The End Of The Campaign Of John McCain

There were many excuses for the Republican Electoral College debacle last night. It was not very close and it had not been for two months.

In fact, all the public opinion polls were very consistent. There was only one day after the conventions when a single poll indicated John McCain was ahead in the 2008 Presidential campaign .

The excuses for the McCain defeat are many. He was outspent by Barack Obama four to one and he had the unpopular Geoge Bush to run away from. As a result, there never was a blue state from the last election in play and his attempt to defend every red state in a Democratic year was not going to win the day.

Certainly, the timing of the current economic mess did not help his cause. In addition, a recent Pew Research study reported negative media coverage of McCain's campaign outpaced his opponent nearly three to one.

So, it can be argued that these obstacles were the reason for his lopsided defeat. There is no doubt they were a contributing factor but the loss in this election is really due to the candidate and his dubious campaign.

Remember that John McCain won his Party's nomination months before Barack Obama did. However, despite a Republican advantage of months of political time, the Obama campaign was better financed, better organized, and had more paid staff in all the battleground states on Election day.

Consider that McCain's response to the economic crisis in September was incoherent. He first said that the fundamentals of the economy were sound. Next, he suspended his campaign for several days to return to Washington because of the economic crisis. He would participate in the first debate after restarting his campaign, without any explanation behind these actions. It made him look erratic and indecisive in the economic crisis.

McCain's advanced age was always an issue for voters. His energy and campaign schedule were very light especially early in the campaign. Meanwhile, the inexperience of Sarah Palin did not provide comfort for voters, since in a McCain Presidency, she would be only a heartbeat away from becoming Commander and Chief.

Overall, the McCain campaign message was muted and subject to change. A campaign of experience would become a campaign of change. Until Joe The Plumber, McCain could not even explain how his tax policy was different from that of the Obama campaign.

Indeed, it was striking how Barack Obama stayed true to his message while John McCain's campaign was unfocused. A thirty year insider and Senator, running as a maverick, on a theme of change, would prove to be to difficult to sell to many 2008 voters.

In his gracious speech last night, John McCain said that the "failure is mine." His lasting legacy will be as a war hero, Senator and as a losing Presidential candidate that in his concession speech did not lie.

Election 2008: The Vote For The Most Strange

In every Presidential election there are some images that we remember. Images that have been captured by the media during the heat of the campaign.

Often, these images make us wonder why any sane person would run for political office. Certainly, these images show an absence of common sense and behavior difficult for most of us to explain.

Indeed, there are many examples of bad taste in the 2008 Presidential election campaign. Still, here is my vote for the top five things that will be remembered for a lack of good judgement and even as down right strange.

1. In July, The New Yorker had a picture of what it called a "satire" of Michelle and Barack Obama on its front cover. The "satire" magazine cover showed the Oval Office with Barack Obama as a tribal African. Michelle Obama was depicted in an afro-hairdo with a machine gun.

A picture of Osama Bin Laden was displayed on the wall and an American flag was on fire. Exactly, what was the editor thinking to allow the magazine to publish this picture?

2. Recently, Al Franken, who is not a credible candidate for the Senate but is running even with his opponent, Norm Coleman, was shown as a cartoon character, sticking out his tongue and wearing a beanie in a recent partisan Republican mailing. What ever happened to winning with new ideas in political election campaigns?

3. A Halloween display of Sarah Palin hung in effigy and John McCain emerging from a chimney in flames. These images courtesy of a West Hollywood couple were disturbing, misguided, and pretty strange. It just shows that in America, one man's hate crime could well be another man's Hollywood design.

4. A McCain campaign worker that pretends to be the victim of an attack by an Obama supporter at an ATM. She cuts a backwards B into her cheek in a vain attempt to give credit to her false claim. She was charged for filing a false police report for her deception and cheeky crime of physical pain.

5. A final example of the strange in Election 2008 comes from a quartet of young women in Brooklyn. They are pictured in a poster under the heading "Girls Say Yes to boys who say Obama".

Indeed, it's a poster that exists as an acknowledgement of the "dumbing down" of American society. Certainly, a poster that said "Girls say yes we can, to boys who say Obama" would have been far more appropriate in this strange election year.

Joe Biden Moments Are Hard To Understand

Joe Biden moments continue to appear with regularity in the Democratic Presidential Election campaign of 2008.

Last week, Joe could be seen shouting into a microphone that the major issue in this campaign year is a three letter word and then he proceeds to spell out for the audience the four letters in the word Jobs.

Its a pretty funny moment if you have not already seen the video, but its just another in a series of Biden gaffes in this campaign. Surely, its not any wonder why Barack Obama has recently tried to keep this guy away from a microphone.

The truth is that Joe Biden has been isolated from the traveling press, taken off of the campaign trail for a week and has not held a press conference in over a month. Nevertheless, Joe Biden moments just keep on coming.

Indeed, its very difficult to explain how an intelligent career politician of more than three decades can make so many verbal and political mistakes. In fact, here is the latest strange Joe Biden quote at a fundraiser on the campaign trail.

"Mark my words, it will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We're about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here if you don't remember anything else I said. Watch, we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy."

Biden continued: "I can give you at least four or five scenarios from where it might originate," mentioning the Middle East and Russia as possibilities. But he's gonna need your help. Because I promise you, you all are gonna be sitting here a year from now going, 'Oh my God, why are they there in the polls? Why is the polling so down? Why is this thing so tough?' We're gonna have to make some incredibly tough decisions in the first two years. So I'm asking you now, I'm asking you now, be prepared to stick with us. "

So, two weeks before election day and Joe Biden is turning the voters attention to Barack Obama's inexperience in handling foreign policy? In addition, he is telling the American voter that there will surely be a foreign policy crisis early next year and that a Democratic administration's handling of that crisis will be unpopular.

It seems that the logical conclusion of this speech to a voter trying to avoid Biden's bleak foreign policy outlook would be to vote for the experience of John McCain over the inexperience of Barack Obama. Biden must have realized that his speech would make news in the press.

Biden's foreign policy assessment may well be true but why bring it up now, only two weeks before election day, with the Democrats significantly ahead in every major public opinion poll? The discussion acts to create foreign policy uncertainty which doesn't politically help Barack Obama but could assist the failing campaign of John McCain.

Consider that all the Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates were given high level foreign policy briefings last week. This briefing may have led to Bidens recent foreign policy comments. Comments which politically represent yet another Joe Biden moment in Election 2008.

If the polls are right and do not change, in two weeks, Joe Biden will only be a heartbeat away from the Presidency. The next four years of Joe Biden moments would surely be entertaining but they could also become a full time job (three letters) for this country to understand.

Other articles on Joe Biden on the eWorldvublog:

Joe Biden Moments May Get John McCain Elected

Joe Biden's Moment Of Truth Will Not Help Obama

Joe The Plumber Saves The Day For John McCain

The third and final Presidential debate was held last evening at Hofstra University. It was certainly the best performance by John McCain of the three debates.

In this debate, the candidates finally discussed Barack Obama's plan to raise income taxes on 5% of americans during a recession. During the debate, McCain forced a discussion of Obama's recent response to a regular guy on the campaign trail by the name of Joe the Plumber.

Joe the Plumber was concerned about Obama's income tax policy and Obama responded that he was going to "spread the wealth around". Wealth redistribution, class warfare and the dubious effect of raising taxes during a recession are winning issues for the Republicans.

However, until Joe the Plumber's question about raising taxes and Obama's wealth redistribution response, it was hard to distinguish any real policy difference between the two candidates on the issue of income taxes.

So, Joe the Plumber was able to do with one question what the incoherent campaign of Republican John McCain has heretofore failed to do. Focus a debate on the wisdom of raising income taxes during a recession.

In general, John McCain was on the offensive all night but Barack Obama was smooth as usual on defense. The truth is that based on style points there is really no contest between these two candidates. Barack Obama will win on style every time.

However, in what may well be the final public debate of his political career, McCain began to highlight a pattern in Obama's background that suggest policy positions that are far to the left of the centrist, middle class Democratic candidate that Obama portrays himself to be today.

Recent public opinion polls suggest a Democratic sweep in election 2008. Indeed, this Presidential race may already be over. However, there are still nearly three weeks until election day and three weeks is a very long time in Presidential politics.

The fact is that Joe the Plumber has saved the day for John McCain. In three weeks, we will see if an income tax question from a concerned plumber was the turning point for McCain's Presidential campaign. A campaign which currently appears to be on life support and close to the political abyss.

This Debate Was A Long Campaign Commercial

If you missed the second Presidential debate last night, you saved ninety minutes of your life. The truth is that this wasn't a Presidential debate, it was a boring replay of the same tired debate questions answered in the same fashion by each of these two Presidential candidates for months.

Tom Brokaw was the debate moderator and was too concerned over the rules. The selected questions were standard and plain. The format was suppose to be a town hall meeting but it felt like a long, campaign commercial.

The only thing that was original was that John McCain proposed a new government plan to buy back every bad mortgage and renegotiate the terms of those loans. McCain's new mortgage plan apparently would add another 300 billion dollars to the 700 billion dollar bailout package that the Congress passed last week. His plan lacked detail in the debate and was not well explained.

For McCain, this mortgage plan looked like another "Hail Mary" in his effort to stay competitive in this election. The fact is that for the last two weeks, McCain has been steadily dropping in all the public opinion polls. Most polls now show him trailing by a total of between five and nine percentage points with a month to go in this presidential election.

It is hard to see how the outcome of this debate changes anything in Election 2008. Once again, Barack Obama did not make a major mistake and looked polished, articulate and Presidential. As a Republican candidate with the chain of the unpopular George Bush (27% approval rating) wrapped tightly around his neck, John McCain was swimming against a strong Democratic tide to begin with.

However, its now apparent that McCain may well lose this election on the mistakes he has made in response to the current mortgage crisis in the economy.

Consider that he suspended his campaign for three days to return to Washington D.C. to help with the bailout bill. Then, he resumes his campaign in time for the first Presidential debate but does not explain why he suspended his campaign in the first place. (see: McCain Does Not Explain His Suspended Campaign on eworldvu.com). Four days later the bailout bill that he suspended his campaign for goes down in defeat. It was to be loaded with pork in the Senate and passed last Thursday.

So, less than one week after that unpopular 700 billion dollar bailout bill passed Congress, John McCain has another plan and now wants to add an additional 300 billion dollars to the bill that has just passed. He announces his new plan in the middle of a debate without any real explanation or detail. Barack Obama has accused McCain of being erratic and chaotic in this economic crisis, its sure getting pretty hard to argue with that.

Meanwhile, Barack Obama's rhetoric on his government spending plan continues to be totally unrealistic. Last night, he stated that in his Administration the government would realize a "net spending cut". This "net spending cut" is completely ridiculous since he is proposing new spending on a national health insurance program, a plan to fix social security and tax cuts for 95% of Americans. Of course, this is all in addition to that 700 billion dollar mortgage bailout bill passed last week by the United States Congress.

The second Presidential debate was a long, boring campaign commercial by both of the Presidential candidates. The problem is that it did nothing to alleviate America's growing concern about its troubled economy, and the question of which candidate is the right man to handle this difficult job.

The truth is that a real debate could provide the answer, but long, boring campaign commercials never do.

Bailout Bill Disaster Was A Failure Of Leadership

The reason why only 9% of the American public approves the performance of the 110th United States Congress (according to the latest Rasmussen public opinion poll) was on full display yesterday.

After working for days on a financial bailout bill proposed by the Bush Administration and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in an apparent attempt to save the country from the financial abyss, the House voted 228-205 against the compromise bill.

Every Congressional politician from both political party's during the last week had the same talking points. Something had to be done right away about this financial crisis and a failure to act was not an option. Of course, a failure to act was indeed the option chosen yesterday and now the House Of Representatives will not vote again on any bailout plan until at least Thursday.

So what happened to this critical financial bailout plan? The answer can be found in a recent USA Today/Gallup poll. The poll found that just 22 percent of Americans said that they wanted Congress to "pass a plan similar to what the Bush Administration has proposed", while 56 percent wanted Congress to pass something "different" , and 11 percent wanted Congress to take no action at all.

The plan that was subject to a vote yesterday was not very different from the original plan submitted by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. The plan went down because it did not have voter support in an election year. An alternative bailout plan from the Republican Party was never actually proposed.

In addition, the sad truth is that this entire financial crisis is exposing an even bigger problem for the American voter. It is now apparent that there is no political leadership in Washington, D.C. .

President George Bush, who in his eight years in office has never seen a spending bill that he would actually veto, endorsed the bill but never really sold it to a skeptical American public.

Consider that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a partisan speech to blame this mess on Republicans even as she was trying to get Republican support to pass a bi-partisan bailout bill.

Then after the vote fails, the House Republican leadership indicates members changed their vote due to Pelosi's partisan attacks. Its all about politics but what ever happened to voting on the merits of the legislation?

The fact is that 40% of Democrats voted against this bill and the bill could have passed without any Republican support since Democrats are the majority party in the House. So, the real question here is if this is a good bill, why could the majority party not pass it?

Meanwhile, both of our Presidential candidates, Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama have gone AWOl. Its hard to understand what bailout bill they actually support. They appear to be awaiting passage of any bailout bill and a test of public opinion before they climb aboard the financial crisis bailout bandwagon.

The truth is that Barack Obama is hiding out on the campaign trail and is voting "present" on this difficult issue as he has often done throughout his political career. John McCain's response has been inconsistent and erratic. In fact, one of McCain's advisers told The Washington Post last week: "you've got to get it [the financial crisis] over with and start having a normal campaign."

The definition of leadership is the ability to affect human behavior to accomplish a mission. It requires the ability to rally and influence people to complete an important goal . It is difficult to achieve a positive result as a leader when you are afraid of the political risk and attempt to lead from behind. Yesterday's bailout bill disaster was a result of a failure of leadership.

McCain Does Not Explain His Suspended Campaign

The first Presidential debate was held in Mississippi on Friday night. The first forty minutes of the debate were devoted to questions on the financial meltdown of the domestic economy and the remainder of the debate was focused on foreign policy.

The near universal opinion in the community of political analysis was that Barack Obama had the slight edge on the questions concerning the domestic economy and that John McCain had the advantage in the debate on foreign policy.

The conclusion of political observers was that there were no major gaffes by either candidate and no real soundbites that would be played by the media for days after the debate.

While Obama gave scripted and polished answers, McCain displayed his extensive experience in foreign policy. Most political pundits thought that the outcome of the debate was a draw.

While all of this the may be true if you were scoring each and every question, it overlooks one important political point. John McCain never explained the reason behind the suspension of his Presidential campaign last week. Why was it necessary? What did he do? What result was achieved? He has never answered these very basic questions.

The truth is that the opening question of the debate was the perfect opportunity for McCain to tell the American public why it was so important for him to suspend his campaign last week and return to Washington D.C. . It is hard to understand why he did not.

The Democrats have been calling his suspended campaign a political stunt for days. Barack Obama had implied that the insertion of Presidential politics was not helpful to the entire bailout package process. Those charges were left completely unanswered by the Republican during last Friday nights debate.

Political mistakes do not have to be major television gaffes. They do not have to take the form of media soundbites. Often, it is the opportunity lost that is the real mistake. For John Mccain, the first Presidential debate was an opportunity lost on the question of his leadership during this financial crisis.

This is a difficult political environment for a Republican candidate. A financial meltdown, a struggling economy, an unpopular sitting President, the war in Iraq, and problems in Afghanistan are not a formula for success if you are the Presidential nominee of the political party in power. It is not an environment that will easily forgive self-inflicted campaign mistakes.

The real story of the first Presidential debate is that John McCain did not explain his suspended campaign. It was a political mistake and it will do nothing to stop his slow but steady erosion in national public opinion polls.

Joe Biden Moments May Get John McCain Elected

We certainly should give Joe Biden credit for candor. At the same time, its difficult to understand exactly why an otherwise intelligent and experienced politician continues to have what can only be called, "Joe Biden moments".

Indeed these "Joe Biden moments" sometimes make you wonder which side he is representing in election 2008. A few weeks ago, the Democratic candidate for Vice President indicated that his running mate Barack Obama could have made a better choice by selecting Hillary Clinton for Vice President. ( See: "Joe Biden's Moment of Truth Will Not Help Obama" on eworldvu.com). While that may well may be true, it called into question Obama's judgement and reminded everyone of the difficult and divisive Obama/Clinton Democratic primary campaign.

Yesterday, in a nationally televised interview with Katie Couric, there was another Joe Biden moment on prominent display. He said in the interview that an Obama campaign ad which mocked Republican John McCain's inability to use a computer was "terrible."

Biden said: "I thought that was terrible by the way," when asked about a campaign ad which made fun of McCain's admitted lack of ease with computers. "I didn't know we did it, and if I'd had anything to do with it, we would have never done it."

What are the political ramifications of this latest Joe Biden moment? Lets just look at what Barack Obama's campaign spokesman Bill Buron said last week about John McCain's campaign: "We will take no lectures from John McCain, who is cynically running the sleaziest and least honorable campaign in modern presidential campaign history. "His discredited ads with disgusting lies are running all over the country today. He runs a campaign not worthy of the office he is seeking."

The truth is that both campaigns are running negative and sleazy ads almost every day. The ad that Joe Biden is talking about is one in which McCain is mocked as out of touch for not using a computer or the internet. However, the real reason McCain does not use a computer according to various news reports may be due to injuries he sustained as a prisioner of war.

Of course, Democratic political damage control is now well underway. Biden has issued another statement this morning. Biden now says that he "was asked about an ad I'd never seen" and was "reacting merely to press reports." So, we are to believe that he called his own campaign ad terrible even though he had never seen it? This response may in itself be yet another Joe Biden moment.

Criticizing his own campaign ad is another Joe Biden moment in a career full of them. However, this is a very close contest and if these moments continue, they could well begin to add up to the hour of John McCain's election.

Those Joe Biden Moments just keep on coming. From Ben Smith's Blog on Politico.com today:

Biden garbles Depression history

Joe Biden's denunciation of his own campaign's ad to Katie Couric got so much attention last night that another odd note in the interview slipped by. He was speaking about the role of the White House in a financial crisis.

"When the stock market crashed, Franklin Roosevelt got on the television and didn't just talk about the princes of greed," Biden told Couric. "He said, 'Look, here's what happened."

As Reason's Jesse Walker footnotes it: "And if you owned an experimental TV set in 1929, you would have seen him. And you would have said to yourself, 'Who is that guy? What happened to President Hoover?'"

Paulson's Bailout Plan Is Financial Shock And Awe

It's another Monday and there is another government bailout to talk about in the sub prime mortgage mess.

However, this time its the "mother of all bailouts". U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has proposed and the Congress will soon approve a taxpayer bailout plan for everyone.

The Paulson bailout plan will use at least 700 billion taxpayer dollars to bail out toxic mortgages from every United States financial institution and even large U.S. banks that are foreign based.

In addition, the Paulson bailout plan saves any money market mutual fund that was in danger of breaking its one dollar net asset value. There were two such money market funds that were in that dubious category last week.

While there can be no doubt at this point that the Paulson bailout plan was necessary to save the financial markets from the abyss, the plan is financial shock and awe to the American taxpayer nevertheless.

The commitment of 700 billion in new taxpayer dollars to save the financial markets along with the cost of the Iraq war and the already huge federal budget deficit projected for next year will dramatically limit the next President's ability to spend any money.

So, any Presidential candidate that still maintains that he is going to cut taxes, provide National Health Insurance or any of the other myriad of vote pandering treats in the election 2008 goody bag is simply not facing fiscal reality. Make no mistake about this, American taxes are going up and the growth of the economy is going to be subdued during the next Presidents first term in office.

It is really remarkable how poorly our elected politicians and 2008 Presidential candidates have handled this financial crisis during the last week. Last Tuesday, Republican John McCain said: "We cannot have the taxpayers bail out AIG or anybody else." By Wednesday, he had completely changed his mind.

How about this strange quote from the Arizona Republican: "the fundamentals of our economy are strong". Unfortunately he said this as one brokerage house had just filed for bankruptcy, another was about to, and the Dow Jones industrial average had tumbled 504 points in a single trading day.

Meanwhile, America is still awaiting the economic plan of Democratic candidate Barack Obama. He has already delayed unveiling his plan twice. I guess at this point, he has just decided to vote "present" on the current financial crisis. It's apparently a pattern of behavior since he voted "present" on 130 different occasions when he was a member of the Illinois State Senate.

The leadership in the Congress was not much better. In the United States Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid is quoted as saying "no one knows what to do" while in the House Of Representatives, Speaker Nancy Pelosi initially promised to hold hearings on the crisis after the Congressional vacation.

This week both Republicans and Democrats will spend more than 700 billion dollars of taxpayer money and then go home on vacation. In the 2008 election, it will be business as usual as the candidates continue to make campaign promises that they cannot hope to deliver. However, despite the Congressional commitment of a huge amount of taxpayer money and all those campaign promises, this financial crisis is far from over.

A long and deep U.S. recession has now increased in probability. Indeed, defaults on credit card payments could eventually require the Treasury to commit more taxpayer bailout dollars for banks and credit card companies. In addition, a run on hedge funds is very likely and this whole mortgage mess may well spread throughout Europe.

Paulson's bailout plan of 700 billion taxpayer dollars is certainly American financial shock and awe. However, the sobering reality of the plan is that as an economic solution, it may be only phase one.

Joe Biden's Moment Of Truth Will Not Help Obama

I woke up this morning to another Joe Biden moment. What is a Joe Biden moment? Historically, a Joe Biden moment is when voters just shake their head in wonder and ask why an otherwise intelligent politician would say such a dubious thing.

The truth is that Joe Biden has a history of these moments and as a result is a politician that has often shot himself in the foot during his long political career.

So far, in election 2008, while Sarah Palin has dramatically energized the Republican campaign, Joe Biden has not been much of an asset to the Democratic ticket . However, yesterday, Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Joe Biden became a political liability to Barack Obama.

At a rally in Nashua, N.H., a man in the audience told Biden how glad he was that Obama picked him over Hillary, "not because she's a woman, but because, look at the things she did in the past."

Here is how Biden responded: "Make no mistake about this, Hillary Clinton is as qualified or more qualified than I am to be Vice President of the United States of America. Let’s get that straight. She’s a truly close personal friend, she is qualified to be President of the United States of America, she’s easily qualified to be Vice President of the United States of America, and quite frankly, it might have been a better pick than me. But she’s first rate, I mean that sincerely, she’s first rate, so let’s get that straight."

It sure sounds like Joe Biden is questioning Barack Obama's selection of himself as the Democratic Vice Presidential nominee. It highlights once again the lack of a proper explanation of why Hillary Clinton was not selected by Barack Obama for the number two spot on the ticket.

Of course, the McCain camp was quick to respond: McCain Spokesman Ben Porritt: "Barack Obama’s most important decision of this election, and Biden, the candidate he selects, suggests, himself, that he wasn’t the right man for the job, and that Hillary Clinton would have been a better choice. Biden certainly has a credible viewpoint on this."

Look for the Republican attack ads questioning Obama's judgement again in the days ahead. Certainly, Joe Biden's moment of truth will not help Obama but it was not the only Joe Biden moment on display yesterday.

At the start of his speech in Missouri he pointed out several state lawmakers in the audience for praise. When he got to Chuck Graham, a state senator from Green Meadows, Biden urged the lawmaker to “stand up Chuck, let ‘em see ya.”

The problem for Joe Biden is that Chuck is wheelchair bound and can not stand up. Here is Biden's response when he found out: “God love ya, what am I talking about. “You can tell I’m new,” he then asked the audience to stand up for Graham instead.

The problem for Obama is that Biden is not new and too often people don't know what he is talking about. The political reality in this campaign is that Joe Biden is fast becoming an anchor around Obama's neck as big as the anchor of George Bush that hangs from John McCain's.

For More on Election 2008 see: Presidential Election Day 2008 In My Dream on eworldvu.com

Sarah Palin's Political Counterpunch

For the last five days, bloggers from the fringe left aided by the mainstream media have been on a Sarah Palin jihad. The political attacks were mostly about her qualifications and her family but make no mistake, they were driven by her conservative politics.

The political attacks were relentless: Her 17 year old daughter was pregnant, therefore Sarah was not a good mother. Sarah Palin's recent child with Down Syndrome was really her daughters child and there should be a DNA test to determine the real mother was another absurd fictional creation from the fringe left blogosphere.

The National Enquirer, the new 2008 standard for investigative jounalism (see "The John Edwards Fairy Tale Campaign of 2008" on eworldvu.com) wrote without any tangible evidence from unnamed sources that she once had an affair. We discovered that her husband had a DUI arrest nearly twenty two years ago. Still others in the media wrote and opined that she should not have run because she had five kids and would not be able to balance the time.

Last night, Sarah Palin answered these critics with a speech that was different in style from the marvelous speech last week given by Barack Obama but every bit as good. She made the case for the election of John McCain. She made the best case yet by any Republican against voting for Barack Obama. In doing both she answered the skeptics and made the case for her own selection to the second spot on the Republican ticket.

Sarah Palin did it all with poise, a smile on her face, humor and with the smooth delivery of a seasoned veteran. It's hard to believe that she is only 44 years old. No matter what the outcome of Election 2008, America has seen the rising stars of the next political generation. It may be that this election is just the first round of several which will feature Barack Obama and Sarah Palin.

America has not had two politicians that are gifted communicators like these two people in either political party for many years. Last night at the Republican National Convention, Sarah Palin answered her critics and came out swinging. She certainly proved that she has a potent political counterpunch. It may well be that the difference between a pit bull and this hockey mom is only the lipstick.

Election 2008: A Close Race In The Battleground States

One thing becomes very clear when you, look at the different public opinion polls in the Presidential election of 2008. Going into the Republican National Convention, this is one very close race. It looks like Barack Obama got an average Convention "bounce" of 4% from the well run Democratic Convention.

It would only take a small post convention bounce for John McCain this week to return this race to a statistical dead heat. Indeed, the voting public appears evenly divided between the two Presidential contenders. A look at a few of the national polls this morning tells the story. Gallup has Obama up by 6%. Rasmussen has Obama up by 3% and Zogby has McCain up by 2%. The Electoral College is close as well with only 10 Electoral votes separating the two candidates. (Rasmussen).

So, what will decide this 2008 Presidential Election? Lets first discuss what will not. The 2008 Presidential Election will not be decided on whether Sarah Palin eats mooseburgers or how well Joe Biden avoided Vietnam. It will not be decided on the pending pregnancy of Sarah Palin's daughter or the past plagerism of Joe Biden's speeches. It likely will not be decided by either candidates choice of a Vice President since it is the top of the ticket that wins or loses elections. Historically, the choice of the V.P. only amounts to a 1% popular vote benefit for the Presidential candidate.

With the contest this close, Election 2008 will be decided by the voting in just a dozen American States. The fact is that with 90% of Republicans voting for McCain and a similar number of Democrats voting for Obama, the Independent voter in twelve battleground states will decide the outcome of this election.

For the Independent voter, it will be the answers to the following three questions that will determine the selection:

1. Has Barack Obama been completely vetted by the political media? McCain is very well known to the voting public. It is unlikely that there is anything that is unknown about him at this point concerning his personal background. However, since political newcomer Barack Obama has not yet "sealed the deal" with the voting public despite his gifted oratory, any new dubious revelation about Obama's background would hurt his candidacy.

2. How will each man do in the three scheduled Debates? How will Obama do in handling foreign policy questions? Will McCain look weak when compared to the oratory skill of Obama? How will McCain handle questions concerning the economy, an area he readily admits he is weak on?

3. Who will make that crucial mistake? In a close election, a major gaffe, or speaking mistake could well decide the outcome. So, the candidates better realize; how many houses they have, why they are running for office, and know how many states there are in the United States Of America.

For more on the voting in Election 2008 see: The Twelve States That will Decide Election 2008 on eworldvu.com.

Hurricane Gustav Impacts Republican Convention

Events for the first day of the Republican Convention has been scaled back due to major Hurricane Gustav's expected landfall near New Orleans. Here is the latest from the McCain campaign:

Rick Davis, McCain's campaign manager, told reporters in St. Paul on Sunday that the convention will convene Monday afternoon, but that business will be kept to a bare minimum of about two and a half hours. "There are certain basic minimum requirements of constituting the Party and the convention that are required.

The call to the convention that was issued almost two years ago requires us to meet tomorrow [i.e., Monday] to open the convention and to constitute not only the the Republican National Committee, but the convention itself. That is all we will do tomorrow," he said.

Davis said the convention agenda will refrain from political rhetoric while it is meeting, adding that major speakers, such as California's Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, are not being told to cancel plans to come to St. Paul.

He said the convention will likely reconvene later in the week to complete the formal nominations of Senator McCain and Governor Palin, but he noted that officials will continue to monitor the effects of Hurricane Gustav.

John McCain Picks Sarah Palin For Republican V.P.

The 2008 Presidential Election is certainly shaping up to be great political theatre between now and election day. The Democratic convention ended last night with the speech from Barack Obama recieving high praise from each side of the political spectrum.

It was a speech that political commentor David Gergen referred to as a "political symphony". The speech was flawlessly delivered in front of 84000 people. In addition, the outdoor venue of Invesco Field added to the overall excitement. In fact, television celebrity Oprah Winfrey was so moved by the speech that she is quoted as saying that she "cried her eyelashes off".

The only criticism from the political pundits was the lack of specifics concerning the political promises inherent in the Obama acceptance speech. Obama will need to fill in the policy details to his fine oratory last evening in the days ahead.

To answer the Democratic Presidential candidate's nomination address, John McCain has made the surprise selection of Sarah Palin as his choice for a running mate in Election 2008. The selection of the female Governor of Alaska for Republican V.P. is a strategy designed to take advantage of the disappointment of many female voters with Obama's selection of Joe Biden instead of Hillary Clinton as the Democratic V.P. nominee.

However, the selection of Palin helps McCain in other ways as well. She is a favorite of the Republican Party's conservative base. She is a reformer and the only candidate from either party that has actually run anything. She also is young and has a compelling life story. With Palin, McCain can run as an independent, on a platform of reform and change. However, with McCain's advanced age, the American public needs to be convinced that she can step in at a very young age and become the future President if necessary.

Obama/Biden and McCain/Palin in Election 2008. If this were a baseball game, I think it would be a tie after ten innings and the eventual outcome would depend on who makes the first error. It will certainly be an interesting contest to watch. The first scheduled Presidential debate is September 26, 2008.

Jack Kelly of Real Clear Politics wrote this excellent article on Sarah Palin on June 04, 2008 :

McCain Should Pick Sarah Palin for VP

Who? When?

Republicans including, I imagine, Sen. McCain himself are asking these questions about his selection of a vice presidential candidate.
Ideally, a presidential candidate wants a running mate who will help him or her win the election, and (maybe) to govern afterwards. But most will settle for a veep who isn't a drag on the ticket, as Dan Quayle was for the first President Bush.

Traditionally, a presidential nominee has chosen a running mate to balance the ticket geographically, or to appease a faction of the party. The most successful example of this was when John F. Kennedy picked Lyndon Johnson, though neither liked the other, and LBJ joined the ticket only because he thought Kennedy would lose.

Bill Clinton broke with this tradition when he chose another young (purported) moderate from a neighboring southern state. By picking Al Gore, he hoped to reinforce his campaign theme of generational change.

Which way will Sen. McCain go? The potential running mates most often discussed have downsides nearly as great as their upsides. Gov. Tim Pawlenty helps only in Minnesota, and not enough, according to current polls, to make a difference there. Sen. McCain's friend Sen. Joe Lieberman would bring in some moderate Democrats, but could further antagonize conservatives already suspicious of Sen. McCain. Gov. Romney would have little appeal to working class whites unhappy with Sen. Obama, and evangelicals fret about that Mormon thing.

A Huckabee nomination would irritate economic and foreign policy conservatives as much as it would please evangelicals. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is a rising star. But he's only 36, and he's been governor for less than a year.There is one potential running mate who has virtually no down side.

Those conservatives who've heard of her were delighted to learn that McCain advance man Arthur Culvahouse was in Alaska recently, because they surmised he could only be there to discuss the vice presidential nomination with Gov. Sarah Palin.

At 44, Sarah Louise Heath Palin is both the youngest and the first female governor in Alaska's relatively brief history as a state. She's also the most popular governor in America, with an approval rating that has bounced around 90 percent.

This is due partly to her personal qualities. When she was leading her underdog Wasilla high school basketball team to the state championship in 1982, her teammates called her "Sarah Barracuda" because of her fierce competitiveness.

Two years later, when she won the "Miss Wasilla" beauty pageant, she was also voted "Miss Congeniality" by the other contestants. Sarah Barracuda. Miss Congeniality. Fire and nice. A happily married mother of five who is still drop dead gorgeous. And smart to boot.

But it's mostly because she's been a crackerjack governor, a strong fiscal conservative and a ferocious fighter of corruption, especially in her own party. Ms. Palin touches other conservative bases, some of which Sen. McCain has been accused of rounding. Track, her eldest son, enlisted in the Army last Sept. 11. She's a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association who hunts, fishes and runs marathons. A regular churchgoer, she's staunchly pro-life.

Kimberley Strassel of the Wall Street Journal said Sen. McCain should run against a corrupt, do-nothing Congress, a la Harry Truman. If he should choose to do so, Gov. Palin would make an excellent partner "The landscape is littered with the bodies of those who have crossed Sarah," pollster Dave Dittman told the Weekly Standard's Fred Barnes.

Sen. Barack Obama's support has plunged recently among white women. Many Hillary Clinton supporters accuse him -- I think unfairly -- of being sexist. Having Sarah Palin on the ticket could help Sen. McCain appeal to these disgruntled Democrats.

Running mates usually aren't named until the convention. But if Sen. McCain should name Gov. Palin earlier, it would give America more time to get to know this extraordinary woman. And because she's at least a dozen feature stories waiting to be written, she could help him dominate the news between now and the conventions.

Another reason for selecting Sarah Palin early would be to force Barack Obama to make a mistake. He'd have to rule out choosing someone like Virginia Sen. Jim Webb as his running mate, for fear of exacerbating charges of sexism. And if he chose a woman other than Hillary, the impression Democrats are wimpy would be intensified.

Republican National Convention Preview

The Republican National Convention will be held in Saint Paul, Minnesota at Saint Paul's Xcel Energy Center from September 1, 2008 through September 4, 2008.

John McCain has announced that he will select his Vice Presidential running mate at 11am on Friday August 29.

Here is the scheduled Program for the Republican Convention.

Monday September, 1 2008 - Theme: Service.
Speakers will include:
U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman (Conn.)
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (Calif.)
Vice President Richard B. Cheney
First Lady Laura Bush
President George W. Bush

Tuesday September 2, 2008 - Theme: Reform
Speakers will include:
Former New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani
Former Gov. Mike Huckabee (Ark.)
Former Gov. Tom Ridge (Pa.)
Gov. Sarah Palin (Alaska)
Gov. Jon Huntsman (Utah)
Rosario Marin, California Secretary of the State and Consumer Services Agency and former Treasurer of the United States
Former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson (Tenn.)
Gov. Linda Lingle (Hawaii)
Former Lt. Gov. Michael Steele (Md.)

Wednesday September 3, 2008 - Theme - Prosperity
Speakers will Include:
U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman (Minn.)
Meg Whitman, National Co-Chair for McCain 2008 and former President and CEO of eBay
Carly Fiorina, Victory ‘08 Chairman for the Republican National Committee and former Chairman and CEO of Hewlett-Packard Co.
Former Gov. Mitt Romney (Mass.)
Mrs. Cindy McCain
Gov. Bobby Jindal (La.)
Republican Party’s Vice Presidential Nominee

Thursday September 4, 2008 - Theme - Peace
Speakers will include:
Gov. Tim Pawlenty (Minn.)
Gov. Charlie Crist (Fla.)
U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback (Kan.)
U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez (Fla.)
John McCain

Hillary Clinton Starts Her 2012 Presidential Campaign

When you lose a close election like Hillary Clinton, you have several things that you must do if you want to make a political comeback.

First, you must command a nationwide audience at a major political convention speech. Then, you must appear to be a good loser because nobody in America likes a poor loser. Next, you must appear to rise above the circumstances of your close defeat.

In addition, you must be faithful to your party. You must endorse the party nominee and be positive and reflective. It would be great if you could add an appropriate touch of humor. The attack on the other political party nominee is an absolute must.

For Hillary Clinton, an adoring daughter and the picture of a devoted, proud and dedicated husband were the icing on the cake. Her speech by all accounts last night achieved all of her goals. She leaves the political stage in 2008 but is well positioned for her Presidential campaign of 2012. However, to have a real shot for the White House in 2012 she still needs Barack Obama to lose this November to John McClain.

For More on Hillary Clinton see: The Hillary Clinton Presidential Campaign Of 2012 on eworldvu.com

Election 2008 Presidential Debate Preview

Here is the schedule of Presidential debates in Election 2008. The Commission on Presidential Debates will sponser the events. Since the race by all measures is very close, these debates may well decide the outcome.

The first debate is scheduled for Sept. 26 at the University of Mississippi. The debate will focus on foreign policy and national security, and John McCain and Barack Obama will answer questions from moderator Jim Lehrer while standing at podiums.

On Oct. 7, the two Presidential candidates will meet again for a town-hall style debate at Belmont University. Moderator Tom Brokaw will call on audience members and pose questions submitted through the Internet.

The third presidential debate, on domestic and economic policy, is slated for Oct. 15 at Hofstra University. Both McCain and Obama will sit at a table with moderator Schieffer.

Vice Presidential contenders are to meet Oct. 2 at Washinton University in St. Louis.

Paris Hilton And Media Objectivity In Election 2008

John McCain releases campaign ads that depict Barack Obama as a celebrity like Paris Hilton after Obama's international tour before an adoring national media. Then, Paris Hilton releases a video spoof (I hope its a spoof) to announce she has entered the presidential race. Meanwhile the National Enquirer continues to run stories about John Edwards and his alleged sordid affair complete with pictures of his love child.

These Edwards stories have not yet been covered by the mainstream media even though Edwards was a major candidate in the Democratic Primaries and was on the short list for Vice President.

However, with Election Day still three months away, 48 percent of the American public said they're hearing too much about Democratic candidate, Barack Obama according to a poll released Wednesday by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center. Just 26 percent said the same about his Republican rival, John McCain.

So far this election campaign is certainly issue light and tabloid personality heavy. The coverage and objectivity of the national media is in question and if they could ever see the sight of Paris Hilton connected to a Presidential election, our founding fathers would be in a profound state of shock.

For More see:

Paris Hilton Campaign Video

John Mccain Campaign Video

A Question of Media Objectivity in Election 2008 on eWorldvu

Energy Bill: Democrats Vacation, Republicans In The Dark

The approval of the United States Congress from the American public is so low (around 10%), that it may be difficult for it to go any lower. Of course with House speaker, Democrat Nancy Pelosi calling for a summer vacation without a vote on the energy bill
and Republicans holding meetings in a dark House chamber in protest, a further decline in Congressional popularity could yet still be achieved. Republicans may even shut down the U.S. government in September to force a vote on offshore drilling. This dubious action would then delay senior citizens from receiving their monthly social security checks in the fall.

Yes, a Congressional approval rate of well below 10% could still happen. Of course, the sad reality is that this prediciment of today is exactly the problem. Democrats on vacation and Republicans in the dark is exactly the way American politics have looked on the issue of a national energy plan for several decades. Democrats don't want to look for new energy anywhere. They don't want to drill, don't want to go nuclear, don't want coal. They want a world of wind and solar power and hybrid cars. Its a world that someday may exist but doesn't today. Therefore, the Democrats live in the world of tomorrow while everyone is living through the energy pain of today. When the reality of the energy problems of today becomes too great, the Democrats blame big oil, oil speculators or Saudi Arabia. Then they proceed to go on vacation, which makes their lobby, the big business of environmentalism happy.

In contrast, the Republicans are just totally in the dark. They are energy clueless. They would like to drill everywhere. Backed by the money of big oil, they have never put forward an agenda to make America energy independent or promote real energy efficiency. Its a sad record for a party that has been in power for eight of the last ten years.

So, McCain wants to drill for more oil when he did not want to drill before. Obama did not want to drill but he may in a limited fashion now. Mccain wants more nuclear power plants while Obama only wants to release the petroleum reserve. Both are careful not to anger their Party's powerful special interests.

So, its Republican big oil against Democrat environmentalism, paid for at the pump by the average American. There is still no coherent national energy policy and despite the recent news headlines nothing much has really changed today.

The Democrats have gone on vacation and the Republicans are looking for energy answers in the dark, as public approval of their performance continues to go lower. Its the same old story just on a different day.

Republicans: Top Three For VP

Like the Democrats, the Republicans have many qualified people who would make excellent selections for the V.P. spot on a ticket with John McCain. In election 2008, McCain should be looking for a person that can bring electoral votes in a swing state or a state that went Democratic in 2004. John McCain needs someone younger than himself for voter demographic balance. The V.P. selection needs to have experience managing a state and have an understanging of the economy. Both of these areas are current weaknesses of the Republican Presidential nominee.

Two men that have been mentioned for the Republican Vice Presidency are Florida Governor Charlie Crist (who helped McCain secure the Party's primary election with his timely endorsement) and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. Jindal is governor of Louisiana and is a rising star with Republican conservatives. While both men would make excellent choices on a Republican ticket, McCain should be able to win Florida's electoral votes without Crist and Jindal has said that he is not a candidate for VP and is probably too young anyway.

The name of Tom Ridge has been mentioned as a potential VP possibility, but his pro-abortion position would split the Republican Party's national base of support even if he did make the state of Pennsylvania more competitive for McCain. Mike Huckabee finished second in the Republican Primary but outside of motivating the Evangelical voter it is hard to see what he would bring to the 2008 Republican ticket in the fall.

That leaves the following top three Republican candidates for VP:

Mitt Romney- Its hard to see why the former Massachusetts Governor and McCain primary election rival would not be selected as McCain's running mate. He has been effective in raising money for John McCain in the last two months. He is liked by the Party's conservative base (except for Evangelicals). He has run a state and cleaned up the Olympics. He is a successful private businessman with a real understanding of the U.S. economy. He could deliver the electoral votes of Democratic Michigan where he is very popular and even help the McCain campaign in New Hampshire as well.

Tim Pawlenty-The Governor of Minnesota is young and dynamic. Pawlenty is a good friend of McCain. He would certainly make Minnesota (usually a Democratic State) competitive. He was a former House of Representative's majority leader. Pawlenty has an excellent track record as a reform Governor in Minnesota. He has balanced Minnesota's budget three times without raising taxes while enacting a property tax cap. Pawlenty has even reformed the way teachers are paid through a nation-leading performance pay plan.

Joe Lieberman-If McCain wanted to reach out to Democrats, he could select his old friend, Joe Lieberman. Lieberman is strong with independents and would help bring votes in several swing states. It would signal a maverick ticket to offset Democrat Barack Obama's campaign of change.

Look for McCain to choose among these three men in the next two weeks. The likely choice is Mitt Romney but Tim Pawlenty would bring a lot to a Republican ticket in election 2008 as well.