Watch McCain  on stage these days when he is standing backup to Sarah.  He hates it!  He fiddles with his wedding ring.  His lips are in a tight line or a forced smile. Obama needs to answer questions about why he is not going after Palin by saying something like:I know it is hard to believe these days but Palin is not my opponent. Lest we forget, John McCain is actually the one at the top of the ticket. He needs to mock the fact that McCain pales in comparison when Palin is at his side. John's explosive temper is already simmering.  Let's remind him of the humiliation he is already beginning to experience. (Beauty queen Cindy McCain is also none to pleased by being upstaged.)
In addition we need to begin mocking and dismantling thethanks but no thanks phrase that is now so deeply embedded with Palin's persona. We need Youtubes and political cartoons created where she is saying TBNT to John.
For example show the two of them in the White House. John asks her to attend some state funeral. TBNT John, I'm taking the Joint Chiefs out for a moose hunt today. Or:  TBNT John, I'm waiting for a call from Putin to tell him what I have decided to do about Georgia.Or Sarah to CIndy:
The phrase has become her strength. We need to make it her downfall. 

Sarah Palin has been pulled off the shelf. Version 2.0 is presently being tooled for a big rollout tonight.

The new updated version will shed a tear artfully for the invasion of her family's privacy, will be dressed demurely yet will raise her chin and fist defiantly in defense of all mothers who try to do it all. She will say she is their champion as both a tough career woman and a loving mom who will show the world what American woman can do. She will wink and say we all know who the stronger sex really is and that Putin and the like won't know what hit them when she steps onto the world stage. (A reference to Obama's measured and thoughfully approach will come out as as a mocking: "some people don't know how to take the fight to the bad guys like John and I do.)
Her ultra conservative religious views will be visible only in coded words.
She will tout herself as the truest outsider in the race because she is woman and not of Washington.

And then she will disappear again into closely controlled situations. No Meet the Press. No 60 minutes. Not even a Katie Couric interview.

The Obama campaign has their work cut out for them and their strongest argument, one that they must pound out 24/7, is the same team that has brought you the last 8 destructive years has a new cheerleader but the same old players planning on doing the some old policies in the same old way with the same old results.
I think Americans are now comfortable Obama can do the job they just need to not be distracted by bright glittery objects and the dump truck full of sh*t the Republicans will now unload.

Sarah Palin has been pulled off the shelf. Version 2.0 is presently being tooled for a big rollout tonight.

The new updated version will shed a tear artfully for the invasion of her family's privacy, will be dressed demurely yet will raise her chin and fist defiantly in defense of all mothers who try to do it all. She will say she is their champion as both a tough career woman and a loving mom who will show the world what American woman can do. She will wink and say we all know who the stronger sex really is and that Putin and the like won't know what hit them when she steps onto the world stage. (A reference to Obama's measured and thoughfully approach will come out as as a mocking: "some people don't know how to take the fight to the bad guys like John and I do.)
Her ultra conservative religious views will be visible only in coded words.
She will tout herself as the truest outsider in the race because she is woman and not of Washington.

And then she will disappear again into closely controlled situations. No Meet the Press. No 60 minutes. Not even a Katie Couric interview.

The Obama campaign has their work cut out for them and their strongest argument, one that they must pound out 24/7, is the same team that has brought you the last 8 destructive years has a new cheerleader but the same old players planning on doing the some old policies in the same old way with the same old results.
I think Americans are now comfortable Obama can do the job they just need to not be distracted by bright glittery objects and the dump truck full of sh*t the Republicans will now unload.

The question about Sarah Palin is not about her character or even her experience however thin her resume, it is about the depth of her knowledge.  She admits to limiting her focus to issues effecting Alaska which is fine for a governor.  She may also be content with returning the now powerful role of vice president to that of limited stand-in, but the truth is, however small the chance may be of her becoming our president, we cannot afford to have someone who is not only unfamiliar with national security issues, foreign and domestic affairs, and the economy, but someone has not given even minimum thought to the consequences of actions taken in these areas. Americans do not know what Sarah Palin thinks about our critical issues therefore we cannot judge how she will act if force to take up the reins of power. And we have only two short months to vet her. The press needs to question her fully and immediately; a single vice presidential debate is not sufficient.

The candidacy of not one but two women for the top jobs on a national ticket has been historic but with Hillary Clinton there was never any doubt of the depth and breadth of her understanding of each and every issue. Americans deserve nothing less of a vice presidential candidate in these treacherous times.

The
question about Sarah Palin is not about her character or even her experience
however thin her resume, it is about the depth of her knowledge.  She
admits to limiting her focus to issues effecting Alaska which is fine for a
governor.  She may also be content with returning the now powerful role of
vice president to that of limited stand-in, but the truth is, however small the
chance may be of her becoming our president, we cannot afford to have someone
who is not only unfamiliar with national security issues, foreign and domestic
affairs, and the economy, but someone has not given even minimum thought to the
consequences of actions taken in these areas. Americans do not know what Sarah
Palin thinks about our critical issues therefore we cannot judge how she will
act if force to take up the reins of power. And we have only two short months
to vet her. The press needs to question her fully and immediately; a single
vice presidential debate is not sufficient.

The candidacy of not one but two women for the top jobs on a national ticket has been historic but with Hillary Clinton there was never any doubt of the depth and breadth of her understanding of each and every issue. Americans deserve nothing less of a vice presidential candidate in these treacherous times.

Insinuating a prisoner of war would cheat is outrageous? 
But senator didn't you yourself admit cheating on your first wife after being a prisoner of war? Are only certain forms of cheating "outrageous?"

Rove has unfortunately shown the world the effectiveness of attacking your opponent's strength.  McCain's big claim to the presidency is having been a prisoner of war. Directly questioning that as a qualification brought Gen Wesley Clark down, but can it be done another way? Can we tie him to his history in a way that is negative?
John MaCain hasn't left his prison walls behind.  He cannot stop talking about his confinement 40 years ago. He ties it to every subject he is asked about.  He even says it locked down his choice music.  
We need a president who is not trapped in the past, but is looking forward; who has a new and broader vision of America and our stabilizing role in the world. 

Dear Senator:

As a baby boomer my first reaction to your latest position on FISA immunity was I believed you needed to continue on your goal of creating a new kind of cooperative atmosphere in Washington and also by necessity had to move towards the center on this for the general election but I have now reconsidering.

Part of the passion you have aroused in many of us but especially the next generation comes only in part from your promise to moderate partisanship. More importantly you have made us believe you are the change candidate. America lost its shine when Nixon walked away from his crime and was pardoned. It lost its shine when those involved with Irangate including Reagan and Bush Sr. walked away untarnished or pardoned. The present administration has made these previous abuses of executive power seem somehow innocent by comparison. With immunity for the telecoms comes a coverup of their many crimes.
Why did Scooter LIbby sit nonchalantly through his trial? He knew he would be pardoned and his Republican friends would make sure that even without a law license he would never want for employment. I know Bush and Cheney are going to walk as well. There will be no impeachment. But please, PLEASE!, take a stand for our Constitution on this one. THe telecoms can win their cases by explaining the coercion they experienced but as they testify the abuse of executive power will be made plain. Bush and Cheney et al may escape their just legal punishment but they should not be allowed to escape the judgement of history.

I now come to believe you will win if you take a stand on this. Give an impassioned speech on our Constitution--Americans need it!! Remind Americans why they have been a beacon to the world because up to the last few years we have indeed been the most successful experiment in government by and FOR the people ever conceived. Make Lincoln proud.

Some commenters are thinking this appointment of Patti Solis Davis as the VP Chief of Staff means Hillary will be Obama's choice for VP. I do not think so. Why?

First, PSD would not want to work for Hillary after being fired and Hillary would have to find it uncomfortable as well.

Next, I think this appointment may indicate a true outsider is being considered as VP because unlike a Biden he or he will not already have a C of S who knows the ways of Washington and will need someone during the campaign who does know the game. This VP candidate could be a governor who doesn't know DC politics or maybe someone from the military who is not particularly versed in running a campaign.

Or, it could indicate it is a Biden like choice who would need to keep his own Chief of Staff in place to keep his senate office running.

PSD would be well suited to advise the VP choice on how to run and co-ordinate their VP campaign with Obama's campaign.

Also . . . for those of you who question her being hired, she helped run the campaign we admired not the one that was put in place when she was fired.

That she is Latino is a bonus that can only help Obama.

This is an edited reposting of a recent call-to-arms for all Democrats but particularly for all women. More importantly it is a special appeal to those who supported Hillary.

Many of you have said you will not support Obama.  I would like you to reconsider not only because this country desperately needs to elect a Democratic president but because there exists another woman pioneer who needs your support and passion: Michelle Obama.

(Please now jump over and read a post called The Hillary-ization of Michelle Obama. by Kathy G)

 http://thegspot.typepad.com/blog/2008/05/by-kathy-g.html#more  

Or just read this important excerpt:

- I predict that wingnut heads will explode throughout the land [when she becomes First Lady]. And there will be a whole other layer of bullshit Michelle will have to deal with. In addition to the anti-Democrat bullshit, and the sexist bullshit, there will be, of course, the racist bullshit.

My heart goes out to her. The road she will be traveling on will be a difficult one, in particular because there is no one in the history of America who has trod that particular path before. She is an exceedingly courageous person to have chosen such a public role. Just by sheer virtue of being black and female, and daring to live a public life, she will be highly controversial. She will attract a hell of a lot of ugly hatred. Even for a person as strong as I am sure she is, there are sure to be times when that will be very, very hard to take.   

What I'm wondering right now is, what can we - as Democrats, as feminists, as people who are deeply committed to racial equality -- do to help and support her? Here's the thing: we have, to an extent, the benefit of hindsight here. We know what the right did to Hillary, and we can expect them to do a lot of the same things to Michelle. How do we combat this?

I realize the Republicans and the Right-wingers will make the same disgusting attacks they always do. But one thing we need to be hyper-vigilant about is not letting the media itself get away with repeating ad nauseum these right-wing memes and narratives about Michelle (or Barack, or any Democrat, for that matter). Close scrutiny of the media coverage of Michelle Obama, as well as some energetic media-centered activism, will of course be  crucial. Do readers of this blog have any more specific ideas? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

So to Kathy G’s call-to-arms I add my own to TPM readers.

Yes, Michelle will not be the first woman president but she will be an historic First Lady and I think she needs an army of woman who will remain vigilant on her behalf at all times not only when she is in the White House but equally important all through the general election. When the right-wing attacks we as Democratic women need to protest immediately and not let them define her. It would be amazing if we were to see some of the passion Hillary's followers have given their candidate be shifted to Michelle. 

Yes, she represents a newer generation. Michelle was not in the first wave of fighters like Hillary but she too has had to fight every step of the way so all of us including those in "Hillary's demographics" should take up her fight now. We need to take up Kathy G’s call-to-arms and swarm ever time the MSM, or a pundit, or the ring-wing puts out something nasty. We need to flood the networks with calls, the newspapers with letters, the pundits with emails. Stop whatever it is in its tracks. We can do this. It will not be marching in the streets but in a very real sense it will be taking to the streets to insure the rights of all women.

 We may not have a woman president this time around but we can insure the continued extension of women’s rights and of all aspects of social justice by electing Barack Obama and seeing his amazing wife redefine the role of First Lady. 

 (The exploding heads will be an extra and very exciting treat!)

When Hillary finally accepts and acknowledges Obama is the Democratic nominee I think he should give a rousing speech to her supporters:
  There are 18 million of you out there who voted for Hillary. Please acknowledge what a great candidate she has been by sending her campaign just one dollar. Help her retire her debt today. She will be forever indebted to you.

I just read yet another report about an angry Hillary supporter who has vowed to vote for McCain in November. She, like others, has conflated Hillary's impending loss with a personal loss as well as a universal loss for women in general. Obama has become to her a veritable composite of everything that must have frustrated her in life. Maybe it was an unfair boss, a denial of promotion, some demeaning treatment, or maybe he has simply come to  represent to her a general dismissal of women as being less valuable, of being passed over for a job they had earned. She sees in Hillary an enormously capable woman deserving of the presidency who has been sandbagged by---to use Hillary supporters' favorite phrase---an empty suit. To worsen his offense he is seen as being assisted in this crime against women by the MSM.  And so she plans to vote for McCain.
This is the answer?  McCain?  Four more years of Republicans undermining the gains women have made in the last four decades? A conservative SCOTUS for decades to come?  Privacy rights lost? As a sixty-year-old woman my sadness at not seeing a women president is turning into anger--at women!
I was excited as anyone with the prospect of America having its first woman president. I admired Hillary's hard work and determination as she came out of the shadow of Bill's disgrace into the limelight of her own success. I was thrilled by Obama inspirational message but never considered he could possibly surpass such a powerhouse as Hillary with her credentials, money, and institutional backing. Apparently neither did she or her staff.
Hillary's hubris is what defeated her not some conspiracy against women. She dismissed a fifty-state strategy figuring she would just roll with the old Democratic plan making sure she didn't lose in FL or OH. Hillary never considered anyone could build a delegate lead out of smaller states. She blew her wad by February just as Obama blew by her. Thrown, she went on the offensive but without an effective plan. A little of this, a little of that, and she finally emerged as the populist defender of the downtrodden. But it was too late. In her struggle to regain the lead she opened Pandora's box. Toxicity emerged.
Every identity group has grievances. Politicians tap into these to build their campaigns but they do so at their country's peril because they give permission for these groups to act out their anger. Hillary chose to tap into women's frustrations (as well as blue-collar resentment). Women in turn and in great numbers began fueling her campaign. But Hillary failed them. She had lost the lead by an ineffective campaign and could not catch up even with huge wins in the later primaries. With their anger now aroused however and their indignity inflamed, these women who are about to be handed a loss, a loss that seems all the greater because of the promise Hillary represented, these followers are now out of control. She failed them but they will punish Obama. 
Hillary supporters please understand Obama did not cheat. He has run an incredibly effective grassroots campaign. The MSM may like him but they did not help him. Instead they pounded him with the Wright video and the "bitter" comments for days leading up to critical primaries. At the same time Hillary was throwing the kitchen sink at him and McCain was on the attack as well. It was her poorly run campaign alone that allowed him to create his insurmountable lead against her.
My anger is at Hillary. She may indeed be the stronger candidate. She may indeed have a better chance against McCain in November. But if true her poorly run primary is a tragedy for every Democrat and I am angry that for all her skills and political savvy she lost control of the primary and thus maybe lost the White House for us as well. Blame Hillary. Do not take out your frustration on Obama. 
Vote for MCCAIN?!!! I'm sorry but if that is how you plan to vent your frustration at Hillary losing this for you you have roused MY anger. You are working against MY interests because you are working against the interests of women in general and you are working against Democratic interests as well.  By acting emotional and irrational you are also reenforcing the worse stereotypes of women.
You can continue to be incensed by perceived slights like Obama's innocent "sweetie" comment but if reports are true McCain has been heard calling his own wife something so sexistly vulgar I will not repeat it. His own wife. So much for women in general. Obama not only believes in and supports women's rights, he is married to and holds in great respect a dynamic woman who herself has fought against the odds by being both black and a woman.
Vote for MCCAIN?  Calm down and think this one through carefully. Are you really for women's interests? Do you really want to move away from the Bush years or is defeat Obama and electing McCain the only shortsighted self-defeating goal that sates your present disappointment and anger? 

I can understand why many Hillary supporter feel Obama is an empty suit compared to their candidate. He typically does not talk policy details. His style--which set him so apart in a competitive field-- is visionary rather than detailed. He can easily be wonky when he needs to be because he has in actuality thought through the policies he would pursue and know how he will set out achieving them. (Read his policy papers.) The success of his campaign has been no mere accident of good luck.  It took his passion for detail combined with an astute long-range plan to insure his rhetorical gifts and ability to inspire  would enable him to win (most likely at this point) the nomination. Way last summer when he was looking for financial support among wealthy Democrats they challenged his seeming lack of experience.  In response he said: watch how I run my campaign. His funding-raising prowess and formidable grassroots organization then left them in awe.

Hillary has been an inspiring candidate but in a very different way. She has been a role-model for women and lately a champion for blue-collar workers. What Hillary failed to realize, however, was Americans are presently ready for –even desperate for--inspiration on a much broader level.

 Americans have been embarrassed and humiliated by the actions of the present administration. We want to believe we can redeem our good name in the world. Hillary's competence is simply not enough for us at this moment in time and when she co-opted some of the Republican tactics to try and defeat Obama it became clear she was not the one to lead us out of the wilderness.

But Hillary’s passion has long been politics. I can see her in any number of roles. If she is not  driven by an ambition that can only be sated by winning the presidency she could become a powerhouse in American politics once she finds her niche. (Ted Kennedy found his after his loss in the primaries.) Maybe Hillary can stake a claim going forward as a much-needed Liberal Lioness in the Senate. We need a skilled fighter for Democratic causes. She has already set herself up as a champion of blue-collar workers and women. Make them her life’s work and Hillary will be as loved as she is admired.

As a 60-year-old woman I have traversed the spectrum from joy at the availability of great choices for the Democratic nominee to just plain despair about who Clinton has shown herself to be.  I have threatened at times not to vote for her, but I am asking everyone who is threatening a protest vote or non vote this year to take a deep breath and open your eyes.

Take a good look at McCain. The MSM has labeled him a Maverick. He is given an easy pass on his actions because of it. Usually the line runs like this:  Well, yes, McCain HAS lots of lobbyist working for him but he hates them in principle and only uses them because political circumstances force him to do so.  This the-devil-made-me-do-it schtick is McCain's stock-in- trade way of appearing devoted to high standards while in reality being anything but. Look at his actual record. If you think his saying his hero is Teddy Roosevelt means he will be a reformer himself you are wrong. His actual actions and voting record should make any Democrat cringe. Think about who has become his BFF.  Is Lieberman the kind of Democrat you want as our model going forward? Do you like his DINO politics? These two represent a kind of politics that make even Bush look truthful.

Obama supporters are holding on to the hope that we have found in him a candidate who is our last chance to rise above the huckster politics of someone like McCain who is merely the newest front for everything we have come to detest from the Republican side. (Never EVER trust a politician whose favorite tag line used ad naseum is “my friends.”) We are also Democrats who have watched in horror as Hillary decided she wanted the presidency so desperately she became willing to walk through the deepest swamp of political necessity to get it not caring how mucky she became doing so. Of course she frequently praises McCain. They are both slogging along the same path.

So I am asking everyone who is considering a protest vote for McCain or Nadar or even not voting if Hillary is or is not the nominee to think carefully about your throwaway vote. I truly believe we are at a tipping point. We are like a car hanging over the edge of a precipice. Don't give us the final push.

The more I have thought about Hillary's remark the clearer it is to me that she knows she will get the nomination ONLY if something terrible takes Obama out of the race. She has no scandal to use or she would have put it out there already therefore only a physical disaster befalling Obama would allow here to win. She has obviously allowed herself dark daydreams to avoid facing the failure of her campaign. Musing about RFK, another inspiring young candidate, has been just below the surface for weeks. Hillary is exhausted now and her natural restrains are diminished.

All of us allow ourselves innocent revenge fantasies. Who hasn't briefly imagined something bad happening to someone we are angry at? However, we seldom give voice to them unless we are with trusted acquaintances who realize it is only our frustration or anger speaking. They know we would never act on our impulses and in truth we would be horrified if something terrible did indeed happened to the object of our anger, but deep down we are searching for some way-anyway-- to make the person disappear from our lives.

Hillary's monumental failure was to not immediately offer a complete unqualified apology.