It's probably a little of both, but Palin is getting torched non-stop now on all the cable news networks. Even on Fox News where they are defending her, they keep playing all the "questionable" things about her over and over before defending her. It still doesn't make her look good.

I was watching some news show and they were talking about polls. They claim 50% is a "magic number". Once a candidate hits 50% and has a lead, it's much harder for the other candidate to catch up because the leading candidate now has to loose some support to loose the election. They say 2 candidates in the close 40's is much harder to call. Take it FWIW.

Well, she had to know what she was getting into, but I do feel bad for her daughter. Just like JFK, Jr., Amy Carter or the President's twins, they didn't ask to be born into this life, and I don't think that they should have to suffer for their parents' career choice.

Agree.

Rasmussen - 9/2/08

Obama: 48%
McCain: 43%

W/ "Leaners":

Obama: 51%
McCain: 45%

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_c...l_tracking_poll

Amazing, indeed...what the Democrats will stoop to when they are tuly in fear of a candidate on the other side.

I almost feel sorry for Joe Biden, for in the upcoming VP debate he will apparently be the ONLY person who will need to go at it with Gov. Palin on relevant issues...!!!

http://www.redstate.com/diaries/redstate/2008/sep/02/breaking-democrats-release-sarah-palins-soc/

It might be both, for if that one poll (anyone want me to cite?) reported that while the Conservatives ate up the Palin pick like ice cream, the moderates independents are "chilly" to it so far.

First off, make sure your link works.

Second, yeah Biden will have a tough dance to draw....or are we underestimating Palin and her experience from "bordering Russia"* as Fox News put it.

*=Did you know that Alaska would border Russia, save for a little thing called the Bering Sea and the Chukchi Sea. To make a point of how silly that statement was, MSNBC might as well argue that Biden has foreign affair experience because Delaware borders the same body of water as does Africa.

Why didn't Fox News simply say CANADA? Shit that would make sense, and certainly Alaska would need good affairs with the Mother Canuckers over fishing rights or oil exploration or whatever. That would make good sense.

Right?

Again, keep in mind that it's the polls in each state that count.

Yeah, that campaign isn't doing much of a job so far in selling it outside for those outside of the base.

BTW, some rumors are going around that some GOPers want Mccain to dump Palin, or Palin to "decline"....

BULLSHIT, aint gonna happen.

If that happens, then McCain is fucked. Not just lose a squeaker, but by a loud fart.

I always check links after I've posted them. Seems to work fine for me, before and just now as well.

But, just in case you & others have a problem I'll give it another whirl. For what it's worth, the link is also available on today's Drudge Report.

The Politico has received an opposition research file from the Alaska Democrats.....

In the file, the Democrats have released Sarah Palin's social security number minus the last four digits. Also tied to the information are her various home addresses.

Back in 2005, Democrats used Michael Steele's social security number to get his credit record.

It is atrocious that the Democrats would not only seek out Sarah Palin's social security number, but release it in opposition research to the press.

We need to know who did this. We also need to know what happened. We also need to know if it was used to bolster the Democrats' opposition research.

When it happened to Michael Steele, it turns out the Democrats knew about it and did nothing.

They cannot not take action now.

Again, keep in mind that it's the polls in each state that count.[/quote]

Indeed.

Thanks, I greatly appreciate that apps.

Very true. But if you check out all the current electoral vote maps based on current polling, Obama has over the 270 required votes in every one them too.

Is the Palin family story any of my business?

No, nor was Bubba getting a blowjob.

But, they're out there, and I was simply reporting what I was finding out there on the Net.

I was simply trying to explain why such Leftists/Clinton apologist bloggers are doing this. Doesn't mean that I agree with them, and I don't.

But back to Bubba, hate or like Clinton, the guy was probably one of the more intelligent men to be elected to the White House, and yet it was stupid idiotic bullshit like Lewinsky why, to quote Chris Matthews, "Instead of leaving office as a great statesman, he left as the high school prom king."

Plus, he embarrased his country. Was he the first President to fuck around? No, just the first to get busted wide open in the press, and instead of taking responsbility for it or Man Up, he denied it. When he caught as a liar, he then blamed everyone else.

What an asshole.

Eugene McCarthy died some years back, and Clinton spoke at his funeral, but McCarthy, the '68 Democrat who doomed Lyndon Johnson's re-election chances, called on Clinton to resign. Maybe I wouldn't go that harsh, but damn his attitude of "everyone's fault but mine" did annoy me at the time.

And yet, the GOP Congresss were assholes too over that whole impeachment nonsense, and some of them from Gingrich to Smith caught fucking around as well, I think the American public though "Fuck This" and wanted to move on.

CBS is reporting that Palin has cancelled all public appearances as the GOP convention finally kicked off today.

You know, I disregard those "Dump Palin" rumors, but still this automatically makes the 2008 RNC the most suspenseful-interesting main party convention since 1980 when the whole Reagan-Ford talks for VP evaporated until Bush got that gig.

Obama released one of his best ads yet today. He really does a good job tying Bush and McCain together. McCain states in his own words: "I voted with the President over 90% of the time. Higher than a lot of my Republican colleagues."

Well, if Clinton was the biggest issue in 2000...then Bush is the biggest issue for 2008.

Does Palin have her own Jeremiah Wright problem?

This is from Ed Kalnins, the senior pastor of Wasilla Assembly of God. Palin attended here for most of her adult life, until her new affiliation with a similar church in the state’s capitol, Juneau:

"What you see in a terrorist — that’s called the invisible enemy. There has always been an invisible enemy. What you see in Iraq, basically, is a manifestation of what’s going on in this unseen world called the spirit world. … We need to think like Jesus thinks. We are in a time and a season of war, and we need to think like that. We need to develop that instinct. We need to develop as believers the instinct that we are at war, and that war is contending for your faith. … Jesus called us to die. You’re worried about getting hurt? He’s called us to die. Listen, you know we can’t even follow him unless you are willing to give up your life. … I believe that Jesus himself operated from that position of war mode. Everyone say “war mode.” Now you say, wait a minute Ed, he’s like the good shepherd, he’s loving all the time and he’s kind all the time. Oh yes he is — but I also believe that he had a part of his thoughts that knew that he was in a war."

So Jesus was for Jihad? Awesome.

http://mudflats.wordpress.com/2008/09/02/sarah-palins-preacher-problem-end-times-coming/

That's great.

Did you see/hear the one to the tune of Sam Cook's "Wonderful World?" It never played in CA. - I only heard about it on-line and since I couldn't open the video at work, I only got to read the lyric. Something like: "Don't know much about the economy; don't know much about the price of gas; don't know what happened to the middle class." Sounds great. Such a ring of truth.


TIS

Conservative icon Phyllis Schlafly Chides McCain Camp for Palin Cancellation

ABC News' Teddy Davis reports: Conservative icon Phyllis Schlafly is taking the McCain campaign to task for notifying her at the last minute that Sarah Palin will be a no-show on Tuesday when the Republican National Coalition for Life holds an event honoring the Alaska governor.

"I think this is clearly somebody in the McCain campaign who doesn't understand where the votes are coming from," Schlafly told ABC News. "They only told me this at 10 o'clock last night, and it was a call from somebody down-the-line in the McCain campaign.

"The pro-lifers who paid $95 to come to this event because of Sarah Palin are going to be very unhappy," she added.

Schlafly is expecting 800 people, most of whom are delegates to the Republican National Convention, to attend Tuesday's reception at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in St. Paul, Minn. The event runs from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. CT.

The purpose of the event is to honor Palin for being a political figure who "not only talks the talk, but walks the walk" when it comes to putting "life first."

Debbie Joslin, a Republican National Committeewoman from Alaska, will accept the pro-life award on behalf of Palin.

Palin spokeswoman Maria Comella said McCain's running mate will not be attending the event because she is "preparing for her speech at the convention.

"Events that were set up before she was named McCain's running mate did not account for the fact that her schedule would be changing as a vice presidential nominee," said Comella.

The Republican National Coalition for Life event never appeared on Palin's vice presidential schedule.

Nevertheless, the McCain campaign did not notify Schlafly of the plan to back out of the event until Monday night, and Schlafly claims that the Secret Service scoped out the event site earlier in the day on Monday. The McCain campaign was not able to confirm Schlafly's claim about the Secret Service.

Schlafly, who gained her iconic status among conservatives by leading the fight against the Equal Rights Amendment, called the selection of Palin to be McCain's running mate "terribly smart."

"I cannot believe what she has done to energize the Republican Party and the people who were, at best, lukewarm about McCain," said Schlafly.

Schlafly noted how Monday's announcement that Palin's 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, is pregnant and planning to marry the father of her baby, did not alter the views of social conservatives about McCain's running mate.

"I don't think that has dampened enthusiasm in the slightest," said Schlafly.

Schlafly added that Tuesday's event would have been a good opportunity for Palin to quickly address her daughter's pregnancy and to eliminate further discussion of it.

"She was not going to be subjected to questions at this event," said Schlafly.

Asked what she plans to say about the cancellation at the event, Schlafly said, "I am certainly going to say that it was McCain that canceled."

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/09/schlafly-chides.html

I guess they're going to lock her in a closet, and only let her out when they have to.

Anyone see this gem tonight? Ooops!

Apparently the boyfriend of Sarah's daughter is going to the convention.

I just heard for the umpteenth time a Republican saying how Palin will energize the Republican campaign. Isn't the Presidential candidate supposed to do that?

I understand that the baby's father is named Levi. What is it with the names in this family? Is it an Alaskan thing, or a Palin thing??

I don't know. You might ask Barack.

My understanding is that Barack is a family name from his father's side.

I was being serious. Is it a cultural thing coming out of Alaska? I don't know very much about Alaska or its people.

Are the kind of names in the Palin family common? Does anyone know??

What's wrong with Levi? What are the other names?

People Magazine interview:


Where do your children's names come from?

Sarah's parents were coaches and the whole family was involved in track and I was an athlete in high school, so with our first-born, I was, like, 'Track!' Bristol is named after Bristol Bay. That's where I grew up, that's where we commercial fish. Willow is a community there in Alaska. And then Piper, you know, there's just not too many Pipers out there and it's a cool name. And Trig is a Norse name for "strength."

Meanwhile, Hurricane Gustave has given McCain two huge breaks:

First, he found a great way to not have Bush and Cheney speak at the convention. Anything they said would have given the Dems a field day for tying the current administration's unpopularity to McCain.
Second, Gustave only brushed New Orleans. But the administration's now bragging about how "they" "managed" this "crisis" "brilliantly."