Up until now, I have sided with those who have argued that the less we address Palin the better.  Ride the wave of her novelty and continue to hammer away at McCain's lack of a cogent economic agenda and his dependence on a tired and negative script that blatantly misrepresents democratic policy proposals in order to cling to power.  One thing that the Republicans are good at rhetorically, is telling people what to believe by telling them that they already believe it.  Now we need to say: 'After 8 years of Bush's bungles, the American people are smart enough to recognize how little this screenplay has to do with the lives of real people.'  I think this is still the way to go in general.  However, the fascination with Palin has taken on a life of its own.  Unfortunately, in the battle between 'Sarah the dangerous zealot' and 'St. Sarah of Wassila' we are going to lose.  Her folksiness makes the former less believable, and in making her a victim it sets her up as sympathetic.

What I would like to see is an ad that takes up the depiction of her as an average hokey Mom and uses it to show how she's also an average politician.  We don't need to cast her as an apocalyptic threat, but as just another charming huckster pursuing power without a policy agenda that can get the country moving in the right direction once more.  She has benefited from avoiding the press until now.  That cannot continue.  We need to jump in and set the agenda for her interviews, turning that to our advantage.  It's time to take the bloom of the rose.  I would like to see an ad that juxtaposes facts to the fictions she wove about herself at the convention.  Let's press her on the Bridge, her support, and the reasons she didn't return the money if she was so opposed.  Let's show her connections to Ted Stevens to highlight the ways in which she didn't simply take on her party's leadership but cozied up to its most powerful and corrupt leader when convenient.  Let's make sure everyone knows how energetically and successfully she employed lobbyists to channel pork to the land of the mooseburger.  Let's make sure everyone knows that this self-proclaimed advocate of special needs children cut their support in Alaska by 62%.  

This strategy should be coupled with ads showing McCains own inconsistencies.  Use Bill Richardson's line form his convention speech: "John McCain spends hundreds of dollars on his shoes, why should we pay for his flip-flops?"  The republicans like sarcasm?  How about punctuating these spots with McCain's own swipe at Romney: "Maybe McCain and Palin really are the candidates of change after all."  Let's go negative, but on issues.  Keep it simple and direct.  Nuance is for governing, not campaigning.

Why would the GOP Party and Senator McCain nominiate someone for Vice President who once belonged or had affiliations with a group who wants to secede from the United States and whose motto is put Alaskan First!  The Alaskan Independence Party (AIP)!  And what does that tell you about the Republican Party that Sarah Palin, a heartbeat away from the Presidency believes in her heart, Put Alaska First?  

Sarah Palin who could possibly be our next Vice Presient and/or President has a long time affiliation with the AIP , group which wants to separate from the United States, whose motto is Alaska First--Alaska Always." Sarah Palin's husband also has a long-time mebership with this group, the Alaskan Independence Party.  Officially, the AIP is a political party which advocates, in part, becoming a separate nation or commonwealth state... The party has appeared on the ballot in Alaska in all state elections since 1970.  At other times, party members have also proposed that the state explore the possibility of joining Canada.

Here is a Link to Sarah Palin addressing the Alaska Independence Party in 2007 wherein she tells them "Your party plays an important role in our state's politics ... keep up the good work, and God bless you."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwvPNXYrI yI

From Blogspot: http://divasblueoasis.blogspot.com/

"Governor Palin's connections with the AIP are also furthered by her connection to Wally Hickel, a former Alaskan governor.  Hickel was elected on the AIP ticket.  He served as the co-chairman of Governor Palin's campaign in 2006 Here is a quote from an interview Hickel did with the Alaska Dispatch:

When Palin was running for governor in 2006, Hickel appeared in advertisements supporting her and the Alaska pipeline.
"I made her governor," Hickel told me. "

That is an important and telling admission that Hickel, a long-time AIP member believes that he made Sarah Palin governor!  He wa also co-chairman of her campaign for Governor.  These things deserve observation and thought into the true character of Sarah Palin!

Daily Kos's muckrakers

"Officials of the Alaskan Independence Party say that Palin was once so independent, she and her husband were once member of their party, which, since the 1970s, has been pushing for a legal vote for Alaskans to decide whether or not residents of the 49th state can secede from the United State.  And while McCain's motto --- is "Country First," the AIP's motto is the exact opposite--"Alaska First--Alaska Always."

McCain Camp likes to dispute the fact that Sarah Palin and her husband were/are members of this Separative Group.  However, Lynette Clark, the chairman of the AIP, told ABC News on Monday that Palin and her husband Todd were members in 1994, even attending the 1994 statewide convention in Wasilla. Clark was AIP secretary at the time.

Earlier this year, Palin sent a video message to the AIP for its annual convention, where AIP vice chair George Clark told the small crowd that Palin "was an AIP member before she got the job as a mayor of a small town -- that was a non-partisan job.  But you get along to go along -- she eventually joined the Republican Party, where she had all kinds of problems with their ethics, and well, I won't go into that.  She also had about an 80 percent approval rating, and is pretty well sympathetic to her former membership."

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When Obama got a nice bounce from the Democratic convention, Real Clear Politics did not include both the Gallup tracking poll and the USA Today/Gallup poll in their poll average.  Why? Because the USA Today/Gallup poll included the very same poll data. They said that their policy was not to do so.

But now with the post-Republican convention bounce, they are using both.

Please write them (courteously) and ask them why they are employing a double standard:

 John McIntyre: john@realclearpolitics.com
  Tom Bevan: tom@realclearpolitics.com

For over a year, there has been a massive effort to get out the Latino/Hispanic vote.  It has been a multi-faceted approach - getting citizenship for many in time for the November 2008 elections, registering Latinos who have not voted in the past, and motivating members of the Spanish speaking communities across the US to get involved in exercising their civic rights.  

I have found few diaries here at MyDD documenting this mobilization, and yet the Latino vote may well be one of the major keys to our victory in November.

I implore all of you to assist in the efforts to get out the Latino/Hispanic  vote!

A McClatchy article this weekend on John McCain and his potential inability to control his temper raises serious concerns about his fitness to be President with a finger on the nuclear button.

As Obama's campaign is starting to look like John Kerry's campaign more and more I have to wonder why is it every day that McCain's campaign starts out with some "fake" TV commercial with no air time that leads the news?

Today's abomination is "the original mavericks"...

why doesn't Obama ever release his "fake" commercials?  He doesn't ever even try to get free air time does he?

Elections are always about "free media" exposure.

When will Obama go after "the original corruption" of the keating 5 scandal? Or Palin the first wasilla mayor to hire a Jack Abramoff linked washington lobbyist?

This is getting depressing watching Obama not even try to control a media cycle.

where is the ad questioning McCain's temperament and anger problems?

Where is the Carole McCain ad?

     Is it just me or were there some conspicuous absences from the Republican convention? I got it; not only was there no one from the current administration, there was also no Cheney sighting, or no one by the name of Bush to be found. I can understand that George W. would not make an appearance due to the hurricane and all (Remember how hands on he was during Katrina and the aftermath). No one has done more to soil the Republican brand than he has, but I don't understand why dad or Jeb wasn't invited. The Party is trying to get as far away from the Bush's as quickly as possible. It's as though they never existed. The family that played such a giant role in Party politics and the elections the last eight years has been delegated to the sidelines.

Forget about national polls for a second (even though it is a great concern). My feelings is that Obama will have a hard time winning the electoral college even if he had the lead.

Looking at the states:

FL is almost out of play. McCain was never behind in state polls for FL before the conventions. After the convention bounce, it doesn't seem likely Obama is going to win there.

OH is still possible, but has become a lot harder. Before the conventions, McCain had a slight lead (1-2%). The electorate there is a lot more socially conservative than most people think. The whole "bitter comment" thing hurts Obama in OH as well as PA. These are the people who literally are hurt very badly in the economy and cling to guns, religions, and anti-immigrant sentiments. Like one OH voter said on CNN, Obama just doesn't seem like a "real American" to him. I don't think PA is going to turn red, though.

VA has the best chance as a pick up for Obama. But it is traditionally a red state. McCain and Obama were actually tied before the conventions. I am very interested to see what will happen post-conventions.

Honestly, 60 days is still a long way to go. But if you really look at states by states, Obama has his work cut out for him.