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On September 3rd, the Republican Party formally introduced Governor Sarah Palin as John McCain’s running mate. Unlike Hillary Clinton, a familiar face in American politics, Palin had not yet created a public persona. She presented herself in a beige-colored, collared blouse, a short strand of pearls, a black skirt, and black heels. Sporting her now signature Kawasaki 704 frames, with hair swept-back and styled carefully over her forehead, Palin made her first impression. “Because she is a relative unknown, style is a lot of what we know about Palin right now,” writes Booth Moore, Los Angeles Times fashion critic. Many...

ALL THE elements were present: the individual stories told by real people of their situations and hardships, the packed-to-the rafters crowd, the crowd's chanting of key phrases and names, the action on the spot of texting and phoning to show instant support and commitment to jump into the political battle, the rallying selections of music, the setting of the agenda by the power people. The Democratic National Convention had all the elements of the perfectly organized event, Saul Alinsky style. Barack Obama's training in Chicago by the great community organizers is showing its effectiveness. It is an amazingly powerful format,...

More relevant are the baroque delegate rules and strong-arm tactics that helped him to victory. A recent Associated Press story glibly proclaimed that “deep-seated racial misgivings could cost Barack Obama the White House.” The story relied on an AP-Yahoo poll that posed questions regarding race to white Democrats. One is left to wonder why questions regarding race were not posed to black Democrats ... It’s quite troubling, really, that mainstream media outlets are focusing upon “racial misgivings” factors, while all but ignoring the major divides among voting constituencies that occurred during the nominating contest between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama....

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton says the U.S. Senate may have to lead the way in passing a $700 billion Wall Street bailout package, now that the House has rejected the measure. "I certainly would support the Senate going first, so long as we have the votes ... as early as tomorrow if that's what would make this process successful," Clinton told reporters by phone Tuesday. The New York Democrat, who nearly won her party's presidential nomination, said she believes public opposition to the bailout deal may be weakening after the market reacted badly to the failed House vote Monday and...

Hillary Clinton, Queen of Soul? Barack Obama, All-American teenaged girl? That's precisely the analogy that Joe Scarborough made this morning in trying to explain why many Hillary supporters haven't swung to Obama. Hillary was a guest on today's Morning Joe, and the interview offered a number of other interesting tidbits: * Hillary dodged the question of whether Bill was telling the truth when he claimed she didn't want the VP slot on Obama's ticket. * The junior NY senator declined to swing at Sarah-bashing softball Mika Brzezinski tossed her. * Hillary let slip that she still has her own campaign...

THE VIEW STRAIGHT FROM THE HORSE’S, UMM, MOUTH I’ve always appreciated the existential query as to why God made so many more horse’s asses than He made horses. Actually, there doesn’t seem to be anything very existential about the question but since Charlie Gibson threw the word around in his interview with Governor Palin I thought I too could be pretentious and use it. In any event, the reason for my confusion on horses and their body parts came to mind after reading some of Bill Clinton’s remarks made on “The View” and watching those five prime examples of feminine...

Politics and diplomacy were not a good mix at Monday's protest rally against Iran at the United Nations. Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin didn't participate in the "Stop Iran Now" rally and there were a lot of hard feelings about it. It was a simple sign that read "We Want Sarah. Shame On The Rally Organizer." Howard Webber from Brooklyn held it. "As important an event as this is, you needed a unity of Democrats and Republicans to show Ahmadinejad that we're not going to accept a nuclear Iran." Buddy Macy of Little Fells, N.J., felt much the same way....

ABC News' Russell Goldman Reports: Despite saying she would accept the offer to be vice president, Hillary Clinton never really wanted to be Barack Obama's running mate, her husband former President Bill Clinton told ABC's The View. "Not really, she didn't," Clinton said in response to a question from host Barbara Walters about whether Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y. wanted to join her one-time opponent on the Democratic ticket. In June, soon after conceding the primary to Obama, Sen. Clinton told New York lawmakers that she would accept the veep slot if it was offered. "I'm open to it,' she told...

The DUmmies have already breaking out their Freudenschade champagne bottles and are celebrating Obama's victory in November as you can see in the THREAD titled, "are you working on Nov. 5?" I just don't have the heart to tell them that Hillary is already quietly sticking the shiv into Barack's back, especially in Pennsylvania, in order to assure that he goes down in order to pave the way for Her Thighness in 2012. But let us not discourage the DUmmies from celebrating while their Messiah is being backstabbed. So we now join the DUmmies popping open their champagne bottles...

Is Hillary Clinton masterminding an underground effort to undermine His Holiness, Lord Barack Obama? Some think so. “Well, she can’t endorse McCain outright, that would ruin her future chances at the Presidency,” said one insider. “But she’s still blistering mad at being abandoned by her party and that this nobody from Illinois took her place.” Inside sources claim the Former Hillary for President Campaign is now the Unseat Obama Campaign. They are telling people to keep acting like they support Obama, telling the pollsters they are for Obama - even put signs in their yard - and then vote McCain...

I was never a supporter of Hillary Clinton for President. I’m a conservative and aside from her being too far left for my political tastes; the Clintons have far too much corruption on their résumé for me to ever feel good about allowing them ultimate power again. However, I am quite troubled by the fact that a man far less qualified than Hillary was able to upset her juggernaut campaign and become the DNC nominee by less than democratic tactics. I’m a conservative who believes in the need for two strong political parties, each a necessary tool to keeping the...

For a decade, Tom DeLay ruthlessly enforced Republican rule in Washington with such vigour that he was nicknamed "The Hammer". But the party's former leader in the House of Representatives will this month launch a national grassroots movement to combat the liberal activists who he believes outfoxed and outmanoeuvred Republicans to win the 2006 mid-term elections. Mr DeLay, who revelled in his reputation as a no-holds-barred Washington operator as the party's chief whip and then majority leader from 1995 to 2005, aims to instil an army of conservatives across the country with his political street-fighting skills. Tom DeLay: 'I have...

It's been less than a month since Barack Obama has picked Joe Biden to be his running mate and already there are calls from liberals, made desperate by Obama's plunge in the polls, to replace Biden with Hillary Clinton. One such plea comes from Huffington Post blogger Andy Ostroy, described as a "New York City-based political analyst," with a blog entry titled, "Why Replacing Biden With Hillary Makes Perfect Sense for Obama." Here is Ostroy's rationale for one of the biggest flip-flops in political history (emphasis mine): Sen. Joe Biden's a perfectly appropriate vice presidential running-mate for Sen. Barack Obama....

THE former president Bill Clinton is to ride to Barack Obama’s rescue in the coming weeks by holding joint events with the Democratic presidential candidate. The Obama team hopes the “Bubba factor” - Clinton’s appeal to white, working-class voters - will revitalise its campaign and staunch defections to Sarah Palin, the Republican vice-presidential nominee. A source close to the Obama campaign said: “Bill Clinton is on board. He’s making all the right moves and he and Barack Obama are going to campaign together.” The former president met Obama over lunch at his New York office last Thursday on the seventh...

Obama interview: How does it feel to break a glass ceiling? How does it feel to “win”? How does your family feel about your “winning” breaking a glass ceiling? Who will be your VP? Should you choose Hillary Clinton as VP? Will you accept public finance? What issues is your campaign about? Will you visit Iraq? Will you debate McCain at a town hall? What did you think of your competitor’s [Clinton] speech? Palin interview: Do you have enough qualifications for the job you’re seeking? Specifically have you visited foreign countries and met foreign leaders? Aren’t you conceited to be...

Iron My Curtain! Clintons Explore The North Korean Option Hillary Clinton, the Democrat's discarded presidential candidate and jilted vice-presidential candidate, said she's ready to take the helm of the North Korean state, pending the revelation of current leader Kim Jong Il's incapacitating sickness and/or assassination. Clinton has been meeting with current North Korean government officials, her press secretary Franklin Beaumont Walters said. "I checked her calendar," Walters said. "She's free for the next four years." Walters also indicated she was getting ready for the job of North Korean strongman by walking in high heels and watching American pornography.

An October surprise might be brewing. And not just your ordinary run-of-the-mill type of surprise, but a blockbuster one of epic proportions. Hillary Clinton supporters, your dream may not be dead yet. In one of the more memorable moments in the Democratic presidential primaries came last year when debate moderator NBC anchorman Brian Williams asked Sen. Joe Biden about his reputation for talking too much.Williams asked Biden, who was described by the Los Angeles Times as a "gaffe machine," if he could reassure voters that he would have enough verbal discipline needed for the world stage."Yes," Biden replied with a...

The US Government's position on the Russia and Georgia conflict has been attacked in Congress by politicians who are concerned about a deterioration of Washington's relationship with Moscow. Officials from the state and defence departments have had to field awkward questions from senators and members of the House of Representatives on the US's stance. The US's promises on Georgia's Nato prospects, Georgia's failure to heed US warnings and Washington's decision to grant £571 million in aid to a country that ignored its advice are among the issues exercising critics. Hilary Clinton, the former Democratic presidential candidate, said it was not...

On Michael Medved show, Biden said Hillary Clinton may be more qualified than him to be VP, and might have been a better pick than him.

Is this a hint that Obama - Biden is laying the groundwork for Biden to exit gracefully and the ticket turn into Obama - Hillary? In this video, Joe Biden inexplicably says that Sen. Hillary Clinton "quite frankly might have been a better (VP) pick than me." Wow! Either Biden is really feeling the stress and pressure of being virtually forgotten in the wake of Palinmania, or something is up. What do you think? Share your thoughts by commenting. . . . . (see video at link)

Gannett paper website. Link only http://www.press-citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080909/OPINION01/809090324

According to the Asia Times Online, Obama has already lost the election, Michelle hated Hillary enough to cost the Senator the VP slot, plus other interesting insights regarding the Democrat's nominee for President. The article not only predicts an Obama loss come November 4th but lays out the reasons why. The article also claims Democrat "insiders" came to the grim conclusion that the Obama campaign was already doomed by the time Obama gave his acceptance speech in front of star-spangled styrofoam columns at Invesco Field in Denver. The article [link] cites the reasons why the mood of Democrat "party professionals"...

It has come to our attention that Obama is going to bring out his big gun to neutralize Sarah-cuda. From the NYTimes an hour ago, we have this, Obama Camp Turns to Clinton to Counter Palin: ST. PAUL — Senator Barack Obama will increasingly lean on prominent Democratic women to undercut Gov. Sarah Palin and Senator John McCain, dispatching Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to Florida on Monday and creating a rapid-response team to deploy female surrogates to battleground states, Obama advisers said on Thursday. Mrs. Clinton’s campaign event in Florida, her first for Mr. Obama since the Democratic convention last...

McCain has a strong woman? Well, the Obama campaign wants voters to know they’ve got one, too, and they’re going to deploy her to crush the moose hunting hockey mom from Alaska. In a strange twist of logic, the Obama campaign is touting the woman they passed over as the woman they need to beat the woman the other guy picked.

IT'S SAFE TO SAY that Democrats awoke yesterday with a serious case of Post-Palin Depression. "Electrifying!" said U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter of Palin's poised and feisty speech that had Republican conventioneers swooning. "Reaganesque!" jubilant supporters said about Palin's rare ability to deliver a shiv to the jugular with folksy charm and perfectly timed humor. Never mind the lies, distortions and spin in her speech. Never mind the absence of substance. She pre-empted the Democrats' theme of change by presenting John McCain and herself as rebels and reformers. She neutralized her own vulnerability on inexperience by skewering Obama's admittedly thin background....

Rapid-response team of female surrogates is being readied to take on the Republican ticket. By PATRICK HEALY and JEFF ZELENY, New York Times Last update: September 4, 2008 - 11:18 PM Sen. Barack Obama will increasingly lean on prominent Democratic women to undercut Gov. Sarah Palin and Sen. John McCain, dispatching Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to Florida on Monday and creating a rapid-response team to deploy female surrogates to battleground states, Obama advisers said Thursday. Clinton's campaign event in Florida, her first for Obama since the Democratic convention, will include a forceful response to the searing attacks and fresh burst...

Democrats have been told for generations that Republicans are cold-hearted, intolerant, bigoted, sexist neanderthals who must be destroyed at all costs. Then 2008 happened, and the most screwed up election year in decades fractured both Parties. Only in 2008 would we find Joe Lieberman, the 2000 Democrat Vice-Presidential candidate, at the Republican Convention praising Bill Clinton, and actually receive applause from hard-core conservative Republican delegates. Hillary voters were watching. And they liked what they saw. This is from The Hillary Clinton Forum thread from the convention last night. They loved Fred and were very impressed with McCain's bio. Lieberman was...

Sarah Palin is preparing to take the stage at the Republican convention, and if you believe the chorus in the MSM, the pivotal issue she must deal with is the pregnancy of her teen-age daughter — which in the space of two days has apparently become one of the most burning policy matters of our time. Move over, U.S. economy, world markets, jihadis, oil despotisms, resurgent Russian aggressors, Kim Jong Il and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. I don’t know what Sarah Palin is going to say. But I am trying to imagine the effect it would have if she stood up before...

"McCain and Palin are currently close in the polls, but they face an even tougher job of selling this combination than does the history-shattering ticket of Obama-Biden." --John Mashek, US News & World Report USN&WR's John Mashek is a MSM Meme Poster Child What time is it again, guys? It's Beat-on-the-Girl Time!--at least in the Mainstream Media. The MSM spent much of the Democrat primary season shilling for Barack Obama, their 'Chosen One' candidate. In the process, the MSM, in an about-face from their 1990s' coverage, published a stream of unflattering attacks on the Clintons in general, and Hillary Clinton,...

Howard Wolfson, former spokesman for Hillary Clinton, just told Fox News that Joe Lieberman made "effective case for McCain" and gave "a pretty good speech." Chris Wallace, closing out his interview. "I guess payback is a... a whatever. Back to you, Brit."

McCain was paying attention when Obama and his bag of tools went to work denigrating and insulting Hillary Clinton. McCain figured that if Obama managed to lose 18 million Hillary votes with boorish behavior toward women, maybe he would do it again, this time to Sarah Palin. And so the trap was set. And the bait was taken.

Are PUMAs racist? The Washington Post's Colbert I. King seems to suggest so in his column of today, "A Suicidal Choice for Clinton Supporters." King delivers a laundry list of reasons why, in his opinion, it makes no sense for Hillary fans to support McCain. Since there is apparently no rational justification for good Dems to desert Obama, by process of elimination he suggests that a base motivation is in play. Here's King's punch line [emphasis added]: "So what's drawing Hillary Clinton's die-hard fans to John McCain? Is the attraction only skin-deep?

What kind of impact has the Palin pick had on MSM coverage? We've gone from wall-to-wall adoration of last night's speech, to—literally within hours—Andrea Mitchell having to remind viewers of some guy named Barack Obama. Mitchell was kibitzing the choice of Palin with Bloomberg's Margaret Carlson and Time editor Rick Stengel. Not merely did the liberal [see here and here] Stengel praise Palin, he even compared her favorably with . . . Hillary Clinton. And Mitchell closed the segment by acknowledging that Obama had been "overshadowed." RICK STENGEL: She has a very, very appealing story, and one of the things...

Just how did Barack Obama (D-IL), a rather undistinguished state senator, get elected to the U.S. Senate and without doing anything noteworthy in that august body go on to capture his party’s nomination for president before even finishing out his first term in Congress? A combination of heartlessness and happenstance - and some say, caucus fraud. Note: The Stiletto writes about politics and other stuff at The Stiletto Blog, chosen an Official Honoree in the Political Blogs category by the judges of the 12th Annual Webby Awards (the Oscars of the online universe) along with CNN Political Ticker, Swampland (Time...

Very few Republicans have made it onto MSNBC air during the networks' Dem convention coverage, but even that is apparently too much for Keith Olbermann. As Chris Matthews was interviewing GOP consultant Mike Murphy in the interlude between Bill Clinton and Joe Biden tonight, Olbermann could be heard off-camera angrily demanding "let's wrap him up, alright?" It was Murphy's surmise that, in the privacy of the polling booth, Bill and Hilary would pull the lever for McCain that seemed to set Olbermann off prompt him to call for the hook. View video here.

Hillary, dressed to avoid a hunting accident, was all about Hillary last night at the convention. She didn’t tell us about Barack Obama’s character, his ability to lead the United States in a troubled world or even how he would thump John McCain in November. Her speech boiled down to: Obama’s the nominee and I support Democrats, so I support Obama. That is it. She even got in a couple of nice digs . . .

The Barnicle clan should be grateful Mike landed the MSNBC gig. It could have been tough making ends meet had he chosen a career in used-car sales. I base that on some hilarious footage from today's Morning Joe, as Mike failed to persuade a Hillary fan to back Barack. And don't miss Mike Murphy's brilliant analysis of Hillary's speech, at the end. At 7:35 AM EDT, a Hillary supporter, Judy Duval of Fort Collins, CO, was brought by the set, still sporting her Hillary button. Under questioning from Joe Scarborough, Judy said that Hillary's speech was great but hadn't convinced...

Keith Olbermann has forgotten the figure-skating judge's cardinal rule: be sparing in the marks you award early contestants, to leave room for the favorites who perform at the end. After his gushing appraisals of Michelle Obama's and Hillary's convention speeches, how can Olbermann possibly top it in his praise of Biden's and Obama's to come? Mixing metaphors here, let's compare the baseball-analogy grades that the Morning Joe crew gave Hillary's speech at show-opening today with Olbermann's assessment of last night. As you'll see, they range from solid single to Keith's grand slam. View video here.

Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann put their own feud aside to agree on something tonight. Hillary honcho Howard Wolfson is a puppet, nay, a Tokyo Rose traitor, for going to work for Fox News. It was the McCain campaign's use in its ads of Hillary's anti-Obama statements that triggered the outburst. KEITH OLBERMANN: Irony upon irony, instead of the commercials designed to destroy Hillary Clinton, [the Republicans] are using Hillary Clinton in commercials designed to destroy the Democratic nominee. CHRIS MATTHEWS: Those are crocodile tears. And you wonder whether an objective person, either rational or post-rational, would be able to...

Carl Cameron is reporting that if you are looking for Hillary to carry any water for Barry, you've got the wrong girl. Here's Ace's take. But the gist is: Yeah, she'll knock the "Bush/McCain" economy, but she won't "lay the wood" to them (not her job), and she'll support Obama, but she's not going to be making the case for Obama (or party unity), because that's also not her job. So she's announcing "Yeah, I'll do the minimum required of me, but gee, if you wanted me to be an attack dog, you should have made me Veep, and if...

As frustrated Democrats converged on Denver yesterday, some began chanting "caucus fraud," while others shouted the word "sweetie," a reference to the time Obama called a female reporter by the same name. One Clinton supporter who spoke to ABC News said Obama couldn't be trusted. Another said, "He's shifty and untrustworthy." It was assuredly not the kind of message Obama and his diligently image-conscious team were counting on at the Democratic National Convention. "I'm thoroughly disgusted with the Democratic Party. I believe the magic of Barack Obama was his ability to turn lifelong Democrats like us into McCain supporters overnight,"...

They don't care if they make Chris Matthews happy, or if they make Hillary Clinton look bad. They don't even care that she wants them to stop. "This is where you see the civil war!" burbled Chris Matthews, experiencing near-asphyxiatory pleasure on an outdoor stage in the sweltering Denver heat, while behind him two competing groups, Obama supporters and the PUMA (Party Unity My Ass) backers of Hillary Clinton, chanted "Obama! Obama!" and "Hillary! Hillary!" at each other. Matthews looked as though he might wet himself as a camera panned the crowd, and he declared, "We're at ground zero!" Actually,...

Rendell: 'Bad Person' Wouldn't Support Universal Health Care Pennsylvania governor says Clinton's fight for 'universal care' in line with Obama By Paul Detrick Business & Media Institute 8/25/2008 5:43:43 PM An opponent of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama’s health care proposal is a “bad person” in Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell’s book, even if that opponent is Sen. Hillary Clinton. “Hillary has fought for universal health-care for all her life. The McCain plan is respectfully a joke. Sen. Obama has a real good plan to bring health care to every American,” Rendell told CBS “The Early Show” co-host Harry Smith...

Tonight on stage in Denver Hillary Clinton, one of the most accomplished practitioners of the fine art of political deception, will pull off the biggest stunt of her career so far. In her speech to the Democratic convention Mrs Clinton will have warm words for Barack Obama. She will pledge herself to work for his election in November. She will urge her campaign supporters and the millions who voted for her in the primary to bury their differences and throw their support behind the nominee. She will, no doubt, describe herself as humbled. Don’t believe a word of it. There...

Bad poll numbers for Barry the night before the big show. The Hillcats are tearing him up. “Even last week, just before his choice of Joe Biden as his running mate became known, most polls tended to show Obama with a single-digit advantage over McCain,” adds Holland. [snip] So what’s the difference now? It may be supporters of Hillary Clinton, who still would prefer the Senator from New York as the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee. Sixty-six percent of Clinton supporters, registered Democrats who want Clinton as the nominee, are now backing Obama. That’s down from 75 percent in the end...

Obama hires a random white guy as the V.P. and he thinks that will bring the Hillary folks back into the fold? Think again. Have a nice convention Barry. Better add a few truck loads of catnip to the grocery list or you are gonna need a whole lot more tazers and cages in Denver.

The full text of the ad is below: Script For "Passed Over" (TV :30) ANNCR: She won millions of votes. But isn't on his ticket. Why? For speaking the truth. On his plans: HILLARY CLINTON: "You never hear the specifics." ANNCR: On the Rezko scandal: HILLARY CLINTON: "We still don't have a lot of answers about Senator Obama." ANNCR: On his attacks: HILLARY CLINTON: "Senator Obama's campaign has become increasingly negative." ANNCR: The truth hurt. And Obama didn't like it. JOHN MCCAIN: I'm John McCain and I approved this message.

It's just a hunch, mind you, but Hillary, Bill and even Chelsea will be speaking covering two nights at the Democrat Convention, so it seems they are on friendly terms with Obama, so if Hillary wasn't picked as VP running mate, or even on the short list, what else would appease her, but a promise to be the first judicial nominee for the Supreme Court of the United States.

That didn't take long. Exactly five minutes before Obama's official text message went out this morning, Howard Fineman had an article up at Newsweek praising the process by which Obama picked his running mate. Fineman found much to like about how Obama handled things. He even turned lemons into lemonade, claiming Hillary really didn't want to be considered and that Obama "did her a favor" by not doing so. First, the praise: "The minute-by-minute story of how Obama handled the selection is interesting, and revealing of the way the Democratic nominee works. He insisted on the utmost secrecy; he paid...

Don't worry, Barack. Hillary has absolutely no intention of pulling Lucy's football away from you during the Democrat convention next week. So it is absolutely safe for you to go ahead and kick that football in the form of allowing Hillary's name to be placed into nomination during the roll call vote. Most DUmmies, although irked that Hillary is still striving for attention, seem to have no fear about Hillary at the convention as you can see in this THREAD titled, "Clinton's creating a 40-member team." Yes, they believe that it is safe for Hillary to bring a political...