A Return to Camelot

Education Dude is dead on when he asks: "Where exactly is McCain going to find all of the ideologically identical Republicans who are suddenly capable of AND willing to work the system differently?"

As much as McCain tries, this election isn't about individuals. Given the size of the federal government, it's inevitable that most of the same people who ran things the last eight years are going to be running things in a McCain administration. And the best of these Republicans are likely to be burned out/ looking to make money in the private sector, presenting McCain with a challenge of populating his administration with competent individuals, let alone reformers.

Meanwhile, the Obama campaign is attracting top policy experts who have been shut out of the government for the past eight years. More importantly, Obama has sought academics as advisers, rather than former White House aides. Especially in the economic context, these aides have often promoted policy that comports with accepted economic principles, even if it bucks party orthodoxy (see, e.g., positions on corporate tax dividends). It is the sum of such an administration of academics that will make a Maverick.

-Law Dude

Sunday Rich

Check out this must read from Frank Rich. On McCain:

That ideological sellout, unfortunately, was not the worst leadership trait the last-minute vice presidential pick revealed about McCain. His speed-dating of Palin reaffirmed a more dangerous personality tic that has dogged his entire career. His decision-making process is impetuous and, in its Bush-like preference for gut instinct over facts, potentially reckless.

Leadership is the most interesting word there. I guess that, for McCain, leadership means blindly following your party's failed policy positions for political gain.

-Education Dude

Will the Real Palin Please Stand Up?

Prior to her nomination, Palin had not articulated foreign policy positions on Afghanistan, Pakistan, or Iraq.

So what's the next best thing to a record? How bout some unscripted interaction with the press. In the seven days since the nomination, she has not been interviewed by anyone in the media except for her home-town press.

So when will we see a press conferences, an appearance on a Sunday talk show, a meeting with a major newspaper's editorial board?

Let the countdown begin...

-Law Dude

My mom for Vice President

I’m pretty sure my mom is ready to be the next Vice President. She’s more than qualified.

First off, she’s tough. Hockey mom tough. She doesn’t back down from a fight. At least not a verbal fight, staged on a podium, with no opponent present. And she sure as hell doesn’t take crap from that moose-poop son of yours, defenseman in the #9 jersey. THAT’S A CROSS CHECK, REF, AND YOU KNOW IT.

Pure tenacity. That’s Mom.

She’s also got significant leadership experience. Oldest of five (5) siblings, my Mom went on to lead my sister’s Girl Scout troop, presiding over literally dozens of young women. She didn’t just *talk* about leading that troop; she led by action. “How are we going to pay for that trip to the candle factory?” they’d ask. Mom had the answer: “Sell more cookies. Sell more of those goddam cookies.”

A close 2^nd Place in the Miss Lawrence High School beauty pageant, my mom knows what it’s like to fight for something she believes in. She also knows how to twirl a baton. Watch out, Vlad Putin.

Sure, Mom’s light on foreign policy experience, but I got her a subscription to Foreign Affairs, so I think that’s covered. What she really needs to focus on is coming up with some prepared snarky remarks for the vice presidential debates. “What’s the difference between a pit bull and a community organizer? A pit bull has actual responsibilities! And I wear lipstick, too!”

Where does Mom stand on the issues?

• Mom never supported the Bridge to Nowhere.
• Offshore drilling is fine, as long as you keep your room clean.
• Guns are great. Just don’t point them at people whose lives you value.
• Iraq: What’s the point of building all these bombs if we aren’t going to use them to wipe out people who belong to a religious group we don’t like?
• Skirt suits? Don’t mind if I do.

Have you met my mom’s family? All of us? No? We will be sure to set aside time Mom’s next speech for you to get to know us better. Uncle Leo is a real hoot.

The most important thing is that Mom is just a regular person like you and me. No special powers. No fancy “education” or “relevant background experiences” to muddle the waters. Just a fine, upstanding woman who makes a mean moose stew.

Mom for VP!

-Save the World for International Development Hippie Dude

Change is coming ...

So, now John McCain is also running on the platform of "change." He's going to storm Washington - where he's already been a major player for almost three decades - as the new sheriff in town.

I've tried to be generous in my thinking about this, but here's why I can't make it fit. As I see it, there are four ways to read "change" in a presidential election.

1) Executive change. The actual person changes ... that's inevitable here, so John McCain can't own it.

2) Party change. The fact that the Rs have been in the executive branch for the last eight years completely undercuts this as well.

3) Policy change. It's this argument: "So, okay, we're the same party, but we're DEFINITELY going to be different this time." I might have believed that from the John McCain of 2000, but the John McCain of 2008 has adopted most of the current republican orthodoxy to make him more soluble with the base of the party. Plus, if anything, his platform adopts the MORE extreme right versions of existing policy. To give him the benefit of the doubt, that might be change, but it's disingenuous marketing at best.

4) Process change. This is a more complicated thing to deal with, and it's nearly impossible to sell during an election, which is why I think McCain-Palin has latched on to this idea of "reform." It's basically what they're trying to say about Palin in Alaska: "She's from the same party, and she believes in essentially the same things, but she's a reformer and she's going to do things differently."

Now, I understand there is nuance to running a complex organization, and there's arguably nothing in the world more complex - organizationally - than the U.S. federal government. So, yes, CHANGING the way that works could be extremely beneficial, and a person from the same party as - and with the same policy perspectives of - the incumbent could theoretically make "change" happen.

The problem for McCain here is twofold. First, he's brought into his fold all of the proteges of the folks that ran Bush's last two campaigns. So, in the only instances in which he could have opted to pursue a different strategy than his republican forbears, he has opted NOT to do so. Second, given the fact that the republicans have been in power for eight years, where exactly is McCain going to find all of the ideologically identical republicans who are suddenly capable of AND willing to work the system differently? From a practical standpoint, anyone who has tried to "reform" an entrenched bureaucracy knows that talk is cheap and that most systems revert to the "path of least resistance." Especially when there are outside actors with a huge vested interest in the status quo (i.e. think tanks, K street, etc.). For a bunch of ideologue carbon copies, I have no reason to think a McCain presidency would be any different.

-Education Dude

But Alaska is Close to Russia!

In honor of Obama’s appearance on O’Rielly, let’s enter the no spin zone. Obama has less foreign policy experience than Biden or McCain. He has worked across the aisle to secure loose nukes—a worthy cause and a proud accomplishment. But he has not drafted major foreign policy legislation (see McCain’s Detainee Treatment Act), nor has he led a committee charged with leading the Senate’s foreign policy debate.

Arguably, the value of experience in a Presidential election is data-based. McCain and Biden’s foreign policy experience forced them to take positions that now may be evaluated by the American people.

In that regard, Obama is no different. From whether to go to war in Iraq to how to interact with Pakistan to war strategy in Afghanistan, Obama has taken a position on every major foreign policy issue in the last six years. Based on these positions, Americans have the data to evaluate Obama’s judgment on foreign policy.

Now enter Sara Palin. As of March 2007, Palin admits, “I haven't really focused much on the war in Iraq.” Until being named a Presidential candidate, she has never articulated a position on how she would treat Pakistan, contain Iran, prevent nuclear proliferation, or negotiate with North Korea. But she is getting a crash course to figure out what talking points she should read to AIPAC tomorrow.

-Law Dude

Morning Hors D'oeuvres

Sullivan thinks the media might be growing a pair and gets all messianic.

Bob Reich talks about what REAL vetting looks like.

Ambinder finds out that Obama surrogates should be dropping the Eagleton bomb. It’s sort of like if you say Beetlejuice three times …

He also wonders about the “urbanity” of community organizing and whether Palin is a “Black Swan.” If she is, she’s the blackest thing about Alaska …

Ezra Klein thinks McCain is tired (read: old) and notes this gem:

“’My opponent's health care plan will put a government bureaucrat between you and your doctor!’ Spoken like a man who, on the one hand, has never used an HMO, and on the other, has never been off government health care a day in his life, and is healthy enough to run for president at 72.”

And HuffPo has a good compendium of media reax to last night’s speech.

Afternoon Arugula

James Fallows goes point by point on Palin’s speech

Goldberg interviews Chabon – reigning expert of all things Judeo-Alaskan – on Palin

I think democrats should take Douthat’s advice unless we want last night’s arguments to gain any traction.

TPM doesn’t think it’s a “denigrate liberals” kind of year.

Life imitates liberal dudes … Roger Simon delivers his own version of “off-limits/not off-limits” and hits it out of the park

Yglesias lays the smack down on the “energy issue.” Sure, Palin understands energy politics, but Alaskans – particularly their politicians – BENEFIT from HIGHER energy costs. Ummmmm …

He also offers a spin on the culture wars than I’ve rarely seen ... snowmobiles vs. arugula!

Sullivan wonders if Palin is a petro-dictator … sort of.

Nate Silver thinks the cognitive dissonance of a political unknown (Palin) telling us what to think about a known quantity (Obama) will ultimately fail.

Tapper shows us that MI independents were not enamored of the Governor

Ben Smith has Obama wondering whether Palin can take more than 4 days.

Ambers finds out that Palin woke the beast. Duh.

And finally, possible the best Daily Show clip ever.

Boiling the Blood

Every now and then I hear a political speech from a politician I viciously disagree with and something s/he says really pisses me off.  For example, every word out of Rudy Giuliani's mouth last night.

The most offensive bit of his diatribe, however, was repeated by Governor Palin, and that is the disdain for Obama's experience as a community organizer.  You can almost hear them spit when they even mention the word "community."  This, coupled with Rudy's derisive admonishment of Obama as an "only in America" candidate, tiptoes toward something far worse than just culture wars.  Community organization, for millions of Americans, is a vehicle through which to gain a voice in a society in which poor, minority folks are routinely disadvantaged through both political arrangements that favor the elite and civic institutions that propogate inequity.  To hear the Republicans maintain such an openly disdainful stance toward the most vulnerable members of our society should make us seethe.

-Education Dude

Post-Brunch Degestif

"The most qualified? No. I think they went with the political bullsh*t about narritives." Peggy Noonan and Mike Murphy on Palin.


She reads the teleprompter well. NYTimes analysis on Palin's speech.

Dowd on Palin and Ferraro- how incompetent vetting doesn't help female VP selections.

Finally, this gem: "Palin is a VP for the Rest of Us." The hors d'oeuvres loving, arugula eating, post-brunch degestif drinking libeardudes may disagree....

-Law Dude

Good Riddance

Detroit is down a mayor.

Morning Hors D'oeuvres

Yglesias thinks we need to hear more about Palin's lies and also thinks we should calm down.

Andrew Sullivan wonders who the real celebrity is and – like me – shudders at Giuliani’s ignorance. Also, I hope the Rs watching realize the silliness of the former mayor of New York using the word “cosmopolitan” as a slur.

Ambers wonders if Palin expands the McCain map and has a transcript of Cindy McCain off-message on abortion.

Josh at TPM thinks the democrats need to come out swinging on “reform” and offers Giuliani a cookie for saying “9/11” under 3 dozen times. Also, BONUS, he loves that Palin used to brag about the same earmarks that her ticket condemns.

Even the AP thinks Palin stretched the truth last night.

HuffPo has a good transcript of GOP talking heads trashing Palin.

Time hits back on McCain's bullying of the press.

Bonus on education! Eduwonk has an outline of Obama's education policy.

The Limits of Family

The McCain campaign has decided that any attempt to vet Palin is a smear, and moreover, they're horrified that folks would make a political issue out of family. So, I thought we could play a quick game of "When is discussing family off-limits?"

1) Journalists questioning the maternity of Palin's youngest son, based on some seemingly unusual circumstances surrounding his birth? Off limits!

2) Palin appearing with that same child on the cover of two glossy magazines and using him as a metonymic symbol for extreme-right pro-life positions? Not off limits!

3) Suggesting that we might have something to learn about abstinence-only education through the circumstances surrounding Bristol Palin's pregnancy? Off limits!!

4) Trotting out Bristol Palin and her husband-to-be in front of thousands of cultural conservatives to put a few young faces on "conservative family values?" Not off limits!!

It's fun, and we can keep playing this game throughout the campaign. Maybe there's a nuanced reason for the differentiated responses above, but my guess is that it might have something more to do with political expediency. I know, I'm so cynical.

-Education Dude

Lay Off, Grandpa

Please add captions for this photo to the comments section:

-Education Dude

It Depends On What The Definition of "To Vet" Is ...

This defies explanation:

"I told [the city clerk of Wasillia] I appreciated her help, since I'm sure she's been bombarded with requests these last few weeks. The clerk's office keeps all City Council meeting agendas, minutes, legislation, ordinances, etc. She chuckled. Then she told me that I'm the first person who has asked her office for anything."

From The Washington Independent's Laura McGann, via Matt Yglesias.

-Education Dude

No Judgements (Shout Out to the Mispelling on the 2nd Ave Crunch Gym in NYC)

Talking Points Memo has a comprehensive list of the things the electorate learned yesterday about Alaska governor-cum-vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

First, we have to ask the question about the "known unknowns" vs. the "unknown unknowns" (God I miss Donald Rumsfeld). Now that the McCain camp has belatedly sent a vetting team to Alaska, who knows what we'll find out? Here, Palin's lack of meaningful experience hopefully will be an asset to her and the McCain campaign.

Second, we learn even more about the impetuousness of John McCain. Rumor has it that McCain got shot down after floating both Lieberman and Ridge - who folks now seem to think were sincere options, as opposed to pro-choice red herrings. And what does McCain do after he can't pick his buddy Lieberman? He throws a hail mary. Stunning lack of judgment here, I would be thrilled to have this guy making the important national security decisions.

Third, I love Matt Yglesias's take on the pregnancy debate. I believe - like most other folks - that this is a Palin family issue, not a political one. However, the McCain campaign and the Palin family are going out of their way to laud the "choice" to keep the baby. This is particularly hilarious coming from folks who would make judicial appointments predicated upon the future likelihood of overturning Roe v. Wade. If Sarah Palin had her way, her daughter - no matter how old she was - couldn't "choose" anything with respect to her pregnancy.

-Education Dude

Scientific Polls are BOOOORR-ING

According to the front page of the Washington Post, “An All-Out Battle for Women’s Votes Begins.” Without backing up this statement with any poll numbers or an explanation for its methodology, the Post claims, “But her selection has energized. . . some disaffected supporters of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who resent that their candidate did not make it onto the Democratic ticket this year.”

Tell me Washington Post, how many are “some disaffected supporters?” 5? 15? Did the WaPost reporters call up the “20 equally passionate Hillary supporters” who decided to watch a movie, “The Squid and the Whale,” instead of Obama's acceptance speech, as chronicled in this equally hard-hitting New York Times article?

Virtually no one in the mainstream media has decided to take the radical step of waiting until there is a poll conducted on the effect of Palin’s selection on former Hillary supporters before making generalized statements of how disaffected Hillary supporters are “energized” by the pick.

Let’s get real. When those poll numbers get back, an insignificant number of former Hillary supporters will now support McCain because of the pick. It is completely irresponsible of the media to create a narrative by selectively seeking anecdotes from cherry-picked citizens, instead of relying on scientific polling data.

And for the record, any former Hillary supporter willing to vote for a pro-life, pro-gun, creationist, simply because of her sex, is an idiot.

-Law Dude

“Palin, Pro and Con” or “Mitt Must be PISSED”

Pro:

Dampens Dem’s post-convention bounce

McCain wins today’s news cycle- (but does winning daily news cycles win elections?)

An attempt to get Hillary supporters (but really, are they going to vote for two pro-life, conservative candidates just because there’s a woman on the ticket????)

Cons

Completely undercuts an attack on Obama’s experience.

Novelty of the pick is gone in 5 days. When the novelty is gone, what’s left?

She will get utterly PWNED in the debates (how many foreign policy positions has she laid out as an Alaskan mayor?)

-Liberal Dudes (alternative title by CEO Dudette)

In the Great Tradition of VP Prognostication

Liberal Dudes is officially calling Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as the McCain VP pick. This guess does not come nearly as early as other Liberal Dudes soothsaying, but we wanted to go 2 for 2.

-Education Dude

(Hat tip Marc Ambinder)

I'm Sure He'll Call ...

This compilation of CNN reporters waiting for the Obama campaign's text is PRICELESS.

Seriously, they're acting like a 16-year-old girl waiting for that guy they went out with last night to call.

"Is he going to text?"

"He said he'd text!"

"I hope there's not something wrong with my phone."

"I thought we had a really good time!"

-Education Dude