Sunday, October 26, 2008

Conservative Ideologues Begin to Throw McCain Under the Bus 

Campaign rally: likely one of the last things over which John McCain will preside.

Sorry, Senator. Let's Salvage What We Can: "There are many ways to lose a presidential election. John McCain is losing in a way that threatens to take the entire Republican Party down with him." — David Frum (Washingto Post op-ed)

Labels: Campaign 2008, David Frum, John McCain, Politics, Republican

10/26/2008 02:22:00 PM   •  

Palin going rogue? 

Palin allies report rising campaign tension: "Four Republicans close to Palin said she has decided increasingly to disregard the advice of the former Bush aides tasked to handle her, creating occasionally tense situations as she travels the country with them. Those Palin supporters, inside the campaign and out, said Palin blames her handlers for a botched rollout and a tarnished public image — even as others in McCain's camp blame the pick of the relatively inexperienced Alaska governor, and her public performance, for McCain's decline."
(Politico)

Labels: John McCain, Politics, Republican, Sarah Palin

10/26/2008 01:30:00 AM   •  

Thursday, October 16, 2008

This stock collapse is petty when compared to the nature crunch 

George MonbiotGeorge Monbiot: "The financial crisis at least affords us an opportunity to now rethink our catastrophic ecological trajectory." (Guardian.UK)

Related

• Get Recession Ready: Seven Tips (Treehugger)
• George Monbiot is a Fructivist (Treehugger)

Labels: Business, Crisis, Environment, George Monbiot, Politics

10/16/2008 11:31:00 PM   •  

Monday, October 13, 2008

Christopher Hitchens Endorses Obama 

McCain lacks the character and temperament to be president. And Palin is simply a disgrace.

"I used to nod wisely when people said: "Let's discuss issues rather than personalities." It seemed so obvious that in politics an issue was an issue and a personality was a personality, and that the more one could separate the two, the more serious one was. After all, in a debate on serious issues, any mention of the opponent's personality would be ad hominem at best and at worst would stoop as low as ad feminam.

...I used to call myself a single-issue voter on the essential question of defending civilization against its terrorist enemies and their totalitarian protectors, and on that "issue" I hope I can continue to expose and oppose any ambiguity. Obama is greatly overrated in my opinion, but the Obama-Biden ticket is not a capitulationist one, even if it does accept the support of the surrender faction, and it does show some signs of being able and willing to profit from experience. With McCain, the "experience" is subject to sharply diminishing returns, as is the rest of him, and with Palin the very word itself is a sick joke. One only wishes that the election could be over now and a proper and dignified verdict rendered, so as to spare democracy and civility the degradation to which they look like being subjected in the remaining days of a low, dishonest campaign." (Slate)

Labels: John McCain, Politics

10/13/2008 05:53:00 PM   •  

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

The busy person's guide to political activism 

"There are 29 days left in the election. (Update: 28!) You have X hours, Y dollars, and Z calories to burn on behalf of your favorite candidate. What's the best way to allocate these precious resources?" (Slate)

Labels: Politics

10/08/2008 06:52:00 PM   •  

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

It's not much of a choice for Americans come November 4 

Shaun Carney: "Every political contest is a question of relativities — as in, which candidate do I dislike least? — and when John McCain and Barack Obama went mano a mano for the first time in the presidential debate on Saturday morning our time, it gradually became clear that American voters will face a genuine dilemma on November 4. Both candidates are a substantial risk and a further sign that the political system of the world's most powerful nation is not functioning very well." (age.com.au)

Labels: Barack Obama, John McCain, Politics, United States

9/30/2008 10:13:00 PM   •  

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Is the Electoral Process About Reality? 

George Lakoff Warns Democrats: "...[The] election campaign depends on the political mind-how people understand the candidates and the realities. Democrats have mostly criticized Sarah Palin as unqualified to deal with the realities we face as a nation. But the choice of Palin had to do with the way the political mind works in elections. In dealing with the McCain-Palin ticket, Democrats must take the way voters think into account, in addition to the external realities." (Truthout)

Labels: George Lakoff, John McCain, Politics, Sarah Palin

9/06/2008 09:00:00 AM   •  

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Grand Old Book Party 

What to read about John McCain and the future of the GOP: "By the time party conventions roll around, we're told, many Americans are just tuning in to the presidential race. If you're just gearing up for the GOP Convention, here's a rundown of the best literature on John McCain and the future of the Republican Party." (Slate)

Labels: 2008 Elections, John McCain, Politics, Republican

8/30/2008 09:17:00 AM   •  

Friday, August 29, 2008

Sarah Palin’s Wikipedia Page Altered One Day Before Nomination 

"Sarah Palin is the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party for Vice President of the United States in the 2008 presidential election. Yesterday, someone close to Palin made a whole bunch of edits to her Wikipedia entry making it a little more palatable for the centrists. For those who are interested in the old page, check Google’s cached version or download screenshots (might be slow to load due to file size) from August 21st 2008 and August 29th 2008 and compare the notes for yourself." (Headsetoptions)

Labels: Campaigns/Elections, John McCain, Politics, republicans, Sarah Palin, United States, United States presidential election 2008

8/29/2008 09:36:00 PM   •