McCain's Choice for VP, and I know this gal a real class act !!!

Having come from Alaska where you gatta be tough just to survive, and in order for McCain to be considered in my house for our vote he simply must choose a female for his running mate. Condi Rice would solve this but I think she would rather be the Commissioner of the NFL. So where does McCain go after Condi?, how about up North where the air is cold, and the women can be tough as nails, drop dead gorgeous, and Ivy league smart. Governor Sarah Palin is a gal who while 8 months pregnant honored a commitment to speak at a event in Texas, went into labor, finished her speech, jumped on a jet with a doctor, flew back to Anchorage, then was driven out to her home in Wasilla, had the State troopers drop her off at the local Hospital and punched out her 5th kid, now that takes chops. My daughter who still lives in Eagle River absolutely loves her as does the entire State of Alaska. She has kicked butt and taken names, and virtually eliminated the remotest aroma of corruption. She has seen to it that even long term GOP elected officials were investigated, tried and convicted and now sit in Alaska prisons. Like "Sarah Connor" of the terminator, she has taken on the establishment including the Federal Government trying to get oil fields open and the new Natural Gas pipeline built to help reduce US dependence on foreign oil. And finally given her age, she will be the first female president of the United States.

June 04, 2008

McCain Should Pick Sarah Palin for VP

By Jack Kelly

Who? When?

Republicans including, I imagine, Sen. McCain himself are asking these questions about his selection of a vice presidential candidate.

Ideally, a presidential candidate wants a running mate who will help him or her win the election, and (maybe) to govern afterwards. But most will settle for a veep who isn't a drag on the ticket, as Dan Quayle was for the first President Bush.

Traditionally, a presidential nominee has chosen a running mate to balance the ticket geographically, or to appease a faction of the party. The most successful example of this was when John F. Kennedy picked Lyndon Johnson, though neither liked the other, and LBJ joined the ticket only because he thought Kennedy would lose.

Bill Clinton broke with this tradition when he chose another young (purported) moderate from a neighboring southern state. By picking Al Gore, he hoped to reinforce his campaign theme of generational change.

Which way will Sen. McCain go? The potential running mates most often discussed have downsides nearly as great as their upsides. Gov. Tim Pawlenty helps only in Minnesota, and not enough, according to current polls, to make a difference there. Sen. McCain's friend Sen. Joe Lieberman would bring in some moderate Democrats, but could further antagonize conservatives already suspicious of Sen. McCain. Gov. Romney would have little appeal to working class whites unhappy with Sen. Obama, and evangelicals fret about that Mormon thing. A Huckabee nomination would irritate economic and foreign policy conservatives as much as it would please evangelicals.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is a rising star. But he's only 36, and he's been governor for less than a year.
There is one potential running mate who has virtually no down side. Those conservatives who've heard of her were delighted to learn that McCain advance man Arthur Culvahouse was in Alaska recently, because they surmised he could only be there to discuss the vice presidential nomination with Gov. Sarah Palin.

At 44, Sarah Louise Heath Palin is both the youngest and the first female governor in Alaska's relatively brief history as a state. She's also the most popular governor in America, with an approval rating that has bounced around 90 percent.

This is due partly to her personal qualities. When she was leading her underdog Wasilla high school basketball team to the state championship in 1982, her teammates called her "Sarah Barracuda" because of her fierce competitiveness.

Two years later, when she won the "Miss Wasilla" beauty pageant, she was also voted "Miss Congeniality" by the other contestants.

Sarah Barracuda. Miss Congeniality. Fire and nice. A happily married mother of five who is still drop dead gorgeous. And smart to boot.

But it's mostly because she's been a crackerjack governor, a strong fiscal conservative and a ferocious fighter of corruption, especially in her own party.

Ms. Palin touches other conservative bases, some of which Sen. McCain has been accused of rounding. Track, her eldest son, enlisted in the Army last Sept. 11. She's a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association who hunts, fishes and runs marathons. A regular churchgoer, she's staunchly pro-life.

Kimberley Strassel of the Wall Street Journal said Sen. McCain should run against a corrupt, do-nothing Congress, a la Harry Truman. If he should choose to do so, Gov. Palin would make an excellent partner "The landscape is littered with the bodies of those who have crossed Sarah," pollster Dave Dittman told the Weekly Standard's Fred Barnes.

Sen. Barack Obama's support has plunged recently among white women. Many Hillary Clinton supporters accuse him -- I think unfairly -- of being sexist. Having Sarah Palin on the ticket could help Sen. McCain appeal to these disgruntled Democrats.

Running mates usually aren't named until the convention. But if Sen. McCain should name Gov. Palin earlier, it would give America more time to get to know this extraordinary woman. And because she's at least a dozen feature stories waiting to be written, she could help him dominate the news between now and the conventions.

Another reason for selecting Sarah Palin early would be to force Barack Obama to make a mistake. He'd have to rule out choosing someone like Virginia Sen. Jim Webb as his running mate, for fear of exacerbating charges of sexism. And if he chose a woman other than Hillary, the impression Democrats are wimpy would be intensified.

Obama's Next Step

Posted: 07 May 2008 12:24 PM CDT

In a conference call with reporters, the Obama campaign focused on the relatively small number of pledged delegates they need to win the majority, and had five of Obama's top elected supporters...

Aggressive Obama TV Spending Prompted Clinton's Loan

Will 24's David Palmer fiction be Obama reality?

Aggressive Obama TV Spending Prompted Clinton's Loan

By Matthew MoskWashington Post Staff WriterFriday, February 8, 2008; A08

When Sen. Barack Obama began to bombard Super Tuesday states with television ads late last month, top advisers to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton quickly realized they could not afford to match the effort, and first broached with her the notion of dipping into her personal bank account.
"The campaign faced a strategic decision -- either attempt to match his TV . . . or lose," said a senior Clinton adviser, who spoke about the internal discussions on the condition of anonymity. "I would say given the result of Super Tuesday, it was the right decision."
The $5 million loan telegraphed for the first time that the Clinton campaign, which raised more than $100 million in 2007, had suddenly hit the financial skids. Clinton disclosed the loan on Wednesday.
What campaign aides have described as a "temporary cash-flow problem" left Clinton (N.Y.) unable to match Obama's advertising in upcoming primary states for much of this week. It also made some of Clinton's top donors, in key states such as Texas, uneasy.
Alonzo Cantu, a South Texas developer who has raised more than $1 million for Clinton's bid, said that while his region remains "Clinton country," he can hear Obama's footsteps in a state whose March 4 primary offers a huge delegate prize.
"They're buying media, they're calling state representatives, they're calling key senators," he said of the Obama campaign. "It's Clinton country, but right now it feels like it's hers to lose. She doesn't seem to be very active."
Cantu's concerns may be short-lived. Clinton campaign chairman Terence R. McAuliffe told donors on a conference call that the disclosure of the $5 million loan had unleashed a fresh flow of money. Yesterday afternoon, he said the campaign raised $6.4 million over the Internet "in the last 24 to 30 hours," and will start airing television ads in several critical states today. "It's going to allow us to do everything we need to do," McAuliffe said.
Evan Tracey, an analyst who monitors political advertising, confirmed that the Clinton team had placed new orders for ads in Maine, Nebraska and Washington state. But Obama has had commercials airing for several days in large television markets in the District, Maryland and Virginia, as well as Louisiana, Nebraska and Washington state, Tracey said. The senator from Illinois has also gotten a fundraising bounce out of the Feb. 5 contests, raising more than $7 million on Wednesday.
Michael Stratton, a Clinton fundraiser in Denver, said that while her loan may have given donors jitters about the financial health of the campaign, it also motivated them to reach back into their pockets.
"I think there was this assumption she's a money machine and will be able to raise whatever she needs," he said. "I think there are people who thought, 'Whoa. I guess we've got to rally here.' "
Clinton was able to draw on her joint bank account with her husband to make the loan. Last year, Hillary and Bill Clinton cashed out a blind trust with stock holdings valued at $5 million to $25 million, with the aim of avoiding conflicts of interest during the campaign, Clinton aides said.
More recently, the Wall Street Journal has reported that the former president will collect about $20 million in a deal to end his business relationship with the investment firm of billionaire friend Ron Burkle. Burkle is also a top fundraiser for Hillary Clinton's campaign.
Aides also noted that she reportedly received $8 million from the publication of her autobiography in 2003.
There had been signs of belt-tightening even before the loan was made. Clinton officials have shared hotel rooms -- an inconvenience that wealthier campaigns do not force upon exhausted staff members -- and Clinton has brought media representatives with her on every leg of her travels, which can help defray transportation costs (although it creates inconvenience).
A senior campaign official reported being told last month that McAuliffe was unhappy about falling behind Obama in fundraising, although McAuliffe did not say so publicly and yesterday called the campaign's current condition "spectacular" when speaking with donors.
During Clinton's 2006 Senate race, several high-ranking aides voiced concerns about loose financial controls over such things as office supplies and advertising. The current campaign appears to be run more frugally, with headquarters in Virginia rather than on K Street. But the campaign's latest reports still show unusual expenditures, such as nearly $500,000 last year for parking costs.
A review of both campaigns' financial filings show they aggressively spent money last year. Both spent more than $80 million before heading into the January primary season, including similar amounts on travel and events. Obama spent more on television advertising and field staff. Clinton spent nearly $4 million on political and media consultants; Obama spent about $1.4 million.
What changed in 2008, Clinton aides said, is that Obama has escalated his spending substantially. Even after Clinton decided to lend the campaign money, Obama outspent her on television advertising. Tracey estimated that Obama spent $16 million from Jan. 7 to Feb. 5 and that Clinton spent $12 million.
Susie Tompkins Buell, a bundler for Clinton in California, said she remains optimistic, even though many donors she has contacted have given the maximum allowed. "The campaign has gone on much longer than any of us expected," Buell said. "I think now we are in the position of looking for the little checks. We're trying to find out how best to do that." The Clinton campaign reported attracting 40,000 new online donors yesterday.
Staff writer Anne E. Kornblut and database editor Sarah Cohen contributed to this report.

Finally somebody has the guts to say it! It's Black versus White for the Dems

How Clinton Will Win the Nomination by Losing S.C.

Posted: 23 Jan 2008 12:41 AM CST

Hillary Clinton will undoubtedly lose the South Carolina primary as African-Americans line up to vote for Barack Obama. And that defeat will power her drive to the nomination. The Clintons are...

Obama Campaign Decries Clinton S.C. Ad

By Matthew Mosk
Barack Obama's presidential campaign team is crying foul today over a new radio ad that rival Hillary Clinton has begun to air in South Carolina.

According to a transcript and audio of the ad being circulated by the Obama camp, the radio spot presents a clip of Obama saying, "The Republicans were the party of ideas for a pretty long chunk of time there over the last 10, 15 years."

A voiceover then says, "Really? Aren't those the ideas that got us into the economic mess we're in today? Ideas like special tax breaks for Wall Street. Running up a $9 trillion debt. Refusing to raise the minimum wage or deal with the housing crisis. Are those the ideas Barack Obama's talking about?"

The line of attack is one that Clinton used during the contentious Democratic debate in South Carolina, and one she and her husband have both repeated on the stump -- though the radio ad drops the Clintons' earlier assertion that Obama said that the Republicans had "all the good ideas" during the 90s.

The Washington Post Fact Checker columnist, Michael Dobbs, examined the Clintons' earlier critique of the Obama remark, and concluded that the Clinton attacks distorted Obama's comment. Dobbs noted that Obama never said the Republican ideas were good ones, and during the interview in which he made the comment, he went on to criticize the Republican obsession with tax cuts.

Here, courtesy of FactCheck.Org, is the full text of what Obama told the editorial board of the Reno Gazette-Journal:

Obama (Jan. 14, 2008): The Republican approach has played itself out. I think it's fair to say that the Republicans were the party of ideas for a pretty long chunk of time there over the last 10, 15 years, in the sense that they were challenging conventional wisdom. Now, you've heard it all before. You look at the economic policies when they're being debated among the presidential candidates, it's all tax cuts. Well, we know, we've done that; we've tried it. That's not really going to solve our energy problems, for example.

Let the Spiking Begin Lefty Bloggers

I had mentioned in an earlier Spyglass post that the lefty authors of Amicus, Bell, etc, etc, etc (Shall we Dance) would wait till the last minute on Saturday night to intentionally spike down the ratings of the Spyglass. Well I just happened to be reading some of the lefty blog posts this evening and what do I see? , nearly every article I posted early this morning was repeated by the left.

Well I couldn’t have felt more proud that many of you thought what I had already posted needed to be repeated under your byline. I also thought I must be running around 10 out of 10 possible in highest ranking, since every post I made today was repeated by somebody, but NOOOOO, the Spyglass was spiked down to 4 , FOUR!!!! You know who you are.

So the Gloves come off you ingrates, just watch in shock as your favorite Amicus, Bell, Track, and the rest feel the sharp attacks you have chosen to dish out on the old Spyglass.

And in closing, I will say for the record that Romney’s campaign is done. He painted himself with previous lies right up to the cliff’s edge. This latest whopper pushed him over the edge as far as this voter stands.

I and many others don’t want a prejudiced anti Mormon Southern Baptist minister as the leader of this great country (along with 5 million other voting Mormons) so Huckleberry Hound is toast. This latest thing with Rudy is going to bring back memories of his excuse of Prostate Cancer when he bowed out against Hillary “the ROD” Clinton, when his pollsters gave him the losing numbers.

So I’m going out on a HUGE Limb tonight and tell you who I feel will be the nominees for their respective parties.

Obama will be like Fox’s 24 David Palmer, the first African American Presidential Nominee for the democrats, who will be his running mate? Wesley Clark most likely

As for the Republican’s, hold onto your hats folks, but here is the actual winning team that can take the White House. Drum roll please. You gatta hand it to Governor Jon Huntsman and AG Mark Shurtlef, they ignored them all and stayed loyal to Senator John McClain. He will likely win New Hampshire after Mitt stepped in it again by opening his mouth, and then come in second to Huckabee in SC. Mitt will likely win Iowa, but not by much, and he had to pander to those multi millionaire farmers about ethanol if he does.

At least McCain told them where they can stick their corncobs subsidies. And guess who will be his running mate? , the democratic Vice Presidential nominee of 2004 Joe Lieberman. Uncle Joe is squeaky clean, smart, and really wants to stick it to the Democrats who tried to toss him out of the US Senate. He is well respected on both sides of the aisle of the Senate, and probably could get some real work accomplished.

What’s happened to Romney? The more prevalent this revelation about Romney’s pattern of lying (especially about stuff that happened during the Olympics) gets out, he should save the Millions he would throw down the toilet, and give his son about 3 million to take on Matheson here in Utah’s second district. I actually herd that the party is considering Merrill Cook as a possibility again. If the Republican Party can’t get a fresher candidate to run against Matheson, they should concede the inevitable and put their money in a race they actually might win.

Can Oprah's Q carry Obama over Clinton?

Obama Headlines Chi-town

Posted: 08 Dec 2007 10:08 AM CST

CHICAGO -- Before hitting the trail today with Oprah Winfrey, Barack Obama celebrated a hometown send-off of sorts at the city's historic -- and aging -- Riviera Theater last night. With tickets...

The Gloves come off between Clinton and Obama

WASHINGTON - The rival presidential campaigns of
Hillary Rodham Clinton' and Barack Obama traded accusations of nasty politics Wednesday over Hollywood donor David Geffen, who once backed Bill Clinton but now supports his wife's top rival.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070222/ap_on_el_pr/clinton_obama_15