Good Point!

Most importantly …

Palin Will Avoid Media

Why doesn’t this surprise me? Is it because I suspect there are very few answer to which she can provide a good answer?

From Politicalwire.com:

Palin Will Avoid the Media
A senior McCain campaign official tells Marc Ambinder that, “despite the gaggle of requests and pressure from the media, Gov. Sarah Palin won’t submit to a formal interview anytime soon. She may take some questions from local news entities in Alaska, but until she’s ready — and until she’s comfortable — which might not be for a long while — the media will have to wait.”

Bonus: RNC Confetti — What Did They Shred? (click on pic if you can’t see the whole thing)

Wasilla Housewife Slams Palin

You can read the letter of a resident of Wasilla, AK •by clicking here•. It’s fascinating reading!

An excerpt:

I am a resident of Wasilla, Alaska. I have known Gov. Sarah Palin since 1992. Everyone here knows Sarah, so it is nothing special to say we are on a first-name basis. Our children have attended the same schools. Her father was my child’s favorite substitute teacher. I also am on a first-name basis with her parents and mother-in-law. I attended more City Council meetings during her administration than about 99 percent of the residents of the city.

…

Sarah campaigned in Wasilla as a “fiscal conservative.” During her six years as mayor, she increased general government expenditures by more than 33 percent. During those same six years, the amount of taxes collected by the city increased by 38 percent. This was during a period of low inflation (1996-2002). She reduced progressive property taxes and increased a regressive sales tax, which taxed even food. The tax cuts that she promoted benefitted large corporate property owners way more than they benefited residents.

The huge increases in tax revenue during her mayoral administration weren’t enough to fund everything on her wish list, though — borrowed money was needed, too. She inherited a city with zero debt but left it with indebtedness of more than $22 million. What did Mayor Palin encourage the voters to borrow money for? Was it the infrastructure that she said she supported? The sewage treatment plant that the city lacked? Or a new library? No. $1 million for a park. $15 million-plus for construction of a multi-use sports complex, which she rushed through, on a piece of property that the city didn’t even have clear title to. That was still in litigation seven years later — to the delight of the lawyers involved! The sports complex itself is a nice addition to the community but a huge money pit, not the profit-generator she claimed it would be. She also supported bonds for $5.5 million for road projects that could have been done in five to seven years without any borrowing.

While Mayor, City Hall was extensively remodeled and her office redecorated more than once.

These are small numbers, but Wasilla is a very small city.

…

She’s not very tolerant of divergent opinions or open to outside ideas or compromise. As mayor, she fought ideas that weren’t generated by her or her staff. Ideas weren’t evaluated on their merits but on the basis of who proposed them.

…

As governor, she gave the Legislature no direction and budget guidelines, then made a big grandstand display of line-item vetoing projects, calling them pork. Public outcry and further legislative action restored most of these projects — which had been vetoed simply because she was not aware of their importance — but with the unobservant she had gained a reputation as “anti-pork.”

She is solidly Republican: no political maverick. The state party leaders hate her because she has bit them in the back and humiliated them. Other members of the party object to her self-description as a fiscal conservative.

Around Wasilla, there are people who went to high school with Sarah. They call her “Sarah Barracuda” because of her unbridled ambition and predatory ruthlessness. Before she became so powerful, very ugly stories circulated around town about shenanigans she pulled to be made point guard on the high school basketball team. When Sarah’s mother-in-law, a highly respected member of the community and experienced manager, ran for mayor, Sarah refused to endorse her.

Obama’s Electoral Lead Grows

I check the very excellent website Electoral-vote.com every day. The site aggregates polling data from around the country to graphically demonstrate which candidate leads in which states, and their electoral vote tally.

Since the week of the Democratic Convention, Obama’s lead remained slim. And then, ever since Wednesday night — the night of Sarah Palin’s acceptance speech — and through today, after McCain’s speech, Obama’s lead has jumped ahead, 301 to 224 (with Virginia’s 13 votes tied).

Here’s todays map:

Sarah Palin’s speech brought the McCain campaign $1 million in new donations, and Obama’s campaign $8 million.

Here’s an idiot at the RNC:

Why the GOP Chose Minneapolis

Check out ••Daily Crazy Video•• for a video from the Daily Show explaining why Republicans chose Minneapolis for their convention!

*****NOT SAFE FOR WORK******

(Hint: it has something to do with Larry Craig…)

Sense. This Video Makes None.

This is the first Jerry Seinfeld/Microsoft ad.

I have no idea what it’s supposed to be about. SPOILER: Look for Bill Gate’s mugshot photo!

Reactions to McCain’s Speech

From Politicalwire.com:

Reactions to McCain
Walter Shapiro: “His acceptance speech Thursday night was a mirror of McCain the contradictory political figure — sometimes unorthodox and daring, sometimes plodding and pedestrian; rich in character, light in policy substance, much stronger in its sincere tone than in its rhetorical gloss.”

Joe Klein: “More a valedictory than an acceptance speech — more the end of a career than the beginning of a presidency.”

Andrew Sullivan: “Quite a deflation after the drama of last night with the sportscaster-governor. It made me realize how much I am still fond of this guy. And also clearer about why this is not his moment. The specifics were very vague, and the entire presentation based on biography, nostalgia and a kind of strained, exhausted mildness. His performance at Saddleback was much, much better. He seemed very tired to me.”

Jonathan Martin: “McCain hit all his message targets, eschewing partisan red meat to cast himself as a man who will work across party lines to reform a broken capital. But his delivery, especially in the first portion when he was discussing policy issues, was uninspired and did little to captivate the audience.”

Michael Crowley: “…this is a very underwhelming speech. Familiar points explained in pedestrian terms. No overarching themes–right now it’s sounding like a State of the Union laundry list. Even the crowd in the hall isn’t jazzed. This is the sort of reception Tom Ridge got.”

David Corn: “He offered an unexciting mix of GOP orthodoxy and declarations of personal maverickness–which was capped by yet one more long and detailed recounting of his POW days of forty years ago. Enough already.”

Mark Halperin: “All in all, he came across as calm, honorable, and dedicated rather than fired up and ready to go.”

22 Comments | September 05, 2008

McCain Delivers Flat Speech
Unlike nearly every speaker from last night, Sen. John McCain started his acceptance speech with an appeal to independents and moderate Democrats. He spoke with a very respectful tone when referring to Sen. Barack Obama and his supporters. It’s what he needed to do.

Reinforcing his calmer image were at least two anti-war demonstrators who caused quite a stir in the convention hall. McCain handled it well, creating the opposite effect the protestors wanted: They looked like jackasses, not him.

However, the most striking thing about the speech was the lack of specifics of what he wants to do as president. When Obama was criticized for not talking specifics, he made sure to dedicate a large part of his acceptance speech to specifics. A McCain presidency seems to be mostly about his character and a few tired Republican ideas, such as school choice, cutting foreign aid and the new favorite, “drill, baby, drill.”

McCain is much stronger when talking about foreign policy and the military. He’s very convincing and reassuring when he talks about hating war and wanting to keep the country safe. It’s as if he knows he’s been too bellicose on the campaign trail so far.

We’ve now heard McCain’s personal story as a prisoner of war dozens of times in just three days and he included again in his speech. It’s truly inspiring. No one would ever doubt that McCain loves his country.

But no matter the content, McCain had serious delivery problems with this speech. Starting with the awful lime green background (that later turned to blue) and continuing through McCain’s difficulties reading from the teleprompter, the speech was very disjointed and hard to follow. To top it off, the crowd reaction at the end of the speech seemed forced and staged, almost like delegates were reacting to flashing “applause” signs at the side of the stage.

Overall, it was a very mediocre performance. I’m not sure it got the job done.