Decision ‘08 » 2008

Archive for August, 2008

Sunday, August 31st, 2008

Can You Go Any Lower When Your Address Is The Gutter?

Daily Kos continues to make history, with yet another dairy claiming that Sarah Palin is not the mother of her fifth child, born with Down syndrome, but rather that the mother is Palin’s daughter. The evidence? A bunch of photographs and wild speculation.
I don’t know what to say, other than certain people better hope there’s […]

14 Comments » - Posted in Sarah Palin, Progressive Nonsense / Nutroots® by Mark

Sunday, August 31st, 2008

About That Convention…

…well, we’ll keep our eye on the hurricane and pray for all Gulf Coast residents, not just the residents of New Orleans. It would appear from this vantage point that we are engaging in a bit of post-Katrina overreaction, but better to overreact than to underreact, that’s for damn sure. What we know as of […]

1 Comment » - Posted in Elephants, John McCain, 2008 News by Mark

Saturday, August 30th, 2008

Reaction To The Sarah Palin Pick

Well, I was out of the loop for more of the day yesterday than I had planned - obviously, the pick went in a different direction than I or almost anyone else anticipated. I like it, though - besides the bold stroke of choosing a woman, this particular woman has some very solid credentials of […]

51 Comments » - Posted in Sarah Palin, John McCain, 2008 News, 2008 Polls by Mark

Friday, August 29th, 2008

It’s Going To Be Romney…

…I’m almost certain. My regulars know how I feel about that.
Sigh…
I won’t be able to update until this evening, whether I’m wrong or right…but more later…
UPDATE 08/30/08 3:14 a.m.: Boy, oh, boy, I’ve seldom been so excited to be wrong! More this weekend…but let me just say: I think Palin is a great pick, and […]

29 Comments » - Posted in Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, John McCain, Election 2008 by Mark

Thursday, August 28th, 2008

Impressions On The Obama Speech

Okay, I didn’t want to distract myself by blogging, so I saved everything for the end, and I’ll try to organize my thoughts a little.
First, some general impressions: very, very effective. He pulled it off, and I was on the record as doubting the setting and doubting his ability to rise to the moment. You […]

22 Comments » - Posted in Barack Obama, 2008 News by Mark

Thursday, August 28th, 2008

Okay, THERE’s The Convention Bounce

I said yesterday I thought Democrats bemoaning the lack of a convention bounce were speaking too soon, and sure enough, today’s Gallup Daily Tracking shows Obama by six. I also see that Obama is planning to lay out a strategy for governing, as I have insisted he must (no link at the moment, but I […]

5 Comments » - Posted in Barack Obama, Joe Biden, 2008 Polls by Mark

Wednesday, August 27th, 2008

No Convention Bounce?

Chris Bowers is worried:
Right now, the best I can muster is that the convention just doesn’t feel right. Although I might be dangerously treading into “I know it when I see it” territory, I knew after Gore’s convention 2000 speech that he would get a bump, while I had a really bad feeling after the […]

17 Comments » - Posted in Joe Lieberman, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Donkeys, John McCain, Election 2008 by Mark

Tuesday, August 26th, 2008

Hillary’s Night

Well, Ryan wanted a thread, so let’s start one…
While we’re waiting for Hillary, Bill looks kind of old, doesn’t he? Of course, he is a little old now…but the presidency ages you, there is no doubt about that (so does major heart surgery, of course)…
UPDATE 9:32 p.m.: Schweitzer has a thankless task, with everyone waiting […]

35 Comments » - Posted in Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Election 2008 by Mark

Monday, August 25th, 2008

The Biden Bounce, Part Deux

Gallup daily tracking: dead even.
The latest update includes two days of interviewing following Obama’s selection of Sen. Joe Biden as his vice presidential running mate, and neither day showed an improved performance for Obama. Thus, Obama does not appear to have gotten the same type of immediate “vice presidential bounce” as have presidential candidates in […]

17 Comments » - Posted in Joe Biden, 2008 Polls by Mark

Monday, August 25th, 2008

I Thought About Just Completely Boycotting The Convention…

…but I wanted to see Teddy Kennedy. I’m no fan of his policies, but I was very affected by his illness, as he is undeniably an American political icon. His speech wasn’t particularly great - lots of liberal buzzwords, some strange syntax, and no real meat…but he looked surprisingly well, and his voice was certainly […]

25 Comments » - Posted in Donkeys, 2008 News by Mark

Sunday, August 24th, 2008

The Biden Bounce

Joltin’ Joe works his magic:
It’s a dead heat in the race for the White House. The first national poll conducted entirely after Barack Obama publicly named Joe Biden as his running mate suggests that battle for the presidency between the Illinois senator and Republican rival John McCain is all tied up.
In a new CNN/Opinion Research […]

23 Comments » - Posted in Barack Obama, Joe Biden, 2008 Polls by Mark

Sunday, August 24th, 2008

One Spectacle Ends, And Another Begins

As we say goodbye to the Beijing Olympics (overall, I think, it was a Chinese success, though not without a few glitches), we say hello to the much more meaningless spectacle of the Democratic National Convention (no, I’m not being partisan - the Republican one doesn’t mean much, either).
Those looking for a play-by-play, schedule-wise, can […]

3 Comments » - Posted in Donkeys, 2008 News by Mark

Sunday, August 24th, 2008

Another, Um, ‘Interesting’ Racial Perspective From Biden

The Washington Post editorial board digs up a dandy. I’ll point out up front that they like the pick, overall, but they have a few criticisms, one of his bad judgment on Iraq (not his support of the war, but his ridiculous partition plan), and one of his loquaciousness:
Mr. Biden’s expertise may reassure those who […]

15 Comments » - Posted in Joe Biden, Iraq by Mark

Sunday, August 24th, 2008

A Look Back At Biden…

…from yours truly. I think this bit from my candidate profile of Biden pretty much sums it up:
The real issue with a Biden candidacy is whether a Catholic can win the presidency - no, wait, sorry, I was reading my JFK notes instead. No, the real issue is who, exactly, is Biden’s national constituency? The […]

15 Comments » - Posted in Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Foreign Affairs, Election 2008 by Mark

Saturday, August 23rd, 2008

Biden My Time…

Hey, am I the first to get in that pun? I sure hope so! Let’s look at some more reaction.
The Politico presents Joe Biden for Dummies…
Former Wonkette Ana Marie Cox:
One thing is for sure, if the Obama folks were worried about the late-night-comedian-jokes-about-their-candidate deficit, the ticket is well-balanced now.
Mickey Kaus:
Maybe when I get to Denver […]

15 Comments » - Posted in Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Progressive Nonsense / Nutroots®, Hillary Clinton by Mark

Friday, August 22nd, 2008

Great News For Republicans…

…as it’s all but confirmed that Joe Biden is indeed Barack Obama’s VP choice. Biden is a fantastic choice…for the other side. Of course, we all know about the plagiarism, and it’s hard to take anyone with hair plugs seriously (hey, baby, I’m balding, but natural!), yet there are other, lesser known (for now) reasons […]

29 Comments » - Posted in Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Iraq, Progressive Nonsense / Nutroots®, 2008 News by Mark

Thursday, August 21st, 2008

There Goes Satan On Ice Skates

Well, I’ll just be…the NY Times has run an editorial on the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan without going into an anti-Bush or anti-Iraq War rant. Pigs are flying, my friends, pigs are flying…

No Comments » - Posted in Radical Islam / GWOT, NY Times/Media Watch by Mark

Thursday, August 21st, 2008

Oh, Dear God, No - Not Romney!

TIME’s Mark Halperin is quoting two McCain sources as saying he’s settled on Mitt Romney - and also is saying bet on Biden for Obama.
If this is true, I’m going to have to seriously consider sitting out this election (on a personal level - of course, I’ll continue to blog). I hate to do that, […]

11 Comments » - Posted in Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Mitt Romney, John McCain, 2008 News by Mark

Thursday, August 21st, 2008

David Gergen On The McCain ‘Surge’

There is no question that it has been a pretty good run of late for John McCain. Here’s David Gergen:
Say what you will about Republicans making a muddle of governing, but they sure know how to campaign. The turn of events that John McCain and his team have engineered in recent weeks is one of […]

3 Comments » - Posted in Barack Obama, John McCain, Election 2008 by Mark

Wednesday, August 20th, 2008

What’s Behind The McCain Pro-Choice Feelers?

A lot of talk is flying on the Republican side of the 2008 election about McCain’s tentative information gathering on the feelings of Republican bigwigs and donors towards a pro-choice VP. Multiple theories abound, but they can basically be gathered under two tents: he’s rehearsing for actually picking a pro-choice candidate, or he’s covering his […]