Completely Unnecessary

Troopergate investigation finds ‘duh‘:

Gov. Sarah Palin abused the powers of her office by pressuring subordinates to try to get her former brother-in-law, a state trooper, fired, an investigation by the Alaska Legislature has concluded. The inquiry found, however, that she was within her right to dismiss her public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, who was the trooper’s boss.

Meanwhile, more and more stories are coming in about the whipping up going on at McCain/Palin events - some of it bordering on race-baiting. In one particularly disturbing incident:

Palin then went on to blame Katie Couric’s questions for her “less-than-successful interview with kinda mainstream media.” At that, Palin supporters turned on reporters in the press area, waving thunder sticks and shouting abuse. Others hurled obscenities at a camera crew. One Palin supporter shouted a racial epithet at an African American sound man for a network and told him, “Sit down, boy.”

Megan at Jezebel has a good rundown (with link list at the bottom), so I won’t list them all here.

McCain and Palin have not discouraged this behavior from their supporters. Instead Obama’s campaign got the blame today:

McCain campaign spokesman Brian Rogers adds in another statement: “Barack Obama’s attacks on Americans who support John McCain reveal far more about him than they do about John McCain. It is clear that Barack Obama just doesn’t understand regular people and the issues they care about. He dismisses hardworking middle class Americans as clinging to guns and religion, while at the same time attacking average Americans at McCain rallies who are angry at Washington, Wall Street and the status quo.”

I’m not even sure that ‘irresponsible’ can describe this behavior (and the dog-whistle response). John McCain used to be better than this. He’s the head of his party and an authority figure; failure to denounce it is tantamount to endorsement.

If someone gets hurt - and I’m thinking most the media people at these events - it will be on McCain’s shoulders.

Vaguely Related

• Navigating the Sarah Palin Daughter Pregnancy Scandal
• Legitimate Concern on Palin

There are 25 days left in the race, and - barring the mother of all October surprises - the electoral map looks as though it’s becoming nearly impossible for McCain.

West Virginia is in play, for god’s sake.

Nearly every pollster, including right-leaning, has Obama above the 270 threshold. Many have him well into the 300s.

The angry tenor of McCain/Palin rallies has garnered the attention of the Secret Service. Today the cable channels ran with video of McCain having to grab the mic back from Minnesota supporter who called Obama ‘an arab’. This also happened:

When a man told him he was “scared” of an Obama presidency, Mr. McCain replied, “I want to be president of the United States and obviously I do not want Senator Obama to be, but I have to tell you — I have to tell you — he is a decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared of as president of the United States.” The crowd booed loudly at Mr. McCain’s response.

The campaign is way off on its tone. Average people - notably the independents and right-leaning Dems McCain needs to pull - don’t want ranting crowds with pitchforks.

How can we tell? Well, Norm Coleman senate race is a fair indicator.

Coleman (R-MN) has seen his solid lead over Al Franken collapse in the last few days. Coleman’s response? Get as far away from the McCain strategy as possible. He’s stopped running all negative ads in the ‘nice’ state. [Update: Coleman also pulled out of a planned appearance with McCain.]

The question now becomes how many will McCain drag down with him. Minnesota voters no doubt got footage of that nasty rally on all channels tonight. Coleman’s move clearly indicates his desire to seperate himself from the kind of negativity that’s now associated with the top of his ticket.

It might not work.

Senate races all over the country that have no business being in play are up for grabs. Coleman’s seat was always going to face a strong challenge, but Georgia?

Saxby Chambliss might actual lose his seat to Jim Martin. And last night’s debate appears not to have gone well for the incumbent.

If you’re a returning reader your likely question is (as always), ‘What’s the point of all this?’

If McCain looks like he’s going to go down hard, the RNC is likely to use its money to staunch the bleeding in Senate and House races. If you’re thinking about making a political donation, it might be time to think about at least splitting your donation between Obama and some seat races.

Some choices:

• Al Franken in Minnesota
• Kay Hagen in North Carolina
• Jeff Merkley in Oregon
• Jim Martin in Georgia
• Ronnie Musgrove in Mississippi (B)
• hell, even Mitch McConnell’s seat might be within reach - Bruce Lunsford in Kentucky

Putting money into House races also stretches your contribution dollar (though donations to Obama invariably help candidates downticket as well).

60 in the Senate seemed unthinkable even just a short time ago. Despite my general advocacy of divided government, it’s hard to look at that number and not try to reach for it.

Vaguely Related

• Legitimate Concern on Palin
• Stevens Loses Senate Seat

Re: Mudflats comes word that the McCain campaign might be pondering pre-election nuptials for unlucky Alaskan teens, Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston.

What’s more compelling, after all, than a (nearly in the) White House wedding? John McCain’s running mate’s daughter getting married totes makes him my presidential pick!

(But, oh man, remember how crazy Elie Bartlet’s wedding was? Oh, the guest list! And poor Will Bailey!)

Regardless, the McCain campaign should absolutely devote time, money and resources to yet another insane political stunt.

How will we be asked to discuss the wedding, should it occur? Let me guess:

• Happy happy = okay;
• Discussion of the cynical use of Palin’s daughter again = sexist.

McCain is going to lose this election for the exact same reason that Hillary Clinton did - blind loyalty to people who have led them astray. In McCain’s case, however, he’s so far off the garden path that it’s barely even amusing anymore.

This campaign is going to go down in history as remarkably inept and shockingly absurd. Michael Dukakis must be so freaking relieved.

Holy crap - those poor kids.

Vaguely Related

• Reflections on Palin’s Convention Acceptance Speech
• Privacy and Publicity at the GOP Convention

Yikes! That didn’t go so well.

John McCain’s announcement that he would suspend his campaign (and try to cancel Friday’s debate) to focus on the economy met with sharp rebuke on Wednesday from the Obama campaign and the United States of America.

Arguing that he needed to work on the bailout plan, McCain earned an assist for one of Obama’s best slam dunks of the campaign:

It is my belief that this is exactly the time when the American people need to hear from the person who, in approximately 40 days, will be responsible for dealing with this mess… It is going to be part of the president’s job to deal with more than one thing at once.

But it didn’t have to be this way, McCain! This whole thing started early in the morning when Obama’s campaign wanted to work with McCain. Wonkette’s Jim Newell put it best:

The Obama campaign has released a preliminary response to McCain’s [debate] proposal, which shows that the two were planning on making a joint statement about the economy until McCain randomly told everyone he had canceled the debate.

If you were to ask me (and it’s implicit that you would since you’re wasting your own time to read this - seek help), I’d say this has more to do with trying to get Sarah Palin off the hook. Well, equal parts at least.

The McCain campaign is now suggesting that the first McCain/Obama debate be moved to Thursday in place of the VP debate. Then the veep debate would be postponed.

I’m think November 5th is probably the McCain camp’s best bet for that.

However, the whole thing backfired and now everyone (especially David Letterman) will revel in the destruction of McCain and his campaign. The end.

Vaguely Related

• Second Debate Delay
• Legitimate Concern on Palin

I’m starting to get a flood of emails and Facebook invites for groups/blogs that want me - as a woman - to proclaim why I - as a woman - am against Sarah Palin for veep.

While I appreciate the well-meaning intention behind these emails/invites - and some actual organization against the McCain/Palin ticket - I’m not joining or contributing to these sites/groups.

Here’s why:

As I woman, I am against the kind of cynical, craven politics that the selection of Sarah Palin represents. I acknowledge that she was chosen, at least partly, on the assumption that there are women out there for whom allegiance to sex trumps common sense and self-interest. (Insanely, it appears that some of these women exist).

But my own allegiance to my gender (or what’s good for my gender) is not why I am against Sarah Palin for vice president.

Yes, she disagrees with my views on abortion and sex education and health care. But I also disagree with her on a vast range of issues outside the traditional concept of ‘women’s issues’.

Asking me to disagree with Sarah Palin ‘as a woman’ boxes me in. It makes gender the defining characteristic for me and all women - be they voters or politicians.

It’s this commonsense reasoning that explains why women politicians are always asked about abortion, education and health care, but rarely about foreign policy or the economy. It’s why the media never interview men about women candidates. It’s the reason why the New York Times saw fit to say that women ‘deserted’ Hillary Clinton in Iowa (9 Jan: 1), but ‘rallied around’ her in New Hampshire (9 Jan: 17).

I don’t vote with my vagina.

And while it annoys me that the McCain campaign thinks I would, being against Palin ‘as a woman’ only compounds the ideology that drove McCain’s decision.

I’m not against her because I’m a woman. I’m against her because I’m an American citizen and she doesn’t represent my interests.

Anyone who would like me to join ‘Americans Against Sarah Palin’, send me a link.

While we’re at it, however, these women-focused Palin groups always seem to come with a great deal of sexist baggage. Here are three of the five comments currently on the Women Not Falling for Sarah Palin as Vice President group I was asked to join:

I heard she stuffs her bra. just sayin..

What a hooker!

…Pass this website onto to anyone who has questions about Professor Palin-Umbridge (for those who “get that”, chuckle chuckle!)

One of the emails I’ve gotten came laden with similar baggage.

So here’s something I feel comfortable saying: as a woman, I call bullshit on supposed feminist rhetoric that uses empty sexist garbage to to cut a woman down.

Vaguely Related

• Biden and the Feminist Argument on Palin
• Privacy and Publicity at the GOP Convention

…but it’s still gonna roll in the mud.

I didn’t really have anything funny there. Sorry.

As for Obama’s “lipstick on a pig” comment… I reckon, totally on purpose.

I don’t think he used it to malign Sarah Palin, but rather to provoke a reaction from the McCain campaign and inject himself back into the news cycle.

The front of the nyt.com right now? About Obama’s remarks and his appearance on Letterman. The Palin scandal du jour is below that.

The predictable fireball reaction from the McCain campaign not only puts the spotlight back on Obama, it allows him to point to another instance of the McCain campaign’s lack of policy focus

Makes the McCain campaign look like they’re the ones who want to wallow in the mud.

So to speak.

And now, a moment to lament a political system where getting onto the news agenda is the main focus of both campaigns.

Update: I should do my political reading first. Nate at 538 wrote a similar post, along with an ad the Obama campaign might run in response to the McCain campaign taking the bait. I like when people think like me; when I link to them it makes me look like less of a crackpot.

Vaguely Related

• Legitimate Concern on Palin
• As McCain Implodes, Think of a Senate 60

I’ve been thinking about Sarah Palin during my weekend hiatus (I was in Adelaide, which is an entirely different, occasionally terrifying story).

But remember last week? Remember when everyone was convinced that the level of scandal was too great, that Palin would be replaced by the end of the week?

It’s funny how one speech that didn’t say a whole hell of a lot totally changed the tone about Sarah Palin.

I’m a little concerned that the coverage and Democratic outrage over her speech (mine included) has legitimized Palin as a candidate. I wonder if a better reaction might have been, ‘Yes, well, that’s all very nice speechifying, but you’re highly unqualified to be president, so….’ *

It may also have taken our eyes off the ball.

John McCain seems to have gotten a free pass on his speech - not much fanfare, but - Barack Obama aside - not much critique either. Palin is the big story of last week - and McCain seemed small beside her.

That might be a good thing, but I’m conflicted. I feel as though treating Sarah Palin like the enemy only grants her power and diverts attention from the fact that the best way to keep Palin out of the White House is to make sure that John McCain doesn’t get there.

Palin excites the base - fine. She might get some people out to the polls that would have stayed home (and, for the record, I’m glad about that; the more people voting the better, I say). She might get some pumas and some panthers.

The election, however, is going to be decided by the vast majority of people who will vote for the top of the ticket.

My desire to not have Palin as a VP is marginal compared to my desire not to have McCain as President. Last week she earned, as far as Republicans are concerned, her right to be on the ticket. As for the rest of us, I think we should laugh her off on the rhetoric, hammer her on the issues should she ever bring any up, and let Biden raise expectations for the debate.

The focus, however, should be McCain.

Speaking of Biden - this is three minutes of a speech he gave after the RNC. Pretty good stuff:

* - my exception to that is the snipe at community organizers. Seriously, where does she get off?

Vaguely Related

• Reflections on Palin’s Convention Acceptance Speech
• Navigating the Sarah Palin Daughter Pregnancy Scandal

The thing that sticks out most in my mind is the Dallas theme song used for the Palin and McCain videos. Nothing says ‘we understand the working folks’ like culture referencing a 1980s television show about rich people.

For serious.

Looking forward to the McCain greenscreens. Even stormtroopers will make that tie look better than the White House lawn.

Palin was the star of the convention for sure, but she was talking to people who were going to vote Republican anyway. Maybe she’ll get them to come out to the polls, but that’s really the most gain I think they’re going to see from her.

McCain didn’t say a whole lot. For all the policy he promised, it was more like “Democrats will raise your taxes” [by repealing Bush's tax cuts that McCain used to oppose], and the like.

The 9/11 video was out of control. The use of the close-up shot of the fireball coming out of the second tower - to rising music, nonetheless - was damn near pornographic. Congrats on breaking that cherry, Republicans.

Overall, I thought the Obama/Biden combo was better (surprise!), but those two speeches have been sort of lost in the clatter over Palin, the hurricane and the RNC this week. But I don’t think the RNC pulled over any independents and/or liberals. And I don’t think they can win Bush’s 2004 map.

I wonder if anyone will be doing any polling this weekend?

Vaguely Related

• Reflections on Palin’s Convention Acceptance Speech
• Last Day of the Conventions Liveblog

Thank god, huh?

I’m pretty sure Lindsey Graham just said that Barack Obama doesn’t speak the same language as the rest of us. He also used Obama’s ‘it’s not that he doesn’t care, he just doesn’t get it’ line - but twisted it to be about Obama himself. Oooh.

8:04: Hey, they’re running the Palin video Rudy made us miss last night!

8:11: Palin’s RNC video argues that when McCain and Palin joined forces, ‘The world shook, the world trembled.’ Yeah, but it was with more of the “whaaaa?’ kind of trembling than the good kind.

8:15: Tom Ridge is wearing the Hope tie. Party foul.

8:17: Yeah, the barnburners were last night. Brownback ham-fisted his way through his speech, Graham didn’t get such amazing applause either, and now Tom Ridge keeps stopping woodenly until people clap.I’m getting a coffee.

8:31: Cindy McCain started a non-profit that organizes doctors and nurses. HA HA HA HA HA.

8:33: She sounds like a nice, accomplished woman - it’s a shame the crowd is going to boo her helping others… oh, wait, they’re cheering.

8:40: Cindy just said the Republican Party was based on ’service, community, self-reliance… [and] compassion for each others’ neighbors.” Again, to a lack of laughter. Strange.

8:45: I got bored and watched this clip from The Daily Show instead. Awesome.

8:53: I like the setup for Cindy McCain’s speech - hand held mic. I think that’s the ‘town hall’ feel that McCain’s going to do, too.

8:57: I’m offended that they’re using Johnny B Goode. That’s the iconic song from my favorite movie they’re co-opting.

9:00: All the news organizations have huge, backlit signs proclaiming their names. It’s like watching global crises where every runs around with Oxfam armbands and stands in front of the WorldVision water tank. More flags though.

9:03: Okay, they’re running the same song in the McCain video as they did in the Palin video. It’s not the music from Mary Stouffer’s Wild America, but it’s really close. It’s something I know - I swear it’s from an animal show. Ugg, and synthesized again. Why do Republicans hate our instruments? Update: Oh my god - it’s the theme from Dallas. Thanks, 538.

9:09: Ewww, way to make hay from the Bangladeshi daughter. It was alright in Cindy’s video, but here it was like, ‘We saved this girl! From a brown country!’

9:12: McCain went with the (Aussie/Howard) yellow tie! Interesting. (Steph, your door is shut; you’re missing it!)

9:14: Every ‘homemade’ sign has exactly the same paint. Guys, when you’re trying to fake it - purchase widely.

9:15: Oh shit! They green-screened McCain. Let the YouTubing begin.

9:20: Now blue screened, so people have options. Neil points out the irony of critiquing Obama for using the seal when McCain’s running a picture of the White House behind him.

9:22: Whoa - out of sync cheering interrupting their candidate. Sounds like booing. And he can’t get them under control. Awesome. Are their protesters? That’s what I get for watching the FoxNews feed (again, MSNBC cut out…)

9:25: Did he just say that Palin worked with her ‘hands and her nose’?

9:28: That tie looks awful against the blue backdrop. And he looked good coming out, too. Red would have been great! Neil calls it ‘criminal’ - I don’t know if I’d go that far. ‘Unfortunate’ is about where I’m at.

9:29: I wonder if Sarah Palin is going to be one of the people he ‘outs’ for loving pork barrel spending.

9:29: McCain just referenced Abramoff obliquely. He got sentenced today - too soon?

9:31: By the way, did anyone see the terrifying 9/11 video? I wasn’t even going to blog today until I saw that (and I’ve got some time now as John craps on about random, made up voters). There was a flute riff as flames burst out of the second tower. It was awful. Update: Josh Marshall notes it is the first time the attacks have been used for partisan gain.

9:33: Wasn’t he supposed to lay out policy tonight? It’s like a random collection of talking points I’ve heard a thousand times.

9:34: Nice, someone had their sign upside down. Next to a ‘Peace through strength’ sign. ‘War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength’

9:37: Health care? BOOOOOO. ‘Where a bureaucrat stands between you and your doctor.’ You know what? Fuck you - lots of people don’t even have doctors because of Republican, market-based approach.

9:41: Neil says, ‘what’s the point of school choice if there’s vast differences in spending across districts?… Can I choose a school in a white suburb?’

9:44: More ‘Drill, baby, drill!’ Okay, this is now just word for word what Palin said last night about energy.

9:45: Oh, I didn’t know that rising oil prices were what was damaging our planet…

9:47: ‘[Russia] invaded a small democratic neighbor to gain more control over the world’s oil supply’ - he’s talking about Russia, but (except for that ‘democratic’ part) what does that sound like?

or put better by Neil:

___ invaded a ______ ___ in order to gain more control of the world’s ______ supply.
Mad libs!

9:51: McCain’s complaining about the ‘constant partisan rancor’ - seriously, after Palin’s and Giuliani’s speeches last night. Really?

9:53: Here we go on war hero stuff - so, maybe this is a good time to talk about how sad I feel for McCain. I think he does genuinely want to be post-partisan - or used to. He’s been forced to kotow to the Christian and neo-con right to get on this stage. What a cost.

10:01: Be a community organizer!

10:02: Awkward ‘fight with me’ and now they’re totally drowning him out. What’s that?

10:06: Oh they finally found the confetti and balloons. Even the confetti is lackluster. And video of fireworks. Palin’s speech was better.

10:07: Wow. They’re actually playing Barracuda.

10:15: Yeah, I’m done. It was… fine? I don’t know. He didn’t really say much or present it in any particular way. I don’t know whether that will hurt him or help him. I feel meh.

Vaguely Related

• Reflections on Palin’s Convention Acceptance Speech
• Reflections on the Republican Convention

I have mixed feelings about Palin’s speech last night (which is still today for me).

I’ll give her this, she’s a better speaker than I would have anticipated.

When she hit her stride (after being rushed on after a chatty, mugging Giuliani), her style was rather natural, something we’re bound to miss in McCain’s speech tonight.

As I suggested the other day, the bar was set very low for Sarah Palin. She definitely got over it, with some room to spare.

The tone, however, represented just how far this campaign has gotten away from McCain.

He wanted a moderate Republican (Ridge) or a crossover Independent (Lieberman) for personal reasons, but also to draw in independents and liberals.

The speech we saw last night was directed at the choir. Its choleric, mocking tone enthused the base, just as I’m sure it turned away some of those drawn in by McCain’s (once) maverick promise.

Part of the problem, I think, was Giuliani. He was supposed to speak on Monday, but it was moved because of the hurricane.

His barn-burning, angsty rhetoric would have been better then - crazy uncle Rudy gets ‘em all fired up, whilst McCain/Palin talk soberly about the future a couple days later.

Instead, Giuliani’s spoke tonight, and he was having such a good time that they had to cut what I’m sure was a happy-dappy video intro for Palin. So we got much of the same rhetoric back to back, without the feel-good happy in between.

What really stands out for me is the three roars of jeering laughter about community organizing within 20 minutes.

I grant you that I’m a dyed-in-the-wool liberal, but what on Earth is laughable about community organizing? It’s the ultimate ‘pull yourself up by your bootstraps’ activity.

I can see them hitting Obama on the experience angle, but the laughter during all three mentions seemed to be directed the idea of it. It was the one slam of the evening I found truly baffling (aside from Romney calling the Democrats the party of Big Brother, in what I assume was a misspeak).

Anyway, if McCain’s speech is in anywhere near the same vein, I think the Dems will have a compelling argument that he isn’t even driving this flying number of them anymore. I’m really surprised that the story about McCain losing the battle for selection of his own veep isn’t getting more play.

What’s the point of experience if you’re not allowed to use it?

Oh, well, Josh Marshall at TPM said almost exactly the same thing, but more concisely. My blog, living up to its name once again.

Here, read this article instead about the complete lack of elected officials currently running Alaska. My favorite line:

If a special election ensues, look for a comeback of former Gov. Tony Knowles (D), who served from 1994 to 2002, or Mr. Knowles’s lieutenant governor, Fran Ulmer, now chancellor of the University of Alaska Anchorage, says Marc Hellenthal, a pollster and political consultant who works mostly for Republicans. [Or
…
“After that, it drops off,” on both the Democratic and Republican sides, he says.

Hellenthal added Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich to that list, but Begich is running against Ted Stevens for his Senate seat. Three politicians on this side of the ‘drop off’ - that just makes me laugh.

Speaking of Alaska politics, my Alaskan aunt says that while Palin did put the plane up on E-bay, it didn’t sell. And they eventually sold it for a loss to a private buyer. She’s right.

Vaguely Related

• Reflections on the Republican Convention
• Last Day of the Conventions Liveblog