If only there were some part of the progressive movement that operated outside of the official campaign, in a freewheeling media environment, that could launch attacks directly at these biographies instead of merely complaining that the Obama campaign doesn't.

I WANT TO HAVE A BEER WITH SARAH AND UNCLE JOHN!!!!!!!!!

The corollary of "aiming for the gut" is assassinating the character of your opponent.

The later in the week it gets the more upbeat I'm becoming about Obama's chances.

There's what, 50 some odd days til election? Palin-fatigue is already setting in with the progressives. I give it a week tops before the rest of the electorate never wants to hear another word about her ever again. And when that happens people will see the empty husk that she really is.

(the fundie True Believers will never tire of her - but they were never our votes anyways)

Of course, by declaring openly they're going for an appeal to emotion, the McCain camp concedes nearly every issue to Obama. They've already conceded to Obama that this election is about change. Now they're admitting that touting McCain / Palin as a change ticket -- as opposed to a continuation of the mendacity, incompetence and corruption of the modern Republican Party -- doesn't stand up to any thought at all.

That's why they don't care if everyone knows they're lying -- their position is "Who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes?", and they don't mind admitting it.

So depressing.

We're losing because we have substantive solutions for the nation and the world.

They win because John McCain has one more goal to accomplish before he dies and doesn't care how he gets it.

Buck up. We're not losing.

This is just the culmination of the Republican message machine that's been running campaigns for 30 years. They're going to finally test to see if the American people really are as stupid as the Republicans think they are.

Gods - the contempt these people have for regular Americans is just astounding. Even to someone as jaded as myself the idea that you can just blatantly lie about your record and not bother to make any kind of substantive affirmative case for your taking the office is just amazing to me. They really do think we're idiots.

Nothing new here. The Republicans have been the party of the brain-stem voters for quite some time now. For us frontal-lobe types, not so much.

Steve, you are finally getting it. Sarah Palin WAS vetted. She was picked intentionally for her 'tabloid' positives. The pick has worked beautifully. Bottom line issue's don't matter only personality. It is a direct appeal to the 'gut' not the 'heads' of voters.
I have no doubt that Sarah Palin will flame out. But will it happen before the election or after?

My vote is after, democrats are fools if they think that the media is going to come to the rescue and impose some fairness, ain't going to happen

Don't really have an answer for Obama now but if I were him, I would talk slowly calmly and call McCain and Palin out.

Without a doubt John McCain is now officially running the most cyncial campaign is US history. And that saying something considering who is in the White House now.

Lily Tomlin says "No matter how cynical I get, I just can't keep up" - no kidding

"Idiocracy" - we are in it

The way to turn their own strategy against them is to firmly uphold the narrative that they're serial liars- work it into every single stump speech and ad. THAT is also going for the gut. And it should be like falling off a log since neither McSame nor Caribou Barbie seem to be able to open their mouths without lying like rugs.

"If you would persuade, you must appeal to interest rather than intellect."
-- B. Franklin

Shameless celebrity peddling.

Many of the electorate are gut punched over the economy. It's the economy, the economy, the economy and McCain's sole prescription is keep taxes low, the economy will come around. Run with it !!!

The voters will gravitate to Cheese Doodles and Dancing With the Stars.

Wasn't it Ronald Reagan who asked the "where's the beef?" question in a debate?

This is where the corporate-owned mass media's aggressive dumbing down of the public discourse, their relentless barrage of inane bullshit aimed at keeping Americans ignorant and making them stupid, really pays off.

A people whose knowledge of the world around them revolves around the latest antics of Britney Spears and other made-for-TV, rich-and-famous "personalities" is primed to vote for the likes of Sarah Palin.

what would be happening now if palin was 60 years old and 50 pounds overweight? obama needs to roll out his own celebrity ad--at the moment palin is one of the most popular women around, in an E! sort of way.

just curious taritac: they've won what? the election ain't until november.

look, if you were mccain, what would you be running on? as i've said before, if he tried to go toe-to-toe with obama on the issues, he'd get killed. the question is whether such an approach can be sustained over two months. i doubt it.

There's a second prong to the McCain strategy: while running on biography, keep repeating as often and as loudly as possible that Obama doesn't have any substance.

I think finally Obama gets it. We will see more ads like the one you linked to under "Original Mavericks". Calling their outright lies will stick more and more over time. Is it enough to win? I don't know. But what else can be done? The corporate media will not change. I don't want the dems to mirror the repubs either. In the long run it is up to the people to decide if they care about this republic or not. I'm not very optimistic but maybe I'm wrong.

[but for those more interested in "feeling" than "reading," ]

All I could think of was:

"I am here to LEAD, not to READ" - President Schwarzenegger, The Simpsons Movie

I trust my gut. Did you know your gut has more nerve endings than your brain? It's true, I looked it up! I looked it up in my gut.

I certainly agree that McCain will do anything to win this time. And that he has completely forgotten why he wants to be President.

There is one Obama strategy that could really take advantage of this. And like the last one (rope a dope---which worked, since it forced McCain to go for "CHANGE"), it comes from Muhammad Ali. It consists of conducting the fastest moving campaign possible, throwing news issues out rapidly and traveling Obama and his most recognized senior boosters 24/7 into every single battleground state and then a few besides. McCain will have to counter, and he will have to appear himself (Moosalini being busy fighting off an attack in Alaska from various Democrats, Republicans, and regular citizens that she stepped on on her way up). McCain is 72 yrs old, and apparently prone to angry outbursts when he is tired.

It is a tough strategy on everyone, but I sure hope that the Obama camp is thinking about it.

Background: When you watch Ali in his younger days, for example when he won gold in the light heavyweight class at the 1960 Olympics, you see how much faster and lighter on his feet he was than his opponents. He just wore his opponents down, and then knocked them out.

This basic strategy re emerged as rope a dope as Ali grew older---with the cost of the heavy blows he had to take as a sitting duck on the ropes.

How is McCain's strategy any different from the strategy in either of Bush's campaigns? I recall him running not on issues or policy but on how big a liar Al Gore was, and how wounded John Kerry was.

Hey - all purely ancedotal I know, but I think the LIAR meme is really catching on. I am seeing it consistently restated in shorter and shorter comments on neutral blogs. We need to keep repeating it, over and over again. Sara Palin is a serial liar!! Sare is a liar!! Sara = Liar. The comparisons to Bush on these blogs is spontaneous. I know its tough to look at the polls right now, but we need to take the fight to them. As I've said in an earlier post, If you haven't dropped some coin on Obama then don't talk to me about supporting him. Go to his website. Its easy and its always great to drop a big number on the press. Actions not words, my friends.

We are sold everything from cars to beer to drugs by appealing to basic emotion, fear, and sexual desire.
You will be out of business if you try to sell something because it is simply better.
Why should a presidential campaign be any different?

If arugula sinks Obama, then I guess much of the electorate are vegetables themselves.

Let's face it, many folks are just too dam lazy to actually use their brain cells.

Biden and Obama can talk all they want but I'm afraid the electorate is gonna vote with their gut.

Black dude with an older white male vs white woman with a zesty and testy older white man. Oops I forgot, Sarah ain't running for president.

I have a suspicion that the rest of the world is thinking that US voters just don't seem to take themselves seriously.

What's wrong with arugula anyway?

Boy am I ever getting a bad feeling about this election. Why is it that the democrats always seem to get the idea that the American voters care about issues ? People are looking at persona - not issues. People will vote for someone who will attack when attacked. The logic is really so simple. If you won't stand up for yourself, then why should we think you'll stand up for us ? Full Stop.

Steve Benen, could you define "compliance fund"? And why Pops is asking for direct donations to it?

FOr those above who think we're losing....TAKE ACTION!! Have you signed up to help Obama register voters, to be a poll observer, a driver for those w/ no cars or transpo to the polls? If not, don't get despondent, get busy!

Also, we all need to take our video cameras to the polls. Anything that makes you do a double-take, record it! (See http://www.stealingamericathemovie.org/)

Wasn't it Ronald Reagan who asked the "where's the beef?" question in a debate?

Posted by: Michigoose on September 9, 2008 at 4:01 PM

It was Mondale, in a primary-season debate with Hart. It was a staggeringly intellectually dishonest question, that relied entirely on Mondale's "Old New Deal Coalition" base being uninformed. Hart had released white papers - long, dry, wonky white papers - on almost anything you could imagine (many of which have, in the years since, proven to be freakishly prescient). Surely Mondale's team knew this, knew that Hart had offered more detail on more positions than Mondale largely because that was how the outsider had to get credibility. Mondale knew Hart could not adequately answer the question in a debate format, and that every time a Wendy's ad ran it would be like a million dollars of free advertising for Mondale. Politically brilliant but absolutely underhanded.

And I would be remiss if I didn't note that Mondale beat Hart. I think there is a lesson here somewhere.

Bottom line: Americans are profoundly stupid.

John McCain knows this. Obama can't bring himself to admit it.

And that's why McCain will win.

What I find strange is the Dems are now the party of science and empiricism, but they fail to use behaviorial science and advertising techniques to push their agenda.

Most Americans will never follow policy debates, they're not smart enough. Most couldn't tell you what a marginal tax rate is. But the Dems could manipulate the electorate just as effectively as the GOP. At least they would do it the right direction.

Fascism speaks to the gut as well.

Where's Oprah when we need her?

This is just the culmination of the Republican message machine that's been running campaigns for 30 years. They're going to finally test to see if the American people really are as stupid as the Republicans think they are. Posted by: NonyNony

What do you mean "finally test"? Two terms of Reagan and two terms of Shrub don't already demonstrate how anti-intellectual and politically disengaged the American public has become?

We are, quite frankly, fighting for the future of America. If McCain wins, we may be seeing the end of American greatness by any measure. We've already slipped out of the top ten nations for overall standard of living. The only hope if McCain wins is a sizeable Dem pick-up in both Houses.

I WANT TO HAVE A BEER WITH SARAH AND UNCLE JOHN!!!!!!!!!

I thought that beer was vetoed!:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHi4CrY6i-c

Callimaco nailed it. That's why I'm pulling for Obama, far more than any actual policy agreement (although I certainly think certain aspects of a McCain administration would be a disaster).

I just don't want my country to be the kind of country where a clownish campaign like McCain's can succeed. But it is.

Thanks, zeitgeist. I keep hearing the phrase at the beginning of "Political Junkie" Wednesdays on NPR and thought it sounded like RR. But your final point is the one I was really trying to get at. . .

@ g. powell,

I'm not totally convinced that the Obama campaign doesn't get some of this, and is pacing out the attacks from now until the first Tuesday in November.

To put it another way, I don't know that a 100% "scientific" campaign would appeal to liberal bloggers. It might well involve other means of persuasion besides all-out attack, but most pro-Democrat blog commenters subscribe to Marshall's Bitch-Slap Theory and are hoping to see all-out attack.

Yeah, I think calling them "brainstem voters" is probably a great way to reach those "regular" voters for whom the Republicans have "contempt." Do you even listen to yourselves?

Sara Palin has shook up this election and put McCain on top. Obama made a fatal mistake when he did not select Hillary. If Hillary was on this ticket there would be no Sarah Palin. McCain would be still trying to shore up the base. So much for all you idiots who trashed Hillary. This was easy to predict, that McCain would pick a women. Only the Democrats can screw up a sure thing.

Its neither about caring about the issues nor is it about the gut.

It's about delivering the bacon.

Members of my family (an RN and a Physician to name but two) view only what supports their already formed opinions. If they begin watching anything that starts becoming negative toward McCain they turn it off and ignore it. They only read or watch things that are supportive of McCain and refuse to listen to any thing unsupportive. Mention anything about McCain or Palin and they immediately start off their response with, “Well, Obama …“blah blah blah. If you prove to them that these people lie about a topic…they change the subject till they can find a topic they can come out ahead on and then pat themselves on the back and use that success to dismiss everything else that was said as frivolous and therefore they must have been right all along. Like topping everything with the POW ace as justification to support anything else said.

Even though republicans do nothing to decrease the number of abortions and never have, just saying they want to make it illegal trumps everything else…every other policy. They can destroy the economy and declare pre emptive wars but as long as they say we want to repeal Roe v Wade…my family members will vote for them. They go out of their way to avoid hearing the truth. They really do give meaning to the phrase “vote republican…it’s easier than thinking�. And these are “educated� well to do people who treat being republican like it’s a class distinction. Just pathetic.

Hey--Catch this--Former NY mayor Ed Koch (former Bush W. Bush avid supporter) has just come out supporting Obama, calling Palin "Scary".

Apparently what really got to him was learning of her previous attempts to actually ban books at the Public Library.

This is all it takes--one bit of awakening, one bit of "Oh, wow--she really IS creepy and dangerous" to enter in.

"Let's face it, many folks are just too dam lazy to actually use their brain cells."

Not sure that really works either.

They've turned it into a high school popularity contest. Question is, how do we reverse it?

Steve,

Again, I think your familiarity with reality is clouding your ability to see what's happening. Way back in the day, there as an actual argument in this country about whether we should have a king or a president -- or maybe a king-president hybrid. There were heated supporters on both sides, but in the end it was George Washington who settled the issues, as President, by refusing to allow any royal trappings to be attached to him or his office. (Jefferson also followed up ably in this regard.)

On the religious front, we've never, ever had a debate about whether our President should also be the religious leader of our country, because that possibility is ruled out by the Constitution. But that doesn't prevent all the little god-fearing followers who desperately want a god-fearling leader to hope for one, and what you're seeing now with Palin -- and what you saw with George Bush -- is the expression of this age-old (and admittedly pathetic) desire for the sheep to have a shepherd.

They don't care about the Constitution, they care about their bible. That's what they believe in, and they want a leader -- a President -- who feels the same way.

This is not complicated. They're off their fucking rockers and determined to take the Constitution apart, brick by brick. Sarah Palin helps them do that. Book banning and book burning help them do that. Reality doesn't.

Huxley and Orwell offered two competing, contrasting dystopian novels, "Brave New World," and "1984." Although Orwell's is by far the better known, Huxley's turned out to be close to the truth. Our soporific is not a drug, however, but the teevee, and all the wonders and joys of our technical age.

We're just too comfortable, well fed and housed, and overly entertained, to get excited about much of anything, except American Idol, Nascar races, pro football and reality shows like the presidential election, which has been dumbed down to a popularity contest between a charismatic black man, and an old warrior and his barbie doll.

The American people just aren't engaged. McCain will have to start another war and reinstate the draft to get their attention.

.."how do we reverse it?"

We can't. Don't all you morons see that god has already decided the election?

The NRA now has their new poster wonder woman, and believe me they will DO ANYTHING to get her elected . Oops I mean JOhn and her elected.

When white women say they'll vote for the repugnacan ticket, just how many were Hillarites?

The demoncrats sort of have a fractured party. The repugnacans are UNITED. And besides, god's now on their side because Sarah says so.

So nyeah, nyeah, nyeah. Good bye demoncrats. Hail to the new chief and his lady in waiting!

Maybe my country really is clueless and we really do have a government for the rich and nothing but the rich so help us god.

"But the McCain campaign is betting its best chance to win is by aiming for the gut, not the heads, of voters."

In other words, they're doing exactly what Obama said they would. It would be nice if the media would actually say that, but I'm not holding my breath.

My best friend, who pretty much relies on the MSM for her news, e-mailed me this morning and said, "Tired of Palin yet?" So I think Palin's time as a media darling may be ticking to a close.

When Clinton ran for his first term, he pretty much was saying "Hey, the country is in the toilet. The economy is in flames. I'll fix the mess we are in " Why is this so hard for Obama to do? The economy is in toilet, why not say it? People can understand THAT message. I am sick of his academic bloodless answers on everything. Is he scared to speak out or does he just not have a freakin' clue what to do?

Meghan McCain had an interesting quote on Today show. I'll try to link it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMxp5UkeGCc

She said, "No family knows war like ours. Period."

rbe1 @ 4:14...

Total. Emphasis. Added:

The logic is really so simple. If you won't stand up for yourself, then why should we think you'll stand up for us? Full Stop.

I will believe polls in this election(never had conditions like this before with a huge number of voters using only cell phones) when they can run a poll saying "of those polled ??% were polled using cell phones." Of all those likely voters how many only have cell phones and not land lines. How were they selected. Because I know so few people who are voting McCain/Palin yet those voting Obama/Biden are everywhere. I fear this is just part of the "operation steal election '08" which is trying to convince us that this election is close.

Overwhelming majorities oppose the Bush administration and recognize our current disaster was caused by the Bush administration...so why would anyone assume that a majority of voters would want to continue it with McCain?...because he claims to be against earmarks??...what does that have to do with national health care, energy,torture, Iran, Iraq, global warming,national security, the 4th amendment, education,taxes or the economy. McCain expects voters to only focus on earmarks??? Obama will win in a landslide which may even be too big to steal..but I'm sure they will make the attempt.

hark, that was almost eerie in that before i saw your name I would have sworn it was Ed S - and I mean that as a compliment.

Tom N at 4:51 pm spurred the thought that Palin has turned on practically everyone who has helped advance her career - the mayor who gave her a start on city commissions she later trashed, as just one example. Now she gives every appearance of enjoying her celebrity far too much and being far too willing to do anything to win. If I were McCain I would not turn my back on her. I expect her any day to point out - in that totally folksy way - "ya know, John, it just seems like a lots more people are coming out to see me than you, so dontcha think we really oughta switch this ticket around?"

We're just too comfortable, well fed and housed, and overly entertained, to get excited about much of anything, except American Idol, Nascar races, pro football and reality shows like the presidential election, which has been dumbed down to a popularity contest between a charismatic black man, and an old warrior and his barbie doll. Posted by: hark

My junior high civics teacher was saying this back in the early '70s - "We are the land of the dumb, fat and happy."

Fist-bump to bjobotts. Exactly right.

The bogus term "partial-birth abortion" perks up more votes than any of the more pertinent issues. Even if they are told this rarely happens, even if they have no proof it has EVER happened, and even if they have never known anyone who has ever even had an abortion, they still vote on the ping of emotion they get that it *might* happen.

Back in the 80s in North Carolina, I used to frequent a convenient mart in the neighborhood. The owner, a white guy in his thirties began slowly degenerating. First it was anti-abortion messages posted around the kiosk. The last time I stopped in the entire kiosk was covered in photographs of "aborted" fetuses. He was a lunatic, totally locked and loaded on abortion practitioners.

But he's not alone. There's many out there still who live this singular issue on a daily basis and consider it to be the greatest crisis we'll ever face.

I suspect Sarah Palin was brought on for just this reason. No one gives a damn if she lied. It's her very extremism that's appealing.

Didn't see that one coming did we?

When will we ever learn?

Voters will watch the debates, and the handlers will have given Palin some zingers, some inside information to use on Biden which is designed to make him hiss through a curled lip. Republican spinners will bend the ears of the network pundits about how women "feel" that Biden is a woman hater, an abuser, and low information women voters will echo, "yeah!"

We're not going to get intelligent elections or win elections until we change politics everywhere the 100 million Americans who are eligible to vote but don't are. It's going to have to be a campaign taken to the streets.

The media won't change.

Zeitgeist, as usual you've hit a prescient nail on the head--although what I'm expecting is for McCain to get tired of her getting all of the adulation. HE'S the POW you know! Then he'll send her off into the hinterlands to campaign on her own and one of two (or possibly both) things will happen: (1) he won't be drawing crowds anymore and that will become a talking point, or (2) she'll pop off with something completely out of right field and the rest of the country will suddenly realize how crazy she is. Even Ed Koch thinks she's scary now!

Steve G said:

We're not going to get intelligent elections or win elections until we change politics everywhere the 100 million Americans who are eligible to vote but don't are.

I don't disagree at all, but there are still caveats.

1) Unless education, education in critical thinking, education in civics improves, going to the non-voting people where they live still may not help;

2) Media will still be a huge counter-force - even if we go to where they live and educate them, who will they believe when they see something contrary on the media?

3) Since you are talking primarily about the non-voting, some portion of whom are informed but "consciencious objectors" who believe voting is pointless for individuals and the system is structurally rigged, how do we convince them to give it another chance in the era of Diebold and trail-less electronic voting?

4) Your suggestion would, of course, take unprecedented amounts of money - more than the Obama campaign, for all of its successes, has raised. Can we count on everyone here to open their wallets good and wide for the cause?

Tim said: 'the most cyncial campaign is US history'

That is an excellent, memorable line. I hope it works its way up the ladder to the candidates.

Folks stop pissing on your fellow Americans.

Just because they aren't engaged in politics doesn't mean they are necessarily stupid. They are disengaged from the political process for a lot of reasons. But they have families, they work, they smile at you in supermarkets, and they will help you out when you have a flat tire too.

They are politically disengaged and disenchanted, but not stupid. They are listening to this election with a different set of ears. To assume that their ears are tone-deaf compared to ours is indeed to act the role of elitists.

Suggestion: Try to figure out what they want to hear and why. For me the answer lies in population genetics. Populations always present a mixed strategy of expressions. There is survival value in having 30% of a population curious, 40% sedate and stable, 20% uncertain, and 10% radicals.

The low-info voters and the undecideds want to hear something. Their filters are different than ours. That doesn't make them stupid.

I believe they want simple assurances.
They want a candidate who will fight for them while they shop, raise their kids, and help you fix that flat tire.

What democrats have to realize is that in that context, fighting and attacking your opponent is a barometer of your passion and your caring.

Think on that awhile...

I have to agree with "neilt", who sees Palin fatigue setting in. I don't know if I've seen it yet, but I do believe she and her running mate, what's-his-name, are as popular right now as they are ever going to be. As time goes on they will attract no new supporters, they will only begin to lose them. And when the tide turns it can be dramatic.

Don't panic, folks. Obama doesn't, and that's one of the things that convinced me he was the right candidate to support.

Zeitgeist, as usual you've hit a prescient nail on the head--although what I'm expecting is for McCain to get tired of her getting all of the adulation. HE'S the POW you know!

I'm convinced that's a good half of his pissiness towards Obama. McCain was supposed to be the media darling who would sweep to victory, and instead all of the attention was going to a guy half his age. Hence the whiny "celebrity" ads from the man who hosted "Saturday Night Live."

If he picked Palin to try and top Obama, only to be overtaken by Palin, well, it's gonna be fascinating to watch the meltdown.

Cue the exploding head. . . ;-)

This campaign is going to be a race against time.

How long will it take the "McCain/Palin" brand to wear thin? Right now it's the new new thing, and American's love that.

The other problem is our anti-intellectual, instant gratification culture.

To a Democrat, "elite" = rich.

To a Republican, "elite" = highly educated.

Given the choice, would most Americans rather be educated or rich?

Nevermind the fact that there is a correlation between the two.

Republicans win because they provide simple answers to tough questions.

You're not rich yet? Cut taxes!!!

Don't feel safe? Kill Muslims!!!

Lost your job? Blame Mexicans!!!

Sick with no health insurance? Pray!!!

I want to think that after 8 years of being governed by people who hate government, people are ready for a change.

They are ready. They just aren't willing to give up their belief in the Republican Santa Clause.

The only rational emotional response is to suddenly decide John McCain is an outsider who is riding in on a big white horse to clean up the mess.

Sarah Palin is a proud member of Feminists for Life. She has publicly said that she supports their views, which are that (1) human life begins at conception, (2) abortions are only permissible if the woman's life is in danger, and specifically not permissible in the case of rape or incest; (3) that she supports "non-abortifacient" contraception. If you read theh Feminists for Life (and related websites, like Pharmacists for Life) you discover that it is not just the morning after bill that is considered an abortifacient, but also the IUD and the Pill. You also discover various notes telling you that contraceptives interfere with a woman's body functions etc. It is all very wordy, and you have to dig thru layers to find out what they are really saying. Most people, and esp. the less Internet oriented population who swallow GOP arguments whole, don't bother.

What I think every American really needs to hear from Sarah Palin (I believe the Democratic candidates have made their positions clear) are clear answers to the following questions:

1. Do you accept the basic tenets expounded by Feminists for Life regarding conception and the impermissibility of abortion, including cases of rape or incest?

As President, would you seek to put in place in the US laws and procedures that make it impossible for YOUR adolescent daughter to choose to have an abortion for any reason, including in the case the case of rape or incest?

3. Imagine that your daughter, aged 13, is raped. Would you forbid her to be given a morning after pill to ensure that she does not become pregnant?

4.As President, would you put in place laws and procedures to restrict or forbid a child who has subjected to rape or incest from being given a morning after pill? Would you restrict the use of the morning after bill by adult women?

5. Would you allow a daughter of yours to have contraceptive pills or an IUD? Would you as President restrict access to contraceptive pills or an IUD for adult women or children?

Now, if American women vote for McCain/Palin after hearing her answers, they deserve what happens to them later on, whatever it is.

lobygow said: "Republicans win because they provide simple answers to tough questions."

Theodosius Dobzhansky said: "An infatuation with oversimple answers to very complex and difficult problems is one of the earmarks of intellectual mediocrity."
Of course, he was a brilliant evolutionary biologist who wrote about how biology doesn't make sense without evolution. So what does he know?

Republicans win because they provide simple answers to tough questions.

"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple -- and wrong." -- H.L. Mencken

"Wasn't it Ronald Reagan who asked the "where's the beef?" question in a debate?"

Posted by: Michigoose on September 9, 2008
---------------

No. But, if he had it wouldn't have been to find out, it would've been to show his anger and indignation that anyone else would be allowed on the stage with him. He always put on a show. Phony, but a show.

Sorry Koreyel, I understand what you are saying, but I think you are dead wrong. I don't think the majority of Americans are mean -- sure they smile at you at the supermarket and help you out with flats, usually if you are white and sometimes if you are black.

But this "different set of filters" you speak of has led this country to the edge of the cliff. We are now facing financial disaster because of fiscal mismanagment supported by collective stupidity -- both on Wall Street and Main Street. We have a real economic crisis brewing right now, and it's just a freakin sideshow to the main event as far as the MSM is concerned. How can anyone say at this point that this country anything but idiotic right now?

Wiile reading Steve's post, the ghost of Jesse Ventura came across my computer. Jesse, to me, is a blowhard and a fool, yet he managed to convince the "enlightened" citizens of Minnesota to vote him into the governorship. When I see McCain running for the White House in the same way Jesse ran for the State House (the cult of personality), I fear for the country. Maybe someone from Obama's campaign should find out what the D's in Minnesota could have done and should have done to defeat Ventura, and start applying it to McCain and his pard. I fear that these two might just bamboozle their way all the way to 1600 Pennsylvania, and that would be a serious tragedy.

They've turned it into a high school popularity contest. Question is, how do we reverse it?

no one likes the lying bitch but everyone is afraid to say so until after they graduate.

In two summers when nukes are dropping and there is a permanant underclass that is hates each other maybe people will realize electing a cheerleader and a gimp wasn't a good thing. Or maybe they'll have turned us on each other and the race riots will distract us from the fact that our country squandered it's last chance.

Any chance this pedophile ad sinks mccain? It's beyond the pale.

Talking to indepedent friends they say over and over that negative ads are a real turn off but they want Obabma to punch back because people are buying into the soft narrative. Maybe I'm grasping at straws but if the Republicans continue with the Willie Horton techniques people might just think that McCain and Palin are too grotesque for them.

People love the narrative of the picked on kid standing up to fight and if Obama does it people will jump on board.

Palin is Bush in a skirt.