I'm in the elite!

This from our favorite Lutheran pastor, Father Anonymous:

Brian Williams asked John McCain and Sarah Palin to define "elite," and here's what they came up with: a mistake and two zip codes.

Palin's answer, which she repeated several times in the midst of some unrelated bluster, was "anybody who thinks they're better than everybody else." McCain's answer was "I know where some of them live ... the nation's capital and New York City."

As the good pastor puts it, Hooray! Check out the video here.

The Sarah Palin Rap

Sarah Palin was on Saturday Night Live last night. She opened the show and had this piece during Weekend Update. I think they could've done more but her people probably kept her from doing something too silly or offensive.

Here is the rap Amy Poehler did on Sarah Palin's behalf. I wish they had let her do this on her own! BUT, they might've lost some votes. Oh well! Something to note for possible undecided voters, she seems to be able to move to a beat:

VP debate

Mike McCurry, former press secretary for Bill Clinton, put it this way, "Biden won more points, but Palin probably won more hearts."

I agree. This is the same problem the Democrats have had in 2000 and 2004. They're not talking to the people.

Sarah Palin looked into the camera, smiled, winked, said absolutely nothing, and gosh darnit, people liked her.

Joe Biden spoke with experience, had his facts, and even choked up when he talked about his family, but he wasn't accessible. Unfortunately, accessibility matters to the general public.

Let me be clear, Joe Biden won the debate. But Sarah Palin also won. People are talking about how she did better than expected, how she held her own, and how she sounded better than she did in the Katie Couric interviews - that's a win after the lowered expectations.

On a side note, I loved Joe Biden's anti-maverick rant!

Joe Biden should be able to have a field day with this

I actually think the idea of Sarah Palin as VP is genius. Governor, small town, conservative, etc. Still genius. The candidate herself? Not so much.

I hope Joe Biden has a field day with this on Thursday. Take a look for yourself,

First Sarah Palin talks about the economy:


Next, Sarah Palin has to "get back" to Katie:


Then, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler have fun with the interview:


Finally, it sorta reminds me of Miss Teen USA 2007 contestant, Miss South Carolina:

A pig is a pig

A good friend of mine sent me a message pointing out that John McCain has used the "pig"-line before:

Drawing comparisons between New York Sen. Hillary Clinton's current healthcare plan and the one she championed in 1993, Arizona Sen. John McCain joked Thursday, "I think they put some lipstick on the pig, but it's still a pig."

My response:

The HUGE difference is that I hold Obama to a higher standard. I want to believe that he is different. But he's showing me that he isn't.

McCain is way off message right now and the Democrats should ride him on it. Instead, they're stooping to the typical political jabs.

I have to add, another difference is that Obama's remarks today come shortly after Sarah Palin made a reference to herself as a pitbull with lipstick. Regardless of whether Obama was speaking about "the message" or the "messenger," it is just more of the same on the campaign trail.

I keep hoping for better.

Please Mr. DJ

Stick to the issues.

I've been making the case that the Democrats should not be going after Palin for her inexperience. It takes them away from their message and the Republicans can make strong arguments in return; getting us absolutely nowhere.

Today, I have to come down on the Dems for another reason: Name-calling.

Don't do it. Please. It gets us nowhere and the message is lost. And, you may be losing the election with it.

On the same day that Barack Obama defended Palin's faith and unveiled a plan on Education Reform, he said the following:

“There’s no way you can dress up that record, even with a lot of lipstick.”

Later he went on to add, "You can put lipstick on a pig. It's still a pig."

"You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called 'change,'" Obama continued, "it's still gonna stink after eight years."

He also called Sarah Palin a "moose shooter."


The Republicans, with Sarah Palin playing the role of wildcard, have re-branded their message and now speak of "the change." Genius! Steal the message.

So now the Dems are pissed, nay, furious! and revert to making smart remarks. They try their hands at wit. But here's where they start to lose everything they've built.

Barack Obama built his campaign around change. Bringing us hope. Trying to keep the higher ground.

But now that John McCain is stealing that message and wrapping it around an elephant-agenda, Obama is derailing the campaign by taking shots an McPalin. Please Barack, don't take the low road. Don't.

Unfortunately, the Democrats have already lost a handful of people in Middle Small-town America due to Palin's entrance. But now they're going to lose another handful due to their poor choice of words. Handful by handful, in places like Ohio and Pennsylvania, they are starting to lose this election. I didn't think it could happen, but it is.

When I was in Ecuador back in July, my family there was asking me if Obama was going to win. I told them that unless he got caught stealing money from charity and puppies, he was a sure thing. I may have been wrong.

Once again, go after McCain-Palin on the issues. Go after them on their record. Force them to talk about the economy. Keep it positive and on message. Please.

All I want for Christmas...

Dear Santa (and, or loyal readers),

I've been good. So here is my Christmas wishlist:

1) Sarah Palin Super Hero Action Figure (herobuilders.com)

2) World Peace.


And to all a good night,

Christian

rolling around in the BS

Big thanks to an old co-worker, Chris, for point this out:



I love it whenever a talk-show host, strategist, or talking-head gets caught in their own BS. Hilarious!

I have to say, that as far as she is concerned, Sarah Palin is doing her best to prove herself. And, she's doing an OK job.

She's got a future

No matter what happens, whether you agree with her or not, Sarah Palin has got a future in American politics.

Ledesma has spoken.

Peggy Noonan cracks me up

I love Peggy Noonan, especially when she uses curse-words. Here are some Peggy Noonan quotes from today's Wall Street Journal:

The choice of Sarah Palin IS a Hail Mary pass, the pass the guy who thinks he has a good arm makes to the receiver he hopes is gifted.
Most Hail Mary passes don't work.
But when they do they're a thing of beauty and a joy forever.

...

I'm bumping into a lot of critics who do not buy the legitimacy of small town mayorship (Palin had two terms in Wasilla, Alaska, population 9,000 or so) and executive as opposed to legislative experience. But executives, even of small towns, run something. There are 262 cities in this country with a population of 100,000 or more. But there are close to a hundred thousand small towns with ten thousand people or less. "You do the math," the conservative pollster Kellyanne Conway told me. "We are a nation of Wasillas, not Chicagos."

...

Dig deep into Sarah Palin, get all you can, talk to everybody, get every vote, every quote, tell us of her career and life, she may be the next vice president. But don't play games. And leave her kid alone, bitch.

Naughty Librarian

This is old, but it's going to be making the rounds now. Check out Craig Ferguson talking about Sarah Palin:

In defense of (in)experience

All day on CNN.com I've seen commentary on why Sarah Palin is a mistake. I've also read attack after attack on her lack of experience. Are you serious?

Why would you even bring that up? I feel like telling the Democrats to "shush" and keep it quiet. The moment the Democrats attack her on her lack of experience, they can turn it back on Obama. Yes, she's a heartbeat away from being President. But, she's not running for President! On the other hand, Obama IS running for President. And he has less experience than she does!

She was elected into her City Council in 1992. He was elected for the first time to the State Senate in 1997. Five years later! She has five years more experience than he does! If Democrats claim that she doesn't have experience, he certainly does not!

And, if you want to discuss the quality of experience, you lose also. She has executive experience as a Mayor and a Governor. Obama has experience as a US Senator, but let's not forget that he voted "Present" in the Senate over 100 times (not making a decision on legislation one way or another) and that half of his time as Senator has been spent campaigning for President.

MEMO TO THE DEMOCRATS: DO NOT ATTACK SARAH PALIN ON EXPERIENCE!
If you want to chip away at her, go for her conservative stance on issues. Point out the differences and why you think she's wrong. Get Biden to run circles around her during the debates. But, do not attack her on experience. That's the wrong way to go.

I was right!

Today is a great day for the United States of America. First, because I was right! And second, because of progress.

On Wednesday I made my guesses for the Top 3 possibilities for McCain's VP:
http://bapcog.blogspot.com/2008/08/my-top-3-guesses-for-mccains-vp.html

I chose Sarah Palin because she's conservative enough so that McCain won't lose as many votes to Bob Barr or the Conservative Party and she brings youth and a fresh face to the ticket.

Plus, she's a woman. Now, I know that John McCain is not dumb enough to think that Hillary Clinton's supporters will vote for Sarah Palin simply because she's a woman. If he wanted that, he would have chosen somebody more towards the center, a moderate Republican. Sarah Palin is not a moderate.

However, just as with any political election, there's a whole bunch of people out there that vote for superficial reasons. And, I know for certain (because I know some of them) that there are people who will now vote for John McCain simply because he has a woman on the ticket. Nothing to do with her qualifications, all about the gender. They are few but they do exist.

Smart move by John McCain today. And, oh yeah, I was right! But so was my friend, Paul Snatchko! (and to be honest, I've been hearing about Palin from his blog for months).

On to progress: As of noon today we know that unless something catastrophic happens in the next few months, come January 2009, we will have a biracial President or a female Vice-President or perhaps even an African-American female President. Now, isn't that something?

It's taken a long time, from the Civil War to the Suffrage movement to the Civil Rights movement to the Equal Rights Amendment all the way to 2008. And we're here. A place where no matter what happens, history will be made this November.

Congratulations to Sarah Palin, Barack Obama, and Cynthia McKinney for being a part of history.

And now, who will Ledesma endorse? Stay tuned.

My Top 3 guesses for McCain's VP

I like taking guesses on these kinds of things. Here's my top 3:

#1 - Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska

Former beauty queen, strictly pro-life, lifetime member of the NRA, approval rating percentage in the 80s. Plus, she's from an "energy" state.

On the flip-side she's from Alaska and no one knows her.







#2 - Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts

Recently pro-life, has argued in favor of gun control, supported the invasion of Iraq and the troop surge, is worth around $500 million, and he's got those crazy good looks.

On the downside, he's changed his opinion on almost everything in the past 10 years and he's a Mormon (if people have trouble accepting Obama as a Christian, what about the Mormon?).





#3 - Tim Pawlenty, Governor of Minnesotta


Very conservative, young (47), refuses to raise taxes, is seen as being a "green" governor, signed on to the One.org campaign to help end world poverty and hunger, in favor of more prisons and tougher stances on drug offenders.

On the other hand he has been called a flip-flopper on abortion.





Who do you think it'll be? Who are your Top 3?