Keeping Tabs

So Gizmodo nicely picks up a story today about Jeffrey Toobin tracking the Cubs while taking his seat at the pundit blah blah blah-fest on CNN after the VP debate last week. Complete with pics to prove it, we find that Toobin was using a real-time feature provided by MLB.com to keep tabs on the Cubs epic collapse, timed perfectly to celebrate exactly 100 yrs since the last time they oh... actually won a World Series.

Perhaps the Cubs lost because Toobin was not allowed to bring his goat to the Situation Room , then again perhaps they just lost cause the Dodgers are pretty good this year. Not good enough to beat the Phils though... here we go PHILLIES! (nice segue, right?)

How Does this Picture Go With This Quote?

You see, Barney Frank -represented by a hapless Cubbie- is trying to steal the second base that is middle class wealth while George Bush -represented by Shoeless Joe Jackson of the Black Sox- is attempting to tag him out with the old "Hidden ball of Socialism" trick. And by ball, I mean bailout bill. Andy by middle class, I mean executives for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mack! So you see, it really does make sense. Or somebody over at Time.com just got a little happy with the tags on this photo.

The Palin Effect: New Hampshire Edition

Whatever else Palin has going for her, I have always thought she would be a liability in my home state of New Hampshire. Turns out that a couple of polls today have proven me right. At first blush, this might seem a little surprising. Palin is a moose-hunting maverick, right? And New Hampshire is much beloved of both moose and mavericosity. She's a former small town mayor and there are plenty of small towns. But once you go past the superficial appeal, there isn't much left. She's a strong christian conservative in what is ulitimatly a pretty secular state.

She is an obvious gimmick in a state that tends to prefer 'straight-talk" (even if it comes from xenophobic idiots like Pat Buchanan). And while I much enjoy watching moose I have never heard of a mooseburger (and I could have lived quite happily without, thanks). Moose here are mainly something to avoid hitting with your car. I think McCain made a real mistake choosing Palin, but I do look forward to a new generation in which Trig and Piper are popular names.

Politico Gives Stark Rundown of Debate Performances

Politico writers John F. Harris and Mike Allen pop up today with a solid piece of post debate analysis under the heading, "Palin clears bar, still falls short." In the piece they discuss how Palin managed to disappoint all those who watched the debate wishing for real blatant blunders, delivering a performance that steered clear of anything extreme on the gaffe front. Still, they go further into what we all saw, describing Palin as being both on defense basically the whole time, and struggling to go on the offensive as McCain's advisers, no doubt, wanted her to against Biden. Their critique is smart and to the point:

Washington power lawyer Robert Barnett, who helped Biden prepare, said viewers would come away with the sense that Palin "is a nice person, an interesting person but not a qualified-to-be-the-president-of-the-United-States person."

They do give each VP candidate credit for having their moments, saying:

From the moment she blew a kiss as she walked onstage, the Alaska governor was folksy and spunky, dropping a “bless their hearts” here, a “God bless ‘er” there and “darn right” — twice. She showed a cheerful confidence that must have been hard to muster after the humiliating coverage of her amateurish interviews...

Biden offered a fluent, self-assured performance of the sort that cannot be especially hard for him after two presidential campaigns, 35 years in the Senate and countless appearances on Sunday morning programs...

Still, all in all, our friends at the Politico came around to the point well summarized in their title, that last night's debate while it wasn't a debacle also didn't change basically anything about the larger trends in the race.

The debate did nothing to arrest — and may even have helped cement — a gradual but unmistakable turnabout in the race, with Barack Obama gaining in polls and momentum and McCain losing ground in must-win states. The financial meltdown has put a new premium on competence, and Palin did nothing to show she is ready to be in charge...

In many ways, Obama-Biden has taken ownership of the play-it-safe vote, and McCain-Palin have become the more unpredictable and potentially risky choice.

The Foreclosure "Crisis" Put Into Stark Detail

It's not that I've doubted the existence of the wave of foreclosures but sometimes it's hard to comprehend this as really being a crisis what with life seeming to go along as usual. The places we hear about being hard hit are far from my home and friends, so I don't see or hear about it first-hand. Aside from a couple of developments on which construction has seemed to freeze, there are no local signs of a problem.

This depressing news report (hat tip to Wonkette via Andrew Sullivan and others) and its images of foreclosed houses' contents being trashed really made it hit home for me. The video is worth watching, but not if you are having a bad day or want to cruise into the weekend on a high note.

In Case You Missed It... Sarah Palin's Addiction to Winking

I think the soundtrack is a little cheesy, but it works. Here's some documentary evidence of Mrs. Palin's winking frenzy last night.

Charles Krauthammer, Fox News Regular and Right Wing Mainstay Says Obama Passes Reagan Test

In an article I'm sure will soon be making the rounds on all sorts of similar blogs and websites, Charles Krauthammer, a regular on Fox News, and a member of the right wing pundit royalty has announced that Obama has passed the Reagan threshold and is, in his eyes, likely to be our next President. In his piece titled "Hail Mary vs. Cool Barry," Krauthammer isn't exactly laudatory, in fact throughout he repeats many right winger (what else would I expect here) talking points about Obama's experience, associations with folks like Jeremiah Wright, etc. but his point is not to drive these things home.

He also backs into some of his praise, allowing how John McCain isn't necessarily to blame for circumstance making Obama seem a reasonable choice:

"You can't blame McCain. In an election in which all the fundamentals are working for the opposition, he feels he has to keep throwing long in order to keep hope alive. Nonetheless, his frenetic improvisation has perversely (for him) framed the rookie challenger favorably as calm, steady and cool."

Overall, however, the opinion that carries through the piece is that in spite of all the faults Krauthammer might find with Barack, he believes that Obama has shown poise, confidence, and the type of leadership that allows him to seem plausible as commander in chief, a test that likely helps seal the deal, taking him from the new hotness to very like our new President in the next few months.

Interesting stuff, mainly because of the author.

The True Story of Palin's Debate Semi-Success

A friend, Dave, posted this on Facebook today, and I couldn't resist throwing it up here. The image really speaks for itself, and is kinda great. I wonder how much the recent debate talk has helped stock in companies that manufacture flash cards.



View Full Size here.

Live Blogging Follow-Up

First, can I just say that Live Blogging the debate was yet again a ton of fun tonight... if you missed it, we'll try it again at the next debate. In comments during the live blogging I mentioned a 1-doggie survey regarding Sarah Palin's ability to inspire sleepiness. Evidence of her ability to put dogs down is below. Thanks to Kim's lovable cutie pie Zoey for being our test subject and spokesmodel for this survey.

Live Bloggery on the Internets

8:55: Just testing out how this works since I've never done this funky live blogging thingy before. I like the timer feature that all the cable news networks seem to have. makes it feel like New Years Eve.
9:00 Washington University in St. Louis always strikes me as an overly long name.
9:02: I wonder if the fact that the moderator wrote a supposedly pro-Obama book will come up tonight?
9:06 McCain was a champion of greater government oversight? I don't know much about that, but it seems a little unlikely. I don't mean that as an insult, either.
9:08 I love how they talk up anti-partisan creds while attacking the other side.
9:10 from the comments: "WOAH! Sarah Palin just winked at all of us! Holy crap... uh, I dunno what to do." Personally, I find her very likable. She should sell soap.
9:11 And Biden could probably sell ties. I like his.
9:13 From Comments: Holy crap. She said "Joe Sixpack" and the CNN line for undecided men went apeshit! It literally went backwards.
9:15 Obama NEVER voted to raise taxes on people making $42k! That's just unfair. And does anyone actually think the next president will lower taxes?
9:17 Lowering taxes on the middle class is redistributing wealth?
9:19 Doesn't Biden have hair plugs? they don't seem to work all that well. I want the name of the place so I can avoid them.
9:23 Another Comment: YES! BIDEN, ZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ULTIMATE BRIDGE TO NOWHERE!

Oooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
9:23 She took on the oil companies? I bet she dropped them like a rabid moose.
9:26 Normally, the idea of taxing a company for making too much profit would scare me, but it is true that oil companies get really sweet tax treatment. Almost as if they know the people who write the tax laws...
9:27 NO! Let go of the damn "Main Street and Wall Street" thing.
9:29 Great Comment: did she REALLY just say "i haven't made any promises i can't keep b/c i've only been around for 5 weeks" ?!?!?!

That has got to be the worst answer ever. "I haven't had a chance to lie yet, but just you wait."
9: 31 "attribute every activity of man to changes in the climate." WTF?
9:36 I much admire Biden's comments on same-sex benefits. I'd still rather see marriage equality, but progress is progress.
9:38 Palin: "I have gay friends. Really."
9:39 why not just define marriage as one man and one woman of the same race? There's an argument that that is the traditional definition.
9:42 Iraq? What's that? Apparently not a big deal in Ohio.
9:43 Biden's son heads off to Iraq tomorrow. I don't think that he wants to waive the white flag.
9:44 My mom, who is a Republican, is yelling at Sarah Palin.
9:47 Again, comparing Petraeus and al Qaeda?!?!???!?!
9:49 I still don't think that meeting with foreign leaders is naive. I like the way she pronounces "naivete" though.
9:51 From Comments: Eeeee when Sarah Palin says, "Stinking corpse" it gives me the heeby geebys. However, when she says, "The Castro Brothers" I somehow think she's talking about some sort of Disney Channel boy band.

And

I heard the Castro Brothers play a gig in Altanta. They were pretty good.
9:53 It drives me nuts when politicians refer to themselves in the 3rd person. Bob Dole don't like this.
9:55 "Joe Biden is FUCKING dynamic when he refers to himself as Joe Biden... third person always kicks ass. Kim agrees, our only critique is that he should have said, "Israel has no better friend than Joe Motha F**ing Biden!""
That actually woulda been cool. I stand corrected.
9:56 "Nuclear weaponry would be the be all end all of too many people..." what did she just say?
9:58 Mamma Venice: Sarah Palin should play herself on Saturday Night Live.
10:01 Biden is truly strong on foreign affairs. This is like me playing golf with Tiger Woods. Except cheaper. And without those funny shirts.
10:03 You big city Washington types. I'm just from a small town and so I'm a real American. I don't go in for none of this fancy policy talk. I just want to put a moose in every pot.
10:05 'DIDN'T SHE DO THE SAME DAMN THING on the bridge?!!?!!??!?"

Yes, but she's NOT FROM WASHINGTON. so it's OK.
10:09 Look at how the CNN happy lines fall as soon as she starts talking. Maybe he should have met her more than once before selecting her to be his running mate.
10:11 I think she means that if she's vice president, people on Wall Street will start volunteering at soup kitchens and feeding stray kittens.
10:13 the Home Depot line is my least favourite of his so far.
10:14 Dude, if she's vice-president they better not give her more power...
10:16 Total non-answer in my opinion. Too bad, since the vice-president's proper role is kind of a big question if you are, you know, the vice-president.
10:18 From Comments:Sarah Palin wants to drill into the position of Vice President! She wants to tap all of it's potential for domestic homeland energy independence. Drill Baby Drill!!!!
10:21 Biden's tale of raising his children is enormously powerful. I didn't watch the happy lines, but I hope they reflected that. I think he really DID get choked up.
10:28 "Obama wants to kill jobs." Can't you just see him sitting around, saying to himself, how can I kill some jobs? I want people to be out of work and miserable!
10:30 Why don't the Republicans just get a blow-up Reagan doll and nominate it?
10:33 I love Biden. I can't deny it.
10:34 From Comments: Sarah Palin won because her head didn't explode!!!!!

That may be true. I don't think she was great but she wasn't as bad as she could have been. Given the low expectations, that may have been enough.
10:38 This guy talking on CNN has a great mustache. What's it made of?
10:39 Alright, this was super grovilicious. I really enjoyed all the comments. I look forward to doing this again, hopefully with a less one-sided debate.

"Life Isn't Fair!" The State of the GOP

Wonkette broke new ground today by simply repeating the real-world news headline their tipster sent from CNN as their own comedy news headline. Turns out someone at the McCain campaign John McCain described the fact that Obama's poll numbers are increasingly positive as a result of the fact that, "Life isn't fair." So sad. Um... yeah.

UPDATE: this happened this morning on Fox News, and if you want to catch the clip itself in the midst of a nice compilation of McCain appearances on Cable News this morning, check it out on TPM TV.

Is it over?

Word on the street is that McCain is pulling out of Michigan. Not running ads, canceling events. If this is true, it's hard for me (at least) to see how Mac pulls this off. Michigan seems like one of the only blue states that could have gone for McCain. Maybe NH or PA, but that's really it. This whole cycle has taught us all that prediction is a fool's game, but right now... I wouldn't want to bet on a Republican victory.

UPDATE: More info on this here, continues rumor of Michigan pull-out, also documents VA staff-up.