STEPHANOPOULOS: But she has no national security experience.

McCAIN: You know, the experience that she comes from is what she’s done in government, and remember, Alaska is the closest part of our continent to Russia. It’s not as if she doesn’t understand what’s at stake here.

So they flew me out to Minnesota, and when I got off the plane I ran up to John McCain and hugged him (good photo op, right? I'm thinking ahead!)--but it turns out that it wasn't John McCain at all! It was just some guy on his staff. Such a faux pas, but I don't think it's entirely my fault. I've only met John once, and it was six months ago. He could have emailed me an updated picture or something.

"The Presidency of the United States of America is the toughest job on the planet," Sen. McCain said. "And my friends, the best testing ground for that job is being the mayor of a 5,000-person town in Alaska."

Palin: University of Idaho, B.A. in journalism.
Obama: Columbia major in political science with a specialization in international affairs, Harvard Law School. Obama taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School for twelve years, as a Lecturer for four years (1992–1996), and as a Senior Lecturer for eight years (1996–2004) University of Chicago Law is ranked #7 in US.

Palin: 2nd in Miss Alaska Beauty Pageant.
Obama: Editor, Harvard Law Review.

Palin: Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska.
Obama: Illinois State Senate 1997-2004.

Palin: Governor - State of Alaska, pop. 700K, took office less than 2 years ago.
Obama: United States Senate 2005-present.

Palin: No foreign relations experience.
Obama: Senate Committee for Foreign Relations, Chairman of the Senate's Subcommittee on European Affairs. As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Obama has made official trips to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa.

Palin: Ethics Investigations: July 2008. Alaska legislators on Monday voted to spend up to $100,000 to investigate Gov. Sarah Palin's controversial firing of former state Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan. On Monday, the (bipartisan) council voted 12-0 to spend up to $100,000 "to investigate the circumstances and events surrounding the termination of former Public Safety Commissioner Monegan, and potential abuses of power and/or improper actions by members of the executive branch." http://www.adn.com/monegan/story/478090.html
Obama: No ethics investigations.

Within days of selecting Dan Quayle for the 1988 Vice Presidential nomination, George Bush wrote in his diary: ''I blew it.''

In a new biography of the former President, a historian, Herbert S. Parmet, wrote that as Mr. Quayle became the butt of jokes, Mr. Bush ''did everything he could to show his confidence in the younger man.'' But in his diary, Mr. Bush wrote, ''It was my decision, and I blew it, but I'm not about to say that I blew it.''

The selection of Palin strikes me as a "stunt" nomination and an admission that even in the misty recesses of former prisoner of war John McCain's mind, he knows that he is truly fucked. Therefore the campaign seems to be hunting for the PUMA vote; the PUMA being a mythical creature with the body of a middle-aged woman and the head of an idiot.

named two daughters after television witches.

Palin's float won first prize in the political category at the 1999 Alaska State Fair.

Speaking of the Old Dirty Bastard who happens to be remarkably old, Palin’s shocking lack of experience (1+ year as governor of a small state after being mayor of a town with 8,000 proud inhabitants) guarantees that people will be talking about how old Oldy Decrepit is now that Sarriet Palin Miers could be one geriatric and feeble heartbeat away from the oval office. Of all the potential recipients of those 3:00am phone calls to pick from, Mumm-Ra chose her?

Recall: Obama chose Joe Biden.

Can’t you just smell the desperation? (over the musty old guy scent)

If asked about this issue he or a spokesperson will proclaim it isn't fair to pick on a former POW for talking about the fact he's a former POW. Pretty soon trying to talk to or about McCain will be like entering a carnival sideshow House of Mirrors.

I'm thinking at the Republican convention they'll build a bamboo hut on stage and have McCain pop out of it like a girl in a cake at just the right moment.

"He's gonna drunk-text the nation around midnight. It'll say 'my vp pic is hak jfjdj'"

[Obama's] got surrogates out surrogatin' and a fancy new website called BarackObamaIsNotaSecretMuslimandWillNotStealYourWhiteWomen.com. They're gonna push back, hit hard, destroy, crush, defeat.

Actually, they're going to betray a stunning ignorance, in this advertising day and marketing age, of the nature of--shit, the existence of--cognitive bias. They really seem to believe that if you can show how 50% of Jerome Corsi's end notes are circular refernces to A. Jan Marcussen's shocking exposé of the Antichrist, National Sunday Law, that his attributions are questionable, his quotations selective, his historical and biographical assertions tendentious, his purpose specious, and his claims of scholarly objectivity impossible, then, by god, Grandma and Grandpa and the good people of the heartland will stop worrying that Barack Obama is a secret Muslim.

The reason that this isn't going to happen is that the American people, like most people, are morons. They are incapable of examining their biases and preconceptions. They are statistically innumerate; they can read but have no critical capacity; they are deeply susceptible to repetition. Arguing with an American about whether or not Barack Obama went to a terrorist day camp is like telling a bull not to gore you. He will not understand. "But the timeline . . ." you say. "But the documents . . ." He gives not two shits about the timeline, nor the documents, nor the footnotes, endnotes, introductions, prefaces, publisher, or political affiliations. When MediaMatters goes on Larry King to rebut Jerome Corsi, here is what the average Larry King audience member hears, assuming he remembered to turn on his aid: "Obama . . . Muslim . . . Madrassa . . . Muslim . . . Obama . . . Cocaine . . . Obama . . . Muslim . . . Drugs . . . Obama." That is the sum total of the information that he is able to absorb and sythesize out of the conversation that has just transpired in front of him. He might as well be listening to this dude.

In the context of what I've referred to as "the Mack the Knife technique" of politics - that in which you slip the dagger in quietly and cleanly so there's "not a trace of red" on your white gloves - NBC's First Read seems to have smelt the blood in the water:

Obama's stealth ad campaign: Over the past week, we've gotten our hands on a number of negative TV ads Obama's been running against McCain in key states like Ohio and Michigan. This is in addition to the tough spot, uncovered by Politico, that Obama's airing in Indiana. Clearly, the Obama campaign isn't interested in telling the media about every single McCain attack ad they're running. Perhaps this is because Obama's brand can't afford to be tarnished too much if he's seen as constantly running negative TV ads. So the campaign simply puts them on the air in key markets, doesn't tell the press about them, and layers those ads with positive ones being run nationally during the Olympics. Also, by not releasing to the media, it forces the McCain camp to wait a day or two before they see the ad. McCain's camp is much more comfortable unveiling their negative ads, perhaps because they want the free press that comes with them. But make no mistake, Obama's running plenty of negative TV ads, particularly in the industrial Midwestern states. In fact, one of Obama's biggest candidate strengths -- which doesn't get the attention it deserves -- is that he plays political hardball as well as his opponents; he just sometimes does it under the radar.

What's also going on is, I think, the use of specific ads and messages in specific states to then test - through polls and focus groups - whether and what kind of effect they have, for possible use in other states or nationwide.

We're seeing other national media begin to recognize, as Mark Halperin headlined an entry the other day: "This Man Won't Be Swift Boated."

There's a big difference (especially among Democrats) between putting out a press release that claims that you're playing tough, and actually being tough. That the Obama campaign doesn't see it necessary to call a press conference each time it smacks down its rival or airs a new comparative TV ad on the local, swing state, level is a sign of the kind of quiet confidence and execution of game plan that won it the nomination.

Just as the primary victory was the result of a plan laid out before a single state voted, the general election strategy seems - to this observer - to be the execution of a playbook that was drawn weeks or months ago and remains largely unchanged and immune to the armchair counsel and protestations out there.

The Olympics provided Bush with a golden opportunity to reinsert himself into the public eye like a sharp stick. As the effect had no domestic political resonance, he could let it all hang out. I'm sure nobody who wasn't extremely high has had as good a time anywhere as Bush had in Beijing. Politics to one side, it was almost charming.

In most of the rest of the world, expert witnesses are selected by judges and are meant to be neutral and independent. Many foreign lawyers have long questioned the American practice of allowing the parties to present testimony from experts they have chosen and paid.
The European judge who visits the United States experiences “something bordering on disbelief when he discovers that we extend the sphere of partisan control to the selection and preparation of experts,” John H. Langbein, a law professor at Yale, wrote in a classic article in The University of Chicago Law Review more than 20 years ago.
...

American lawyers often interview many potential expert witnesses in search of ones who will bolster their case and then work closely with them in framing their testimony to be accessible and helpful. At a minimum, the process results in carefully tailored testimony. Some critics say it can also produce bias and ethical compromises.
“To put it bluntly, in many professions, service as an expert witness is not considered honest work,” Samuel R. Gross, a law professor at the University of Michigan, wrote in the Wisconsin Law Review. “The contempt of lawyers and judges for experts is famous. They regularly describe expert witnesses as prostitutes.”

Melvin Belli, the famed trial lawyer, endorsed this view. “If I got myself an impartial witness,” he once said, “I’d think I was wasting my money.”

Dr. Leonard Welsh, the psychologist who testified for the state, said he sometimes found his work compromising.

“After you come out of court,” Dr. Welsh said, “you feel like you need a shower. They’re asking you to be certain of things you can’t be certain of.”

Since John Edwards committed adultery I would encourage both Democrats and Republicans to refrain from voting for him for president. Additionally this should also apply to John McCain who fooled around on his wife after she was crippled in an accident and then married a beer heiress who could finance his political future. And since Bob Barr also had an affair, that means that we're left with that black guy.