It's On!

That's right. Sundown. City Hall. Macon. The second gubernatorial debate in a week will happen in Macon. This one is sponsored by the Democratic Women of Bibb County and is sure to be informative since I will get to ask some questions. :)

Join us, tonight at 6 p.m.

Check back here for updates after the party's over.

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"That One"

Did John McCain REALLY just refer to Barack Obama as "that one" during the debate? Really?

Holy cow.

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Obama Uses Palin Footage In New Ad

Good ad:

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We Are Ticked Off, Sarah

Unless Tina Fey actually shows up at the debate tonight, don't expect the event to be "Thursday Night Live" as some pundits suggest. Sarah Palin will do just fine tonight. At this point, all she has to do is show up and not cuss, and she'll be crowned the winner. After all, the neo-cons have spent two weeks lowering expectations to the point that most Americans are turning on the evening news just to hear the latest Palin gaff. I mean, seriously, I watched the CBS Evening News last night for the first time in years. If Obama is elected, Katie Couric should get a gift basket from the campaign-at least a tee shirt.

And, they've been working the ref, now suggesting that Gwen Iffil is biased because of a book she has written. Give me a break. Even McCain knows about "a google." Apparently Iffil was fine until McCain began to tank. And tank, he has, with the economy now tied to his ankle like an anchor. I am sitting in the reddest of states, Georgia, where the latest polls have McCain up by single digits. That has to have the McCain team working the Tums dispenser, not because it means that Obama will win Georgia, but because it reflects what is happening nationally. The combination of McCain's own blunders (see "suspending my campaign" and his testy interview with the Des Moines Register), the dire economic situation, the unending war in Iraq and the proclamation by David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, that we urgently need more troops in Afghanistan have now made McCain's judgement the central issue of this election.

No where was that judgement more flawed than in McCain's selection of "Joe Six Pack" Palin for his Vice Presidential nominee, a choice that is increasingly driving even conservatives from his side. Yesterday, Palin who refuses to list what she reads and who stubbornly clings to her claim that she's an expert on foreign policy because of Alaska's geography, said, "It's time that a normal Joe Six-Pack American is finally represented in the position of vice presidency, and I think that that's kind of taken some people off guard, and they're out of sorts, and they're ticked off about it."

Damn right we're ticked off about it, Sarah. This is not the time to elect an "average" president. I don't know what papers they have been putting in front of you, but, if you've been reading anything other than your briefing book, then you know that we need the brightest and the best at the helm, especially now. Joe Six-Pack needs a voice, a vote and most of all a President who cares about the middle class-not the guy and gal who want to give $174 billion annually in tax breaks to large corporations while the middle class picks up the scraps. If there are any scraps. If there still is a middle class.

It is indeed now the neocons left defending Gov. Palin, individuals who clearly value party and power over the good of the nation and who launch wholesale attacks on those whose ideas are not in line with their own. Calling for a "cease fire in the war of unwelcome ideas" conservative columnist Kathleen Parker, who has been the focus of neocon ire after being openly critical of the Palin choice, said today in the Washington Post:

Readers have every right to reject my opinion. But when we decide that a person is a traitor and should die for having an opinion different from one's own, we cross into territory that puts all freedoms at risk. (I hear you, Dixie Chicks.) I'm sure it is coincidence that, upon the Palin column's publication, a conservative organization canceled a speech I was scheduled to deliver in a few days. If I were as paranoid as the conspiracy theorists are, I might wonder whether I was being punished for speaking incorrectly. Unfortunately, that's the way one begins to think when party loyalty is given a higher value than loyalty to bedrock principles.
Our day of reckoning may indeed be upon us. Between war and economic collapse, we have enormous challenges. It will take the best of everyone to solve them. That process begins minimally with a commitment to engage in civil discourse and a cease-fire in the war against unwelcome ideas.

Parker's right. Party loyalty is not a reason to cast a vote in this election. The time is too short, the stakes are too high. In the end, while tonight may be interesting political theater, it cannot erase the weeks of silence, scripts and vacant responses that have marked Palin's introduction to the American people. There is increasing evidence that John McCain cannot administer an effective campaign, much less a country in crisis. We are ticked off, Sarah, not at you, but at John McCain, who in choosing you demonstrated that "County First" is nothing but an empty slogan.

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Uhm, Did McCain Just Say That?

We don't normally tolerate this kind of language around here, but did McCain say what I think he said? Horses**t? Really?

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Stunt

I know John McCain is computer challenged, but does he not know how to use a cell phone? Can he not multi-task? If he becomes President, does he plan to get a waiver that stipulates he will only be required to deal with one crisis at a time? And, was he listening last week when the other John McCain declared the economy fundamentally sound?

There has perhaps never been a more important time for those who propose to lead to stand before the American people and answer the hard questions. Yet, the McCain camp prefers phot-ops and stunts. First, they hide Palin from the press and now they are threatening to boycott the debate. Tell John McCain that you're not buying it. Go, here, go now, and demand that he debate.

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A Hundred Versus a Million

I suspect this might come up in the debate tonight. MSNBC is reporting that supporters of Sen. Clinton have formed a 527 and are seeking a hundred wealthy donors to contribute $100k each to fund ten million in advertising in March 4th states. On the other hand, Sen. Obama's campaign reported yesterday that they are closing on on a million individual donors, an unprecedented number. Me, I'd rather be part of an army of a million that an elite group of a hundred.

By making a contribution to Sen. Obama today, you can help make history and send a message that the keys to the White House belong to the people of this country, not to a few wealthy elite. Click here to make your contribution. And, don't forget to watch the debate tonight on CNN at 8 pm.

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Mike Huckabee is So Going to Win Iowa

I'm a watching the republican YouTube debate. (Yes, I do hate myself.) What I want to say is:

Mike Huckabee is SO going to win Iowa, and probably the whole shootin' match.

We need to focus on who on our team has the capacity to stand up to Mr. "I started at age 14 working and worked my way though college. Because I was able to get an education, I am standing on this stage, otherwise I might be picking lettuce..."

Somehow, Hillary Clinton's name does not jump to mind.

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The Biggest Loser

I just finished watching tonight's presidential debate, and while I readily admit my Edwards bias, he did an especially good job tonight. This was his best performance so far. He drew more than one "bright line" between himself and Clinton, beginning by differentiating his stand from hers on leaving combat troops in Iraq. Loved his "unto the least of these" choice of scripture. If you agree, there couldn't be a better time to toss some change his way.

On the other hand, I thought that Obama was the biggest loser. The pre-press indicated that he was going to go after Clinton, and he really did not. His answer about why he did not go to Jena was extremely weak. He said he was in Washington trying to bring an end to the Iraq war. Well, if not missing votes is so important, why did he not vote on the Iran resolution today? And why was he in Georgia for a fundraiser last week rather than being in Washington for a vote? I also heard a rumor-just a rumor-that disclosures will show he has spent a TON of his cash. And, to what advantage?

I also thought that this was Clinton weakest debate performance. She simply refused to answer some questions. And she's a Yankee's fan.

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Clinton is About to Speak

Clinton says that what really made America great was the middle class. The American middle class is under assault. She's running for President because she wants to set big goals for this country. She wants universal health care within the first year. She wants to create five million Green collar jobs. She wants to appoint people who are pro-labor to the Department of Labor.

Cute analogy-she says Republicans' message is "you're on your own" and that stands for yo-yo. In other words, someone else is pulling the strings. We need to move from government by the few, for the few. Good job, warm reception.

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What Really Matters

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