“Worst Possible Backdrop … No Worries”

Funniest thing I saw all day:

Snub or Choice?

Steve Benen at Washington Monthly believes it likely that Sarah Palin’s failure to emerge from last week’s Republican Governors Association’s meeting with a leadership post represented a snub by her colleagues. I’m not so sure. Who’s to say she wanted one? Her track to higher office rests on her populist appeal, not on her ability [...]

Like I Said …

Republican women and Democratic women just don’t mix. The Washington Post:
In the new poll, it is underlying political attitudes that appear to dominate, just as they do in ratings of Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.), the Democratic vice presidential nominee. Eighty-five percent of Republicans view Palin favorably, and nearly nine in 10 approve of her selection [...]

Told ‘Ya

CNN’s Anderson Cooper and his crew scored an interview with Sarah Palin’s former brother-in-law. As I expected, he comes off as a real shit.

Sharpening Divides

David Frum offers up a letter from an anti-abortion independent:
Obama’s campaign has been premised on an appeal to voters exactly like me -– voters who want a politics that does not so obviously delight in wallowing in the mud.  If there are a lot of Independents like me, Palin is a disaster.  She’s just performed [...]

Executive Presidents

Lisa at Ramblings of a Pseudo-Intellectual is going through the list of the country’s presidents and trying to judge whether their particular background, experience-wise, contributed to superior performance in office. So far she’s through Fillmore. Her most controversial judgment so far would have to be her conclusion that Andrew Jackson was not a good president. [...]

Rural/Urban

Daniel Drezner gets it:
Forget red state/blue state cleavages; the cultural divide in this election is urban/rural.  There was very little about Palin’s speech to like if you lived in a large metropolis, but plenty for rural citizens to appreciate. 

Speech Service

Around the ’sphere, it’s all very predictable as people assess Palin’s speech and the rest of GOP Night #2. Personally, I find the liveblogs at 538 most interesting. I’ve been reading Nate Silver for years, albeit while he was still writing just about baseball. But I learned a lot about baseball from him and he’s [...]

Palin Kids

I haven’t a thing to say about the Palin family’s varied offspring for the simple reason that their personal decisions don’t affect me. Live and let live, is my attitude. The world would be a better place if a few more preachers and politicians would act on that sentiment.

Thumbs Down

North Carolina’s two favorite blogging political heavyweights, Gary Pearce (aide to former Gov. Jim Hunt) and Carter Wrenn (aide to the late Sen. Jesse Helms) are not impressed by the Palin selection. Their reasoning differs slightly, but agrees on McCain’s weakness.
Pearce:
McCain panicked after the Democratic convention and Obama’s speech. He wanted to stop the momentum. [...]