Political Insider

Senator Obama's problem is not Sarah Palin. Senator Obama's problem is Senator Obama. This election was his to lose and he is managing that quite nicely.

For all the hater-ade out there - there is a TINGE OF TRUTH to this comparison.
Why it looks so familiar, is because its the Republican double-standard rhetoric we have seen over each and every election.

Personally, I want a smart President, not one that is disconnected from the American public. I want a President that connects with his constituents, not one that talks about it.

In any case, Gov. Palin's favorability numbers are already dropping. This has occurred once the public has gotten a closer look at her and seen what type of politician she really is. (I'll leave you to fill in the blank)

Notice: There is no name calling here, just my two cents. Which is more for which Repubs will throw at you. Watch out for the Repub-haters out there!

Metaphorically speaking: If McCain-Palin are elected, they will make Bush-Cheney look like Gandhi-Lama.

I think the email is actually right on the money. And i don't think it's all race, either. I went to a reunion recently and spent too much of the evening arguing with a woman who used to be quite liberal, but who is now solidly Christian right.

We're friends, so it stayed civil and ended well, but I was befuddled by her responses to my questions about the credibility of McCain and Palin. It simply did not matter that lies have been proven yet are repeatedly told over and over, roadblocks to the facts erected and clear hypocrisy demonstrated by McCain and Palin in both their public and private lives.

I'm not masterful, but very conversant with the issues. I gave the facts without embellishment.

I am thinking this phenomenon is somehow related to the reason why we all identify with sports teams or Nascar drivers or some other entity over which we have no control and from whom we gain nothing of substance.

We all do it in some form or another. It helps us feel better for awhile when our guy beats the other guy, regardless of how well our actual self interest is served, much less that of the country as a whole. It takes a revelation of some kind to change those notions.

Your experience is not unusual Mike.

Several years ago, Karyn Karnheim, who was then at the AEI, noted that people filter their views through their cultural values. That's why a fact is not a fact to them, unless it aligns with their own views. She also added that reporters frequently don't understand when people seem to ignore what seems "indisputable" to them. What actually happened or what was actually said really matters very little. It's how you tell the story about the incident or quote that matters.

More recent studies of voters groups have shown that while both liberals and conservatives will continue to believe distortions about a person or event, conservatives are more likely to continue to believe them in greater numbers and for a longer period of time.

The McCain campaign is more than aware of this, I believe. That's why the McCain aide's statement about "we just want to win, we don't care what the media filter says" is true. They don't care. They know their supporters will buy the idea that Obama was insulting Palin with his "lipstick on a pig" comment, etc. and they hope that they can also bamfoozle enough independents as well.

Let's not forget that mccain - Palin oppose glasnost.

Both support the bushcheney attempt to keep all the dirty laundry hidden, the mccain's paid to have attorneys get cindy's criminal record hidden, and the Palin gang is refusing to honor a subpeona.

Even the Soviets under Gorbachev were more forthcoming than these hucksters & crooks.

I recently wrote a piece on the effect that smears and rumors could have on the whole democratic process:

http://www.newsflavor.com/Politics/US-Politics/Truth-and-Trust-in-the-US-Election.257521

The problem with this kind of email, no matter how grounded it is in fact (or how amusing it is), is that it reduces a complex situation - individual candidates, party politics, multiple policies - to simple caricatures.

They need to add lines from the SNL skit:

-If you can see Russia from your house, you are qualified to be VP.

But then to be fair we should probably add (or start a new email):

You probably should not be president if:

-If you believe there are more than 50 states (someone said there were 57.. don't remember who)

-If your spouse has never been proud of their country until recently

-If you claim running your campaign (2500 employees, $12 million/month budget) gives you more experience than the Governor of a state (AK - 24,000 employees, $10 Billion budget)

-If you need a teleprompter drug in to the middle of a rodeo ring (or anywhere for that matter) to make off the cuff remarks

-If your VP nominee publicly states you don't have enough experience and that this is no place for on-the-job training

-If you spend considerable time comparing your record to that of your opponents VP nominee

-and if you could have solidified the party and won this election hands down by choosing Hillary Clinton as your running mate and you did not? Then you definitely should not be president.

Hey Walt Regan, the remarks by KeepMovingForward are a perfect example of what you were talking about! Totally buying into what others say and not using his own grey matter to figure things out. Oy!

Hey xrk9854, your remarks are a perfect example of it as well.

Actually, instead of making some jingoistic off-the-cuff remark like that (at least you could do it without a TelePrompTer), why not actually use your own grey matter and show how the stated points were wrong?

I thouhgt the Republicans always made noise about family values, moral values and above all, their Christian values. It looks like the Palins and the Republicans are proud that Bristol fornicated and is also carying an illegitimate child. When is her "boyfriend" going to be prosecuted for statutory rape? And for all their values, they love adultrous John McCain. Well, I'm a christian and I'll never vote for someone who was cheating on his sick wife.

If you want the DRAFT to be reintroduced, then vote for McCain/Palin.

Keepmovingforward said that you probably should not be president "if your spouse has never been proud of their country until recently." There you go again, quoting out of context, leaving out the rest of the statement, something to the effect that ....because now there is so much interest in the democratic (i.e., electoral) process, with hundreds of thousands of people registering to vote for the first time. Which changes the entire meaning and intent of the comment. Don't quote out of context! You disqualify yourself as an honest writer! Barack Obama is one of the smartest, best educated, and most thoughtful people we have ever had running for office in this country. Which you would know if you happened to read his book, Dreams from my Father. I personally want someone smarter than myself for president for a change. I don't want to have a beer or a mooseburger with him. I want him to lead my country out of this mess the free-trader, warmongers have gotten us into. Wake up America! You are being screwed over, and you don't deserve it! You are better than that!

I used to be confused about Bush's enduring popularity. No matter how addled or ignorant he was, his staunch supporters would make excuses for him they wouldn't make for anyone else, certainly not for any Democrat.

Then I noticed that people I knew who had substance abuse problems, or ex-alchoholics especially, really seemed willing to cut him slack.

Someone actually did a study confirming that self-admitted alchoholics strongly supported Bush and were conpletely content to never question anything he did and to hold themselves as being very patriotic for their loyalty, not to country, but to a fellow ex-drunk.

That was an eye-opener for me. Now I realize that people who have forgiven themselves for being liars in their own lives, are uncomfortable with someone who doesn't obviously lie. They don't trust someone who doesn't lie like them. They think the non-liar is acting superior. Kind of a "who does he think he is?" attitude,

They forgive Sarah for lying, just as they forgive themselves. They forgive McCain for being a lying adulterer, they did it too. They aren't put off by Palin's pregnant 17 yr old daughter, their kids are out of control too.

They seem more human to them because of it. And, since they are complete hypocrites about their own lives, they expect nothing less from McCain and Palin.

Cindy's a drug addict who lies about everything, including recipes? Why, she's just like family.

Obama doesn't lie, cheat and steal? Don't trust him, he must be hiding something - nobody's that good.

Never mind that some people really are honest - they don't want to hear that, it makes them feel bad about themselves, and they'd rather see the whole country go down the tubes than face their own lies and hypocrisies.

This email, and the controversy surrounding it, is a good example of why people living outside the USA regard US politics with concern.
Many US politicians seem to regard the voters as highly unintelligent - and it seems to work.
I can think of few countries where someone like Sarah Palin would be taken seriously - maybe Russia. She certainly would not be regarded as a serious politician here in Australia.
I am also a bit confused as to why the presidential race is so tight. John McCain appears to stand for little except de-regulation and foreign wars both of which have proven themselves to be disastrous. Is it the fact the Barack Obama is culturally different or are we not allowed to discuss this aspect of the election?

"-If you believe there are more than 50 states"

Nobody with a brain thinks that Obama *believes* that. If you're going to disqualify a politician for making misstatements in front of a camera, nobody will ever be qualified. And if you want to have a competition, McCain's misstatements have been a LOT more significant and a LOT more frequent. Oh, and, what if you believe there should only be 49 states?

"-If your spouse has never been proud of their country until recently"

That's a pretty misleading version of what she actually said, but I'd rather just throw in Todd Palin, who openly belonged to a seccessionist group until his wife aspired to higher office.

"-If you claim running your campaign (2500 employees, $12 million/month budget) gives you more experience than the Governor of a state (AK - 24,000 employees, $10 Billion budget)"

He actually said it was more experience than being the mayor of a small town.

"-If you need a teleprompter drug in to the middle of a rodeo ring (or anywhere for that matter) to make off the cuff remarks"

Hey, if you want to bring teleprompters into it, that would be HILARIOUS. At least Obama writes the speeches which are put on *his* teleprompters.

"-If your VP nominee publicly states you don't have enough experience and that this is no place for on-the-job training"

Yes, Biden did indeed attempt to make that argument. And voters rejected him. And when McCain tries to make that argument, voters will reject him too.

"-If you spend considerable time comparing your record to that of your opponents VP nominee"

I don't think Obama is to blame for the fact that McCain is so boring that people only want to talk about Palin.

"-and if you could have solidified the party and won this election hands down by choosing Hillary Clinton as your running mate and you did not?"

The fact that you can say this proves to me that you just parrot the thoughts of whatever media outlet you last read and give it no thought. Especially since it blatantly contradicts your OWN previous rule -- Hillary not only said what Biden said, but said that McCain was more prepared to be president than Obama. She shot herself in the foot; she was *never* going to get the nomination after that, but, again, it's not Obama's fault that she chose to get extremely dirty and voters rejected her for it.

Outsideview of Australia wrote: "McCain appears to stand for little except de-regulation and foreign wars both of which have proven themselves to be disastrous"...

First, the evidence is quite clear that deregulated, free market economies such as in the US are far more successful than regulated, government driven economies such as in the old Soviet Union. If you want to live in a Socialist/Communist society that's fine but don't make comments you can't substantiate.

Second, are you saying US intervention to protect Australia in WWII was a disaster? Your gratitude is underwhelming...

Richardson: the fact is Biden AND Hillary said Obama was unqualified to be President - Obama then passed over Hillary and, inexplicably, put Biden on the ticket. It is a real head scratcher. Then Biden compounds it and says Hillary would have been a better VP than he would. (!)

The GOP was able to exploit this by putting Palin on the ticket. I wasn't sure it would work but the Dems have worked overtime to see who could make the most stupid, sexist, belittling comments about Palin.

The supposedly open-minded liberals first went after Hillary, then Ferraro, now Palin and even, as evidenced further up on this thread, Palin's 17 year old daughter.

(and when Palin makes a lipstick joke and Obama follows up a few days later with his lipstick on a pig comment he should have KNOWN how it would be taken...c'mon people get real; I personally feel Obama knew exactly what he was saying...)

Wow - keep up the good work Democrats. With an unpopular President, and unpopular war, and a sick economy, this election was the Democrats to lose, but they seem about to pull off the all-time biggest choke in American political history.

And Thank God for that.

What about if you actually write books, you're elitist, but if you work to ban them, you're one of the people.

Okay, M, man up. What books did Sarah Palin actually try to ban?

I suggest you research your answer very, very carefully.

Australia entered WWII on September 3, 1939, a full two years before the United States was brought, fairly unwillingly, into the war by a Japanese attack and Germany's declaration of war. 27,000 Australian soldiers died in the war. I'd say Australians would feel a bit more gratitude toward the US, if more people in the US showed some appreciation for their sacrifice.

And in the present? I'm not quite sure what they have to thank Bush/Cheney/McCain/Palin for. $90 a barrel oil and no serious effort to encourage alternative ways of generating or conserving energy? Serious problems in the credit markets due to rampant consumerism and fiscal undiscipline? The upsurge in Chinese power due to its funding of American debt?

Unfortunately, if anyone other than Blackwater, Halliburton, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and China asks, "What have you done for me lately?" of the US, the answer is likely to be "Very little good."

Hey, gus3, you need to get your facts straight. The Democrats have been trying for years to bring back the draft.Rep charles Rangel D NY is right now trying to put forward a bill to bring back the draft as of the first of next year. It sounds to me you need to read more. The democrats are out to get you soldier boy.

How about: "If you believe in Witch Hunting you are qualified to be be VP?

Seriously. Palin's pastor became famous for identifying a "witch" in a Kenyan town and having her run out of her home.

http://www.motleymoose.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=188

My grandfather served as an eye surgeon in a POW camp during WWII and was commended by Lord Mountbattten.

Quite frankly, I am not impressed by McCain's war record
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1964536/posts

I think a man is beneath contempt when he exaggerates war heroics and in his personal life, cheats on his first wife, then leaves her to marry an heiress who he calls a ":trollop" and a "cunt."

My grandfather was an eye surgeon in the Royal Army Medical Corps. He was given charge of a POW camp during WWII & was commended by Lord Mountbatten.

Quite frankly, I am not impressed by McCain's war record
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1964536/posts

Personal life: He cheated on his first wife, left her to marry an heiress who he then called a "trolllop" an a "c*nt".

He is not fit to be President

Quite frankly, I am not impressed by McCain's war record.

These are the true facts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1964536/posts

Sen. McCain's war record:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1964536/posts

Judge for yourself.

McCain has blown it by
(1) His performance in debate
(2) Antics recently in dealing with the economic crisis
(3) Deportment generally. The way he ambles along with arms akimbo reminds one of a dazed chimp.

Is this the best the Republicans could manage?

I typically do not comment on sites like these, but do like to hear others thoughts and the reasoning behind their opinions. What I dislike seeing though are comments left by a person that seems to be barfing out other peoples opinions, that they have been brainwashed into thinking. For example,

"Senator Obama's problem is not Sarah Palin. Senator Obama's problem is Senator Obama. This election was his to lose and he is managing that quite nicely."

This person has good English skills, which is nice to see, however it is not as important as having an intelligence. There is nothing there to debate over. It is an opinion and nothing more. People are of course allowed their opinions and they are allowed free speech, but if you feel strongly enough to post something like that. Make it bear some meaning. Say something that will move people. BACK UP YOUR OPINIONS! To many people are letting the media tell them what to think or letting the TV blind them from what is going on. People are hiding from the truth, from reality. Get out and be active. Actively look for the truth its there. Dont let people shove their sheep like thoughts onto. Push them to prove what they are telling you. Back it up. Stop being blind people. Dont be so naive in thinking that voting for a president is the only way to make a change in this country. Dont be so naive to think that the president is the one running the show....