To me, you missed the point about Palin not reaching out to "East Coast elites" and "residents of downtown Seattle." The point isn't that she could win these voters, the point is that in claiming these people don't share her views, she's explicitly saying that her talk about bipartisanship is just talk.

Do a Google search for McCain's speech after the New Hampshire primary. He hit some great points in that speech. First, he talked about his vision for America and not about how "liberals" needed to be stopped at all cost lest they destroy America. Second, he stated that the opposing party contained people not bent on destroying America, but rather people who believed their way to lift up America was right. He disagreed with their method, but didn't question their motives.

Well, look at his campaign now. His entire campaign -- and Governor Palin's lines of attack -- rely on denigrating those opposed to them. As a liberal, I'm against America according to them. Apparently, I'd love nothing more than to give all my money to the government, make abortion mandatory and have (depending upon who's giving the speech any particular day) either a world body, foreign dictator or Satan himself rule America.

It's exceedingly difficult to claim you want bipartisanship when you seem happier to look down your nose at half of the electorate. Do you think it's any coincidence that Senator McCain seems unable to look at Senator Obama and the fact people don't believe McCain would really unite the country?

Well said. One of the sad things about this election has been watching John McCain slide from someone who I often disagreed with but respected to someone who seems to embrace the worst of cynical politics.

What Palin could gain by reaching out to East Coast elites and people living in downtown Seattle is, perhaps, perspective and some small acquaintance with people who don't obviously think, look, act, believe, and speak like she does. Fine attributes for a national (much less world) leader, don't you think?

The fact that she has no apparent interest in any East Coast elites or people living in downtown anywhere proves her incapable of and unqualified for the high office she seeks. Period.

Now how exactly is she supposed to reach out to these people? I actually fall into the categories mentioned and I am a big fan of hers. She did not reach out to me, per se, but appeals to me for her genuine accomplishments. I don't expect her to wow me with her analysis of the latest trendy novel on the must read lists. I expect her to competently run a government, whcih she has more than proven her ability to do. I also do not expect her to be just like me. I believe that her philosophy of governance does not require this. She has vowed to represent all the people and not be a slave to special interest, not even mine. I respect that.

Interesting article in the Rolling Stone.

"Remade by the Keating Five scandal that nearly wrecked his career, the story goes, McCain re-emerged as a "reformer" and a "maverick," righteously eschewing anything that "might even tangentially be construed as a less than proper use of my office."

It's a myth McCain has cultivated throughout his decades in Washington. But during the course of this year's campaign, the mask has slipped. "Let's face it," says Larry Wilkerson, a retired Army colonel who served as chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell. "John McCain made his reputation on the fact that he doesn't bend his principles for politics. That's just not true."

We have now watched McCain run twice for president. The first time he positioned himself as a principled centrist and decried the politics of Karl Rove and the influence of the religious right, imploring voters to judge candidates "by the example we set, by the way we conduct our campaigns, by the way we personally practice politics." After he lost in 2000, he jagged hard to the left — breaking with the president over taxes, drilling, judicial appointments, even flirting with joining the Democratic Party.

In his current campaign, however, McCain has become the kind of politician he ran against in 2000. He has embraced those he once denounced as "agents of intolerance," promised more drilling and deeper tax cuts, even compromised his vaunted opposition to torture. Intent on winning the presidency at all costs, he has reassembled the very team that so viciously smeared him and his family eight years ago, selecting as his running mate a born-again moose hunter whose only qualification for office is her ability to electrify Rove's base. And he has engaged in a "practice of politics" so deceptive that even Rove himself has denounced it, saying that the outright lies in McCain's campaign ads go "too far" and fail the "truth test."

And yet I'm one of those people too and haven't figured out exactly what her accomplishments are. Getting promoted not being an accomplishment.

I expect her to competently explain to me how she will run a government but she is not able to explain to me what she reads much less run a government. I can come up with four magazines and three newspapers I read right off the top of my head. Novels? No one asked her about novels. But you'd think Jack London might appear on her top ten list.

I don't expect her to be just like me, I expect her to be smarter, more experienced, and more able to handle the "gotcha" press. She can't but I can.

Just what is her philosophy of government because I've watched two interviews, one acceptance speech, two campaign speechs, and one debate and haven't heard her say what her philosophy is other than bein' a maverick.

She's against bad guys. And big government (whatever that means). And wants you to remember Alaska isn't a foreign country, and that global warming is probably just God's will (not our fault).

Ah, that explains it all. Thanks!