JMac wrapped up things in St. Paul with a speech heavy on bio but lacking many policy specifics. Once reluctant to discuss his POW time, the party, and certainly last week's convention speakers, now injects JMac's bio into nearly every speech. JMac didn't hold back as he offered an intimate bio that certainly showed his heroic personal story. It's a story filled with the drive to succeed that evokes praise and a hot temper that makes some nervous.
JMac certainly benefited from the bio laden speech; he can draw a television crowd as sizable as the jedi's.
"Funny how? Like community organizers are here to amuse you?"
With hay bales and American flags in the background, the jedi sat down with Stephanopolus. Revelations: Obama briefly considered joining the military, he regrets his abortion response/"above my pay grade" comment at last month's Saddleback Forum, and he would break from his party on three issues:
"I think that, on education, we do have to improve accountability. And I've not only supported charter schools, which the teachers' unions have opposed, but I've also said that we should look at pay-for-performance," he said. "That's not something that's popular in my party."
"Obama said he would also support increasing the size of the military and reducing healthcare litigation costs, moves he said would anger portions of his party."
Even though the interview illustrated that the jedi is better delivering a prepared speech to a stadium-sized crowd, he can give thoughtful, although sometimes initially unclear, answers to complicated questions that can't be answered in black or white soundbites. His answers offer a grey area that is hard to sell to the masses but present a sense of humility and perhaps indicate that he would be a very analytical president.
Black or white? Just when you think the nation has moved past it, Polman reminds us that race is frighteningly prevalent in this election and quite possibly transcends policy and personality when some Americans pick their president. Notice Polman's piece is not citing public opinion from the Bible Belt.
Even if Palin wowed Jmac and the GOP, they're not in a hurry to cart her out to the Sunday morning talk show circuit. After last week's drubbing and pregnancy speculation, the GOP is quite bitter over Palin's treatment in the press and they want interviews on their own terms. WVPC: The McCain campaign will probably start with the weekday morning and afternoon shows (View, Ellen, Regis) and go from there. They should cart her out as quickly as possible to avoid any signs of vulnerability. The decision is strikingly parallel to the Bush Administration's disdain for the media and its hand-picked q & a sessions and public appearances. If the media keeps laying on the criticism, the GOP will play victim with the following equation/scenario: Media = elites. Us = honest folks who could care less about what the chattering classes in NYC, D.C., or Hollywood think. The heartland crowd goes wild.
One of the sharpest cons blogging and writing for The Atlantic, Douthat offers some free advice to Democrats: don't attack Palin. Go after the old man and his policies.
Delaware is behind Biden even if the occasional investigative journalism piece tarnishes those blue-collar First State credentials. At the heart of the matter is Joe's support for the 2005 Bankruptcy Bill and what it means to debtors.
With his Biden selection, Obama chose one of the Dems' premier Washington insiders. That benefits Obama if you spin it this way: Biden has a record of experience, and his action hlped bring jobs to Delaware. The opposite spin diminishes Delaware Joe: his ties to the banking industry reflect a commitment to corporate interests that supersede a pledge to protect hard working Americans from reckless lending practices.
The story probably lacks the pull of Palin's pregnancy or JMac's temper, but it raises some interesting questions about what Obama preaches and what Joe sometimes practices.
