A Miss From Charles Krauthammer in his Column Today
Posted by WLS:
This column today by normally reliable Charles Krauthammer suffers from the same malady as most pundits when evaluating a living breathing campaign – he fails to see that it’s a dynamic event, not a static one. In considering McCain’s decision to pick Palin, Krauthammer laments the “fatal” loss of McCain’s attack on Obama – experience:
“Obama was sagging because of missteps that reflected the fundamental weakness of his candidacy. Which suggested McCain’s strategy: Make this a referendum on Obama, surely the least experienced, least qualified, least prepared presidential nominee in living memory.
Palin fatally undermines this entire line of attack. This is through no fault of her own. It is simply a function of her rookie status. The vice president’s only constitutional duty of any significance is to become president at a moment’s notice. Palin is not ready. Nor is Obama. But with Palin, the case against Obama evaporates.”
Charles, like others in the pundit class, continue to see only two dimensions in this three-dimensional campaign. What he’s missing is that the McCain campaign got all the mileage it needed out of the “experience” angle – it has tattooed “inexperience” across Obama’s forehead and he’s not going to be able to take it off in the next 60 days, thus the selection of Biden as his running mate.
McCain won that battle, Obama surrendered. Continuing to pound away with that as emphasis for the next 60 days would be the same as if Washington has hung around Yorktown for a few extra days to shoot British corpses.
McCain’s campaign has moved on from “experience” and they are now co-opting Obama’s “change” message by repackaging it as “reform.” McCain’s got sterling credentials in this regard but to emphasize his intentions, he picks Palin who is not only an outsider, she’s an elected politician who tackled corruption in her own state. If there were an doubts about her willingness to confront it head-on, the corrupt politicians she took on were at the top of her own party.
He’s juxtaposing his/her real accomplishments at reform against Obama’s fake claims. For good measure, he’s tagging Obama as an out-of-touch liberal elitist.
Obama is already identified as “inexperienced” in the polling. That’s not going to change between now and election day. McCain needed a second and third act in this campaign, not an endless reprise of Act 1.
I have thought since last Friday that this retired Navy vet is running his political campaign like, well, a military campaign. If I get it, why can’t Krauthammer?
w3bgrrl (5b8906) — 9/5/2008 @ 3:24 pmI don’t think that ‘experience’ as an attack is gone. Instead, as I’ve seen others suggest, it’s a judo move where all the attacks on Palin and her supposed lack of experience rebound on Obama. Even if the Obama campaign does not directly attack Palin, the MSM and leftist blogs can’t resist. All McCain has to do is grin and point to the comparative experience, and, oh yeah, she’s up for VP but Obama is running for president.
BDS (a6984a) — 9/5/2008 @ 3:25 pmI’ve respected Mr. Krauthammer for years, but he’s been on a bad acid trip against McCain for quite awhile at this point. Nothing McCain has done in the primary or election so far has pleased him, regardless of his changes in strategy and/or running mates. He was on his hobby horse again last night on Fox News, repeating the same insidery Beltway crapola – it came off as yet another petulant whine about him not knowing in advance what was going to happen.
Dmac (874677) — 9/5/2008 @ 3:27 pmBut, but, but Krauthammer is a Pulitzer prize winning journalist. Ok, I think it was back in ’87. Perhaps both he and Peggy Noonan are merely wrong. How many of expected that McCain had a chance to even win the nomination a year ago? And I knew about Palin but assumed she’d be passed because most everyone said she needed more seasoning, had a new born child with special needs to consider and that tasergate BS to contend with also. If you look around the right blogosphere, many pundits still think the magic negro will win.
madmax333 (0c6cfc) — 9/5/2008 @ 3:49 pmDr. Krauthammer is astute, but he still hasn’t gotten his able mind around Sarah Palin yet.
He isn’t grasping the distinction yet between calendar months and years in office, which oftentimes is a proxy for “experience,” and actual accomplishment. Gov. Palin is at a rough parity with Obama on the calendar months; in actual achievements, she’s got a significantly better record. Americans who are fixated on “experience” can grasp that, and enough of them will.
And you’re absolutely right that McCain had largely already persuaded everyone who’s focused on experience, and needed a new avenue of attack.
Good post, WLS. I concur.
Beldar (aec07e) — 9/5/2008 @ 4:30 pmI typically enjoy Krauthammer, and when he speaks like this, I have to listen to him carefully. He’s a good thinker and writer.
I don’t know that he’s always right, but he usually is carefully reasoned in his opinions.
I do think that McCain’s political behavior in the last two weeks has been astonishingly brilliant.
Kudos to him for that.
I may – may – be rethinking my 100% opposition to voting for him.
steve miller (3c2c90) — 9/5/2008 @ 4:35 pmKrauthammer needs to read Boyd. I’ve given copies to several friends, including a friend in the British Army.
Mike K (155601) — 9/5/2008 @ 4:37 pmKrauthammer greatly overestimates the intellectual seriousness of the average “undecided” voter. Its September, for goodness sakes. If someone hasn’t decided at this stage in the game, linear logic is the last thing you should employ in a strategy to win their vote.
ccoffer (58d5ce) — 9/5/2008 @ 5:20 pmThere are some who do not “get” OODA. Or getting it, they refuse to allow it to influence their decisions — I’ve even had one call it “dishonorable”, as if it was something other than a description of how the world works.
htom (412a17) — 9/5/2008 @ 5:24 pmYou’re absolutely right from a partisan standpoint.
But if Obama’s lack of experience isn’t really an issue than attacking on it was dishonest. If it is an issue (and I think it is) than the selection of Palin show, at best, poor decision making.
Joe (c0e4f8) — 9/5/2008 @ 5:31 pmI saw Krauthammer interviewed about McCain’s choice of Palin after it was leaked but I think before she appeared with McCain last Friday. Whenever it was, he was hammering on how Palin ruined the experience argument for McCain. It sounded like no one, including Krauthammer, knew much about what Palin had done. However, having hit on the theme of experience, I think Krauthammer has found it hard to let go.
DRJ (7568a2) — 9/5/2008 @ 5:31 pmHmm. Palin’s main achievement as governor has been to put the Democratic program of windfall profits (even if it’s structured as royalties) into practice, complete with Pelosi’s plan to revoke the leases on land that’s not being drilled. Her second main achievement seems to be taking the money from a politically charged pork program and using it for other porcine ends. If I were a Republican, I’d be looking for better examples of change and reform.
What the Palin nomination does is tell the intelligent voter that McCain is a normal politician, and will say and do whatever he thinks he he needs to, in order to win. The Republicans are therefore betting that the number of intelligent voters is limited.
kishnevi (4935fe) — 9/5/2008 @ 5:33 pmI’m a voter who was “in play” until earlier this week. Obama’s thin resume has bothered me from the start of the campaign. Hillary’s defeat had me seriously considering voting for John McCain. He’s clearly not “McSame” — much more realistic than George Bush and much more likely to depart from conservative orthodoxy on issues that matter to me.
The choice of Palin has pushed me back into the Obama column. I like her personal history (the decision to have a special needs child really is admirable) and attractive personality. The reformer status is also admirable. However, the Pentecostal background and the political implications are very unattractive. We’ve caught glimpses of this in the talk about teaching creationism alongside science in the schools, her resistance to the notion that we are a major contributor to global warming, the short-shrift she gives to conservation, etc. The family involvement in AIP carries more than a hint of extremism. In short, she’s just too conservative for a moderate voter like me. And even if his resume is thin, Obama has been thinking and writing and debating all the key foreign policy issues for some time now. Sarah has acknowledged that her focus has been elsewhere and so she’s clearly got a long way to go to catch up with Obama, even with his limited experience.
So, yes, her lack of experience is part of the calculation for me.
I don’t want to be morbid, but I was struck by how old John McCain looked last night (a good speech, by the way, particularly the last half). As a voter, I’ve got to consider how ready the VP candidate is. Sarah is just too unready for me.
I don’t know if elections are always won in the middle. Probably not. But, FWIW, here’s one moderate voter who was moved into the Democratic column by the events of this week.
Alicia Moran (62ca04) — 9/5/2008 @ 5:33 pm#13 is one of the more polite trolls. That’s something, I guess.
Icy Truth (6e6d48) — 9/5/2008 @ 5:47 pmA polite Moby.
JD (5f0e11) — 9/5/2008 @ 5:55 pmkishnevi,
Conservative Republicans don’t need extreme examples of change and reform. We’re not the people who think we need everything new. Liberals and moderates are the voters that want a complete fresh start, and Palin’s willingness to take on entrenched interests may be enough to convince the latter.
DRJ (7568a2) — 9/5/2008 @ 6:08 pm“Her second main achievement seems to be taking the money from a politically charged pork program and using it for other porcine ends.”
Examples and links, please.
Dmac (874677) — 9/5/2008 @ 6:09 pmI can’t imagine someone saying “well, I was all for Bambi until I realized he went to a black church.” But bigotry to a Pentecostal church? Just fine & dandy.
It would be helpful to have the list of approved churches and disapproved churches, so here is the list as far as I can glean from the politically correct class:
I expect the following are right out
Mormon
Pentecostal/Charismatic/Full Gospel
Conservative Baptist
Muslim (yes, it’s on two lists – points against for being too mysterious)
Suspect
Conservative Presbyterian
Conservative Methodist
Conservative Synagogue (yes, I realize that there is a brand of “Conservative” Jewish congregation. I simply mean a congregation that is politically and religiously conservative.)
Roman Catholic faithful to the Pope’s authority
Orthodox
Christian Scientist
Emergent (squishy on abortion, so they’re teachable)
OK
steve miller (3c2c90) — 9/5/2008 @ 6:09 pmnon-conservative Synagogue
Mainline Methodist or Presbyterian
Episcopalian
Earth religion
Self-worship
Roman Catholic faithful to San Fran Nan’s authority
UCC
Unity
Muslim (yes, it’s on both lists – points for just for being today’s special minority)
What does it say about Obama that the attacks the Obama campaign make about these issues result in Obama being compared to the GOP Vice President nominee? Nothing good. That’s why I think Krauthammer got this one wrong.
SPQR (26be8b) — 9/5/2008 @ 6:09 pmBambi might make a very good Vice President. He has, after all, some years of experience submitting his astute wisdom to his betters in Chicago.
But as a President?
FAIL
steve miller (3c2c90) — 9/5/2008 @ 6:13 pmI don’t think a “moderate” is sold on anthropogenic global warming to the point that if a politician expressed doubts about it, it would take her off the table as a viable option.
A complete and total belief in AGW is one hallmark of a committed leftist.
Nice try though, Alicia. I’m sure you honestly believe your caricature of a moderate.
w3bgrrl (5b8906) — 9/5/2008 @ 6:14 pmAlicia, oddly I know a lot of skeptics of AGW and none of them are Pentecostals. So spare us the bigotry.
SPQR (26be8b) — 9/5/2008 @ 6:16 pmAs long as the Dems are attacking Palin, the experience issue breaks in favor of the GOP.
Another Drew (faec8a) — 9/5/2008 @ 6:50 pmAnother facet that Palin brings to the fight, is the issue of oil drilling. The Dems cannot defend the embargo on oil drilling that the Congress has imposed. As soon as the GOP started to hit them hard on this issue, the numbers started to trend toward the GOP generically, and to McCain, specifically.
Reform has always been McCain’s issue, and it will work in place of “change” since all the Dems are going to do is rearrainge the deck-chairs. John McCain intends to completely re-deck the ship. Palin shows the American voter that, at least on a small scale, it can be done while reducing the role of gov’t in their lives in a positive way.
The more excesses the media engage in, the more of a backlash will roll through the electorate in “fly-over” country.
Add up all of the above: McCain/Palin Win!
Palin’s main achievement as governor has been to put the Democratic program of windfall profits (even if it’s structured as royalties) into practice, complete with Pelosi’s plan to revoke the leases on land that’s not being drilled.
This was addressed today in The Wall Street Journal. The article may be behind the subscription wall.
And so it came as no surprise in 2004 when former Republican Gov. Frank Murkowski made clear he’d be working exclusively with three North Slope producers—ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips and BP—to build a $25 billion pipeline to move natural gas to the lower 48. The trio had informed their political vassals that they alone would build this project (they weren’t selling their gas to outsiders) and that they expected the state to reward them. Mr. Murkowski disappeared into smoky backrooms to work out the details. He refused to release information on the negotiations. When Natural Resources Commissioner Tom Irwin suggested terms of the contract were illegal, he was fired.
What Mr. Murkowski did do publicly was instruct his statehouse to change the oil and gas tax structure (taxes being a primary way Alaskans realize their oil revenue). Later, citizens would discover this was groundwork for Mr. Murkowski’s pipeline contract—which would lock in that oil-requested tax package for up to 40 years, provide a $4 billion state investment, and relinquish most oversight.
Enter Mrs. Palin. The former mayor of Wasilla had been appointed by Mr. Murkowski in 2003 to the state oil and gas regulatory agency. She’d had the temerity to blow the whistle on fellow GOP Commissioner Randy Ruedrich for refusing to disclose energy dealings. Mr. Murkowski and GOP Attorney General Gregg Renkes closed ranks around Mr. Ruedrich—who also chaired the state GOP. Mrs. Palin resigned. Having thus offended the entire old boy network, she challenged the governor for his seat.
Mrs. Palin ran against the secret deal, and vowed to put the pipeline back out for competitive, transparent, bidding. She railed against cozy politics. Mr. Murkowski ran on his unpopular pipeline deal. The oil industry warned the state would never get its project without his leadership. Mrs. Palin walloped him in the primary and won office in late 2006. Around this time, news broke of a federal probe that would show oil executives had bribed lawmakers to support the Murkowski tax changes.
Among Mrs. Palin’s first acts was to reinstate Mr. Irwin. By February 2007 she’d released her requirements for pipeline bidding. They were stricter, and included only a $500 million state incentive. By May a cowed state house—reeling from scandal—passed her legislation.
The producers warned they would not bid, nor would anyone else. Five groups submitted proposals. A few months before the legislature awarded its license to TransCanada this July, Conoco and BP suddenly announced they’d be building their own pipeline with no state inducements whatsoever. They’d suddenly found the money.
You don’t know what you are talking about.
Mike K (155601) — 9/5/2008 @ 6:59 pmkishnevi @ #12…
Another Drew (faec8a) — 9/5/2008 @ 7:07 pmAnother point is that Fed oil leases already contain a clause returning the lease to the Fed Gov’t for non-performance.
It only demonstrates SanFranNan’s ignorance that she thinks that future leases need to have this added.
It already exists.
My boyfriend posts here sometimes. He warned me that the milieu is a bit, um, adolescent and testosterone-addled and that someone would probably call me a troll.
What I hear is a lot of whistling in the dark, but suit yourselves, gentlemen.
Alicia Moran (62ca04) — 9/5/2008 @ 7:13 pmDRJ–what I’m pointing out is that her reform credentials are not as great as they are made out to be. And her biggest reform is, essentially, to adopt the Democratic plan which conservatives were quick to point out was deeply flawed as soon as Pelosi et al. came out with it.
Dmac–I was referring to the “bridge to nowhere”. If you haven’t yet heard, while she was happy to cancel the project, she kept the money for the state of Alaska to spend on other projects. So the taxpayers in the other 49 states didn’t actually benefit by the cancellation.
I’ll leave aside the claims that she was actually for the project until it began to attract national attention as a prime example of pork.
SPQR–I have known a good many Pentecostal believers over the years, and find them to be among the least intellectually curious people, and the most prone to take what they hear in the media and the rumor mills as fact, I have ever met. Perhaps it’s simply my bad luck in meeting a bunch of dumb Pentecostals, and never an intelligent one.(Presumably John Ashcroft is an intelligent Pentecostal, but I’ve only got news reports to go on concerning him.) But it’s happened so often I have to wonder if there is something about that brand of Christianity.
kishnevi (a117ab) — 9/5/2008 @ 7:14 pmKrauthammer is a very smart guy but this is one of the very few times he’s been wrong. The experience argument is a loser. The American public reserve that determination to themselves – suggest it as much as he wants it will not help the candidate. Experience was invoked in 1960, 1976, 1980, 1992 and 2000 with losing results every single time.
Ronsonic (986aaf) — 9/5/2008 @ 7:19 pmThe Bridge To Nowhere…
Another Drew (faec8a) — 9/5/2008 @ 7:21 pmFYI kishnevi, the appropriation from the Congress was not performance specific (the ear-mark was removed) and the funds were specified for discretionary use by Alaska for Transportation Projects.
Since she didn’t have to use it for the bridge, she used the money on higher-priority projects.
kishnevi, you’ve stretched things to the breaking point to call Palin’s reforms “the Democratic plan”. It remains extremely disingenuous to call severance taxes “windfall profits taxes”.
SPQR (26be8b) — 9/5/2008 @ 7:22 pmDrew–drilling offshore and in ANWR is moving the chairs on the deck. It’s really just kicking the can down the road–if we are lucky, moving the problem down one more generation or so.
Really “redecking the ship”, as you put it, would be massively investing in nuclear and alternative power.
As for the point about the revoked leases–the rebuttal I’ve seen (probably at Q & O, since at least one blogger there knows a good deal about the industry) is the simple fact that revoking leases for non performance in the way Pelosi wants is simple nonsense in terms of how oil exploration and drilling is done. And if it was a bad idea for Pelosi to propose it, then I would infer it was a bad idea for Palin to implement it.
Mike–I was referring to her restructuring to the oil royalties, and related steps–not about the pipeline.
kishnevi (a117ab) — 9/5/2008 @ 7:24 pmthe funds were specified for discretionary use by Alaska for Transportation Projects.
kishnevi (a117ab) — 9/5/2008 @ 7:29 pmAs far as I am concerned, that’s still pork.
you’ve stretched things to the breaking point to call Palin’s reforms “the Democratic plan”. It remains extremely disingenuous to call severance taxes “windfall profits taxes”.
Palin’s plan used two of the more important piece of the Democratic plan, so I think it’s fair to call it that. Especially since Republicans attacked those same parts of the plan when the Democrats proposed them. And while severance taxes might not be windfall profits taxes, Palin stuctured them to mimic windfall profits taxes. And the oil companies are reacting to them in the same way they would react to windfall profits taxes.
Oil leases…who was talking about Alaska?
Pelosi was talking about Fed Oil Leases. All such leases have non-performance clauses that terminate the lease at its’ end if no activity has taken place within the area of the lease. Of course, you realize I’m sure, that even if no activity is going on, the oil co’s are on the hook for the financial terms of the lease just for the privilege of holding it. They then have to pay royalties on top of that if they actually engage in production.
What Gov. Palin did in Alaska re BP/conoco/?who?Chevron?, was she took the plan signed by the co’s with Gov. Murkowski and said “No, this isn’t going to fly. We’re going to re-negotiate this”.
Another Drew (faec8a) — 9/5/2008 @ 7:33 pmShe imposed her terms on them, they signed it, and are living by it.
(the entire episode has been described in detail in other posts)
So, it isn’t a Democrat plan that she’s taking credit for. It is the plan that she told the Alaskan people she would implement if they elected her instead of Murkowski (primary), and then another ex-Gov-D (general election).
Please try to keep up.
kishnevi…
Another Drew (faec8a) — 9/5/2008 @ 7:37 pmYou do realize that the AK Gov’s election was in 2006?
The oil plan you complain she’s stealing from the Dems was renegotiated with the oil co’s in 2007.
We’re still awaiting an oil production plan from Nan & Harry.
And, McCain is firmly committed to expanding the production of nuclear-generated power, and the research into alternative power. You can want it all you want, but if it isn’t economically viable, all you do by imposing it is to put an anchor around the neck of the economy.
“I’m a voter who was “in play” until earlier this week”
See what I mean?
The very notion that a serious, politically minded human being has been “on the fence” between a bolshevik rabble-rouser and a veteran public servant strains credulity to the breaking point. Trolls aside, I think my point has been proven by the troll.
ccoffer (58d5ce) — 9/5/2008 @ 7:37 pmKish,
I understand but my point is that voters have little expectation politics can be changed. That’s why they respond to someone like Obama who seems committed to change. That’s also why they respond to Palin. Not only does she talk about change, she delivered it. Very few people are going to quibble over how much she changed things given that few politicians have delivered any change at all.
DRJ (7568a2) — 9/5/2008 @ 7:41 pm“…Palin stuctured them to mimic windfall profits taxes…”
No, what she did was to take the tax plan that Murkowski left her with that allowed the oil co’s to claim anything they wanted as a legitimate, above the line deduction, to reduce their adjusted profit that they would share with AK.
She imposed realistic accounting practices upon them, indicted and convicted many in the Legislature who drew up this sweetheart deal, and enjoys the highest approval rating of any Governor in the “58-states”.
And, she did this all before BHO induced the first tremble in Chris Mathews leg.
Another Drew (faec8a) — 9/5/2008 @ 7:42 pmNo, Kishnevi, your comments are not fair – and becoming less so really. Now general transportation funding is “pork” in your definition. I’m looking forward to what you redefine next.
SPQR (26be8b) — 9/5/2008 @ 7:42 pm“…It’s really just kicking the can down the road–if we are lucky, moving the problem down one more generation or so…”
You want to blame someone for kicking the can down the road to the next generation?
Blame William Jefferson Clinton, for his veto of the drilling bill presented to him by a GOP Congress in 1995!
Another Drew (faec8a) — 9/5/2008 @ 7:47 pmSPQR–either you’ve forgotten or weren’t aware. I’m a libertarian. Yes, spending money on highways by the federal government is pork.
kishnevi (285a42) — 9/5/2008 @ 7:54 pmWLS
love2008 (0c8c2c) — 9/5/2008 @ 8:12 pmMcCain’s campaign has moved on from “experience” and they are now co-opting Obama’s “change” message by repackaging it as “reform.” McCain’s got sterling credentials in this regard
If Obama “moved on” from one position to another, wouldn’t that classify as a “flip-flop”?
One moment you accuse someone of being “Dangerously Inexperienced” and in the next choose a VP that is less experienced to potentially be President, should the worst happen. And that is supposed to be a virtue? Give me a break!
the record’s stuck…the record’s stuck…the record’s stuck…the record’s stuck…the record’s stuck…
Icy Truth (6e6d48) — 9/5/2008 @ 8:18 pmIt’s very hard to take you seriously if you’re going to call Obama a “bolshevik.” As Senator McCain noted last night, there is more that unites him and Obama than divides them and they are the both of them Americans, a connection that matters more to Senator McCain than any other.
Much of the rhetoric at the convention (as opposed to the rhetoric here) was based on the assumption that there are undecided voters who are open to being convinced. I think a lot of that was just empty talk. There are too many extremists in the Republican Party. John McCain is not one of them. His choice for vice-president, I fear, is. If that observation continues to be borne out, I’ll vote for the Democrats.
I’ll also keep looking for places on the Web where the discussion sheds more light than heat.
Alicia Moran (62ca04) — 9/5/2008 @ 8:56 pmAlicia, if you knew the genesis of the proposals that BHO has advanced, you would know that the term “Bolshevik” is highly descriptive and accurate.
Another Drew (faec8a) — 9/5/2008 @ 9:00 pmTop-down direction with thugs to enforce discipline.
Chicago Rules!
Alicia, I’m often amused by people like you who label others “extremist” when they dare to hold an opinion that is shared by nearly half of Americans.
Perhaps the word “extremist” does not mean what you think it means?
SPQR (26be8b) — 9/5/2008 @ 9:11 pm#44
love2008 (1b037c) — 9/5/2008 @ 9:16 pm“Bolshevik” actually means “The Majority”. Glad you can see who will have the “majority” of votes this year: Barack Obama!
Concern trolls and self proclaimed independents who just happen to type in Baracky-speak are becoming so tiring.
JD (5f0e11) — 9/5/2008 @ 9:16 pm#47
love2008 (1b037c) — 9/5/2008 @ 9:20 pmPalinist!
How does it feel to finally have a new Messiah?
love2008, “Bolshevik” does mean “majority” but historically the Bolshevik’s were actually a minority at the 1903 party congress who falsely called themselves a majority.
Guess the analogy works better than you realize.
SPQR (26be8b) — 9/5/2008 @ 9:22 pmAnd, it was the leader of the minority/majority “Mensheviks” who went on to lead the first non-Czarist gov’t in Russia: Alexandre Kirensky, who finished out his life teaching at Columbia University.
Another Drew (faec8a) — 9/5/2008 @ 9:42 pmHe was one of the few who escaped Stalin’s long reach.
If Dems were the “minority” why are they leading in every poll? Mmh? Last I checked, Obama is leading McCain by about 35 points on the Electoral College map. I like the “Majority” part. It fits the reality on ground.
love2008 (1b037c) — 9/5/2008 @ 9:46 pmYep, it was the Mensheviks who were political moderates, the Bolsheviks the extremists who found it necessary to murder tens of millions to retain power.
SPQR (26be8b) — 9/5/2008 @ 9:48 pmAlicia Moron –
It’s very hard to take you seriously if you’re going to call Obama a “bolshevik [sic].”
— It’s very hard to take you seriously if you’re going to be yet another liberal who pretends to be on the fence (explains why you referenced #35), drops one lame comment, and then says “Screw you guys, I’m going home.”
As Senator McCain noted last night, there is more that unites him and Obama than divides them and they are the both of them Americans, a connection that matters more to Senator McCain than any other.
— None of which means that Obama does not want to steer this country toward Socialism.
Much of the rhetoric at the convention (as opposed to the rhetoric here) was based on the assumption that there are undecided voters who are open to being convinced.
— Actually, most of us here share that assumption; we just don’t base our rhetoric on it is all.
I think a lot of that was just empty talk. There are too many extremists in the Republican Party.
— In comparison to the other party? And what part of it is “empty talk”? Are you alleging that the extremist-leaning party does not want votes from those who are presently undecided?
John McCain is not one of them. His choice for vice-president, I fear, is.
— She’s an extremist, is she?
If that observation continues to be borne out, I’ll vote for the Democrats.
— As you have been planning to do all along.
I’ll also keep looking for places on the Web where the discussion sheds more light than heat.
Icy Truth (6e6d48) — 9/5/2008 @ 9:59 pm— The more intense the heat, the brighter the light.
Back to Charles point. It is wrong and way inside the beltway. Just as Sen. Messiah Barack’s decision to have Sen. Blowhard Biden as his running mate. Sen. “F— You” McCain was doing a scorched earth strategy on the One’s inexperience and is not exactly getting who the real foreign enemies are. I think I saw it over in National Review, but does ANYONE really think that if Sen. “F— You” McCain chose someone like a Tom Ridge, there would be this rise in the polls for Sen. “F— You” McCain. He pulled a Barack on Barack. McCain doubled down on change and once the Dinosaur, Drive-By, Mainstream, Obama-Worshiping Media finish their disgusting feeding frenzy on Gov. Palin, they will realize that the ol’ coot is a brilliant political strategist. And one more thing. No matter the outcome, Sen. “F— You” McCain has passed the torch to the Young Guns who, like myself, came of age under the leadership of the Great Man, Ronald Reagan. The left’s worst fear!
Mark J. Goluskin (56a0a8) — 9/5/2008 @ 10:19 pmAs others have pointed out, Alicia was never “in play.” It was fore-ordained.
However, it was nice for her to publicly note her own bigotry. She must be very pleased, if puzzled by the reaction of others who don’t thing there should be a religious test for President.
steve miller (3c2c90) — 9/6/2008 @ 6:31 amFirst, I love Dr. K! He’s brilliant, funny, and wise.
That said, I think he’s going to see, as will the nation, that this big gamble pays off big. Palin resonates hugely with married women. Most of us live daily some version of her life, and we are just thrilled to see her on the national stage. Go McCain/Sarah-cuda!!!
MochaLite (2a44fe) — 9/6/2008 @ 9:19 am“McCain needed a second and third act in this campaign, not an endless reprise of Act 1.”
james conrad (6bb6e6) — 9/6/2008 @ 10:04 amBINGO, very good analysis, krauthammer is a bright guy but he’s missing the point on palin, shes got star power and a great delivery as well. Although McCain wasnt my first choice i am very impressed the way he has been running his campaign.
Palin “Reformer”
The list goes on.
What’s next, the populism of Cindy -$300,000 dress [and accessories]- McCain?
Literally, she stood up there on stage wearing clothes worth more than the average American house.
JAR (08f6d2) — 9/6/2008 @ 11:55 amShe should ask for a refund…
badanov (afee80) — 9/6/2008 @ 3:59 pmFor all who were thinking they would NOT vote for McCain and suddenly think he is brilliant and would vote for him… Do you honestly think this was a McCain strategy???? GIVE ME A BREAK! You will be voting for Karl Rove and all the other GWB people. Now, if you like that, well, jump on the wagon. (It would help if Sarah stopped lying about her life and accomplishments and John McCain stopped repeating them.)
Sick of this campaign (1c8e10) — 9/9/2008 @ 9:30 pm