In between real life, I’ve taken in some of the events taking place here in the Twin Cities during the Republican National Convention. Yesterday, I went to the “Big Tent Event” hosted by Log Cabin Republicans. (I’m been a member of Log Cabin and past present of the Minnesota Chapter.) We heard speeches from the likes of Jim Kolbe, the former member of Congress and an out gay Republican. We also heard from Patrick Sammon, the head of Log Cabin who officially announced that...

Like everyone else, John McCain’s pick of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate was a complete surprise. Personally, I was hoping for long-shot, former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge as his running mate, but his pro-choice stance on abortion might have been a nonstarter for the base. Of course, Palin presents some risks: she’s only been Governor for less than two years, of a small-population state. People will wonder if she would be ready to be President should McCain die...

CNN is reporting that John McCain has picked Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his VP pick. More as it develops…

Well, if you didn’t know where Barack Obama stood, you can’t say that after tonight. Obama did a very good job of defining who he was as opposed to John McCain. My initial thoughts: While I may disagree with Obama, it was nice to hear when he accepted the nomination. The Dream really was realized a little bit tonight. Obama talked about tax cuts for 95 percent of Americans and then talked about a bevy of programs. He said that he would get money from closing tax loopholes and making...

I’ve been away on business for the last few days so it was hard to post anything about the Democratic National Convention. However, I have been watching some of the main speeches and wanted to share my thoughts: It was good to see Ted Kennedy on Monday night. The old, liberal lion looked frail, as can be expected from what he has gone through, but his spirit was strong. Michelle Obama had a good speech, even though it had a lot of cliches in it. It was interesting that she talked about...

Now we know who is the Democratic VP candidate. All in all, I think it’s a good choice, but just not the game-changer that I think many were expecting. Biden of course brings experience, which is a nod to the Clinton supporters and adds gravitas to the Dems against McCain who has used his past experience as a strength. He also brings, the needed foreign policy experience that Obama is lacking. The downside, is that this isn’t necessarily the change Obama is talking about. Having someone...

Paybacks can be a…well, you know. John McCain should have known that the Obama team was just waiting to pounce after his “Celebrity” ad, and pounced they did after his gaffe on not knowing how many houses he owns. Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post notes how both parties try very hard to paint the other as out-of-touch with the common man. McCain and the GOP have been hitting hard to tar Obama as another elitist liberal, while Obama has started to paint McCain as a fat cat that...

David Brooks wrote a good piece yesterday about the changes that have gone on in the McCain camp. It shows how McCain, the man who wanted to run a “maverick” campaign, has been forced to run a conventional campaign after all. So many have expressed their disgust with McCain having taken the so-called “low road.” And others, like myself and Brooks, feel a sense of sadness that the old McCain has been pushed to the wayside. But the article got me thinking about how hard...

There has been much made about how bad it is for John McCain to release several negative ads attacking the Democratic nominee, Barack Obama. At some time earlier, I would have agreed that such ads like the “Celebrity” or “The One” ads were mean-spirited while lamenting the sad state of politics. But the reality is that politics have always been a rough game and, within limits, some negative ads can be effective to get a point across about your opponent. Some have said that...

Recently, my partner and I were walking around the Twin Cities Gay Pride Festival enjoying the day. We stopped at the Log Cabin Republicans booth just to say hello to folks. (I have been part of Log Cabin for years and staffed the booth at Pride for several years.) I ended up talking to this guy who had stopped at the booth to complain about the GOP. I expressed my support for McCain and he expressed his frustration with McCain and the GOP. He kept saying that he was undecided, but as he expressed...

I have to say that both John McCain and Barack Obama are full of it when it comes to high gas prices. Both men have to know that there isn’t much the government can do to drive gas prices down quickly, but because Americans want their gas cheap and fast, both are trying to pander as fast as they can with some very silly plans. Drill Now? Okay, we should see that oil hit the market in about 10-20 years. Windfall Profits Tax? Of course, because it worked so well in the 70s and 80s. Rick Newman...

It seems like the new rule for Republicans is to never, ever have a campaign ad with a black male candidate and a white woman. The quip over John McCain’s “celebrity” ad has raised a lot of ruckus. Now, I think it is in very poor taste to paint Barack Obama as an empty-headed celebrity ala Britney and Paris, but I don’t get the charge of racism coming from some. Some Barack supporters see a picture of a black man and two white women and it conjures up the belief that the...

Let’s face it: John McCain’s “Celebrity” ad is having an effect- mostly negative. I have to agree with former McCain aide, John Weaver, that the ad appears childish. Has Obama become sort of a celebrity? Yes. Is there a lot of hype concerning his campaign? Yes. But frankly, that shouldn’t concern McCain as much as trying to formulate a political narrative that trumps Obama’s. (And I don’t agree with liberals who think that showing the faces of Britney...

The following is definitely in the “man bites dog” department. Deroy Murdock, a writer at the conservative National Review, wrote an op-ed calling for the retirement of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” regarding gay Americans serving in the military. Murdock notes the irony of the Army lowering its standards to allow convicted thieves, child molesters and murderers, while axing several linguists who happen to be gay. Murdock notes that times have changed,...

In a post this morning, blogger Alan Stewart Carl, discusses his backing off of supporting John McCain. He writes: …outside of certain issues of morality, I am not a man of absolutes. Which is why I’ve drifted away from McCain – he has acted too much like a man of absolutes, not just convinced of his own understandings of the world but also too willing to simplify complex matters in order to win votes. Obama has appeared more flexible but I don’t yet know if that is crafty political...

In a recent post, Donklephant’s Alan Stewart Carl’s correctly takes down the McCain campaign for their latest ad which blames Senator Obama for high gas prices. I don’t have a problem with going after McCain for an ad that was grossly unfair. What piqued my interest was his last point: Increasing domestic drilling is definitely an issue we need to debate and McCain used to be a guy you could trust to talk about such matters seriously. Now he sounds like any other politician looking...

In the Blogosphere, issues tend to come and go. People tend to react to something rather quickly and move on. Now I am a little late on commenting on the whole New Yorker cartoon with Barak Obama in somekind of Muslim-type dress, giving a fist bump to his wife Michelle who is dressed up as a modern-day Angela Davis, with a flag burning in the fireplace and a picture of Osama bin Laden. We all know how the resulting debate, so I won’t bore you with that- I just want to share my view.

Ross Douthat has a worthy analysis of Phil Gramm’s unwise words today about our nation being a “nation of whiners” when it come to the current economic outlook. Douthat notes that Republicans tend to be economic optimists, while Democrats tend to be economic pessimists. Too much of either and you have problems. That was the problem with Gramm’s comments today. In some case, the GOP has focused too much on the positive without seeing there are some major factors affecting...

I’ve been trying to read Reclaiming Conservatism, by former Congressman Mickey Edwards. It has been a difficult read. It’s not because it is hard to read. What has bothered me so far is page after page of Edwards’ rants against the Bush Administration and the feckless Republican Congress that let the President get away with so much. After a while it gets a bit tedious. It’s not that I am a fan of President Bush or the GOP Congress of 2000-06, it’s just that it gets...

Sorry, but I had to use a version of that Simpsons quote (and I basically copied it from a writer). Piggybacking on yesterday’s post, I found this article by Reihan Salam about the doomed McCain Presidency. It’s not as much his problem, but it is the problem of the GOP not being able to notice that the times they are a-changing. As I said yesterday, the nation is moving towards a new liberal era as the conservative era ends. He notes that Britain is in its own liberal (or more precisely,...

John McCain can’t get a break. In 2000, he ran up against the Bush machine that slimed him and ran his campaign off the rails. Eight years later, he is now makes it to the top spot as the GOP nominee and has to run against someone that seems to be more popular than Jesus. While I support John McCain, there is a sense that this is a losing battle. He is a good man stuck with a party in disarray and a movement that was run off the rails by the same man he faced in 2000. Allan Lichtman has a...

I stumbled across this Associated Press article in today’s Minneapolis Star Tribune about how black conservatives are considering voting for Obama, because he is the first serious black candidate for the White House. Now, I understand their feelings as a black man. I don’t want to vote for someone just because they share the same skin color that I do, and there is a lot I disagree with in Obama’s plans for governing this country. There are a lot of Obama’s policy positions...

In an earlier post, Michael Stickings comments on comments. He talks about some bigoted comments left on the McCain website, and while he doesn’t say this reflects on McCain, he say the website is an outlet for “straight-talking bigotry.” Earlier in the day, there were reports of a person who left a note on the Barak Obama website that talked about how the Jewish Lobby works. The offensive comments have since been removed, but that didn’t stop Rick Moran from wondering what...

The New York Times is reporting that an adviser close to GOP nominee John McCain says the Senator now supports warrantless wiretapping, which would signal a shift to the expansive view of the presidency championed by President Bush. Here is what the article says: In a letter posted online by National Review this week, the adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, said Mr. McCain believed that the Constitution gave Mr. Bush the power to authorize the National Security Agency to monitor Americans’ international...

Note, this post is just the facts. I’m not making any editorial comments. The McCain campaign invited several bloggers to take part in a conference call with the presumptive Republican nominee Senator John McCain. Here are some of the highlights: First, Senator McCain congratulated Senator Hillary Clinton saying she “inspired women all over America.” He also congratulated Senator Barack Obama and then invited the Illinois Senator and presumptive nominee to 10 town hall meetings...