One and Done for Palin in Debate?

Now that we have the first presidential debate in the books, it’s time for the vice-presidential nominees to square off. This will be the nation’s only opportunity to evaluate the two people said to be a heartbeat away from the presidency. This debate assumes even more significance in that this is the only time the candidates will face each other. More importantly given the McCain camps inclination to keep Gov. Palin away from the press, it might be the only time we see her in an unscripted format.
Like many Americans, I was somewhat impressed with the selection of the Alaskan governor and her initial foray onto the national stage. After a year of the entitled then reinvented Hillary Clinton, Palin appeared to be a welcome breath of fresh air. The whole package seemed to work. Her back story was a campaign manager’s dream. PTA Mom, wife, mother of five, including a Down Syndrome child she refused to abort, as well as a meteoric political rise. Toss in “The First Dude” husband and field dressing a moose and you had John Wayne in a cute dress.
The reaction on the left was ferocious and immediate. The essence of the criticism was she’s a moron with no foreign policy expertise. It came across as shrill, sexist and partisan. Notice I haven’t said wrong! In my enthusiasm for the un-Hillary female candidate, I was willing to cut her a little slack. After all, all a vice-president does is go to state funerals and occasionally preside over the Senate. She’ll pick it up as she goes along. Then I listened to her unscripted conversation with Katie Couric the other day.
If that interview was any indication of her depth of knowledge or ability to think on her feet, John McCain can book a tee time for November 5th. In response to a question regarding her linkage of Alaska’s proximity to Russia and her foreign policy proficiency, Gov. Palin said this.
“Well it certainly does, because our next door neighbors are foreign countries, there in the state that I am executive of….As Putin rears his head and comes into the airspace of the United States of America, where do they go? It’s Alaska. They are right next door to our state.” It was horrifying and left no room for interpretation or spin. My cocker spaniel could have given me a more cogent answer.
Sarah Palin is living proof of ‘The Peter Principle” which states that most people eventually rise to their level of incompetence. Sarah Palin may be a popular and proficient Governor of Alaska but she’s not ready to be vice-president to a 72 year-old cancer survivor.
Which brings me to tonight’s debate. Off her performance with Katie Couric, there is no way she will convince anyone she’s ready for prime time. Her handlers are going to have to restrict her responses to canned answers and McCain talking points. The challenge for Sen. Joe Biden will be not appearing condescending or overbearing. She may be the female equivalent of Dan Quayle but Biden can’t lay her out like Lloyd Benson did in 1988 with a “Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine and you’re no Jack Kennedy” line.
So it might be Miller time for Sarah Palin after tonight. That would be the late William E. Miller of Lockport, NY. You see Rep. Miller, an obscure upstate Congressman was the vice-presidential running mate of another Arizona Senator, Republican Barry Goldwater.

Obama Wins Debate Big

The important thing to remember here is the debate doesn't take place for more than two hours. I'm just pretending to be a New York Times reporter and going with my institutional bias. Unless Obama farts or takes a swing at McCain, the liberal media will swoon over his performance tonight. I'll be back after the debate for a real assessment. Enjoy.

Racing Against Public Opinion

If you watched the Senate hearings today on the proposed financial bailout legislation, one thing was very obvious. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Fed chief Ben Bernanke want this thing done yesterday. That's because every day the public has to evaluate this thing, the more likely it is they will reject it. It's not the complexity of the proposal that has people balking. It's the growing realization this mess was created by the grand poobahs of Wall Street who couldn't have cared less about the little guy and now they want him to save their bacon. The backlash is only going to grow as these lawmakers head home for the elections and hear it from the folks. Look for this legislation to be modified dramatically.

A Thank You Note From Wall Street

Dear President Bush and Secretary Paulson et all:
On behalf of all of us here on Wall Street and corporate boardrooms around this great nation, we would like to express our profound appreciation for bailing out our sorry behinds. Only in today’s America can a republican president and his flunkies at Treasury and the Fed elect to reward years of fiscal mismanagement, greed and poor decision making with a financial mulligan. In one fell swoop you have made obsolete the notion the function of the capital markets is to set the price for success and failure.
What makes this federal bailout so fabulous and brilliant is who gets to pick up the tab for our malfeasance…the taxpayer. Think about it for a moment. We encourage people to take out mortgages on houses they can’t afford and home equity loans they can’t pay back. We then toss in a few wrinkles like adjustable rate mortgages just to get everybody at the craps table and then sit back and wait for the bomb to go off.
The only thing we hadn’t really planned on was the sheer amount of bad paper we’d put out there. But even there we thought we had it covered by packaging this junk up and selling it to the public. Sure, we figured somebody would end up with the black Queen, we just didn’t know everyone would. But then those years of generously donating our hard earned money to you, my president, paid off. Just as we were tied to the railroad tracks along came Hank and Ben Bernanke to save us. The fact we’d tied ourselves to the tracks was of little concern to you. Making the world safe for Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs shareholders won the day and we thank you for it.
But your prescient plan didn’t end there. You sent Secretary Paulson and Fed Chief Ben Bernanke up to see Nancy Pelosi and Christopher Dodd because you knew you needed them to get this proposal through Congress. Pointing out democrats couldn’t be seen as complicit in putting the great unwashed out on the street during an election year guaranteed they’d get on board. Even Chuck Schumer was dancing to your tune.
The beloved taxpayer is now on the hook for a cool trillion or two and the stock market is smoking. Speaking of the beloved taxpayer, a few of us here at Metropolitan Club are actually raising our glasses to that great American sage, Leona Helmsley, who once said” Only the little people pay taxes.” Pay indeed my friends. The little people will be paying for this debacle until we melt that stupid polar ice cap.
We’d be remiss if we didn’t also compliment you on the short term ban on shorting financial stocks. It’s the financial equivalent of the wage and prices controls Nixon imposed in the early 70’s to curb inflation. Hey, we know it was a long term disaster but who’s thinking long term here? You’ve just given us enough breathing room to unload these dogs at higher prices. Let Obama and his financial geniuses worry about it next year.
We know you’re too modest to talk about the political implications of all this but we all know what you were thinking. Bailing out Wall Street to save Main Street (wink, wink) keeps republicans in the game and forces Obama to get behind your plan. We’re so proud we gave so much money to your campaign, Mr. President. It sure paid off.

Understanding the Financial Panic

By now even the dumbest amongst us are aware the stock market is in sufficient turmoil to impact their clueless existence. Significant financial entities have either gone belly up or require federal assistance to stay afloat. At the root of the problem is a massive collapse of the credit market as a result of defaulting mortages. To keep it simple, this is what happened. Since the mid-90's with the encouragement of politicians and the Federal Reserve, Americans have used their home equity as an ATM. Lenders and customers were equally at fault. People who had no business getting a mortgage, first or second, were given them at rates difficult to refuse. Everyone involved knew it was a sham and a good number of these loans would never be repaid but nobody cared. The assumption was the worst thing that could happen was foreclosure but the value of the property would have gone up and nobody would get hurt. In the interim, the big banks were repackaging this toxic paper and reselling it, theoretically spreading the risk or at least lessening the chance that they would get caught holding the black Queen if housing prices faltered. The game got so out of hand, everyone ended up with the black Queen and the housing and financial markets collapsed. We are now in the Humpty Dumpty period as we try putting the pieces back together. It has already become a political issue but in reality both parties are to blame. Bill Clinton and George Bush were delighted to allow the housing market to drive the economy. Shame on them all.

The Thriller From Wasilla

Given it’s football season, indulge me as I use a pigskin analogy to describe the last few months of the presidential race. Think of the primaries as the conference championships. Envision the flashy tailback Barack Obama having to fight for every yard against a tenacious Hillary Clinton. Obama was clearly the more exciting player but he just couldn’t put any real distance between himself and Clinton. But at some point the thin lead built up by the Team Obama assumed a larger significance as the clock wound down. With time running out, Team Hillary reluctantly conceded defeat and grudgingly walked off the field without shaking hands. They would spend a lot of time in the locker room second guessing their original game plan and play calling.
Having beaten Clinton, Team Obama must then face Team McCain, an older, more established team but one considered a few years past its prime. Team Obama enters the game a prohibitive favorite and media darling. The pundits expect a decent game but think the youth, talent and enthusiasm of Team Obama will be too much for Team McCain team and it’s creaky quarterback.
Then “it” happens. On the eve of the big game, Team McCain announces a change at wide receiver. Instead of trotting out one of the veteran receivers, McCain goes with some unknown kid from Alaska. The word is she runs a 4.3 forty and eats defensive backs for lunch. The football world is electrified and the opposition terrified. All of a sudden, the focus is off the aging quarterback and on “The Thriller from Wasilla.”
This is about where the race stands. Gov. Palin is indeed the wunderkind of the moment and democrats have done a horrible job reacting to her. From the hideous comment about her only qualification for the job is she hasn’t had an abortion to the lipstick bungle, the democrat response has been negative, shrill and hysterical.
As I wrote when Gov. Palin was announced, she represents such a threat to the democrat world order; they will find it necessary to destroy her before her appeal takes root. Their heavy handed approach thus far may be making that impossible. In much the same way democrats demonize black republican achievers like Clarence Thomas, Colin Powell and Condi Rice, they feel compelled to attack women not of their kind.
What democrats are finding is there are a lot of women and men out there for whom abortion and gay rights are just some of the issues they consider when voting not the only ones. There has already been a 20% switch amongst white women to McCain-Palin in the last few weeks. That is nothing short of seismic and will crush Obama if left unchecked.
The question is can Obama get his mojo back. I think he can only because Americans are so fed up with republicans. But Obama’s going to have to give us more than lofty speeches and tales of community organizing after Harvard. BTW, why is it only democrats are community organizers and republicans are volunteers? He’s going to have to get back to issues and specifics.
The reason Sarah Palin may carry the day is the reason Obama has the democrat nomination. People are looking to turn the page but they just might go for McCain to see how the Sarah Palin story ends.

Obama Beginning to Sweat

For the first time in the campaign, Barack Obama is beginning to feel the heat. The media has turned it's attention to the Sarah Palin narrative and suddenly Obama's story is feeling a little old. The Obama camp has to be wondering if they're ever going to get the microphone back. All this underscores what may be the real issue here. Why can't Obama close the deal? Against Hillary Clinton, a deeply flawed candidate with huge negatives, he never really finished her off. With sarah Palin energizing voters, Obama is again stuck in the high 40's spinning his wheels. This is the first real competition he's faced and it shows.

Sarah Palin to Start as Patriots QB Sunday

Showing once again why John McCain picked her, Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin has been chosen by Patriots coach Bill Belichick to replace the injured Tom Brady at quarterback. The announcement has phones ringing off the hook looking for tickets. In Las Vegas, the Patriots went from a meager 2 point favorite to a prohibitive three touchdown favorite. Palin said she had no intention of taking questions from the media and said her performance Sunday will speak for itself.

Oil Plunge Could Help Republicans

While neither party has had ANYTHING to do with the price of oil, in the political world the party in power gets the blame or the credit for any wild fluctuations. I wrote in May that oil was a simple commodity and the law of supply and demand dictated it was due for a fall. At the time oil was pushing $150 and the media and politicians were indignant.(Remember Hillary and her 8 SUV's idling for a photo-op at an Indiana gas station).Even John McCain pandered by backing a windfall profit rebate for consumers. Well, that was the top and oil is on it's way below $100.
This could be good news for McCain/Palin. With oil plunging, democrats have once less thing to whine about. While they were happy to blame the evil oil companies and their republican toadies in Washington on the way up, they have to keep their yaps shut with oil diving. It also takes some of the pressure off the economy. Gas and heating oil, while not cheap, won't be front page news as democrats hoped. Advantage Republicans.

Elites in Full Panic Mode

Sarah Palin is being greeted by the liberal elites like a diner waitress who marries the richest guy in town. They just don't know how to react. They all instinctively hate her but know that as long as the guy loves her, they have to be careful attacking her. So it is with Sarah Palin. The polls show she has more than energized the base, she is pulling in women and independents in huge numbers. Hillary Clinton, the self-annointed women's champion, won't touch Sarah Palin with a ten-foot pole although I'm sure Bill thinks she's smokin' hot. (Come on, he took a run at Paula Jones, didn't he?)
The media elites are trying to elevate trivial Alaska stories about Palin to the level of national scandal but so far nothing's sticking. Like Obama last year, Sarah Palin can do no wrong. Unfortunately for Obama, he may have peaked too soon. He already feels like the incumbent and Palin the fresh faced, spunky challenger. The elites are in full retreat. If they can't win this year after 8 years of Bush, when can they? My God Ducky, have you seen her dress, that hair and all those frightful children! We have to put a stop to this!!!

God Enters The Campaign

The expected assualt by the left on Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is officially underway. Democrats have found a video of parishoner Sarah Palin speaking at her own church. The Governor is seen and heard saying she thinks everything including the Iraq War is somehow part of God's plan. I've always had my reservations about the concept of God's plan but I've never mocked anyone for believing such a plan exists. If you think there's nothing new here in terms of religious beliefs, you're right and wrong. You see the invocation of God's name by a Republican means you are a bible thumping bigot and have an extreme agenda. These same critics, of course, will show up at a real bible thumping service in a black church and wax on and on about God's warm embrace (as long as they vote democrat). Look at the pass the liberals give whack jobs like Rev. Wright when they attack the United States itself from the pulpit. The same crowd worries we're insulting the Koran but won't tolerate evangelicals. If these liberals think they can bring down Sarah Palin by attacking her religion, they will find themselves on the outside looking in as Sarah Palin puts her hand on the bible next January 20th.

Hillary and Oprah's Pickle

May I begin today’s meeting by asking everyone just how much are we enjoying the 2008 presidential contest. This thing has had it all from the get-go. A year ago John Mc Cain was dead broke and flying coach. Hillary was a lock for the nomination and Obama was seen as a comer and long shot VP selection and John Edwards was a family man.
Going into the democratic convention the story line was can Obama placate Hillary and her fulminating female demographic? Well, Hillary said all the right things and we’re supposed to believe she really, really wants Barack Obama elected. The republicans on the other hand seemed focused on putting together the message that Obama was all hat and no cattle. His lack of any real experience or achievement would be McCain’s strength.
Then along came Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin. Forget experience, she’s hot and can field dress a moose. The beehived buzz saw from Wasilla electrified the nation with her speech and her compelling life story. It was like a scene out of “Working Girl” only this one’s titled “Hockey Mom.” The bespectacled secretary walks into a meeting of the big boys and the next thing you know, they’re working for her. I’ll bet Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee feel like they’ve seen the movie.
But here’s where it gets interesting for two of the most powerful women in America, Hillary Clinton and Oprah Winfrey. Let’s start with Hillary. Before Sarah Palin’s ascension, all Hillary had to do was appear enthusiastic enough about Obama that she wouldn’t get the blame if he lost. She needs Obama to lose to further her career.
Sarah Palin changes everything. The 44 year-old mother of five has become the present and future of the Republican Party. She’s in a win-win situation. If McCain wins, she’s vice-president and heir apparent down the road. If McCain loses, she won’t get the blame but will get the presidential nomination in 2012.
None of this is good news for the aging Senator from New York. She needs a diminished Sarah Palin off the stage combined with an Obama loss to keep her presidential hopes alive.
Another woman with Sarah Palin problems is talk show host Oprah Winfrey. An early backer of Barack Obama, the self-important queen of daytime television announced she would not have Sarah Palin on her show until after the election if at all. Given Oprah’s audience is 110% women, many of whom are white, blue collar women, this decision could hurt Winfrey.
If there was ever a woman or a story that cried out for an hour on Oprah’s couch, it’s Sarah Palin… hockey mom, Down syndrome baby, Mr. Mom husband and a pregnant teenager at home. If Palin was Obama’s running mate, it would be a three parter during sweeps. Denying her audience that moment could generate a racial and political backlash which will hurt ratings and advertising revenue. Her ratings have already been hurt by her Obama endorsement.
The trick for both women is finding a way to take the legs out from under Gov. Palin without offending all those heartland voters so enamored with her. Hillary will likely focus on McCain and hope the media digs up some dirt on Palin. Oprah will claim hers is an entertainment platform and not a news program obligated to give equal time to anyone.
One thing is certain. Sarah Palin’s selection will ensure the midnight oil burns hot at Harpo Studios and Chappaqua.

Palin Tried Breaking Up Bristol's Romance

Not sure if this piece of information gets beyond a fairly typical family situation but...Last spring, Governor Sarah Palin took her daughter Bristol out of Wasilla High School and sent her to live with an aunt in Anchorage. There she was enrolled in West High School. It is believed this was done to cool off the romance with Levi. If it was, it didn't work.

Media Hypocrites in Full Throat

How many times this week have we heard reference to Sarah Palin's ability to juggle family and career as well as her decision to have both? Forget you'd never hear them asked of a democratic woman and certainly not of a man but since when did the feminist left and their water carriers in the media become the family value crowd? Here's my question ladies and gentlemen of the media. Why did you all choose to miss your child's first day of school this week and do you feel guilty about it? Only the media phonies can question Sarah Palin's committment to family while wishing their kids a good first day of school on their blackberries. And you wonder why they boo the media.

Sarah Palin Sweeps My Coffee Shop

I have found local coffee shops to be a pretty good barometer of community sentiment. Mine is in Hyde Park, New York just down the street from Franklin Roosevelt's house. Whether it's local or national, it all gets chewed over at my local coffee joint. If this morning's experience is any indication, Sarah Palin won big last night. People were buzzing about her speech and they weren't all republicans. Sarah Palin and her life narrative have struck a nerve unlike anything I've seen since the Ross Perot phenomenon of the early 90's. In this case though the groudswell of support and affection for Sarah Palin is 100% spontaneous unlike the contrived and heavily financed Perot flash.
Sarah Palin is going to be a rock star on the campaign trail and raise huge amounts of money for republicans accross the board. The McCain campaign was headed for Bob Dole land with McCain being afforded the same respect minus a plurality. Sarah Palin represents both the present and future of the Republican Party. She connects on the issues and proved last night she can mix it up. Look for democrats to savage her in the coming days. They need to kill her politically and can't afford to have the American people fall in love with her. Remember, there are only 61 days left in this campaign. Sarah Palin may feel like a teenage crush but it only has to last two months.

Palin Is Must See TV

I have to admit I haven't been this fired up to watch anything on TV since the Red Sox came back from the grave to beat the Yankees in 2005. Here's my game plan tonight. I'm going to kick back in my den and watch Gov. Palin on my new 60" flat screen television. I will have the air conditioner on overdrive to keep my new grizzly bear skin rug fresh as the day he was shot. Given I like to keep the temperature around 62 degrees, I will be wearing my new caribou vest and snug otter cap. I've also penciled in time to clean my new hunting rifle in case the convention runs long. For refreshments I'm going with chocolate covered moose droppings and baby seal filets. Can't wait.

Palin Will Hit A Home Run

Something tells me Gov. Sarah Palin will hit it out of the park tonight. She doesn't even have to mention the democratic nominees but simply go after their surrogates in the media. The delegates and a great portion of the American electorate have been waiting for someone like Palin for a long time. A candidate not afraid to champion the life most Americans live. Women particularly will relate to Palin. Women with real jobs and complicated families. Women without college degrees, nannies or a fancy job. They are looked upon with disdain by the feminist and democratic elites. If Sarah Palin can put it out there tonight, the phony feminism of Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi will go the way polyester suits. The democrats are scared stiff this nobody from nowhere is going to blow The Messiah off the stage and relegate the democratic party to fringe status which is why they're trying to destroy her. Should be quite a night!

Nancy Pelosi Located

As more and more people wondered where our distinguished Speaker of the House has been during the Sarah Palin eviseration, I have found her. She is currently receiving visitors at The Hiroshima Memorial in Japan. That has to be an emotional moment for the junketeering Pelosi whose recent book was as big a bomb as the one we dropped on Hiroshima.

Hillary and Pelosi MIA on Palin

Am I the only person noticing the lack of support or even response to the viscious personal attacks being visited upon Sarah Palin and her pregnant daughter Bristol? Neither Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi and the other so-called feminists have gone radsio silent on this. Ironically it's the left criticizing Palin for daring to juggle a big job along with a big family. Would anyone trash Joe Biden for this. This once again proves feminism is more about abortion and same sex marriage than protecting real women with real problems. Shame on them!

The Campaign to Kill Sarah Palin and her Daughter

Like everyone else the unfolding saga of Sarah Palin and now her daughter's pregnancy has gotten my attention. There are legitimate questions about John McCain's vetting process or lack thereof. But the real story here is the unprecedented attack on Sarah Palin and her family by the left. Not since liberals savaged the character of Clarence Thomas by using whack job Anita Hill's sketchy accusations have I seen anything like this. Her sin? Sarah Palin is everything the left and particularly the feminist left hate. She's pro-life, happily married with five kids, loves hunting and fishing and has thumbed her nose at the corruption in Alaskan politics and she didn't need a Melissa Ethridge soundtrack to do it. If Sarah Palin becomes Vice-President and becomes a roll model for young women, the feminists lose face. The Planned Parenthood crowd don't want the likes of Sarah Palin rewarded for their values. Any more than the left still can't stomach Clarence Thomas, they will do anything to derail Palin even if that includes eviserating a pregnant 17 year-old girl. I wonder how these people would have reacted if 17 year-old Chelsea Clinton had gotten pregnant. You can be sure the same folks now attacking Palin's daughter would have screamed privacy for the Clintons. If she'd had an abortion, they'd have declared a national holiday.

Palin Story A Little Shaky

The revelation that Sarah Palin's 17 year-old daughter Bristol is five months pregnant combined with a nasty piece of work coming from left wing blog The Daily Kos got me on the phone with folks in Alaska. Is it really possible Sarah Palin took a bullet for her daughter earlier this year by faking a pregnancy? Here's what I know. Bristol Palin, a student at The Choate School in Alaska, did take an extended leave from her school claiming mono. The whisper around school was she was pregnant. Then there is the issue of no one noticing Sarah Palin was preggers even though she was in the public eye as governor. A doctor friend in Alaska told me it is not uncommon for some women not to show particularly very fit runner types which would apply to Palin. My doctor source who knows Palin's doctor was surprised to learn Palin was instructed to fly eight hours after her water broke. That has raised more than a few eyebrows. But my source also said it would be next to impossible to pull off a fake birth in a legitimate hospital like the one Palin went to. Furthermore my source said the doctor involved is in her 50's with an impeccable reputation and can't imagine her falsifying medical records for anyone. There's enough loose ends here to make a rope and unless they're cleared up immediately, it might be enough to hang the Republican ticket.

Cheney Spotted in New Orleans with Dynamite

Juist kidding on that headline but I'll promise you there are more than a few morons out there who would believe Cheney is skulking around trying to blow up the levees. Actually the worst has come to pass in The Big easy. Hurricane Gustav is a dud! It's already been downgraded to a Category Two and is unlikely to cause any significant damage or loss of life. The media is despondent and democrats suicidal. Imagine all those network anchors and reporters giving up one last weekend in the Hamptons to cover a glorified rainstorm. Ah well, back to Sarah Palin.