The Vig

While futzing around the house today, I tried my best to tune in to the Sean Hannity show to hear how the Right would be dealing with the state of the campaign.  In the hour I listened (well tried to listen) I don’t believe I heard him mention McCain’s name once.  He didn’t mention any prominent Republicans once.  The Republican agenda?  Not once.  Instead, it was all Obama, ACORN, and Bill Ayers.  I could really only take it in small doses.  Fortunately Rick Emerson was there to smooth things out with a wonderful discussion on old school Warner Brothers cartoons.

Ultimately, though, the afternoon was all about Hannity.  Talk radio, I guess, is trying to rerun their successful 2004 campaign by trying to make this a referendum on the Democratic candidate.  Unfortunately for them, I think a large part of what’s happening is a referendum on the Hannitys of the world.  The public has had it with the discourse and is looking for someone, anyone, who can rise above it.  This isn’t to say Obama doesn’t have his moments, I think he does, but compared to the crap coming out of the other side, he’s positively tame.

As if to illustrate my point, former Bush speechwriter and all around a-hole David Frum went on the Maddow show last night to discuss improving the discourse.  Of course rather than talk about how that could be accomplished, he took the opportunity to take a generous swipe at Maddow, who took him down swiftly.

Of course the discourse needs to improve.  Republicans are going to have a tough time regaining any traction with the public so long as Hannity and Limbaugh continue.  They’re also going to have a major problem should they nominate Palin in 2012, which I believe they will.  The NRO Right didn’t get their person this time around (they wanted George “Macaca” Allen and failing him, Romney), they’ll make absolutely sure they get her next time.  Despite the fact McCain tacked as hard and as far right as he possibly could this time around, he’s still too moderate for the base.

In the end, ACORN and Ayers are both about things which happened years ago.  And you can bet had Allen been able to run, he would have had just as many ghastly skeletons in his closet.  Rudy and Romney too.  That being said, it’s not 1968 or even 2004 any more.  We’re tired of fighting that same winless battle.  It’s time to turn the page.  For whatever reason, Hannity can’t

Atrios:

CNN is telling me that “Biden’s Verbal Blunders worry some Democrats,” and keep putting up Alex Castellanos (R-Hack) to explain it.

…and now Karen Hughes and Mark Penn are going to come on to explain the world.

It would seem CNN is once again living up to it’s 90s “Clinton News Network” monicker.  Biden isn’t going anywhere, nor should he.  Especially now.  The guy is beyond smart and will make an excellent post-Cheney VP.

Both the Clintons and the Republicans are scared witless about Obama.  He is the Democrats Reagan and could mean the end to the Nixonian politics which were perfected by the last two administrations.  This is a good thing, and the polls are starting to show the public agrees.

Following Jack Bog’s lead:

A friend of mine who lives up the street from the Palins in Wasilla has informed me Bristol Palin will be getting married next weekend at her parents’ home church in Wasilla.  Sarah is on her way back to Alaska to help out with preparations.  An announcement cancelling Thursday’s debate is expected in the morning.

I learned an important lesson about politics in August a few years ago.  The Bush administration got caught in something huge in the summer of 2003.  I mean it was knock you off your feet huge.  What was it?  I couldn’t tell you.  I remember writing about it.  Getting all up in arms about it.  But it turned to dust by Labor Day and we moved on.

Reading folks’ disappointment with Obama’s August backslide reminds me of that lesson.  It also reminds me of this last spring.  We Obama supporters held our collective breath after Texas and Ohio, wondering if Hillary might just pull the whole thing off after all.  Heck, I was starting to plan an August vacation to Denver to take to the streets.  In the end though, Obama put Hillary’s challenge down and we moved on.

Yes, Obama’s getting whacked pretty hard right now.  But no one outside talk radio and cable television is paying attention.  You might not have noticed, but the Olympics are on and something like 157 million people watched at least part of them last weekend.  And when they’re not doing that, they’re vacationing or cooking out or sitting on the deck watching the river drift by.  They’re simply not paying attention right now.

This will change next week when the conventions begin.  Let’s see where things stand in a month before we begin panicking.

Brian Baird, my congressman up here in the Couv, endorsed Barack Obama yesterday.  Better late than never, I guess.  Especially after the thumpin’ Hillary took here a week ago.

More importantly, Baird is a superdelegate.  So that’s one more vote Mrs. Clinton won’t be receiving.  At least for now.

Pete in Parkrose writes:

Someday you’ll have to explain my party’s hatred of everyone I like to me. I read James Dobson’s statement on McCain last night, and I’m not sure I get it. Ditto with Rush, who probably has a hell of a lot more in common with McCain than does Dobson. What’s wrong with me? Am I in denial? Am I really a liberal?

Here’s the deal.  McCain votes right along with his party 95% of the time. Heck, he got a better “conservative” rating from the American Conservative Union than did the rock ribbed “Reagan” conservative Fred Thompson.  And you can look that up.  It’s the 5% that ticks them off.  McCain actually wants to govern, which is a foreign concept to these people.  Limbaugh, Dobson, Hannity, Frist, DeLay. Those guys want to pretend like they’re governing while tearing down the very institutions they claim to want to run.We’ve had a decade now of the inmates running the asylum. The party has drummed out the Packwoods and Hatfields and Alan Simpsons and left themselves with a bunch of Larry Craigs, Gordon Smiths, and John Cornyns. Not one of them is a governor. They’re ALL party-boys who are there to cash the check. McCain won’t play ball with them, so he has to go.

McCain actually wants to run the government. You know, provide services. Make sure things get taken care of in case of natural disaster or terrorist attack. Should another Katrina happen, I don’t think he’s going to be isolated in his bubble while a city dies. I just don’t see it.

McCain loves Washington, he loves the game, and he truly loves his country. He’s the last of a breed. I’m still an Obama guy, but I think I’d be alright with a President McCain.

And Mateo.

And Niki.

And Jerome.

Make me proud today.

HT: Sullivan

Give it about a minute. No fair fast-forwarding.