Live Bloggin' as I Watch the Repubs' Convention...

I'm watching tonight's Republican Convention and trying out writing thoughts as I watch here...

Governor Huckabee is talking now. He says Obama's trip over to Europe wasn't worth it, as though the world's opinion of and collaboration with the U.S. doesn't matter. Cheap shot at how Palin supposedly got more votes running for a mayor's spot in Alaska than Biden got running for president--I can't see how that's actually true.

Now he's talking about McCain's time as a POW in Vietnam. It's a heroic period for McCain, and certainly shows some of his character; but, my problem with it is that many people have good and heroic stories, but that doesn't justify them as our next president in the way many seem to make it out to be.

I can't see that it's relevant that VP nominee Sarah Palin's intro includes explaining that she was a beauty queen winner...

They're talking now about her personal qualities, all which sound valid (and which Repubs often appeal to voters the most on, sometimes at the cost of actually balancing this with the issues though)...This lack of an issue-based focus among Republicans was shown recently with this recent comment by McCain's campaign manager: "This election is not about issues...this election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates."

The speaker (Hawaii governor) leading up to Palin's speech just used the (over-used) comment that Obama gives good speeches, as though that's a negative...

Same speaker just made a valid point that Palin has executive experience and that Obama and Biden don't, though McCain doesn't either to my knowledge. It's a fair argument that Palin brings something in the way of managing a big budget that they don't, however they deal with massive sums of money in Congress in some very similar ways...

It must be nice for them to be able to call McCain a "maverick" no matter whether he actually has held that up over the last few years (he really has not of recent).

Uh oh, here comes 'ol Rudy G. (Giuliani that is), former NY mayor, he's a real cracker-jack, will likely try and swing for the head with some comments based on what I've heard before...here he goes with the fear factor, talking about how we need to watch out for our safety...they really did just tell this story (with Huckabee above) of McCain's POW experience--I have no problem with the story, it's powerful, but they told it last night and earlier tonight, they just don't have to tell it again and again...now he's poking fun at Obama--literally, poking fun, saying it's a "problem" that he was a community organizer...wow, it really stokes the crowd though, this emotionalism...

Now he brings up the "least experienced candidate" comment, saying Obama's the least experienced in a 100 years--perhaps he thinks Lincoln, who had basically identical credentials to Obama, shouldn't have been in there...I can't believe Giuliani has the gall to bring up experience with someone like Sarah Palin as VP candidate--when Palin has at least the same, but I think measurably less experience then Obama; and it is a simple reality that McCain has had melanoma cancer a number of times and Palin may really have to take his place at one point...

And couldn't be the Republicans this time without Rudy here bringing up drilling offshore for oil--because that will really motivate us all towards healthy approaches to energy...and geez, I should've known that Rudy, who primarily campaigned for the Rep. nomination this year on his experience as NY mayor during 9/11, would bring the fear factor on in full strength, saying "Democrats are in a state of denial" about the real problems of terrorism--what a factually baseless statement.

Now Giuliani's talking up some cheap shots about changes in position for Obama--the most credible argument would be to walk through the points and consider what Barack said on those changes. Geez, this is pathetic though, really, it's an endless attack on Obama, and says so little about what McCain has to offer...

The crowd looks like it'd cheer on anything Giuliani here has to say; it's really unnerving and makes it seem as though the crowd would cheer on the same type of pathetic cut-downs (for lack of a more mature term for the pettiness of it) if it were a little kid getting pushed around on a playground or something--it's like Obama said in his acceptance speech last week, "making a big election about small things." I think I'll do another one of these posts to start over with Palin's speech above...

Update: Josh, a college buddy of mine who commented below, had a great comment on his blog about Giuliani's speech: "honestly, i don't think that i have seen as many disgruntled, angry white people in one room together as i have tonight watching the former mayor of NYC Rudy Guliani's speech tonight at the republican national convention. i mean seriously. they made fun of obama being a community organizer...they literally stopped and laughed at him. it sure is something to laugh at, you know, a young black guy trying to make a difference in his neighborhood and city. they showed the faces of young white men my age who scowled with what seemed like hatred in response to Guliani's cadences. where does the anger come from? honestly, i felt like i had a little vomit in my mouth each time Guliani smiled and used terms like "energy exploration" to describe the continued vain dependence on oil through drilling in alaska and wildlife areas rather than "exploring" renewable energy. or take when Guliani emphasized McCain's willingness to go to the ends of the earth to eradicate any enemy of the US with military power, and then pointing to Palin's religion as a sign of God's affiliation with the republican party."

As a note to readers, I have to say that Josh and I are in a bit of a different place in terms of our worldviews, but we've got so much in common at the same time; the fact that we were both offended on an ethical level at various qualities of Giuliani's speech shows, in my view, that people coming from somewhat different perspectives can still connect on areas related to ethics, humanity in general, etc. (as you and I happened to talk about last weekend Josh).

McCain Misleads on Obama (Again)

I'm a little late on the uptake here, but since I saw Obama's recent energy speech and heard McCain's paltry energy slams on Obama, I just wanted to throw up a quick post here (to add to the last article I posted on how McCain blatantly misled on Obama's visit to Germany).

Here's what McCain said about Obama on energy publically and in this press release:

"We need oil drilling and we need it now offshore. We need it now. [Barack Obama] has consistently opposed it. He has opposed nuclear power. He has opposed reprocessing. He has opposed storage. The only thing I've heard him say is that we should inflate our tires. So he has no plan for addressing the energy challenges that we face. And we need drilling everywhere that the states and the governors, such as in the state of Florida, approve of." (emphasis added)

Now I put this quite in here to sack McCain for his fake argument on Obama's energy plan, but should quickly note with the oil drilling argument, it's pretty thin ice 'ol McCain has been stacking his energy plan on, claiming that it would provide some kind of relief for gas prices: “As a matter of fairness to the American people, and a matter of duty for our government, we must deal with the here and now and assure affordable fuel for America by increasing domestic production.” Well, that argument falls through, as has been noted by many recently; PolitiFact.com brings up the obvious rebuttal many have been pointing out: "Even if offshore drilling areas opened up tomorrow, experts say it would take at least 10 years to realize any significant production" (they also do a great job of chopping up the argument in more depth here, where they rate McCain's claims on the utility of drilling as "false"). Miles, a buddy of mine who writes a great blog on energy issues, did write a recent piece on the Democrats' openness to drilling as part of a compromise plan (which I believe Obama has come out in support of); the plan seems fair in my view, as compromise does by definition mean giving ground at times and departing from what's perfect for what may be good. (By the way, Obama also isn't opposed to nuclear power, as McCain claims above; rather, while he doesn't seem to be singing its praises as the best option, he does point out in this overview of his plan that "it is unlikely that we can meet our aggressive climate goals if we eliminate nuclear power as an option.")

But, in terms of McCain's other lame points (above), about Obama not having an energy plan, I mean, even though he relies on his wife to do anything computer-related, he might have had his wife or some staffer check Obama's website before he made this comment; turns out, what do you know, there is a plan on Obama's website. Of course McCain knew he was being misleading, but apparently he just didn't care (going so far as to send out tire gauges that said "Obama's Energy Plan" on them). It's pretty lame to see such blatant misrepresentation though, and doesn't do much for my view of McCain's integrity. It also doesn't help his case when he turns around and admits that Obama was right on the basic point that people can save fuel by keeping their tires pumped up (something I've got to check on my own car now that I'm thinking about it):



Here's Obama responding to McCain's turnaround, and below is Obama's boo-yow energy address from a few weeks ago--it's encouraging if you ask me (and hey, may even qualify as a "plan"):

Washington Post: McCain Charge Against Obama Lacks Evidence

The below piece was published today about a recent McCain ad attacking Obama, showing how the ad really falls apart when you look at the details. You can also check out a PBS news piece that was done about it tonight here. Here's the beginning of the Washington Post article:

"For four days, Sen. John McCain and his allies have accused Sen. Barack Obama of snubbing wounded soldiers by canceling a visit to a military hospital because he could not take reporters with him, despite no evidence that the charge is true.

The attacks are part of a newly aggressive McCain operation whose aim is to portray the Democratic presidential candidate as a craven politician more interested in his image than in ailing soldiers, a senior McCain adviser said. They come despite repeated pledges by the Republican that he will never question his rival's patriotism.

The essence of McCain's allegation is that Obama planned to take a media entourage, including television cameras, to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany during his week-long foreign trip, and that he canceled the visit when he learned he could not do so. 'I know that, according to reports, that he wanted to bring media people and cameras and his campaign staffers,' McCain said Monday night on CNN's 'Larry King Live.'

The Obama campaign has denied that was the reason he called off the visit. In fact, there is no evidence that he planned to take anyone to the American hospital other than a military adviser, whose status as a campaign staff member sparked last-minute concern among Pentagon officials that the visit would be an improper political event.

'Absolutely, unequivocally wrong,' Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor said in an e-mail after McCain's comments to Larry King.

Despite serious and repeated queries about the charge over several days, McCain and his allies continued yesterday to question Obama's patriotism by focusing attention on the canceled hospital visit.

McCain's campaign released a statement from retired Sgt. Maj. Craig Layton, who worked as a commander at the hospital, who said: 'If Senator Obama isn't comfortable meeting wounded American troops without his entourage, perhaps he does not have the experience necessary to serve as commander in chief.'

McCain's advisers said they do not intend to back down from the charge, believing it an effective way to create a 'narrative' about what they say is Obama's indifference toward the military.

McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said again yesterday that the Republican's version of events is correct, and that Obama canceled the visit because he was not allowed to take reporters and cameras into the hospital.

'It is safe to say that, according to press reports, Barack Obama avoided, skipped, canceled the visit because of those reasons,' he said. 'We're not making a leap here.'

Asked repeatedly for the 'reports,' Bounds provided three examples, none of which alleged that Obama had wanted to take members of the media to the hospital.

The McCain campaign has produced a television commercial that says that while in Germany, Obama 'made time to go to the gym but canceled a visit with wounded troops. Seems the Pentagon wouldn't allow him to bring cameras.' The commercial shows Obama shooting a basketball -- an event that happened earlier in the trip on a stopover in Kuwait, where the Democrat spoke to troops in a gym before grabbing a ball and taking a single shot. The military released the video footage.

A reconstruction of the circumstances surrounding Obama's decision not to visit Landstuhl, based on firsthand reporting from the trip, shows that his campaign never contemplated taking the media with him..."

The rest of the article is available here.

VA GOP: We Won't Exploit Obama's Terrorist-Sounding Name

This is a guest post from a good friend and blogger, the Green Miles. Read more of his forward-thinking perspectives on politics and the environment at TheGreenMiles.net. See my solicitation on the bottom right of this page if you're interested in putting some of your own thoughts up here on election-related issues.

The Virginia GOP is apparently trying to take credit for not race-baiting:

"The Republican Party of Virginia said today it would follow the lead of the party's likely presidential nominee, John McCain, by not using Sen. Barack Obama's middle name in fundraising appeals or other campaign literature.

Josh Noland, spokesman for the Virginia Republican Party, said Virginia Republicans 'will stick to the issues.' Obama is competing with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D) for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The decision comes amid a controversy in Tennessee after the Tennessee Republican Party sent out a press release mentioning Obama's middle name, Hussein. On Tuesday, McCain denounced GOP efforts to promote Obama's middle name."

As Josh Marshall has detailed, this is all part of the GOP's smear strategy:

"The core is to drill a handful of key adjectives into the public mind about Barack Obama: Muslim, anti-American, BLACK, terrorist, Arab. Maybe a little hustler and shifty thrown in, but we'll have to see. The details and specific arguments are sort of beside the point."

The party establishment doesn't have to directly sling mud. They can put out a press release saying, "We could easily go around calling him Barack Hussein Osama ... but choose not to." Score the points without getting your hands dirty.

Election 2008 editorial note: In relation to this post, see a similar move by Republican Congressman Steve King of Iowa on March 7th, where he actually touts his comments--in a press release--that an Obama Presidency would have al-Qaeda "dancing in the streets." At one point he states:

"It does matter. His middle name does matter. It matters because they read a meaning into that, the rest of the world,---it has a special meaning to them. They’ll be dancing in the streets because of his middle name. They’ll be dancing in the streets because of who his father was and because of his posture that says, 'Pull out of the middle east. Pull out of this conflict.' "

By the way, if there is any shadow of a doubt among readers in respect to the smear campaigns that are calling Obama a radical Muslim and short on patriotism, see these notes on his religion and view of our country.