Yeah, probably.  I jumped the gun by going with the print story.

CNN's John King and Anderson Cooper acted as full blown Mc/Palin apologists.

It's the difference between "laughing with" and "laughing at".  McCain doesn't run "with" lobbyists, he is run "by" lobbyists.

Are you pre or post 2006? Lately I've been asking Democrats this question. if you are pre 2006, you re going to think the GOP strategy will work. If you are post, you will question whether they can win a base war.

Lori... I know we have had our differences during the primary but I also know that we have always treated each other with respect and kindness.

So I am asking, with all respect, if you are for our ticket this year? If not, it is certainly your right, but lately I have been reading your posts and getting the impression that you are really not with us this year.  

You may want to tell tom brokaw that. Everything I am writing can be verified, including by the way the fact that actually coverage of Obama has mostly been negative this summer. Much of this can be googled if you are ever curious rather than just biased.

to Palin would be if in a hypothetical world, Obama never runs for president and HRC selected Obama three days before the DNC convention?  Let's say that in the four preceding days to the Obama's hypothetical VP speech, we learn about Wright, Rezko, and Ayers.  It's not a perfect parallel but I think it's somewhat on point and is why I think Palin will fail in the end to win.  She only has sixty days to make the case that she's not an extremist whereas the real-life Obama had eighteen months to make the case; as noted in politico by a Jewish republican, she suffers from the same "otherness" that Obama has to deal with in the sense that they are both nontraditional candidates.

In the same sense that Obama has had to deal with the question "who the hell is this guy," she has to deal with the "who the hell is she" question.  I don't think she has enough time to answer that question sufficiently.

a B- tonight; I didn't think she spent enough time making a postive case for herself since it will be her, not McCain, that the media focuses on for the remaining sixty days.  She didn't come off as incredibly inspiring or non-divisive; I thought she should have hit the media more rather than Obama, as that may have earned her more points since post voters do buy the notion, as indicated in the Rasmussen and surveyusa polls, that the media favors Obama.

We know she's not a lightweight when it comes to getting negative and taking shots; the question is can she take the heat when it comes her way from a politcal opponent.  Obama and Biden have yet to lay a glove on her.

Make no mistake about it, this election is about Sarah Palin v. Barack Obama now in the media's eyes; I have no problem with that, I like our guy's chances.

but I think it's a huge mistake for the GOP to pit Palin versus Obama. She is a fiery base-hardener, but she's not bringing in anyone new, and she is almost definitely scaring the crap out of a lot of swing voters.

Obama, on the other hand, has shown himself to be a base-widener, someone who people eventually come around to.

If the GOP had a big base ID advantage, Palin would be perfect. In a year where we outnumber them, she will just be quick way to go down fighting. I'd be MUCH more worried if she had presented an empathetic figure ("I know your pain").

Right. My guess is that Palin comes out the winner of this election even if McCain loses. Palin vs Obama, if the latter wins, through the next 4 years plus.

with the opposition's VP candidate??? Don't you think it might diminish him?

The Repubs set a bear trap with this thing, and you all are taking the bait.

Seriously, no chance. That's similar to the over reactive claims on progressive sites that Hillary and Bill would harm Obama's chances at the convention, or that Sarah Palin would pull out or be replaced.

Step back and apply the big picture, whenever that type of nonsense enters discussion. Go back a year or even a week and ask yourself what the reaction would have been if someone proposed the presidential focus would be the top position on one side and VP on the other. That prediction would be laughed off the table. The Intrade odds, if they could quantify such a thing, would literally be less than 2%.

And for good reason. Palin is the story for tonight. It may remain that way depending on McCain's speech tomorrow. But once the campaigns begin full blast with negative campaigning flooding the airwaves in a few days, per usual it will be all Obama and all McCain. The VPs take stage for one debate. Palin will be vetted by the press due to her late arrival status, but that won't last a month and we have 2 months until election day.

By late September it will be ridiculous to imagine there was chatter the race would be focused on Obama and Palin. By that time, there are inevitable new variables like specific charges in negative commercials, and counter reaction. The principles will be the top of the ticket, as always.

If that's what they want, then they are making a grave mistake.  Historically the VP nominee adds few votes to the ticket (even LBJ, who is credited with winning Texas for Kennedy, had a large assist from his state machine).  McCain's advisor better hope that this race is not about the issues, as claimed, because I have seen very few solutions offered during this convention.

It's worse than that. If it's a battle of Palin and Obama, Palin has to come out in unscripted settings, otherwise it's a loss right there. But if it's perceived that Palin is the interesting one and McCain is the shlub, I think that costs McCain a ton of votes.

People aren't going to turn out to vote for the shlub with the cool VP. It doesn't work that way.

The gallup tracking polls show it... today, Obama gained among men, which was a first in a long, long time...

If you listen to the right wing talk shows, they say the same thing... they are worried about Palin becoming president someday...

I guess the Hillary supporters were right... there are a lot of people who won't vote for a woman for president... (or vice president of a 72 year old cancer survivor)

I can see that ad already...

"Sarah Palin confessed that she doesn't know what a community organizer is...

Well, meet Mary, she spends her time helping laid off autoworkers....."

Let's 'help' Palin discover that community organizers are worthy of our 'good opinion' and not just a political punchline.

Government shouldn't be helping people in need. That should be left to the private sector.

But the people who do it for the private sector should be mocked.

Have you not noticed that as of yet, her status as a hero is limited to folks in Minneapolis? I don't see it. And unless we see a huge drop for Obama in two days, I don't think we will.

She's the perfect pick on paper, the worst possible pick in the real world.

Obama does write his own speeches a considerable amount of the time. He also works much more collaboratively with his speechwriter, when he doesn't. Palin's speech was pretty much announced left right and sideways as having been written for someone else and "adapted" to her -- which is probably why the "personal" side came off flat.

And Obama's response does the opposite of making McCain feel overshadowed. It makes a couple points in passing about Palin's speech, then pivots into an attack on McCain -- exactly what they should be doing.