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The American Right has just died and gone to heaven. Last night's convention address by Sarah Palin here in St. Paul has confirmed the bold decision of John McCain to choose the Alaska governor as his co-pilot and united the Republican Party as it has not been since the second term of Ronald Reagan. A wild enthusiasm for Sarah Palin has brought conservatives home to John McCain, and GOP leaders of all hues — from Fred Thompson to Mitt Romney to Mike Huckabee to Rudy Giuliani — to the rostrum to lacerate the liberal media for their five days of...

NEW YORK -- News executives Thursday tried to shake off the excoriations of the media emanating from the Republican National Convention, defending their coverage of GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin as responsible and evenhanded. ______ "I really do take exception to it," NBC News President Steve Capus said. "These terms get thrown around in an awfully cavalier way, and they're incredibly damaging. We're in the business where words matter, and those are awfully, awfully strong accusations."

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Friday shows the beginning of John McCain’s convention bounce and the race is essentially back where it was before Barack Obama’s bounce. Obama now attracts 46% of the vote while McCain earns 45%. When "leaners" are included, it’s Obama 48%, McCain 46% (see recent daily results).

A week ago, most Americans had never heard of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Now, following a Vice Presidential acceptance speech viewed live by more than 40 million people, Palin is viewed favorably by 58% of American voters. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 37% hold an unfavorable view of the self-described hockey mom. The figures include 40% with a Very Favorable opinion of Palin and 18% with a Very Unfavorable view (full demographic crosstabs are available for Premium Members). Before her acceptance speech, Palin was viewed favorably by 52%. A week ago, 67% had never heard of...

Tonight was the end of the beginning of the campaign, and the beginning of the end of the campaign. And where once in the Republican home where nothing was heard but a discouraging word, hope springs eternal. A look back before looking ahead…* OK, after last night’s boffo performance by Sarah Palin, there simply was no way, no how for tonight’s warm-up speakers to come off as anything but flat and uninspiring. So let’s just leave it at that without naming any names.* And from the Department of Too Much of a Good Thing, enough with the videos, OK? It...

Sarah Palin has a lot to thank Democrats for this week. As a result of relentless attacks from angry far left Democrats assisted by their friends in the media, her speech became the most widely viewed of any speech given by a Vice Presidential candidate in the history of the world and Republicans emerged more energized than anyone could have dreamed. The audience was unusually large due to the weeklong controversy surrounding Palin’s children. Over the weekend, nasty rumors swirled around the internet that Palin’s fifth child, Trig, who has Down Syndrome, was not really her child, but her 17-year-old...

How Serious Is Polling's Cell-Only Problem? The Landline-less Are Different and Their Numbers Are Growing Fast Twenty years ago the survey research profession -- having grown comfortable with telephone interviewing as an alternative to personal interviewing for conducting surveys -- worried mostly about the roughly 7% of U.S. households that could not be interviewed because they had no telephone. Today our concern is somewhat different, and potentially more serious. According to government statistics released last month, nearly 13% of U.S. households (12.8%) cannot now be reached by the typical telephone survey because they have only a cell phone and no...

In this election year, "change" has been the catnip of the liberals. It renders them blissful. Change will put an end to the dominance of American politics by the "Washington insiders." And the instrumentality of that "change" will be a first-term senator of unassailable probity, Sen. Barack H. Obama, who curiously enough began his career a decade ago in Chicago as a cog in the political machine of Mayor Richard Daley. To the critics' charges that Prophet Obama is short on experience, his supporters respond that he has enormous experience, which is obviously untrue. Also, he has chosen as his...

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Senator Barack Obama will increasingly lean on prominent Democratic women to undercut Gov. Sarah Palin and Senator John McCain , dispatching Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to Florida on Monday and creating a rapid-response team to deploy female surrogates to battleground states, Obama advisers said on Thursday. Mrs. Clinton’s campaign event in Florida, her first for Mr. Obama since the Democratic convention last month, will include a forceful response to the searing attacks and fresh burst of energy that Ms. Palin injected into the race with her convention speech on Wednesday night, Obama aides said.

A new poll shows the presidential race tied with Arizona Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama both getting 42 percent of the vote. The CBS News poll was conducted Monday through Wednesday, before McCain running-mate Sarah Palin's speech focusing on domestic energy production, preservation of tax cuts and criticism of Obama. The poll surveyed more than 800 voters nationwide. The previous CBS poll gave Obama an 8 percentage-point lead. New polls are expected Friday.

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There is something ignoble about these elite, affluent, and well-connected observers in smug fashion savaging Palin, when — especially in the case of the sneering power-women — we should all at least grant that Palin is intrinsically bright, energetic, savvy, and independent to have come this far at all, given the slanted and insider rules of the game she’s in. So pause to consider: If we wished to ensure that a bright, ambitious, and capable woman would not make it in contemporary national politics, as practiced by most successful contemporary office-holders and adjudicated by the New York-Washington media, then we...

Political parties usually reform in the wilderness. They suffer some crushing defeat, the old guard is discredited and the pain compels turnover and change. John McCain is trying to reform the Republican Party before a presidential defeat, with the old guard still around, and with a party base that still hasn’t accepted the need to transform. The central drama of this week’s convention was the struggle by reform Republicans to break through the gravitational pull of old habits and create something new. Before the convention, some McCain aides wanted to sunder the links to the past in one bold stroke:...

Obama Surrogates Urged To Mention Eagleton 05 Sep 2008 01:56 am Barack Obama has forbidden his campaign from referencing Gov. Sarah Palin's family and has said he'd fire any staffer who violates the rule. But plenty, it seems, its fair game. In memos, e-mails and phone calls this week, Obama campaign officials have urged surrogates and allies to mention Republicans who are "nervous" about the Palin pick and to link those worries to George McGovern's aborted vice presidential pick of Thomas Eagleton in 1972, according to three Democratic surrogates. That year, McGovern rescinded the pick after learning that Eagleton had...

“There are two questions we will never have to ask ourselves, ‘Who is this man?’ and ‘Can we trust this man with the presidency?’ ” — Fred Thompson on John McCain, September 2 This was the most effective line of the entire Republican convention: a ringing affirmation of John McCain’s authenticity and a not-so-subtle indictment of Barack Obama’s insubstantiality. What’s left of this line of argument, however, after John McCain picks Sarah Palin for vice president? Palin is an admirable and formidable woman. She has energized the Republican base and single-handedly unified the Republican convention behind McCain. She performed spectacularly...

Pointlets on McCain’s Speech [Jay Nordlinger] 1. I’ll start by repeating what I said earlier, in my “instant react”: He was himself and he said what he believes. And that’s probably the most you can ask for in a candidate. 2. The introductory video was effective in its use of humor — “Some called him a hothead. Some called him things that can’t be repeated.” (I paraphrase.) Nicely done. 3. Seeing pictures of McCain’s dad reminded me that WFB knew him — stayed with him out in Hawaii. 4. “John McCain’s life was spared — perhaps he had more to...

Worth reading. Looks like we stand a fighting chance in the money department.

After Alinsky: Community Organizing in Illinois (c) 1990 Illinois Issues, University of Illinois at Springfield ISBN: 0-9620873-3-5 Chapter 4 (pp. 35-40) of After Alinsky Why Organize? Problems and Promise in the Inner City For three years Barack Obama was the director of Developing Communities Project, an institutionally based community organization on Chicago's far south side. He has also been a consultant and instructor for the Gamaliel Foundation, an organizing institute working throughout the Midwest. Currently he is studying law at Harvard University. "Why Organize? Problems and Promise in the Inner City" was first published in the August/ September 1988...

Rapid-response team of female surrogates is being readied to take on the Republican ticket. By PATRICK HEALY and JEFF ZELENY, New York Times Last update: September 4, 2008 - 11:18 PM Sen. Barack Obama will increasingly lean on prominent Democratic women to undercut Gov. Sarah Palin and Sen. John McCain, dispatching Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to Florida on Monday and creating a rapid-response team to deploy female surrogates to battleground states, Obama advisers said Thursday. Clinton's campaign event in Florida, her first for Obama since the Democratic convention, will include a forceful response to the searing attacks and fresh burst...

McCain Camp to Leave Convention With $200 Million, Aide Says Jonathan D. Salant Jonathan D. Salant Fri Sep 5, 12:01 am ET Sept. 5 (Bloomberg) -- John McCain's campaign expects to leave the Republican National Convention with $200 million in the bank and be able to match the Democrats' spending in the next two months, an aide said. McCain will depart from the St. Paul, Minnesota, convention with $84.1 million in federal funds and the Republican National Committee will have about $125 million, the campaign aide said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Fundraisers are working to bring in another $80...

Alongside last Friday's announcement that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin would be John McCain's running mate, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 170 points. Stocks have shown weakness ever since. While there are many factors that move markets, a looming electoral contest between a tax-hiking Democrat versus a nominally pro-growth Republican surely weighs heavily on market psyche. It says here that the markets concluded that whatever John McCain's true economic views, he has handed the election to the anti-growth candidate with his selection of Palin. Stocks were presumably booing a running-mate choice that will greatly aid Barack Obama's election in November....

WorldNetDaily staff reporter and columnist Jerome Corsi's book "The Obama Nation" contributed to a decision by Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga not to accept Sen. Barack Obama's invitation to attend the Democratic National Convention, according to a prominent Kenyan newspaper. "The cancellation of the trip by Mr. Odinga comes hot on the heels of the publication of a book that is being used to attack Mr. Obama in which the PM [Prime Minister] features," wrote Kenya's Daily Nation. "The book, The Obama Nation, by Jerome Corsi depicts Mr. Obama as a covert sympathizer of radical Islam and communism." "In the...

What did we see tonight? Tonight, we either saw a watershed in American politics, a tour de force, the most striking and graceful debut in our nation’s political life, and a national introduction that makes Barack Obama’s 2004 convention address look like small potatoes… or we saw what we wanted to see, and the country’s persuadable independents saw something else. I’m afraid to believe. If I’m wrong, I don’t really know what Americans want. I know conservatives are thrilled to pieces, and they ought to be. She knocked it out of the park. I don’t think she could have delivered...

New evidence has emerged that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was closely associated as early as age 25 to a key adviser to a Saudi billionaire who had mentored the founding members of the Black Panthers.

New evidence has emerged that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was closely associated as early as age 25 to a key adviser to a Saudi billionaire who had mentored the founding members of the Black Panthers. In a videotaped interview this year on New York’s all news cable channel NY1, a prominent African-American businessman and political figure made the curious disclosures about Obama. (See Video Clip Below) Percy Sutton, the former borough president of Manhattan, off-handedly revealed the unusual circumstances about his first encounter with the young Obama. “I was introduced to (Obama) by a friend who was raising...

Wright also called Zionism “racist” in the Trinity United Church of Christ’s official publications. Although the Trinity United Church of Christ’s Trumpet Magazine appears to be inaccessible, Barack Obama’s pastor failed to cover all of his tracks, and we have retrieved a .pdf file of Jeremiah Wright’s “This is Where I Came In.” (this_where_i_came_in) It is hosted at tucc.org (the Trinity United Church of Christ) and therefore cannot be a forgery or smear. Rep. Wexler (D-FL) and the National Jewish Democratic Council would doubtlessly prefer that voters, and especially pro-Israel ones, not know about this but Jeremiah Wright’s “This is...

Here is video of Sen. John McCain's acceptance speech tonight at the Republican National Convention. McCain gave many details regarding his plans for the future. He finished his speech with a rousing challenge to "Stand Up and Fight for America." . . . (see video at link)

Here is the outstanding biographical video shown at the Republican National Convention, September 4, 2008. . . . (see video at link)

The real candidate of change accepts the nomination and promises to shake up Washington. There were a few code pink moments that the crowd shouted down with USA chants.

Todd Palin — oil worker, champion snowmobiler, hunter and commercial fisherman — also has been boning up on mining lately in his role as Alaska's first spouse. On two separate occasions last fall, the husband of the Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin boarded planes chartered by mining companies that want to dig for gold, zinc and lead in remote Alaska valleys. The trips cost $1,005, according to the governor's financial disclosure forms, which described them as gifts. The travel showcased the niche Palin has filled in his wife's administration — helping find jobs for Alaskans who, like him, didn't...

US women voters turned off by Palin's pick: poll ST PAUL, Minnesota (AFP) — Women voters remain unswayed by the Republican choice of anti-abortion, devout Christian Sarah Palin for vice president, according to a new poll released Wednesday. White House hopeful John McCain electrified his party's conservative base by naming Palin, a 44-year-old mother of five and Alaska governor, as his running mate on Friday. But 52 percent of voters polled in a survey for the women's activist group Emily's List said they would vote for the Democrat ticket of Barack Obama and his VP choice Joseph Biden, against 41...

Obama got his first intelligence briefing as the Democratic US presidential candidate this week and spy agencies are ready to do the same for Republican rival John McCain, a senior US official said today. Thomas Fingar, deputy director of national intelligence for analysis, said US spy agencies had also begun reanalysing and updating reports from around the world in preparation for the next president, who will take office in January. "We've begun to engage with the campaigns," Mr Fingar told an intelligence conference in Florida. "Senator Obama received a briefing on Tuesday (local time)." Intelligence officials would not discuss what...

Sen. Barack Obama ditched his normal languid cool today, punching back at Gov. Sarah Palin as he spoke with reporters in York, Pa, hotly defending his work as a community organizer. He said he assumes Palin "wants to be treated same way guys want to be treated, which means their records are under scrutinty. I've been through this for 19 months. She's been through it, what four days?" Obama's hackles were clearly raised by Palin's dismissal of his community organizing --a response to his earlier dismissal of her record as a small-town mayor. "Why would that kind of work be...

Poll indicates Obama, McCain tied The U.S. presidential race between Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain is a draw, with each receiving 42 percent, a CBS News poll indicated Thursday. The poll, conducted Monday through Wednesday, is in contrast to a CBS survey conducted last week, when the Democratic ticket led the Republican ticket 48 percent to 40 percent, CBS said. In the latest poll, 12 percent indicated they were undecided and 1 percent said they wouldn't vote. McCain officially was nominated as the GOP presidential candidate Wednesday after his vice presidential candidate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, addressed the Republican...

The group Catholic Democrats today issued a strong rebuke of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s sarcastic mocking of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s work as a community organizer during the 1980s. “I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities,” Palin, former mayor of a small town in Alaska, said during her speech to the Republican National Convention Sept. 3 in St. Paul, Minn. The speech by Palin, currently governor of Alaska, followed one by former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who also belittled Obama’s work as a community organizer,...

Governor Sarah Palin delivered the following remarks after John McCain announced that she was joining the ticket as the nominee for Vice President. Governor Sarah Palin: "And I thank you, Senator McCain and Mrs. McCain, for the confidence that you have placed in me. Senator, I am honored to be chosen as your running mate. I will be honored to serve next to the next president of the United States. "I know that when Senator McCain gave me this opportunity, he had a short list of highly qualified men and women, and to have made that list at all --...

Palin records HUGE jump with independents and moderates in overnight polls: Survey USA Breakdown: Surveying INDEPENDENT VOTERS, is Gov. Palin an asset or liability to the GOP ticket? Asset? 09/03/08 = 43% 09/04/08 = 56% Liability? 09/03/08 = 44% 09/04/08 = 27% (Margin of error +/- 6) Surveying MODERATE VOTERS, is Gov. Palin an asset or liability to the GOP ticket? Asset? 09/03/08 = 38% 09/04/08 = 48% Liability? 09/03/08 = 49% 09/04/08 = 30% (Margin of error +/-5)

Rasmussen: By 10-to-1 Public Says Reporters 'Trying to Hurt Palin' By Brent Baker Created 2008-09-04 19:20 “Over half of U.S. voters (51%) think reporters are trying to hurt Sarah Palin with their news coverage, and 24% say those stories make them more likely to vote for Republican presidential candidate John McCain in November,” Rasmussen Reports announced Thursday in posting survey results which determined “just five percent (5%) think reporters are trying to help her with their coverage, while 35 percent believe reporters are providing unbiased coverage.” In Thursday's “Grapevine” segment, FNC's Brit Hume highlighted the findings from the poll of...

24 hours ago, independent voters nationwide were split on whether Palin was an asset or a liability to McCain's campaign. Today, by a 2:1 margin, independents say Palin is an asset. Overnight, the percentage calling the Alaska governor an asset to the campaign climbed 13 points; the percentage calling her a liability fell 17 points. The numbers are similar among moderates, who 24 hours ago viewed Palin as a liability by an 11 point margin; today, Palin is seen as an asset by an 18 point margin. Betting Line Changes: 24 hours ago, when asked if they would bet on...

A 48/40 lead after the convention turns quickly to dust. Better still, the new poll was conducted from Monday to Wednesday, so her speech hasn’t fully impacted yet. No crosstabs yet, but note well the trends in enthusiasm. Dude, I think she might be … The One. McCain has also closed the enthusiasm gap some with Obama, but it still exists. Fifty-five percent of Obama’s supporters are enthusiastic about their choice, and now so are 35% of McCain’s. Last weekend, just 25 percent of McCain’s supporters were enthusiastic about him, compared to 67 of Obama’s supporters… Independents in this poll...

If only Brian Ross, ABC News and the rest of the mainstream media would spend as many news minutes on Obama's dealings with Wright, Rezko, Ayers, et.al. Sigh..........

ST. PAUL -- Fox News "opinionater" Bill O'Reilly finally got his man. Barack Obama appears on his show this evening at 9 p.m. after an earlier taped one-on-one session with the self-proclaimed king of pithy comments. Here is a clip of Obama and O'Reilly going to eyeball to eyeball on tonight's show which is sure to raise a lot of eyebrows among the left and the right

A pro-family advocate is questioning the National Education Association's endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. The National Education Association (NEA) has endorsed Senator Barack Obama's presidential bid and plans to spend $50 million to target swing states. The NEA also says they will micro-manage members and send sophisticated electronic individualized messaging to members. However, Bryan Fischer of the Idaho Values Alliance (IVA) thinks the money would be better spent on educating children. "I think most parents would think if the NEA has $50 million to throw around, why don't they invest it in the classrooms where our children are...

What a rout. Up early to watch the pundits on parade for a couple of hours, and the lefty talking heads and the MSM anchors are fleeing Sarah Palin like a building on fire. No more chants of "inexperience," and only the most indirect of references to her family. Until yesterday the collective MSM sneer was that Palin was "Hello Kitty," reeling backwards under the pressure. Now she's Gorgo, smashing up the MSM's cars. The dismayed punditry is pondering the "meanness" of her attacks and her lack of details on health care refom. A complete triumph over the Beltway-Manhatan media...

Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin touched on a lot of issues Wednesday night. One of the most emotional was her message for families with special needs children. When Palin introducer her son Trig, who has Down syndrome, to the nation Wednesday night, she touched the hearts of millions nationwide. "Children with special needs, inspire very, very special love," Palin said. "For years you've sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters and I pledge to you if we're elected, you'll have a friend and an advocate in the White House." On Thursday, CBS 2...

Oops! An open microphone caught Republican political strategist Mike Murphy and former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan trashing John McCain's choice of Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. During a live MSNBC broadcast from the Republican National Convention, host Chuck Todd thought the coverage had moved to another report as he engaged in politcal banter with guests Murphy and Noonan. The blogosphere was abuzz with the recorded conversation late Wednesday as Palin took to the podium to accept her party's vice-presidential nomination. Here's the transcript: Peggy Noonan: Yeah. Mike Murphy: You know, because I come out of the blue...

Mrs. Palin may prove to be a disaster--or not. It would be premature to declare her the next Joan of Arc. But to paraphrase Mark Twain, rumors of her demise, are not only exaggerated, they fly in the face of historical fact. Like the press corps in Frank Capra's film, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, the Beltway Boys are tagging her a "Country Bumpkin " and assuming her "thin" resume is not only an insult to the importance of the presidency but a slap in the face to women voters. Conventional wisdom has it that her choice is a naked...

Go figure, huh? Why, it’s even stranger than finding the media mistaking a Democrat for a “lifelong Republicans.� Or Andrew Sullivan for someone who’s “right-leaning.� Ilene Beninson, 52, Berkley independent: “Her speech contained few statements about policy or the party platform. … I am not convinced that Palin’s experience as a mayor or governor in Alaska meet the qualifications to be vice president much less one stroke or heart attack away from being commander in chief.” Maybe Beninson’s in line with independent thinking notwithstanding her affinity for Mother Sheehan, though. Who knows?Actually, I do. Palinmania:After viewing Palin’s speech, a greater...

CBS) The presidential race between Barack Obama and John McCain is now even at 42 percent to 42 percent, according to a new CBS News poll conducted Monday-Wednesday of this week. Twelve percent are undecided according to the poll, and one percent said they wouldn't vote. This is in contrast to a poll conducted last weekend, where the Obama-Biden ticket led McCain-Palin by eight points, 48 percent to 40 percent. McCain has also closed the enthusiasm gap some with Obama, but it still exists. Fifty-five percent of Obama's supporters are enthusiastic about their choice, and now so are 35% of...

37,244,000 WATCHED PALIN SPEECH ... [38,379,000 WATCHED OBAMA]... MORE...