While our side has been typically focused on Palin's lack of.... anything useful in being prez. or veep, McCain's aides have been preparing her to do be a classic running mate i tonight's debate.

She is going to shamelessly and relentlessly attack the opponents. She will twist the truth. She will outright lie. She will dog whistle. She will attempt to instill fear. She will assail the character of Barack and of Joe, in an attempt to make voters rethink their support for the Democratic ticket.

In other words: "liberal liberal liberal liberal, out-of-touch, shifty, not trustworthy, wishy-washy, effete, liberal liberal liberal liberal...."

She'll get points for being well-spoken, although she will say absolutely nothing of substance. She will be credited for going toe-to-toe with Biden. And GOP talkers will tell every interviewer that Palin did her job tonight, that she gave an "accurate" depiction of the Obama and Biden records and their scary liberal tendencies.

I am currently experiencing buyer's remorse as pertains to Obama, because I know that Hillary would be kicking the crap out of McCain right now.

Credit where it is due the Clintons and their friends treat politics as a contact sport. I cringed at how she went after Obama. I thought her campaign did some "dog whistling", played some of the manufactured outrage game and even made questionable (false) assertions.

Oh, how I would love to see them doing that right now. The economy is in the tank. The Republicans just held a 3-day hatefest. Their convention and McCain's speech was bereft of good ideas. And then there is all the scandal and radicalism surrounding Palin.  After all this, Obama is now trailing among independents and is in danger of losing Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

What gives? What happened? Why doesn't Obama seem serious? What the hell is he chuckling about?

What's more, is I don't see any potential game changers left. The debates? What? Nothing of note happens in the debates.

I know this: Obama's "confidence in the American people" is the same attitude that Dukakis and Kerry had.

The guy can hardly walk, he ain't gonna "fight" for sh*t!

It has been said somewhere -- perhaps on this site -- that an indication of true movement for either candidate would be if Obama could get beyond 50% or McCain could climb over 45%.

Sure, it's a one-day snapshot, but what I like about it is that our guy is almost to the point of having reached a significant milestone.  Their guy is going the other direction.

Still, if we see these same numbers next Friday then maybe we'll really be seeing something.

channel the fighting spirit of Harry Truman, the moral voice of MLK, the vision of JFK, the humility of middle America... ALL IN ONE SPEECH!

INCREDIBLE! And the country music at the end was a nice touch, the song was perfect! I just sat there in silence.

There is nothing random about the names I am "throwing" out.

What I am doing is sharing my agreement with the diarist that Clark would be a good pick. The way I am doing that is by sharing my own thought process.

I swear some people don't read my whole posts. Where do I say that Daschle is a fighter?

I've been all over the place on my favorite for Veep. For a while I liked Daschle or Biden, because I feel comfortable that either would bring experience and gravitas to the job, and that would be beneficial to Obama as president.

Next, I liked the idea of Tim Kaine because the two of them are "of a piece" so to speak. They'd be Clinton/Gore but truly comfortable with one another, like old friends. Perhaps Tim Kaine would make an able Chief of Staff in a few years: the Leo to Obama's President Bartlet.

With poll numbers dropping because McCain is defining Obama and Obama isn't defining McCain, I agree that he needs someone who isn't afraid to talk shit. I think Clark would be perfect, he would really get under McCain's skin and wouldn't be cowed by whiners in McCain's media base.

What are you talking about?  My comment does nothing to elicit your response or tone.

What does "Obama should create McCain memes" (meaning he should define McCain's character negatively) have to do with talking to your colleagues about memes?

attack McCain's character.

Go to this link, copy the list of flip-flops and send it to your friends and family. Ask them to pass it along.

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/fli pflops

McCain memes.  Simple as that.

in which Kerry lost the election. He didn't fight back on the swiftboat attacks. He didn't really fight at all.

The same thing is starting to happen. Character attacks on McCain should not be ruled out, especially when there is so much REAL evidence to back them up.

Juan Williams. Of everyone on both lists I like Clarence Page the best!

The show seems to pride itself on having a "serious", buttoned up host, someone who is frankly pretty "vanilla", the personality doesn't overshadow the interviewee nor the subject matter. I see no inclination on their part to change what they've been doing. Page is a serious, straightforward newsman. I think he'd be -- by NBC's standards -- a revolutionary choice.

Here's the thing...

If she keeps this up and Obama loses to McCain people will look back and place at least some of the blame on her.  Then, where does that leave her for 2012, when folks like Jim Webb or John Warner or some other rising star is lining up to challenge McCain?

In truth, Hillary's last best chance to get elected President -- based upon the old Democratic politics and the old methods of being elected -- her last best chance was really 2004.  By 2012 (or 2016 if Obama does become President) the Party will have fully become a national Party again, the old ways will no longer work.

That's what you should be asking yourself.