Spin Cycle

In light of Gustav, the GOP makes the right decision -- shrinking its Monday schedule down to only essential business, with plans for Tuesday to Thursday up in the air.

“We’re going to suspend most of our activities tomorrow except for those absolutely necessary...I hope and pray we will be able to resume some of our normal operations as soon as possible, but that, frankly, is in the hands of God.”

The TV/cable A-teams are heading for the Gulf. McCain/Palin are in Mississippi, and there's talk he may deliver convention speech by satellite.

Not to be overly cynical here, but why is it supposed to help anyone but McCain for McCain to be in Mississippi? Even as he tries to be respectful, it almost seems like he's trying to grab a piece of it.

At a stop in Toledo, Ohio, Joe Biden tries a little humor introducing Obama.... Probably the kind of humor he should be careful with:

“There is a gigantic difference between John McCain and Barack Obama and between me and I suspect my vice presidential opponent, and that is, well there’s obvious differences, she’s good looking.”

From Nia Henderson, on the road with the campaign.

With all eyes on the Gulf Coast, Republican leaders will forego the normal convention antics and partisan speeches on the first day of the nominating convention Monday. Insted, GOP leaders say, they'll stick to a bare-bones schedule and essential business only during an abbreviated, 2 1/2 hour session.

War protesters, however, will take no such day off Monday, with some groups vowing to crash convention business on the streets of St. Paul.

As many as 50,000 demonsrators are predicted for the Monday protest, according to media reports.

Police arrested nine people, including 2 women in their 70s, during protests Sunday, the Associated Press reported.

-- Kevin Dennehy

For planners of the Republican National Convention, today was supposed to be about showcasing the Twin Cities, including a state fair that boasts any cuisine you could possibly want ... fried on a stick.

But the unpleasant anticipation of Gustav on the Gulf Coast -- and uncertainty about how the storm will affect the convention -- looms over all Republican business. From news that President Bush won't be here at all, to reports that the convention could be delayed, truncated, or even that Sen. McCain may not be able to make it, visiting delegates are being advised to keep their schedules flexible.

"Conventions are great and we want to have a good time nominating Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin," said Assembleyman Philip Boyle, a Suffolk Republican in town for the convention. "But the Gulf Coast situation is more important."

A briefing from GOP leaders is scheduled for this afternoon.

-- Kevin Dennehy

Joe Biden is on the ticket to, at least, win Pennsylvania for Obama. So, in his first spot he talks about his hometown of Scranton, Pa., and about Obama:

Our intrepid Obama chaser, Nia Henderson, talks to campaign strategist David Axelrod about the Palin selection during a stopover in Beaver, Pa.

Significantly: He says the campaign itself has rejected the attack approach it started with yesterday. He can't resist a couple of digs at McCain (for not knowing much about his own candidate and bowing to the right wing) and Palin ("I tried to look up on one of these Web sites what her positions were and when I opened it up to foreign policy there was nothing there"), but says they're going to focus on the issues that McCain and Palin both embrace and not the personalities. Presumably, the rest will be left to surrogates and the press:

"I don’t know much about her and I don’t know how much McCain does either. In the big scheme of things it doesn’t change much because now instead of having one person advocating more of the same policies, we have two people advocating for the same policies, it doesn’t change the dynamic of the race. If you want change you vote for Obama, if you’re satisfied with the way things are then you should vote for McCain.

"We are not attacking her personally, and we are not attacking McCain, we are attacking a philosophy that has taken this country down the wrong road and we will continue to do that and the fact that she embraces that philosophy and that’s why she’s on the ticket is notable, but it’s not about them, it’s about which direction we want this country to go. He had a chance to appoint a more moderate candidate, he didn’t, maybe he couldn’t break away from the right wing of his own party, but it’s clear that they are offering more of the same and we will continue to make that argument.

"I don’t really know her well enough, she has a two-year record as governor, and a few years as mayor of a town that has a budget of $12 million, I tried to look up on one of these Web sites what her positions were and when I opened it up to foreign policy there was nothing there, it’s going to take a while to figure out who she is and what that record is, but I think she was chosen to support McCain and support his conviction that we should keep on pursuing the same policies, I don’t expect to see a lot of surprises."

What about using Hillary in ads to respond to the GOP's woman? "We may use her in some, she did a great speech, we can use some of that, too, but I think we want her out there, she’s a great advocate and great spokesperson."

Yesterday, Barack Obama's campaign press office attacked Sarah Palin's experience, then Obama and Joe Biden tried to walk that back as a "hair trigger" reaction and instead congratulated her. Dem surrogates have continued to try to hit experience pretty hard, while others are trying to use her to raise character questions about John McCain -- rash, reckless, etc. The ad Obama released this morning (a few items below) treats her as irrelevant -- and casts George Bush as the true running mate.

So, obviously, the Obama camp is casting about a little bit about how to handle Palin -- without reminding voters of attacks on another woman (Hillary Clinton) and of questions about Obama's experience. Some excerpts from an interview with Obama on "60 Minutes" tomorrow night suggests another approach:

He is nothing but cheerful when asked about Palin directly: "She seems to have a compelling life story. Obviously, she's-- a fine-- mother and -- a up and coming public servant."

Perfectly pleasant -- with just a hint of faint praise in the "up and coming" phrase.

But when he's asked about Biden, he frames his answer in a way that seems directed at Palin -- without mentioning her name:

"Let me tell you the reason I picked Joe Biden. No. 1 -- he can step in and become president. And I don't think anybody has any doubt about that. No. 2 is that if I'm in the room making the kinds of tough decisions that the next president's going to have to make both on domestic policy and on international policy, then I want the counsel and advice of somebody who's not going to agree with me a 100 percent of time. In fact, somebody that's independent enough that can push back and give me different perspectives and make sure that I'm catching any blind spots that I have."

McCain adviser Charlie Black is quoted this morning arguing that Palin will learn national security "at the feet of the master" from her exposure to McCain. So, quite a contrast, eh?

This morning's Juneau Empire datelines a story in Ketchikan, where residents wanted the "bridge to nowhere" and apparently think Palin misled them while she was campaigning for governor in 2006.

Mayor Bob Weinstein: "I think in Ketchikan, there's still quite a bit of concern about the Palin administration. Number one, we don't think we're nowhere. And number two, when she campaigned in Ketchikan, she was supportive of the project."

After the jump: Excerpts from other newspapers in Alaska, courtesy of the Obama campaign.

Continue reading "Earmarks II: Ketchikan thought she backed the bridge" »

Local Democrat John Rennhack went to work yesterday making fun of the new McCain logo, and came up with these ideas:::

Politicians always create images that are half-true. Or less. As has been pointed out frequently, Obama's record as a change agent falls far short of his rhetoric. In the end, most of them are egomaniacs desperate to seem bigger than they really are.

So, some slippage in Palin's claim to be a big reformer and warrior against wasteful spending is to be expected -- and has already started. Yesterday, she said she killed the notorious Bridge to Nowhere -- something that a national audience has actually heard of. But the New Republic blog found this exchange in a Q and A in the Anchorage Daily News in 2006, while she was running for governor:

"5. Would you continue state funding for the proposed Knik Arm and Gravina Island bridges?

"Yes. I would like to see Alaska's infrastructure projects built sooner rather than later. The window is now--while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist."

The blog also notes that when Palin later killed the project, she didn't condemn it -- she lamented that it had become impractical because of "inaccurate portrayals." And this year, her office submitted 31 earmark requests to Washington -- her counsel even wrote a column for the Juneau paper assuring everyone that Palin was not abandoning pursuit of earmarks!!

Also, don't miss the NYTimes profile: She supports a big-deal TransCanada pipeline project after hiring a former TransCanada lobbyist as her pipeline advisor. And, as mayor of tiny Wasilla:

"Although she would later criticize Congressional earmarks like Alaska’s infamous “Bridge to Nowhere,” proposed for the town of Ketchikan at a cost of about $400 million, as mayor she began the practice of making annual trips to Washington to press for them on behalf of their town."

Does that sound like someone who's really going to shake up business as usual in Washington?

Obama puts up a quick new ad for national cable that bookends with shots of the McCain/Palin ticket, but -- instead of attacking her -- argues that he's still out of touch and tied to Bush policies. The approach is to treat her as a cosmetic addition to the same old:

The most important morning read is the Washington Post interview with Walt Monegan (AP foto left), the former Alaska public safety director fired by Palin's administration after he refused to fire a trooper involved in a marital/custody dispute with Palin's sister.

Palin first denied that any pressure was put on Monegan to ax the trooper, then -- after an audio tape of a call from an aide to the state police surfaced -- admitted there had been a bunch of contacts. One of them involved her husband, but she apparently claims she didn't know about any of it, and denies personal involvement. But Monegan says it's not true, and he has e-mails from the governor herself to prove it:

"Monegan, 57, a former chief of the Anchorage Police Department, said in an interview Friday that during his 19 months on the job the governor repeatedly mentioned Wooten but "never directly asked me to fire him."

"Monegan said Todd Palin told him that Wooten "shouldn't be a trooper."

" 'I've tried to explain to him,' Monegan said, ' 'You can't head-hunt like this. What you need to do is back off, because if the trooper does make a mistake, and it is a terminable offense, it can look like political interference.' ' "

" 'I think he's emotionally committed in trying to see that his former brother-in-law is punished.'

"Monegan said he was also contacted by three other Palin-appointed officials, including the attorney general, regarding the trooper. Each time, he said, he told the administration officials that he would keep an eye on the trooper, but that unless he violated a rule, nothing could be done.

"In a TV interview in July, Todd Palin confirmed that he had talked with Monegan but said he was just 'informing,' not pressuring. "

That kind of limp evasion isn't even cutting it in Alaska, and sure isn't going to cut it in a presidential campaign.

It's odd that McCain picked Palin with this untidy business lurking. The underlying issue -- did she and her family use the power of the governorship to settle a personal score -- isn't necessarily disqualifying, but it isn't pretty. What's worse is that she has apparently been less than truthful, and still hasn't come clean in a completely satisfying way.

There's a legislative investigation, conducted by an ex-prosecutor, going on in Alaska, reporting back in late October. So it's not exactly going away. One hopes that McCain and Palin have thought about it, and have some kind of plan for putting the most serious questions to rest.

Who likes vice-presidents into stylin' for the cameras, with kids? Apparently John McCain does. But can you imagine the "celebrity" releases the GOP would churn out if Obama posed for a picture like this with his family?

Juneau Empire via AP, via NYT.

Spike Lee -- whom the Times Union blog photographed sitting to Suffolk Legis. Vivian Viloria-Fisher's right at the Denver parley -- spoke with Newsday's Liz Moore in the airport en route back to LaGuardia. Some quotes, bound to be found provocative in some circles:

"It was a historic night," he said. "I hope people look at the contrast of the faces what they've seen in Denver versus the faces they are going to see in Minneapolis.

"The faces in Denver were true American faces -- white, black, brown, young, old. Minnesota’s going to look like an Arizona golf club. You know what that’ll look like."

"An Arizona country club. That is the face of Arizona: Leave it to Beaver, Father Knows Best, Howdy Doody-- that's 1950. We’re in the 21st century!

"In 2040, white Americans will be in the minority. I don’t think the GOP has gotten the email yet.

"The most photographed black people in America will be the two black Republicans at the convention. They’re going to get more airtime than John McCain.

"They’ll pull some Negroes off the shelf and stick them out there, but we know what that is. What you saw last night is a new America.

"It was the 45th anniversary of Dr.King's 'I have a Dream' speech.

"It’s not a coincidence.It’s a movement.

"Barack said it last night: McCain doesn’t get it."

Just then, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown walked up to introduce himself to Lee and shake his hand.

"Keep shoveling that snow!" Lee said. "I'm just kidding."

Brown noted that he grew up in Hollis, Queens with Russell Simmons.

They talked about how ...

Continue reading "DNC: Spike speaks, on Obama-McCain" »

Some hours ago, we noted here that Sarah Palin was a pretty good choice politically, at least compared to the alternatives.

She's risky, but it's a deep pick, with multiple dimensions. If the Dems want to attack her experience, they'll be drawn into a debate about whether she has more or less experience than Obama -- and if they're caught up in trying to prove their No. 1 is as good as McCain's No. 2, they'll lose.

But what about substance? Beyond the talking points, it's pretty clear that Obama's campaign itself is an achievement far surpassing anything Palin has achieved. She's got a pretty thin resume -- and there's certainly a case to be made that she's not anywhere near prepared for the breadth and depth of domestic and foreign governing and policy challenges she would face as president.

There are arguments that she is adequately qualified, and people who will buy them, but there are also lots of people who will see her as totally unqualified. If you believe that, then you have to conclude that McCain chose an unqualified person because he needed her political assets to achieve his ambition.

So, if that's what you conclude -- what becomes of his "Country First" slogan? Don't you have to conclude that he's put the country at risk to achieve his personal ambitions? Here's what one friend and former colleague, a woman and a longtime admirer of McCain, e-mailed today:

"I take back anything positive i ever said about john mccain....he put an unqualified, inexperienced light-weight a heart beat away from the presidency. reckless, unconscionable and utterly unforgivable. i'm done with him forever....he put politics ahead of the welfare of the country. i expect that of bush, not john mccain. i feel completely betrayed."

That's not a prevailing reaction today. But it's out there.

One of the great breaks John McCain has made with the Bush administration that appeals to centrists, independents and swing voters is his position that global warming is a serious problem that needs to be addressed.

Sarah Palin apparently hasn't gotten there yet. From a recent interview with NewsMax, a conservative news site:

"Q. What is your take on global warming and how is it affecting our country?

Palin: A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location. I'm not one though who would attribute it to being man-made."

This reflects a perilous aspect of the selection. McCain has selected a woman, but a woman who is a pretty doctrinaire conservative -- not just on abortion and guns, but also on evolution, gay rights and global warming.

If the goal is to attract Hillary backers who might find McCain palatable because he has developed an image of being less doctrinaire than Bush, what good does a woman do if she's a woman who's going to erode the moderate image?

And not just on social issues, which are matters of faith and values, but on issues of science. Isn't belief that human activity contributes to global warming pretty mainstream at this point? Doesn't it give McCain himself pause to be picking someone who doesn't get it yet?

After the jump, a little raw material from an interesting day of campaigning, for those who are interested:

First, a pool report on Obama and Biden meeting Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin.

Then, the McCains and Palins grab some ice cream in New Concord, Ohio.

Continue reading "Pool reports: Coaches and ice cream" »

Read a very nice primer on Palin from an Alaska blogger on Mudflats:

She is against listing polar bears as an endangered species because it interferes with development. She favors letting hunters shoot wolves from airplanes. She favors ANWR drilling, which McCain opposes (so far). She favors a Canada route for a gas pipeline instead of an Alaskan route, which is a jobs issue.

A good rundown of the chronology on the firing of her state trooper brother-in-law. This description of her political appeal:

Wasilla is the heart of the Alaska “Bible belt” and Sarah was raised amongst the tribe that believes creationism should be taught in our public schools, homosexuality is a sin, and life begins at conception. She’s a gun-toting, hang ‘em high conservative. Remember…this is where her approval ratings come from. There is no doubt that McCain again is making a strategic choice to appeal to a particular demographic - fundamentalist right-wing gun-owning Christians.

And this description of Wasilla, where she was mayor:

Behind the Mug-Shot Saloon (the first bar I visited when I moved to Alaska long ago) is a little strip mall. There are street signs in Wasilla with bullet holes in them. Wasilla has a population of about 5500 people, and 1979 occupied housing units. This is where your potential Vice President was two short years ago. Can you imagine her negotiating a nuclear non-proliferation treaty? Discussing foreign policy? Understanding non-Alaskan issues? Frankly, I don’t even know if she’s ever been out of the country. She may ‘get’ Alaska, but there are only a half a million people here. Don’t get me wrong….I love Alaska with all my heart. I’m just saying.

And, another post here.

Continue reading "More on Palin: Polar bears and pipelines" »

Sarah Palin and McCain have already done their family People interviews, and People has a release out -- including the news that Palin is still nursing her latest baby.

On whether she’ll be able to balance the vice-presidency with her family’s needs: “She’s heard that her whole life—the challenges of being a female mother in the work force,” says the governor’s husband, Todd Palin. “I remember the first time she ran for mayor on of her fellow council members told her you can’t run for mayor because you’ve got three negatives: Track, Bristol and Willow. Those are the three kids we had at the time. So, when you tell her that kind of stuff, she just gets fired up. We’re an Alaska family that adapts.”

Gov. Palin, who is still nursing her son, tells PEOPLE she’s used to multi-tasking: “What I’ve had to do, though, is in the middle of the night, put down the Blackberries and pick up the breast pump. Do a couple of things different and still get it all done.”

Full release after the jump.

Continue reading "Palin: Breast pumps, Blackberries" »

Haven't read or seen much about Obama and Biden in Pennsylvania today, have you?

At least on that level, Palin is a success.

Talk about seizing the headlines -- an unknown ex-beauty queen for vice president will always trump some speech, won't it?

If Palin uprooted a corrupt Republican political machine in Alaska, why'd she get endorsed by Sen. Ted Stevens, who just got indicted?

Via TPM.

Hillary issues a statement on Palin:

“We should all be proud of Governor Sarah Palin's historic nomination, and I congratulate her and Senator McCain. While their policies would take America in the wrong direction, Governor Palin will add an important new voice to the debate.”

Which is interesting -- quite diplomatic, and balancing her recently expressed support for the Dem ticket with her interest in sustaining support from her gender-conscious supporters. Compare it to, say, Rahm Emanuel:

"After trying to make experience the issue of this campaign, John McCain celebrated his 72nd birthday by appointing a former small town mayor and brand new Governor as his Vice Presidential nominee. Is this really who the Republican Party wants to be one heartbeat away from the Presidency? Given Sarah Palin's lack of experience on every front and on nearly every issue, this Vice Presidential pick doesn't show judgment. It shows political panic."

Here's Palin on CNBC in July, talking about the probe of her firing of the Alaska public safety director, and expressing skepticism about the vice-presidency:

Anchorage Daily News profile of Palin, in 2006, is here....

And here's a description of her from the Anchorage Press: "A small-town, angel-faced mother of four, an avid hunter and a fisher with a killer smile who wears designer glasses and heels, and hair like modern sculpture, who's taking it to the boys ever so softly."

Picture of her from her beauty queen days and now, via AP. Definitely not Dick Cheney:

Some interesting videos posted by Newsweek, from a forum in March. Palin says she thinks Hillary does bear a special burden but whines about it too much, explains that she was never really into the beauty pageant thing, and talks about motherhood and sports.

Watch them here or here.

After the jump: Transcripts of the comments of McCain and Palin at the press conference this morning. From CNN, via The Atlantic.

Continue reading "McCain and Palin: Texts" »

The first Obama campaign statement on Palin attacked her inexperience, but curiously they have now issued a second one, in the names of Obama and Biden, that is more polite:

"We send our congratulations to Governor Sarah Palin and her family on her designation as the republican nominee for Vice President. It is yet another encouraging sign that old barriers are falling in our politics. While we obviously have differences over how best to lead this country forward Governor Palin is an admirable person and will add a compelling new voice to this campaign."

Palin's chief liability right now seems to be suspicions that she ordered the firing of Alaska's public safety director because he resisted pressure to fire a trooper who was Palin's brother-in-law, embroiled in a child custody battle with her sister. The basic questions seem to be whether she abused her power, and whether she misled the press.

Here is a report the TPM website did a couple of weeks ago, summarizing the state of play. And here's a recent TV news report from an Alaska station, posted via TPM:

So, for the moment, there seems to be the potential for a distraction here.

Here's video of the introductory presser:

The Palin/McCain press conference, which we listened to while stuck in a massive traffic jam on the LIE, seemed to generate as much noise as any McCain event this year. All in all, it seems like a pretty good pick.

She brings some youth and vivacity to the ticket, on the birthday of a 72-year-old. She can claim to have been a real change agent in Alaska. She obviously brings a gender component to the table -- and aims to use, tossing bouquets to Hillary and Geraldine Ferraro. She's a regular person, with kids and a blue collar husband, which will counter McCain's house-amnesia, elitism problems. She checks key conservative boxes -- very Christian, very pro-life, NRA member.

Most of all, consider the alternatives. With Lieberman, you'd have a veep who disagrees with McCain on key domestic policy matters. With Lieberman or Ridge, you'd have the right up in arms over abortion. With Pawlenty, you'd have another boring white guy -- Palin, without the pizazz. With Romney, you'd steel yourself for stories about the insults he and McCain traded during the primaries, the jobs he killed at Bain Capital, and Mormonism -- instead of stories about snowmobiling, basketball, and fights with Alaska's corrupt Republican establishment.

The Obama campaign's first attack is on experience: "Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency. Governor Palin shares John McCain's commitment to overturning Roe v. Wade, the agenda of Big Oil and continuing George Bush's failed economic policies -- that's not the change we need, it's just more of the same."

And it certainly undercuts the argument that Obama isn't experienced enough, exposing it as completely insincere. But technically, as Alaska's governor, Palin has more executive experience than Obama, or McCain or Biden. More to the point: It may be illogical for McCain, but will voters who are concerned about Obama's lack of experience stop being concerned because McCain has picked an inexperienced veep?

No. He won't lose the issue. And media harping on Palin's credentials will create a sympathy backlash.

The biggest problem? She does accentuate McCain's age -- don't worry, if I die a hockey mom will take over? -- and the stories about her role in pushing to fire an ex-brother-in-law, noted by Dan, could create a problematic distraction.

But there's no such thing as a perfect pick, is there?

From Chuck Schumer's office:

“After the great success of the Democratic convention, the choice of Sarah Palin is surely a Hail Mary pass. It is a real roll of the dice and shows how John McCain, Karl Rove et al realize what a strong position the Obama-Biden team and Democrats in general are in in this election. Certainly the choice of Palin puts to rest any argument about inexperience on the Democratic team and while Palin is a fine person, her lack of experience makes the thought of her assuming the presidency troubling. I particularly look forward to the Biden-Palin debate in Missouri.”

Howard Wolfson was just on Fox predicting (especially maybe now that he trumpeted it) that Clinton supporters will be wondering why Obama didn't pick her for VP. After a while he got to the disclaimer -- that of course these second-lookers would confront Sarah Palin's anti-abortion and pro-gun-rights positions and decide otherwise. In case you think Wolfson has given up on his old client in his new role as talking-head analyst: We ran into him on the way out of the DNC hall on Wednesday night and while he had to rush off to a gig, took the time on the fly to respond when asked what he thought. He said Bill Clinton was just great -- and gave Biden a 'B'. Reminds us of those WWII soldiers camped out in the jungles of the Pacific who hadn't been told of V-J Day.

The up-spin on Alaska's female governor, of course, is that she's young (44), a mother of five, attractive, governs a state, and pronounced "squeaky clean" so far on the instant-punditry circuit. She's the first woman on a GOP national ticket.

The down-spin, of course, will be along the lines that she could end up the Geraldine Ferraro of 2008, making history amid harsh grilings over the specific mix of the personal and the professional in her household. Last month came this report and many others out of Alaska about allegations of misusing her office to try and fire her ex -brother-in-law from a state trooper's position. In fact, this report speculated her out of the VP running. (Hey -- if McCain wanted someone with police-appointment problems he could have picked, like, a certain New Yorker who's speaking for him at the St. Paul convention on Tuesday).

Dan Janison in Denver

Continue reading "RNC: Is Clinton Palin by comparison?" »

Here's a pool report filed on two late-night appearances by the Obamas following the speech at Invesco. Some interesting stuff (Oprah Winfrey react!), especially Obama's caution:

“It’s going to be hard. You’ve been hanging out with Democrats all week. The Republicans are going to have their turn, and they’ll have a whole lot of fun with us. And they will change some minds, and persuade, and then the race is on. We’re going to have to work as hard as we can.”

Here it is:

Nighttime pool report #3 from Anne Kornblut, Washington Post

Highlights: Michelle’s reaction to the speech (“a speech of a lifetime”); Obama’s first comments publicly since (“the Republicans are going to have their turn, and they’ll have a whole lot of fun with us”); and an impromptu avail with Oprah (“I’ve never experienced anything like that”). And, above and beyond all else, a moment with Robert Gibbs (“It’s hard to imagine, honestly, a better four days”).

Newsy bits in bold.

After his acceptance speech at Invesco, Obama made two more late-night stops. He went to a friends and family reception at one end of the stadium – to this, the pool was not invited. Later, Obama and Michelle came upstairs to the club level at Invesco to address the National Finance Committee members, who were holding a reception. He arrived just after 10:40 PM mountain time.

Penny Pritzker, his national finance uberwoman, introduced him.

“What a night! Was that extraordinary? Aren’t you proud to be a Democrat? Aren’t you proud of what your party is doing?” Pritzker said. “That’s it. We have 68 days left, and that means we’re all going to have to work very, very hard so that we can put Barack Obama in the White House.”

Michelle then took the microphone.

“Well, wasn’t this a pretty special night.....

Continue reading "Pool report: Obamas after the speech" »

With some negative indicators on Romney and Pawlenty, speculation is now focusing on an unexpected choice for the GOP v-p slot: Alaska's first-term governor, Sarah Palin.

Here's Halperin at Time, and here's Drudge. Everyone seems fixated on a secretive charter flight last night from Anchorage to Middletown, Ohio, just outside Dayton.

Read about her on Wikipedia, which actually has a pretty good write-up, here. She has a great life story: High school basketball star, avid outdoorswoman, son in the military, married to a Yup'ik Eskimo, another child with Down's, who rose to political prominence as a whistleblower.

She's pro-life, anti-pork, a Republican reformer. She would burnish McCain's reputation as an unconventional maverick, and represent an overt bid for Hillary voters.

But she would pretty seriously undercut a primary McCain message: That Obama is too inexperienced. That's really central to the GOP strategy.

Reuter Photo

Obama's acceptance speech gets all the adjectives -- historic, tough, soaring -- here and here and here.

What stood out was the aggressive confrontation of McCain -- the "thread woven throughout the speech."

The spectacle seemed to work, at least for the faithful who were there.

Others saw fake grandeur, and little substance, but a NYPost panel of undecided voters gave the speech a big-time thumbs up.

Harlem loved it.McCain's v-p pick is today, but it seems like it WON'T be Tim Pawlenty, who plans to be at the Minnesota State Fair today. Halperin says Romney out, too.

Obama plans to go after Hillary voters by focusing hard on McCain's anti-abortion record, but that effort could be complicated if McCain picks a pro-choicer -- Lieberman, or Ridge.

Janison looks at Obama's need to move from a corporate-sponsored convention to aggressive pursuit of working people, and reports that Tom Suozzi has a new name for Sen. Joe Biden: Mr. Irish Catholic Family.

Gustav has become a political event, as evacuations seem likely on the cusp of the GOP convention.

Bloomberg may be toying with an effort to pursue a third term, but his top aides are highly skeptical.

The AKC conducts a poll on what kind of dog Obama should get for his daughters (he promised them one). The winner: A poodle.

Here's the biographical movie that introduced Obama:

A post last night expressed the opinion that the Democratic Convention had been somewhat mediocre -- a lot of box-checking and Clinton soap opera, but surprisingly little passion given the situation -- and Obama had been left with a lot to do in his speech if he wanted to push it over the top.

No speech is perfect. But he hit McCain hard, showed his great oratorical skill, and brought the missing passion to the surface. He filled the football stadium. The reviews seem uniformly positive so far.

It's still not clear that the Democrats pounded in the portrait of John McCain they want to the same degree the GOP will pound home their vision of Barack Obama next week.

But other than that, you have to say the Democratic convention was a pretty big success, don't you?

Obama's speech had a lot of tough lines, but if one is emblematic, it's this:

"If John McCain wants to have a debate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next Commander-in-Chief, that’s a debate I’m ready to have."

McCain, of course, is said to have a major flying-off-the-handle temper problem. But to bring it up -- in a stadium with 80,000 people -- is to say that you're ready to go to a pretty personal place, and you're ready to play hardball.

Staging the speech at Invesco was supposed to be a risk. But the weather was good, and the pictures were impressive:

One clever aspect of the speech: Obama's focus on McCain's campaign slogan -- "Country First." It effectively portrays McCain's invocation of patriotism as an effort at red-vs- blue divisiveness -- which may not appeal to the swing voters this year:

"The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook. So let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain. The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America – they have served the United States of America.

"So I’ve got news for you, John McCain. We all put our country first."

Here's the speech:

Predictably, McCain goes right after the weakness a speech can't hide: Experience. The statement:

"Tonight, Americans witnessed a misleading speech that was fundamentally at odds with the meager record of Barack Obama. When the temple comes down, the fireworks end, and the words are over, the facts remain: Senator Obama still has no record of bipartisanship, still opposes offshore drilling, still voted to raise taxes on those making just $42,000 per year, and still voted against funds for American troops in harm's way. The fact remains: Barack Obama is still not ready to be President."

A little generic, though -- sounds like they didn't see any obvious weakness or hook....

Watching the aftermath -- fireworks, music, the Biden-Obama family tableaux on stage. Who's the first to break in with a voiceover?

Why, Keith Olbermann, of course.

Who needs to be heard.

A first appraisal:

Obama gets his "wow" moment with the picture of a sea of people at Invesco, emphasizing his grassroots movement without having to give a speech that reaches for "yes we can" chants.

The speech seems designed to do two things: First, Obama wants to show he's tough. He takes on McCain's attacks head-on, and he goes after McCain as often and as hard as Schweitzer or Kerry or Biden. Second, the soaring rhetoric is toned down, and the attempts to speak to the lives of working Americans -- linking his story to theirs -- is a constant refrain:

"These are my heroes. Theirs are the stories that shaped me. And it is on their behalf that I intend to win this election and keep our promise alive as President of the United States." And: "What the naysayers don't understand is that this election has never been about me. It's about me."

He makes his case, powerfully. But: All that rhetoric in the world doesn't prove experience for voters who don't think Obama has enough of it. Not clear this speech answers that very big question.....

Here's Obama's response to McCain's theme that he is the one who has always put "country first:"

The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook. So let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain. The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America – they have served the United States of America.

So I’ve got news for you, John McCain. We all put our country first.

Here's Obama's response to the lack of experience argument:

If John McCain wants to have a debate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next Commander-in-Chief, that’s a debate I’m ready to have.

For while Senator McCain was turning his sights to Iraq just days after 9/11, I stood up and opposed this war, knowing that it would distract us from the real threats we face. When John McCain said we could just “muddle through” in Afghanistan, I argued for more resources and more troops to finish the fight against the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11, and made clear that we must take out Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants if we have them in our sights. John McCain likes to say that he’ll follow bin Laden to the Gates of Hell – but he won’t even go to the cave where he lives.

And today, as my call for a time frame to remove our troops from Iraq has been echoed by the Iraqi government and even the Bush Administration, even after we learned that Iraq has a $79 billion surplus while we’re wallowing in deficits, John McCain stands alone in his stubborn refusal to end a misguided war.

That’s not the judgment we need. That won’t keep America safe. We need a President who can face the threats of the future, not keep grasping at the ideas of the past.

The McCain campaign and the NYPost have spent a couple of days totally consume by Obama's stage and Greek-columns.

Can you even see them? Not visible on the tv screen here.