Looks Like It's Palin

We will know for sure in an hour or so, but it pretty much looks like Alaskan beauty Sarah Palin will be McCain's VP pick. It has its downsides, but on a whole it's a damn impressive pick by McCain, especially when you consider other names that were floating around....As someone who considers themselves a right-leaning libertarian, the pick is about has good as McCain could have done.

Civics Lesson from McCain: 'I'm not being elected dictator"

McCain in an interview with Politico says he will not make a one-term pledge, something that many conservative pundits had hoped for. He also pledges to work with Congress to make decisions for our country because in case you didn't know, we aren't electing a dictator in November. Apparently our country is like a republic. Or something like that.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. — John McCain stated unequivocally in an interview with Politico on Wednesday that he would not pledge to serve only a single four-year term, rejecting a suggestion that some allies believe would allay questions about his age and underscore his nonpartisan message of putting country first.

“No,” McCain said flatly, “I’m not considering it.”

There has been speculation that McCain, 71, could couple a single-term promise with an untraditional running mate such as Democrat-turned-independent Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.) to make the case that he would shove political interests aside and run a consensus-oriented government with the Democratic-held Congress.

On how he would be different from Bush:

“Let’s show the American people ... that there are opportunities for us to work together for the good of the country,” McCain said. “And I think that [the Democrats] would benefit as much or more as I would.”

McCain added: “I’m not being elected dictator — I’m being elected president. And you have to work with Congress. And they know the priorities as well as I do.”

As for those priorities, and specifically what the two parties could accomplish together in the first 100 days of a McCain presidency, he touched on spending cuts and entitlement reform before talking in more general terms.

McCain Just Now, "Learning to get Online" Also to "Make Toast" and "Program the VCR"

McCain doing his best to not sound like the out-of-touch Grandpa that we all know he is in an interview with the NYT. From Politico:

John McCain says in an interview published this weekend that he has begun learning the wonders of the World Wide Web, but does not yet e-mail or have a BlackBerry.[...]

“I am learning to get online myself, and I will have that down fairly soon, getting on myself,” McCain told Adam Nagourney and Michael Cooper of The New York Times.

“I don’t expect to be a great communicator, I don’t expect to set up my own blog, but I am becoming computer literate to the point where I can get the information that I need.”

McCain said websites his staff often shows him include The Drudge Report, Politico.com and Real Clear Politics.

"I will have that down fairly soon"? Fantastic. Great to know that he's almost figured out how to double-click on the Internet icon and then type in google.com. If he wasn't able to get that in like 3-5 weeks we might have cause to worry about his age, intelligence and over-all ability to lead the most powerful nation in the world. But because he will have that down "fairly soon" we all can relax.

Story here.

Hillary Wins By 10%, No End in Sight

Hillary stays strong with her base in PA, and Obama continues to hope that the little known voting bloc of white -- middle-aged and older -- middle-class voters will, at some point vote for him. It might happen come November; but ask yourself this -- who are old white people more likely to vote for in a presidential election with their two choices being: 1) a young black lawyer with an ivy league education, a smidgen of elitism, and a trio of Abercrombie and Fitch models in the foreground of his speeches, (see above right) or 2)the 100 year old white guy who has run for president before, and also happens to be a Vietnam veteran and former POW.

I know my answer, and it's not the black guy...Of course the question is - are those non college-educated whites the swing voters in '08? Probably. Forget the exit polling data, numbers can always be tricky, the key worry for Obama supporters should be his inability to win in big states, whether earlier in the race or now as the end nears against Clinton. This says the same thing that the exit polling does -- Obama isn't the trans-everything candidate that he was made out to be. He doesn't appeal to every voter demographic, not nearly. Without looking at specifics, that alone should give McCain and his team a serious confidence boost.

This Is What Wins Front-Runner Status In The GOP

How did John McCain spend Super Bowl Sunday? Speaking at Sacred Heart University in Connecticut, of course:

FAIRFIELD - John McCain cast himself Sunday as heir to Ronald Reagan on domestic spending and a strict-constructionist on judicial nominations, messages intended to reassure conservatives less than 48 hours before the Super Tuesday primaries.
[...]

But he also focused on burnishing his credentials as a fiscal hawk, decrying what he called $35 billion in pork-barrel spending signed into law over the past two years by President Bush.

Who did McCain choose to have at his side while delivering his "fiscal hawk" message? Who else: CT Rep. Chris Shays and Sen. Joe Lieberman. As David Boaz notes, Lieberman is no conservative, fiscal or otherwise. Besides hawkishness and age, there's basically nothing Lieberman and McCain have in common. And Shays? Well, his wealthy CT district was a well-represented part of the 2008 additions to the DHS "Terror Risk" list. Each of the three CT cities added to the DHS list this year have some zip codes in Shays's district. And while it's true that the list is actually released by the executive branch, it's not farfetched to believe that Shays may have had some influence. He also serves on the House Committee on Homeland Security.

Was he any more credible regarding judicial nominations? Hard to tell... he didn't really say much:

"I am proud to have been part of a team that got Justice Roberts and Justice Alito appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court," McCain said. "I will appoint judges that strictly interpret the Constitution of the United States of America and not legislate from the bench."

CNN correspondent Dana Bash recently commented on TV that the quote from McCain was "essentially code" to appeal to conservatives. She's right in that it was a pander to conservatives... "strict-constructionist" and "not legislate from the bench" are classic GOP pandering lines. But it's not at all "code." Code, by definition, is that in which "symbols are assigned definite meanings." But there is no definite meaning here. Normal politics, absolutely. Bullshit pandering, you bet. But for fuck's sake, how about some clarification:

* What do you mean by "strict-constructionist?" Is this just a way to say "pro-life only" without saying "pro-life only?" Or do you mean "strict-constitutionalist?"

* Name three examples of "legislating from the bench." Explain how those decisions contradict the constitution. Next, explain how the constitution allows the federal government to prohibit or regulate abortion.

To be fair, I never hear any serious candidate answer these questions, not just McCain. But the point is that this guy has no idea what he will do if he is elected president, except stay in Iraq indefinitely. While McCain may be a fiscal conservative in some ways, he's obviously not a principled fiscal conservative. In other words, I cannot be confident in McCain to take the right side of any fiscal issue that may become the new hot button issue over the course of a 4 year presidency. If he wins, he might as well just flip a coin to choose his position on each new issue.

Lieberman To Endorse McCain

McCain-Lieberman '08 ?

McCain Bounce

McCain makes a push up in the latest, national Gallup poll. Up 4%. I'd expect a bit more up this before the fall is over. I'm still standing by this statement from August.

McCain: Step Up the War on Drugs!

From a "campaign" stop (I use the term loosely in regards to Team McCain) in Iowa:

GLADBROOK, Iowa (AP) - Republican presidential hopeful John McCain says the U.S. should step up the war on drugs as part of efforts to secure the borders.

Campaigning in Iowa, McCain said Americans are to blame for "creating the demand" for illegal drugs. As a result, he says drug cartels "have taken over our border cities." McCain says the war on terror has diverted some attention from the battle against illegal drugs.

Full story here.

McCain Math

You start with 12 staffers. Then, cut the staff down to 4, because you can only steal so much change from your grand children's piggy banks to pay said staff. After a couple weeks and some serious "re-structuring" you are able to add 4 new staffers. Simple math tells you that you went down from a total of a dozen folks on the payroll to only 8. From the Wilimington Star:

At its peak this spring, McCain had a dozen on his full-time payroll here and a handful of paid consultants. Last week, he had four paid staffers and the consultants were all working for free.

With two hires this week and two more in the next week or so, the campaign will have eight full time staffers by the end of the month. And all the new hires will be doing the field work of directly courting voters, McCain spokesman B.J. Boling said

[...]

There have been more resources devoted to this state. We've been able to add staff in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina," Boling said. "I think that reflects our overall campaign strategy."

Welcome to the McCain campaign, where firing 8 people then hiring back 4 is called "adding staff." Full article here.

Disclosure: I still don't like John McCain. Really, not at all. However, I think McCain makes a a final push before he runs completely out of steam. I'm betting on a better than expected Iraq report in September and some minor shifting in public opinion, esp with beleaguered Republican voters who are looking for some good news. If that happens McCain is positioned well. So I'm saying Iraq will look better this fall than it did this past spring and McCain will make a push in the polls. How does that sound for going out on a limb?

My Friends, McCain isn't Going Anywhere......For Now

Sign #37 of a floundering campaign:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. John McCain dismissed the notion Thursday that he might drop out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination because he is lagging in fundraising and trailing in polls.

"That's ridiculous," the senator told reporters in the Capitol. "Why in the world would I want to do that?"

"It would be nuts," McCain said.

Stay in...I've had a blast watching him stumble his way out of contention. Keep up the good work Senator. Full article here.

The Man Who Would Have His Finger on The Button

Do you want this hot head to be Commander-in-Chief?

Via Roll Call (subscription required).

Several key Republican sources tell HOH that McCain in fact told Cornyn to “f--- off” during a last-minute meeting Thursday to wrap up details of the then soon-to-be-announced bipartisan immigration agreement. Apparently, Cornyn — the conservative stalwart who has been negotiating with fellow Senators for weeks on the deal — was making a final push for some of his provisions when McCain (who has been on the campaign trail for the past five weeks) jumped in to cut him off.

Just to get warmed up, our sources say McCain charged Cornyn with making a “chickens--t” argument to try to sink the delicate immigration package, and urged him to leave the room. (Notably, the room was the ceremonial presidential area off the Senate Chamber where some 40 people were huddling, including Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and a handful of other Democratic and Republican Senators.)

No wallflower himself, Cornyn struck back, charging McCain with “trying to parachute in” to the negotiations at the 11th hour to try to be a player in a deal of which he had little or no part. Then, according to several observers, things turned really ugly.

McCain turned to Cornyn and said: “F--- you. I know more about this issue than anyone here in the room.”

According to sources, the exchange was met with awkward silence.