Everything I read and hear points to no one except the snake handlers are buying it.

Palin was a great pick. For democrats.

I don't know Kevin. Isn't the One's big claim to fame was his keynote address at the 04 convention? And look how far that's gotten him. lol

I for one, think this is not going to work well for McCain. The fact that she said almost nothing about domestic policy is a hole the Democrats can drive a truck through.

This is not 2004. The Republicans in St Paul represent probably no more then 30-35% of the electorate.

Kevin,

Can you link to some examples of lefties who you think are freaking out? Just curious. Because I've read Josh @ TPM, Nate @ 538, Ta-Nehisi @ The Atlantic, and none of them are freaking out. Also, not a lefty, but John Cole nails it as only John Cole can.

Ack. Anonymous at 2:44 was me.

Yeah, I want to know who's freaking out... It does worry me though, that the boys at TNR don't seem worried... Aren't they pretty much wrong about everything?

Hate to break it to you, Kev, but it looks like Palin was handpicked by the Religious Right so that our country can get bogged down in a culture war between secular progressives and backwards fundamentalists, in hopes that Americans will lose sight of the fact that our economy is crumbling before our eyes and that our war machine is leading us down the road to ruin.

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/9/1/24846/28141/Front_Page/The_Council_For_National_Policy_Meets_In_Minn_Vets_Palin

Can you link to some examples of lefties who you think are freaking out?

Well, there's Jerome:

We have met someone that we will be doing battle against for a decade or more. Seriously. I've never seen a woman, or a man for that matter, speak that way, prime time, national, convention, live, ever. She blows away Hillary Clinton. Sorry, but that's what it is. Palin's deft speaking style is like watching visceral connective tissue being torn-- with a child in arms

Also Petey over at Yglesias', though he's not really a lefty.

I don't know about calm: but folks I know are freaked the hell out that the GOP has another Bush in Palin. And Bush won twice.

This is bush circa 2000 w/out the baggage of Bush 2008.

As for myself, I'm a bit freaked but resigned. Whatever's going to happen will happen; the best I can do is donate and go work some hours for the Obama camp since i'm in a battleground state. I was originally planning to just give money; but I'm freaked enough to go work for the campaign this weekend.

The only people I've read who think Dems should be quaking in their boots were wingnuts. I think it's more wishful thinking on their part.

I have been expecting the election to be close -- close enough for the Republicans to steal it with voter disenfranchisement and fraud as they did the last two.

However, with the Rove-McCain campaign's selection of Sarah Palin with her lunatic-fringe extremist views, and her track record of mismanagement, corruption and abuse of power, I am now beginning to think that Obama may win in a historic landslide.

If the corporate-owned so-called "mainstream media" begins to turn against the Palin-McCain ticket, it will be an indicator that even America's Ultra-Rich Ruling Class, Inc. has begun to feel that a Palin-McCain administration would be so reckless and incompetent that it would threaten even their interests, and they will be willing to bite the bullet and live with the modest, Clinton-era tax increases that Obama has proposed, as the cost of avoiding the chaos of a completely loony-tunes Palin-McCain regime.

If America's corporate elites decide they can live with Obama, and the "kinder and gentler" corporatist rule that his administration would insist on, Palin and McCain are toast.

Also Petey over at Yglesias', though he's not really a lefty.

Mr. Male Answer Syndrome himself!

I was worried until I checked with my office fact-free "independent" voter. He wanted to be swayed and wasn't at all.

Over at Youtube Mrs. Palin reads the sports news. Totally awesome. She can play that telepromtor like pro.

And Don Henley plays the tune 'Dirty Laundry'.

Those early 80s were wild years.

Although, it would really king of rock at this point if the major lefty blogs would just put Palin on Ignore and we could all go back to watching McCain self-implode.

The public has had an eyeful, time to let them make up their own minds.

Well, I agree totally with Kevin. I've spoken with a few friends who are freaking out. Why? She hasn't even spoken to one reporter yet. The Repub convention is not the national stage.

king = kind

preview is your friend.

Kevin, please read the Daily Howler today and help debunk this Palin lie:

http://www.dailyhowler.com

I've been thinking along the same lines as SecAm.

I'm sort of confident that even the ruling class will recoil in horror at the prospect of McCain/Palin and give their media flacks the go-ahead to open fire.

But you never know, so I will be pounding some pavement for Obama.

... can I once again plead with everyone to settle down?

Methinks this is more about the MSM tripping over themselves to herald the arrival of Gov. Next Big Thing (R-Out There) than the jittery Democrats you seem to suggest. Last night's Vanna Speaks! moment says more about how low the bar was set than it does about any change in narrative of the campaign. The Republican Party has never been more wedded to failed policies & past glories than it showed itself to be last night.

Rhoda wrote: "... the best I can do is donate and go work some hours for the Obama camp since i'm in a battleground state. I was originally planning to just give money; but I'm freaked enough to go work for the campaign this weekend."

Multiply yourself by thousands. I have seen numerous comments just like yours posted all over the web. Sarah Palin has definitely energized the base -- the Democratic base, that is. There will be a lot of people donating money and time to the Obama campaign as a result of her speech last night.

I'm a registered Green Party voter in Maryland (where Obama is leading by 10 points) and I had planned to vote for the Green Party's nominee Cynthia McKinney. Thanks to Governor Palin's "motivational" speech, I will be voting for Obama instead.

The Palin-McCain campaign's disenfranchisement and fraud teams are going to have their work cut out for them, dealing with the largest Democratic turnout in history.

Obama went out of his way to say that he does not doubt that McCain has the best of intentions.

And he gets the yesterday's mocking in return.

What does it say about him, and democrats in general, if Obama does not have a reaction to all the revelry in St. Paul over the insults to him?

No doubt Palin has some political gifts, but I'm not sure this message resonates w/ moderate/independent voters, especially not in the tone she used last night. The theocon cat is out of the bag, after all. Fool me once and all that.

Lucy wrote: "I'm sort of confident that even the ruling class will recoil in horror at the prospect of McCain/Palin ..."

That's Palin/McCain.

I liked the comment in XX Factor on Slate comparing Palin to Ann Coulter. http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/xxfactor/archive/2008/09/04/mainstreaming-the-mean-girl.aspx

Based on her speech last night, Palin is a Western brunette, chirpy (maternal, attractive) version of Coulter. The base may love her, but I think most of the country can see her, like Coulter, as hyperbolic, petty, vain, and more interested in garnering attention than in sticking to the facts. We wouldn't be impressed if McCain chose Coulter - we shouldn't be impressed by Gov. Palin.

I'm not freaking out -- just laughing "to keep from crying" (Langston Hughes, noted black poet).

However, some "moderate" Republicans (assuming there is such an animal) - including all my in-law family members - who are otherwise intelligent, educated, and rational - think Sarah is just fine, and would make an excellent VP and President when McCain succumbs to one of his many afflictions two years before ending hhis term.

When I peel away the layers of their reasons, I find underlying - perhaps unconcious - racism. I feel the same undertone among most McCain supporters, including and especially the 18,000,000 Hillaryites.
It seems that about half of all Americans are simply terrified at the prospect of an uppity black man in the WHITE House.

As well they should. An Obama victory would dramatically alter, now and forever, the face of racism in America.

They simply freak out at the prospect of losing superiority over these savages.

I believe that this 500-pound race gorilla, carefully concealed behind the sofa, is the real threat in the living room. Sarah Palin is irrelevant. Her adorers are already convinced; she simply adds some fun and pizzaz to to the game.

And laughs for us.

Jerome and Petey are both great weather vanes. Which ever way they point move steadily in the opposite direction and you'll be in good shape.

The Palin speech has nothing to do with the stock market -- Zero. Zip. Nada. Maybe you should calm down.

Who's scared? You'd think that Palin was on the top of the ticket rather than the bottom.

TomStewart wrote: "You'd think that Palin was on the top of the ticket rather than the bottom."

For the Christofascist Republican base, Palin is the top of the ticket. They view John McCain's presidency as a stepping stone towards Palin, "one of their own", becoming President.

Speaking of freaking out (we were, weren't we?)

I live in the Deep South where the War of Northern Agression rages on.

I put an Obama '08 on the back window of my F150 pickup (required equipment hereabouts). Next to it I put an NRA sticker.

I did it to freak out Rednecks who see a cool old dude driving a cool newer truck and sporting the proper NRA insignia who is an OBOMA man?

Great Jefferson Davis! How can this be? Is that cool dude crazy, or am I?

Jes' messin' with their heads.

Wiley "Billy-Bob" Cat

Don'cha think she sounds a little like Roseanne Barr?

However, with the Rove-McCain campaign's selection of Sarah Palin with her lunatic-fringe extremist views, and her track record of mismanagement, corruption and abuse of power, I am now beginning to think that Obama may win in a historic landslide. Posted by: SecularAnimist

I don't think she'll last more than a week as the VP choice. Because she came out of nowhere, no one had any time to do any real research about her before she was announced. I'm betting there are quite a few skeletons rattling around that will become public in short order. If nothing else, the details people already know about her paint a less than stellar picture of her as mayor and governor.

One thing is sure, she'll never get reelected governor once the McCain campaign fails. Young and Stevens may be toast, but the long arm of the "old boy" Rethugs network she's supposedly stood up to will make sure she's out after her term.

Apparently nearly as many people watched Palin last night as watched Obama last week.

I think this is very good news for the Democrats. This speech was designed to fire up the extreme right wing, and it showed. I just don't see how any independents or Democrats, even Obama skeptics, were impressed.

Right on, Kevin
(Congrats on your new blog home, too)

Can you link to some examples of lefties who you think are freaking out?

The TPM servers have been overwhelmed by Palin anxiety reader posts since the announcement of her selection.

I don't think she'll last more than a week as the VP choice.

I will bet you money she's in it for the long haul.

"If America's corporate elites decide they can live with Obama, and the "kinder and gentler" corporatist rule that his administration would insist on, Palin and McCain are toast." - SecAn

That's a pretty big IF, Sec.

I'm must confess to being a bit freaked out. I remember when W was nominated I kept thinking that this guy was an idiot, winger and that Gore would mop the floor with him. Then America decided he'd be fun to have a beer with. What will they decide this time? That McCain probably has some cool scars he could show and Sarah would be a fun roll in the hay? For now I'm not completely freaked out because its looking more like: that dude is a cranky old man and he is hanging out with that annoying chick I knew in high school (Election starring Reese Witherspoon maybe?).

Apparently nearly as many people watched Palin last night as watched Obama last week.Posted by: neil

No telling for sure how many people watched on televsion. What's more telling is that Obama filled a football stadium to capacity, and yet there were empty seats at a forum that holds around 20,000 when Palin spoke.

Wileycat, I think you just might have it figured out. As many have said before, people cling to one or maybe two core beliefs and become so vested in them that they lose the big picture. One guy thinks hey, Obama's a dem, he wants to take my gun away so they automatically vote McCain. Never mind that Obama will likely put them and their family in a better place in the long run (and won't take their gun away). The GOP has one shot, and that's to scare the crap out of people by focusing on ridiculously narrow issues like abortion and homosexuality and lying their heads off about everything else. They do it so loudly that the MSM figures it must be important so they make a huge deal out of it. I'm confident that a big chunk of truly undecided voters in the US will see right through this charade and make an informed decision in November.

Who's not calm?

Most importantly, Obama and his colleagues seem as cool as ever. Which one was it who said he doubted if Obama expected to be treated gently last night?

For what it's worth here is my assessment.

Palin is riding high at the moment but she will be undone by a couple things.

First, her tone will get on her supporters nerves. Yeah, they love righteous anger but she sounds a little too cocky. Her supporters will start to wonder why she gets all the attention and why she can have handlers to make all her problems go away and they will stop seeing her as 'one of them.'

Second, the National Enquirer is on the case and she has some skeletons in her closet that will really bother her base.

Combine that with the fact that outside her base she has fired up her opposition and many people can see there is no there there and I think time will take of things. Her popularity is at its peak right now and can only go down.

After reading about Sarah Palin, it occurs to me that Sarah Palin just might be qualified to be president... if that president is George W. Bush.

* She took a surplus and turned it into a deficit. Just like George W. Bush.

* She cut taxes on the rich and businesses, and shifted burdens to the middle class. Just like George W. Bush.

* She wasted government money on a boondoggle (the sportscenter) that no one needed, while ignoring the infrastructure needs. Just like George W. Bush. (Iraq)

* She fired competent and experienced government employees and replaced them with loyal unqualified sycophants. Just like George W. Bush.

* She refuses to listen to science and insists on replacing inserting her own religious beliefs into government. Just like George W. Bush.

And this list goes on and on.

Sarah Palin, ready on day one.... to be George W. Bush.

Rhoda: I don't know about calm: but folks I know are freaked the hell out that the GOP has another Bush in Palin. And Bush won twice.

This is bush circa 2000 w/out the baggage of Bush 2008.

I was concerned about this, too, but one thing, at least, to keep in mind is that McCain/Palin does have Bush's baggage, regardless of their pretense otherwise. Plus, the context is different: the economy and wages are a bit different and far more disconcerting than they were in 2000. Bush didn't win based on his economic policies in 2000 but because people could *afford* to focus on personalities and such.

I don't believe that anyone other than core Republicans is just going to give the incumbent party the benefit of the doubt, which they basically did in 2004.

To be honest, I'm not sure there's one pivot issue this time around, but the GOP is basing everything on foreign policy.

Banks are failing. Economic indicators are worsening. And, worst of all for the GOP, no one's confidence in the economy and in the general direction of the country is not positive.

The Palin speech has nothing to do with the stock market -- Zero. Zip. Nada. Maybe you should calm down.

I concur. However, today's big dive is a good reminder to the voting public that there is something bigger at stake this election -- their financial/economic future. Culture wars are an indulgence for the well to do and an obsession for the conservative base. Over in the real world, the economy matters a lot more.

Obama and his campaign must relentlessly drive home the obvious -- that McCain is more of the same. The only way we get the kind of change McCain is demanding is by voting in someone who can attend to the business of the nation, not to the business of war.

When is our biggest issue, the economy, going to be addressed by either side.

Count me as one of those who is worried about Palin. It is not about Palin per se, but about the electorate. US presidential elections are slowly degenerating into a popularity contest, not a contest of ideas and policies. How do we know the GOP won't swiftboat Obama?

We all have an opportunity here and we have to work hard to seize it. The other side is desperate and will do anything, repeat anything, to stay in power. If they lose power in Nov, they will lose their momentum and will have to work very, very hard to regain it. They know it so they are very, very motivated. That is my worry and reception to Palin's speech, even if it is only restricted to the base, worries me. We can only be assured of a victory when the conservative base is depressed and dejected. That's not what we saw yesterday evening.

Bill, I hope they will never address it.

Glenzilla got me agitated:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/09/04/gop/index.html

When is our biggest issue, the economy, going to be addressed by either side.
Posted by: Bill Bonham

The economy is not the biggest issue facing the country. The economy, which isn't even in that deep of a recession, will recover in 18-months or so regardless of who is elected president (presidents really have very little control over the economy).

The biggest problem facing the country is being entrenched in Iraq and Afghanistan followed by our dependence on oil. Combined, these two problems have the greatest impact on the overall strength of our nation.

wileycat:
When I peel away the layers of their reasons, I find underlying - perhaps unconcious - racism. I feel the same undertone among most McCain supporters, including and especially the 18,000,000 Hillaryites.

You know, this is really fucking tiresome at this point. I'm fine with Obama, but dear GOD does he have some of the shittiest supporters around. Thanks for calling me a racist for daring to think that Hillary would make a better president than Obama.

You know, this is really fucking tiresome at this point. I'm fine with Obama, but dear GOD does he have some of the shittiest supporters around. Thanks for calling me a racist for daring to think that Hillary would make a better president than Obama

A-fucking-men! I voted for Hillary on Super Tuesday too - but when she stepped aside, I got on board. I have donated time and money, gave him prime screen real estate for free, and have done and will continue to do everything in my power to get him elected.

I'm not a fucking racist, and any fucking jerk who calls me one is not only wrong, they are itchin' for a fight.

The economy is not the biggest issue facing the country. The economy, which isn't even in that deep of a recession, will recover in 18-months or so regardless of who is elected president...

Beg to disagree. What you said may be true IF a President takes a consensus approach to the economy and acts on the advise of a wide range of economic professionals. Someone like Bush, an ideologue who sticks to his beliefs without regard to facts, can (and did) lots of damage to the economy. McCain is drinking the same koolaid as Bush, so he is going to be a disaster.

The economy can recover in 18 or so months IF the next President makes some hard choices even if they cause short term hardship. For example, doing whatever it takes to reduce the deficit and reduce the US dollar monetary base. I'm not an expert on these matters. Just making some common sense observations.

I'm not a fucking racist, and any fucking jerk who calls me one is not only wrong, they are itchin' for a fight. Posted by: Blue Girl

BG, you're not a racist, but there are lots of Dems (not to be confused with liberals) who are.

Jeff II:
BG, you're not a racist, but there are lots of Dems (not to be confused with liberals) who are.

And plenty of them are misogynists, but fuck if I would call Obama's 19 million or whatever voters woman-haters.

It's a foul slander, and I'm damn tired of it.

Loud noises! Loud noises!

Thank you tavella and Blue Girl.

The McCain campaign has degenerated into a reality TV show at this point. No way it can be seen as a serious political campaign.

I'm willing to bet that Sarah gets voted off the island way before November.

Christ, some of you people are gutless wonders. The woman's on the underticket; she's in a campaign that is upside down; she has views that are undisguisedly out of the mainstream; and best of all, she's at an age where one of her biggest assets -- her looks -- are about to fall off a cliff (spare me the bullshit about "sexism"; it's just a plain fact that her looks have been a huge contributor to getting her this far, just as John Edwards' looks, and Bill Clinton's before him, helped their careers). Grow a backbone, FFS, and if you can't do that at least think things through. Palin is nothing; the organization that was able to turn around on a dime and start bleating out the exact same message in unison is the danger. Without that organization she's a pretty woman who can give a good speech, soon to be not-so-pretty, holding views that are rejected by a big majority of the American people. And, assuming McCain loses, there are lots of people who are going to blame her selection for the loss, which won't help.

One thing that supports Kevin's call to calm down -Norman is bemoaning the demise of his party on his blog!

I wonder if we can take that to the bank?

I heard Guliani's speech in part last night and I have to say, when he spoke of making sure that republicans win this election because 'what's at stake in this election' I couldn't help but feel there was some racist coding in that message. It was not backed up by an economic or even a terrorist threat [their favorite] context, so it felt like, "Y'all know we can't let a nee-ger in the White House, right? I mean, it ain't called the White House for nothing, hear what I'm sayin?" That was the code, regardless of the fact that Guliani didn't say it that way. I'm not a racism paranoid who sees it everywhere, but I felt it coming through the car radio at that part of the speech. Just saying.

The Republicans (in the sorry-ass form of Lynn Westmoreland) are explicitly calling the Obamas "uppity" and I'm supposed to calm down? Not on your life!

Rep. Westmoreland, you just earned Obama $100 from my pocket. You all should join me in helping our candidate to be more uppity.

FWIW, I had the same reaction to Palin's speech as Josh Marshall and Nate Silver--and my conversations today with independents (and even non-evangelical Republicans) all seem to support that reaction. I'm willing to bet that McCain actually loses independent support as a result of last night's speech. His teem has spent the last week winning battles at the expense of the war.

I must be a minority, but I thought Palin gave a really crappy speech. She came across as the mean girl in high school who ran with the popular clique and knew all the ways to badmouth, tear down, and destroy the reputations of other people. She was snide, sarcastic, and monotonous. The speech wasn't that well organized, either. The best that can be said is that she delivered it in a resonating (though irritating) voice and she didn't muff her lines. All the people in the hall were cheering her because they were in her clique. But as we all know, she was lying every time she moved her lips and that's going to come out.

Oh yeah, and she's an insult to pit bulls everywhere.

If you get too depressed you can always visit http://sarahpalin.typepad.com/

Quaking in your boots accomplishes little; you may burn a few more calories, but you also wear out your boots.

"Jeff II: BG, you're not a racist, but there are lots of Dems (not to be confused with liberals) who are."

"And plenty of them are misogynists, but fuck if I would call Obama's 19 million or whatever voters woman-haters.

It's a foul slander, and I'm damn tired of it."

-- tavella

I've been a Dem for decades, and a liberal, although I should call myself a "moderate liberal" now. Over the years I've learned to be as skeptical and suspicious of some so-called liberals as I am of wingnuts.

The political spectrum is circular. The extremes of both sides touch, and the bottom of the circle is a dangerous collection of fanatics and elitists, regardless of their politics.

The annoying characteristic of the lefty extremists is that they see everyone to the right of themselves as the SS, coming to round up the intelligentsia. Being pathetically egotistical, they are certain THEY will be arrested. Nah. No intelligence there. And the SS practiced professional courtesy.

Delia wrote: "The speech wasn't that well organized, either."

In fact, the speech was written by a Rove flunky before Palin was selected, and was originally written to be read by a man. It was tweaked for Palin after she was selected. So basically, it was nearly 100 percent generic, boilerplate Rush Limbaugh / Ann Coulter talking points.

Obama had a good line at his press conference today, when asked about Palin's speech: "I've been called worse on the basketball court. It's no big deal."

I don't know if Palin's speech has got many Democrats "quaking in their boots" but it looks like she persuaded a lot of Democrats to shake loose some cash.

CNN reports: "Barack Obama's campaign says it has raised more than $8 million from over 130,000 donors following Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin's speech Wednesday night. The campaign also says it is on track to raise $10 million before John McCain takes the podium at the Republican National Convention tonight."

As I said before, I have been worried that the election would be very close, but thanks to Sarah Palin I am beginning to think it may be an Obama landslide.

what I thought was both pathetic and amusing is the way the Palin family is willing to use their infant son essentially as a stage prop.

SecAn: thanks to Sarah Palin I am beginning to think it may be an Obama landslide.

I do hope you're right. But she's got a lot of appeal for the kind of voters who say "I vote the candidate, not the party" and don't think about policy at all, just "character." And Palin's got "character" up the wazoo; don't be fooled by your ability to see through the facade. A lot of voters won't.

I'm hardly afraid of Palin. I'm *thankful* for Palin.

Adam and Delia are right. Her speech really reeked of high school snobbery and immaturity, and already she is doing the Republicans more harm than good.

She has taken over the ticket, for one thing. The fundies and wingnuts never liked McCain. By picking one for VP -- and one of the most incompetent and unlikable -- he has Naderized himself.

The joke used to be that Dan Quayle was Bush I's impeachment insurance, but nobody really expected GHWB to be impeached or become incapacitated in office. There are reasonable concerns about McCain -- enough that voters are forced to visualize Palin as president. Even for closet racists, that's not a comforting thought.

Has no one seen this creepy video promotion for a workshop at Sarah Palin's longtime church?

Wondering why it's not getting more attention?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJnhRhJW35o

Why would anyone be nervious?

The stock market fall, and according to Geenwald and Josh Marshall, Palin is the second coming of Albert Gonzales with the political way she likes to fire people.

300 protesters were arrested around the RNC Convention, so it sounds like St. Paul is almost at civil war zone.

Dems don't have any of these problems.

Please see this on Palin's connection to Jews for Jesus:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13098.html

It's interesting to do a little text analysis of Palin's speech.

Here's some words that aren't in the Palin's speech:

Bush
Cheney
Afghanistan
Osama Bin Laden
Health care (nor "health", "medical" or "medicine")
middle class

As they say in the law, "the thing speaks for itself", no?

She's an energetic and nasty one who will clearly say anything at all to advance her career. But if you don't speak to the issues people care about, eventually it comes back to haunt you. Two months is plenty of time for "eventually".

Reality will return in a few days; that's my guess.

"SecAn: thanks to Sarah Palin I am beginning to think it may be an Obama landslide."

The polls sure aren't showing that.

I don't know if this thread is still alive, but I just read something at Huffington worth noting. Since last night the RNC has raised $1,000,000. The base is excited--right.

Since the speech the Obama campaign has raised $8,000,000. Yep the base is excited.

As to the polls, except for the CBS poll, the polls are showing Obama landslide.

Chill folks. We have work to do, but Sarah isn't wonder woman.

Yes, my guess is that she does not survive her first encounters with the press or the debate with Biden.

Sorry Kevin, I think Sarah Palin is very dangerous. I'm involved in local government and the consensus among members is that Palin is an excellent choice. My neighbor, a Viet Nam vet, thought she gave "a heckuva speech" last night. He also thinks Obama is going to increase his taxes. The Obama campaign needs to pound home Obama's tax policy, McCain's abysmal record on Veteran's issues and McCain's lack of support of education. As a teacher, I think McCain's non-support of programs like Headstart is despicable. The trouble is--low information voters don't listen. If McCain/Palin pull this one off it's because the American electorate is a flock of unthinking sheep. If that is so, maybe they deserve what they will get.

The economy is not the biggest issue facing the country.

That depends on your definition of "economy" I guess. If you're referring to just the unemployment numbers and the like, most of that might be resolved within 18 months.

But flat wages? The exporting of good jobs overseas? I'm particularly sensitive to the latter because I see it continuing almost unabated, and I think it's time that American companies develop an environmentalist attitude about American workers and skills: resources like these have to preserved and not wholesale cut with no thought to the future.

And there's even more to our economy that also in decline that isn't just measured by the stock market and the usual economic numbers we're used to hearing in the news.

ed reed - No kidding! That video is f--ked up! Almost Nazi scary. This should get the press that Jeremiah Wright got and then some.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJnhRhJW35o

Our headquarters has had a 9 fold increase in canvass volunteers this week. That's the best response to McCain/Palin--get out there and register, register, register, and canvass, canvass, canvass.

SecularAnimist: "I'm a registered Green Party voter in Maryland (where Obama is leading by 10 points) and I had planned to vote for the Green Party's nominee Cynthia McKinney. Thanks to Governor Palin's "motivational" speech, I will be voting for Obama instead."

There ya go! I got word from my local progressives that they'll vote Obama if needed, as well.
So I repeat: get out there now, register voters and canvass. I've been out knocking on doors 5 days this week. I'm going back out to canvass tomorrow, doing a voter registration event Saturday, and canvassing again Sunday.

People call Palin's selection a hail Mary pass. That's pretty accurate, I think. Its 4th and fifteen at Palin's 25 yard line, she drops back to throw and launches a long one. The home crowd goes wild, but the pass has hardly left her hand! Reality awaits.

Incidentally, Kevin, your old environment was nicer. All those ads assaulting us on your home page!

I agree with Kevin. Republicans are great at playing the expectations game. Let's see - Palin is a former beauty pageant contestant, TV reporter, Mayor and a current Governor - yet folks are surprised when she can deliver a prepared speech to some effect? Let's see her in a debate with Joe Biden talking about US-Russia relations - Joe'll eat her lunch.

A good friend of mine today said he was on the fence until Palin was trotted out. He was insulted by the choice and pretty much instantly became an Obama supporter. He's a very smart guy and could pretty easily see through the transparent politcal BS, but it makes me hopeful that many others who were on the fence will respond in kind.

But flat wages? The exporting of good jobs overseas? I'm particularly sensitive to the latter because I see it continuing almost unabated, and I think it's time that American companies develop an environmentalist attitude about American workers and skills: resources like these have to preserved and not wholesale cut with no thought to the future. Posted by: Tx Bubba

Both good if dated points. Wages being flat and jobs moving overseas has been the case since Bush the Elder.

Again, until we get out of the ME we're hamstrung to doing anything else internationally or, more important right now, domestically. What little national wealth we have is being pissed away at millions of dollars a day occupying two countries that really, in the larger scheme or things, just don't matter.

Remember, we saw a whole stage of "under achievers" on Wed night after Gov. Palin's speech. Scary, but it is not yet Nov 5.

I am not worried... yet.

People are sick of what we now have in this country... a poor economy and a horrible war to end. Let's hope we can elect Obama & Biden and put them in the White House, and not as visitors.

I know my husband is having a hard time with this. I plan to vote for Obama. He is a democrat - but can not bring himself to vote for a black man.

He's recently started saying he may not vote at all because he does not want to see McCain/Palin in office for 'another 4 years of Bush'.

Palin looks like a cross between Mother Goose and that teacher that you hated in high school. She draws a strane crowd of over zealous, extreme right pro-lifers. She needs to be called out on her pro-life, creationist, book banning views by the Dems and she will be toast. Biden needs to pull out his Michael Vick on this lipstick wearing Pitbull. I can't wait to see her without rehearsed lines written by someone else.

bethpasco, I pity you for having the husband you have. What about ethnicity has your husband so traumatized? Something the rest of us don't know? Maybe McCain should be questioned because his name sounds Irish? Don't 'those people' have a drinking problem? Silly. Silly. Silly.