{"id":12770,"date":"2008-10-01T20:09:02","date_gmt":"2008-10-02T03:09:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2008\/10\/01\/dave-does-the-election-multi-day-edition.html"},"modified":"2014-11-05T15:16:28","modified_gmt":"2014-11-05T22:16:28","slug":"dave_does_the_election_mu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/10\/01\/dave_does_the_election_mu.html","title":{"rendered":"***Dave Does the Election &#8211; Multi-Day Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"img-shadow-right\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Vote!\" height=\"144\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/voting-butterfly.jpg\" width=\"96\" \/> <\/div>\n<p>I&#8217;ve been tied up in meetings this week, and so haven&#8217;t gotten one of these out for a few. Where to start, where to start &#8230;<\/p>\n<p>Well, heck, why not with VP-debate-bait, Gov. <strong>Palin<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The gaffes just keep on coming from the Defined Mrs. Sarah. Key are the Couric interviews, which has turned into a sore that never heals for the GOP. Whether it&#8217;s Palin suggesting that whether global warming is human-created &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/thinkprogress.org\/2008\/10\/01\/palin-global-warming\/\">kinda doesn\u2019t matter<\/a>,&#8221; or her apparent inability <a href=\"http:\/\/tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com\/2008\/10\/yet_another_gruesome_palin_int.php\">to remember any Supreme Court decision besides <em>Roe v. Wade<\/em><\/a>&nbsp;(and <a title=\"Tanene Allison: Why What Palin Doesn't Know About the Supreme Court Matters\" href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/tanene-allison\/why-what-palin-doesnt-kno_b_130696.html\">why that ignorance is significant<\/a>), or her similar inability to actually <a href=\"http:\/\/thinkprogress.org\/2008\/09\/30\/palins-news\/\">name any magazines or newspapers she reads<\/a>&nbsp;(&#8220;all of them!&#8221;), or her suggestion (with no irony) that <a title=\"Couric Interview: Palin Repeats Age Swipe At Biden (VIDEO)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2008\/09\/30\/couric-asks-palin-how-she_n_130642.html\">Joe Biden is old<\/a>,&nbsp;the hits just keep coming. As do attempts to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.slate.com\/id\/2201158?nav=wp\">parse what the heck she&#8217;s actually saying<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, follow-ups from earlier Palinisms and similar shenanigans show that <a title='\"Before Troopergate, Palin Said Tough Investigations &quot;Healthy For Democracy&quot;\"' href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2008\/10\/01\/before-troopergate-palin_n_130876.html\">she used to be for tough, independent investigations<\/a>&nbsp;before she was against them, she <a title=\"CNN: Sarah Palin Has Never Seen Russia From Alaska\" href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2008\/10\/01\/cnn-sarah-palin-has-never_n_130752.html\">never actually has seen Russia from Alaska<\/a>, her beloved <a title=\"Anti-Palin 'Wolf' Ad Expands Into Battlegrounds\" href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2008\/10\/01\/anti-palin-wolf-ad-campai_n_130744.html\">aerial hunting of wolves<\/a>&nbsp;isn&#8217;t scoring her many points with the public, she <a title=\"Palin On Rape Kit Accusations: \u2018The Entire Notion Of Making A Victim Of A &#10;Crime Pay For Anything Is Crazy\u2019\" href=\"http:\/\/thinkprogress.org\/2008\/09\/30\/palin-rape\/\">explicitly denies that she had her city and police chief charge vicims for rape kits<\/a>&nbsp;(without explaining the evidence to the contrary), and, oh yeah, she actually had (or has)&nbsp;yet another <a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2008\/10\/01\/palin-used-private-email_n_130837.html\">private email account for conducting government business with close aides<\/a>&nbsp;in an attempt to avoid any sort of oversight or public records regulations.<\/p>\n<p>Through it all, we&#8217;re heartened to learn that <a href=\"http:\/\/thinkprogress.org\/2008\/10\/01\/mccain-palin-advice\/\">McCain is routinely turning <em>to <\/em>her for foreign policy advice<\/a>, and that conservatives <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-dyn\/content\/article\/2008\/09\/30\/AR2008093002315.html\">turn <em>on <\/em>her at their own peril<\/a>. I guess it&#8217;s just as well that&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/obsidianwings.blogs.com\/obsidian_wings\/2008\/09\/21-years-in-cap.html\">people have been focusing so much on her<\/a>&nbsp;since she hit the scene.<\/p>\n<p>And, of course on her running mate, Sen. <strong>McCain<\/strong>,&nbsp;and his <a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/jesse-lee\/35-days-out-epic-flail-wh_b_130574.html\">erratic campaign<\/a>. Whether it&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.politico.com\/blogs\/bensmith\/0908\/Hugo_of_Arabia.html\">suggesting that Venezuela&#8217;s Hugo Chavez is an Arab<\/a>, making casual comments about Pakistan that <a href=\"http:\/\/thinkprogress.org\/2008\/09\/30\/former-ambassador-to-pakistan-responds-to-mccain-pakistan-was-not-a-failed-state-in-1999\/\">don&#8217;t bear scrutiny<\/a>, urging his fellow congresscritters to <a href=\"http:\/\/j-walkblog.com\/index.php?\/weblog\/posts\/change_the_name\/\">use the term &#8220;rescue&#8221; rather than &#8220;bailout,&#8221;<\/a>&nbsp;promising to veto earmarks while <a title=\"McCain: I'll Veto Earmarks, But I Won't Vote Against Them\" href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2008\/09\/30\/mccain-ill-veto-earmarks_n_130456.html\">declining to vote against them,<\/a> promising &#8220;transparency&#8221; and &#8220;accountability&#8221; while while <a title='\"Jesse Lee: 34 Days Out: &quot;A New Standard for Transparency and Accountability&quot;?\"' href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/jesse-lee\/34-days-out-a-new-standar_b_130900.html\">making up attacks against Obama<\/a>, or&nbsp;giving an interview to a gay newspaper where he sees no contradiction between having and admiring numerous gay friends and colleagues yet <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pamshouseblend.com\/showDiary.do?diaryId=7322\">being against anything governental or legal that protects or supports gay rights<\/a>, it becomes understandable that the GOP wants McCain to stop trying to use facts and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2008\/10\/01\/nervous-gop-urges-mccain_n_130811.html\">just attack Obama<\/a>.<a href=\"http:\/\/thinkprogress.org\/2008\/09\/30\/former-ambassador-to-pakistan-responds-to-mccain-pakistan-was-not-a-failed-state-in-1999\/\"><\/a>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>And, by the way, as I&#8217;ve said before, McCain should <a title=\"New Urgency Over McCain Medical Questions As Election Nears\" href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2008\/09\/30\/new-urgency-over-mccain-m_n_130298.html\">fully open up his medical records<\/a>. As should, I note, Obama (though I am much less concerned about him).<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile in the <strong>Obama <\/strong>camp, though the polls have been steadily going in his favor, such that his campaign is actually <a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/paul-jenkins\/obama-and-democrats-fight_b_130755.html\">hitting hard in states thought to be solidly GOP<\/a>,&nbsp;they don&#8217;t seem to be getting complacent, concerned about it still being a month out and the electorate <a title='\"Top Obama Labor Supporter Warns: Battleground States &quot;Extremely Volatile&quot;\"' href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2008\/10\/01\/top-obama-labor-supporter_n_130886.html\">still being volatile<\/a>, and Obama supporters continue to suggest that now&#8217;s the time to set aside divisions within the party and do whatever&#8217;s necessary to <a title=\"Peter Clothier: Propelling Obama Into Office\" href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/peter-clothier\/propelling-obama-into-off_b_130601.html\">get him into office<\/a>, if only to demonstrate that &#8220;elite&#8221; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/ben-zalkind\/the-mediocritization-of-a_b_130932.html\">isn&#8217;t as bad a word as &#8220;mediocre.&#8221;<\/a>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, looking at the polls, the question of <a href=\"http:\/\/thinkprogress.org\/2008\/09\/29\/dow-drop-2008-v-2001\/\">whether people think they are better off today than they were eight years ago<\/a>&nbsp;seems to be having an effect.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>As for <strong>Biden <\/strong>&#8230; well, most of the press seems to be as to whether he&#8217;ll unleash one of his <a href=\"http:\/\/features.csmonitor.com\/politics\/2008\/10\/01\/couric-strikes-again-asks-palin-impossible-question\/\">infamous gaffes<\/a>&nbsp;at the debate tomorrow night. While nobody expects him to lose the debate on points, there is concern that Palin might find effective ways to make it look like he&#8217;s ganging up on her, reengaging some of the sympathy and support she&#8217;s squandered since the RNC. In some ways, his ability to avoid falling into that obvious trap will be a significant test for his ability to lead effectively.<\/p>\n<hr width=\"75%\" \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>There is, of course, more going on in politics than the election. We have &#8220;pro-family&#8221; groups seriously arguing that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rightwingwatch.org\/content\/doing-away-vawa\">we need to get rid of the Violence Against Women Act,<\/a>&nbsp;since all it does is let women <em>not <\/em>be subservient to their therefore righteously violent husbands (whom they should not be able to get a divorce from, by the bye). We have folks opposed to gays in the military <a title=\"Busted - Elaine Donnelly's secret, desperate meeting to preserve DADT\" href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/%7Er\/PamsHouseBlend\/%7E3\/408135059\/showDiary.do\">desperately trying to get their calls returned<\/a>, and folks opposed to gay marriage in California <a title=\"ProtectMarriage.com Trapped in the Closet\" href=\"http:\/\/www.rightwingwatch.org\/content\/protectmarriagecom-trapped-closet\">desperately trying to avoid people knowing who they are<\/a>. And, of course, we have moribund conservative organizations suddenly reviving with mysteriously deep pockets and <a title=\"The JCN\u2019s Million Dollar Mystery\" href=\"http:\/\/www.rightwingwatch.org\/content\/jcn%E2%80%99s-million-dollar-mystery\">veiled attacks against Obama<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Then there&#8217;s all the brouhaha over the bail-out, which is <a href=\"http:\/\/thinkprogress.org\/2008\/09\/30\/beck-goldberg-violence\/\">bringing out the best in conservative commentators<\/a>. The GOP can&#8217;t get their story straight as to whether they tanked the bill <a title=\"Bachmann Claims Pelosi\u2019s \u2018Bitter\u2019 Speech Was \u2018Attacking The Bailout\u2019\" href=\"http:\/\/thinkprogress.org\/2008\/10\/01\/bachmann-bailout-pelosi\/\">because of Pelosi&#8217;s speech<\/a>&nbsp;or because of <a title='\"&quot;&quot;GOP Rep: Republicans Complaining About Pelosi Are &quot;Babies Sucking Their Thumbs&quot;&quot;&quot;\"' href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2008\/09\/29\/gop-rep-republicans-compl_n_130446.html\">anything but Pelosi&#8217;s speech<\/a>. What&#8217;s interesting about the debate is the prospect that this may signal a sea change in public opinion about <a title=\"The Progressive Moment\" href=\"http:\/\/obsidianwings.blogs.com\/obsidian_wings\/2008\/09\/the-progressive.html\">Twhere government intervention and control in the markets&nbsp;is necessary and desirable<\/a>.<a title='\"&quot;&quot;GOP Rep: Republicans Complaining About Pelosi Are &quot;Babies Sucking Their Thumbs&quot;&quot;&quot;\"' href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2008\/09\/29\/gop-rep-republicans-compl_n_130446.html\"><\/a>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>And between the election and the bail-out, nobody&#8217;s noticing that Congress has named a Special Prosecutor to <a title=\"Special Prosecutor Named To Investigate Firings Of US Attorneys\" href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2008\/09\/29\/special-prosecutor-named_n_130436.html\">investigate the firings of federal prosecutors for political reasons<\/a>. Well done.<\/p>\n<p>And so it goes.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/ben-zalkind\/the-mediocritization-of-a_b_130932.html\"> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;ve been tied up in meetings this week, and so haven&#8217;t gotten one of these out for a few. Where to start, where to start &#8230; Well, heck, why&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[54,718],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-elections-2008","category-marriage-equality"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12757,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/10\/03\/dave_does_the_election_2.html","url_meta":{"origin":12770,"position":0},"title":"***Dave Does the Election","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 3-Oct-08 8:18pm","format":false,"excerpt":"It's the Friday night \"this'll be old news by the time you read it Monday, which is okay because I've already been accumulating some of these for the past...","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Elections 2008&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Elections 2008","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/elections-2008"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/voting-butterfly.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12947,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/09\/03\/more_palin_stuff.html","url_meta":{"origin":12770,"position":1},"title":"More Palin stuff","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 3-Sep-08 9:00am","format":false,"excerpt":"So here's more that we know: Palin's time as mayor was demonstrated she was for earmarks before she was against them. She also demonstrated, as a businessperson, why she...","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Elections 2008&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Elections 2008","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/elections-2008"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/palin.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12902,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/09\/10\/election_round_up_4.html","url_meta":{"origin":12770,"position":2},"title":"Election round-up","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 10-Sep-08 3:55pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Still trying to figure out the best way to spread the linky-love here. I think I'm going to shift most of my politics\/election stuff into its own set of posts,...","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Elections 2008&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Elections 2008","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/elections-2008"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12744,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/10\/06\/dave_does_the_election_mo.html","url_meta":{"origin":12770,"position":3},"title":"***Dave Does the Election &#8211; Monday Night Edition","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 6-Oct-08 6:36pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The McCain\/Palin have gone into high gear, quite openly and explicitly openly and explicitly\u00a0shifting their strategy away from podunk thinks like \"issues\" and \"policy\" and in favor of --...","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Elections 2008&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Elections 2008","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/elections-2008"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12937,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/09\/04\/palin_potpourri_for_a_con.html","url_meta":{"origin":12770,"position":4},"title":"Palin Potpourri for a Conventional Thursday","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 4-Sep-08 1:18pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Yeah, I know, obsessive a bit. But ... Factchecking Palin\u00a0and The Reality-Based Community: Palin v. Reality\u00a0- Palin's Big Speech and the, um, misrepresentations therein. Putting Words in Palin's Mouth -...","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Elections 2008&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Elections 2008","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/elections-2008"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":129534,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/21\/stephen-colbert-on-sarah-palin-its-magical.html","url_meta":{"origin":12770,"position":5},"title":"Stephen Colbert on Sarah Palin: It&#039;s Magical","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 21-Jan-16 6:45pm","format":false,"excerpt":"If listening to the full Palin endorsement of Trump takes too long or kills too many brain cells, Colbert has the short form version (\u201cSarah Palin just guaranteed Trump the evangelical vote because I think she was speaking in tongues!\u201d) -- and then gives his own rendition of other endorsements\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;~PlusPosts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12770"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12770\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46685,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12770\/revisions\/46685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}