Word Of The Day

CNN confirms the obvious:

A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Sunday indicates that McCain’s running mate is growing less popular among voters and may be costing the Republican presidential nominee a few crucial percentage points in the race for the White House.

Fifty-seven percent of likely voters questioned in the poll say that Palin does not have the personal qualities a president should have. That’s up eight points since September. Fifty-three percent say that she does not agree with them on important issues. That’s also higher than in September.

What’s most interesting is there isn’t a lot to point to in what went wrong in the McCain campaign. Frankly, it’s kind of impressive he was able to run this strong given the financial crisis and Bush’s legacy. But damn, the whole shit house really went in flames when he selected Sarah Palin, over more experienced and likable women like Olympia Snow or less marginalizing moderate figures like Tom Ridge or Joe Liebermann. With that said, let’s recap what Sarah Palin has meant to the McCain campaign:

Sarah Palin has the highest negative ratings of any candidate in the 2008 election, is the most polarizing political figure in the current campaign, and is viewed as one of the most disliked politicians by independents and women (not to mention regarded as the least qualified)… and somehow she is supposedly the future of the Republican party?

By making Sarah Palin the face of reformed, post-Bush conservatism, the Republicans are showing they have learned nothing from the past 8 years. Palin as the figurehead of the new vanguard is a fitful protest from the radical elements of the Republican party that are unrelenting and inflexible about their own share of power within the party and the American political paradigm. Rather than thinking forward, these elements continue to live in the 2000 American political climate — one absent of real foreign and domestic issues, and thus beset by moral challenges set forth by the indiscretions of the Clinton administration.

But it is now 2008 and soon to be 2012, where the determination of Christian morality of 2000 and 2004 have given way to the foreign policy and economic realities of 2008. The Republican vision remains locked on legislating the perceived evils out of society while quixotically pursuing and pushing the foolhardy neoconservative agenda of the Bush administration. This vision runs in stark contrast to the direction envisaged by the majority of the American electorate, with Palin serving as a all-to-clear reminder to the American voter of the worst elements of the discredited neoconservative movement. The elevation of Palin as the keystone to the future of the GOP can be best described as the self-immolation of the Republican Party.

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See Also: John McCain: Dishonest and Dishonorable, Quebecistan Terrorists Attack Our Dear Bible Spice, Sarah Palin doesn’t understand the First Amendment, Not The First Time, The Coming Republican Minority, Palin Continues to Hold McCain’s Head Under Water, John McCain mocks Sarah Palin on ‘SNL’: Funny or tacky?, Spread The Wealth Around, and Why Obama is going to win in a landslide.

Technorati Tags: sarah palin, sarah palin and the mccain campaign, sarah palin unfavorable ratings, sarah palin disliked, independent voters, perceptions of sarah palin, cnn poll, nytimes poll, new york times poll, negative ratings, 2008 campaign, john mccain, future of the republicans, GOP, republican party, polarizing figure, disliked politician, unqualified

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It just keeps pouring in [via NYTimes]:

A growing number of voters have concluded that Senator John McCain’s running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, is not qualified to be vice president, weighing down the Republican ticket in the last days of the campaign, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

All told, 59 percent of voters surveyed said Ms. Palin was not prepared for the job, up nine percentage points since the beginning of the month. Nearly a third of voters polled said the vice-presidential selection would be a major factor influencing their vote for president, and those voters broadly favor Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee.

And in a possible indication that the choice of Ms. Palin has hurt Mr. McCain’s image, voters said they had much more confidence in Mr. Obama to pick qualified people for his administration than they did in Mr. McCain…

The increase in the number of voters who said Ms. Palin was not prepared was driven almost entirely by Republicans and independents.. Over all, views of Ms. Palin were apparently shaped more by ideology and party than by gender. Ms. Palin was viewed as unprepared for the job by about 6 in 10 men and women alike. But 8 in 10 Democrats viewed her as unprepared, as well as more than 6 in 10 independents and 3 in 10 Republicans.

And she’s supposed to be the new vision of the Republican Party? Are they trying to pick up on the Democratic tradition of losing all major national elections? Regardless, the national ticket for the Republican party is a sinking like a stone.

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See Also: The Palin Poison, George Will gets it, New Poll: Palin Pick a Disaster for McCain, Path to the White House, Keep This In Mind, Is Palin Here to Stay?, Palin Not Ready, She’s still my homegirl, With friends like this, and Who Will Run The GOP?

Technorati Tags: sarah palin, electability, favorable ratings, recent polls, public polls, 10/31 poll, 10/30 poll, october 31st poll, 11/1 poll, november 1st poll, nytimes/cbs, new york times, sarah palin qualifications, public perceptions, prepared for presidency, prepared for vice presidency, unprepared, least qualified

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Transparency! Government accountability! Anti-pork! $50,000 of tax payer money to shuttle your kids around America on a private plane! Oops… [via CBSNews]

Alaska Governor and Republican Vice President hopeful Sarah Palin may be facing another round of scrutiny, this time for charging the state for her children to travel with her while conducing official state business.

Bristol, Piper and Willow, Palin’s daughters, accrued $32,629 in travel expenses while Palin’s husband Todd raked up $22,174 – all billed to the state for a total of $54,803.00.

“The Governor’s office has expended $54,803.00 in Alaska state dollars for family travel since December 2006,” according to the Governor’s Administrative Services Director, Linda Perez. “The documentation related to family travel has changed and you have to keep in mind that the governor and her family are very popular,” added Perez.

So Sarah Palin is the economically conservative and responsible maverick, but she has no problem spending $150,000 on her wardrobe, giving her kids thousand dollar handbags, or using tax payer money to fly her kids around the US?

See Also: A New Ethics Complaint About Palin, Palin Subject of New Ethics Complaint, Ethics Complaint Filed Against Palin Over Daughters Travel Expenses, Another Ethics Charge?,
Palin faces ethics complaint over kids’ travel, and The Dirty McCain Campaign, Violating Ethical Standards One Day at a Time.

Technorati Tags: sarah palin, ethics complaint, alaska, travel, childrens travel, daughters travel, 000, sarah palin violated alaska law, flying family members, private jet, private plane, sarah palin campaign, corruption, corrupt, sarah palin is corrupt, politician, alaska governor, abuse of taxpayer funds

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Possibly the best reporting to come out of the 2008 election. Compare this to Sarah “Vice President Is The Fuhrer of the Senate” Palin:

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See Also: Ouch, That’s Gotta Hurt, Best Biden Interview Ever, Breathtakingly Stupid VP Candidate Very Lucky The Media’s In The Tank For Obama, From Then To Now, From the Writers of The Daily Show: What a VP Does, Joe The Costume, Palin Becomes A Rogue Maverick, and Sarah Ditches Fancy Duds.

Technorati Tags: palm beach, 5th grader, fifth grader, journalist, media reporter, joe biden, interview, interview with a fifth grader, palm beach florida rally, joe biden rally, speech, cute kid, joe biden is my homeboy

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On Ashley Todd, with her make believe black attacker:

I was believing everything until she said the big ol black man wore “shiny shoes” and had on bicycle shorts. Oh you were attacked by Bobby Brown?

Whoever you are, I love you.

See Also: McCain campaign ‘is over’ says Fox News VP, Ashley Todd Makes The Front Page, Remember, Women Don’t Lie About Rape & Abuse, Race, desperation, and Ashley Todd, Charles Stuart, Susan Smith, Ashley Todd And Reflections On Leadership… Again, What’s Wrong with the Media,
Memorandum On Ashley Todd, Let’s Find A Better Word Than Hoax, Okay?, Politically Motivated? Bullshit Answer: “It’s Difficult To Say”, and a 6’4″ black man.

Technorati Tags: ashley todd, ashley todd fail, bobby brown, anonymous black person, black person attacks republican, republicans dream, bobby brown attacks poor republican girl, ashley todd is a crazy ho, bicycle shorts, what black person wears bicycle shorts?, shiny shoes

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From yesterday’s Washington Post:

“Al-Qaeda will have to support McCain in the coming election,” said a commentary posted Monday on the extremist Web site al-Hesbah, which is closely linked to the terrorist group. It said the Arizona Republican would continue the “failing march of his predecessor,” President Bush.

You heard right. Al-Qaeda is endorsing John McCain for President. And it isn’t hard to figure out why (but we’ll explain anyway):

The Web commentary was one of several posted by Taliban or al-Qaeda-allied groups in recent days that trumpeted the global financial crisis and predicted further decline for the United States and other Western powers. In language that was by turns mocking and ominous, the newest posting credited al-Qaeda with having lured Washington into a trap that had “exhausted its resources and bankrupted its economy.” It further suggested that a terrorist strike might swing the election to McCain and guarantee an expansion of U.S. military commitments in the Islamic world.

“It will push the Americans deliberately to vote for McCain so that he takes revenge for them against al-Qaeda,” said the posting, attributed to Muhammad Haafid, a longtime contributor to the password-protected site. “Al-Qaeda then will succeed in exhausting America.”

By the way, AL QAEDA, America can bankrupt itself without your help. So get your greedy paws out of our stock exchange!

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See Also: Why Does McCain Want to Give Al Qaeda a Vote?, Al Queda “Endorses” John McCain, We must take al Qaeda at their word (except when they say things we don’t like), Al Qaeda Endorses… John McCain??, McCain wins coveted Al Qaeda endorsement, Yusef the Plumber, The terrorist endorsement game, McCain endorsed by Al-Qaeda, Al Qaeda Supporters for John McCain, and Did al-Qaeda just endorse McCain?

Technorati Tags: al-qaeda, al qaeda, al qaeda endorses john mccain, endorsement for john mccain, extremists, jihadists, jihadists for john mccain, john mccain, support for john mccain from islamic extremists, islamic radical, terrorists for john mccain, washington post report, article

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From Quinnipiac University:

It’s still the economy as Sen. Barack Obama rolls up support among groups who have not supported a Democrat for decades to lead Republican Sen. John McCain in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, according to simultaneous Quinnipiac University Swing State polls released today.

Ohio: Obama up 52 – 38 percent, widening an October 1 lead of 50 – 42 percent

And from Big Ten Battleground Polling:

“In September, we saw virtually the entire Big Ten as a battleground,” said Franklin, co-developer of Pollster.com. “Now Obama is clearly winning the Big Ten battleground. The dominance of the economy as a top issue for voters is the overwhelming story.”

The new Big Ten poll shows Obama ahead in every Big Ten state, including Indiana, where McCain held a slight edge in September, and Ohio and Pennsylvania, where last month’s poll results showed the two candidates in a dead heat.

Ohio: Obama 53% McCain 41%

So in the two latest polls released on Ohio, Obama has a double digit lead. This is Obama’s strongest showing yet in the state of Ohio and also includes dramatic margins in Indiana. What a difference a month makes.

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See Also: Blackeye State, Reality Check, Al-Jazeera Exposes Racism At Sarah Palin Rally in Ohio, The AP/GFK Poll: Evangelical Surge?, Political Round Up: Ohio Ohio Ohio, Narrative Push Back on McCain Campaign Themes, CNN/Time: Obama Builds On Leads In Four Swing States, Anatomy of a Train Wreck, Big Ten Poll: Brutal results for McCain, great results for Obama, The Quinnipiac Battlegrounds, and A Warning from Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,

Technorati Tags: barack obama, john mccain, polls, state polls, battleground polls, battleground states, ohio polls, state of ohio, indiana, Big Ten Battleground Polling, Quinnipiac University, Quinnipiac polls, election 2008, polls from october 23 2008, octobor 23, october 24, octobor 24, 10/23/2008, 10/24/2008, daily state trackers, daily state polls, midwest polls

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