Among the conservative base of the GOP, they believe that they have witnessed a new political star being born, the second coming of Ronald Reagan. For Obama supporters, the reaction was much ado about nothing. What will matter is what independents think especially that all important blue collar demographic that is likely to decide this election.

The text of the speech is below the fold. (more…)

Former Alaska Senator and Presidential candidate Mike Gravel has written an op-ed in Counter Punch on his thoughts on Governor Sarah Palin. They are largely positive noting that she is “very much of an Alaskan character” and that Americans will “love her story.” He goes on to say that Governor Palin “comes to the national scene as a novice with a clean slate is her main asset.” Indeed that is one of her calling cards. An experienced reformer untouched by the noxious Washington scene. And if there are mavericks in the Democratic Party, Mike Gravel is certainly one of them.

On rare occasions our nation has been lucky when new political leaders were selected from obscurity by circumstance. They weren’t indebted to the party bosses or special interests, but they rendered unusual and historic service in times of need. Washington, Lincoln, the first Roosevelt and Truman come to mind.

Sarah Palin, the Governor of Alaska, has been plucked from obscurity and now shares the stage with three other national leaders vying to head the next government of the United States. Sarah is very much of an Alaskan character. Politicos and pundits will have difficulty handling her as she is being tested in the crucible of media scrutiny over the next nine weeks. My guess is, Americans will relate to her and love her story.

In my mind, that Sarah comes to the national scene as a novice with a clean slate is her main asset. Having a long history of political experience also means a long history of exposure to the political corruption endemic to the process of human governance, with the phony public and private compromises that accompany political experience.

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This Internet only ad was released by the McCain campaign in advance of his nomination tomorrow night. It is a two minute spot that touts his character and convictions. One thing about John McCain that I do like, he’s a student of history unlike his opponent who in a New Yorker interview said this:

”By the way,” just as an aside. You know, I’m not a historian, so— There’s a hotel, I think it’s the Capitol Hilton, in Washington; and downstairs, where there are a lot of banquet halls, there’s a whole row of all the presidents. You walk by the forty-three that have been there and you realize there are only about ten who you have any idea what they did.

And yet he wants to be President.

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The McCain campaign has released another new ad, this one is tailored for the Ohio market. It is a 30 second spot and it hits Senator Obama over energy and off-shore drilling. It’s been awhile since McCain has run an ad like this and it was a winning issue for him in the polls. While the ad hits Obama, it also ties Senator Obama to host of Democratic leaders in the Senate. With Congress’ approval ratings at 9%, it is not a bad tact to take. I’d expect the attacks from the McCain campaign to step up this line of attack. The risk for Senator McCain is that should he lose the election, he then has to go back to work with those he has attacked.

Again just for the record, I would publish the Obama campaign ads but they aren’t being released to the media.

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Today at the RNC, Republican women spoke in support of Governor Palin’s selection as vice presidential candidate touting her executive experience.

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Republican presidential candidate John McCain landed in Minnesota this afternoon for the Republican National Convention. McCain stepped off his campaign plane shortly before 1:00 p.m. EDT at Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport.

McCain was greeted by his wife, Cindy, and their seven children. Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and her family was also among there to greet him. McCain shared a hug with Sarah Palin and exchanged greetingswith Palin’s 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, and her boyfriend, 18-year-old Levi Johnston. The GOP has embraced the issue and has come together as a family. That’s what families do. Why do some liberals miss that?

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The McCain campaign released a new ad today comparing the reformist credentials of Governor Palin with those of Senator Obama. The ad is a 30 second spot and is running on national networks. This is clearly the next upcoming theme for the McCain campaign: Obama talks change, McCain & Palin have a record of change.

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Geraldine Ferraro was on ABC’s Good Morning America this morning. Here’s what she said.

“A lot of those PUMA [Party Unity My A--] people and I will be watching very carefully to make sure that you treat her just like anybody else. Go to her, her qualifications, go to her experience. Go to whatever you want to. But make sure it’s done on a basis where she’s treated like a guy by the media. No sexism. Because we’ll be looking.”

Yes, we are. And it is not so funny that sexism is coming from “liberal” and “progressive” quarters.

Here is the full interview (video). And the transcript is below the fold. (more…)

Asset, Pronunciation (US): /ˈæsɛt/ (noun) 1. any item of economic value owned by an individual or corporation 2. a useful or valuable quality 3. advantage or resource

How bad are things at TalkLeft, Jeralyn Merritt’s once erudite and inclusive blog? In a word, bad. I have to wonder if Jeralyn knows what an asset she has, or better put, had in TalkLeft and that the value of that asset is not her just own posts until recently anyway and certainly not TChris’s posts which resemble Obama campaign talking points and offer little if any analysis but rather the commentary and insight of Armando LLorens who blogs as Big Tent Democrat or BTD for short plus the comments of a once large and diverse TL membership.

What made TalkLeft special was the diversity of opinion plus the civility and order of the conversation given Jeralyn’s well-thought out rules for discussion. Insults were non-existent, threads stay on topic and while BTD and Jeralyn set off the discussion, often the greatest value came from the comments. That’s certainly a big part of TalkLeft’s asset base — its membership.

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I touched on this story earlier in the week but the story is gaining traction as it gets reported in the world’s newspapers. Here are two reports on the story, first from the New York Times and then from the UK Independent.

The five women were from the village of Baba Kot, Department of Jafferabad, in the province of Baluchistan (southwestern Pakistan) and members of the Umrani tribe. The three young women, all teenagers, had decided to get married before a civil court in the town of Usta Mohammad, going against decision by members of their tribe. The two other women, who were older, were members of their families.

According to information collected by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH — a French based group) affiliated league in the country, their plan was discovered, and on and July 13, 2008, the five women were reportedly captured and transported in a car with provincial government plates to the desert by several men, including Mr. Abdul Sattar Umrani. the younger brother of Sadiq Ali Umrani, the Minister for Housing in the Baluchistan provincial government and a member of the ruling party. Having struck three of the young women, the men opened fire on them, seriously wounding them but not killing them outright. They then covered their bodies with earth and stones, while they were still alive. The two other older women, aged 45 and 38, were then also buried alive for trying to help and rescue the teen-aged victims.

This is Pakistan. Honour killings in Pakistan number in the hundreds annually. Women are buried alive, hanged, stoned or simply beaten to death. Add to this over 3,000 women annually who are defaced and scarred with acid or burnt with kerosene oil. Young girls are often sold by their parents into slavery, sometimes in public. Beyond that there is just simply what’s more common throughout the world, widespread domestic violence.

As I noted earlier, the killings have been defended by politicians from Baluchistan. Reacting to a female colleague’s attempt to raise the issue in parliament, Israrullah Zehri said such acts were part of a “centuries-old tradition” and he would “continue to defend them”. That only sparked further outrage with various women’s groups taking to the streets demanding action against “a heinous crime against humanity”.

Below the fold a report on the state of women’s rights in Pakistan. (more…)