Holmes & Co.

McCain’s moment

Posted on September 5, 2008 by Rick Holmes
Filed Under Rick Holmes | 47 Comments

I’ll give John McCain credit for a successful convention. The Palin pick fired up the base and grabbed the attention of independents. Republicans found a familiar enemy to rail against: the media.

But the VP nominee’s speech turned out to be the highlight of the convention. McCain is not known for his oratory, and he proved it last night. It was a terrible speech, poorly delivered. It was choppy and formless, a jumble of cliches. There was no dramatic arc. If there was a single memorable line or a new idea, I’ve forgotten it.

The performance was worse than the content. McCain stumbled on his lines - he still struggles with the teleprompter. He stepped on his applause lines. He grinned at inappropriate times. The huge screen behind him kept throwing random colors behind him, including an ugly green he’s had trouble with before. The audience was fired up, to be sure, but McCain seemed to be fighting the crowd more than leading it.

When Palin promised to shake up Washington like she had Alaska, the crowd cheered the sentiment. But when McCain offered straight talk about the failures of Republicans - “We came to change Washington, but it changed us” - the audience sat on its hands.

OK, conventions are done. Can’t wait for the debates.

The short memory of “straight talk”

Posted on September 4, 2008 by blogger
Filed Under Tom Driscoll | 17 Comments

Governor Sarah Palin, on August 4th of this year, reacting to Barack Obama’s comprehensive energy plan, which, among other things, directs funding towards the completion of the Alaska pipeline she spoke of during her convention speech :

“I am pleased to see Senator Obama acknowledge the huge potential Alaska’s natural gas reserves represent in terms of clean energy and sound jobs,” Governor Palin said. “The steps taken by the Alaska State Legislature this past week demonstrate that we are ready, willing and able to supply the energy our nation needs.”

The Governor also had this to say, that same day, (way back when —over a month ago!) about Obama’s proposed rebates for those struggling with heating costs:

“This is a tool that must be on the table to buy us time until our long-term energy plans can be put into place. We have already enjoyed the support of Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, and it is gratifying to see Senator Obama get on board.”

These comments were available on Governor Palin’s official website up until just a few days ago. Then I guess the “Straight Talk Express” came to town and it became necessary to remove them. Older press releases are still archived there, and the new ones keep coming. It’s just something about that August 4th, 2008 press release.

Maybe it had become embarrassing to “enjoy the support” of a Senator under indictment, especially while thumping your chest as party reformer —even if you supported the policy—it’s best not to name names. Or maybe there’s something untenable about actually being on record supporting policy —The Obama Energy Policy —it has suddenly become your responsibility to ridicule.

Whatever the reason, Governor Palin saw fit to remove the month old press release posting from the archive page of her website. It’s just that the folks at versionista.com happened to notice.

Slight Miss-Step

Posted on September 3, 2008 by blogger
Filed Under Rob Meltzer | 42 Comments

In a campaign other than Obama’s, it might have been a gaffe. For a few moments the other day, the good folks of San Francisco stopped throwing their rose petals, and scowled at something Emperor-elect Barak Hussein did. Remember Bristol, Sarah Palin’s daughter who got knocked up after being a proud graduate of her mother’s abstinence only program? Obama said that Sarah Palin’s family situation should not be made an issue. Not made an issue? The Republican Party is trying to pass a referendum in California right now that would ban gay marriage between loving, consenting adults, who espouse the kind of commitment to family values that the Republican base is supposed to be endorsing. Is the Republican Party staying out of the family lives of people? Hell no. The Republican Party has, itself, made what people do in the privacy of their bedrooms a national and constitional issue. We need to make Bristol the poster child of a complete abdication of family values. In fact, maybe we should demand a paternity test for Bristol’s older brother in order to allow the religious right to claim Sarah as one of their own. So when Emperor-elect Barak Hussein said that Sarah’s family arrangements were private and off limits, the logical question is: why?

Right Where They Belong

Posted on September 3, 2008 by blogger
Filed Under Rob Meltzer | 22 Comments

McCain and Bush were exactly where they should have been when Katrina came ashore three years ago–celebrating McCain’s birthday in Arizona. As I said three years ago, and as I’ll say again now, preparation for natural disasters is a state, not federal, function. Just as I don’t expect the fed to plow the snow in New England, or pick up fallen tree branches following a tornado in Texas, I don’t expect a federalized response to hurricanes. Thus, the rush by McCain to make storm preparations a federal issue demonstates yet one more failure by McCain to define limited government.

SF Up For Grabs?

Posted on September 3, 2008 by blogger
Filed Under Rob Meltzer | 13 Comments

No doubt about it; the cult of Obama is alive and well among the white folks of San Francisco. They all sound like Rick, chanting the mantra and burning the incense for Obama. And like Rick and Tom, they fill the vacuum of Obama left by his lack of specificity with their political agenda. For example, everyone in San Francisco knows that Obama will address climate change by nationalizing the power industry, thereby allowing Emperor-elect Barak Hussein to lower plant emissions by executive order. Yes, that is what they are saying out there, even though I can’t find that plan in the Blueprint on America. But I did notice one funny thing about San Francisco–Obama has cornered and holds the white vote, which would be all well and good except for the fact that non-hispanic whites in San Francisco now comprise 29% of the population. Chinatown now covers a vast percentage of the city, and growing, and the asian communities seem to be equally proud of their support for McCain. The Catholic latino population also seems to be leaning toward McCain. The only Clinton buttons I saw were being worn by African Americans, who, when asked, denied they would vote for Obama. Fact is, Obama is going to take San Francisco by a wide margin because a minority of the city makes up a majority of its voters. Reality is, a good “get out the vote” campaign by the Republicans to target Pelosi could be very, very effective in changing that political dynamic. We tend to consider San Francisco one of the most liberal places in America. It’s a place that the Democrats should not take for granted.

Sad, not angry

Posted on September 3, 2008 by blogger
Filed Under Tom Driscoll | 2 Comments

Remember when he called himself a “uniter, not a divider”? Remember like it was just the other day (because it was) when it was his own wife, along with Cindy McCain, wielding the millinery metaphor of “Republican hats” and “American hats” —suggesting we take off one and put on the other?

President George W. Bush wasn’t the only one, last night at the Republican National Convention, to bring up the trials John McCain suffered as a P.O.W. during the Vietnam War. And I suppose the whole evening’s celebration of the man’s courage, character and patriotism must carry with it some implied question or challenge to the same of the man opposite McCain’s candidacy, not only Obama but those who support him. But I think it was our president who outdid all others, not in celebrating McCain —but in the cynical, divisive and destructive exploitation of his story.
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McCain’s ex-con friend

Posted on September 1, 2008 by Rick Holmes
Filed Under Rick Holmes | 1 Comment

The Republicans are trotting out William Ayers again, in commercials bought by an “independent” group run by a longtime McCain supporter.

The commercials do a good job of tying Barack Obama from the ‘60s-era radical, considering how little the writers have to work with. The Chicago professor is more an acquaintance of Obama than a friend. As far as I know, if there are photos of them together, they have yet to be discovered or photoshopped. Obama was 9 years old and on the other side of the world when Ayers was spouting revolutionary nonsense with the Weather Underground. Yes, Ayers hosted one of hundreds (thousands?) of living room fundraising parties Obama has attended over the course of his political career, and he has donated $200 to Obama’s campaign. But if there’s footage of Ayers endorsing Obama - not to mention Obama endorsing Ayers - I can’t find it on YouTube.

Imagine how much worse it would be if Ayers had actually been convicted of a crime. What if he had served more than five years in a federal penitentiary for a politically-inspired burglary, and for lying to federal investigators about a plot to throw a presidential election? What if he was unrepentant to this day about his crimes? What if there was audiotape of him telling his followers that when they go to assassinate law enforcement officers, they should “shoot for the head” and “kill the sons of bitches”? What if he had said that not way back in the ‘60s, but far more recently?
What if this unsavory character had hosted not a single neighborhood get-to-know-the-candidate party, but a fundraiser for his presidential campaign, and gave him not $200, but $5,000? What if the candidate went on the air, praising the unrepentant radical as “and old friend,” saying he’s proud of him and congratulating him on his “continued success and adherence to the principles and philosophies that keep our nation great”?

Well, then you’d be talking about a different candidate and a different notorious supporter: John McCain and G. Gordon Liddy. Steve Chapman has the details here.

By most measures, Liddy, the talk-show host who says he was inspired by Adolf Hitler, is scarier than Ayers, an English professor in Chicago. But Democrats aren’t usually very good at guilt-by-association; my guess is they won’t use it. But someone should, if only to blunt the Ayers line of attack.

Professional Political Class

Posted on August 30, 2008 by blogger
Filed Under Dirk Coburn | 8 Comments

Here is the meteorological equivalent of the politics of class envy. Former DNC chair Don Fowler laughs it up with fellow Democrat and South Carolina Congressman John Spratt about the fact that Hurricane Gustav is about to hit New Orleans:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrBus8ORR78

“That just demonstratres God’s on our side,” says Fowler after composing himself following his chuckling fit over the timing of the hurricane. Classy! It puts the Democratic party leaders and officeholders in the same state of glee over the political benefits of hurricane threat as, oh, Michael Moore (”This proves there is a God”) and Keith Olbermann.

Pity the other poor party of sitting duck schmucks whose only real hope is to want good things to happen.

State of the electorate

Posted on August 30, 2008 by Rick Holmes
Filed Under Rick Holmes | 22 Comments

Rob’s been out of touch lately - soon to return, I hope - so it falls to me to point out that he has again been shown to have his finger on the pulse of the American electorate. On Aug. 20, he wrote: “Rather than viewing the looming convention as energizing, the public views the impending conventions as week 7456 of the OJ trial. Oh lord, may rapture come now and not make me one of the left behind to observe these conventions.”

If he wasn’t watching, he was one of the few. More than 40 million households tuned into Obama’s acceptance speech Thursday. It was the highest rated convention in history. There are caveats that go with that measure (the population and channel choices have grown since Neilsen started rating conventions in 1960), but the TV audience for Obama on Thursday was half again as large as the audiences that watched speeches by Bush and Kerry in 2004. That tells you something about the state of the electorate in 2008.

Sarah Palin?

Posted on August 29, 2008 by Rick Holmes
Filed Under Rick Holmes | 43 Comments

John McCain tried to step on the Denver afterglow with a surprise VP pick. Yeah, it’s “outside the box,” but is she ready for prime-time? Is she sufficiently insulated from the ethical cesspool other top Alaska Republicans are sinking into? Can he sell her as sufficiently prepared to be the understudy for an aged president with health issues?

I know next to nothing about her and have yet to hear her speak. Maybe she’ll rock the political landscape. But it’s hard to imagine a first-term governor beating Joe Biden in a nationally televised debate.

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