"I have to admit, I didn't realize the Republican base was such a cheap date."

They don't have to get laid to reach orgasm, smelling panties is enough evidently.

are conservative Republicans really this gullible?

Yes. SASQ.

But more, the fact that the Republicans need to rally their base after the convention -- while Obama used his appearance before a gathering of united Democrats to reach out to a record-breaking audience of swing voters -- is just another indication of the desperation on the GOP side.

You are about to see something that's never been seen before in American politics (No, not the republicans nominating a doddering idiot for the highest job in the land -- already happened in 1976 + 1980.) You're going to think I'm kidding but I'm not:

Gramps has spent the last year & $100 Million basing his entire campaign on attracting indeps, Reagan Democrats, and the occasional HRC dead-ender. Now, however, his bungled pick of Sarah the She-Devil has scotched all that. In the space of a couple minutes, he was forced to turn his campaign 180 degrees, into a standard repub "turn out the deranged base" operation.

Great, except that for a variety of reasons he's going to have to turn out probably 10% more of the Christian fanatics than Rove did in 2004.

What could he possibly do or say to turn out another 5 million of the truly fanatical -- the dominionists, the home-schoolers, the M-16 owners, 100% pro-lifers?

I think in the coming weeks you're going to see a dog-whistle, under the radar movement whose message is "Vote for McCain, because he's going to die in office and one of your own is going to become president." Yes, a major candidate is going to base his campaign on the good odds of him croaking soon. I would bet my life that within 24 hrs at least one TV gasbag and prob some NRO loonies will say something very much like this.

They're the cheapest - this has been proven over and over. The other side isn't a whole lot more savvy though. We've all fallen for the talk of Hope (and clean coal) and Change (and a broken FISA).

The National Association of Home Builders? That's likely to be one of the most depressing meetings ever. Guess they figure all they can do at this point is pray, and maybe some speakin'-in-tongues if it helps. Palin should fit right in.

What we saw last night was nothing less than the opening volley in upcoming two month long culture war.

how deeply immoral it is to pit a nation against itself in hopes of winning an election. The next two months are going to make 2000 and 2004 look civilized in comparison.

I feel for my American friends today, this is going to get nastier than anything I've ever seen in my life. You deserve better.

"The campaign disclosed plans for both McCain and Obama to visit a conservative exurb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin..."

Should I assume that Ambinder meant to say "McCain and Palin?

The far-right base isn't that gullible (well, not all of them). But what choice do they have? They've been looking for some reason to get excited, and tabula rosa Palin fits the bill. They know almost nothing of her, but what they know, they like. Now they'll stick their fingers in their ears and scream "Nananananananana can't hear you!" until Election Day.

I'm an Obama supporter so my radar isn't calibrated for this. But I think Palin's performance will fire up the base but alienate a lot of independents.

The Republicans are like jello---they'll take the shape of any mold their leaders pour them into.

How else can you explain that while the great majority of the delegates in the hall overwhelmingly support Bush and the Republican policies over the past few years they are running as fast as they can from that.

Like I said earlier, Pogo would be proud, "We have met the enemy... and he is us".

the right wingers aren't cheap dates. we'll be paying their tab for several generations.

cheap shots, however, seems to describe them well.

Steve, I agree... it is a "rally the base" strategy. I think that Republican gang think that McCain himself has the center and that their main problem was firing up the social issues right... if that's true, his bulldog choice for VP makes sense.

I have to think that her candidacy will be a wash or only a small plus for the ticket. I don't see how she's going to attract the middle, short of some big mistake on Obama and Biden's part, like Biden calling her a cunt in the middle of the debate. For every time she mentions some far-right platitude, it's going to be blasted all over the news, and it'll turn off the middle. Or so I think.

There's also the idea that her slaps in the face to the Democrats will motivate them to work harder. Fivethirtyeight.com talked about this earlier. This, too, might make it a wash, or even put them at a disadvantage, as there are many more Democrats than Republicans.

Finally, let's remember that if this woman makes one big mistake, it could really sink the ticket. I'm hoping that the Obama campaign throws an idea or name at her that leaves her flabbergasted, so that she doesn't give a dumb answer but can't give any answer at all. I'm fairly plugged in about news and politics, but more so domestic than foreign, and when Ezra Klein mentioned Kadima while talking about concepts that are out of Palin's depth, I had to look it up. There are many, many ways to do this without looking like we're unfairly attacking her.

Whatever happened to the old idea of not picking a VP nominee who'd overshadow the Presidential nominee? In her Tracey Flick-like zeal to impress, is Palin going to create a strange dynamic where McCain starts to look really old and feeble in comparison?

"I have to admit, I didn't realize the Republican base was such a cheap date."

That swarming mass of semi-retarded mouth breathers? What planet have you been living on?

McCain could have chosen a shiny bauble dangling on the end of a string to be his Vice President and gotten pretty much the same reaction. These people are desparate for their daily fix of idiocy and contempt.

"How else can you explain that while the great majority of the delegates in the hall overwhelmingly support Bush and the Republican policies over the past few years they are running as fast as they can from that." Neal

Probably greatly overlooked here is that a large majority of those convention attendees are affluent and simply loved Bush's tax cuts. Of course, McCain is whoring for their interests too. But here again, some of Palin's actions as mayor and governor contradict that tax cutting theme. They won't go there.

stupid shit for stupid americans....and for this my buddies bled & died in stupid wars........

I think that Republican gang think that McCain himself has the center and that their main problem was firing up the social issues right... if that's true, his bulldog choice for VP makes sense.

I disagree. I think the Republican gang knows that the center is a lost cause, and that McCain had serious problems with the base too. Rallying the base while instilling enough Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt to depress centrist turnout that otherwise would have gone to Obama is their only hope not to lose this election by embarrassing margins.

As I've said, compare and contrast: the Democrats used their convention to reach out to the center; the Rethugs are using theirs as a pep rally for the base. Their strategy has "loser" written all over it.

Also, Oceania has always been at war with Eurasia.

"A cheap date" is the wrong metaphor. I prefer the radical improvement in appearance of the singles talent in a bar on the cusp of closing time.

I think the democrats underestimate how many religious conservatives are single issue voters. If they think a candidate will help overturn Roe vs. Wade they don't care if that person has no foreign policy experience.

From the beginning I've said that the Palin pick was for the hard core religious right and nobody else. All the stuff about wooing Hillary dead-enders was a pile of crap. Palin is Huckabee in lipstick and high heels plain and simple.

Why, you might ask? Simple. In 2004 Kerry lost with about 5 million more votes than Bush "won" with (or Gore "lost" with if you prefer) in 2000. Despite heroic voter suppression efforts by Republicans people turned out in large numbers to oust Bush. But Bush won because he managed to turn out greater numbers to keep him in office. And where did all those warm bodies with no brains come from? The evangelical wingnut community. Massive, partisan GOTV campaigns carried out in tax-exempt churches across America, with no worries that IRS would investigate since one of their own wielded that power and showed he wasn't afraid to weild it in a completely partisan manner. McCain knows that voter turnout this year will be as great or greater than 2004 and if he doesn't have those Christian soldiers marching to the polls as to war, he doesn't have a prayer. He can never garner enough support from the middle to win this one, of that he is convinced. So his strategy has been to run from the right while relying on his good friends in the press to keep the myth alive that he is maverick.

There are signs that the love affair between McCain and the media is about to go up in smoke and hopefully it will be soon enough so that the independent voters of America will see McCain for what he is, a castrated steer with the Arbusto GOP prominently displayed on his sagging arse. The nomination of Sarah Palin is proof of that.

I don't know why you refer to this as gullibility. If she gets in as VP, they have a foot in the policy door. McCain has shown time and time again how he can be manipulated, or that he doesn't have that many core issues he cares about. Moreover, there's an obvious route to the presidency for her, which they must be very excited about.

This isn't pandering on McCain's part. It's capitulation.

Some clever note to the NYT referred to Sarah Palin as Karl Rove in a Gidgit costume. If it weren't so sad it would be funny!

The selection of Palin does seem to be very effective at energizing the base -- the Democratic base, that is.

I've seen numerous comments from people who were lukewarm about Obama, saying that the selection of Palin inspired them to donate money to, or volunteer to work for, the Obama campaign.

In particular, I have seen a lot of such comments from so-called "disaffected" Hillary Clinton supporters, who are appalled by Palin's extremist views that women who are violently raped should be forced by the government to give birth to the rapist's offspring against their will, and very angry that the Republicans would insult their intelligence by claiming that Palin would win their support simply because she is a woman.

Palin's selection is definitely going to be a major boost to Democratic voter turnout. I am a registered Green Party voter in Maryland, where Obama has been leading McCain by 10-15 points, and had planned to vote for the Green Party nominee Cynthia McKinney. But because of Sarah Palin, I will be voting for Obama.

I agree it's a base strategy - either the "attract Hillary voters" theory was a feint they never believed in, or they quickly saw it wasn't going to fly.

The speech may be firing up the base, but it looks like it's driving away independent voters.

From a Detroit Free-Press focus group:

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080903/NEWS15/80904002

"I was completely underwhelmed. She was a Republican novelty act with a sophomoric script. It was not even a speech I would expect for a someone running for the local PTA, much less for vice president."

-- George Lentz, 66, Southfield independent

"Who is Sarah Palin? I'm sorry but I still don't know anymore about this young lady tonight than I did last night ... The way it looks to me, she's the Republican vice presidential nominee for one reason: because Hillary wasn't selected."

-- Mike Kosh, 38, West Bloomfield independent

"Sarah Palin is a self-described 'pitbull with lipstick.' She spent little time helping Americans learn who she is. She is a cool, poised speaker, but her speech contained few statements about policy or the party platform. … I am not convinced that Palin's experience as a mayor or governor in Alaska meet the qualifications to be vice president much less one stroke or heart attack away from being commander in chief."

-- Ilene Beninson, 52, Berkley independent

"Nothing worked for me. I found her barrage of snide remarks and distortions to be a major turn off. She is not a class act. The most important point she made is that she will be an effective attack dog."

-- Jan Wheelock, 58, Royal Oak independent

"Sarah got as much applause as Hillary did, and had a friendly, appealing appearance.
Her delivery style reminded me of a high school valedictorian who also might have been a cheerleader. I thought she would appear more professional, more stateswomanly. She's no match for Joe Biden."

-- Joellen Gilchrist, 64, Beverly Hills independent

There's only one man who has fought for you.

If anyone thinks people like McCain were fighting "for us" in Vietnam, then they still have learned nothing about that war.
.

looks to me like the repubs have chosen their battle strategy: small town white america against the world.

Orwell wrote: "That energized feeling you have as a Democrat is called 'panic.'"

That feeling that you have is called "stupidity".

The only way this strategy works is if the media helps them out by painting it as a 'populist' effort and pretending that all their Obama hate and vitriol is actually an appeal to the 'regular voter'.

A couple months ago, I'd have been very concerned that that could happen. Now, it's going to be a tough sell for the Reeps. Sure, there are still a few quarters in the media out there offering him donuts with sprinkles, but he's created some hard feelings out there as well. And this speech, as fiery and sharp as it was, was Palin's only shot to reach a really large audience and make a very positive impression without being contested or contradicted. She really didn't do that - she instead when the angry, smartass route.

And to the extent she did become a real superstar, how is she going to play it down when they campaign together? Remember, she's not the one at the top of the ticket.

"Who is Sarah Palin? I'm sorry but I still don't know anymore about this young lady tonight than I did last night ... The way it looks to me, she's the Republican vice presidential nominee for one reason: because Hillary wasn't selected."

DING-DING-DING--DING-DING!!!

We have a winner! Bob, tell him what he's won!

Ah, I love it when Orwell posts a good 10% of the comments.

Nothing illustrates better how scared the right wing is.

Keep talking, Orwell. We all can hear your inner voice screaming, "Oh, shit!"

One thing is for certain, Palin's pissed off a lot of community organizers: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/anderkoo/2008/09/04/community-organizers-american-heroes/

This guy also has a great story about former Republicans' reaction to McCain and their current support for Obama.

"The campaign disclosed plans for both McCain and Obama to visit..."

I think you mean "both McCain and Palin"

:)

Of course they're this gullible. You been living under a rock the last decade or two?

McCain will lie his ass off during the debates and reverse positions every day from now until the election parroting whatever his pollsters say will control the election cycle for the following day.

They've turned this into more of a deranged mockery than it previously was.

One thing is for certain, Palin's pissed off a lot of community organizers:

Guiliani made the same dig, too. His biggest and longest laugh line, if I recall correctly. This wasn't an accident.

It's an idiotic move, I think. As that link notes, community organizers are the ones who lead the Democratic get-out-the-vote effort, and the Republicans just took a giant dump all over them.

Game on, assholes.

Sorry, I meant to write "news cycle" Lack of sleep lying awake offended and angry has taken it's toll.

That was the most divisive and hateful speech I've seen in a long time. The contempt drooling from all the speakers last night and the reception it received from the people there is a sad, sad commentary on the supposed future of the Republican Party. I thought we finally killed this culture war freakshow...I guess not. Well, if this is the future of the Republican Party you can count this former Republican out. I always thought, "someday they'll realize how creepy this type of thing is"...I guess not. Obama provided the change I was looking for, I guess the Republicans were looking for something like this. Scary.

The bottom line is Palin gave a speech that energized the party. Now the contest. I look forward to the debates. http://mycommentspage.blogspot.com/

Palin had to change the game last night by riling up the right -- and nothing does that like hatred and anger.

That accomplished, my guess is she turns it down a couple notches and presents a somewhat softer image from here on out.

It is really working for you--NOT. -emmarose

Okay, Wayne. Garth called, he wants his antiquated, puerile sarcasm back. (No need to point out the irony I'm wallowing in.)

So keep up the negative comments about her and her supporters. It is really working for you--NOT.

Palin is unqualified to be vice president, and no amount of concern trolling should keep Democrats from pointing out that fact. Or the fact that the recklessness of the pick shows how unqualified McCain is to be President. Or the various negative facts abouyt her that emerge daily. Or her adoption of Rove-style negative politics -- that fact alone makes her fair game. Typical of whiny Republicans that they can dish it out but not take it.

As for her supporters -- that is, the Republican base -- we'll criticize Republican zealots and the mendacity, incompetence and corruption of the party they embrace all we please, thank you very much -- and we please do to so very much.

I think the crazy religious base people were desperate for a face saving way to throw their full support behind McCain. Palin gives them a socially acceptable reason to vehemently support McCain. They can all talk to each other about the wonderful pro-lifedness of the republican ticket now.

That is a much better lunch conversation than vague allusions to Obama's ethnicity, or trying to pretend Bush's policies have been successful.

They really blew it. Gov Palin looks good and can read a teleprompter ok, but by giving her a speech by a Bush speechwriter, full of typically Bush-like snide remarks, straw men, and flat-out lies, they just turned off independents and really anyone else who's sick of seeing Bush. She was even sniggering at her own jokes the way Bush does. And aren't we all heartily sick of the "small towns are great" shtick after hearing about Crawford TX for the last 9 years ?

I think they could possibly have done better by finding a different speechwriter and choosing a less sarcastic tone. But maybe this is just who "Sarah Barracuda" is: after seeing this speech, that hometown nickname seems very apt and not at all complimentary.

And aren't we all heartily sick of the "small towns are great" shtick

I for one am sick of hearing the Republicans write off vast swaths of the nation as unauthentic and unpatriotic. Democrats may point out that small town and rural voters often vote against their economic self-interest, but they don't put "middle America" down the way the Republicans demonize New York, Massachusets, California and the other great states whose tax dollars subsidize the Red ones.

I disagree with Palin on every issue but had to admit she has spunk. Think Margaret Thatcher from Kansas.

It is interesting that the McCain/Palin ticket seems to have more energy and desire to win than ours. At least they are being effectively framed that way.

Lord I hope Obama wakes up, electrifies the country, AND WINS.

Is orwell the village idiot? He reminds me of someone at a party blithering anything and evereything just to garner some kind of attention. Maybe that's the republican strategy now.

Palin is more than a gimmick to secure the right-wing base. She's also a hammer to hit Obama in a way that he's proven vulnerable to before. Remember all that time when Hillary supporters were crying 'misogyny!'? Well, the republicans were taking notes. Now they have a VP who both energizes their base *and* gives them an opportunity to launch more accusations of woman-hatin' at Obama. The misogynist attack is the only thing that really blunted Obama in the primaries, and the repubs are going to use it as their major weapon in the main campaign.

This is *precisely* the Rove playbook -- drive your opponent's positive ratings down with any mud you can sling, then rely on the fanatic evangelical base to push you over the top. It's divisive, hypocritical and shallow, and it'll never win by more than one or two percentage points, but it *is* a reliable way of winning elections. Dems, be ready for this tactic.

Remus Shepherd,

I just don't think the misogynist tactic will work because of lot of the people who are taking issue with Palin are women.

If a woman doesn't think that a mother of a four month old special needs infant should be running for vice president, what will come of calling her a misogynist?

That is one of the predominant complaints about her from my, admittedly anecdotal, observations from Indiana this weekend. It just doesn't sit right with Republican mothers in the heartland.

And that was before they found out about Bristol's condition.

Sure, these aren't the reasons that resonate with a lot of us, but frankly, I don't care why Republicans don't like her, just that they don't. And if they start calling their heartland base misogynists because they don't like her, why that just tickles my gravy.

Probably qualifies as the most vicious convention ever.

Sounded like sophomoric college Republicans came up with all the material. Disgusting.

I'd like my country to be run by adults, thank you.

Great post -- except the last bit. I'm sure the conservatives are well aware that McCain is not trustworthy on abortion. But in chosing Palin, he handed the future of the party over to them. They aren't a cheap date *at all*.

The base is not a "cheap date." They are, in fact, perhaps more aware of what's really what in this move than we are.

"What's really what" us the fact that there's an excellent possibility of McCain dying in office in his first term, and practically a guarantee of that if he were to have a second term. And there's Sarah Palin - "one of our own" - to step into office the only way a dominionist theocrat is going to get there, by succession rather than election.

The leaders of this movement have been working toward this since Abram Vereide founded what is now known as The Family - the organization dedicated to creation of a Christian theocracy in the United States - way back in 1935.

If you think the members of "the base" aren't getting educated to this in their weekly "prayer groups", then perhaps you may not know what's really going on here.

Palin was the price the Dobsons and the Perkinses force McCain to pay to get their support. Dobson was actively working against McCain the day before the announcement, and came around to 100% support within an hour of the announcement. Ditto Tony Perkins. Ditto the Traditional Values Coalition and all the others.

Our one hope is registering more voters than they do and marshalling the troops on November 4. That's what it's going to take to defeat the American Taliban. Anyone who thinks they aren't the major threat they are hasn't been paying attention.

The bottom line is ...

Shut up.
.

Orwell: "This may be the most brilliant political move we have seen in a long time."

If I spend my family's entire savings on lottery tickets, and one of them is the winner, it would be the most brilliant financial move anyone had seen in a long time. Orwell, you want to send me a check so I can gamble with your money too?

Richard Cownie: "She was even sniggering at her own jokes the way Bush does."

OMG, I knew there was something familiar about her delivery. She is far better at pronunciation than Bush, but she does that thing he does where he looks around with a self-satisfied smile when he's managed to get a sentence out.

"Sounded like sophomoric college Republicans came up with all the material." - George @ 12:42 pm

You nailed it, George. This is what the Rove operation always was right from the beginning, nothing but stupid frat-boy tricks on a huge scale that nobody ever saw coming. Since they have nothing else, they'll keep trying to milk it for as long as possible.

Sending Palin to speak to only certified supporters is the only real tactic that makes sense for them. The real test will be when she faces Biden in the VP debate, which I'm really looking forward to.

She carried herself well last night, but she also revealed a troubling rookie weakness when she went off-script to make a cheap joke comparing hockey moms to pit bulls with lipstick. The diehards at the convention laughed, but a lot of independents and undecideds looked at each other and went "Uh-oh".

When she finally starts facing hostile crowds outside of the safe haven of her adoring fans I predict that she will eventually get defensive and nasty so that the real Sarah Palin will start to show through.

Stay tuned.

Orwell: "Now she comes at the turning of the tide."

Is she going to divide the waters and heal the world? Is she The One?

Now she comes at the turning of the tide.

No, I'm pretty sure that was Gandalf.

Sadly, Palin, like Bush/Cheney, won't ever face an independent, let alone hostile, audience. They won't let her. Attendees at her speeches will be vetted and culled just like they are with Bush/Cheney. The worst that will happen is that she may have to sit down with the lap-dog media who will be required to submit the questions/topics in advance. The debates could be a test but, even if she mis-steps, she will be forgiven and blame will be shifted to the mean moderator or that horrible monster Joe Biden. Rethugs never take responsibility for anything. Witness the deafening silence on their own party's record for the last 8 years coming from the convention hall in the Twin Cities. Hillary had it right - it is a good thing thing their convention is in the Twin Cities because you can't tell mcsame and Bush apart. Now, to go one step further, you can't tell Palin apart from Cheney. I'm not even sure the skirt helps to make the difference.

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