17People Smorgasboard

There is so much to write about over the past couple days I have not been able to focus on any one thing. Here is my attempt to blurb about what has been going on...

JOHN LEWIS IS RIGHT

Civil Rights Icon, Georgia Congressman, and true American Hero, John Lewis (who shares a birthday with me), said the following over the weekend...

"What I am seeing reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history. Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse.

"George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights. Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama."

The McCain campaign expressed outrage at these comments and demanded that Obama repudiate them.

Something which he hasn't done yet and I hope he does not do.

The rhetoric of the McCain campaign, Governor Palin in particular, has been disheartening and dirty. Their rhetoric that has taken rowdy crowds and made them even uglier. I noted in the "What's in My Name?" blog some of the awful things that have been shouted by crowds and showed a video of some of the tragically ignorant people that have been there and incited by Palin in particular.

The truth is this... Lewis never called either Palin or McCain racist, he just stated from an expert opinion, that the energy of the campaign and it's followers has worried him. If anyone can talk about what happens when the fires of passion are ignited by the words of politicians, it's John Lewis.

This is what happens when people in your campaign go out and say things like:

"Palling around with terrorists."

This is an awful and disgraceful attack that McCain has not been able to shut down, despite the fact that it is becoming clear that he is not happy with the recent line of attacks.

While McCain has been trying to tone down the rhetoric over the weekend Palin has been has continued spewing vitriol and lies at every turn.

As Politico's Roger Simon writes today it appears that Palin is running her own campaign.

SENATOR McCAIN MISSED THE POINT

Sure that you have seen this but as a point of reference.



I applaud John McCain for taking the microphone from the disturbed woman who made this statement, and was pleased to hear him call Barack Obama a 'decent man', he again missed an opportunity to tamper the down the real bigotry of the question.

The bigotry was the assertion the woman made that Obama was bad because he was Arab.

McCain's response was that Obama wasn't Arab. The words of people matter and the words of a President can cause financial markets to crash and countries to increase the size of their military.

My problem with McCain's reply is that it sounded like Obama was 'decent' because he wasn't Arab.

The United States has many wonderful Arab American citizens and I think it's time that someone has courage to defend them. The McCain statement in this answer had to hurt to Arab Americans who have to want to hear more people in both parties stand up and squash the Arab bias that permeates our country right now.

While I don't think McCain is anti-Arab in any way the fact that he failed to recognize and condemn the anti-Arab sentiment of the statement by the woman in the video was disappointing.

As a country we are too quick to downgrade and show bias against groups in this country. From American Indians, to immigrants, to African Americans, to the Japanese Internment camps, and many more, our fear of those different from us is one the darkest parts of the history of our country.

The Arab's in our country are just the latest group which we feel free to crap on, because of hatred and fear.

For the record I think Obama should handle this stronger as well. If I were him I would answer the "Arab" Question the following way.

"I'm not Arab. But so what if I was?"

TROOPERGATE

I really can't understand Sarah Palin.

The "TrooperGate" investigation, which was authorized by Alaskan Republicans found some irregularities with her behavior.

By no means am I calling this report a version of Watergate or a 'smoking gun' of any kind. Yet the report continues to chip away at her credibility as a reformer.

The report COULD NOT BE CLEARER that she did something wrong, yet Palin was out there yesterday saying she was cleared of any wrongdoing. See the video below from Countdown with Keith Olbermann.





Palin really likes to try and show herself as a humble, down to earth, regular person.

Instead she is coming off as delusional and out of touch with reality.

I would have respected her if she blasted the report as partisan politics or a sham. But to say that a report which not only says you broke the code of ethics, but cites the specific code... and you say it clears you of any improprieties?

Like I said, I just do not understand Sarah Palin.

THE PARTY OF REAGAN OR NIXON?

Republicans have an incredible love and admiration for Ronald Reagan. While I have always found this over the top I have really begun to admire the kind of politician that Reagan was after observing the past three elections.

In a wonderful article over the weekend in the Economist the Nixon way is shown pretty clearly. I really recommend this article for Republican readers.

Remember, Sarah Palin said she reads The Economist after saying she read 'all of them' when asked which publications she reads.

But my new admiration for Reagan is that in studying his campaigns, he was tough, but rarely dragged himself into the real dirt of politics.

I think Reagan would have been upset with ads like Willie Horton in 1988, the slanderous attacks against John McCain by George W. Bush, the Swiftboat ads against John Kerry, and the 'palling around with terrorists' rhetoric of this election.

The Atwater-Rove politics of the Republican party have two principles of past Republican Presidents. 1st they attempt to divide and destroy like Nixon,, 2nd they like to say Reagan as much as possible without using the grace and dignity he did.

Reagan may have been a leader I disagreed with the direction he took us, but he seems to have been a respectable person both as a leader and a candidate. I have to say that he ran campaigns with a level of class and dignity that his party has abandoned for 20 years now.

POLLS

Loyal readers know that I don't talk a lot about national polls, but I do take stock in state polls, because that is how the campaigns decide how and where to put their resources. The news a couple weeks ago that McCain was pulling out of Michigan really surprised me as that looked all year like a fierce battleground. Today we see a new poll that has Obama up 16 points in Michigan.

State polls are where the real interesting and encouraging numbers are for supporters for Obama and why I think there has been such anger and frustration from Republicans.

In the last week alone Obama has expanded his own electoral opportunities and put McCain in a much more defensive position than I ever expected.

2004 TIGHTLY CONTESTED BLUE STATES:

- Wisconsin which John Kerry won with just 5000 or so votes has had three polls in the last week. Two had Obama up 10 points and new poll today had him up 17!
- Minnesota which is always pretty close though reliably Democrat was supposed to be closer with the Republicans hosting their Convention in St Paul has broken hard for Obama. This is one of two states where McCain has outspent Obama. Today's poll had Obama up 11 and while one recent poll had a 1pt lead that seemed to be the outlier of two other polls that had 7 and 14pt Obama leads.
- Pennsylvania. This seems to be where McCain is making his stand but its hard to see why. In the last 8 days there have been 7 polls in Pennsylvania where Palin and McCain have been campaigning almost every day. The leads for Obama in those 7 polls; 15, 13, 14, 14, 12, 13, 15.

RED STATES IN PLAY

I thought the 50 state strategy was nuts and going to cost Obama but what we are seeing is that coupled with the financial crisis, Bush blowout states are increasingly looking to be in play.

- Indiana, very Red State has had three of its last four polls have the race within the margin of error and Sarah Palin will be making a trip there in the next couple days. One poll has a 7pt McCain lead, another has it a dead tie.
- North Dakota! Thats right North Dakota which gave Bush a 24point win four years ago and had McCain up in the polls by 15 three weeks ago had a poll come out that gave Obama a 2pt lead. Yes in the margin of error, but unreal that this state may be in play.
- Virginia and Colorado. The last four polls in Virginia have all gone to Obama though the trend is that the race is getting tighter. The last three polls in Colorado have all showed Obama with a lead outside the margin of error and the lead may be expanding from +6, +6, to +9.
- Georgia. This looks to be a solid McCain state, but the trend is looking to close in favor of Obama. In Mid September McCain was up between 13 and 18 points. Recent polls show that Obama is down from 3-8 points.
- North Carolina. A big Obama target for months may well be the closest of all states this year. The last 4 polls have two leads for McCain inside the margin of error (+2, +3), one lead for Obama oustide the margin of error (+5), and one dead tie.

21 days until the election but if half of these polls are accurate then Obama has a real margin for error and ability to play real offense while McCain has to defend his own states.

Florida and Ohio, where the last two elections were decided you may be asking?

The polls are pretty close, but in Ohio since October 1st there have been 11 polls. 9 of 11 have been in Obama's favor. Five of those 9 have been leads of 4 pts or more oustide the margin of error.

In Florida there have been 6 polls since October 1st. ALL 6 polls have been in Obama's favor, 4 of the 6 have been outside the margin of error. Even more encouraging for Democrats is that two of the three biggest leads in those poll are Fox News Polls.

******* All polling data gathered from Real Clear Politics, Battle Ground State Polls.

What's in My Name?

My friends, I have kept a deep, dark, and embarrassing secret from you.

This admission is so damaging that it will surely crush my future political ambitions.

My revelation to you all is this,,, my middle name,,,, is George.

I can hear the attacks from my future opponents now.

• Can we really trust a man whose middle name is the same as George W. Bush’s first name?!
• How can you talk about change and reform,,, when your name is George?
• George? How can we be sure that’s not a Muslim name?
• George? My George Foreman Grill never worked!! Did yours?!
• George!?!?! I’d rather his middle name was Hoover,,,, or Hussein!
  

The root of my middle name comes from within my family, but surely I can’t trust the people to understand that.

My middle name will inspire such anger that mobs of people go to political rally’s of my future opponents and shout awful, hate filled things when they are told my middle name.

Face it… the last eight years have ruined it for those people with the name George.

When it comes to all things George, Americans are saying,,,

“Never Again”

HOW DUMB DO THEY THINK WE ARE?

OK, my little satire aside.

Are we as a nation really so stupid that we will judge people based on their middle name? Or for that matter their first or last name?

Apparently some Republicans think that we are this ignorant?

Twice in the past couple days Republicans that have introduced John McCain and Sarah Palin have drawn loud cheers by emphasizing the middle name of Barack Obama, which in case you were unaware, is Hussein.

Barack Obama was named after his father who was Barack Hussein Obama Sr. How many people do you know named after their father or mother?

By the logic of some people out there we should think that sharing a name with a bad person means that you are also be a bad person.

The worst part about this is the implications and inferences being made by the McCain and Palin team. Saying that Obama ‘pals around with terrorists’ is the kind of thing that incites people. If you think I am overreacting see the video of the crowd leaving a recent rally of theirs at the bottom of this post.

In 26 days though we are going to turn the page with a new voice, a new vision, and hopefully provide, as he says, "Change We Can Believe In".

I hope the people in the video below will even come around.

Beware, if your a fan of Obama, this video is only going to depress you. But hopefully it motivates you to take a role and help get Obama elected.

Not Fit For TV?

Just received a campaign from the "We" Campaign which focuses on alerting the public and pushing for action on climate change.

You've probably seen their ads on TV in the past few months.

The ad above was recently rejected by ABC TV. When I received the email and opened the link I thought, maybe they really did or said something offensive or risky in this ad.

Think by watching the ad you'll agree its effective, but in no way innappropriate.

Click on the link below and you can send a message to ABC telling them to put this ad on the air.

http://www.wecansolveit.org/page/s/ABC

Debate Recap: 'That One',,, Won

You know every election year people get all excited for the debates, and almost every year, they let us down. We keep expecting and hoping for a singular moment or exchange that we will remember for years.

Yet that never seems to happen and last night was no exception.

Though in the history of debates, last night was one of the more odd debates I have ever watched.

The oddities in this debate all came from one man,, John McCain. As has been his problem throughout this campaign his message last evening had no focus or direction.

And more than that McCain once again looked totally out of sorts and uncomfortable.

Here are just some of the McCain oddities:

1. I was surprised that the disdain John McCain was skewered for in the first debate,,, he carried over to last night. It wasn't just the dismissive 'that one' line, but in watching these debates McCain can't even fake respect for Obama.
2. His 'home loans' plan was a 'new idea', but one that appeals to liberals. There is also some who say this is already in the bailout bill. Plus, if he really believes this,, why didn't he push for it when he 'suspended his campaign' to lead the bailout negotiations?
3. Where was Bill Ayers? You and your VP slam Obama on the stump for four days based on his association with Bill Ayers, and you never bring it up? You don't go after him to his face. Why did they bring Ayers up this weekend if they weren't going to use it in the debate?
4. You still don't say 'middle class' once or hardly say your opponents name at all? Even Sarah Palin had the wherewithal to talk to the concerns of the middle class and ask if she could call him Joe.
5. In an answer to who his Treasury Secretary would be, the first name that McCain mentioned was Warren Buffet. Yes, Buffet would be a great Treasury Secretary but has slammed McCain's tax and economic proposals. Buffet thinks the rich should be taxed higher.
6. We have heard how 'Town Halls' are John McCain's best format. Yet McCain looked very uncomfortable throughout the debate. He had uncomfortable in exchanges with Obama, even with moderator Tom Brokaw, and at one point calling a questioner by the wrong name in the middle of an answer. Not to mention McCain's aimlessly wandering around the stage was just plain bizarre.
7. While he attacked Obama, he never really tried to knock him off balance with any real zingers. There wasn't a set plan of attack that had any kind of traction.

McCain's odd behavior goes back to a point I have been making on this blog for the last month, that John McCain hasn't been able to become one with the McCain campaign to clearly define himself.

It all goes back to that quote I used from the West Wing about three weeks ago from a Presidential Candidate.

"Years I've been looking forward to this campaign. I never imagined it would look like this."

McCain has to be crushed by what his campaign has become and the fact is that he let it happen. He lost control of his own campaign when he abandoned people like former aide Mike Murphy on NBC and threw in his lot with Karl Rove disciples like Steve Schmidt and Tucker Eskew.

This is what happens when you become the candidate who will say anything, do anything, or take any position that is politically convenient for you at the time. Democrats saw how this works when John Kerry was the candidate four years ago.

When you aren't consistent,,, over the long run, you get burned and his message coupled with the economic crisis is drowning the McCain campaign.

As for Obama, he once again was rock solid throughout the debate. He had a grasp of the issues and unlike the first debate he didn't get stuck on defense. Obama was the more aggressive of the two candidates in going after his opponent. On health care, on diplomacy, on spending, on Pakistan, on Iraq, Obama scored points time and again.

But the story of the debate wasn't Obama, or how Presidential he looked and sounded, though he did. The story was how John McCain went into a debate he had to win, and came to the debate with nothing.

While most debates are easily spun by the pundits of both sides, it was nearly unanimous across the board with few exceptions that the clear winner of last night was Barack Obama.

Follow the Example of Barack Obama

Heading into the second Presidential Debate this evening there are many pundits out there who are saying the strategy of the McCain campaign is to raise doubt on the character of Senator Barack Obama by bringing up William Ayers, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, and demanding an investigation into his donor list.

I think this is just part of the strategy but not the McCain camps ultimate objective.

Let's be totally honest here,, William Ayers and Jeremiah Wright are old news. They have been brought up before and they're not exactly game changers. Want proof,, just ask the Clinton campaign.

This is a time as I noted yesterday with the economic situation dominating the landscape.

By the way the market fell 508 points today, so the politics of destruction would seem like a rather tone deaf move for this evenings town hall debate?

The McCain camp isn't stupid so changing the subject with re-tread stories can not be their real strategy hear to get a game changing event to go their way.

So what is their goal with the current mudslinging?

Personally, I think it's to cause Barack Obama and Democrats to lose their temper and trip into a reprehensible statement. To have a prominent Democratic figure saying something really off color would dominate the news cycle for 24-48 hours .

Maybe they're trying to get Joe Biden or Michelle Obama to lose their tempers and cause the Obama campaign to have to pivot onto defense for a couple of days and disavow a principles remarks.

The first and biggest problem with this strategy is that Barack Obama is too smart, smooth, and disciplined to fall into this trap personally. As long as he doesn't say something really stupid the blow to the campaign would be minimized. Barack Obama looks pretty unflappable thus far.

Joe Biden and Michelle Obama are certainly passionate people with a tendency to let their emotions get the best of them. Yet they are surely being coached on what pitfalls to avoid. It's possible one of them slips up, but still find it unlikely.

So if the Michelle doesn't say something about 'baking cookies' and Joe Biden doesn't call Sarah Palin a 'floozy' then what Democrats have the profile that Obama would not be able to brush it off?

Here's the second problem with the McCain strategy. The only other Democrats that are high enough profile to swing a Presidential news cycle by saying something offensive are the Clintons. Yet, the Clintons have shown no willingness to get their hands dirty in this race and aren't going to impugn their reputation to defend Obama.

The third problem is that while they are throwing these accusations out there, Obama is winning undecided voters by focusing on the economy. He's focusing on the issue that voters overwhelmingly rate as number one right now.

So why am I bringing this up?

The past couple days have had some very tough and nasty attacks from John McCain and Sarah Palin. These attacks are making Democrat, myself included, rather angry.

It's important though for us not to lose focus as supporters.

What I vow to do is to follow the lead of the man I hope will be the next President,, Barack Obama.

I was not a early supporter of Obama's Presidential Campaign. There have been times I have been thrilled with him, times I have been irritated with him, and times I wanted him to get in the face of the Republicans.

But his read of the electorate and his own temperament has been spot on much better than me. I have been so impressed and proud and dignity he has shown during the campaign, in particular the past couple week.

He has been a leader and an example for both Democrats and the country.

There are four weeks to elect him and we need to get it done. Here's how we do it.

Just as Barack Obama and Joe Biden have showed in the debates and for the past couple weeks, we all need to raise the level of civility, common sense, and intelligence in our actions.

Obama and Biden have shown Democrats can act like adults, instead of a spoiled bully on the playground.

Obama and Biden have shown in tough times they can act and govern with a calm hand in tough times as opposed to an erratic, spastic way.

Obama and Biden have showed people they are the ticket that wants to bring the country together with a message of hope and ideas instead of a message of divisiveness, attacks, and ideology.

The high road is the hard road and many ask how can we take this route and still win?

The answer is simple,,, by outworking the other side.

As supporters we need to be positive and pro-active and hit the pavement to ensure victory.

Volunteer for Obama or a local campaign.

Talk to your friends, family, and co-workers to make sure they are informed and make sure that they vote. Check and see if there is early voting in your area, and get it out of the way.

Put a yard sign up, put a bumper sticker on your car because every little bit helps and in a democracy,,, change is pushed through by us.

The way that we lose is to assume victory. As an old political worker we hate polls that show big leads. They make our job harder.

Why?

Big leads, lead to complacency and in elections, complacency kills. If everyone votes,, Obama will win. If Democrats think they have this in the bag, it will be far to close.

Let us be the party of ideals and values in this election, and not rise to the bait of hatred, bigotry, and zealotry. The kind of zealotry that we have seen in just the past couple days by supporters of McCain and Palin.

At McCain and Palin events over the past couple of days supporters of the candidates have been heard shouting "terrorist" and "kill him" when they are talking about Obama.

It's understandable why Democrats, Independents, even Republicans would hear this and want to react with vitriolic anger and disgust. I have talked to moderate Republicans are cringing with embarrassment.

Instead of acting on anger,, lets put that energy into winning and because reacting to score political points,,, will not take us where we want to go, either as a people, or as a country.

Come November 4th, we need to get more votes and that is something we can effect and something I have decided to participate in,, not just comment on.

More on the plans for 17people to help Obama and Biden turn out the vote,,, in articles to come.

Cubs/Sox,,,,, Ugh

For my entire life Chicago baseball pundits and fans have always longed for a year when both Chicago teams would make the playoffs.

In 2008 after 102 years both teams made the playoffs. Excitement was high on both ends of town.

The Cubs looked as though they were a team that couldn't be stopped after amassing the best record in the National League with 97 wins.

The Sox had a season which they exceeded expectations and made the playoffs in exciting fashion having to win a playoff game 1-0 to even make the playoffs.

As we all have learned in Disney movies,,, be careful what you wish for.

The Cubs and Sox both sucked.

If I can thank my team for anything is that the way they lost at least was quick as possible.

Instead of a pain like 2003 was where the Cubs were 5 outs away from the World Series. A Series which still gives me nightmares this loss was different.

This loss was like ripping off a band-aid. It hurts at the time, but is better in the long run.

If nothing else, it gives me more time to focus on politics!

Ugh.

Its the Economy Stupid(s)

Despite many attempts at misdirection, outlandish statements, and negative politics,,, there is only one issue that controls this election,,, the economy.

Today the economy is once again the story of the day, and it will remain so for the next 29 days of the election and probably the next 18-24months.

A strong finish on Wall Street couldn't keep the Dow Jones from finishing under 10,000 points for the first time in over four years.

Yet the day on the campaign trail started with reaction to Sarah Palin's 'palling around with terrorists' comment about Barack Obama.

Instead of taking the high road the Obama camp went after the McCain's history of palling around with felons,,, namely the Keating 5 with a new website,, KeatingEconomics.com.

While I don't think hitting on the Keating 5 is the tactic I would've taken,,, yet,, the saving grace for Obama is that the story of the Keating 5 has many similarities to the problems we have today with the economy.

The economic nervousness out there is why people don't care as much about the frivolous attacks that so dominated our recent elections. Democrats, myself included, have used the term, "Rove-Style Politics" a lot this year.

Here's the thing,,, Rove-Style Politics aren't working this year.

Because issues and not personalities are front and center.

That's right,,,, I said issues.

I had some personal confidantes tell me when I started this blog that 'people don't care about issues' the way that I do. That pointing out, issues, was 'out of touch'. That voters care about which candidate they best 'relate to' and not about their positions.

Well guess what?!

In this election,, it appears that the issues matter.

Bill Ayers, Thomas Muthee, Jeremiah Wright, and Charles Keating are not going to determine this election in the end,,, Barack Obama and John McCain's vision for America will.

The American people expect these campaigns to be prepared to talk about the economy for the next 29 days.

Biden-Palin Do Their Job

At the conclusion of the much anticipated debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin my cell phone erupted with calls and texts. The responses I got from my focus group of friends and family was all across the board.

The overall consensus was that both Biden and Palin did better than expected.

For those that were hoping Sarah Palin would crash and burn,,, they didn't get their wish, as she represented herself awfully well.

For those hoping Joe Biden would provide a gaffe along the lines of 'FDR speaking on television' or would bully Palin,,, they also didn't get their wish.

In the end the VP Debate can be summed up like this...

If you had a candidate you probably think they won.

Here is why I think Joe Biden won.

First off, while he got a little to wonkish on policy here and there, he did so in a way that isn't elitist. Biden comes from a blue collar background and I think that comes out in his delivery. He also was incredibly effective at linking John McCain to George W Bush.

I do feel he was too cautious early in the debate and allowed Palin's charm and her well delivered jabs to rule the beginning of the debate.

However, he closed the debate strong and feel the tide turned when Sarah Palin bragged on her history of taking on the oil companies in Alaska. This is where 'Sedated Joe' became as Bill Maher calls him, 'Joey the Shark.'

He didn't attack her, yet instead cleverly showed how the Obama ticket wants to do what she did in Alaska with regards to oil companies. Then he showed how Palin's accomplishment is diametrically opposed to the McCain tax plan.

From this point on Biden just pounded away at John McCain and tied him directly to not just George Bush, but Dick Cheney as well. While she kept saying it was 'looking back', she wasn't able to distinguish a difference from Bush other than saying "Maverick" over and over again.

Biden's precision attacks came with very little defense coming from Palin. I think Palin was solid on her talking points, but was not very effective at responding to the stream of specific attacks on John McCain's record and this was the biggest difference in the debate for me.

Biden adapted to what was being said, while Palin stuck to a pretty set script.

The post debate polls showed that Biden won pretty clearly which surprised me. I felt the 'perception' would be a tie. Early this morning, it hit me why both Biden and Obama have had such strong poll numbers in the two debate.

This election is so different than the past two.

Democrats in the past two elections have had the same positions they do now on issues like taxes and the war. But in 2000 and 2004,, those were not pretty unpopular positions in the country.

In 2004 a phrase like 'waving the white flag of surrender' would have resonated through an overly macho country. In 2008, this kind of statement falls flat on over 60%+ of the people.

As early as 6 months ago arguing that raising taxes on people that make over $250,000 was always a tough sell. In light of the financial crisis we are in,,, this sounds much more reasonable and necessary.

At long last the Democrats are not just on the right side of issues philosophiacally,, they have the popular support on issues they have typically have gotten beat up with.

Yesterday I wrote that both candidates a tightrope to walk,, and the winner would be the one that kept their balance.

To my surprise, they both kept their balance and did their job.

BIDEN

Readers of this blog know that I love Joe Biden and have been a major advocate for him for quite some time.

While he was not the flashiest selection as VP,,, he is exactly the kind of experienced voice we need in the White House.

Communicated with four people in the last 15 hours who are all Republicans. Three of whom are the 'undecided' voters that the campaigns are talking to, and another of them is definitely voting for McCain.

Each of them made very strong statements about how impressed they were with Biden. A couple of them felt Palin won the debate, but even they said that Biden did not lose the debate.

One said, "I didn't really care that much for Biden much heading into tonight. I like him a lot more now."

Another texted me, "Now I know why you like him so much."

A third instant messaged me this morning who is voting for McCain said, "I thought Biden was smooth and Palin was all over the place."

This debate unlike the first one had that signature moment and it was from Joe Biden. A moment that I think it touched a lot people.

This is when he got choked up talking about the tragedy that beset his family over 30 years ago when his wife and daughter were killed in a car crash and his two sons were seriously injured.

A friend of mine who is a father called and said about the moment in the link above that Biden 'won him over.'

"I didn't know about what happened to his family, that made me look at him different."

Biden had a fine line to walk last night and had to be careful to not come off as a bully, while still showing a firm grasp of the issues. He had to keep his temperament in control when Palin came after him time after time.

He accomplished this with flying colors.

The only person who could have stayed in with her any better would have been Hillary Clinton, but ask yourself this. Had Obama taken Tim Kaine or Evan Bayh, would they have been able to be as smooth and professional as Biden was against Sarah Palin?

It's debatable, but I don't think they could have.

The fact that Joe Biden is the 4th biggest draw in the 2008 Presidential Election illustrates the distorted way we look at elections.

True, he may not be a heroic POW, a history making hockey mom, or the 1st ever African American nominee for President. However, Joe Biden is an exceptional man who has served his country with dignity in the Senate for over 30 years. A guy who doesn't appear to have forgotten where he comes from.

I'm proud of Joe Biden's performance last evening. More than ever I respect that Barack Obama felt comfortable enough to put him on the ticket considering his experience far outweighs his own.

32 days to go.

Too Low of Expect-Palins/Leo/Cubs

VP Debate

Count me as one of those (maybe few) who is concerned about a strong Sarah Palin performance in the debate this evening.

Yes, you read that right, I fear that Sarah Palin may have a very good debate this evening.

On this blog I have done what I have wanted Democrats to do, to essentially dismiss Palin and instead take on the new and unimproved John McCain.

I have viewed Palin as a distraction and if you go through 17people, despite wanting to many times, have not blasted away at Sarah Palin. While I have mentioned her, Palin has not been the focus of any article since her convention speech.

About a month ago, soon after the Palin selection I had dinner with some family. At the time, Palin’s star was high and Democrats were getting nervous. Deep down, I was getting nervous too.

Despite that nervousness I made the statement to ‘just be patient’ about Palin. I had read everything about her I could get my hands on and felt there was enough in her past to take the shine off of both her selection and the phenomenally successful roll out of her candidacy by the McCain campaign.

It turns out her checkered past has taken a backseat to her own words and prescence. The Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric interviews have been gifts that keep giving to the prospects of Barack Obama and the writers of Saturday Night Live.

Yet, in politics we love comebacks,,, and after imploding with Katie Couric, Sarah Palin,, desperately needs a comeback.

Whether that road to a comeback begins or blows up tonight, depends on her walking a tight rope.

I expect her to attack Biden and Obama with a couple of well delivered, prepared zingers. She has proven to be a great deliverer of prepared lines. This isn’t a put down to her, any speech writer or comedian knows,, delivery is the key to any attack.

She attacks in direct ways, that rarely come off as shrill, shrewd, or mean. This is different than many women who have run for office and criticized for this over the years.

The ‘tightrope’ I mentioned is that she has to avoid a ‘you can see Russia from Alaska’ kind of answer, or a replay of the ‘Supreme Court’ debacle. Any Alaskan-sized gaffe,,, and she will lose what little credibility she has left.

The Couric and Gibson interviews cause us all to expect a major gaffe?

So why am I nervous about Palin having a strong debate?

Well, there are two reasons.

First, she’s a good debater. I’ve watched the YouTubes of her past debate performances and she handled herself well and was very composed.

Yes, she starts at a significant experience and knowledge disadvantage to Biden, but no one expects her to have mastery of issues like he will. So this means she has a wider margin of error on the answers she will give, as long as she doesn’t step all over herself.

The second reason for my nervousness is that unlike Gibson or Couric, her counterparts in this debate have been neutered heading into the evening.

Biden cannot be as aggressive as he was in the Democratic Primary Debates where he showed top notch debate abilities. He is a quick witted and aggressive debater who has to be mindful of being too in her face.

Plus he is going to be bated by her. He can’t be so laid back that he shows no spine, but he also can’t be the attack dog that he has been for the campaign or else he will be accused of beating up on her.

Additionally, the moderator of this debate, the eminently qualified and professional Gwen Ifill has become a target of Republican fire.

Ifill, long respected as one of the best in the media business is writing a book about African American politicians which is titled, "The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama."

This book was announced in July, yet Ifill is labeled as the latest of the press who is being labeled as ‘in the tank for Obama.’

If Palin gets a tough question and bombs, the spin-meisters will say Ifill was unfair. If she asks Biden a question he hits out of the park the Right-Wing spin will say he ‘knew what was coming.’

As for me I think Ifill will do fine and I hope she asks them both very tough questions. That is what her job is and what we as a nation need her to do. But if she was going to write a book with the name 'Obama' in the title,,, she probably should have recused herself from the debate.

But then we would have lost the best interviewer we have left without the great Tim Russert.

This was always going to be a difficult debate for Joe Biden, but with expectations so low for Palin and the new controversy around Gwen Ifill it has become even more difficult. The pressure is on him to stay in control, no matter what she comes at him with.

The fact is that both of these candidates are walking a tightrope in this debate and which ever one keeps their balance,,, wins.

POLITICS IMITATES,,,, THE WEST WING YET AGAIN

Once again the 2008 Presidential Campaign is mirroring the fictional election depicted in the sixth and seventh seasons of The West Wing. In a 7th season episode appropriately titled “Running Mates” the Vice Presidential Debate was the focus of the show.

In the West Wing scenario it was the Democrats who had real concerns about the performance of VP nominee, Leo McGarry (RIP John Spencer). McGarry had been performing abysmally in debate preps and the campaign started to panic.

The Santos campaign talked about some tactics as to how to deal with a possible McGarry implosion. The tactics ranged from, cancelling the debate to what they settled on,, lowering expectations.

Both have already been floated around tonight's debate. Some have said Palin shouldn’t show because of a ‘family emergency’, others said she should drop off the ticket, and above all expectations have been lowered.

In the West Wing, Leo himself sent an anonymous email to Republican blogger's saying he was tanking in the debate prep.

What did the Wall Street Journal report this week?

That Palin ‘bombed’ in two mock debates.

Think McCain was trying to lower expectations?

So here’s my third reason for being worried about Palin doing well tonight…

In the West Wing,,, Leo won the debate.

CUBS

I'm obviously not a happy camper today.

Feel bad for Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster who has been so great all season long. Last night he didn’t have it. The team owes it to Demp to give him another opportunity to pitch this postseason.

As for how I reacted…

No, I didn’t drink myself into a stupor, punch a wall, or act a fool.

Instead I dragged my very upset self to the gym, got on a treadmill and ran 6.5miles.

Maybe Cubs losses will help my fitness?

17people Overload

There is just too much going on right now.

1. Tonight my beloved Cubs start their path to hopefully end their 100 year drought of not having won a World Series. While I write and have passion about politics, the Cubs have my stomach in knots.
2. The financial crisis is still prevalent though a bailout package seems to be gathering support on both sides.
3. The election is in crunch time. While polls are looking good for Barack, anything can happen and I'm worried about McCain hitting a 'Hail Mary' between now and election day.
4. The VP debate tomorrow has me worried. (MORE ON THIS TOMORROW)

The Cubs did me a great favor this year. They wrapped up the National League Central Division title a few weeks back as well as home field advantage in the playoffs. What this meant was that I have been able to not have to worry about them.

With the playoffs here and the first series against the Dodgers,,, that is about to change.

The Cubs playoff run will seriously eat into my time to watch Hardball, Countdown, O'Reilly, etc.

Something else crazy has happened in Chicago, for the first time in over 100 years both our baseball teams are in the playoffs. The White Sox made the playoffs after winning a one game playoff against the Minnesota Twins last evening in a thrilling game.

So,,,

• The Cubs and Sox have a once in a century occurrence
• Henry Paulson calls this financial crisis a once in a century occurrence
• Barack Obama is the 1st African American Nominee in the history of the country

2008 is one hell of a year..

BIGGEST LOSER:

Readers of this blog know how much I enjoy the TV show, The Biggest Loser. I have not been able to squeeze in my thoughts on this season onto 17people yet as a result of too much going on in politics.

This season has been great already. The 1st couple weeks are the toughest to watch because the people on the show are going through the toughest time they have in the initial adjustment of changing their lifestyles and habits.

Trainers Bob and Jillian seem to be the most heartless, mean, and tough people ever. Your heart can't help but break for the people who are getting screamed at and are literally crying in pain.

Last night's episode was another example of why this is such an enjoyable, heartwarming and important show. The guy who was eliminated last evening, Jerry, was according to the doctors on the show one of the least healthy individuals ever on the show.

Hopefully other people will see this one time 380lb police officer whose daughter didn't think he'd be around to walk her down the aisle when she gets married. The strides he made on the show are inspiring and will surely extend his life.

Below is the 'where are they now?' section at the end of the show which shows where Jerry has gotten to so far. This guy couldn't walk 2 blocks when he got to the Biggest Loser Campus. See how he is doing today in the video below.