I can see how Palin might run for prez in 2012 unless the AIP thing disqualifies her. But I think she would do much better on talk radio where she can rant. Those folks have power and are well paid. Her background is journalism and as an ex-governor (whenever that happens) known on the national stage she would be in demand. Maybe she can be Rush Limbaugh's or Hannity's successor when one of them finally keels over after a self-induced heart-attack or stroke on the air.

Palin's attempt to have the AG quash subpoenas for the probe has a bad smell to it– as do the lies she told about Monegan's firing. Unable, to take the political heat, she blamed partisanship for the investigation's findings. That's a lot of material for an opponent to use against her— so I think she'll go in the deep freeze for a while if they lose.

For me it is her shocking ignorance and her unchristian behavior at recent rallies.We also have no way of knowing if we'd get another president who shoots from the hip and doesn't ask questions later. I also fear that she would take sex ed and evolution out of schools and institute abstinence only and Creationism. Well, I guess there are a lot of reasons– she fought to keep the polar bear from being named an endangered species and lied about the infamous bridge. She's not sure if global warming is manmade and thinks the cause makes no difference– yet McCain considers her an “energy expert”. She told an audience that the Alaska pipeline was God's will.

She was an atrocious pick, and any attempt to pick up disgruntled Clinton voters is backfiring badly, as Obama has shown big gains in the female vote.

No offense but what about the redneck vote?

McCain does have the chance to work across the aisle but I don't think he will. He's a grumpy old man and I have the feeling that “reaching bipartisan agreements” for McCain is much like reaching “bipartisan agreements” with Bush… negotiation done more through the use of a battering ram (as much is done in Congress and the WH today) than through a respectful and more collegial back and forth.

As far as Palin… my first thoughts are similar to CStanley… Palin will need to hone her skills and get some good experience under her belt. However it depends on how much of a liability Palin thinks her association with the AIP will be. Being scrutinized in a national spotlight has given Palin a taste of what it will be like to run for president…. she may feel that the AIP will drag her down.

There are other reasons for me not to like Palin, ever, but the absolute deal breaker for me and why I will never support Palin is her involvement with the AIP. I've commented before that if she were a member of the AIP in college or youth, I would be willing to forgive that. But she's a string supporter of the AIP as a governor of her state. I know she's not a member, but when she speaks at their convention and tells them they are doing a good job, she's let her true colors show. If she's going to be president she should in no way be associated with a party that believes in breaking up the US. Quite frankly if she wants to take that position as governor of Alaska, I don't hold that against her and more power to her. But to hold those views and be president is something else.

But you know, George, you could very well be right on that…. it seems that the GOP base is often caught up in superficial things (such as names) rather than substance. I'm still amazed at how they threw their weight behind Palin, for one of the most powerful positions on the planet when they did not know anything about her.

The eight points M/P lost in the past few weeks was not conservatives all of a sudden flocking to obama, nor was it liberals giving them an illusory temporary bounce.

It can only have been unaffiliated voters…….who are now waiting impatiently for an economic turnaround. I can conjur only three possibilities……the market turns around soon and makes this a horse race again; it stays depressed post November and obama has it nailed by April; or three, it stays depressed and obama doesn't have it nailed by April. 2 out of the 3 are not likely to warrant the celebration on the left.

http://hotair.com/archives/2008/10/12/obama-is-...

Then take a moment to read the pages of comments streaming in where his own readers try to set fire to him for not agreeing to go out on a limb with some conspiracy theory stuff about Obama. Yes, Ed is a friend of mine so I might feel more tempted to defend him than others, (not that Ed needs any defending) but if you look at that post and others like it that he does, you'll see hes still a pretty level headed guy. He just happens to personally be a conservative Republican and he's not ashamed of it.

I think that I have gone to CQ in the past, and at least wasn't turned off by the obvious bias and distortion that I have found at other right wing sites. But, I do think McCain botched his campaign by picking Palin and not having a strong.coherent, positive message. Its obvious that he's floundering from one tactic to the next- hoping something will stick.

What I don't like is how he's allowed the right wing to manipulate the campaign and veto his choice of Joe Lieberman for VP.

Instead, we end up with this Alaskan wing ding who knows less about foreign affairs than most people who comment here. Considering his age and history of cancer, its turned out to be a disasterous decision for him and his presidential hopes. I don't think any of us want to imagine what Palin would be like as the accidental leader of the free world at a time when we have such a perfect storm of problems.

Me? I have no delusions that Bob Barr will miraculously win, so I feel free to throw stones at both sides.