Bailin’ Palin

Did she finally get the memo to get out of the spotlight? Or was national politics just too nasty for Sarah Palin?

By: Lawrence Bobo

For now, the great Republican joke of 2008 has decided to step off the public stage. At least that’s how I read this weekend’s announcement from Alaska governor and former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin. What will late-night comedians do? Will Tina Fey still have a job?

Of course, some time ago, I concluded that Wasilla and the Palin family were essentially a comedian’s Full Employment Act, the trailer park that keeps on giving. From unwed, teenage motherhood and OxyContin dealers to televised turkey grinding and pointless belly-aching about the humor of late-night talk show hosts, the Palin clan managed to keep themselves in the headlines. But suddenly, the heady mix of media attention, mass adulation, criticism and biting humor seems to be too much for the one-term governor.

Bailin’ Palin....

McCain Concedes Graciously, Bush Wishes Obama Well

By: Beth Fouhy

Flanked by wife Cindy and running-mate Sarah Palin, McCain spoke to supporters outside the Arizona Biltmore Hotel shortly after 11 p.m. EST Tuesday, saying the "American people have spoken and they have spoken clearly."

He conceded the contest as polls closed on the West Coast, adding a string of states to Obama's electoral vote tally and sealing the Illinois senator's victory.

McCain stressed the historic nature of the election, noting that an invitation to Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House by Theodore Roosevelt had been viewed as an insult in some quarters.

"Senator Obama has achieved a great thing for himself and for his country," McCain said.

Although McCain had criticized Obama during the hard-fought campaign as too inexperienced to be president, the Arizona senator said that "in a contest as long and as difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance.

"But that he managed to do so by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving."

McCain Concedes Graciously, Bush Wishes Obama Well....

Why Obama Can't Shake John McCain

By: Earl Ofari Hutchinson

At first glance, it seems absolutely incredible that Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama can't shake Republican rival John McCain. Yet, an AP poll calls the race a statistical dead heat. That's only one poll, of course, and the mishmash of other polls show Obama with either a respectable lead or a near rout of McCain. But that nagging AP poll hints at something that has bedeviled the Obama campaign from Day One, and that's the inability to put McCain away.

How could that happen? Obama has smashed every record in netting campaign contributions, gotten nearly every major newspaper endorsement, is fawned over by millions in other countries, was generally regarded as the clear winner in his three debates with McCain and draws record crowds to his campaign rallies. He is running against an aged, at times physically challenged opponent with a vice presidential mate with a phonebook of negatives that have made her a laughing stock in many circles. Both belong to a party which most voters blame for wrecking the economy and waging a costly, failed and flawed war.

The last Democratic presidential candidate to have so many pluses stacked up in his election bank against a GOP opponent was Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1932. His opponent was the hapless, Depression-blamed Herbert Hoover. But Hoover at least was a sitting president. McCain isn't. The formula answer for McCain's staying power is that it's because Obama's black. From the moment he announced his candidacy in February 2007, race has been biggest X factor endlessly talked about and agonized over as the thing that could torpedo his chances. In countless surveys, African-Americans have virtually made it a mantra that that if he loses, it's because he's black. Certainly, there are enough closet and open bigots who won't vote for Obama purely on race. But that's not enough to explain why McCain still hangs around.

COMMENTARY....

Commentary: Instead of Making Him a Pariah for Endorsing Obama, the GOP Should Thank Colin Powell

By: Deborah Mathis

Had Colin Powell sat down with Tom Brokaw on Sunday morning and announced that he was supporting John McCain’s presidential bid, the Republican apparatus would have feted him as a semi-prodigal son come home again.

To hear them tell it, it would have been a ponderously important thumbs-up for the struggling McCain candidacy, a green light to queasy independents and wavering others, a permission slip to support a man who is neither who he used to be, nor what many in his party want him to be, and, therefore, a man who needs all the help he can get. Colin Powell’s endorsement would have been a lot of help.

Instead, Powell’s visit to the set of NBC’s “Meet the Press” raised a different headline. He spoke 1,961 words before flipping the script, but there it was -- that amazing declaration, “I’ll be voting for Senator Barack Obama.”

COMMENTARY....

Colin Powell endorses Obama

(CNN) -- Former Secretary of State Colin Powell announced Sunday that he will be voting for Sen. Barack Obama, citing the Democrat's "ability to inspire" and the "inclusive nature of his campaign."

"He has both style and substance. I think he is a transformational figure," Powell said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

"Obama displayed a steadiness. Showed intellectual vigor. He has a definitive way of doing business that will do us well," Powell said.

Powell, a retired U.S. general and a Republican, was once seen as a possible presidential candidate himself.

Powell said he questioned Sen. John McCain's judgment in picking Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate because he doesn't think she is ready to be president.

He also said he was disappointed with some of McCain's campaign tactics, such as bringing up Obama's ties to former 1960s radical Bill Ayers.



Colin Powell endorses Obama....

Commentary: If McCain’s Disgusted at His Rallies’ Racially-Tinged Rants, He’s Got His Own Party to Thank

By: Tonyaa Weathersbee

So now, the chickens hatched from eggs laid long ago by the GOP’s “Southern strategy,” are coming home to roost.

They’re finding their perches at the rallies of John McCain and his running mate, Sarah Palin. Frustrated by their candidate’s sagging poll numbers and livid at the possibility that a black man like Barack Obama might wind up in the White House, some of his supporters have felt free to unleash their inner racist.

During a Palin rally in Clearwater, Fla., some supporters hurled an epithet at a black sound technician, and told him to “Sit down, boy!”

As Palin egged them on by exaggerating Obama’s ties to former domestic terrorist William Ayers, someone yelled “Terrorist!” and “Kill him!”

At another Palin rally in Johnstown, Penn., a man showed off a stuffed monkey doll with an Obama sticker wrapped around its head.

Then, when McCain told a crowd in Cape Fear, N.C., “I know what fear feels like. It’s a thief in the night that robs your strength,” someone yelled out, “Like Obama!”

At that same event, a poster with a photo of Obama, Osama bin Laden and Thomas Wright, a former North Carolina state lawmaker who was convicted of fraud, was on display.

I guess because Obama and Osama have rhyming first names, and because Wright, like Obama, happens to be a black politician, that was supposed to scare everyone.

Instead, it just looked stupid and racist.

COMMENTARY....

Commentary: McCain Failed to Mention the Middle Class Last Week, But Neither Nominee Mentioned Poverty

By: Deborah Mathis

This time three years ago, the national obsession was not presidential politics; it was poverty. Hurricane Katrina had flushed the poor out of their homes in New Orleans and elsewhere along the Gulf Coast, pushing them into streets and shelters and FEMA-funded hotel rooms or claustrophobic trailers.

The country responded with sorrow, embarrassment and outrage that so many people were still so poor more than 40 years after the War on Poverty. It had been, after all, off the Topic A list for so long that some people seemed to think it, like polio, had been eradicated. The outbreak of reality presented in the hurricane’s aftermath put poverty back on the map, so to speak.

But that was then. No sooner had we started talking about poverty again than we dropped it like a hot potato. Sensitivity fatigue set in. The country returned to its old habit of looking the other way, pretending the problem either didn’t exist or was overblown or, in the worst instances, that the poor deserved their fate.

COMMENTARY....

"Obama Is An Arab"-Says McCain Volunteer In Letters

Gayle Quinnel, a John McCain supporter says at a McCain Rally that "Obama is an Arab". She is quickly corrected by John McCain who takes away her microphone. This is an interview with her done by a live streaming cell phone. Interviewers include Noah Kunin, Senior Political Correspondent from The UpTake, Adam Aigner of NBC News and Dana Bash of CNN. Quinnel cited that she obtained the information on Obama being an Arab at "her local library" and from a pamphlet obtained at a local McCain campaign office (provided by a fellow volunteer not the campaign itself). She has taken it upon herself to redistribute the information as widely as possible by making copies of the pamphlet and sending it to random names in the phone book.

Analysis: McCain’s Dismissal of Obama as ‘That One’ Underscores the Race’s Ugly Turn

By: Michael H. Cottman

In one revealing moment during this week’s presidential debate, Republican John McCain, while talking about energy reform, glanced at Barack Obama dismissively and referred to him as “that one” instead of calling the Illinois senator by name.

It was a telling few seconds for McCain, but the impact may last for weeks. Even CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer was moved to conclude that McCain had apparent “disdain” for Obama throughout the debate.

McCain’s remark Tuesday night revived discussion among some black Democrats who have said quietly for months that McCain has shown a pattern of “talking down” to Obama and does not treat him with the same level of respect he treats other fellow senators.

Michelle Obama told CNN’s Larry King that McCain’s comment was not a slight and no big deal. “It’s just a part of politics,” she said in an interview Wednesday night.

ANALYSIS....

Second Presidential Debate Has No Game-Changers, But Obama Emerges as Clear Winner

By: Sean Yoes and Bobbi Booker

Most political observers argued that Arizona Sen. John McCain needed a knockout -- a game changer -- during the second presidential debate Tuesday night with his Democratic rival, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. The consensus is that he got neither.

In fact, the verdict of uncommitted and independent voters who watched the debate was the same verdict rendered after the first presidential debate on September 26 -- Obama was the decisive winner.

By virtually every post debate metric taken, it was Obama who was the winner, despite the fact that the town hall format was allegedly a clear advantage for McCain, who has, on several occasions, challenged Obama to a series of similar debates across the country and suggested that the race's tone would not be as ugly if Obama has agreed.

The debate, which took place in Nashville, Tennessee on the campus of Belmont University, was moderated by NBC’s Tom Brokaw, who selected questions relating to the economy and foreign affairs gathered from a pool of millions submitted by email. Other questions were asked by the audience, which consisted of one-third of people leaning towards Obama, one-third leaning towards McCain and the other third undecided. They were selected by Gallup, the polling organization.

Second Presidential Debate Has No Game-Changers....

John McCain On Negative Advertising

From 2000 and the Old John McCain.

Analysis: The Race’s Gloves-Are-Off Dynamic Sets Stage for a Memorable Second Debate

By: Frederick Cosby

Oh, it’s on now.

With Republican presidential nominee John McCain going more negative against his Democratic rival Barack Obama, tonight’s presidential debate in Nashville and the closing days leading to the Nov. 4 election will have no shortage of mud being hurled by both campaigns.

Call it Campaign 2008’s version of playing the dozens.

With the economic crisis dragging his poll numbers down to where Obama is leading in previously solid-Republican stronghold of North Carolina and trailing by only single digits in President George W. Bush’s Texas, McCain’s brain trust indicated over the weekend that they want to flip the script of the election from the sour economy to a referendum on Obama’s character and personality.

Tuesday night, before a national television audience of millions, McCain will try to paint Obama as arrogant, dangerous, reckless, naive and unpatriotic. Obama, in turn, will try to tag McCain as erratic, angry and a political carbon copy of Bush.

“This is all about political warfare. All the weapons in the arsenal will be coming out within the next 29 days,” Kenn Venit, a Connecticut-based media consultant, told McClatchy Newspapers Monday. “The race card, the money card -- all cards are in play.”

ANALYSIS....

Commentary: ‘There Once Was a Lady Named Sarah’ – An Ode to McCain’s Choice for Running Mate

By: Deborah Mathis

There once was a lady named Sarah
With no fondness for land like Sahara.
She favored cold days,
And old frontier ways,
And big, fluffy hair a la Farrah.

She was that rarest of few
Who was sexy and tomboyish, too.
With game on the loose,
She shot and killed moose
And cooked it at night in a stew.

Her life took a big turn the day
When she felt a political sway.
She thought she’d do better
And got it together
And commandeered the school PTA.

Though her smile was a popular thriller,
Her political instincts were killer.
She would need the big ball.
She needed it all.
She would have to take over Wasilla.

COMMENTARY....

Commentary: Wondering Why McCain Couldn’t Look Obama in the Eye Friday Night? He Was Ashamed

By: Deborah Mathis

It says something that Barack Obama was so well-acquitted in the first presidential debate on Friday, that many a conservative commentator acknowledged his poise and presidential stature without hesitation.

It says that Obama was so good that even those who normally champ at the bit to diminish him had to concede that he dispelled any lingering doubts about his readiness.

It says Obama must have been twice as good as the pundits attest, because only such an utter triumph can bring the partisans to bow.

It also says that John McCain is a goner. The man we once respected as the maverick, iconoclast, independently spirited, tell-it-like-it-is rebel, is no more. The senator who was once upon a time so beguiling that, in a moment of weakness many years ago, got a diehard liberal like me to say to his face that if he ever ran for president, I might work for him -- that man is vapor.

COMMENTARY....

Bill: McCain not ‘afraid’ of Obama debate

By ANDY BARR

Former President Bill Clinton believes John McCain’s move to suspend his campaign and push back Friday’s scheduled debate was made in “good faith” and not “because he’s afraid” to debate Barack Obama.

“I presume he did that in good faith,” Clinton said on Good Morning America, recalling that McCain had “asked for more debates to go all around the country.”

“I don't think we ought to overly parse that. Just let's deal with this issue,” the former president said. “We know he didn't do it because he's afraid, because Senator McCain wanted more debates.”

Bill: McCain not ‘afraid’ of Obama debate....

Will Prejudice Trump Economy For Voters? New AP-Yahoo Poll Suggests Obama May Lose Votes Of Dems, Independents Harboring Negative Views Of Blacks

(CBS/AP) How America votes could come down to the economy, and that could be especially true in many of the so-called battleground states where voters have been hit hard economically.

But a new AP-Yahoo News poll shows that race could also play a big role in how some voters make their choice - and this may not bode well for Barack Obama.

According to the poll released Saturday, a little over one-third of white Democrats and independents agreed with at least one negative adjective about blacks, and they are less likely to vote for Obama than those who don't hold such views.

"There are a lot fewer bigots than there were 50 years ago, but that doesn't mean there's only a few bigots," said Stanford University political scientist Paul Sniderman, who helped analyze the exhaustive survey.

The pollsters set out to determine why Obama is locked in such a close race with Republican presidential candidate John McCain even as the political landscape seems to favor Democrats; President George W. Bush's unpopularity, the Iraq war, and a national sense of economic hard times cut against Republican candidates, as does the fact that Democratic voters outnumber Republicans.

Lots of Republicans harbor prejudices, too, but the survey found they weren't voting against Obama because of his race. Most Republicans wouldn't vote for any Democrat for president - white, black or brown.

Will Prejudice Trump Economy For Voters?....

God Don't Like Ugly, It's not just the campaign that's getting nasty. It's you…okay, and me, too.

By Veronica Miller

I can't wait for Nov. 4.

It's not just because I'll finally be casting a ballot in my first presidential election (though, don't get me wrong, I'm pretty friggin' stoked about it). But really, I'm in tip-toe anticipation of that first Tuesday in November, because I'm hoping, hoping hard, that on Election Day, all the ugliness we've seen this past year and a half will finally begin to fade.

Who's being ugly? Everybody. The presidential campaigns, of course. Then there are the pundits. I suppose that's no surprise. The group I'm most worried about is the regular people around me.

My black male friend poking fun at Hillary Clinton. My older black relatives already conceding defeat on Barack Obama's behalf. My white feminist associates remaining uncomfortably quiet while racist and sexist remarks are hurled at Michelle Obama. My best female friend calling Sarah Palin a "bitch." Even me, likening John McCain's oft-repeated POW story to Chris Rock's rift on 50 Cent—"He got shot nine times!"

This campaign is bringing the ugly out of everybody. Me and you … your mama and your cousin, too.

Politics is always nasty. But perhaps the group of choices this time—a black man, a white Vietnam veteran, a powerful liberal woman and an energizing conservative one—has amounted to too much change to accept with civility.

God Don't Like Ugly....

Palin and McCain Dun Got 'Em, Boss: The GOP's race-baiting tactics have even Buckwheat and Kingfish shaking their heads.

By Jack White

I found Buckwheat staring into his laptop in the oak-paneled library of the Home for Retired Racial Stereotypes. He had a woeful look on his face.

"Why so sad?" I inquired.

The famous Our Gang character emitted a mournful squeak.

"Here I is, Brudder White, feelin' blue cuz dis here Prezeedent'ul campaign startin' to 'mind me of a line from dat ole Chubby Checker song, De Limbo Rock: how low kin you go?"

"I'm not sure I follow you," I interjected.

Palin and McCain Dun Got 'Em, Boss....

Commentary: Need a Name for McCain’s Obvious Move to Woo Women? Call it the Elvis Presley Strategy

By: Tonyaa Weathersbee

Call it the Elvis strategy.

When Elvis Presley recorded one of his first hits, “Hound Dog,” in 1956, he was late to that party. Blues singer Big Mama Thornton had recorded it three years earlier.

Yet Thornton and many of the other black artists who Presley, as well as a number of other white artists, copied never acquired the fame that they amassed by putting a white face to the sounds they pilfered. Some died in obscurity.

When Presley died, he was dubbed King of Rock and Roll.

I bring all this up to talk about John McCain who, like Elvis, is now copying his election strategy from the black man he wants to beat out for president in November.

After months of being slightly behind Barack Obama in the polls, McCain apparently figured that the best way to get ahead was to steal some of the celebrity hood and the message that seemed to be benefiting his Democratic opponent.

And what better way to do that than find an attractive, 44-year-old white woman who, like Obama, had a story. Except that her story appeals to people who value her Americaness more than they value Obama’s.

Sadly, it seems as if a lot of them are out there.

COMMENTARY....

In New Ad Responding to ‘Maverick’ MaCain, Obama Accuses GOP Ticket of Dishonesty

By: Nedra Pickler

FLINT, Mich. - Barack Obama broadly accused his Republican rivals of dishonesty Monday, citing former lobbyists working for John McCain, Sarah Palin's shifting stance on the "Bridge to Nowhere" and their promise to change Washington.

With national polls finding the Democratic presidential nominee trailing or in a dead heat with McCain, Obama began the campaign's final eight-week push by criticizing McCain's popular running mate as much as the Arizona senator himself.

He said Palin has an interesting biography -- "Mother, governor, moose shooter. That's cool," he said -- but the election should be about who can change people's lives for the better. He said that won't come from a Republican ticket that almost always supports the same positions as President Bush even though they say they will bring reform.

"I mean, you can't just make stuff up," Obama said of a new McCain ad that says Palin "stopped the Bridge to Nowhere." "You can't just recreate yourself. You can't just reinvent yourself. The American people aren't stupid."

In New Ad Responding to ‘Maverick’ MaCain, Obama Accuses GOP Ticket of Dishonesty....