It is so very amusing to see the media respond to the selection of Sarah Palin as John McCain’s running mate.

One of Barack Obama’s major liabilities is his lack of experience, particularly on foreign policy. His selection of Joe Biden as his running mate was undoubtedly meant to address that significant weakness.

So, why would the Obama campaign be so incredibly stupid to say that “John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency.” Barack Obama, if elected, wouldn’t be a heartbeat away from the presidency… he would be the president. On day one, Barack Obama’s inexperience would make our country vulnerable. Obama’s campaign can’t argue that no experience on foreign policy at the bottom of a ticket is somehow worse than no experience on foreign policy at the top?

This was a great choice by John McCain. The Democrats are scared. And if they want to make experience an issue in this campaign… I say bring it on.

Sarah Palin has executive experience. Obama does not.
Sarah Palin has a record of accomplishment. Obama does not.
Sarah Palin is right on the issues. Obama is not.

I’d rather have Sarah Palin a heartbeat away from the presidency than have Barack Obama be the heartbeat of the presidency.

The left’s attacks on Palin are a sign of them being scared of her inclusion on the ticket. By attacking Palin’s experience they have now legitimized the experience debate, and that will hurt Obama in the general election.

It’s been a good day.

That’s the word…

UPDATE, 11:35 AM: McCain campaign email:

JOHN MCCAIN SELECTS ALASKA GOVERNOR SARAH PALIN AS VICE PRESIDENTIAL RUNNING MATE

For Immediate Release

ARLINGTON, VA — U.S. Senator John McCain today announced that he has selected Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate and to serve as his vice president.

Governor Palin is a tough executive who has demonstrated during her time in office that she is ready to be president. She has brought Republicans and Democrats together within her Administration and has a record of delivering on the change and reform that we need in Washington.

Governor Palin has challenged the influence of the big oil companies while fighting for the development of new energy resources. She leads a state that matters to every one of us — Alaska has significant energy resources and she has been a leader in the fight to make America energy independent.

In Alaska, Governor Palin challenged a corrupt system and passed a landmark ethics reform bill. She has actually used her veto and cut budgetary spending. She put a stop to the “bridge to nowhere” that would have cost taxpayers $400 million dollars.

As the head of Alaska’s National Guard and as the mother of a soldier herself, Governor Palin understands what it takes to lead our nation and she understands the importance of supporting our troops.

Governor Palin has the record of reform and bipartisanship that others can only speak of. Her experience in shaking up the status quo is exactly what is needed in Washington today.

###

UPDATE: A pathetic statement from Obama campaign spokesman:

“Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency.”

Umm, hello, this week, the Democrats nominated someone with zero foreign policy experience for the presidency.

.

UPDATE: The choice of Palin blindsided the Obama camp:

Ms. Palin came as a surprise not only to many Republicans and journalists, but also to the Obama team. The campaign has been busily preparing TV commercials to run against Mitt Romney — with aides gleefully watching hours of footage of Romney-McCain exchanges from the primary — but far little opposition research had been prepared about the Alaska governor. And aides said no commercials were ready to be immediately released, which the McCain campaign did when Mr. Biden was chosen.

More here.

UPDATE: Pictures from the announcement…

Posted below:

ARLINGTON, VA — Tonight, the McCain campaign issued the following statement from Tucker Bounds, McCain 2008 spokesman, on Barack Obama’s acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention:

“Tonight, Americans witnessed a misleading speech that was so fundamentally at odds with the meager record of Barack Obama. When the temple comes down, the fireworks end, and the words are over, the facts remain: Senator Obama still has no record of bipartisanship, still opposes offshore drilling, still voted to raise taxes on those making just $42,000 per year, and still voted against funds for American troops in harm’s way. The fact remains: Barack Obama is still not ready to be President.”

BARACK OBAMA’S TOP MISLEADING CLAIMS

MISLEADING CLAIM #1: Barack Obama Can Bring Democrats And Republicans Together. OBAMA: “America, our work will not be easy. The challenges we face require tough choices, and Democrats as well as Republicans will need to cast off the worn-out ideas and politics of the past.” (Barack Obama, Remarks, Denver, CO, 8/28/08)

· NPR’s Juan Williams: Barack Obama “Doesn’t Have The Record” Of Bipartisanship That John McCain Has. NPR’S JUAN WILLIAMS: “You think about everything from campaign finance to immigration and on, and there’s John McCain working across party lines. Senator Obama doesn’t have a record. Now, he can make the claim and he can hold himself up as pure and trying to reach to a new generation of post partisan politics, but he has to do so largely based on rhetoric and wishful thinking because he doesn’t have the record.” (Fox News’ “Special Report With Brit Hume,” 5/7/08)

· Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpPp2usgY6Y

· The Washington Post‘s Richard Cohen: “There Is Scant Evidence The Illinois Senator Takes Positions That Challenge His Base Or Otherwise Threaten Him Politically.” “Obama might have a similar bottom line, core principles for which, in some sense, he is willing to die. If so, we don’t know what they are. Nothing so far in his life approaches McCain’s decision to refuse repatriation as a POW so as to deny his jailors a propaganda coup. In fact, there is scant evidence the Illinois senator takes positions that challenge his base or otherwise threaten him politically. That’s why his reversal on campaign financing and his transparently false justification of it matter more than similar acts by McCain.” (Richard Cohen, Op-Ed, “McCain’s Core Advantage,” The Washington Post, 6/24/08)

· Politico‘s Jonathan Martin: “He’s pretty much a conventional liberal on the issues and has few examples of breaking with his own party, so how does Obama try to pull off being ‘post-partisan?'” (Jonathan Martin, “Obama’s Third Way: It’s All In The Tone,” Politico, 6/30/08)

· Rep. Dan Boren (D-OK): “His Record Does Not Reflect Working In A Bipartisan Fashion.” “Boren, the lone Democrat in Oklahoma’s congressional delegate, said that while Obama has talked about working with Republicans, ‘unfortunately, his record does not reflect working in a bipartisan fashion.'” (Tim Talley, “Okla. Dem Calls Obama Liberal, Declines To Endorse,” The Associated Press, 6/10/08)

· “The Record Shows Obama To Be A Fairly Doctrinaire Liberal Democrat …” (Editorial, “Obama’s Rhetoric Soars, But What Does His Record Suggest?” USA Today, 1/28/08)

· In 2007, Obama Voted With The Democrat Party 97 Percent Of The Time. (Congressional Quarterly Website, www.cq.com, Accessed 3/3/08)

· In 2006, Obama Voted With The Democrat Party 96 Percent Of The Time. (Congressional Quarterly Website, www.cq.com, Accessed 1/27/08)

· In 2005, Obama Voted With The Democrat Party 97 Percent Of The Time. (Congressional Quarterly Website, www.cq.com, Accessed 1/27/08)

Continue reading →

UPDATE, by Mark Noonan: There is no ad more devastating to Obama.

I’m watching the DNC Train Wreck now… pretty pathetic. not an original thought in the house. If you ask the Democrats at the convention you’d think we’ve been in the middle of another Great Depression for eight years. They ignore the fact that the economy was going strong until they took over Congress in 2007… but hey, since when to Democrats care about facts?

Anyway, if you’re planning on watching the long-awaited speech by Hillary, feel free to share your thoughts here.

UPDATE: Because you have to be mentally unbalanced to believe the crap they’re saying:

UPDATE: Hillary supporters toast McCain

UPDATE: Obvious hidden (or not so hidden) message in Hillary’s speech: Barack and I believe in the same things, but I have experience … he doesn’t. When he loses, you’ll wish you nominated me.

Gallup’s daily tracking poll says it’s official, no bounce for Barack Obama after his selection of Joe Biden. In fact, McCain now leads in the daily tracking poll for the first time since Obama clinched the Democratic nomination.

What does is mean? I think it’s obvious that Barack Obama’s best days are behind him, and now that the election is even closer, people are beginning to realize that they need to elect a leader, not a slogan.

in the few minutes I tuned into the Democratic National Convention, I heard the same old talking points we’ve been hearing over the past year. It seems to me that the only people are offering more of the same are the Democrats… of course, they claim to be the party of change… well, we’ve seen their “change” over the past two years, and there’s a reason why the Democratic majority has the lowest approval rating congress has ever had in history.

Meanwhile, recommended viewing and reading for the evening:

POLITICO: Praise of McCain could haunt Biden
WSJ: Scrutiny of Biden Focuses On Lobbyist Ties, Family
AOL: Biden’s Son A Partner in D.C. Lobbying Firm
DP: Obama’s VP pick hardly inspiring
AP: Obama seeks to silence ad tying him to 60s radical (click here for the ad)

UPDATE: On Michelle Obama’s speech… It’s pretty sad when Democrats try to play the “we have family values” card.

UPDATE: Even watching clips… Michelle Obama’s pro-military, pro-America and family values rhetoric sounds phony.

It looks like Barack Obama isn’t the only one on the ticket with ties to Tony Rezko:

No matter what help Barack Obama might get from Sen. Joseph Biden, his newly named vice presidential running mate won’t give Obama much cover on the Tony Rezko front.

Biden has described himself as a 30-year friend of a key figure in the Rezko trial who’s pleaded guilty to a federal extortion charge in Chicago and is awaiting sentencing.

When the Delaware senator began contemplating his own 2008 presidential run, he initially was helped by Chicago lawyer Joseph Cari Jr., who also served as Biden’s Midwest field director in his failed 1988 bid for president.

In 2005, Cari admitted to taking part in an $850,000 kickback scheme that prosecutors say was part of a larger political fund-raising operation for Gov. Blagojevich overseen by Rezko, who was convicted in June of wide-ranging corruption involving state deals.

On the day Cari’s name first surfaced in the federal probe of the state Teachers Retirement System, the former finance chairman for the Democratic National Committee and for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee was to have hosted a Biden fund-raiser in Chicago. Cari was a no-show at that July 25, 2005, event.

Offering Cari a vote of confidence at the time, Biden said, “All I know is Joe Cari is a friend, and he’s an honorable guy, but I don’t know anything beyond that.”

Did Obama’s VP Vetting Team actually vet Obama’s potential running mates? Biden has also accepted $2,000 in campaign contributions from Cari, according to campaign-finance records.

It’s connections like these, that if it were a Republican ticket, would be mercilessly attacked and exploited. So, the question that has yet to be answered is what kind of coverage this revelation will receive in the MSM for the remainder of this campaign?

Bad news for Obama leading into their convention.

It’s a dead heat in the race for the White House. The first national poll conducted entirely after Barack Obama publicly named Joe Biden as his running mate suggests that battle for the presidency between the Illinois senator and Republican rival John McCain is all tied up.

In a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll out Sunday night, 47 percent of those questioned are backing Obama with an equal amount supporting the Arizona senator.

“This looks like a step backward for Obama, who had a 51 to 44 percent advantage last month,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.

D’oh.

In 2004, I was one of a dozen bloggers given credentials to the Republican National Convention in New York City. It was an incredible experience… being a part of George W. Bush’s reelection… bumping shoulders with members of Congress, the media… and of course, it was great to meet all the other bloggers. In short, it was a great time and I’ll never forget it.

Four years later, I have once again been given credentials for the Republican National Convention. I’ve been asked many times if I was going… So, now is the time to reveal my intentions…

After careful thought and consideration I have decided not to attend this year’s Convention in Minnesota.

As you may remember, I recently moved to New York from Massachusetts, and various factors resulting from that move have contributed to my decision, particularly the time I’d need to take off from my new job.

It was not an easy decision… in fact, it was one I avoided making. But, the decision had to be made. And while I may always regret not going to the convention, today, it is the right choice.

I am pleased to report, however, that Blogs For Victory will have a blogger at the convention. Katherine Morrison, who blogs at our McCain blog, will be there, covering the convention on the scene. During the convention, we’ll be keeping an eye on her blogging, as well as the blogging of the other convention bloggers. I know many of the bloggers who will be there, and I’m sorry I won’t get to be there with them.

Anyway, that’s pretty much all there is to say about this.