Sarah “Barracuda” Palin has posed nude before, has powerful allies in Alaska’s corrupt political establishment, and smoked Marijuana when it was legal in Alaska — but ‘didn’t like it.‘. Her husband Todd is a fish-monger, and Mrs. Palin is a right-wing ‘THUGGESS‘

Reported: Right-wing zealots, religious nutbags and NRA gun-runners are ecstatic!

AP - John McCain tapped little-known Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his vice presidential running mate on Friday in a startling selection on the eve of the Republican National Convention.

Two senior campaign officials disclosed McCain’s decision a few hours before the Republican presidential nominee-to-be and his newly-minted running mate appeared at a rally in swing-state Ohio.

Palin, like McCain, is a conservative with a maverick streak who has shown a willingness to clash with others in her own party. A self-styled hockey mom and political reformer, she has been governor of her state less than two years.

                                                                                                [Enlarge]

Palin’s selection shocked numerous Republican officials.

She is a former mayor of Wasilla (population 8,471) who became governor of her state in December, 2006 after ousting a governor of her own party in a primary and then dispatching a former governor in the general election.

More recently, she has come under the scrutiny of an investigation by the Republican-controlled legislature into the possibility that she ordered the dismissal of Alaska’s public safety commissioner because he would not fire her former brother-in-law as a state trooper.

Palin has a long history of run-ins with the Alaska GOP hierarchy, giving her genuine maverick status and reformer credentials that could complement McCain’s image.

Two years ago, she ousted the state’s Republican incumbent governor, Frank Murkowski in the primary, despite having little money and little establishment backing.

She had earned stripes — and enmity — after Murkowski made her head of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. From that post, she exposed ethical violations by the state GOP chairman, also a fellow commissioner.

She and her husband Todd Palin, have five children. The latest, a baby, was born with Down syndrome.

   Cartoon By: Gary Varvel

References:

1. Paul Begala - McCain is out of his mind? — John McCain needs what Kinky Friedman calls “a checkup from the neck up.” Palin is a first-term governor of a state with more reindeer than people, will have to put on a few pounds just to be a lightweight.

2. Ed Rollins: Sarah “Barracuda” Palin is a strong choice by McCain but risky

3. Majority Whip Jim Clyburn - McCain has rolled the dice. Speaking to South Carolina ETV Radio, House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn likened the choice of Palin to Walter Mondale’s choice of Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 and George H.W. Bush’s pick of Dan Quayle in 1988. Both picks — relatively unknown political figures at the time — generated initial excitement but were ultimately deemed poor choices by many political observers.

FlashBack: George H.W. Bush’s V.P. pick - Indiana’s Dan Quayle in 1988.

   What A Terrible Mismatch? LOL!

Popularity: 1% [?]

In his prime-time speech last night, good old Bill was “vintage” and sharp.

After a 4 minute standing ovation, he delivered what I consider the best speech since the end of his two-term presidency.

So far in this convention, Clinton has done the best job in framing the reasoning why the Republican THUGS led by John McCain must not be allowed to retain power for another four years.

Mr. Clinton offered an enthusiastic and unstinting endorsement of Mr. Obama’s credentials to be president.

Clinton said: “Last night Hillary told us in no uncertain terms that she is going to do everything she can to elect Barack Obama.”

“That makes two of us.”

“I say to you: Barack Obama is ready to lead America and restore American leadership in the world.”

“Barack Obama is ready to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. Barack Obama is ready to be president of the United States.”

“With Joe Biden’s experience and wisdom, supporting Barack Obama’s proven understanding, instincts and insight, America will have the national security leadership we need,” he said.

“The Republicans will nominate a good man who served our country heroically and suffered terribly in Vietnam,” he said, “He loves our country every bit as much as we all do. As a senator, he has shown his independence on several issues. But on the two great questions of this election, how to rebuild the American Dream and how to restore America’s leadership in the world, he still embraces the extreme philosophy which has defined his party for more than 25 years.”

“They actually want us to reward them for the last eight years by giving them four more,” he said. “Let’s send them a message that will echo from the Rockies all across America: Thanks, but no thanks.”

Flashback: Bill Clinton totally mutilates and Slays George Bush Snr. (1992)

To me, the most striking part of Clinton’ s speech was when he said: “Obama’s family heritage and life experiences have given him a unique capacity to lead our increasingly diverse nation and to restore our leadership in an ever more interdependent world.” “The long, hard primary tested and strengthened him.”

Clinton’s statement reminded me of the following quote by author Philip Ochieng from Kenya:

Clinton’s speech should act as a springboard for Obama, when he delivers his nomination-acceptance speech tomorrow.

   [Enlarge] [Cartoon by -- Jeff Stahler]

I can only hope that the Clinton’s are one hundred percent behind Obama, and have put their defeat behind them.

If affirmative, all should be forgiven, and all should move forward, for prospect of having another Republican THUG, the neanderthal McCain in the White House is utterly disgusting.

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….after Clinton finished, in trotted John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic Nominee for president. The Vietnam vet was armed to the teeth, and wasted no time in unloading bomb after bomb at the ReTHUGlicans.

I loved watching Kerry fight, as he ripped into McCain and his THUG party with abandon.

Kerry called out McCain as “insulting,” “desperate” and “pathetic” for questioning Barack Obama’s patriotism, and for his continuing support for Bush’s failed policies.

Said Kerry: “Voters should elect a president based on judgment and character, not “years on this earth.” “The Bush-McCain policies have left “Hamas, Hezbollah, the Taliban and dictators everywhere…on the march.”

“Let me tell you, before he ever debates Barack Obama, John McCain should finish the debate with himself.” “Candidate McCain says he would now vote against the immigration bill that Senator McCain wrote. Are you kidding? Talk about being before it before you’re against it.” “McCain has nothing left but personal attacks,” added Kerry.

Next to speak was Joe Biden, Obama’s Vice-President to be:

In his speech, Biden offered a glimpse of the scrappy attack dog he can be. He did show flashes of that scrappy kid from tough Scranton, PA — and that is why he’s on the ticket: to follow his mother’s advice - pick yourself up and give the other guy a bloody nose.

   Obama-Biden 2008

   [Cartoon By -- Gary Varvel]

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Popularity: 2% [?]

BOB HERBERT of The New York Times says:

The problem is the dog that isn’t barking.

Talk for more than a few minutes with an Obama supporter in a white middle-class or working-class area and you’ll hear about a friend or relative or co-worker who has a real problem with the candidate.

When Jack Davis’s wife, Joan, who also plans to vote for Senator Obama, was asked about Democrats that she knew who would not vote for him, she replied:

“My mother! She’s 85 years old. I’m sorry to say, but she will not vote for him.”

It is frequently the case that a statistically significant percentage of white voters will lie to pollsters — or decline to state their preference — in races in which one candidate is black and the other white.

After many years of watching black candidates run for public office, and paying especially close attention to this year’s Democratic primary race, I’ve developed my own (very arbitrary) rule of thumb regarding the polls in this election:

Take at least two to three points off of Senator Obama’s poll numbers, and assume a substantial edge for Senator McCain in the breakdown of the undecided vote.

[ READ MORE HERE ] — The race issue in Barack Obama’s campaign can come up in peculiar and jolting ways.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Conservative echo chamber pushes story about Obama’s brother, despite brother’s reported refutation

From Media Matters: Numerous conservative media figures have promoted a story in the Italian edition of Vanity Fair that reportedly quoted Sen. Barack Obama’s half brother George Obama as saying that he lives “on less than a dollar a month,” but have disregarded reports that quoted George Obama saying, “They say I live on a dollar a month, but this is all lies by people who don’t want my brother to win,” and, “The magazines, they exaggerated everything.”

Latest McCain AD - On Obama’s Half Brother In Kenya

…[read more here]

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The Republican ‘dogs‘ will stop at nothing, in their frenzied “take-no-prisoners” effort to sink Obama. The pitbulls (e.g. Sean Hannity), the rottweilers (e.g Rush Limbaugh) are all over radio and TV yelping lies and innuendo like animals infected with rabies.

“The job is to win,” former GOP operative Allen Raymond. “…You have an obligation to do the best job you can to get the outcome your clients want, which is to win.” …at any cost, with re-cycled smears, lies and GOD-HOGGING.

They (Republicans) don’t care if families or reputations are destroyed. They are marauders — a pack of hungry RATS attacking rotten meat!

Look what they did — attacked Iraq based on lies and dropped thousands of tons of bombs on innocent Iraqi’s in their quest for oil.

These people (Republicans), in my opinion are much worse than ALKAIDA!

They are Terrorists.

Terrorists when then stole this land (the U.S.) from the Indians and the Mexicans, to when they enslaved, killed and raped blacks with impunity, to now that they are killing and maiming innocent Iraqis based on criminal falsehoods — so that they can STEAL more….Arab OIL!

McCain is slithering in bed with the same attack machine that in 2000, while competing against Bush, in the primaries, lied to voters that his(McCain’s) adopted daughter from Bangladesh was an “illegitimate black child.”

Republican RACISM is putrid and their determination to WIN whatever the cost, is worse than the determination a hungry ‘lactating‘ female hyena scavenging on a dead corpse.

‘Grogan‘ a participant at a popular Kenyan Forum, had this to say:

Well Said.

Reference: Right-Wing ‘Missionary Thugs’ Digging For ‘Obama Dirt’ in Kenya — Right-wing Christian Activists in the United States are attempting to use Senator Barack Obama’s Kenyan links to discredit him.

Popularity: 2% [?]

From Jörg Colberg’s weblog:

If Obama Loses: “If it makes you feel better, you can rationalize Obama’s missing 10-point lead on the basis of Clintonite sulkiness, his slowness in responding to attacks, or the concern that Obama may be too handsome, brilliant, and cool to be elected. But let’s be honest: If you break the numbers down, the reason Obama isn’t ahead right now is that he trails badly among one group, older white voters. He does so for a simple reason: the color of his skin. Much evidence points to racial prejudice as a factor that could be large enough to cost Obama the election.” ….[READ MORE >>]

From Jacob Weisberg writing for Slate.com

Let’s be honest: If you break the numbers down, the reason Obama isn’t ahead right now is that he trails badly among one group, older white voters. He does so for a simple reason: the color of his skin. Much evidence points to racial prejudice as a factor that could be large enough to cost Obama the election.

Five percent of white voters acknowledge that they, personally, would not vote for a black candidate. Five percent surely understates the reality. In the Pennsylvania primary, one in six white voters told exit pollsters race was a factor in his or her decision. Seventy-five percent of those people voted for Clinton. You can do the math: 12 percent of the Pennsylvania primary electorate acknowledged that it didn’t vote for Barack Obama in part because he is African-American. And that’s what Democrats in a Northeastern(ish) state admit openly. The responses in Ohio and even New Jersey were dispiritingly similar.

Such prejudice usually comes coded in distortions about Obama and his background. To the willfully ignorant, he is a secret Muslim married to a black-power radical. Or—thank you, Geraldine Ferraro—he only got where he is because of the special treatment accorded those lucky enough to be born with African blood. Some Jews assume Obama is insufficiently supportive of Israel in the way they assume other black politicians to be. To some white voters (14 percent in the CBS/New York Times poll), Obama is someone who, as president, would favor blacks over whites. Or he is an “elitist” who cannot understand ordinary (read: white) people because he isn’t one of them. Or he is charged with playing the race card, or of accusing his opponents of racism, when he has strenuously avoided doing anything of the sort. We’re just not comfortable with, you know, a Hawaiian.

Then there’s the overt stuff. In May, Pat Buchanan, who writes books about the European-Americans losing control of their country, ranted on MSNBC in defense of white West Virginians voting on the basis of racial solidarity. The No. 1 best-seller in America, Obama Nation by Jerome R. Corsi, Ph.D., leeringly notes that Obama’s white mother always preferred that her “mate” be “a man of color.” John McCain has yet to get around to denouncing this vile book. ….[READ MORE >>]

Paul Street for ZMAG Writes:

….Barack Obama told reporters that if he lost in his quest for the presidency, “it would not be because of race. It would be because of mistakes I made along the campaign trail.”

“….like many of Obama’s formulations, his comment was partly true and largely false.”

If Obama loses to the reactionary war-mongering nut-job John McCain despite a political context that would normally strongly favor a Democrat this time around, the refusal of a significant number of white voters to support a black candidate will be a significant part of the explanation. ….[READ MORE >>]

Bob Herbert of The New York Times says:

So what’s the problem for the Obama campaign?

The problem is the dog that isn’t barking.

Talk for more than a few minutes with an Obama supporter in a white middle-class or working-class area and you’ll hear about a friend or relative or co-worker who has a real problem with the candidate.

When Jack Davis’s wife, Joan, who also plans to vote for Senator Obama, was asked about Democrats that she knew who would not vote for him, she replied:

“My mother! She’s 85 years old. I’m sorry to say, but she will not vote for him.”

It is frequently the case that a statistically significant percentage of white voters will lie to pollsters — or decline to state their preference — in races in which one candidate is black and the other white.

After many years of watching black candidates run for public office, and paying especially close attention to this year’s Democratic primary race, I’ve developed my own (very arbitrary) rule of thumb regarding the polls in this election:

Take at least two to three points off of Senator Obama’s poll numbers, and assume a substantial edge for Senator McCain in the breakdown of the undecided vote.

[ READ MORE HERE ] — The race issue in Barack Obama’s campaign can come up in peculiar and jolting ways.

REFERENCES:

1. Racist Attacks on Obama Growing More Heated
2. Jerome Corsi: Politician-Basher’s White Supremacist Ties Revisited
3. Hawking Racism — Pat Buchanan’s latest book is a White Nationalist Screed
4. Fox ‘Racist News’ Channel Depicts Pro-Obama Europeans as — ‘Scary’ Black People
5. Obama Smears - Fox News’ Racist Liars On A Rampage!
6. Attack Politics - Taken To New Lows By Fox News Morons!
7. Neo Nazi/White Supremacist Hal Turner Confirms Friendship And Kinship With Fox News’s Sean Hannity

Popularity: 4% [?]