I am watching Sarah Palin's new stump speech (she is in Clearwater, Florida) and I go back to my comparison of her to Ronald Reagan. She is delivering the same hate filled Republican attacks on the patriotism of Democrats; on supposedly "tax loving" Democrats who argue for higher taxes for "ordinary Americans" (using Joe Biden's formulation of asking the wealthy to pay their fair share of taxes as an act of patriotism); arguing that government is the evil in society; Democrats as "the Other," a classic Politics of Paranoia tactic, and so on. The difference is she spends the first 10 minutes of the speech doing her "hockey mom" Jane Six pack schtick. But to me it was pure Ronald Reagan.

I thought it was politically effective while I found it personally repugnant. For those who do not know, I have argued that Ronald Reagan was one of the most repugnant figures in political history. And here is my bottom line - Palin is ten times the politician John McCain is. If we can keep the voters' focus on McCain and not Palin, it is to the benefit of the Democrats. Karl Rove makes a good point in response to Jon Meacham:

My last Sarah Palin post for the night: Her gaffe in San Francisco today, calling Afghanistan "our neigboring country."

Three days after a mostly gaffe-free debate performance, the Alaska governor fumbled during a speech in which she praised U.S. soldiers for “fighting terrorism and protecting us and our democratic values”.

“They are also building schools for the Afghan children so that there is hope and opportunity in our neighboring country of Afghanistan,” she told several hundred supporters at a fundraising event in San Francisco.

In other election news, a new poll by the Denver Post finds McCain and Obama in a dead heat. I don't think Colorado will matter -- it's going to be about turnout in the big states like Florida, Ohio, PA and MI and Obama's massive voter registration drive seems to be working.

I've got very early court in the morning so let's make this an open thread.

Sen. Barack Obama is fighting back against McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin's personal attacks against him. Sunday night he released a web video to supporters, criticizing his role in the "Keating V" scandal. The difference: Obama's ads and attack are true...and related to Mcain's political record.

The short video, being e-mailed to millions of Obama supporters, summarizes a 13-minute Web "documentary" that the campaign plans to distribute Monday, spokesman Tommy Vietor said. He said McCain's involvement with convicted thrift owner Charles Keating "is a window into McCain's economic past, present and future."

Here's a little history of the Keating V and McCain from an Arizona paper. You can watch the full 13 minute version here beginning at noon ET Monday. [More...]

Via Think Progress, Gwenn Ifill was on Meet the Press today.

During the vice presidential debate on Thursday, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin announced that she “may not answer the questions that either the moderator or you want to hear.” In fact, “On at least 10 occasions, Palin gave answers that were nonspecific, completely generic, pivoted away from the question at hand, or simply ignored it.” On NBC’s Meet The Press today, debate moderator Gwen Ifill said that Palin “more than ignored” her questions. “Blew me off I think is the technical term,” said Ifill.

Alaska Attorney General Talis Colberg today said seven employees of the office of Gov. Sarah Palin will honor the subpooenas issued by the legislative committee investigating whether Gov. Sarah Palin abused her power in seeking to have then-public safety manager Walt Monegan fire her brother-in-law. Colberg's announcement follows last week's court ruling refusing to toss the legislative probe.

The Legislature's investigator, retired state prosecutor Steve Branchflower, is expected to complete his report by Friday into whether Gov. Sarah Palin abused her power by trying to force the firing of a state trooper involved in a child custody battle with her sister.

What about Todd Palin? He's still resisting the legislative subpoena, agreeing instead to an interview by the personnel board investigator. The personnel board is under control of the Executive branch. [More...]

Give credit to Rep. Henry Waxman, who thinks Congress shouldn't respond to a crisis by enacting a law and leaving town to campaign. As chair of the House Oversight Committee, Waxman would like to provide some oversight right now.

Rep. Waxman is racing the clock as many congressional leaders will have left town to campaign for reelection. “This financial crisis has shaken the global economy,” he said last week when announcing five hearings. “Congress cannot wait until a new administration arrives in January to examine what went wrong and who should be held accountable.”

Among those scheduled to testify: SEC Chairman Christopher Cox, Lehman Brothers Holdings chairman Richard Fuld, and former executives of AIG.

Got somethin' to say? Here's a place to say it.

This is an Open Thread.

Joe Biden's mother-in-law died this afternoon.

"The Obama-Biden campaign today canceled Sen. Biden's schedule Monday and Tuesday because of the passing of Jill Biden's mother, Bonny Jean Jacobs, this afternoon after a long illness," Biden spokesman David Wade said in a statement.

Our condolences to the Biden family.

Given Barack Obama's secure position, he doesn't need to describe John McCain as "erratic in crisis."

It is a loaded term and a not-subtle suggestion that the 72-year-old senator's age and temperament might be an issue.

McCain's temperament is an issue, but not one the Obama campaign ads need to address directly. At this point in the campaign, Obama has no reason not to take the high road. Apart from that quotation, the ad nicely links McCain to Bush on the economy while condemning McCain for launching false attacks when he should be proposing economic solutions. Does it work for you?

During the last few months, some site commenters have feared (or gleefully predicted) that an all-out right wing Rove-style assault would swing public opinion against Obama in the closing weeks of the campaign. The assault has commenced. If the best the McCain campaign can muster is a rehash of accusations that the public has already assessed and rejected, there isn't much to fear. The reality of looming economic disaster leaves voters with no time or patience for the politics of distraction.

Campaigns go negative because it works, but the strategy has a cost. Nate Silver analyzes the risk McCain runs of damaging his own image by relying so heavily on negative advertising. Silver's explanation is reassuring:

[more ...]

In June, the Supreme Court ruled that the detainees at Guantanamo have the right to challenge their detention as enemy combatants and to have their challenges heard quickly.

Also in June, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Huzaifa Parhat, one of the Uighur Chinese Muslims held at Gitmo, was not an enemy combatant and therefore entitled to seek his freedom.

Four months later, The New York Times reports, no hearings have been held. The Bush Administration now argues that the judiciary cannot order the release of detainees because only military officials have the authority to end wartime detentions.

On Tuesday, the detained Uighurs, whom the Government is no longer claiming are enemy combatants, will get another hearing in Court. [more...]

At the beginning of the year, I changed my residence and voter registration to Florida. I am there most of the time now. I can't say that my decision was driven by the November election, but the thought did cross my mind.

New York is a Democratic lock so my vote is not needed there. Florida is an uphill climb, or rather, it was, as polls now show Obama with a Florida lead. Here's a thought experiment - supposing you had to pick a state where you could vote in November which one would it be? I would have said Ohio, but today's Ohio Dispatch poll has Obama leading by 7. Michigan? McCain pulled out. Virginia? Still fairly close there. Ok, I pick Colorado. Because if Obama wins Colorado, his Western strategy (I figure New Mexico and Nevada come with Colorado and Iowa is in the bag) insures an Obama win no matter what happens elsewhere in the battlegrounds. Where would you vote?

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only