Joe the Plumber Update

I have updates here on PJM criticism of the choice to dispatch JTP to Israel.

From what I've seen of Joe's dispatches, I wonder how any of them can still defend the choice. PJTV should have sent Sarah Palin. At least she has a journalism degree. She could have asked some "gotcha" questions, a la Katie Couric...

Patrick Appel defends Trig Palin

Patrick Appel, writing for Andrew Sullivan on the Dish, gives Andrew's Palin conspiracy theory a sucker punch:

The easiest way to disprove these conspiracy theories is to consider what would be required for them to be true. Palin's doctor, along with a good number of Mat-Su Regional's doctors, nurses, and administrators would need to be in on the cover-up. On multiple occasions Palin would have had to pad her belly to make herself look pregnant. She would have needed to get friends to lie about seeing her breast feed. She would have had to silence an entire community – including two 17-year-olds and their friends – while the national media and the National Enquirer snooped around. Implausible to say the least.

I don't believe Sarah Palin is capable of pulling off such a cover-up. And, like Alex Massie and John Schwenkler, I don't understand what is being accomplished by continued investigation.

Yes! Thank you! Andrew, I admire your blog and your politics and your obvious intellect and the fact that Jonah Goldberg refers to you as "the Party of Andrew" but this Palin nonsense has got to stop! Let it go....

Bye bye Kristol?

This raises an obvious question for The New York Times: should Bill Kristol’s contract as an opinion columnist be renewed when it runs up at year’s end? There is no problem with the conservative viewpoint advanced in his pieces—he was after all hired as a replacement for a conservative voice, William Safire. Still, the Times must be concerned about Kristol’s intervention in the campaign he was writing about. Simply put, the pundit meddled in the campaign he was commenting on.

Interesting.

Barking up the wrong tree....

McCain et al are barking up the wrong tree with Khalidi. I mean...seriously...if there was one object of focus that would have made sense it was Rev. Wright--not Ayers, not Khalidi. Of course, once you pick a Pentacostal who used to go to a church that trains you for spiritual warfare against witches and demons, playing the crazy preacher card loses its muster, too.

One more for Sarah Palin...ugh...

I want to fly into your airspace

Mrs. President

Click here.

Bye, Bye Buckley

Christopher Buckley has resigned from the National Review after his rather brave endorsement of Obama the other day.

Buckley writes:

So, I have been effectively fatwahed (is that how you spell it?) by the conservative movement, and the magazine that my father founded must now distance itself from me. But then, conservatives have always had a bit of trouble with the concept of diversity. The GOP likes to say it’s a big-tent. Looks more like a yurt to me.

While I regret this development, I am not in mourning, for I no longer have any clear idea what, exactly, the modern conservative movement stands for. Eight years of “conservative” government has brought us a doubled national debt, ruinous expansion of entitlement programs, bridges to nowhere, poster boy Jack Abramoff and an ill-premised, ill-waged war conducted by politicians of breathtaking arrogance. As a sideshow, it brought us a truly obscene attempt at federal intervention in the Terry Schiavo case.

So, to paraphrase a real conservative, Ronald Reagan: I haven’t left the Republican Party. It left me.

Rich Lowry of NRO gives his take on the resignation ...

And might I add that I was totally unaware of the younger Buckley until very recently, but I find myself liking him a great deal. Bravo!

H/T The Daily Dish

Heather MacDonald is, like, totally not into Palin...

Via City-Journal:

I’m, like, man, I really don’t know if I’m ready for a vice president who goes: “My son’s, like: ‘Mom, I’m in the army now,’ and I’m, like: ‘I’m so proud.’” And who’s, like, “And [my son] goes, ‘O.K., well I’ll be praying.’ I’m like—total role reversal here, that’s what I’ve been telling him for 19 years.’” Or who goes, “This is a time when, man, politics have got to be put aside.” (As Alaska governor Sarah Palin told Sean Hannity, William Kristol, and Katie Couric.)

And, lest you should miss the sarcasm and not get the point, the rest of the article is rather more serious...for instance:

Palin’s verbal hodgepodge may say nothing about her qualifications for the vice presidency. Judgment and political acumen could well rest on different mental capacities than the ability to order thoughts into smooth sentences. But the inability to answer a straightforward question about economic policy without becoming tangled in words suggests either ignorance about the subject matter or a difficulty connecting between ideas. Neither explanation is reassuring.

The Palin nomination has unleashed among Republican pundits and voters a great roar of pent-up rage against liberal elites, much of it warranted. But the conservative embrace of Palin comes at considerable cost to conservative principles. The populist identity politics that Republicans are now playing with such gusto may come back to haunt them in the future.

Another conservative slap in the McCain/Palin face.

H/T The Confabulum's Conor Friedersdorf of the fantastic site, Culture 11.

John Cleese on Palin

She won, she won!

So yeah, this is basically how I felt after the debate reading through various conservative blogs and columns. Everyone was so happy that Palin could speak coherently they forgot to check for substance.

So, what next McCain?

Nate Silver has the numbers.

The prophet, Bill Kristol, thinks McCain should fire his campaign and start over:

What McCain needs to do is junk the whole thing and start over. Shut down the rapid responses, end the frantic e-mails, bench the spinning surrogates, stop putting up new TV and Internet ads every minute. In fact, pull all the ads — they’re doing no good anyway. Use that money for televised town halls and half-hour addresses in prime time.

And let McCain go back to what he’s been good at in the past — running as a cheerful, open and accessible candidate. Palin should follow suit. The two of them are attractive and competent politicians. They’re happy warriors and good campaigners. Set them free.

Provide total media accessibility on their campaign planes and buses. Kick most of the aides off and send them out to swing states to work for the state coordinators on getting voters to the polls. Keep just a minimal staff to help organize the press conferences McCain and Palin should have at every stop and the TV interviews they should do at every location. Do town halls, do the Sunday TV shows, do talk radio — and invite Obama and Biden to join them in some of these venues, on the ground that more joint appearances might restore civility and substance to the contest.

McCain defends Obama as "decent, family man"

Allahpundit writes:

He did the right thing, needless to say, but I’m not sure how this squares with Palin telling people at fundraisers how many supporters are urging her to take the gloves off. It all goes back to this morning’s post: McCain wants to win the election but doesn’t seem to have the stomach to get truly nasty, so he compromises by bringing up Ayers but not pressing the issue too much. Gotta commit one way or another, champ. As it is, it’s a sad, strange situation to have one candidate forced to stick up for the other candidate in front of his own audience.

Now that he’s defended Obama, I think it gives The One cover to call him out on it at the debate on Wednesday in the guise of, “John, I appreciate you trying to set the record straight on my behalf, but this climate you’ve created…” etc etc. In the meantime, here’s the only video I’ve been able to find thus far. Shuster aired the footage where the woman in the audience calls Obama an Arab a few minutes ago, and McCain really did almost yank the mike out of her hand before she could get going and make it worse. It’s not up on MSNBC’s website yet, but if I see it somewhere, I’ll update. Click the image to watch.

He did do the right thing. I think McCain will lose, but going out honorably will ensure he's not remembered as the man who instilled hate in a campaign of such magnitude. Chris Buckley was right when he said McCain is the sort of man who should lead America, but that he's lost his way. Indeed, he has, but this moment proves that he is a man of substance, honor, and a true American patriot.

Now can he dump Sarah Palin so I can vote for him?

No War for Oil

Well, actually, oil isn't a terrible reason to fight a war, though I think security and ending genocide are quite good...

Tightening the noose

Obama is up 50 to 42 according to Gallup. I don't think the negative campaigning is working. The reason I used to admire McCain was his honor and dignity, and I don't like this new man. He's not the AZ Senator I voted for.

Mike Murphy agrees:

Chuck the hacky and ineffective negative ads and switch to man on the street spots with real people voicing their real doubts about Obama; too weak to stand up to Washington’s mighty special interest cartel or the newly empowered Democratic bosses of the Congress and Senate, too liberal to know how to fix the economy, too inexperienced to handle a dangerous world. On Tuesday, McCain should look into the camera and connect to the 80 million scared and worried Americans who will be watching him. McCain is losing. To regain a chance to win, McCain must run as who he truly is; pragmatic, tough, bi-partisan and ready to break some special interest china to get the right things done in Washington. Fix the message, and you will fix the states.

Delusional

Are conservative bloggers delusional, crazy, or...simply spending too much time in the echo chamber?

Nobody can deny that Sarah Palin didn't improve her poise and grace in last night's debate, that she didn't come off as the uber-bumbler of the Gibson and Couric debates, but she did not, by any means, restore her image in my mind, nor did she, if we are to trust the polls at all, win the debate. I don't particularly like Joe Biden, and I don't think he defeated Governor Palin utterly, but it was at best a tie, and judging by the numbers, more a Palin loss than anything else.

I think most Americans simply don't want someone who relies upon phrases such as "gosh darn it" to fill gaps, or who waxes colloquial rather than display any real grasp of the subjects at hand. They want substance, knowledge, and intellect. And despite his gaffes, his mistakes, (or as Rove put it, his lies!) and his obvious gaps in knowledge, at least Biden showed that he truly does understand international and domestic politics.

Palin insisted that she was not an "East Coast" politician. She reminded us often that she was an outsider, a maverick, as though we are so foolish as to believe that any outsider who comes to the White House will somehow remain one once they're there. Like Bush, right? The outsider, the governor, the cowboy.

Look at these numbers:

CNN Biden 51 Palin 36

CBS Biden 46 Palin 21
Fox Biden 61 Palin 39

The Fox poll (yes, Fox) gives Biden a 22 point lead over Palin. That's a pretty big number for a right-wing poll. Or wait, Fox is fair and balanced--they're not, and I'm glad they're not. I like having some conservative news out there...

So is the conservative blogosphere and the political pundarati delusional when they proclaim her the winner?

Rich Lowry writes:

By the end, when she clearly knew she was doing well, it was so sparkling it was almost mesmerizing. It sent little starbursts through the screen and ricocheting around the living rooms of America. This is a quality that can't be learned; it's either something you have or you don't, and man, she's got it.

Michelle Malkin proclaims "Sarah Rocks!"

First, I would like to see all the Sarah doubters and detractors in the Beltway/Manhattan corridor eat their words.

Eat them.

Sarah Palin is the real deal. Five weeks on the campaign trail, thrust onto the national stage, she rocked tonight’s debate.

She was warm, fresh, funny, confident, energetic, personable, relentless, and on message.

Michelle, did you notice the polls? Not the conservative blogosphere polls, but the real ones? Americans obviously don't agree with you, so even if the Beltway does have a change of heart, even if those elitist conservatives who decried Palin last week think that she's okay now, after a rather polished, empty performance, they'll be wrong....I personally won't eat my words. My divorce from the Palin enthusiasm is complete. I don't look for down-home "real" people, or hockey moms, to lead me. What happened to the standards of the Republican Party?

Didn't conservatives used to be elitist on purpose, or at least expect their leaders to be? Don't they believe in the "natural aristocracy" to some degree? Since when did conservatives decide the most important thing in a candidate was his or her ordinariness? Have we as a nation stooped so low as to celebrate mediocrity even at the highest level? I notice most GOP strategists--the movers and shakers--are all highly educated, extremely smart people. So why should the number 2 on their ticket be, well, so regular?

The Daily Conservative writes that "Biden didn’t come off too well for anyone not already a supporter of his ticket."

Since the national polls give Biden a 20 point lead in last night's debate, I'd say this is bad, bad news for McCain. That would mean that realistically, Obama has about a 20 point lead. And if that's not what it means, then Biden must have impressed some conservatives, or all of the independents out there.

Both liberals and conservatives spend too much time in their own echo chambers. Go to either fairy-tale world and you'll find the partisan lens so strong, that of course Biden won. Of course Palin won. Biden. Palin. Biden. Palin...

But they can't both win, can they?

No. And the national polls are probably a better barometer than the very skewed ones you find on a conservative blog.

Neocon News writes:

This is what I had been waiting for. We can clearly see now that despite her apparent lack of in-depth knowledge on some issues, SarahPalin is what John McCain told us she was: a bold, intelligent executive with her eyes set on the future who WILL do just fine with some on the job experience.

I can appreciate this. I was enthusiastic, at first, over Palin. I too began to drift, and was hoping that something would pull me back in to the fold, as it were. I wanted to believe in McCain again, and this debate was an opening for just that.

Little did I know, my faith was already drained. All I could hear were empty words, relatively well spoken, from a woman who I honestly believe is completely unqualified for the job. She does not have it in her to lead the free world.

I identify with the neoconservative belief in democracy promotion and the accompanying belief in free trade, and globalism.

Is Palin the one who will lead us into a new global society, a freer world...can she usher in democracy and peace, and broker the sorts of peace deals and diplomacy we need to move this country and this world into an age of peace? Or will she be seen as just another cowboy crusader a la G.W.B.?

Fred Kaplan writes:

So Gov. Sarah Palin can speak spontaneously in complete and coherent sentences.
Let's judge her, then, as we would a presumptively seasoned and competent political leader. By that standard, on issues of foreign policy, she was outgunned by Sen. JoeBiden at every turn.

This cuts to the heart of my argument. So what if Palin was warm, coherent, pretty, or any other damn thing? Shouldn't we expect the nominee to be coherent, cogent, smart, thoughtful, etc. coming into the debate? Is this honestly what thesebloggers and commentators are crooning on and on about? That she can speak in full sentences? Seriously? Is this the bar by which we will now judge her...a simple improvement over her previous interviews?

At this point I would like to see Palin hold her own in a press conference. She can obviously beat around the proverbial bush. The last thing I want is another national leader who bases their term on obfuscation, deception, and dodges.

Robert Schlesinger has some advice:

...Be supporters and others who are quick to suggest that Palin's performance Thursday night should expunge from memory her comically faltering inability to answer fairly basic political questions from Katie Couric and others. This was no exoneration of Palin. Here, Palin got to answer predictable questions with little flak from Biden. And when she lacked an actual answer and had to pivot to a talking point, Palin managed to avoid the uncomfortable "We both know you've stumped me but I'm going to try to squirm out of it" grin that she flashed so often with Couric.

Elitism in Politics

Call me crazy, but I am all in favor of having elitists run the political scene in our country. You know, guys like McCain, who have become quite spectacular at what they do, brimming with knowledge, depth of insight, and so forth. Electing someone for their colloquialisms on the other hand, seems foolish. Electing someone because they are "just like me" seems absurd.

Sam Harris writes, in Newsweek,

The problem, as far as our political process is concerned, is that half the electorate revels in Palin's lack of intellectual qualifications. When it comes to politics, there is a mad love of mediocrity in this country....

...Ask yourself: how has "elitism" become a bad word in American politics? There is simply no other walk of life in which extraordinary talent and rigorous training are denigrated. We want elite pilots to fly our planes, elite troops to undertake our most critical missions, elite athletes to represent us in competition and elite scientists to devote the most productive years of their lives to curing our diseases. And yet, when it comes time to vest people with even greater responsibilities, we consider it a virtue to shun any and all standards of excellence.

What I found so appealing about the McCain campaign prior to the Palin pick was the experience of John McCain compared to the inexperience of Barack Obama. Now, however, a new element has entered my decision making, and that is the other qualities of Obama, especially the ones that distinguish him from Palin.

As Charles Krauthammer writes,

In the primary campaign, Obama was cool as in hip. Now Obama is cool as in collected. He has the discipline to let slow and steady carry him to victory. He has not at all distinguished himself in this economic crisis -- nor, one might add, in any other during his national career -- but detachment has served him well. He understands that this election, like the election of 1980, demands only one thing of the challenger: Make yourself acceptable. Once Ronald Reagan convinced America that he was not menacing, he won in a landslide. If Obama convinces the electorate that he is not too exotic or green or unprepared, he wins as well....

...He's been moderate in policy and temper ever since. His one goal: Pass the Reagan '80 threshold. Be acceptable, be cool, be reassuring.

Part of reassurance is intellectual. Like Palin, he's a rookie, but in his 19 months on the national stage he has achieved fluency in areas in which he has no experience. In the foreign policy debate with McCain, as in his July news conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Obama held his own -- fluid, familiar and therefore plausibly presidential.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. famously said of Franklin Roosevelt that he had a "second-class intellect, but a first-class temperament." Obama has shown that he is a man of limited experience, questionable convictions, deeply troubling associations (Jeremiah Wright, William Ayers, Tony Rezko) and an alarming lack of self-definition -- do you really know who he is and what he believes? Nonetheless, he's got both a first-class intellect and a first-class temperament. That will likely be enough to make him president.

Looks like even Krauthammer sees an Obama victory, and isn't too worried about it. That's probably the most interesting turn of events I've seen in, well, days....

Sarah Palin's debating style

You can read the transcript of the debate here.

Sarah's Swan Song?

The Palin interviews have been nearly unbearable to watch--and, ironically not so much because she doesn't have the answers, but because of how she mishandles her ignorance. The thing is, I could answer any of those questions better than her. I mean, I could cite at least ten or twenty publications I read regularly, and even if I didn't read any, I could at least pick a few out of a hat. How hard is it to say "The New York Times" or to name a local Alaskan paper?

But for the Supreme Court question, she should have owned her lack of knowledge. It's a somewhat abstract question to begin with, and she could easily have said something similar to one of Michelle Malkin's readers comments:

Here’s how I wish the Palin-Couric exchange would’ve went:

Couric: Can you name any other Supreme Court decisions you disagree with?

Palin: Off the top of my head, no. Roe v. Wade is clearly the one that stands out above the rest. But the average American out there isn’t worried about whether I can rattle off a bunch of Supreme Court decisions. They are worried about making their mortgage payments, keeping their jobs and sending their kids to college. They trust the Supreme Court to make those decisions. What they want from a President and Vice President is someone who will appoint Federal judges who fairly interpret the Constitution and adjudicate accordingly.

Now, was that so hard?

The question becomes, is Palin's fumbling, bumbling persona her own, or is she on too tight a leash, memorizing too many talking points, taking on too much information at once, and not answering honestly? It's hard to say, we've seen so little of her. We know she can deliver a speech, but can she answer questions at a press conference? Will she surprise us tonight at the debate, or will her performance be a moot point, given the distinct possibility that Biden will come across as the bigger ass?

It's hard to know, but the debate is now only hours away, and I think that this election, it could either be a revival for the McCain camp, or a swan song.