The Love To Come

The Democrats have 54 Senate seats plus two independents, with modest prospects of picking up as many as four more, if and when we have resolution in Alaska, Georgia, Minnesota, and Oregon.  Getting to sixty is highly unlikely, which means that centrist Republican mavericks may play a key role as filibuster-busters.

Libs who loathe him now will be loving McCain within a year.  Here's a start.

Well.  Conservatives currently frustrated with McCain will be tearing their hair out.  But if he uses his position of influence to hold Obama to a tougher line on Iraq, he ought to be allowed a bit of latitude on other issues.

Comments

[Chris]

If McCain cooperates to pass any of the leftist agenda then he's a fool. And we're what? Suckers? No, probably screwed.

[steve sturm]

Tom: by definition, a Republican maverick is someone who bucks the GOP by aligning himself with the Democrats, so why should we expect them to support a GOP filibuster? second, the mushy GOP Senators value their get-along skills more than conservative principles, so I wouldn't get my hopes up that the likes of a McCain is going to piss off his buddies across the aisle in order to support a GOP filibuster.

[bgates]

Within a year? It's started:
"They're not going to be able to filibuster now," Reid said in an interview. "We have a few Senators from Maine, and we're going to have [Republican presidential nominee Sen.] John McCain [Arizona], who's never been a filibusterer."
John McCain, Harry Reid's choice for Republican nominee. Chris, we're screwed suckers.

[MayBee]

Joe Klein at Swampland:

One other thing: this is a country whose President-elect's middle name is Hussein. That is a fact to be celebrated. I received an email from a young friend, an entrepreneur in Kabul, this morning. He said, "We are all smiling now," and he attached a Pakistani press clipping--the Taliban greeted the new President and said they were ready to commence talks.

The middle name is now to be celebrated. Pre-election, it was racist to even mention it.

[Thomas]

Politics is personal for McCain. He hated Bush so he opposed Bush. Does anyone think he likes Obama? I don't.

[Captain Hate]

Does anyone think he likes Obama? I don't.

This should be interesting because he tried to win by choosing to fight the "honorable" fight and it cost him big. He might be looking to do to Obammy what he's been doing to conservatives for years.

[bgates]

See, MayBee, the world doesn't hate America - it just hates white America!

In other news, defections continue:
Lines were long and tempers flared Wednesday not to vote but to get paid for canvassing for Barack Obama. Several hundred people are still waiting to get their pay for last-minute campaigning.
...
Eventually people did start getting paid, but some said they were missing hours and told to fill in paperwork making their claim and that eventually they would get a check in the mail.
...
"They gave us $10 an hour. So we added it. I added up all the hours so it was supposed to be at least $120. All I get is $90," said Charles Martin.

[bgates]

McCain's two happiest moments of the campaign were his congratulatory commercial after Obama's nomination, and his own concession speech. He's going to be the bipartisan voice of reason in the Senate, explaining why everything that goes wrong is Bush's fault and we need to enact the wise Obama/Pelosi/Reid policies to get the country back on track.

[bad]

CBS 2003:

AJHPV's new spokesman is former John Kerry press secretary Robert Gibbs, who left the Massachusetts senator's campaign when his boss, Jim Jordan, was fired.

LUN

[Aaron]

Nobody was going to win by demonizing Obama. He was an historic candidate, and had to be handled with kid gloves.

yes, it sucks, but its the truth.

[BumperStickerist]

Obviously, Jeff Gannon has to be sent back to the White House Press Corps.

Jeff Gannon - For The Diversity.

-

[Uncle BigBad]

I don't know who's running Fox News these days, but they better get a handle on their Palin bashing. Once they lose their conservative audience, they won't have much of a rating.

I can't to watch Miss Shepherd Smith since his Katrina meltdown. Now add Carl Cameron and Bill O'Rielly. I used to think O'Rielly was an idiot, but now I think he's just an ignorant dolt.

[Uncle BigBad]

Bumper

I actually started to like Gannon after his press episode and followed his blog for awhile.

I wish they would let him back into the press poll. He asked some pretty good questions.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Black leaders have spent decades convincing blacks that they are the world's greatest victims. Is it any wonder that when a man comes along, a black radical, and tells them he is their messiah, ready to lead them out of the wilderness, they bought it hook, line and sinker?

The media has so romanticized the '60s and the whole theme was recreate '68, so all of a sudden every voter got to feel like they were on the front lines of the civil rights movement. I even heard one woman, after leaving the voting booth, saying she felt like she was a Rosa Parks of her generation.

[Porchlight]

Politics is personal for McCain. He hated Bush so he opposed Bush. Does anyone think he likes Obama? I don't.

You may be right. McCain personalizes everything. It may come down to his feelings toward Obama, and may also possibly be affected by Lieberman's treatment at the hands of Senate Dems. I can't see him reaching out to anyone who screwed over his friend Joe (and I mean that in a good way - I admire McCain's loyalty).

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Barack Obama got a full intelligence briefing today. Would love to know if he had a come to Jesus moment once he learned what a president really has to deal with day to day. The left is so immature and treats the presidency as no more than a popularity contest like a high school election where you vote for the coolest kid. Not one of them has any conception of what kinds of pressures, decisions, and national emergencies/crisis cross a president's desk and need to be dealt with responsibly each and every hour of every day.

Obama is not good at thinking on his feet and he isn't going to have the time, nor the unlimited funds, to get his adoration fixes from fawning stadium-filled crowds. He'll have to put in 12 to 18 hour days of hard work with little time for indulging his narcissistic needs and absolutely no way to "clarify" his responses 3 or 4 times over several days and certainly no way to blame those faceless staffers for his mistakes.

[hrtshpdbox]

What do you think the chances are of Lieberman voluntarily switching parties now, or of the Dem leadership treating him so poorly that he feels compelled to switch?

[clarice]

He won't switch parties unless they absolutely leave him no option..

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

If you would like to sign the "Thank You Sarah Palin" petition, go HERE.

[E. Nigma]

Chrissy Matthews was interviewing some Democrat hoi polloi the other night and intimated that Joe Lieberman should be "punished" for campaigning for McCain.

Ooh. I wonder if that gave him a thrill up his leg.

Hold your friends close, but your enemies closer.

Invoking cloture is more apt than just "a filibuster". Susan Collins and Olympia Snow, for two, won't back their own party half the time. It's gonna be a long four years, believe me.

[centralcal]

Sara: I signed the Sarah Palin petition. Now I just wish someone would start a Fox News petition. Conservatives/Republicans are the largest third of their total audience. Without us they aren't competitive at all.

[Thomas Collins]

Sara(Pal2Pal) wondered:

Barack Obama got a full intelligence briefing today. Would love to know if he had a come to Jesus moment once he learned what a president really has to deal with day to day.

Whether or not he had a Jesus moment, I hope he had a moment in which he reflected upon whether he really wants a "Truth Commission" to second guess GWB on actions taken to counter what Prez To Be O no doubt found were recurrent horrific threats to the homeland. I also hope he wondered whether, four or eight years from now, he would enjoy a "Truth Commission" second guessing him.

I also hope he had a moment in which he realized that facilitating a decline in US power, and subordinating US muscle to the UN, will not in any way reduce the threats on which he was briefed.

And it's only a hope, but all I can do is hope that he learns to ride the World Politics Bike without training wheels soon.

[Pofarmer]

Ya know. This Palin bashing sure seems to be moderates who think McCain lost by not being moderate enough.

Now.

For those MO residents who might be paying attention. I looked through prop C this morning. No regeneratie Hydro can be used to fullfill the requirements, so Taum Sauk is out. Also, this was a partnership between KC power and light and The SIERRA CLUB. We are so screwed on electricity.

[Pofarmer]

Only thing I can figure is Fox is trying to get ratings. Rat bastards.

[centralcal]

Pofarmer: Get ratings from where? Crazy libs have MSNBC. The more moderate ones heavily favor CNN. If FNC loses conservative views they are basically toast. Bashing Palin is not going to EARN any viewers, I think it will actually LOSE them viewers. Try reading Greta's blog and you will see what I mean.

This morning, Megyn Kelly practically apologized for replaying the Cameron/O'Reilly carp - she knows their viewers are upset.

[Pofarmer]

Ya know.

I've really had to rethink my thoughts about Lincoln the last couple of years, especially with regards to the points that the Civil war and the ensuing occupation of the South led to the large Federal Govt model that we have.

[Barbara]

Apart for his service to the country during Vietnam which I laud, I never did have much admiration for McCain. As a candidate, I was leery of him until he named Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. I gritted my teeth every time he used references in his speeches to distance himself from President Bush. It pained me to hear him take credit for the surge and its success.

But now, not 24 hours after his defeat, he turns his goons loose on Sarah Palin to defame her, to trivialize her, to blame her for his loss. He has yet to come out and criticize his own aides for their disgusting attacks on Gov. Palin - let alone defend her.

If it weren't for Sarah Palin, McCain would have had no chance in this election. In my view, McCain was furious and perhaps even envious of Palin's ability to mobilize people and to draw such huge crowds.

McCain has a long standing record of being mean spirited. So, do I expect him to support the Republican party in the next four years? Not at all. He relishes the term "maverick" which in the business world would make him a pariah. He knows that Republicans will be looking to restructure the party and to develop the same kind of conservative consensus that it had under Ronald Reagan. He is not the man for the job and he will no longer be the party's standard bearer. It must rankle him like hell, and we will pay the price for his temper tantrum - sooner rather than later.

[Enlightened]

Signed the Petition - Gladly!

[Sue]

McCain shut anyone up that tried to go after Obama. Yet he is silent on Palin's treatment from his campaign? I knew McCain was a toad, but I didn't realize just how big a toad he was.

[Enlightened]

I hear that Barbara - My sentiments exactly.

[Pofarmer]

Wasn't McCain once a Democrat? He could be one again.

[MayBee]

But now, not 24 hours after his defeat, he turns his goons loose on Sarah Palin to defame her, to trivialize her, to blame her for his loss.

He didn't turn his goons loose on her, they are adults with free will.
I'd prefer he stay out of the drama. He doesn't need to add oxygen.

[bgates]

MayBee - they're his staff. A 20 year Navy guy can stop people serving under him from publicly sniping at the woman who was his XO until Tuesday.

[centralcal]

Well, now we truly see what a b*st*rd Bill O'Reilly is and what FNC is up to. Johnny Dollar has audio from his radio show offering Sarah Palin half an hour to tell her side on the Factor and bragging about the huge ratings this would get.

So - perhaps just a little extortion going on here? We will continue to air gossipy trash talking reports about you, but you can always come on the show and defend yourself.

I hope she isn't stupid enough to fall for this.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

No McCain was not once a democrat. Nor do I think he is petty. He already fired one staffer for trashing and I expect these stories are all false and the result of sour grapes and a desire to regain invitations to the Washington/New York cocktail circuit.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Only thing I can figure is Fox is trying to get ratings. Rat bastards.

Come on, Po, it's their job to report, not to only report the Right stuff. They broke the Bush DUI story in 2000 too.

What I'm hearing is the people who are bashing Palin are ex-Romney folks; I suspect they know who the new GOP star is.

Wasn't McCain once a Democrat? He could be one again.

No, although Kos was pushing that for a while.

[bad]

I'll be interested to know if the Palin trashers from the McCain campaign are women. Women like Sarah can really drive other women nuts. Jealousy can be an enormously powerful force.

[MayBee]

MayBee - they're his staff. A 20 year Navy guy can stop people serving under him from publicly sniping at the woman who was his XO until Tuesday.

He's on vacation and God bless him for it.
I don't think he stop them from secretly sniping at her, no. Perhaps he could make some phone calls.
I don't like the Palin sniping. I'm just not up for sniping on McCain, either.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

MayBee - they're his staff. A 20 year Navy guy can stop people serving under him from publicly sniping at the woman who was his XO until Tuesday.

bgates, did you happen to notice the little minor political event on Tuesday? Called an election? End of the campaign? McCain lost?

They're not his staff, they're his ex-staff.

For Gods' sakes get a clue, folks: all these folks need a new job, and some of them don't think Sarah is a good prospect to get them a good one in 2012.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Well, the petition goal was 1000 signatures, and I was 1964.

[cboldt]

-- I knew McCain was a toad, but I didn't realize just how big a toad he was. --

My being jazzed when Palin came aboard
on was a serious lapse in judgment. The GOP uses conservatives in order to advance
and legitimize the GOP interest in bipartisan, elitist-operated big government. Her role was to be no more than
window dressing to fool us rubes into casting ballots. I should have followed my heart and left the
"Pres/VP" slot blank, as I did for Ms. Collins.

[Enlightened]

Here's a sign of the Love to Come:

"Schwarzenegger: $4.4B in tax hikes to end deficit"

See how that works? Bambi declares he's gonna raise taxes, Bambi gets elected, so the Guv of Caleefornia jumps the Bambi shark...

Woohoo! All on board!
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/11/06/financial/f101836S78.DTL&tsp=1

[Lori]

Sara,
The immaturity of the left in this campaign reminds me more of a grade school election than a high school election. In my sons' school, the kid who promised the soft serve ice cream dispenser in the cafeteria was the one who always won. Never mind that no one ever delivered.

[PeterUK]

""They gave us $10 an hour. So we added it. I added up all the hours so it was supposed to be at least $120. All I get is $90," said Charles Martin."

"Hope and Short Change"

[centralcal]

Charlie, I think you are incorrect. Some of the sniping that made the rounds a couple of weeks BEFORE the election were being attributed to Romeny people (i.e., Kevin Madden). However, the new rumors AFTER the election are coming directly from sources inside the campaign (believed to be Schmidt and Wallace among a few others) - nothing at all to do with Romney supporters.

Also, I think you might want to check out Red State's Operation Leper for confirmation about what I said above, whose purpose is to make sure these folks don't get consultant work again, and if they do, that we do not support their candidates.

Now, I hope you have a clue :)

LUN

[Barry]

He was, is, an almost democrat. If you can't figure that out from his past, just watch his future.

[clarice]

He promised that? Wow. Kids in my day were smarter--the best you could do to win was tell everyone their complexion was really clearing up.

enlightened..Arnold should simply declare the state employee benefit pachkage had to be renegotiatied or the state would declare bankruptcy. California and many other states with unfunded pension liabilities cannot get out of their dilemma any other way. With folks now being unemployed those munificent benefit packages are even more indefensible.

[clarice]

"pachkage"=package.

[MayBee]

Her role was to be no more than window dressing to fool us rubes into casting ballots.

If enough of you "rubes" would have voted, she would have been the for real Vice President of the United States.
McCain pulled her out of obscurity and put her in the national eye. What she does there will be up to her. McCain lost. It isn't up to him anymore.

[Enlightened]

Romney camp or McCain camp - whoever is shitting on the only person or thing that energized the GOP this election are as stupid as anyone that pushed a $700 Billion dollar bailout ASAP to open frozen credit markets and bank lending.

The credit markets are still frozen, the indices are not stabilized, and the banks that recieved the $700 Billion are sitting on it or using it for leveraging buyouts or some other fucking crap.

The GOP deserves to be exactly where it's at and McCain is NOT a mobilizing or uniting force for the GOP.

[centralcal]

Heck MayBee, McCain is probably just waiting for Nicole and Steve to trash him next. Or have they done that already, too? Amazing what "anonymice" tell reporters, but never say a word on the record under their own names.

[centralcal]

Hey Enlightened - wanna get even more angry? GE Capital (yup, the owner of MSNBC among other things) is probably getting some of that $700 billion bailout too. Our tax dollars may help keep Olbermann afloat and pay his big bonus. How d'ya like them apples?

[MayBee]

Heck MayBee, McCain is probably just waiting for Nicole and Steve to trash him next.

Waiting?
Remember, it was an ex-staffer that worried to NYT about his 'relationship' with a lobbyest.

[Lori]

Evan Thomas of Newsweek is already saying that O's cult of personality is creepy. I wonder if this just occurred to him?
LUN

[clarice]

I voted for Carter the first time and learned and hope the 20 somethings who voted for Obama will learn, too. Nothing like actual experience..and there are a lot of similarities..the media thought Carter walked on water and gave him never ending puffery; he was said to have a super special way of connecting with the young and his team was regarded rather like Obama's is--wonderworkers with new voters.
It's like sunspots and recessions..every now and then people just MUST do something really stupid.

[Enlightened]

I don't like them road apples one damn bit.

Did anyone see the link on Malkin to Sharia Banking?

Is it possible the banks are hanging onto some of the bailout money while waiting for new Islamic Banking instructions? Is it possible that some of the bailout money will be given to Islamic entities? And is it possible that the stock market is indeed being manipulated until the US accepts and adopts Sharia banking? I'm not being paranoid, I'm just curious is all. Everything was supposed to work a specific way, and it has not happened. The bailout did not pacify panicked investors, the credit markets did not open, the banks are not lending, The One did not miraculously end the economic meltdown overnight. Is it wrong for me to wonder if something more sinister could be at play?

[Enlightened]

Ugh - I also voted for Carter. I cannot believe I even said that.

This is a true story. In 1975 I was 18 and registered to vote - registered Republican.

In 1976, my first Presidential election - I voted for CARTER???? WTF was I smoking????? Last time I ever voted outside my party, but what a frikkin doozy. Shameful.

[centralcal]

I heard that on Rush this morning, Lori. John Meacham and Evan Thomas on the Charlie Rose show. Did anyone here happen to see the whole show?

[Lori]

Clarice,
I voted for Carter in 1976 too. Then I graduated from college in 1979. Not the best time for jobs and starting a career. I'm ashamed to say that I didn't get it until 1988. But most of my friends figured it out to vote for Reagan in 1980.

[Sue]

C-cal,

Hot Air has the video.

[centralcal]

Sue: Nope - no video, it is just the audio taken directly from Rush's show this morning. I went to the Charlie Rose website but couldn't get the video page to load.

[Enlightened]

Ace says he has an inside source that is calling bullshit on the Palin smears.

David Frum thinks it has Nicole Wallace written all over it. I'm going to have to agree. I think these smears sound - female-ish? It sounds very girly-gossipy. Hah- Palin should invite her to Alaska and show her the real world of Sarah Palin. That stupid wench wouldn't last a week doing Palin's job.

[Lori]

Countdown to the release of the LA Times videotape...5..4..3..2..

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Conservatives are so predictable, it is no wonder the left plays you like a fine-tuned violin. They put out a rumor, a 3 bagger no less, that insiders of the McCain campaign are trash-talking her, no verification, no named sources, then they add to the rumor that it must be Romney people, and bing bam boom, they destroy what little dignity McCain has left, put a dig in to Romney, because, of course, there was always something off about those Mormons, and trash Palin all in one unfounded rumor and then let conservatives take the ball and run with it. And like clockwork, run with it they do, because, of course, they have to make a morality lesson out of everything and make sure there are no impurities allowed to besmirch their conservative idealistic world.

[Captain Hate]

In 1976, my first Presidential election - I voted for CARTER???? WTF was I smoking?????

Probably something similar to what I was smoking when I voted for McGovern in my first election. I learned my lesson pretty quickly; when I was on the rapid the next morning I overheard a couple douchenozzle attorneys pulling a Pauline Kael, whining about how everybody they knew voted for McG. I just rolled my eyes and voted for the most conservative choice from then on out.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Steve whatshisname, a long time McCain Senate staffer, not just a campaign staffer, was fired for trashing. What else should McCain do?

[clarice]

If it is McCain's people he should denounce the rumors now. If it isn't he would say his experience is inconsistent with the rumore, that hs spoke to everyone on his staff and each and evryone of them has absolutely denied the stories. It's very simple.

[clarice]

Sara, the guy McCain reportedly fired (denials all around) was defending Palin against other staffers:

(CNN) — Randy Scheunemann, a senior foreign policy adviser to John McCain, was fired from the Arizona senator's campaign last week for what one aide called "trashing" the campaign staff, three senior McCain advisers tell CNN.

One of the aides tells CNN that campaign manager Rick Davis fired Scheunemann after determining that he had been in direct contact with journalists spreading "disinformation" about campaign aides, including Nicolle Wallace and other officials. (Update: Davis denies the claim.)

Update: Scheunemann disputes campaign sources, says he was not fired

"He was positioning himself with Palin at the expense of John McCain's campaign message," said one of the aides.

[Enlightened]

"What else should McCain do?"

At the very least he should defend his running mate's honor, he did that and more for his opponent.

The Steve Whatsis....was not fired - he claims. And he is pro-Palin - he was shuttered because he was naming the insiders bashing Palin.

[bgates]

Right on, clarice. And I like the fake Italian.

When the news is real lame
From a guy without a name
-that's, rumore...

[Barbara]

McCain can put paid to these "rumors" by speaking out and praising Governor Palin. Vacation or no vacation, he owes her that at a minimum!

[cboldt]

-- If enough of you "rubes" would have voted, she would have been the for real Vice President of the United States. --

I voted for McCain/Palin, as a vote against Obama. But this "stick it to Palin" act has me very sour on the GOP. Probably a permanent affliction on my part. McCain is way short of what I want to see in a conservative leader anyway. You GOP folks can have the party. Good luck fixing the country, you're gonna need it. If you want my vote, you have to earn it, and I'm not going to fall for the window-dressing trick a second time.

In hindsight, the GOP didn't deserve my vote this week, and McCain should have lost by whatever margin he would have lost by if his running mate had been Romney, Ridge, or whatever other country-club friend he decided to pick.

The GOP doesn't want my vote anyway. Good riddance to bad rubbish, both ways. The feeling is mutual.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

No criminal charges will be filed against Eliott Spitzer.

[clarice]

Very funny, bgates. You, too, will age, and find reading and posting for so many hours a day takes its toll...

Just saying, paisano.

[Rick Ballard]

McCain is a very small man and has been since completing a very honorable hitch in the Navy. He never compromises his principles because he has an adjustment knob on every one of them which he uses to tune the principle to whatever is flitting through his very mediocre mind at any given moment.

He's just trying to shift the glare of the fact of his obvious mediocrity away from himself. It's not a surprise, any more than the fact that his namesake legislation was used as a club to beat him senseless.

Sign a petition of support for Palin and send an email to Mike Duncan, chairman@gop.com with a pledge of support and a promise of retribution.

Don't bother spitting on McCain after today. He just isn't worth the effort nor the value of the spit.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

McCain can put paid to these "rumors" by speaking out and praising Governor Palin. Vacation or no vacation, he owes her that at a minimum!

I think he was pretty praising of her during the concession speech. I guess that wasn't enough though, no sack cloth and ashes, no tar and feathers. He has fired one of his longest time staffers because of their trashing. What else?

[Enlightened]

cboldt - I'm of half a mind to agree with you, BUT - I just don't have it in me to abandon my party when I think they really need me.

I'm more optimistic in hoping that we can grow a better party and good riddance to RINO's and window dressing and corruptocrats. It's going to take a while. We need to exert patience and stick to our prinicipals. I think quite a few people in the GOP went Kos-ish and adopted the Bush Derangement mentality that lying, being ugly and vitriolic at all costs will help win elections. Hell, I even started thinking and acting like it. It probably does, but at too high a cost for me.

I'm ready to regroup and maybe not see my party in power for quite some time in hopes of future candidates being representative of the whole party - not special interests within the party. (Hoping those go away asap)

[clarice]

Sara, since the concession speech the rumors attributed to his staff were made public--like last night--time to respond to them.
Don't you read what anyone else posts? I showed you that the staffer was reportedly fired for defending APalin, not attacking her and in any event both he and the campaign deny he was fired.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Word from an Inside Source on Palin Smear: "It's Bullshit."

Hey but don't let that stop you from calling McCain a scumbaag.

[Captain Hate]

I am in absolute awe of Rick Ballard's 3:18 comment. I will go into serious training between now and the next election cycle (which begins what, tomorrow?) to be within shouting distance of the subtle and outspoken vitriol dripping from those words. Bravo!!

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Clarice: please, of course, I read what people here write and I call bullsh!t on them for being dumb enough to fall for this BS. But, who am I, certainly no one who knows anything about how campaigns work or what campaign staffers are capable of doing after the fact to position themselves for another job. It isn't like I have any experience in that area or anything afterall. Just because you think I'm dumb, doesn't mean it is true.

[Enlightened]

Well Sara- McCain does not have to do anything to quell the smear merchants, he is not longer obligated to the party. If his choice is no comment - so be it.

But his choice has consequences. And the consequence from my perspective is that McCain is acting terribly dishonorably in his silence.

His career is of no matter to me anymore, and he was not my personal preference for POTUS, is just a sad ending to a really good effort by McCain/Palin.

[Rick Ballard]

All McCain has to do to end the story is open his mouth. Dueling anonymous sources are rather easy to quell from the top.

How much effort would it take for him issue a statement?

Perhaps I'm wrong but the man has never shown loyalty to any anyone but sycophants in the past. If he lets this go past today then a statement is worthless. As a matter of value to the Republican party, so is John McCain.

[Daddy]

If people as smart as you 4 guys voted for Carter and McGovern then its obvious how tough our current problem is. Your votes were back in the day when it wasn't an MSM info-tainment Conservative Bash-a-thon 24/7. Bugs Bunny and Walt Disney and the Public School systems didn't teach "Repub's bad/Dem's good" back in the good old days. You had to pick that up from some other venue. But their modern day equivalents, Sesame Street/Nickelodion, movies, schools etc, are completely invested in that sermon, and that's why it bums me out to hear it mindlessly flowing off the tongues of my gradeschool daughter's boyfriends.

I like your idea Clarice about a Spanish Language radio program. Thats a positive suggestion in a positive direction. Hopefully the girls on the boat will come back with some other suggestions as well.

[cboldt]

-- I just don't have it in me to abandon my party when I think they really need me. --

I'll support the GOP if and when it is an effective force for reducing the size and influence of government. I'm so damn patient, I don;'t care if the GOP loses. I've been in the wilderness since Goldwater, with one reprieve, Reagan. The GOP sucks pond water as a vehicle for advancing the interests that float my boat. I tell 'em when they ask, too. But it seems the way to get votes is to advocate liberal policies (e.g., "compassionate conservatism") or be a member of the country club.

As it's currently constituted and behaving (Hey, were to the right of Obama!), I hope the GOP dies. Nothing personal against you, I hope you manage to change the party. I'm writing it off, because it wrote me off. Screw 'em.

Where's my pie, anyway?

[Barbara]

"I am also — I am also, of course, very thankful to Governor Sarah Palin, one of the best campaigners I've ever seen ... one of the best campaigners I have ever seen, and an impressive new voice in our party for reform and the principles that have always been our greatest strength ... her husband Todd and their five beautiful children ... for their tireless dedication to our cause, and the courage and grace they showed in the rough and tumble of a presidential campaign.

We can all look forward with great interest to her future service to Alaska, the Republican Party and our country."

Those were the words that McCain used to "praise her" during his concession speech. Pretty slim by my standards. He made her sound like a party volunteer rather than his running mate and candidate for the second highest office in the country. Yeah, just keep her there in Alaska "serving...the Republican Party and our country." In his dreams.

Sarah Palin was the heart and soul of the Republican ticket. She deserved far better treatment from McCain during his concession speech and she deserves far better treatment now than she is receiving in these unfair attacks whatever their source.

[MayBee]

How in the world is actually selecting someone to run as your VP a "window dressing" pick?
You are going to abandon the party because some operative wants to stick it to Palin now?
McCain **chose** her, for heaven's sake.
And now he's become the bad guy for having done so because it subjected her to these hardball tactics.

Look, I don't like the backbiting either. I think it's dishonorable if it's Armitage, McClellan, or Solis-Doyle. But Palin is in the big leagues now, and she has to learn to sink or swim on her own.

[Captain Hate]

Daddy, there are some parallels: Vietnam was wildly unpopular, much more so than Iraq and the media despised Nixon although they tried to do it in a manner that was much more civilized than today's lynch mob mentality. I'm wondering if Obammy will repeat Nixon's hugest mistake of wage and price controls; I wouldn't put it past him.

[Enlightened]

Sara - I imagine you are calling Bill O'Reilly, Hannity and Colmes, Greta and everyone else at Fox dumb for reporting it?

I watch the Fox channel because I thought they reported facts. In this instance they blundered hideously by reporting innuendo as fact.

But they are the MSM. And because the story is out there, it is up to McCain to act honorably and deny it as the bullshit it is.

As you can see - every leftwing liberal site is just luxuriating in the slime Fox has disseminated - the leftwingers sliming of Palin is now validated by the only conservative station in the MSM.

And you think we are dumb for being upset about it? And we are dumb to ask McCain - Mr. Honorable to stop it in its tracks?

Sorry I don't feel dumb about remarking on it - thankfully neither does Sarah Palin who handled the intrusion of media into her face asking her about it with greater poise than I could ever muster.

[clarice]

I'm not sure I agree with Barbara that that was thin praise, but it was made before the most vicious attacks attributed to insiders on his campaign were made public, and like virtually everyone else here but Sara, I think he really needs to step up to the plate.

Sara, if you are reading what everyone else says, please tell me why you are repeating the claim that Scheunemann was fired for attacking Sara/ He and the campaign say (a) he wasn't fired and (b) the claim is he was fired for defending Palin against the opposing staff and for and getting too close to her.

[Sue]

Sara,

If, and I repeat if, that person was fired (he denies he was fired) it wasn't because he trashed Palin. The alleged story of his alleged firing was because he leaked who inside the campaign was trashing her.

[cboldt]

-- You are going to abandon the party because some operative wants to stick it to Palin now? --

Negative.

As for "window dressing," I would apply the same pejorative had McCain chosen Jindal or some other. My "window dressing" comment reflects my belief that the GOP wants to appear to be an effective force for change in a conservative direction, while in fact being committed to a big-government bipartisanship. The public face of DeMint, Coburn, Palin, and a few others gets conservatives engaged and involved -- only to be disappointed because the ideals espoused by those conservatives is just so much talk, as far as the GOP is concerned.

McCain's a "bad guy" because he's a big-government nanny-state bipartisan gang-of-14 go-along to stay in power politician. He should choose like-minded people to run with, not contrasting people. The vibe I'm getting is that the GOP sees Palin as a net negative for a GOP campaign. Fair enough, she can run with the big boys. She has to learn to sink or swim on her own, and the GOP has to learn to sink or swim on its own. That is perfectly fair.

[Rick Ballard]

Folks - McCain lives for the limelight, the fawning adulation of jerks in the press who play him like the bumbling bozo they know him to be. When he speaks, if he speaks at all, it will be too late to undo damage that he could have stopped in an instant - if he possessed the character which he professes.

Evidence of which is as scarce as the flag in which he dearly loves to wrap himself is large.

Say - did you know he was a prisoner of war some forty years ago? Really, it's true. He just doesn't like to talk about it much.

[Enlightened]

"Where's my pie, anyway?"

Hah! Now I get it - you don't want to give up your pie, so you are going to the dark side to take some of mine! Brilliant.

No offense taken. Many that voted with the GOP this cycle feel the same way you do.

I'm willing to stick it out with the GOP - again. I absolutely cannot tolerate liberalism. I might waffle on some of the issues - most probably animal cruelty which I just can't handle, but otherwise I'm so polar opposite their mentality.

One can Hope! Here - take some of my pie! (Can we give some Pie in advance - like Pie Deposits or something? Before Bambi takes it unilaterally?)

[cboldt]

-- I'm willing to stick it out with the GOP - again. I absolutely cannot tolerate liberalism. --

I detest liberals too. And it gives me no joy to see that the "opposition" is flaccid and half-hearted. Once those politicians get a taste of the power and glory that attaches to being in Congress, the fancy themselves masters of the universe.

And what's the matter with "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em?" If Obama and Congress are handing out pie, I'm just as entitled as anybody else. It's the (new) American way! If you don't like giving up your pie, don't make so much of it in the first place.

[MayBee]

McCain has been treated like dirt by the press and by former staffers this election season. To pretend he has enjoyed some adulation while Sarah alone gets trashed is just not right.

[Enlightened]

Touche!

Henceforth I am going to try and lose my job, and my husbands too, and we will both work part-time at minimum wage so I/we can get some PIE!. Our mortgage and credit cards will be taken care of by the bailout packages, we have no car payments and tomorrow we can move into our summer single-wide up at the lake. And so we roll with Team Bambi!

My future's looking bright! Pie and government checks - sounds delish.

[MayBee]

and the GOP has to learn to sink or swim on its own. That is perfectly fair.

It is perfectly fair.
But primary voters selected McCain to be the GOP candidate. The GOP didn't.
If there is a problem that more conservative candidates can't get nominated by the primary system, that's the thing to look at. The "GOP", whatever that encompasses, is only one of the cogs in the wheel.

[Enlightened]

Well I'll be damned. Look who got their Pie early:

"Emanuel Got $250K From Freddie Mac"

http://sweetness-light.com/

[cboldt]

-- Henceforth I am going to try and lose my job, and my husbands too ... --

I've adopted two tactics. One is to pace my rate of output to suit my modest lifestyle; and the other is to discern, if possible, the political leanings of my clientele. As I price "by the job," the liberals don't know that I'm helping to spread the wealth by charging them double or triple what I charge conservatives.