Jesus H Christ (the 'H' stands for Hussein), stop it already.

She spent $150,000 on her clothes. I don't care. Yes, it doesn't go with her image of Joe-Six-Pack. Yes, it's questionable that the campaign spent that on her clothes (though I tend to agree with Campbell Brown, that unfortunately, her looks are part of the deal and that women more than men are judged on how they look). Yes, it's questionable ethically. But in the long run, it doesn't matter.

It's a red herring. Just look at all that she's said this week. She said that the vice president "runs the Senate" and "can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes." Hells.No. Even giving her a pass based on the idea that she was answering the question of a third grader, that still conveys an astonishing lot about how she thinks. Sarah Cheney?

When asked to define preconditions, she said "You have to have some diplomatic strategy going into a meeting with someone like Ahmadinejad or Kim Jong Il, or one of these dictators that would seek to destroy America or our allies". What she said was not a precondition. Preconditions are telling states you refuse to meet with them unless they do X, Y, Z. In the case of Iran, that's telling them they need to stop their nuclear program before you even talk to them.

She "apologized" for her pro-America comment at a rally last week. Except, if by "apologized", you mean "not apologized". What she said is that she apologizes if her statement was construed that way. So... great non-apology there, Governor. "I'm sorry your feelings were hurt".

Are we discussing these? No. What's in the media instead is this $150,000 bill. This news affects her public persona, true, but it also masks the alarming problems with her political persona. McCain also has this "man of the people" issue with his clothes and shoes and multiple homes, but we never latched onto it with this ferocity like we did with her.

We're giving them more ammo, folks. Her supporters gleefully look at us and say, "Look how they're attacking our Sarah". And you know what? It's kinda true.

At this point, it makes no difference what the media say about Palin. McCain and Palin are too far behind and have no chance of catching up.

All that Jazz -- if you support Obama, I would urge you NOT to make this claim. McCain and Palin certainly are not that far behind, and a good way to see Obama lose is to get supporters thinking they can stop mobilizing voters, not wait in line to vote, etc. This race is a toss up, and there's a long way to go.

But yes, the clothing thing is pointless and we should focus on all the other reasons Palin shouldn't be vice president. And then go out and make 10 phone calls to undecided voters to spread that message.

The race is NOT a toss-up. Look at the electoral maps on Slate, CNN, or RealClearPolitics. Obama has a huge lead in more than enough states to easily get over the top. Now, that doesn't mean I'll stay home on Election Day. I'll be voting for Obama.

One of my pet peeves lately is that the media keep harping on the national average in the polls. It's in their best interest to pretend the race is close, so that they keep their ratings and advertising dollars. But the national average means nothing. Look at the polls state by state, and I don't see any scenario under which McCain could win. I'm glad that many states have implemented early voting. That will prevent some people from saying "Why bother? It's over" and not voting on Election Day.

Perhaps my view is skewed by my location in Florida, a state that is not essential to Obama's electoral map, but would certainly be a big win. Here, the polls have fluctuated, so that first Obama was up a few points and then McCain. All within the margin of error. Furthermore, we still have about 8% undecided voters (I don't know how that compares to other states). Perhaps I'm just a pessimist but I'm convinced most of those undecideds will go to McCain, partly out of paranoia and partly because in the primaries Obama always did poorly among the so-called "late deciders."

The projected high turnouts of Obama voters depends on keeping up a pretty high level of motivation among field staff and volunteers. Already I find volunteers who had committed to be available right before the election saying they are not going to bother because the polls look good and, you know, with the Rays in the world series they have other things to do (Not that I blame them, I think the World series is a big deal, too....but you can make phone calls between innings!!)

Hey, if it's landslide and I busted a gut for nothing, I will not be offended if you spend November 5 laughing at my puffy eyes and sore throat. But until then I will play it safe.

I understand your concern, but I'm not too worried about it. Everything the Republicans have tried to throw out lately has been met with a shrug by everyone but conservatives. Having said that, there is that very small nagging doubt in the back of my mind, so I will not be going to bed on Election Night until the networks call a winner.

AllThatJazz:

The race is NOT a toss-up. Look at the electoral maps on Slate, CNN, or RealClearPolitics. Obama has a huge lead in more than enough states to easily get over the top. Now, that doesn't mean I'll stay home on Election Day. I'll be voting for Obama.

If tomorrow were election day, you would probably be right. But the election is 12 days away, an eternity. It's still October, and anything can happen.

What could possibly happen at this point? The Republicans have slung all the mud they could find. If they had anything else, they would have brought it up by now. They're so desperate that they're calling Obama a socialist. They've clearly run out of ammo.

The fates have special torments arranged for those who count their chickens.... ;-)

Don't you think polling is a teensy bit more accurate than it was 60 years ago? There are many organizations doing polls every day, and they overwhelmingly point in the same direction. Don't hold your breath waiting for Dewey/Truman redux.

I just hope it's more accurate than it was 4 years ago....

I'll celebrate an Obama victory after it occurs.

lessa91:

Jesus H Christ (the 'H' stands for Hussein), stop it already.

She spent $150,000 on her clothes. I don't care. Yes, it doesn't go with her image of Joe-Six-Pack. Yes, it's questionable that the campaign spent that on her clothes (though I tend to agree with Campbell Brown, that unfortunately, her looks are part of the deal and that women more than men are judged on how they look). Yes, it's questionable ethically. But in the long run, it doesn't matter.

It's a red herring. Just look at all that she's said this week. She said that the vice president "runs the Senate" and "can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes." Hells.No. Even giving her a pass based on the idea that she was answering the question of a third grader, that still conveys an astonishing lot about how she thinks. Sarah Cheney?

When asked to define preconditions, she said "You have to have some diplomatic strategy going into a meeting with someone like Ahmadinejad or Kim Jong Il, or one of these dictators that would seek to destroy America or our allies". What she said was not a precondition. Preconditions are telling states you refuse to meet with them unless they do X, Y, Z. In the case of Iran, that's telling them they need to stop their nuclear program before you even talk to them.

She "apologized" for her pro-America comment at a rally last week. Except, if by "apologized", you mean "not apologized". What she said is that she apologizes if her statement was construed that way. So... great non-apology there, Governor. "I'm sorry your feelings were hurt".

Are we discussing these? No. What's in the media instead is this $150,000 bill. This news affects her public persona, true, but it also masks the alarming problems with her political persona. McCain also has this "man of the people" issue with his clothes and shoes and multiple homes, but we never latched onto it with this ferocity like we did with her.

We're giving them more ammo, folks. Her supporters gleefully look at us and say, "Look how they're attacking our Sarah". And you know what? It's kinda true.

I am disappointed, though not surprised, that her shopping sprees, not her complete, utter inadequacy for vice presidency gets all the ink. Obviously, girls and clothes are sexier than a woman in need of a civics lesson.

That said, does anyone really need any more convincing that Palin can't handle the job? Polls show she is the biggest drag on McCain. So people have either made up their mind - either that she's unqualified, or that it's just the liberal elites keeping a rural woman down. So her grasp of the branches of government isn't useful news. However, a $150,000 chink in her "aw shucks" armor is news.

You guys aren't reading the papers very carefully. Notice that the Obama campaign is not counting any of these chickens -- and neither should you. Obviously, focusing on the working wardrobe is stupid. She and the kids needed clothes, though probably not the Louis Vuitton bag. But, except for the fact that those unremarkable togs cost so much, it's totally irrelevant. Some woman I called the other night told me she was voting for "the one with experience." People still believe all those lies, folks, and unlesss you're out there pushing, you can't count on the outcome.