Interesting Perspective on the Train Wreck That is Sarah Palin

The latest issue of the Atlantic has a really interesting article on Sarah Palin. In it the author cuts through the hype to look at her accomplishments during her brief tenure as Alaska governor. It's actually impressive. She worked against corrupt oil company interests and with Alaska Dems to ram through two initiatives, a gas pipeline and an increase in the oil company tax, that have undoubtedly helped out the state. He further argues that had she actually embraced her reformist past, she could have been a much different figure in American politics. But, beginning with her RNC speech she made a distinct shift into rabidly conservative attack politics (which baffled many in Alaska).

Don't get me wrong, he definitely looks at her limitations (mainly her penchant for personalizing politics and pursuing everything like it's a vendetta) but rather than tearing after her he sort of shakes his head in disbelief. Why did she decide to go all out ultra-conservative populist when her record was more good government reformer?

To me, it just highlights why she's such a scary, horrifying politician. She could be just blowing where the political wind takes her but I think the conservatism on display now is truer to her actual beliefs. Maybe she was a reformer in Alaska because she actually understood the issues at stake, which would make her apparent refusal to study national issues a little more troubling. Or, perhaps she looked at Barack and all he stood for and it set of some ultra-conservative sense of aggrievedness that set her on her ugly, populist course. Whatever her true motivations, I find her disturbing.

Conservatives and the "War Card"

Yet another golden nugget from our favorite snowbilly. In her Tea Party appearance, Palin cited a Pat Buchanan column when she mused that Obama could be tougher to beat in 2012 if he decided to bomb Iran because that would show people "he's tougher than we think he is today." The liberal blogs are having fun because they think Palin endorsed using "the war card" while Buchanan argued against it. For me, this whole discussion is more sinister. Without stopping to ponder the horrible gravity of starting a war, Palin and crew are discussing war as a political move. I find that blase attitude horrifying.

Shatner Reads Palin

Maybe it's not as good as his version of "Rocket Man," but it is great:

Friday Fun

Just a couple quick items:

• Burris won't seek reelection next year. Thank goodness.
• The latest revelation in the Senator Ensign (R-NV) scandal: his parents paid his mistress $96,000. Silence doesn't come cheap.
• Peggy Noonan just tore into Palin today in the WSJ. Money quote: "Really, she is the most careless sower of discord since George W. Bush, who fractured the party and the movement that made him." Either that, or: "But, she is a ponder-free zone. She can memorize the names of the presidents of Pakistan, but she is not going to be able to know how to think about Pakistan. " It's really that harsh.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Morning Roundup

(just a little happy from last week in grant park)

Convicted felon Stevens looks to be losing in Alaska. Not only will the Dems pick up another Senate seat, but we also won't face the specter of a Senator Palin (who apparently hasn't gotten the memo that the campaign is over.)

In today's It's a New Day item: AIG has agreed to answer questions from readers to DailyKos. This is unprecedented--that a company will speak directly to Americans and bypass the MSM. Pretty cool and a testament to the work Kos is doing.

On his way out the door, Bush still thinks he did a dang good job.

Illinois Senate Watch: Insiders say Obama wants Valerie Jarrett for the seat, but I hear that she's not interested and will likely end up in his cabinet. Jesse Jackson Jr is totally gunning for the seat but is considered unelectable (downstate) in the 2010 election. Emil Jones is a possibility but supposedly he's ready to become a lobbyist and would only fill the seat for two years. I say let's find someone who is electable in 2010 and deserves to be there. Jan Schakowsky anyone? I did mention to a FOB's last night (who is also African American) that maybe we should fill the seat with another black legislator and he got pretty irritated and said that with Barack as president affirmative action should be over. So there.

Campbell Brown on Palin Fiasco

Again, Campbell Brown brings it. In the linked piece, she addresses all the crazy attack on Palin from McCain campaign insiders. Money quote:

To those McCain aides who say she is the reason they lost this election… can I please remind you of one thing: you picked her. You are the ones who supposedly vetted her, and then told the American people she was qualified for the job. You are the ones who after meeting her a couple of times, told us she was ready to be just one heartbeat away from the Presidency. If even half of what you say NOW is true, then boy, did you try to sell the American people a bill of goods.

I have to say, I didn't really have an opinion about Campbell before this election, but I've liked a lot of what she's had to say about the whole Palin fiasco. Of course, I'm sure that despite this smack down, McCainiac whiners will continue to savage Palin. And, I'm not going to lie, I'm going to enjoy it.

Morning Roundup

I'm slowly coming out of my Election Day happy haze and ready to start paying attention to the world again. But, that apparently doesn't apply to my job, as I'm spending some time to put together some notable happenings from the last couple days:

TPM is having some fun with information on the Obama Transition web site, which shows a refreshing respect for the Constitution.

The NY Times reports today that, as Barack said at the time, Georgia may very well have initiated their recent conflict with Russia. Yet another foreign policy area where Barack's approach was correct. Rather than flying off the handle, he calmly looked for details of what went down. He may not make the right decision every time over his presidency, but it will be so nice to have a deliberative commander-in-chief.

In another NY Times foreign affairs story, we learn that not only are Iraqis happy about Obama's election, but they are under less pressure from Iran because the Iranians now feel less threatened. I'm sure that the Iraq mess won't have simple solution, but this shift is another welcome change.

Of course, most Americans are still excited about Obama's win. Ezra Klein has a really touching story and set of photos from a pre-election Obama rally in Manassas, VA. And, Salon has an interesting collection of quotes on the meaning of Obama's win.

The McCain-Palin campaign insiders aren't so happy, though. Wonkette has a delicious run-down of the furious acrimony and brings word that most of the folks trashing Palin are former Romney staffers.

Finally, the comments have been pretty quiet here for the last couple days. I fear this story could explain why.

Quick Thoughts on Palin

I'm sure by now, we've all seen the several reports of McCain insiders thoroughly trashing Palin. Given her low approval numbers, many blame her for McCain's loss. I've read that she initiated some of the nastier attacks on Obama without the campaign's go-ahead. News is leaking that Palin spent more money than previously reported on clothes for herself and her family. And, of course, there's this report from Fox news quoting McCainiacs as saying that Palin berated staffers and refused to prepare for the Couric interview even though she didn't realize that Africa is a continent, not a country. Of course, we can't know how much of this stuff is true, but it does seem like she's become a target and that insiders are trying to bury her. I, for one, find her pretty repellant, and would feel a unhealthy amount of schadenfreude should she be torn apart by the GOP battles over this campaign.

But, she's still wildly popular among the extreme right, and in her home state. Thus, a troubling thought just occurred to me. It looks very likely that Ted Stevens will be re-elected to the Senate, but once he goes to jail, the Senate will certainly kick him out. How likely is it that Palin replaces Stevens in the Senate?

Due to Alaska's record of horrid corruption, the governor no longer has the authority to appoint a replacement senator. Instead, the state will hold an interim election within 90 days of an opening. Thus, Palin wouldn't have to appoint herself, she could just throw her hat in the ring and let the voters put her in office. We may not have heard the last from her.

Saturday Morning Update

Since Ilsa and Bridget are again making a lie out of our tagline and actually doing something to help Barack today, I'm pitching in.

The polls seem to have steadied--Gallup's three polls (registered, likely--expanded, and likely--traditional) have Obama up 11, 9, and 8 points respectively. The one outlier is a weird one-day Zogby poll from yesterday that actually has McCain up 1 point. But, Nate has already ridden to the rescue and told us why we don't need to pay attention to it. Oh, and you'll notice that he has McCain's chances of winning down to 2.8%. Right where he wants 'em!

While Eagleburger tried to recant his statements that Palin's not ready to be veep, Nevada Senator John Ensign didn't get the memo and joined the ranks of Repugs who've openly stated that she's not qualified.

Palin supported the arguments that she's not qualified yet again yesterday by showing that she doesn't understand the First Amendment. She stated that the press is endangering the First Amendment by calling her out on her lies.

While things are looking good, there is still a lot of concern about voter suppression. Luckily, so far, the Repug efforts have mostly stalled--including here in Colorado from where I'm posting. TPM has a good summary of the voter suppression efforts.

And, when voter suppression doesn't work, the federal government did show that it's willing to look to other dirty arenas to help the GOP. Today's entry: federal government law enforcement officials leaked to the AP that Obama's Kenyan aunt, with whom he has no relationship, has been in the U.S. illegally since 2004. The article asks the question, but can't answer if either the McCain campaign or the Bush White House were involved.

Oh, great. Now we have to worry about deflation.

Finally, Chicago Public Radio has a lot of great stuff up about Studs Terkel.

Afternoon Tidbits

Just a couple quick items this afternoon:

The whole $150K for clothes saga got murkier today as the NY Times reported that the declared transactions don't add up. Some of the shop owners couldn't find transactions that matched the amounts reported. Furthermore, the men's clothing store, Atelier, seems to focus on trendy, edgy stuff that would be inappropriate on the campaign trail. Unless the First Dude is hitting the club scene, it sounds like the Repugs were either trying to hide shady expenses under the clothing line item or some other Repugs were buying clothes for personal use and charging it to the Palin account.

McCain again said that cities are fake. This time, though, he went so far as to criticize the Georgetown cocktail party scene, of which he has been an avid member for years.

There are some cool commercials airing against the California ballot measure to ban gay marriage.

Oh, and Obama's lead continues to grow in TPM's composite of the national polls.

But, all's not rosy as apparently Mayor Daley doesn't want Barack to use Grant Park on Nov. 4, and the last time a Mayor Daley didn't want people to mass in Grant Park, it didn't end well.

Morning Roundup from Fake America

All the mavericks in the house, put your hands up! Palin exposed for charging family travel expenses to Alaska. One more distraction the McC campaign doesn't need. Plus Palin is now the campaign's top liability according to a new NBC poll (Bush must be relieved). Oh, and one more thing (it's been a while since I dished on Palin) the RNC has spent $150,000 to clothe Palin and her family. If I was Joe Six-Pack, I would not be pleased. But I guess I couldn't be Joe Six Pack since I don't live in the Real America.

Nate explains McCain's recent inching up in the polls as a dead cat bounce (have I told Nate I love him today?). Obama is now ahead by double digits in many polls (14 points in the Pew poll!); pulling ahead in the final stretch. For all you polling geeks (and I mean you, Dave) Nate posted a primer on the 8 daily polls.

Charlie Cook, Bridget's man in Washington (and who doesn't love a guy with a bowl cut hair piece?), and a very well respected pollster says it's no longer a question of whether Barack will win but by how much. He makes a persuasive argument here including that with early voting so widespread, and leaning heavily towards Barack, it makes a comeback that much harder for McCain since his pool of voters gets smaller every day. And how does all this good news make Democrats feel? Doomed.

Barack may appear on SNL on November 1st which will surely piss. McCain. off. since it's right before the election. Barack was supposed to appear on the first new episode in September but couldn't b/c of Hurricane Ike, probably can't appear this weekend because he's going home to visit his grandma (who Sassy is praying she gets to see the day her grandson becomes president. As John said, COME ON, can't the universe just make this happen?). Speaking of "suspending his campaign" for his sick grandma, word on the street is the McC is fuming that Obama gets to do this and everyone is sympathetic to him (instead of disgusted, like when McC did it last month). 236.com imagines other opportunities for Obama to take McCain's wrongs and show him how to do it right:

Obama will be captured and held prisoner in Iraq, except he will escape, free all of his fellow prisoners, and suffer no injuries that make him walk around funny

Someone at his rally will say something incendiary. Obama will stop and say, "That's not right," instantly putting an end to hatred and intolerance in politics

Obama will hear his running mate tell a blatant lie and he will say to his running mate, "That's inaccurate," instantly putting an end to dishonesty in politics

When given the opportunity to have someone with the likability of Rudy Giuliani or Cindy McCain campaign for him, Obama will laugh hysterically

Obama will age gracefully

Evening Roundup--15 Days to go People!!

This article by John King (one of the few pundits I actually trust) about what McCain needs to do to win the electoral college is a very good reminder of how hard it will be for McCain to make that happen. Honestly, after I read through it the first time I couldn't even see how he could do it (I mean, he's relying heavily on VA and PA).

A new CNN poll shows that over 60% of voters think McCain has unfairly attacked Obama (up from 42 percent in September and much higher than the 39% who think Obama is unfairly attacking McC). This polls also found, very significantly, the poll showed that 47% think Obama would make the stronger leader with only 44% thinking McCain would be (that number is down from 60% in September--a huge drop).

Palin lies like a rug (as Andrew Sullivan says, she may be a better liar than even Clinton).

Alec Baldwin writes about Palin's appearance on SNL.

More good news on early voter turnout. A reader on Andrew Sullivan's site writes:

I work at a Florida county library where they're holding the two-week Early Voting, and we've had a long line of voters from opening until now, close to six hours. Our sliding doors have been propped open. At one point it went out into the parking lot, about 80-90 people deep.

We've been tempted to go out to the line and say, "Guys, you can do this over the next two weeks! There's no real rush!" Deal is, we've never seen lines like this before, definitely not for the actual election days in November... We're guessing this year's election is going to see massive turnouts.

Morning Roundup--Some stuff to report, not a lot

Kind of a slow news day yesterday. Mostly just stuff about the emerging newspaper endorsements and the Disasta from Alaska calling parts of the country pro-America.

Poll watching from Nate. No notable movement right now.
"In Chuck Todd we trust; all others must bring data. And right now, we're in something of a holding pattern, waiting to see the next turn in the race. Obama's momentum has possibly stalled out, but has probably yet begun to reverse itself. It's also possible that Obama's momentum was on the verge of reversing itself before Wednesday night's debate, but that the debate was enough to hold McCain off or perhaps even shift things further in Obama's direction. Furthermore, it's possible that the numbers will simply flatline until November 4 as Obama runs out McCain's clock (with no more major events on the campaign calendar, this may in fact be the most likely possibility). We will probably know a lot more about this race by Sunday or Monday, once the impacts of the debate are fully accounted for."


House races expected to go easily R are now being moved the D column by the Cook Report. From Kos:

The tsunami cometh, and that right soon.

With two weeks to go, the Cook Political Report - one of the very best sources of political analysis in the business, particularly in analyzing House races - has made a major shift in their House ratings, moving 25 races ratings in one fell swoop.

All of this movement favors Democrats.

Cook acknowledges that the political climate is ripe for a major Democratic wave:

For House Republicans, already dark days are getting darker. Movement in Congressional races tends to accelerate in mid-October, and with the exception of Rep. Tim Mahoney’s district (FL-16), every district on the move is headed in Democrats’ direction. Heavy Democratic spending and the GOP’s cash shortfall are taking its toll on Republican candidates in districts that the committees have targeted all cycle long. But the state of the economy and the presidential race are exposing weak GOP polling numbers even in seats neither party had given much thought.

Cook's current projection is that Democrats will gain 20-25 seats in the House.

Sarah Palin is expected to be on SNL tonight with Tina Fey.

I don't typically put too much credence on newspaper endorsements but this year may be a little different. The Tribune's endorsement, in particular, felt so monumental. Comparing Barack to Abe Lincoln? Finally we're a part of history in the making that we can be proud of. And plus there's this:

The Obama-Biden ticket maintains its strong lead in the race for newspaper endorsements, picking up 17 more papers in the past day, including the giant Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune on Friday afternoon (see separate story), and the Denver Post, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Salt Lake Tribune, Kansas City Star, Southwest News-Herald (Ill.) and Chicago Sun-Times tonight.

This brings his lead over McCain-Palin by this measure to well over 3-1, at 58-16, including most of the major papers that have decided so far. In contrast, John Kerry barely edged George W. Bush in endorsements in 2004, by about 220 to 205.

Final words on the debate

Biden even won the FOX survey. 'Nuff said.


Biden Palin Undecided
CNN/Opinion Research 51 36
CBS 46 21
Fox 61 39
Survey USA 51 32 17
MediaCurves (indies) 67 33

Veep Debate Live Blogging, Part I

Because we found ourselves so very amusing the first time, we at Salon Sassy are taking another stab at live blogging a debate. This time, it's Biden and Palin. Will Joe be able to keep his foot out of his mouth and take it to Sarah? Will it be Sarah Barracuda or Sarah Barely Literate? We'll have it all for you, while keeping one eye on the Cubs score.

7:58 Like FDR, Gwen Ifills is already out on stage so no one sees her in her wheelchair. Oh, and Ilsa already yelled at everyone, so we're ready to go.

7:59 Penny went all professorial on us and analyzed the podium position. I think I'm out of my league.

8:01 And they're out. Sarah just asked if she could call Biden, "Joe." Strange.

8:03 Joe's up first about the bailout package. Really, the very picture of a polish politician in his answer. Palin's already busting out the folksy "betcha." This room could get ugly.

8:05 What no follow-ups?!?

8:06 OMG, she winked! The room just about lost it.

8:07 Gwen asks the candidates who was to blame. Could be interesting.

8:08 Again with the folksy. She's also looking straight at the camera, clearly trying to make a connection with the viewers. If she keeps with this tack, she could pull it off.

8:09 Biden's doing a good job putting the blame on deregulation and tying deregulation to McCain. It's a real contrast. Biden is playing the role of the stately politician and she's going for woman of the people.

8:12 Palin's sticking with the talking points, and the untruths. Sure, FactCheck.org will pick this apart, but will viewers notice?

8:13 Palin just admitted that she's going to talk about what she wants, regardless of what the questions are.

8:14 We're on to taxes. Didn't we already here 35 minutes of this last week? But, Biden's getting a little fire in his speech. He's warming up.

8:16 She was a little wobbly for a bit talking taxes, but regained control. Josh, on the other hand, easily the calmest person we all know, is actually showing signs of losing his cool.

8:17 Joe just gave the Scranton and Wilmington shout out! They both want to claim the middle class.

8:18 Joe pulls out a policy point, explaining how McCain offsets his healthcare tax credits. I don't think we'll be hearing that from the other podium.

8:19 First sound byte, Joe: "I call that the ultimate bridge to nowhere."

8:19 Gwen asks, what will you have to cut because of the economic troubles? Joe says, McCain's tax cuts. Nice. Again, a little fire building. He's picking up steam.

8:21 With no regard to the questions, she went to a talking point about energy.

8:22 She's talking so much about the little person and fighting big oil that you'd think she's courting the Nader vote.

8:23 The dynamic as I see it: Palin spouts her notes and Biden has to spend time on the policy specifics to refute it. I think Biden needs to get more aggressive and get her to leave the comfort of her note cards.

8:25 For the second time, she said McCain suspended his campaign. Biden needs to call her out!

8:26 Gwen goes after Joe for his vote on the bankruptcy bill. Joe's record is working against him because he actually has one.

8:28 Palin completely ignores the question and Lydia calls it "flagrant." The room here is calling for Gwen (or Joe) to confront her. Ilsa's so frustrated, she just turned to the candy corn.

8:29 Almost on cue, Bridget mentions she looks nervous and Palin rambles in weird SNL circles.

8:31 On whether global warming is man made, Biden pulls out that you can't fix a problem if you don't know what the source is.

8:32 Side note: Biden corrected himself when he said, "Sarah," immediately switching to "Governor." Clearly he's under orders to be respectful.

8:34 They're arguing about mythical clean coal. Time for me to check in on the Cubs game. Stay tuned for part two.

Debate Training-Biden learns what it takes to make girls cry (with HOT PICS)

from sassy reader erin in charlotte

Debate Training

Sassy is Psychic!

more from the couric/palin interview (and then see "morning roundup" below about palin's reading habits):

COURIC: And when it comes to establishing your world view, I was curious, what newspapers and magazines did you regularly read before you were tapped for this — to stay informed and to understand the world?

PALIN: I’ve read most of them again with a great appreciation for the press, for the media —

COURIC: But what ones specifically? I’m curious.

PALIN: Um, all of them, any of them that have been in front of me over all these years.

COURIC: Can you name any of them?

PALIN: I have a vast variety of sources where we get our news.

All of them, huh?

Oh, What will today bring?

the larger timeline:

Sunday: McCain Endorses Bailout... Tuesday: McCain Says He Hasn't Actually Read Bailout Plan... Wednesday: Obama Leads In Polls, McCain "Suspends" Campaign To Focus Exclusively On Bailout...Then Tapes Interview With Katie Couric... Wednesday Night: Dems Say They've Already Reached Deal On Bailout

these two articles are a good snapshot of how the more moderate/right press are talking about this story. seeems fairly balanced and actually somewhat critical of mccain.

USA Today

FOX News
oh, this is rich. apparently palin is suspending her campaign as well. why?!??! she has absolutely nothing to do with the bailout talks. man, they must really want her off the trail and out of the debates. bloggers are speculating that her prep for the debates is a big disaster and that it's better to take the hit from this kind of media stunt than to allow her to be involved in any kind of relatively unscripted venue. absolutely amazing that we're at this point.

And then there's
Letterman
I Love Dave. No, not that Dave.

And, from Bridget's fave, Barney Frank.
Democrats Claim Wall St Bailout Breakthrough
oops, bad timing for McC

Okay, Just One More

this is (yet another) insult to smart, successful women everywhere (and especially olympia snowe).

from andrew sullivan:

Deference Watch

22 Sep 2008 11:53 am

From the NYT:

At the insistence of the McCain campaign, the Oct. 2 debate between the Republican nominee for vice president, Gov. Sarah Palin, and her Democratic rival, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., will have shorter question-and-answer segments than those for the presidential nominees, the advisers said. There will also be much less opportunity for free-wheeling, direct exchanges between the running mates.

McCain advisers said they had been concerned that a loose format could leave Ms. Palin, a relatively inexperienced debater, at a disadvantage and largely on the defensive.

Are you fucking kidding me? We are now rigging the debate formats to compensate for a know-nothing, mendacious Manchurian candidate drilled in meaningless talking points? And the Obama team agreed to this? And so did the press?

No More Attention for Palin

Seriously, she's not worth the time and energy. Check out this clumsy response to a question about how to keep domestically produced coal and oil in the U.S (via ABC News Political Radar blog).

"Oil and coal? Of course, it's a fungible commodity and they don't flag, you know, the molecules, where it's going and where it's not. But in the sense of the Congress today, they know that there are very, very hungry domestic markets that need that oil first," Palin said. "So, I believe that what Congress is going to do, also, is not to allow the export bans to such a degree that it's Americans that get stuck to holding the bag without the energy source that is produced here, pumped here. It's got to flow into our domestic markets first."

That gives me flashbacks to my teaching days. She sounds just like a high school student trying to talk their way around the fact that they don't know the answer to a homework question. She's a distraction. I'm going back to focusing on Barack and McCain, with occasional side notes when Biden gets fired up.