Thank you, ACORN!

Iowahawk has the story:

ST. LOUIS - Attorneys for the voting registration organizations ACORN and Project Vote filed an anti-discrimination voting rights suit in the U.S. Federal District court this morning, alleging the United States government is involved in "a widespread, systematic effort to disenfranchise Imaginary-Americans and deprive them of access to polls."

"Participation in our electoral process is a fundamental right, and the foundation of our democracy," said ASDF ASDFG, a spokesperson for the National Association for the Advancement of Imaginary People, one of the groups named as plaintiffs in the class action. "We will not be silent when government denies people access to the polls on the basis of color, or sex, or existential status."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

In Cleveland, Ohio Republican officials complained to the Federal Election Commission after early-voting sites barred observers when thousands of Invisible-Ohioans arrived at the polls aboard hundreds of invisible ACORN buses. In Ida Grove, Iowa, Ida County Registrar Debby Ballard expressed concern when a convoy of Chicago ACORN semis submitted 4,000,000 provisional ballots, 17 seconds before a 5 pm deadline.

"I'm proud that Ida County can boast of a 114,312% voter registration rate, but I'm not sure if I can get all of them processed by Monday," said Ballard. "I've got a pilates class in Sioux City."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

After consultation with attorneys . . . . . ACORN -- which has received $800,000 from the Obama campaign for registration efforts -- filed a suit claiming the increased legal scrutiny was driven by a political agenda. Amicus briefs were added from several Imaginary Rights groups, adding civil rights violations to the list of complaints.

"Whether we are obituary notices, hallucinatory giant rabbits, or strings of random keyboard strokes, it's time for the chimera community to stand up and claim our rights as citizens," said ASDFG. "We will no longer be silent and invisible. Okay, maybe invisible."

In addition to $3.2 jubajillion in damages and free federal mortgages for homeless spectres, the suit also seeks enforcement of the Americans with Dimensional Disabilities Act. The Act requires voting places to make accommodations for existentially-challenged voters who have trouble completing ballots written in standard 3-dimensional reality. The accommodations include multiple site registration, time travel, and allowances for alcoholics to cast ballots for dependent D.T. phantasms.

"Many of our community inhabit the Tapioca subluster of the 11th Dimension, and it's hard for them to find a convenient spacehole to make it to the local elementary school," explained ASDFG.

I had no idea that the rates of disenfranchisement were so great among Imaginary Americans. It just breaks my heart that this has been going on for so long . . .

Perhaps I should register the characters from my stories and books; they should also be afforded the opportunity to be heard. And, of course, the voices in my head. Plus, the imaginary colleagues I blame when I blow deadlines. Also, our imaginary housekeeper, who is always behind on the dusting, dishwashing, and grocery shopping.

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Pretty directly, in fact.

Barack H. Obama is running around telling everyone that the housing mortgage market collapsed primarily because of some vaguely described "deregulation" that took place sometime under George Bush--or maybe under Clinton; I'm not clear on that. I'm not sure he is.

Whatever his claim is, it's a lie.

The reality is that the housing market collapsed in large part because a coalition of race-baiting bullies brought very heavy pressure to bear on the banks to make more subprime loans on properties in low-income communities. Those who didn't approve the risky subprime loans were accused of "redlining"--i.e., refusing to make loans on properties in those neighborhoods.

Who were these bullies?

Some of the bullies were out in Washington pounding the tables and screaming at bank executives about "redlining".

At the same time, other bullies were stalking big city courthouses, filing frivolous and extortinate lawsuits against banks based on novel "disparate impact" theories of what might be held to constitute "redlining." In other words, even banks which [sic] were making lots of loans in low-income communities were being sued if they weren't approving just as many loans in low-income communities as they were in high-income communities.

Who were these mortgage extortionists?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Yes, that "Barack H. Obama."

. . . . . . . . . . .

[H]ere's the thing: according to Obama's legal team, FIFTY-EIGHT PERCENT of a certain class of loan applicants living in 80%+ minority neighborhoods were approved for a loan. Far from being automatically denied, most of these applicants were approved. Also according to Obama's team, EIGHTY-ONE PERCENT of similar loan applicants living in 90%+ "white" (defined as European and Asian) neighborhoods were approved--and this is the source of the theory of harm put forth by the legal team.

Under the theory put forward, it wasn't enough, apparently, that most of the identified mortgage applicants in the minority neighborhoods were approved. The theory demanded parity in the statistics, despite the fact that properties in very different neighborhoods necessarily present very different risk situations. In other words, the lawyers sued Citibank because Citibank was, on balance, somewhat more likely to approve a loan for a property in a predominantly white neighborhood than on one in a predominantly black neighborhood. Given that predominantly black neighborhoods tend to be low-income neighborhoods characterized by low property values, was this phenomenon evidence of evil racism or just reasonable risk avoidance? I'll leave that to your judgment.

Yeah, it's one of Ragnar's entries. Read the whole thing anyway; he's right about this. It was exactly this type of legal pressure on mortgage companies that led to the economic challenges we're coping with right now.

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Dig it: they find out about this friendship between Obama and Ayers, and then they make a bunch of videos about it:

Wild.

h/t: Ace.

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"You know: the one who tried to kill that nine-year-old kid—the judge's son."

Move along; nothing to see, here.

Barack: I think he did just say it to your face. But you can ask him about this again, if you like.

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Please do say it to his face.

And a few more things while you're at it, Johnny Mac.

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. . . . except that I want this guy on my talk show, when I get it going with the Bloggin' Chicks and Bear Flag Leaguers. Pure gold, Baby.

Via Dirty Harry.

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At least people are making an attempt to change others' minds, unlike those yelling matches on Saturday (and I'm talking about dinner with the other bloggers that evening at Chili's in Carso; the protests and counter-protests at CSU Dominguez Hills were nearly as bad).

Is the election over yet? G-d, I hate politics. It's just . . . well, being involved in this shit is like Capitalism: the ghastliest thing with the exception of any other possibities.

If Obama loses this election, he has an exciting career ahead of him as a used-car salesman.

I meant that, you know . . . in the good way.

As I understand it, he's going to give me lots of money, and better health insurance, and then he'll go find Bin Ladin, whether the dude still exists or not.

Furthermore, what Obama can apparently do is conquer the mountainous regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan via brute force alone, while wearing the handcuffs our allies have on us there. Oh, Baby: I want to see that, Because no one else has ever done it. Which means that Barack Obama is the most brilliant military commander in the history of the world.

Makes me wet, it does.

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I have neighbors. Sometimes we say hi. Once in a while we work on boards together, trying to socially re-engineer education—or at least redistribute funds to socialist-leaning groups.

A board here, a nonprofit there.

Sometimes we have respectful disagreements about whether certain types of civil disobedience go too far. Like, is the attempted murder of Pentagon workers ethical? How about the attempted murder of nine-year-old children?

See how easy it is to get into these gray areas? Like when someone whose main regret in life is that his terrorism group didn't murder enough innocent Americans wants to host a political "coming out" party at your home, and launch your career from there? Way he's still cool with killing innocnt nine-year-olds, and you feel that only innocent American adults should be targeted.

Kind of a tough call, isn't it?

And here's a little touch of Harry in the night:

Dirty Harry, that is: the film reviewer. He's on fire today, so go to the main page and keep scrolling.

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Patrick's got the money quote from Senator McCain:

This corruption was encouraged by Democrats in Congress, and abetted by Senator Obama.

Senator Obama has accused me of opposing regulation to avert this crisis. I guess he believes if a lie is big enough and repeated often enough it will be believed. But the truth is I was the one who called at the time for tighter restrictions on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that could have helped prevent this crisis from happening in the first place.

Senator Obama was silent on the regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and his Democratic allies in Congress opposed every effort to rein them in. As recently as September of last year he said that subprime loans had been, quote, a good idea. Well, Senator Obama, that good idea has now plunged this country into the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

To hear him talk now, youÂ’d think heÂ’d always opposed the dangerous practices at these institutions. But there is absolutely nothing in his record to suggest he did. He was surely familiar with the people who were creating this problem. The executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have advised him, and he has taken their money for his campaign. He has received more money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac than any other senator in history, with the exception of the chairman of the committee overseeing them.

Mr. Patterico's got homework for Johnny, though:

HereÂ’s whatÂ’s required for the follow-through:

It has to be mentioned in the debate. Three times. Preferably with a memorable zinger.

DO NOT misstate even the TINIEST fact in making this argument. If you do, the media will fixate on that and forget everything else. [People still read the media? --ed.]

DonÂ’t let it drop. We need endless TV commercials with clips of Democrats saying there is no crisis. Find the footage of McCainÂ’s speech (if it exists) and run that too.

This is a good start — but it’s just a start.

Ed Morrissey agrees, as does Jim Geraghty, who points out that this isn't just about the election; we have to know how we got here in order to avoid getting here again.

Moe's got more at Red State, along with extensive quotes from today's speech:

Looks like we're going to have one whale of a debate tomorrow, assuming of course that we can get past the junior Senator from Illinois whining for twenty minutes about how mean we're being to him. And racist! Mustn't forget the racism; God knows that his supporters never do. So let's rock and roll. It'll be a thing.

Moe Lane

PS: Oh, Sarah?

Lock and load.

I believe she's doing just that, Moe.

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1 Let's hope McCain takes Obama to the woodshed every day! (Oh, is that racist?)

Posted by: BK at October 06, 2008 02:14 PM (5kq6g)

2 "Let's hope McCain takes Obama to the woodshed every day! (Oh, is that racist?)" No, it's not racist. It might be "woodist" or "sheddist" though.

Posted by: MarkJ at October 06, 2008 02:22 PM (ZFVlP)

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Fine.

And I expect you to hit the Annenberg Challenge very hard.

But I also want to hear the following phrases: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Barney Frank.

And I want the people to know that mortgage companies were extorted by the Feds into making bad loans.

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We have an answer to Silverman's pleas to save Florida from the clutches of that senior-citizen guy who's running for President.

And remember, Nana: voting's private. You don't have to tell your grandkids whom you voted for!

r

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How did we get here? Fannie and Freddie had friends in Congress that enabled them to continue operating in an unsound manner.

h/t: AllahP

Spread the word.

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I'd pay good money to see this.

Go for it, Ma'am.

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Crucify her! Crucify her!

What Albright clearly meant was that it is fine to act like a Queen Bee if the other woman involved is a Republican. Why is that so hard to understand, Governor Mayor Bimbo?

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Darleen's got some pretty comprehensive coverage, and good pix.

One of Dar's pix, which I stole because her camera's better than mine.

Darleen also quotes sobering articles from U.S. News & World Reports and Patterico, who suggest that an ability/unwilingness to explain how Democrats created the financial crisis this past month could cost us a lot of votes, and perhaps even the election itself.

If this is the case, it's time for McCain's people to man up, and remind the American public that John McCain attempted, two years ago, to avert a crisis that was the brainchild of far-left legislators—that decided a decade ago it was a human right to own a home one could not afford.

And G.W. Bush had nothing to do with this, much as the far left would like to think that anything bad has to be his fault (along with that of his twin brother, John McCain, with whom he has never disagreed). The financial crisis was a debacle of the legislature, by the legislature, and for the legislature.

UPDATE:Fellow West-Coaster Zoey has video from the event, including Shelly Mandel's introduction to Sarah's speech.

Mandel, on Palin: "This is what feminism looks like."

Also, Greta Van Susteran wonders how many feathers Mandel—head of the L.A. Chapter of NOW—will ruffle by endorsing Palin.

I dunno . . . how many feathers did Tammy Bruce ruffle by suggesting that homicide of a white woman matters, even if committed by a black football hero?

One . . . two . . . three . . . many. Bruce had to leave NOW over the issue, and Mandel may have to as well. What a courageous woman. Please show your support of Mandel at Van Susteran's web page, linked above.

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The Great Schlep from The Great Schlep on Vimeo.

Well, Sarah, I was going to visit my relatives in Nebraska, but it looks like they don't need me. And my family left Michigan and Virginia a long time ago.

Personally, I'm going to Nevada, since I can afford it if I drive, and stay at cheap hotels. I wish they would tell me what city/county I'll be assigned to, since I need to start looking for cheap rooms.

I usually eschew Motel 6, because of the paper-thin walls and the lack of Wi-Fi; my favorite cheap digs tend to be Holiday Inns (especially Holiday Inn Expresses). But I'm doing this if I have to sleep in a tent for the ten days before the election. (How I'll get internet access in a tent is not clear: maybe I'll do the overpriced Starbucks/T-Mobile hot spot thing until after the election. Or maybe I'll find a local Denny's, where the internet connection is free!)

Keep in mind that any Western state (other than California) is more vulnerable than it looks, because of the libertarian philosophy in the West.

(No; McCain is not a good libertarian, but Palin is, and she's clearly going to be an active VP—an uber-chief-of-staff, a la Cheney—rather than the kind who just "sits around and waits for the President to die, as the job was characterized a couple of decades ago. And even if age ere not a factor, I do not believe John McCain is shooting for a second term: he has his protegé ready, and four years will do it to train her.)

So it isn't just a question of us being able to take New Mexico, which we will. I also believe we could pick up Washington state (maybe even Oregon, but I don't trust the polls that place that state in the pale blue column).

Thanks to David Linden.

P.S. Sarah, my stepfather—a Jewish genetics prof at UCLA, drove a VW bug. Professor Purkinje—a Jewish biology prof—drives a Passat. But my stepmother—a Jewish artist—drives a Lexus SUV.

So are my step-parents cool? Do academicians get an exemption? Or are they naughty, naughty, bad Jews? Please let me know.

I used to have a bug—a blue 1969 that I adored. But it's okay because I'm a shiksa, right? According to Sandra Bernhard, that makes all the difference, and will get me lots of niggah dick. So I got that going for me.

So it's politically correct for me to read the New Testament, as I understand it, but not the Old—even if I skip the first five books. I'm trying so hard.

I'm still worried about that 1969 Volksie bug, though, from when I was 22 years old. It finally got stolen; does that mean I'm in the clear? Let's say my stepmom succeeds in teaching me how to make her exquisite, delicate matzo-ball soup—with very little salt, no chicken chunks in it at all, and more dill than I usually get. (Basically, it's the polar opposite of the deli-style matzo-ball soup I tend to go for when I'm sick.) I think I nearly had an orgasm last night as I was eating it.

Will that do it, Sandra? Mastering that recipe? I so want to be acceptable to you, and I'm on pins and needles right now . . .

UPDATE: You guys got that, right? One of the points I'm making here is that there is a different between between edgy/provocative and just being an offensive asshole.

Lots of people are angry. Anger can help a person be funny—if she/he has the right personality quirk—but it is not a substitute therefor. Learn it, Sarah: live it. You're a great actress, but you know what?—you've never made me laugh. Never.

Silverman could shit on a CD , and when I stuck it in the Cruiser's stereo, it would make me laugh, whether I agreed with its underlying point of view or not.

That's something, BTW, that neither Lisa Nova nor Tina Fey's writers at Saturday Night Live seem to get about Sarah Palin impressions. Nova's first skit about Palin played off of the idea that a war hero might need help, and that a woman with a strong personality might be more than he bargained for ("um, I thought you'd help with the annual White House Easter Egg Hunt . . . "). Classic sitcom-ish dynamic in which a man's man has to deal with an equally assertive woman, and figure out how to deal with it. There wasn't any underlying truth about the McCain figure being "weak," but we put up with it because it was funny to see Sarah's strong personality blown out to an extreme.

That first skit was fine. Now we're being treated to "Sarah is an idiot, and there's not a thing wrong with the way the Charlie Gibson interview was set up, planned, or edited." So, goodbye Lisa Nova.

The first Tina Fey portrayal of Sarah Palin was as much about the "Hillary" character (Amy Poehler) coming to terms with the Palin candidacy as it was about Palin herself—possibly more so. Again, as with the "man coping with a strong woman" archetype Lisa Nova played with in her first crack at Palin, it was funny because it caught a underlying truth about female relationships: we really, really, really want other women to be successful. Unless there is any hint that another woman's success might cut into the tiniest sliver of our own. At that point, many of us—even the staunchest feminists—turn on a dime and see if we can get these other fucking bitches out of our own fucking sandbox, as quickly as possible.

But Saturday Night Live has also abandoned any attempts at humor with respect to Sarah Palin, and now we're back to "Sarah's really an idiot." Goodbye, SNL.

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1 Maybe granny and gramps could tell the little ones stories about how, back in the day, it didn't work out too well when they urged their elders to vote for hope and change instead of that old establishment Hindenburg dude.

Posted by: Darrell at October 03, 2008 02:43 PM (JLqUY)

2 Will you concede that what Sarah does comes closer to being funny than what Sandra does? Also--she thinks Barack's going to win this. And it'll be because of racial identity politics. Aren't we, um, supposed to be kind to the disabled?

Posted by: Attila Girl at October 04, 2008 12:55 AM (TpmQk)

3 Sarah Silverman is funny. And adorable. And wholly original. When she's not goring my ox. Or doing something to hurt the US. When she realizes that Barack is a Socialist and comes to the realization that Socialism will be a disaster, once again, then she can come see me. We go insane collectively, but wise up one at a time.

Posted by: Darrell at October 04, 2008 11:17 AM (b8+S5)

4 I am not familiar with either Sarah Silverman or Sandra Bernhard. The latter is just a foul mouth theologian, apparently. I did like how she criticized Palin for wearing her hair up, as it looked to me like Bernhard had her hair piled on the top of her head. A better look for Bernhard would be down, like in Cousin It. I would strongly recommend to Jewish grandchildren going to convince their grandparents to vote for Obama that they show their grandparents the Silverman video that inspired them. It'd be a deal sealer ! The German car thing is stupid, but I did like the video.

Posted by: jbarntt at October 05, 2008 10:16 AM (J4nAn)

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Please, Sir: Could I have more?

They're like potato chips: one is never enough. Come one, boys and girls: do a couple of town halls together. What could that hurt?

Biden did better than I expected; no major gaffes, and only about a dozen untruths (that's good for him, right?). Sarah's still playing catch-up on foreign policy, but didn't try to fake it there: she stuck to the fundamentals, and hammered away that we can we can deal most effectively with challenges from/in Iran, Pakistan, North Korea, and Russia if we seize the opportunity to finish the job in Iraq, and then double-back to Afghanistan to do some dusting and cleaning there.

The point is, she didn't utter any untruths, because one from her would have been worth 30 from Biden—and she knew it.

To my mind loses a few points for not pointing out that Biden kept insisting on timetables for our withdrawal from Iraq: she responded that we'd leave at the pace Iraqi political, law enforcement, and military leaders (with input from American/Allied generals) decide is correct. But no one should ever let the suggestion that a "date certain" is a great idea in any war; Senator Clinton certainly never let that one go by, whenever it was suggested.

Last night on Fox News Krauthammer suggested that a transcript might give the win to Biden, but anyone watching it (or hearing it) would have to give it to Sarah. It did remind me a bit of the clichés about the the Kennedy-Nixon debate, inasmuch as Biden was quite articulate, and he was able to keep his nasty side in check. But Sarah, despised by 95% of the media, did exactly what she needed to do: she went, Reagan-like, over their heads and spoke "to the American media," making it explicit that this was her intention: when Biden pointed out that she hadn't answered a moderator's question, she asserted sweetly that she had no intention of answering the questions to either his satisfaction, or Ifill's.

Peggy Noonan has now seen the light. I was pretty pissed at her for not "getting" Palin early on, but I suppose it was inevitable that any protege of Ronald Reagan's would eventually cotton to Palin's appeal. (And, yes: I've been impatient with those who didn't see it early on: I've been following her energy work, so I've known her a good deal longer than most. Palin is no Harriet Miers.)

The job that McCain is explicitly applying for (and Palin, implicitly) requires some brains, excellent management skills, the ability to to communicate with the American public even when the media are hostile to you (yes, G.W.—I'm looking at you), and charisma.

Speaking of G.W. Bush, Palin's biggest triumph of the evening—other than winking at the camera, and refusing to lose her cool, even when Biden implicitly accused her of sexism by playing the "poor widdow widdower" card—lay in her masterful ability to distance herself from the existing administration without throwing the sitting President—or his advisors—under the bus.

Biden kept handing her a tiny effigy of G.W. Bush and asking her to wear it like an albatross around her neck. Every time, she politely declined to engage in "looking backward" and "finger-pointing."

Naturally, the McCain camp produced the first comprehensive list of Biden prevarications from this event; I'll want to check some of these out at a few of the law blogs as well. They list 14. I suspect that the reality is at least a dozen—maybe a baker's dozen.

Joe Biden's 14 Lies

1. TAX VOTE: Biden said McCain voted “the exact same way” as Obama to increase taxes on Americans earning just $42,000, but McCain DID NOT VOTE THAT WAY.

2. AHMEDINIJAD MEETING: Joe Biden lied when he said that Barack Obama never said that he would sit down unconditionally with Mahmoud Ahmedinijad of Iran. Barack Obama did say specifically, and Joe Biden attacked him for it.

3. OFFSHORE OIL DRILLING: Biden said, “Drill we must.” But Biden has opposed offshore drilling and even compared offshore drilling to “raping” the Outer Continental Shelf.”

4. TROOP FUNDING: Joe Biden lied when he indicated that John McCain and Barack Obama voted the same way against funding the troops in the field. John McCain opposed a bill that included a timeline, that the President of the United States had already said he would veto regardless of itÂ’s passage.

5. OPPOSING CLEAN COAL: Biden says heÂ’s always been for clean coal, but he just told a voter that he is against clean coal and any new coal plants in America and has a record of voting against clean coal and coal in the U.S. Senate.

6. ALERNATIVE ENERGY VOTES: According to FactCheck.org, Biden is exaggerating and overstating John McCainÂ’s record voting for alternative energy when he says he voted against it 23 times.

7. HEALTH INSURANCE: Biden falsely said McCain will raise taxes on people's health insurance coverage -- they get a tax credit to offset any tax hike. Independent fact checkers have confirmed this attack is false

8. OIL TAXES: Biden falsely said Palin supported a windfall profits tax in Alaska—she reformed the state tax and revenue system rather than instituting a windfall profits tax.

9. AFGHANISTAN / GEN. MCKIERNAN COMMENTS: Biden said that top military commander in Iraq said the principles of the surge could not be applied to Afghanistan, but the commander of NATO's International Security Assistance Force Gen. David D. McKiernan said that there were principles of the surge strategy, including working with tribes, that could be applied in Afghanistan.

10. REGULATION: Biden falsely said McCain weakened regulation—he actually called for more regulation on Fannie and Freddie.

11. IRAQ: When Joe Biden lied when he said that John McCain was “dead wrong on Iraq”, because Joe Biden shared the same vote to authorize the war and differed on the surge strategy where they John McCain has been proven right.

12. TAX INCREASES: Biden said Americans earning less than $250,000 wouldnÂ’t see higher taxes, but the Obama-Biden tax plan would raise taxes on individuals making $200,000 or more.

13. BAILOUT: Biden said the economic rescue legislation matches the four principles that Obama laid out, but in reality it doesn’t meet two of the four principles that Obama outlined on Sept. 19, which were that it include an emergency economic stimulus package, and that it be part of “part of a globally coordinated effort with our partners in the G-20.”

14. REAGAN TAX RATES: Biden is wrong in saying that under Obama, Americans won't pay any more in taxes then they did under Reagan.

h/t: Captain Ed, who was faster at finding this starter Biden-debunking than I was; I'm just going to give you the main Hot Air link, though, because Ed and AllahP have a lot of good VP debate coverage on their front page; the entry I'm stealing from right now is "lies and sighs," which contains that second vid and the "Biden's Lies" list.

I pilfered the Noonan vid from Ace.

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I always know that an ad will be particularly delicious when the McCain approval comes at the beginning: that's his way of announcing that he's takin' off the gloves:

He's just so . . . . straightforward. What you see is what you get. He can't help himself. He's Joe. Via AllahP at Hot Air, who remarks

The ‘Cuda is already wielding talking points about Biden ripping on Obama during the primaries for his vote to defund the war. Expect to see that tonight when the subject turns to Iraq in an attempt to bait him into losing his cool. Everyone knows that JB can BS his way through the Q&A; the challenge for him lies simply in not coming off like an abject jackass. If he can’t manage that for 90 minutes, he deserves to be replaced by Hillary.

To which the PUMAs would remark, "too little, too late."

The Morrester adds:

Here are the keys that IÂ’ll watch on each candidate.

• Sarah Palin: She has to stay aggressive with both Joe Biden and moderator Gwen Ifill. She has to attack the assumptions behind the questions, as Ifill will attempt to box her into desired responses. Biden will damn her with faint praise, being condescending while on the surface seeming courtly. She needs to push back against that. Most importantly, she needs to stop worrying about details and speak to themes and concepts, similar to what Barack Obama needed to do in his debate, and mostly failed. Best attack point: BidenÂ’s pork.

• Joe Biden: He has a tougher assignment. He has to give the appearance of jabbing while trying to throw haymakers. Normally, IÂ’d expect a man with BidenÂ’s experience to attempt to drown Palin with details, but Biden has a habit of inventing those on the fly. Would Ifill call him on that? Doubtful, but the post-debate spin could get brutal. He canÂ’t attack on experience, either, given ObamaÂ’s own short record of service, and canÂ’t get by with the Joe Sixpack routine, either. HeÂ’ll want to press his advantage on foreign policy. Best attack point: Foreign travel.

I expect this debate to be filled with canned sound bites, gotcha asides, and very little in the way of substantive policy debate. In other words, business as usual. However, Palin has the most to gain and the most to lose in this debate. Biden is a known quantity and even a poor debate showing wonÂ’t hurt Barack Obama, but a disaster from Palin will provide a drag on the ticket that only clear wins in the coming debates by John McCain can reverse.

May I remind everyone that—biased moderator or not—this is Sarah Palin against Joe Biden?

What does everyone going to think will happen? It isn't easy to get under Palin's skin; with Biden, it's impossible not to. If Biden takes his meds, he loses. If he doesn't, he loses.

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Courtesy of John Hawkins, whom I'm quoting in full, this time only:

As many regular readers of RWN already know, in 2006 I organized a group of conservative bloggers to raise money for the GOP. Well, this year we've got another group of bloggers together.

Ace of Spades HQ, Atlas Shrugs, Conservatives With Attitude, Gateway Pundit, Moonbattery, PoliPundit, Power Line, Redstate, Right Wing News, & Wizbang! have all joined up to help raise money for worthy candidates in the last month of the campaign.

Now, let me tell you a little bit about the slate of candidates we picked.

They're all non-incumbents in competitive races who were unanimously approved by every blogger endorsing the list. All of our candidates are in the House because the amount of money we're going to raise can make a bigger difference in those races. I would also add that you'll find this batch of candidates to be very fiscally conservative, pro-life, and tough on illegal immigration. In other words, these are exactly the sort of candidates we're going to desperately need in Congress next year.

Now, I don't want to scare you, but I do need to be honest with you: whether McCain wins or not, on the Congressional level, it's entirely possible that the GOP is going to have a year that is just as bad as 2006 was for us. In other words, even if McCain pulls it out, it's going to be an ugly year.

That's why it's so important to do what you can, right here and right now, for candidates who can make a difference. As you look at the candidates we chose, I think you will see that they are worthy of your support.

Dean Andal (CA-11): Andal is a rock-ribbed fiscal conservative who's endorsed by the Club for Growth. He's trying to unseat Jerry McNerney, an ultra-liberal who's a poor fit with his moderately Republican district.

Lou Barletta (PA-11): Barletta is a rising star in Pennsylvania politics. He made a name for himself by passing one of the "toughest illegal immigration ordinances" in the country and was voted "Mayor of the Year by his peers in the Pennsylvania State Mayors Association." Now, he's running against liberal congressman Paul Kanjorski in a moderately Democratic district -- and he's winning. This is a guy we really need in Congress.

John Gard (WI-0 : Gard, who has pledged to never take an earmark, is taking on one of the most liberal members of Congress, Steve Kagen, who is far to the left of his moderately Republican district.

Rick Goddard (GA-0 : Goddard is a retired US Air Force Major General who's going up against Democrat Jim Marshall in a strongly Republican district that John McCain could conceivably win 60-40 over Barack Obama. This is a great opportunity to put this seat back in the Republican column for a long, long time.

Chris Hackett (PA-10): Hackett is a staunch fiscal conservative who has been endorsed by the Club for Growth and has promised to "oppose every attempt to grant amnesty and a preferential path to citizenship for those who are here illegally." Hackett is going up against Chris Carney, a liberal who may not be capable of holding off Hackett in a strongly Republican district.

Melissa Hart (PA-04): Hart is in a rematch against Democrat Jason Altmire in this moderately Republican district. Hart, who had a lifetime ACU rating of 92% during her three terms in Congress, is someone we desperately need back in action.

Andy Harris (MD-01): Harris is a conservative Navy vet who defeated RINO Wayne Gilchrist in a primary. Because Gilchrist is supporting Harris' Democratic opponent, this strongly pro-Republican district is much more in play than it would be under normal circumstances.

Tom McClintock (CA-04): McClintock is a rising star in the GOP and is the only candidate who is endorsed both by Tom Tancredo's Team America PAC and the Club for Growth. Normally, McClintock would need little help in this strong GOP district, but he's facing a tough opponent and the sitting Republican Congressman, John Doolittle, became enmeshed in the Jack Abramoff scandal and is retiring from politics. Replacing Doolittle with a man like McClintock would be a huge improvement for conservatives.

Pete Olson (TX-22): Olson, who served in the Navy and describes himself as an anti-amnesty "budget hawk" is going toe-to-toe with Nick Lampson in Tom DeLay's old district. This is probably the GOP's best chance of a pick-up in the 2008 elections.

Tom Rooney (FL-16): Rooney is an Army veteran who taught criminal and constitutional law at West Point. He's matching up with Tim Mahoney in Mark Foley's old district. The district is only marginally Republican, but McCain looks like he will do well there and Mahoney isn't particularly popular.

William Russell (PA-12): Russell is a 28 year Army veteran who was at the Pentagon on 9/11 and served in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He's going up against one of the most corrupt, liberal, loud mouths in the entire House -- John Murtha. It's a moderately Democratic district and Murtha will be loaded down with special interest money, but with Murtha being dogged by a slander suit filed by one of the Haditha Marines he smeared, he may be vulnerable enough to be brought down.

David Schweikert (AZ-05): Schweikert, who has been endorsed by the Club for Growth, is trying to take back JD Hayworth's old seat. His opponent is Harry Mitchell, who ran as a moderate and voted like Ted Kennedy. In a moderately Republican district, Schweikert is definitely capable of knocking Mitchell out, especially if Arizonans turn out in droves to vote for favorite son John McCain.

Steve Stivers (OH-15): Stivers is a Lieutenant Colonel in the Ohio Army National Guard who received a bronze star and has campaigned on balancing the budget. He's trying to retain a Republican seat held by Deborah Pryce, who's retiring.

Folks, it's now or never. This is your last chance to make a difference for the next two years. Make the most of it!

Check 'em out. I'll look them up tonight to do the Joy-RINO review and make sure no one on this list is (1) anti-gay; (2) enforcement-only on immigration; (3) drillingonly, with no plans to move beyond fossil fuels, ever; or (4) one of those weirdos who has never inhaled.

h/t: Hot Air.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 11:20 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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