This has got to be one of the most stunning political stories of the post-Labor Day presidential campaign season: Republican nominee Sen. John McCain is reportedly pulling out of Michigan: John McCain is pulling out of Michigan, according to two Republicans, a stunning move a month away from Election Day that indicates the difficulty Republicans are having in finding blue … [Read more...] about Political Stunner: McCain Pulling Out Of Michigan
Raising Expectations: Talking Up Palin’s Debating Skills
Here's a sample of some of what the media was saying yesterday: WSJ: "Palin Proved to Be Formidable Foe in Alaska Debates." NYT: "Past Debates Show a Confident Palin, at Times Fluent but Often Vague." LAT: "Underestimate Palin at your own risk, former rivals say." ABC: "Sarah Palin, Debate Champ." HuffPo: "Why Sarah Palin Is A Better Debater Than You … [Read more...] about Raising Expectations: Talking Up Palin’s Debating Skills
Memorable Lines At The VP Debate
RJ Matson, The St. Louis Post Dispatch … [Read more...] about Memorable Lines At The VP Debate
Some Democrats Can’t Wait Until Tonight’s Biden-Palin Vice Presidential Debate
But there's a good chance that by the end of the debate they (and Barack Obama) could feel quite differently... … [Read more...] about Some Democrats Can’t Wait Until Tonight’s Biden-Palin Vice Presidential Debate
What Sarah Palin Must Do
My last post focused on Biden's task: stay disciplined, ignore Palin, and go after McCain. Now for Palin's task. First off, ignore the expectations game. It doesn't matter how poorly people think she'll do, there is a real threshold that she must cross. Completing a sentence won't be enough. Not making a complete fool of herself will not be enough. She must be a credible … [Read more...] about What Sarah Palin Must Do
What Joe Biden Must Do
This is the first of a two-part entry on what each of the candidates must do at the VP debate. Biden must do three things tonight: 1) Discipline himself. The debate format, with limited response times, may help him a bit. But he needs to keep his answers succinct and on-message. He knows how to do this, but doesn't always follow through. 2) Ignore Sarah Palin. Speak to … [Read more...] about What Joe Biden Must Do
Tearing Down Jefferson’s Wall: Palin on the Separation of Church and State
I was going to write a post debunking Palin's response to Katie Couric's question about the separation of Church and State, but my friend Steve Benen, who knows a lot more about this than I do, beat me to it. Make sure to read Steve's post here, as well as this interesting article by his former colleague from Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Rob Boston, … [Read more...] about Tearing Down Jefferson’s Wall: Palin on the Separation of Church and State
Biden’s Burden
Simply put, he knows too much for snappy hockey-mom images and I-put-it-on-eBay sound bites as answers to serious questions. Three decades of real experience will weigh him down in what viewers expect to be a mud-wrestling match. What to do? Joe Biden is caught between the devil (looking mean by showing up Sarah Palin's ignorance) and the deep blue sea (appearing to be an … [Read more...] about Biden’s Burden
Sarah, Plain and Tall
Sarah Palin is toast. Or, at least that is how a lot of conservatives are feeling (myself included) after Palin's disastrous interviews with ABC's Charlie Gibson and CBS's Katie Couric. Blogger Alan Stewart Carl thinks those die-hard Palin supporters are throwing out accusations of "gotcha" journalism and questioning Gwen Ifill's integrity (Ifil is the moderator of … [Read more...] about Sarah, Plain and Tall
Quote of The Day: John McCain’s Anger As Political Liability
Our political Quote of The Day is this entry by the Atantic's Marc Ambinder on the 2008 edition of Senator John McCain that replaced the 2000 "Happy Warrior". We don't usually run an entire blog entry but we will this time: If there's one thing that worries Republican strategists more than the polls today, even more than the listlessness of the Republican Party, it is … [Read more...] about Quote of The Day: John McCain’s Anger As Political Liability
HIV Virus Emerged More Than 75 Years Before AIDS Epidemic
The HIV virus that causes AIDS was first thought to have emerged in the 1930s, but recent research indicates that the virus may be even older: Scientists trace AIDS virus origin to 100 years ago NEW YORK (AP) -- The AIDS virus has been circulating among people for about 100 years, decades longer than scientists had thought, a new study suggests. Genetic analysis … [Read more...] about HIV Virus Emerged More Than 75 Years Before AIDS Epidemic
Enlightened Thinking from Academic Publisher
The Chronicle reports on 2 New Digital Models that promise profit for academic publishing. I'm a big fan of the first -- make money by giving away your books: Late last month, Bloomsbury Publishing announced that it was expanding into the scholarly realm with a new imprint, Bloomsbury Academic. Bloomsbury is J.K. Rowling's British publisher, and its pursuit of more cerebral … [Read more...] about Enlightened Thinking from Academic Publisher
Remembering Mahatma Gandhi & ‘Pashtun Gandhi’
Today (October 2) is Mohandas K. Gandhi's birth anniversary. While the votaries of non-violence in the violence-ridden world pay tributes to Mahatma Gandhi's memory, in this post I would like to recall Gandhi's abiding friendship with a Pashtun leader, better known as "Frontier Gandhi", and who belonged to the so-called 'badlands' in Pakistan on the border of Afghanistan. … [Read more...] about Remembering Mahatma Gandhi & ‘Pashtun Gandhi’
McCain Campaign’s Strategy On Palin Shows Signs Of Working
Immediately after the Republican convention, Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin's poll numbers were stellar and she became a celebrity in a campaign that disdained celebrity. The media started raising some questions about Palin. But now there are signs that the McCain campaign's post convention Palin strategy is starting to work. … [Read more...] about McCain Campaign’s Strategy On Palin Shows Signs Of Working
Biden vs Palin
John Cole, The Scranton Times-Tribune … [Read more...] about Biden vs Palin
Support Sinks for California Gay Marriage Ban
Colbert Teen Talk - Voter Abstinence* An LGBT campus group here in the rural antebellum capital of Georgia sponsored a "Guess the straight person" event last night. The student audience was uncharacteristically large and boisterous for a midweek event. They asked questions of the young panelists in order to determine which was the heterosexual. One of the questions: "who … [Read more...] about Support Sinks for California Gay Marriage Ban
Bank Freeze Hurts Hundreds of Colleges
The Chronicle: Wachovia bank has frozen the accounts of nearly 1,000 colleges, leaving institutions unable to access billions of dollars they depend on for salaries, campus construction, and debt payments. The freeze, which affects most institutions that invest their endowment income and other assets through Commonfund, has some colleges worried that they won’t be able to … [Read more...] about Bank Freeze Hurts Hundreds of Colleges
Bailout Binge: Senate Porkers Know No Shame
So the Senate labored well into the evening to pass the bailout bill. Well, they were certainly hard at work all right... working to tack on layers of pork to the bill. There were tax cuts, of course, spread scatter-shot across the spectrum. Tax cuts for individuals, for businesses... I believe there was even a tax cut for poodles who earn money in dog shows. Money for rural … [Read more...] about Bailout Binge: Senate Porkers Know No Shame
Oh No! Poor McCain Has The Vapors Again
Most of the attention is focused on tonight's vice-presidential debate, which is shaping up to be the anticlimactic event of the campaign season. This is because it will take a performance even sorrier than those Sarah Palin already has delivered for her to "lose" to Joe Biden, while anything less than rampant incoherence will be spun as a "big win." While I will have one … [Read more...] about Oh No! Poor McCain Has The Vapors Again
Election Update
Time for a little update on where I'm projecting the races for November. President: In the race between Senator Obama and Senator McCain, the trend is certainly in Obama's favor. Right now I have him leading 304-234. Of his 304 votes, 203 are safe and 101 leaning while McCain has 132 safe and 102 leaning. Breaking this into possible trends, if the close states break 2-1 … [Read more...] about Election Update