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Last week McCain aides told Fox news a few things about Sarah Palin’s campaign. She was emotionally difficult. Didn’t want to take advice before the Katie Couric interviews. Didn’t know which countries belonged to NAFTA. But the most stunning revelation was that she didn’t know that Africa is a continent.
Palin has hit back at the McCain sources.
CNN reported yesterday that Palin called former aides of John McCain “jerks” for circulating these unflattering stories about her. Palin thought the stories may have come from the people who helped her prepare for her debate with Joe Biden. “Those were taken out of context and that’s cruel,” Palin said. “It’s mean-spirited. It’s immature. It’s unprofessional and those guys are jerks if they came away with it, taking things out of context, and then tried to spread something on national news.” She added that it was “cowardly” for staffers to make claims about her anonymously.
“It’s not fair and it’s not right.”
Two tiny American towns, which overwhelmingly swung for Bush 4 years ago, have voted for Obama today. Dixville Notch and Hart’s Location, New Hampshire have a tradition of having the first Election Day ballots counted.
Obama defeated McCain by a count of 15 to 6 in Notch and in the town of Hart’s Location 17 votes were for Obama, 10 for McCain and two for Ron Paul.
AP said:
With 115 residents between them, Dixville Notch and Hart’s Location get every eligible voter to the polls beginning at midnight on Election Day. Between them, the towns have been enjoying their first-vote status since 1948.
I hoped tonight, after some fairly wild trick and treating in my Johannesburg neighbourhood, that the polls would treat me to some calm.
And with just 3 days and 7 hours before Super Tuesday, it’s looking good:
Real Clear Politics indicate that Obama is leading on 11 polls and that the RCP average has him leading 49.9 points to McCain’s 43.5. Read More…
Ok. This might be a joke. But it’s not funny at all. The city’s mayor is right: there are healthier ways, without referencing violence, of expressing opinion.
SAPA today reports:
A halloween display showing a figure resembling Republican vice presidential pick Sarah Palin hanging by a noose has caused uproar in the Californian city of West Hollywood, leading to condemnation Monday from the local mayor. Chad Michael Morrisette has the effigy, wearing Palin’s trademark red jacket, glasses, high heels and a wig, hanging from the roof of his house in the city to the west of Los Angeles. Read More…
This is what McCain said about his running mate Sarah Palin in the debate last night. (He obviously had to defend and rave about her. But really, he doesn’t say much at all about her ability to run a country and how she will complement him politically):
Well, Americans have gotten to know Sarah Palin. They know that she’s a role model to women and other — and reformers all over America.
She’s a reformer. She is — she took on a governor who was a member of her own party when she ran for governor. When she was the head of their energy and natural resources board, she saw corruption, she resigned and said, “This can’t go on.” Read More…
By many accounts (New York Times, CNN, CBS, Andrew Sullivan) , Obama was the clear winner of this final presidential debate. (Ok, not suprisingly the conservative National Review isn’t that convinced).
He as always appeared calm, professorial, and sometimes boring. But boring, says Andrew Sullivan ‘is f!@£ing awesome after Bush’. McCain raised his eyebrows condescendingly many times during and was at his combative best. He was determined to raise all the contentious issues . He grilled Obama on taxes, spending, the tone of the campaign and his association with the William Ayers. The debate dealt with domestic issues, including abortion, judicial appointments and climate change as well as the economy. The differences between the candidates were often clarified.
The New York Times reported on the tone of the debate:
Mr. Obama maintained his largely unflappable demeanor, remaining calm if somewhat professorial, while Mr. McCain was more emotional, perhaps seeking to show passion but at times appearing inconsistent in his tone and at risk of coming across as angry…
The tone of the night was captured by the split-screen image of Mr. Obama, doing his best to keep his composure during sometimes withering attack, and that of Mr. McCain looking coiled and annoyed, occasionally breathing deeply, apparently in an expression of impatience.
On Ayers, Obama gave an answer which hopefully clarified once and for all his ‘association’ with the man: Read More…
You have to read this Gawker.com piece about McCain’s granddaughter and other forgotten family members. Sidney his daughter apparently had a baby daughter when she was 20 or 21 but:
(She) gave it up for adoption. Of course she wasn’t married at the time, so now McCain doesn’t want anything to do with the granddaughter, and ignores her desperate calls every Christmas Eve to all 43 of his houses. That could be because she isn’t real, except as a Democratic hit piece, or as a supposed Democratic hit piece that makes us pity GOTCHA smear victim John McCain. But it could also be because she is real and the Republican ticket is already too full of obscure sons, daughters, half-siblings, adopted kids and love children to handle another. McCain probably can’t keep track of them or even remember their names.
There are Cindy McCain’s half sisters (see the earlier blog), their adopted daughter Bridget, and John McCain’s adopted son Andrew who are not remembered or often mentioned. Lots of skeletons in this cupboard. The Gawker.com story is here.
Eish. What contempt!
McCain claims that Mr. Obama isn’t ready to be president. “We don’t have time for on the job training,” he says.
And how, does he suggest, is Palin going to gain enough know-how to be anywhere near ready to be his veep?
Amazing that he chose her and yet won’t offer her the opportunity for on-the-job training?
