Palin

Backers of Sarah Palin are comparing her experience or lack thereof to Obama's. Andrew Sullivan says that he and the GOP backers of Sarah Palin are looking at different people when they evaluate Obama's experience. That's obvious since Sullivan looks at Obama with worshipful eyes. It's true that Obama has been tested on a national stage in a way that Palin has not by winning the Democratic nomination. He was impressive in organizing and leading his campaign which was able to beat the frontrunner Hillary Clinton. However, Palin's achievements are also impressive, if on a much smaller stage. She unseated an incumbent Republican Governer and rose from a small town mayor to governor. It's hard to think of any notable Obama achievement from his years in the Illinois legislature or the US Senate. Palin can point to turning down the bridge to nowhere and rooting out corruption in her own party. We'll find out how well she does on a national stage soon enough.

The Palin pick is a lot like Nixon's pick of Agnew in 1968. Agnew had also been a governor for less than two years. Previously he had been a county executive, a similar position to Palin's experience as mayor of Wasilla. Of course, that story didn't end very well but the Nixon-Agnew ticket did win two elections.

Kay Bailey Hutchison

Kay Bailey Huchison makes a lot of sense as a running mate for John McCain. What better way to appeal to disaffected Clinton voters, especially older white women? The cynicism of picking a woman may be obvious but the McCain campaign doesn't seem to care about over cynicism, as shown by their ads featuring Hillary Clinton. Hutchison is conservative enough to squelch any revolt on the right but her record on abortion is apparently mixed. From a purely political point of view, this would be ideal. Someone too rigidly pro-life might turn off moderates and pro-Clinton democrats. I don't find Lisa Shiffren's arguments against her very convincing. Her lack of legislative achievement in the Senate and non-maternal image don't seem to me to preclude her from being a good running mate or vp. Shiffren's pro-Hutchison points are more valid as when she writes, "Senator Hutchison looks like the central casting version of a serious female V.P. She is beautiful, dignified, and of a certain age and class." Some may think her too old and a McCain-Hutchison ticket too much of a "grandparents" ticket but Obama's failure to win over older voters make this segment of the population the best bet for headway by the GOP.

Saddleback

I watched bits of both McCain and Obama's interviews by Rick Warren at Saddleback last night. Neither made any major gaffe that I could see. It was interesting to watch them respond to the same questions without knowing what the other said. Obama came across as thoughtful and intelligent while McCain seemed for forceful and decisive. Which characteristics are needed in the presidency at this moment may decide the election.

Rush, Keith and Ann

I liked Ann Althouse's response to Keith Olbermann's attack on Rush Limbaugh. Both she and Rush have more interesting things to say than Olbermann's predictable and partisan attack on Rush as a hypocrite. Rush may have been crude in his commentary but his explanation that Edwards may be intellectually but not sexually satisfied by his wife is very plausible. I don't see that as blaming Elizabeth Edwards. It also doesn't seem to be hypocritical. As Althouse explains, Rush may be using his own experience to shed light on Edward's. My low opinion of Keith Olbermann is reinforced here. I don't think it's just ideological disagreement. His commentaries are devoid of any really intelligent or creative insight and tend to be partisan rants.

The Celebrity War

In Obama's latest advertisement, he accuses John McCain of being a Washington celebrity. Despite the claims that the campaign is taking a nasty campaign, I have to say that there are worse things than being called a celebrity. I think the back and forth between the campaigns is pretty mild. I haven't seen any ads by McCain referring to Reverend Wright or any Obama ads focused on McCain's involvement in the Keating Five or his cheating on his first wife. It may not be very substantive but I don't think it can be called particularly nasty.

McCain Ad - The One

This ad strikes me as completely fair. It mocks Obama for his own words. When he clinched the nomination he said that this would be the moment that "the oceans began to recede" and "the planet began to heal itself", as if he were a savior. What candidate wouldn't use this as an example of their opponent's egomania. Of course, McCain can't run on this type of attack alone. He must develop substantive reasons why he is the better person to be president. Obama supporters who point to ads like this to claim that McCain is mean or is using the Republican attack machine really sound like whiners. For example, I wonder if Andrew Sullivan is capable of metioning the McCain campaign without using the word "Rovian" at least once.