• President 2012,  Sarah Palin

    Sarah Palin – “Not Doing This For Nuttin'”

    Actually, the quote from Sarah Palin on 2012 was “I’m not doing this for naught.” Here is Wolf Blitzer on CNN mis-reading the Palin interview over at ABC News with Elizabeth Vargas.

    Here is the quote that is that is creating a FLAP, apparently within Team McCain.

    ELIZABETH VARGAS: If it doesn’t go your way on Tuesday … 2012?

    GOV SARAH PALIN: I’m just … thinkin’ that it’s gonna go our way on Tuesday, November 4. I truly believe that the wisdom of … of the people will be revealed on that day. As they enter that voting booth, they will understand the stark contrast between the two tickets. …

    VARGAS: But the point being that you haven’t been so bruised by some of the double standard, the sexism on the campaign trail, to say, “I’ve had it. I’m going back to Alaska.”

    PALIN: Absolutely not. I think that, if I were to give up and wave a white flag of surrender against some of the political shots that we’ve taken, that … that would … bring this whole … I’m not doin’ this for naught.

    Frankly, any observer of American politics can read Palin’s statement as one of stead fast defiance (the ‘Cuda) of the harsh treatment she and her family has received or one of future ambition.

    Flap has already written about Palin’s future ambition and her future is bright. This will likely be John McCain’s last campaign win or lose on Tuesday.

    So, what is the surprise at Team McCain? The media has been twisting and misconstruing McCain-Palin statements the entire cycle. Flap thinks they are a bit too sensitive.

    Sarah Palin was talking about not giving up and slinking back home to Alaska. In other words she was saying: illegitimi non carborundum. Now, if you want to construe an ambitious meaning to her statement…..

    OK.


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  • Gavin Newsom,  Gay Marriage

    Yes On California Proposition 8 Blogger Conference Call – Status of the Race

    protect-marriage-logo

    ProtectMarriage.com

    Flap just got off a telephone blogger conference call with ProtectMarriage.com – Yes on 8 campaign manager Frank Schubert.

    Status of the race:

    Polling indicates the race has a 97 % awareness level among California voters. When these voters are asked how they will vote it is:

    • 44 % – Yes
    • 44 % – No

    When you read the voters the ballot label language the result is:

    • 48 % – Yes
    • 48 % No

    So, the race is DEAD EVEN on both ways of counting which is a good position the Yes campaign feels to be in.

    Frank Schubert:”If we are tied on Monday night then Yes on 8 will win by 4-8 points.”

    Why?

    For a couple of reasons:

    1. The history of polling on this issue suggests there is a percentage of people who do not accurately report they support traditional marriage. They do not want to say something that may be perceived as not politically correct. Historically, that polling percentage has averaged about 7 % if you look at all of the states where marriage has been on the ballot. “I don’t think it will be 7 per cent this time, more like 4 or 5 per cent bump that we will get…”
    2. Another reason why if Yes is tied or behind by a couple of points on Monday night is the ground operation that the Yes on 8 campaign has. We have a truly Presidential GOTV operation (Get Out The Vote). There are over 100,000 people who have committed to walk door to door to distribute targeted literature and doorknob hangers throughout the weekend and Monday and on Monday we will have as many as 5 people per precinct working to get the vote out – both going door to door or phoning voters who either have not voted or will be voting. This is a GOTV effort that has never been done in California before for a proposition.

    Oh Yeah on Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell within fifteen minutes of the challenge offered up to debate the gay marriage issue, he delined. Shocker, isn’t it?

    And, for the San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom fans, Newsom will make a repeat performance this weekend on television for the Yes on Proposition 8 campaign.


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  • Barack Obama,  Iran,  Israel,  John McCain

    Video: Will Barack Obama Accept Iran’s Demands?

    The latest wb video from McCain-Palin: Preconditions

    What will Barack Obama do?

    Talk, negotiate or send former President Clinton to pave the way to a withdrawal from the Middle East?

    The Script:

    JOHN MCCAIN: I’m John McCain and I approve this message.

    ANNCR: Remember when Barack Obama said he’d sit down and talk with Iran without preconditions?

    YOUTUBE QUESTIONER: Would you be willing to meet separately without precondition within the first year of your administration in Washington or anywhere else with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea?

    CNN’S ANDERSON COOPER: Senator Obama?

    BARACK OBAMA: I would.

    ANNCR: Maybe Obama doesn’t have preconditions but Iran does.

    Iran, whose President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said “Israel must be wiped off the map.”

    Iran demands:

    That the U.S. must cease its support of Israel.

    And that all U.S. military forces must leave the Middle East.

    Meaning we abandon Iraq, Turkey and Kuwait.

    What will Obama do?

    Will he admit he was wrong or will he accept Iran’s demands?

    Tough question.

    Team McCain must take this message to Jewish voters particularly in Pennsylvania and Florida. The Jews there must ask Obama what he would do.

    But, they won’t.


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  • Gay Marriage

    California Proposition 8 Video: Have You Thought What Same Sex Marriage Means?

    The latest Television Ad for Yes on California Proposition 8 to protect traditional marriage

    No word on whether California Superintendent of Schools Jack O’Connell is going to debate Proposition 8 this weekend yet.

    But, Flap has been invited to a blogger conference call at 2 PM (Pacific time) this afternoon.

    In the meantime, this new ad is up on California airwaves. Flap understands the Yes on 8 committee is really pushing the measure in California’s Hispanic Catholic and Evangelical community.


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  • Hannah-Beth Jackson,  Tony Strickland

    Santa Barbara News-Press Endorses Tony Strickland for California State Senate

    Santa-Barbara-News-Press-lo

    Santa Barbara’s largest circulation newspaper has endorsed former California Assemblyman Tony Strickland for California State Senate.

    Opinion: Tony Strickland for state Senate

    October 28, 2008 12:00 AM

    The right choice to represent the state Senate’s 19th District couldn’t be more clear.

    Do you want a candidate known for extreme partisan politics — one who’s distorted her resume, alienated many Santa Barbarans and plotted to hold the state’s budget hostage for political gain?

    Or do you want a stable hand in Sacramento during this time of economic uncertainty?

    As Senate candidate Tony Strickland has noted:

    “Our financial markets are unstable and our economy is in shambles. Californians are frustrated, suspicious and angry because they feel deceived by partisan politicians who offer no solutions. They are worried about losing their retirement savings, the equity they have in their homes and, in some cases, their jobs.”

    We have faith that Mr. Strickland will do his best to hold the line against tax hikes and fee increases that your family can’t afford. Too many state lawmakers are out of touch with the challenges facing California households. Their way of dealing with the state’s budget problem consists of either trying to find new ways to take money from you, or papering it over and pushing it off to future generations.

    Mr. Strickland says, “Let me fight for you.”

    If one looks at the record of his opponent, her motto might as well be “let me fight against you.”

    Vote for Tony Strickland on Nov. 4.

    Tony Strickland

    Indeed.

    Tony Strickland’s Democrat opponent, Hannah-Beth Jackson didn’t get the name “Taxin’ Jackson” for nothing.


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  • Gay Marriage,  Jack O'Connell

    California Superintendent Jack O’Connell Challenged to Gay Marriage Debate

    In this television ad: California Superintendent of Schools Jack states” Our schools aren’t required to teach anything about marriage.”

    The Yes on California Proposition 8 – Protect Traditional Marriage Committee has challenged California Superintendent of Schools Jack O’Connell to a “LIVE” and “TELEVISED”debate this weekend.

    The Protectmarriage.com – Yes on 8 campaign today challenged Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell and the No on 8 campaign to a live, televised debate this weekend so voters can learn the truth about the issue of gay marriage being taught in California public schools.  The Yes on 8 Campaign, in a letter from Campaign Manager Frank Schubert to No on 8 Campaign Manager Steve Smith, said the more substantive forum will settle the issue once and for all and prove that gay marriage will be taught in public schools if Proposition 8 fails.

    “The No on Proposition 8 campaign has been airing television and radio ads featuring Jack O’Connell accusing us of running a ‘shameful’ campaign,” said Ron Prentice, chairman of Protectmarriage.com – Yes on 8. “There is nothing shameful about telling the truth. This is the most critical issue of the campaign. Voters deserve an opportunity to hear for themselves what will happen, and indeed what is already happening, if we do not restore traditional marriage in California on Election Day. Given his strong statements, I’m sure O’Connell will have no problem accepting.”

    The deadline for acceptance by O’Connell is within the hour.

    Don’t hold your breath.

    The ONLY reason Jack cut those television commercials is because he is termed out and wants to run for Governor in 2010. The Mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom started the gay marriage push in California a few years ago and owns the San Francisco gay community support for his race for California Governor.

    But, Newsom was ridiculed with an earlier television commercial and Jack thought he could obtain some collateral support from the gay community.

    Today, Mayor Newsom is sponsoring another fundraising event for the No on 8 Committee and is barnstorming the greater San Francisco Bay Area.

    Too much risk and NO reward for Jack.

    Update:

    Timm Herdt of the Ventura County Star seems to think the invitation is because the TV ad featuring O’Connell may be scoring points.

    Timm has it wrong.

    The more publicity Yes on 8 receives the better the measure will do. And, what better theater than to watch two liberal Democrat politicians (O’Connell and Newsom) flaunt their gay marriage cred to the highest homosexual lobby bidder.

    Do you really think there is ANY chance O’Connell will debate?


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  • Bobby Jindal,  GOP,  Sarah Palin

    Is Sarah Palin the Future of the GOP?

    Sarah singing along to the Gretchen Wilson song “Redneck Woman” at the 10/26/08 Asheville, NC rally

    This Presidential election cycle is winding down and the pundits are already discussing the future of the Republican Party. Flap did yesterday.

    Whether the Republican presidential ticket wins or loses on Tuesday, a group of prominent conservatives are planning to meet the next day to discuss the way forward, and whatever the outcome, Gov. Sarah Palin will be high on the agenda.

    Ms. Palin, of Alaska, has had a rocky time since being named as Senator John McCain’s running mate, but to many conservatives her future remains bright. If Mr. McCain wins, she will give the social conservative movement a seat inside the White House. If he loses, she could emerge as a standard bearer for the movement and a potential presidential candidate in 2012, albeit one who will need to address her considerable political damage.

    Her prospects, in or out of government, are the subject of intensive conversations among conservative leaders, including the group that will meet next Wednesday in rural Virginia to weigh social, foreign policy and economic issues, as well as the political landscape and the next presidential election.

    Sarah Palin’s future will be determined as she develops as a candidate and governs Alaska. She must do both well and win re-election in 2010. Palin must NOT ignore Alaska as she expands her presence in the lower 48.

    Flap agrees with Matthew Dowd in that Palin must strengthen her weaknesses in foreign policy and become more than a good speech. 

    Matthew Dowd, a former Bush strategist, said Ms. Palin’s challenge was to show substance.

    “She’s an attractive woman who can give a great speech, but the American public doesn’t view her much beyond that,” Mr. Dowd said. “She’s vastly unpopular among moderate and independent voters, and while she could be in a position to be popular among an increasingly smaller Republican Party, she’s got to figure out a way to extend that and figure out a way to strengthen her weaknesses.”

    Some pundits are not so optimistic on Sarah Palin’s great expectations.

    Others are higher on Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana.

    But, for now the GOP is “The Sarah Party” and what Palin makes of it will be the subject of many posts the next two years.

    As the heir apparent of the GOP, it is Palin’s to lose.

    Previous:

    Sarah Palin Preparing for 2012? You Betcha


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  • Day By Day,  John McCain

    Day By Day by Chris Muir October 29, 2008 – Shelf Life

    Day By Day 102908

    Day By Day by Chris Muir

    John McCain made his name in national politics by being the “MAVERICK” to his own Republican party. However, McCain is being hoisted up by his own petard in this Presidential race.

    It is much easier being a “MAVERICK” than to actually work with your party and stand for something. Hence, Obama’s lead in the polls – among other things.

    Flap reflects that should of , could of, would of Rudy Giuliani come clean about his personal baggage and had the economy been more of an issue, Giuliani would have won the New Hampshire primary and gone on to be the GOP nominee. Rudy would have been a far more credible candidate on the economy and domestic policy.

    Previous:

    The Day By Day Archive


    Technorati Tags: ,

  • Del.icio.us Links

    links for 2008-10-29

    • Republican Party leaders from several states – including tightly contested, must-win battlegrounds – have begun privately voicing reservations about McCain strategies and the campaign's failure to return phone calls or respond to suggestions and offers of volunteer support.

      "They ignore you. They don't keep their commitments. And word is that the party has a clock counting down the days till it can throw the McCain people out of state party's headquarters," said one state party leader, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

      The leaders also question Mr. McCain's decision to embrace the "$700 billion Wall Street bailout," which riled voters, and his reluctance to make issues out of his Democratic rival's relationships with his inflammatory former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., and with Bill Ayers, a 1960s radical and a founder of the violent Weather Underground that was blamed for a series of domestic bombings during the Vietnam era.
      ++++++
      Lots of complaints about Mac

      (tags: mccain)
    • In the face of adversity, she's clearly bucking up. Consider something else when judging whether she's a good team player: Todd told me that the presidential campaign has torpedoed Palin's once stratospheric approval rating in Alaska. It's down 20 points since she's assumed the partisan pit bull role. As for those urging her to go "rogue," there was no evidence during my three hours with her campaign yesterday that she was going to stage a mutiny and certainly nothing close to the day 1988 GOP running mate Dan Quayle announced to his press corps that he was taking charge of his effort from heavy-handed Bushies
      ++++++++
      Sarah Palin will be fine when she returns to Alaska and governs.
      (tags: sarah_palin)
    • Allies of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin are now trying to throw McCain aide Nicolle Wallace under the proverbial bus, and as they do so those in McCain’s circle are wary of the impact on Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., himself.
      +++++++
      Nicole Wallace strikes back. So, who bought the fraking clothes and billed the RNC?
      (tags: sarah_palin)
    • McCain aides continue to go viciously negative—on their vice presidential candidate. Mike Allen has a McCain aide calling Palin a "whack job." This is part of the problem with Palin getting assigned aides with no loyalty to her. I've never been a "Free Sarah Palin" type. I'm in the Krauthammer school that the McCain campaign probably let her do big high-stakes media interviews too soon and should have waited while she was more fully briefed-up. But the mishandling of Palin that's been evident over the last week—from the clothes fiasco that wasn't her doing to the sniping at her from within the campaign—has been appalling.
      ++++++++
      Thank God we are almost done with McCain and his Team of Losers. McCain should step in and kick some of his staff's ass including giving some the boot.
      Now, this is Flap's straight talk.
      (tags: sarah_palin mc)
    • I’ve heard from one well-placed source that McCain has snubbed her on one long bus ride aboard the Straight Talk Express, to the embarrassment of those sitting nearby. It has surely been implied to the governor that she should be eternally grateful to have been plucked from obscurity. And yet the high water mark of John McCain’s campaign for the presidency unquestionably began on September 3, when Palin gave her nomination speech—and ended precisely twelve days later, when McCain went off-script—I have that on the authority of the person who participated in the writing of said script—and told an audience that he still believed the fundamentals of the economy were strong.
      +++++++
      McCain and long time staff have sunk their own campaign with help from the 8 years of George Bush and now they plant this piece to blame Palin. I mean will anyone believe it?
    • The cable news channel is "completely out of control," said writer-producer Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, a self-proclaimed liberal
      She added that she would prefer a lunch date with right-leaning Fox News star Sean Hannity over left-leaning MSNBC star Keith Olbermann.

      Olbermann was criticized by many who attended Monday's luncheon sponsored by the Caucus for Producers, Writers & Directors at the Beverly Hills Hotel. The event was dubbed "Hollywood, America and Election '08."

      Bloodworth-Thomason and others seemed especially critical of the way MSNBC — and other media — has attacked Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin while demeaning her supporters.

      "We should stop the demonizing," she said, adding that Democrats have been worse than Republicans as far as personal attacks on candidates are concerned. "It diminishes us," she said of her fellow Democrats. She stressed, though, that its Palin's small-town American roots she wishes to defend and not her politics or policies.

    • The Christian Science Monitor, which turns 100 years old this year, is announcing on Tuesday, Oct. 28, that it will cease daily publication next April. The newspaper will shift to a weekly print format while increasing its emphasis on its Web site, says its editor, John Yemma.

      In doing so, the Monitor will become by far the most prominent newspaper to scale back its print edition substantially.
      +++++++
      The web makes better sense, now doesn't it?

    • The following is a complete list — with links — of the editorial endorsements of California's ten largest newspapers: the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, The San Diego Union-Tribune, The Sacramento Bee, Orange County Register, The (San Jose) Mercury News, The (Riverside) Press-Enterprise, Contra Costa Times, The Fresno Bee and Los Angeles Daily News.

      For half of the dozen measures on the Nov. 4 ballot, the papers' editorial boards all agreed.

      All of the largest papers opposed Propositions 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10.

      Only for Proposition 11, the redistricting measure, did the papers all agree to support an initiative. The redistricting overhaul would strip state lawmakers of the power to draw their own districts — long a favorite reform of the state's editorial boards.
      ++++++
      Who the frak cares?California newspapers are failing and will be gone in a decade.

    • But he can’t be a gadfly now, at least not for another week or so. McCain’s character and background still might see him through somehow, despite a lackluster effort for which he, the gadfly as nominee, bears most of the blame.
      ++++++++
      And, why the GOP which did not develop alternatives to Bush in the last 8 years will have the next 8 years in the wilderness.
      (tags: mccain)
    • I don't mean to pick on any particular anti-Palin righty voice, I'm just going to pick David Brooks because he called Sarah Palin a cancer, and because, at the New York Times, he has one of the most prominent perches in opinion journalism. He can pick his column topic, and several times in recent weeks he's felt the need to detail the flaws he sees in Palin, and McCain, and the conservative movement, and Republicans in general, etc., as well as what appeals to him about Obama (he's a "homeostasis machine.")
      +++++++
      A re-ordering ot RIGHT opinion will be in order after the election.
    • The Columbus Dispatch reports that at least one culprit has emerged from the misuse of public information to attack Joe Wurzelbacher — and to no one’s surprise, she’s a Democrat and a big Barack Obama supporter. Helen Jones-Kelly decided to check on Wurzelbacher as soon as he became an issue in the third presidential debate.
      No reason to believe that Wurzelbacher got politically vetted for dirt? What reason existed to look up his information at that particular point in time? Had someone filed a complaint against Joe? The act of opening his court records by a public agency has to have some motivation, and if no reason for a legitimate investigation exists, then by deduction the reasons were illegitimate — and almost certainly a Dumpster Dive for Dirt.

      Change You Can Believe In — The State Will Own You. You’d better believe it.
      ++++++++
      The upcoming crack down on Obama dissent will be worse.

    • Helen Jones-Kelley, pawing through the records of anyone who challenges Barack Obama…
      Ohio residents be warned: You're being watched

      Update: Yes, Helen Jones-Kelley (two e's in Kelley) just happens to be a maximum $2300 contributor to Barack Obama.

      What a f**king shock, huh?

      But she provides this sort of illegal intrusion into personal records for anyone who "comes into the public light." It's a public service, you see.

      Right.

      Riiiiight.

    • But here is the good news: women, citizens of America's high and low culture, the Economist and People magazine readers, will get it. They got it with Hillary even when feminist leaders were not supporting her or doing so half-heartedly. Yes, Palin is a harder sell, she looks and sounds different, and one can rightfully oppose her based on abortion policies. If you only vote on how a person personally feels about abortion, you will never want her to darken your door. If you care about anything else, she will continue to intrigue you. As Time's Nancy Gibbs noted a few weeks ago, quoting bioethicist Tom Murray, “Sympathy and subtlety are seasonings rarely applied to political red meat.” Will Palin's time come next week? I don't know. But her time will come.
      ++++++
      Sarah Palin's time is just developing……
      (tags: sarah_palin)
    • Cohen is still the dumbass Lefty he always has been. Palin's record will speak for itself and two bad interviews does not a careerr kill.
      Cohen will have many more columns to trash Sarah Palin in the next decade.
    • French President Nicolas Sarkozy is very critical of U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama's positions on Iran, according to reports that have reached Israel's government.

      Sarkozy has made his criticisms only in closed forums in France. But according to a senior Israeli government source, the reports reaching Israel indicate that Sarkozy views the Democratic candidate's stance on Iran as "utterly immature" and comprised of "formulations empty of all content."
      +++++++
      Yet, American Jews will line up in lockstep to vote Obama into the White House. They may regret this vote in a few years.

    • The person who initiated the Daily Kos campaign to look into the lives of Mormon donors is Dante Atkins, an elected delegate to the state Democratic convention who said he's the vice president of the Los Angeles County Young Democrats.

      Atkins said his goal was to "embarrass the opposition by pointing out and publicizing any contributors they may have." He said focusing on Mormons made sense. "If one religious group is putting close to the majority of the money and the effort into passing this proposition, it is fair to single them out."
      +++++++++
      Typical LEFT-WING type fisking

      (tags: gaymarriage)
    • Individual Mormons in Utah and elsewhere were asked if they would participate in call centers, said David Parker, an LDS businessman who has a house in Sundance and works with the California coalition. "It was clearly stated that [this] had not yet been sanctioned or approved by the church. It was just a preparatory effort."
      +++++++
      Utah Mormons or other Americans have a stake in Proposition 8 and gay marriage. What is so unusual that a religious organization's members ish to take political action?
      Meanwhile the LEFT and homosexual lobby are going wild against the Mormons.
      (tags: gaymarriage)