By: Suzanne Rosenberg In today?s edition: why so few African Americans in Minneapois/St. Paul, Sarah Palin brings Rush to McCain, reality bites for Huckabee. Pitbulls and Lipstick? Palin means money for Obama and souvenirs from the conventions. The GOP vs. community organizers, right wing protests and Michelle Obama says two is enough! Blog links follow at very bottom. Come to OUR new blog, The E&P Pub, to discuss, www.eandppub.com.
*
Reality Bites
By James Hohmann
Mike Huckabee had some corrections to make after his speech at the GOP convention on Wednesday evening. Hohmann pointed out that Huckabee asserted that Sarah Palin got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska than Joe Biden the VP nominee on the Democratic ticket could garner in his failed White House bid. Hohmann points out that his comments pleased the crowd, but the numbers don?t add up. In 1996 Palin won 651 votes and in 1999, she was re-elected with 909 votes?.Biden?s fith place finish in the Iowa caucuses led him to exit the race and the official democratic records have 2328 Iowans voting for him and ultimately 79,754 votes in the overall tally for the Presidential race.
*
Ratings for Palin Mean Moolah for Obama
Political Intelligence
Boston Globe
By Foon Rhee
According to the Political Intelligence of the Boston Globe, Nielsen Co. reported that Palin?s speech drew an audience of an estimated 37 million people who watched her address on the three broadcast networks?.1.1 million shy of the record Obama acceptance speech last week and compared to the 24 million who turned in to see Senator Joe Biden accept the democratic Vice Presidential nod. Rhee noted however, that according to Nielsen Co., 19.5 million women tuned in to watch Palin, 4.9 million more than a week ago.
Foon Rhee also noted that Democratic fund raisers have raised some 10 million dollars since her speech on Wednesday. This is a one day record for Obama fund raising?.
Eight protest Dobson?s McCain endorsement
Politics West
The Denver Post
While hundreds protest at the GOP convention in Minneapolis/St Paul, in Colorado Springs, eight people have been escorted by police from the lobby of Focus on the Family headquarters in Colorado Springs after showing up to protest an endorsement by the group's founder. About a dozen protesters from American Right to Life Action arrived at Focus around 7:45 a.m. Thursday. Two hours later, eight of the protesters went inside the building and refused to leave. Officers escorted them out a short time later.
The ARLA says Focus founder Dr. James Dobson violated a pledge to God to never back a candidate who supports abortion. Dobson recently said on his radio show that he would "pull the lever for John McCain" if the election were held today. The group charges McCain voted to approve abortion funding for pregnancies stemming from rape or incest. Information from: The Gazette, http://www.gazette.com??
Denver vs. Minneapolis/St. Paul Souvenirs
The Caucus
The New York Times
By Micah Cohen
On the last day of this convention, thoughts are naturally turning toward ? souvenirs. But what items selling on the streets of St. Paul are worth cramming into the suitcase? Micah Cohen points out that Denver was awash with vendors selling everything from the ?Protect Yourself from John McCain? condoms being given out by Planned Parenthood to Barack Obama flip-flops. At the Republican National Convention it appears that not as much creativity was in evidence. Cohen points out that vendors in and around the Xcel Energy Center were selling a variety of buttons, including one saying ?Back Mac? with a picture of Senator John McCain, golden arches in the background and the phrase, ?I?m lovin? him.? Other buttons everywhere: ?Tacos for McCain,? ?Burritos for McCain,? ?Quesadillas for McCain? and ?Chips & Salsa for McCain.? (Sorry, we don?t get it.)
There was a bumper sticker, ?Say No to B.O.? ($4). And silver spoons, letter openers, shot glasses and Christmas ornaments (stamped with ?Proud Republican, St. Paul 2008?).
At Heimie?s Haberdashery, a clothing store on St. Peter Street, there was a fine selection of red and blue silk ties with tiny elephants carrying American flags in their trunks. Also found: ?Peppermints for McCain? ($3.95 ?Proven Fresh Breath?), ?McCain on a Stick,? (a chocolate lollipop with a cheap photo of the Senator $4.95) and forks twisted into the shape of an elephant by a local artist ($30). But the big hit at the Republican National Convention? The red (of course) Barack Obama T-shirt saying, ?Viva la Revolution? and ?We Surrender,? outselling the standard blue-issue McCain-Palin shirt by a wide margin, according to a vendor at 7th and Shephard. And they say negative pitches don?t sell.
*
Michelle Obama: ?I?m Done?
The Caucus
The New York TImes
By Jeff Zeleny
Jeff Zeleny points out that at both the Democratic and Republican conventions there has been considerable talk ? and endless images ? about political families. Each of the candidates have come to their respective party gatherings with their expansive families in tow. One family that is done expanding, apparently, is the Obama family. Zeleny reports that on an interview to air Monday on the season premiere of ?The Ellen DeGeneres Show,? Michelle Obama was asked whether she and her husband were planning to have a third child. ?I think I?m done,? Ms. Obama told Ms. DeGeneres. ?I think our third child is this campaign
*
Palin vs. Community Organizers
Washington Wire
The Wall Street Journal
By Sara Murray
Community organizers weren?t among those cheering on Sarah Palin?s speech last night to the Republican National Convention. In fact, they?re peeved according to Sara Murray of the Washington Wire. ?I don?t even know where to begin with what upset us,? says Gabe Gonzalez, the director of Campaign for Community Values, which works with community organizers and groups of them across the country as part of the Center for Community Change. The shot to the jugular, of course, was Palin?s line putting down Democratic candidate Barack Obama?s experience as a community organizer in Chicago, said Murray. ?I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a ?community organizer,? except that you have actual responsibilities,? she said, prompting cheers and laughter from the Republican delegates.
For community organizers, the Republican vice presidential candidate didn?t just drag their profession through the mud, she mocked the entire belief that Americans can?t collectively work to solve problems.?I think it demonstrated that they don?t take common people seriously,? says Gonzalez. ?They put all their trust and faith in them self and other electeds? just elect me and I?m gonna fix your problems. Who believes that?? While her intent may not have been to insult the entire profession, they?re still hopping mad. ?I think it was a cute line that she felt like she could deliver,? says Gonzalez. But, ?it invites a contempt for organized Americans, and I think that is incredibly dangerous and short-sighted.?
*
Palin's (Borrowed) 'Lipstick' Schtick?
The Trail
Washington post
By Mary Ann Akers
When the cover of the New York Post has a cover with Sara Palin which reads, ?Pit Bull with Lipstick,? we know that Palin?s lipstick joke from her Wednesday night acceptance speech got noticed. According to Mary Ann Akers from ?The Trail,? the joke is generating lots of buzz in Democratic circles and the liberal blogosphere. Not because of how funny it was, but because of its similarity to another (in)famous one-liner delivered by controversial evangelical pastor John Hagee, says Akers.
Palin, who, like Hagee, is an evangelical Christian, had Republicans inside St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center doubled over laughing when she said, "What's the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick." Hagee, in his book "What Every Man Wants in a Woman," wrote, "Do you know the difference between a woman with PMS and a snarling Doberman pinscher? The answer is lipstick." Akers also points out that Hagee also called the Catholic Church "the great whore" and suggested in a sermon that the Holocaust was God's will.* Akers points out that Chris Rodda was first to write it on her Talk to Act* blog.
*
Georgia congressman calls the Obamas 'uppity'
On Politics
USA today
By Mark Memmott
Mark Memmott of USA Today?s, ?On Politics,? noted today that A Georgia congressman's spokesman says the lawmaker did not intend to insult Barack and Michelle Obama with a racially tinged insult when he referred to them today as "uppity. According to Memmott, CQ and The Hill reported that Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, a Republican, said that "honestly, I've never paid that much attention to Michelle Obama. Just what little I've seen of her and Senator Obama, is that they're a member of an elitist class ... that thinks that they're uppity."
"It was obviously not a racially tinged remark," said the press secretary, Brian Robinson. A spokesman for Obama's campaign, Robert Gibbs, said that "since Congressman Westmoreland's never met the Obamas, maybe he could spend a couple of days with them, he can get out on the bus with a 10-year-old and a 7-year-old, they can watch TV together. We'd invite Congressman Westmoreland to hit the trail with a real family in America, not just a member of Congress."
*
For GOP, Who are these white people?
The Swamp
The Chicago Tribune
By Frank James
Several news outlets began covering a certain angle aftera report ?about the relative paucity of blacks,? at the GOP convention issued by the Joint Center for Economic and Political Studies earlier this week. James points out that the study ?painted a pretty bleak picture of the situation in the Republican Party so far as black participation is concerned.? James also notes that this is ?readily apparent any time you stroll through the convention hall.? The study points out that the 36 black delegates to this GOP convention in Minneapolis/St. Paul is the lowest total in 40 years for a Republican National Convention, or 1.5 percent of the total number, substantially lower than the record setting 6.7 percent in 2004 or a 78.4 percent decline over the 167 delegates in 2004 and a 71 percent decline over the 124 delegates in 2000.
Those Log Cabin Republicans
Top of the Ticket
Los Angeles Times
By Don Frederick
Like African American delegates, the number of Log Cabin Republicans or openly Gay Republican delegates is also exceedingly small at the year?s GOP convention. The number is estimated to be about two dozen out of 2380 delegates. According to Don Frederick of the ?Top of the Ticket? the ?Log Cabin did not actually get around to endorsing McCain until Tuesday (a little shy of seven months after he effectively locked down the presidential nomination). The group issued a statement of support, and lavished praise on the Ariziona Senator?.for 'bucking his own party?s leadership'."
Steve Schmidt, McCain?s campaign manager spoke at a luncheon hosted by the Log Cabin delegates. Schmidt urged the group to ?keep fighting for what you believe because the day is going to come,? and "we are the party of freedom. We will keep fighting as a party to reach it in full.? Schmidt?s interest in the group?s efforts may be more than academic according to Frederick given that a recent Washington Post profile pointed out that his lone sibling is a lesbian. The Log Cabin republicans also applauded the choice of Sara Palin as McCain?s running mate even though she is known as a strong social conservative.
***
Trail Mix's Featured Blogs:Chicago Tribune:
The SwampLos Angeles Times:
Top of the TicketThe Boston Globe:
Political IntelligenceThe Denver Post:
Politics WestThe New York Times:
The CaucusThe Wall Street Journal:
The Washington WireThe Washington Post:
The Trail and
The FixUSA Today:
On Politics
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here