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was turning into a pillar of salt. "Everything that was vetted was vetted in the vet."

Cite:

Head of State:

http://headofstate.blogspot.com/2008/09/unsurprised.html

The GOP's handling of this entire affair confirms my rather Longview perspective on this pick: Senator McCain flinched.

Of course the Faux Outrage is meant to stir up the base, as was Governor Palin's pick in the first place. Every piece of information flowing from the camp since the unveiling regarding the Shallow Diligence of the pick itself simply confirms the root suspicion that this was a move made in haste and from a position of weakness.

Their handling of the reaction to the rollout isn't the only play designed to hold the base together - the selection of Governor Palin herself was as well. Think about that for a moment. Senator McCain's campaign is not working, in a strategic sense, forward into the Vast Middle or undecided voters: they're working backwards in a late-stage attempt, relatively speaking, toward shoring up a fracturing base - as one galvanizes a base metal to prevent corrosion.

In the great Poker Metaphor of a campaign, Senator Obama saw the bet, and raised it during his acceptance speech. Senator McCain, in response, didn't just show his tell: he outrightly flinched.

Could it be that Republican hackers have decended on your site

So, wait, if questioning Palin's experience is sexist, wouldn't McCain questioning Obama's experience be racist?

Sounds more like the GOP convention is a funeral wake for McShame and crowning of his heir-apparent before his burial pyre is constructed.

Superb point Maritza.

Polls are starting to show that this time people are noticing that the Democratic candidate is the one who's strong and willing to face the music, and the repug is the whiny little pissant.

Sorry, m_hulot, but McCain can never be any more a victim than he was at the hands of the North Vietnamese. Let's get that out there on the record, in case the word hasn't gotten around.

There's a more insidious "anti-press" move is underway with the McCain campaign. Their decision to "blame" the media for the many questions being raised about his VP selection, Sarah Pavin is totally misleading.

McCain and his campaign are ignoring the inconvenient truth on how people get their news and information today. The sources are no longer restricted to MSM. The Internet, with all it's flaws has been responsible for raising many of the questions about Palin.

The "media" is not an old-boy system anymore. Sen. Obama has proven that the Internet would change how politics are run, including fund raising.

On-line information/news sources, including blogs will forever be a part of the political landscape. The "Edward R Morrow" question is whether the traditional MSM will stand by and let McCain characterize them as the enemy and scapegoat of McCain's poor selection in this election?

Stevie kinda reminded me of the teenager in the "Britney Fan Crying" video.

Please don't beg. Here it is. (Caution, high cringe factor):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWSjUe0FyxQ

So I guess Campbell Brown is off the tire swing now for not letting chief crybaby Tucker Bounds talk over her the way Rick Davis talked over Andrea Mitchell's questions a few weeks ago. No more bbq for her.

Let's see, at least one entire network dedicated to getting Republicans elected by sliming Democrats. A nationwide right wing talk show industry dedicated to getting Republicans elected by sliming Democrats. Entire newspaper chains dedicated to Republicans. But the media are angry lefties, unfairly going after him and his fish out of water, who's being filleted rapidly as the oppos and investigators look into what McC didn't bother with before he rolled the dice.
A reporter is persistent in getting an answer from a campaign spokesman to a legitimate question, respectfully asked, and now the Liberal Media Are Mean and McC won't talk to some of them anymore. If he says it, it's true, cuz he's the Straight Talker® maverick and he still has all the principles that gave him his maverickiness.

Want to know what I think? Too bad, you're going to hear it anyway.

McCain picked Palin for several reasons:

1. To a small extent, he picked her to try and lure dissatisfied Hillary supporters and women in general, into voting for him. A way of saying, "Look! We've got a woman over here!".

2. For over two years now, McCain has been trying to court the religious right. Remember his famous trip to Liberty University. He went there supposedly to "mend fences", but in reality was laying the foundation for his candidacy by kissing Jerry Falwell's big fat ass. McCain has been trying to win over social conversatives,who have been at best luke warm to him, ever since. Primarily, Palin's selection was an act of desperation on the part of a campaign that appears to lost its bearings, which in fact it never had. Palin appeals to older envangelicals and the conservative base. She's pro life, pro gun, and anti government. Even James Dobson, the hypocrite's hypocrite, endorsed McCain's candidacy after stating that he had no use for McCain but would holld his nose and vote for him rather than see Obama win. That's what McCain desperately needed, since he has no chance without support from christian conservatives.

Palin's selection was not the end product of a long, deliberate vetting process. It was a reflexive act, hastened by the fact that Obama won high praise for his acceptance speech, which was viewed by some 38 million people. The effect has been, from what I've been reading, that many former Hillary supporters, independents and disallusioned republicans have begun to support Obama. That is crushing for the McCain campaign.

Now, McCain finds he's painted himself into a corner. With all of the revelations that have come out, Palin is a liability. If McCain keeps her on the ticket, the GOP will, perhaps force McCain to drop her to avoid being a laughing stock. If McCain dumps her, he loses the base.

I don't believe McCain has a chance of winning this election, but with without the support of the base, he won't even make it close.