Become ONE with your candidate

In the Washington Post today, conservative columnist Kathleen Parker wrote about the response she's received since writing her famous "Sarah Palin should bow out" column on Sunday. Apparently the response was vicious and personal:

Allow me to introduce myself. I am a traitor and an idiot. Also, my mother should have aborted me and left me in a dumpster, but since she didn't, I should "off" myself. ...
The emotional pitch of many comments suggests an overinvestment in Palin as "one of us."
Palin's fans say they like her specifically because she's an outsider, not part of the Washington club. When she flubs during interviews, they identify with that, too. "You see the lack of polish, we applaud it," one reader wrote.

This harkens to something that irked me during the Democratic primaries, this personal attachment to the candidates. As a woman who was never particularly jazzed about candidate Clinton, I could never get the rabid devotion displayed by many of her supporters. Furthermore I did and DO find it offensive that so many women think that Hillary was our last hope. What an incredible slap in the face to all of the other brilliant women whose greatest aspiration is public service! (I'm winking at you, Jess!)

Dahlia Lithwick and the smart ladies over at the XX Factor have discussed this phenomenon of over-identification with our candidates. Its one thing to want to be like those we admire. Its a whole different neurosis to want them to be like us. Maybe we could all use a crash course in Hiring Practice 101. Qualifications for this position do not include affability and beer-drinking skills.

Final thoughts from Parker:

The picture is this: Anyone who dares express an opinion that runs counter to the party line will be silenced. That doesn't sound American to me, but Stalin would approve. ...

Our day of reckoning may indeed be upon us. Between war and economic collapse, we have enormous challenges. It will take the best of everyone to solve them. That process begins minimally with a commitment to engage in civil discourse and a cease-fire in the war against unwelcome ideas.

Brava.

Liberal Baby Eaters

This one is so good I just had to copy the post. From Jonathan Stein of Mother Jones' MOJO blog (thanks, Allison!)

Hugh Hewitt and the Department of Caricatures

Folks on the interwebs are making fun of the questions right wing blogger and talk show host Hugh Hewitt recently put to Sarah Palin. They are the softest of softballs — they make Sean Hannity look like Edward R. Murrow. You can check them out here.

I want to highlight this one in particular:

"You're pro-life, and how much of the virulent opposition to you on the left do you attribute to your pro-life position, and maybe even to the birth of, your decision, your and Todd's decision to have Trig?"

That's right. Hugh Hewitt think the left opposes Sarah Palin because she decided to give birth to a child with Down Syndrome. Not because she knows nothing about foreign affairs while we're engaged in two wars. Not because she has nothing coherent to say about the government bailout of Wall Street as we face a dire economic crisis. Not because of her retrograde views on science and books. Not because she undermines every feminist accomplishment Hillary Clinton fought for earlier this election season.

The left opposes Sarah Palin because she gave birth to a baby with Down Syndrome. Just think about the misconceptions about the left that need to be in place for someone to make that claim. The left either hates infants with disabilities, or it hates women who refuse to abort unborn children with disabilities. Or it wants to jack up some kind of karmic abortion counter as high as possible and is disappointed when it misses an opportunity.

Has Hugh Hewitt ever met a Democrat?

"The most anticipated Vice Presidential debate in a long time"

That seems to be the headline today. "In a long time"? OK, maybe I'm unschooled in our nation's electoral history, but I think we can say with some certainty that this is the most anticipated Vice Presidential debate in EXACTLY 24 years.

The Debates: the Basics

While Syd and I were watching the first ("foreign policy") debate, he asked me when the next debates were and what there "themes" were. Amazingly, I've not seen that info provided once in the media. So, you're welcome!

Oct. 2 - Palin / Biden VP debate
Host: PBS's Gwen Ifill**

Oct. 7 - Town Hall debate
Host: Tom Brokaw
NOTE: The Commission on Presidential Debates is taking your submissions for questions for this debate until FRIDAY!

Oct. 15 - Domestic Policy debate
Host: Bob Schieffer

All debates start at 9pm EST / 6pm PST and are available on all major networks.

**UPDATE: The hosting of the veep debate may be in question. Turns out Gwen Ifill has a book coming out around the time of the inauguration entitled "The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama". From the Amazon.com description, this doesn't sound like an in-the-tank-for-Obama tome, but rather an analysis of modern race politics. Still, it has the appearance of impropriety, and it was bad vetting on the McCain camps part for them only to realize this now. Ifill could indeed be out.

Obama Pulls Ahead in Swing States

If you're still looking at the Gallup Daily Tracking polls to see how your candidate is doing in the Presidential horse race, you need to stop. Now. The electoral college elects the president, and Obama won't get more electoral votes from California the more popular he is here. That said...

The Quinnipiac poll of the three big swing states - Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania -released today shows Obama pulling ahead in all of them. Barring any repeat shenannigans in Ohio or Florida, this bodes very well for Obama.

Consider: 1) the economy will not be getting better in the next 30 days, and conventional wisdom and polling agree that Obama benefits when the economy is our number one worry, and 2) Obama has put the one debate that was supposedly his weak spot behind him. Things will likely only get better for Obama in the upcoming debates.

Now, I don't think Florida is remotely settled. The Jewish American population there seems to be uneasy (at best) with Barack Obama. And there's no way I'll put it past Florida officials to screw up the election in their state. But its a hugely important state and worth watching closely.

Furthermore, let's put this to rest: even if Joe Biden calls Sarah Palin a tartlette in tomorrow night's debate, its not going to sway the electorate one way the other. People will vote the top of the ticket this year.

Just for the record, here are the swing states you need to watch and their respective electoral votes:

Florida - 27
Pennsylvania - 21
Ohio - 20
Michigan - 17
North Carolina - 15
Virginia - 13
Indiana - 11
Missouri - 11
Minnesota - 10
Colorado - 9
Nevada - 5
New Mexico - 5
New Hampshire - 4
Montana - 3