Cruising the other blogs - here are some tidbits on Sarah Palin.  Not in any particular order.

A clip of her as a sportscaster surfaced

More Palin vetting issues

Guiliani endorses Palin because being a Mayor of town of 6000 is sooo much like New York.  “Maybe it’s my own background as a mayor and United States attorney, but this whole idea of executive experience to me would really qualify her,” Giuliani said.

Then there is the flip flop on or as we say in the Business - misrepresentation of the facts on her opposition to the Bridge to nowhere.  Even more from Alaska Blogs via Open Left.

Sarah Palin channels her inner McCain as Palin appears on a shock jock radio and laughs as the host called her political opponent (who happens to be a cancer survivor) a “cancer” on Alaska and a “bitch”.

Papers in Alaska question her qualifications.

Finally, Josh Marshall (a must read) on what exactly Alaska Troopergate means in short it means abuse of power.

Share your favorite Sarah Palin link link to the comments…

Update: Here’s the audio of her chuckling along while radio hosts call the president of the Alaskan State Senate (a cancer survivor and fellow Republican) a “bitch” and a “cancer.”

As Hurricane Gustav roars through the Gulf of Mexico, we as residents of Upstate New York should be thankful that we are one of the very few parts of the country that is unlikely to be hit by a major natural disaster. Just think about all of the regions of this country that are under some threat of a natural disaster:

• hurricanes and tropical storms in the South
• flooding in the Midwest
• wildfires in the Southwest
• earthquakes on the Pacific Coast
• tornadoes in the Great Plains

Those are just a few of the disasters which cause loss of property and even lives. Keep that in mind next time you hear someone complaining about lake-effect precipitation.

Welcome to the If you can’t see a difference you must be blind edition of  In case you missed it.  It was a busy posting week - easily one of the most prolific weeks here at RT so it is a looooooong Post.  Here is this week’s story.

Democratic Convention

The regular bloggers here at RT didn’t go to the Democratic National Convention.  We thought about it earlier this year but put our resources into Netroots nation instead.  Still, on the ground, experiential experience is what makes RT, well, RT - so we sought and found someone to provide on the ground personal experience of the convention.  We knew the speeches and TV coverage would be great but figured that a personal perspective of being on the floor or wandering the streets of Denver is what people wanted to read.  So a heartfelt thanks to “our delegate” who overcame some technical issues and delirious exhaustion to ensure RT readers had the latest and greatest perspective.

So thank you for providing opening coverage, being first to let our readers know - I’m Hillary Clinton and I don’t approve this message”, looking at the Protestors, insight into various caucus’,  meeting famous people,  Monday Keynote speeches with pics, Breakfast with New York’s First Lady,  Name those people, bedful of Swag, Hillary ending the roll call,  More observations, Magic of Bill Clinton, view of  Street Theater or Final night at the Pepsi center followed by final observations.  Great stuff, on time, on target and on the ground - Thank you! Thank you! Thank you.

Of course, the rest of us here at RT piped as well - Ladkiddo on Health Care, commenting on David Brooks,  Joe Biden (read the comments here) and look were we are today.  Airbare on Paterson’s speech,  Back to back Maffei and Powers ads, Noting that Community Blogger Petrena referred to Michelle Obama’s speech as “Hokey”, Hillary’s speech, Kerry’s speech,  Who could forget this line - we need a President who will look after Barney Smith before Smith Barney.

Relive Obama’s speech and see how the undecided voters moved.

NY-29th - Massa v Kuhl

The debates or lack thereof continued with Massa’s father demanding an apology from Randy Kuhl.  Channel 13 picks up on the apology thread.  Joe Dunning on the entire incident - mud on everyone but, and this is important, it is still about debate.  As you can see from the quotes in this lengthy D&C article on the race for Congress between Massa and Kuhl  we remind everyone why we need debates.

City News published an LTE with a known falsehood.  Massa shows strong numbers.

Presidential Race - Mrs Palin

We started the new week with the post about Frank Rich’s take on John McCain’s foreign policy “experience”. Who knew that that by the end of the week, it would give the word “experience” a whole new meaning.  Most importantly the GOP’s big “historical” moment is 24 years after the Democrats did the same thing.

John McCain who celebrated his 72nd Birthday nominated Sarah Palin, Alaska’s governor for the past 18 months.  Ladkiddo started us off - the person who John McCain wants a heartbeat away from  the Presidency and we discuss the Alaska Trooper gate scandal - Meanwhile Maggie Approves even thought by the numbers Maggie Brooks has much more expereince that Sarah Palin, here is more press coverage - check out this exchange, this discussion of choice or this one by Curt Smith, and, finally, btp wrapped it up nicely.

Having reread these posts and comments - the best part here is the comments with Conservative-types defending the pick by drawing out GOP talking posts about Obama’s experience.  The non-conservative types would have none of it and in the end - well - reread the comments judge for yourself.  Not a Palin supporter and need to prepare yourself for discussion with your conservative friend?  Reread the comments.

But there was more - so….

NY26th

Questions on Christopher Lee’s finances, City Newspaper gives up a good run down of the NY-26th.  The D&C discusses the Money race in the NY-26th.  And in a not so big surprise, Davis seeks to avoid debate with Primary opponents.

Federal

The D&C editorial board tries to write Obama’s Thursday’s acceptance  night speech.  Louis in the comments has the right response.

John McCains advisor (who selects advisors and how does that reflect on McCain’s experience?) says we can simply solve the health care problem by going to the emergency room.

Brighton sends a speaker to the GOP convention - yep and here is more.

Looks like Maffei’s opponent is cheating.

State

Local NOW organizaiton protests Joe Robach.  Joe Robach who is not all he seems.

Nachbar pick up an endorsement.

Local

Is your Social Security number up on the very public County Clerk’s website?  Good thing this isn’t an election year, oh, wait it is and here is the candidate who is an expert in Information Security.

Maggie gets props  (need a definition? from RT) for moving  towards greening Monroe.

Misc -

How far have we come from 8 years ago?  Look at this retrospective. What is the difference between Democratic or Republican Pollsters?

Free Market?  Unless you need a bailout because the invisible hand and poor business decisions have smacked you hard.

If you stayed to the end (hope you did) thanks and see you next week -

Randy Kuhl has spent a lot of time trying to blame our nation’s energy woes on the Democratic Congress. He’s indicated that he believes that “There won’t be any children, there won’t be any United States” unless we expand drilling soon.

Massa has turned the tables on Kuhl, blaming him for the closing of a local company:

Democrat Eric Massa has blamed U.S. Rep. Randy Kuhl, R-Hammondsport, for the closing of a trucking company that had operated out of Farmington and Chesterton, Ind.

More than 1,000 employees across the country lost their jobs Friday when Priority Transportation, which had offices on Collett Road in Farmington, closed its doors.

[....]

[Chief Executive Officer] cited “continued high fuel prices, weak freight demand and escalating operating costs, as well as tight credit markets” as reasons for the closing.

“Regrettably, it was more politics as usual from Rep. Kuhl,” said Massa in a statement on Friday. “On July 24 of this year, Randy Kuhl voted against the ‘use it or lose it’ Consumer Energy Supply Act of 2008, which would have released 10 percent of the strategic oil reserve for consumer use. This would have lowered and stabilized gas prices within a matter of weeks.”

Rep. Kuhl refused to help families and American businesses struggling to afford high gas prices and now 100 hard-working Americans have lost their jobs in our district,” Massa added, referring to the closing of the Farmington company.

We’ve been hearing from him for the last few months that it’s all about experience, then he picks Palin, someone that makes Obama look like an elder statesman by comparison?  How are we supposed to trust anything McCain says after this?

He picks Palin, without vetting her to discover the many skeletons in her closet (and in her livingroom, and on the front-porch swing, waving at passersby). How can we trust him to properly decide if we should , I dunno, go to war or something? (Not that any recent GOP administration would go to war half-cocked. That’s crazy talk.)

Is being unpredictable more important than good judgment, sound temperament, or integrity?

I think Rottenchester nailed it in this comment from a recent article:

My take is that this pick says a lot more about John McCain than it does about Sarah Palin She didn’t ask to be picked. McCain barely knows her, and from what I’ve read, the vetting process was incredibly superficial. McCain has put himself out as the solid, experienced, serious candidate, yet he made a very hurried and ill-considered decision. This pick says more about his judgment - he’s willing to roll the dice when it meets his political needs.

Also, isn’t everyone sick of narratives that are chucked aside whenever it’s politically expedient? For months, McCain has been declaiming on the importance of experience, how he knows all the players on the world stage, how serious the choice of president is in this dangerous world. He’s a 72 year-old cancer survivor. There’s a real chance that Sarah Palin could be president soon. But now the McCain campaign and its surrogates are concocting ever more silly talking points trying to spin a former small-town mayor and short-term small-state governor as an “experienced executive”.

Whatever Sarah Palin is, she isn’t experienced. Are we just supposed to forget everything McCain said in the past? Can’t we expect a little consistency from his campaign?

McCain is hoping that the media will continue to carry him and give him a pass, like they’ve done in the past (although they’re starting to wake up, to their credit.)  Here’s hoping that they (and enough Americans) see through this.

Generally, I consider Curt Smith to be a pretty conservative local political commentator.  So when I’ve found myself agreeing with him, it’s almost equivalent to my occasional “Holy crap, I’m actually agreeing with Pat Buchanan!” moments.  His comments on McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin for GOP VP candidate again have me nodding. Via Rnews:

“This is a spectacularly bad choice. Almost inconceivable. Implausible and really insulting and condescending to America, to the office and to women. John McCain is saying to the American people, particularly women, I think you are so stupid that you will vote for any woman no matter how unqualified to be vice-president, let alone be president of the United States,” said Curt Smith, political analyst.

It hurts, but I have to give it to Smith for having clarity on this.  And that’s all before considering that Palin’s under ethics investigations (despite being trumpeted as a “reformer”.)

(Stlo7 here - Last dispatch. How about a round of applause for some one on the ground reporting? It wasn’t a regurgitation of the speeches, but from a perspective generally not covered. I mean, as you read on, you will see what I mean. Big round of applause for our delegate.)

GOVERNOR DAVID

Yesterday morning at breakfast, the Governor addressed the New York Delegation. The more I hear this guy, the more I like him. He’s personable and bright. He’s also self-deprecating. At one point in the speech, a group of women shouted “We love you David” to which he replied, “I see my past is coming back to haunt me again.” At the time, the crowd ROARED with laughter. Since then, I have heard several people say it was inappropriate. Either way, it was a moment to remember.

MORE ON FREEBIES

The picture I sent of the freebies was taken only after a day and a half. The wealth increased. So I shipped all of it to my house via UPS. It will take 5 days to get to Rochester. I have no idea what I will do with myself without my QWEST Slinky or disposable Rock the Vote rain poncho during my long wait, but I do know that $30 for a box and shipping is way too much for free crap.

BLACKBERRYS AND BUSES

The transportation system in Denver was definitely over-taxed. There was shuttle service to and from the evening events for all delegates and guests. The problem is that it took way too long and was very disorganized. A bit more forethought would have been appreciated. As an example, upon leaving Invesco field last night, there were SUPPOSED to be lines to take the shuttles back, but there was just a mob scene. For those of us persistent enough to find a bus driver (and police officer, since there was one on every bus) to let us on without having to sort through the mob, we got back to our hotel within 2 hours of the event ending. The others had to wait until all the buses made that 2 hour trip, then come back and get the rest of them. One person in our delegation got back at 1:30 am …. 4 hours AFTER the event ended. Another took alternate transportation and got back at midnight.

When you are on a bus with people of like political zeal and convictions for two hours, you tend to make friends. After being at the field for 8 hours (necessary in order to get a seat) we had little contact with the outside world. Conversation turned to McCain and his choice for a running mate. No sooner did that conversation start than all four people in the back seat took out their Blackberrys (no iPhones allowed apparently) and started looking for answers. As I wrote before, the use of technology has been incredible.

CHECK PLEASE

One would think that the city of Denver would have anticipated that after spending an entire day in a stadium, 75,000 people might have been hungry. Upon our return to the hotel at 11:30 (MT) we went on a search for food. Every restaurant on the 16th street mall had closed their kitchen when we arrived. All we could find was McDonalds. Not offense to Mr. , but his fare is hardly a break from stadium food. The funny part is, even McDonalds closed after serving two more customers after us. They then proceeded to kick us out. Didn’t these businesses get the memo? What a missed opportunity for them to earn some more cash.

CONVENTIONS, CONFETTI AND CON-MEN

The air was absolute magic last night at Invesco. I can’t even believe that I was a witness to history. When the fireworks started and the confetti was flying, it was like I was in a dream. As absolutely exhausted as I am however, I was very saddened when Speaker Pelosi closed the convention. It was an incredible once-in-a-lifetime experience that I hope many of you get to experience some day.

Apparently, people are willing to have the experience at any cost. We were told by several security guards to not wear our credentials unless we needed to. Apparently, people were distracting delegates while someone else would cut their lanyard and steal the credential. I can only imagine the going rate from scalpers was quite high for the stolen creds, but I can’t help but think, it would have been a lot less violent to make money by just keeping a restaurant open past midnight.

After Airbare’s post meet the Flaums  - David and Irene…

David is a Bush Pioneer and is speaking at the GOP Convention.

Joe Spector has the details on David

David Flaum, a Rochester developer and national chairman of the Republican Jewish Coalition, will get a speaking role at the Republican National Convention next Thursday, the same night Sen. John McCain will accept the party’s nomination.

Flaum has been a major Republican campaign contributor both locally and nationally. He was a “pioneer” for President Bush’s re-election as someone who raised $100,000 for the campaign and hosted a Dick Cheney fundraiser in Rochester in 2003.

But let’s not forget about Irene

Irene Flaum, is a Pataki appointee serving on the MCC Board of Trustees. She voted to include Bill Smith in the list of finalists for the presidency, but she voted for Dennis Kessler on the ultimate appointment vote.

This group, PUMA (stands for party unity my ass) is putting up ads, using Hillary’s name, encouraging disenfranchised Hillary supporters to vote for McCain. I’m speechless. But I think it’s time for everybody who cares about the future of our country, and the world, to call Hillary’s office and ask her to demand that these people cease and desist from using her name in this manner. McCain stands for everything that Hillary is against. Please make the call.

Rochester Region
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
Kenneth B. Keating Federal Office Building
100 State Street
Room 4109
Rochester, NY 14614
Phone: (585) 263-6250
Fax: (585) 263-6247

Washington, D.C.
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
United States Senate
476 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-4451
General Fax: (202) 228-0282
Scheduling Req Fax: (202) 228-0121
TTY/TDD: (202) 224-6821

Talk about cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face!!

(H/T ME)

Earlier, we mentioned Maggie Brooks’s comments in support of Sarah Palin. It’s hard not to make the obvious comparison between their qualifications to be vice-president.

Currently, Maggie Brooks is the County Executive of Monroe County, a position she has held for a little over four and a half years. Palin is governor of Alaska, a position she has held for a year and a half. So Brooks has about three times as much “executive experience” (as Republicans like to say). Let’s compare the populations:

Alaska: 670,053
Monroe County: 730,807

That’s right — Monroe County’s population is larger than that of Alaska, about ten percent larger.

Prior to becoming governor, Palin was a city councilperson and later mayor of the the town of Wasilla, AK, which has a population of a little under nine thousand. Before becoming county executive, Brooks represented a county legislative seat of about twenty-five thousand people.

Maggie Brooks is just as qualified as Sarah Palin to be vice-president. Why didn’t McCain pick Maggie Brooks?

(Stlo7 here - Here is another dispatch from the NY Delegation. It was the last night at the Pepsi Center - Bill Clinton & Kerry spoke and Obama makes  a surprise visit. Check out the last paragraph. The rest of the post is our delegate’s words)

UNITY!
There truly are no words to describe what it was like to be at the Denver Pepsi Center last night. When Senator Clinton asked to end the roll call vote, she was on the floor of the convention in the New York section. I was sitting behind her and to the left. There were so many people crowded around her that I could barely see her head. I actually watched on the screen rather than watching her directly. That moment was really important to me as an avid Hillary supporter and delegate. I know that she kept telling us convincingly that she supports Barack, and I would never think of doing otherwise, but in that moment when she moved to end the call, I felt like her campaign was officially over, the wounds were officially healed and our party was ready to move forward.

4 YEARS TOO LATE
You don’t need to be a delegate to ask this; but why didn’t John Kerry figure out how to inspire millions and rile up a crowd 4 years ago?

WE’VE GOT WORK TO DO
I don’t know how it came across on tv/live feed, but when Bill Clinton entered the arena, the crowd roared. Every time that it seemed like it was about to die down, it started all over again. It was insane; I didn’t think it was ever going to end. That really made me feel like he was forgiven for his missteps during the primary.

I do however have to question the song selection right after he left the stage and “Beautiful Day” ended; “Addicted to Love”

SPECIAL GUEST
OK, so maybe YOU all knew that Barack Obama was going to appear at the convention, but none of us did. There were rumors and rumblings, but nothing authoritative. When Jill Biden took the stage and told Joe that there was a special guest there, we were almost certain it was Barack, but when he walked out on that stage, it was unbelievable. Now, I am not a very emotional person, and again, I am an avid Hillary Clinton supporter, but whether it was due to the build up or to the ending of the roll call, there was actually a tear welling when Barack appeared… and for me, that’s saying a lot.

EXHAUSTION
I AM SOOOOOO tired. We are constantly on the go and there is just one party after another. But, I think it’s mostly emotionally exhausting. Everyone we talk to says the same thing. As I walk,

LOCKDOWN!
Our hotel keeps getting locked down because of protesters. We are right on the 16th street mall and there is a lot of protestor action here. One fundie actually shouted to me “Our country was never meant to be a democracy”, my reply was “Then what gives you the right to protest”

Driving home from work today, I was listening, again to Ron Cooby. He was talking about, what else, Sarah Palin. He talked about her stance on abortion and how she arrived at her opinion. It makes no sense to me and I will tell you why.

Sarah’s youngest child was diagnosed, in utero, with Down syndrome. Because of the current laws in this country, Sarah had the option to terminate the pregnancy (also known as abort the fetus). She chose not to. That’s right, chose. She had the option. What a nice thing! Sarah chose what to do with her own body. Nobody told her what to do. I’m sure it was the right choice for her.

But, Sarah is anti-choice. Boggles the mind.

I haven’t had time yet to read more about the scandal in which she allegedly had her brother-in-law fired during a custody battle with her sister (see TPM’s take on this), but I did read an informative Q&A with a reporter at the Anchorage Daily News about her.  This struck me as strange:

Washington, D.C.: I was an apathetic McCain supporter until this. Now, I am energized. She does not have much experience but she is VP not POTUS. She seems smart, tenacious and just what McCain needs to beat the rap of “more of the same.” This is definitely not “more of the same.”

Gregg Erickson: You are right: smart and tenacious are good words to describe our governor. She was in Texas this spring when her water broke. Rather than staying there to have the baby, she jumped on a plan for an 11-hour flight back to Alaska, so her baby would be a “Alaskan-born.”

I know we’ve had a lot of discussion about home births on this blog, but this seems like taking that notion to an extreme.

Then there’s this:

Washington, D.C.: Why don’t reporters and legislators have a high opinion of the governor?

Gregg Erickson: It is clear that she has not paid much attention to the nitty-gritty unglamorous work of government, of gaining consensus, and making difficult compromises. She seems to be of the view that politics should be all rather simple. That often appeals to the wider public, but frustrates those who see themselves as laboring in the less glamorous parts of the vineyard.

Imagine that! A Republican who doesn’t tend to the details of governing…..

This afternoon, Maggie Brooks put her seal of approval on John McCain’s VP choice. From Rochester Homepage:

“She has a very strong economic record in Alaska She has a reputation of being an economic reformer. She is very conservative, which balances McCain’s persona within the republican party. “
Brooks says Alaska Governor Sarah Palin appeals to voters everywhere, especially those who were pushing for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s nomination.
“I would suggest that all of those Hillary supporters now have a place to go and now they will cross over and vote for the republican ticket,” adds Brooks.
Brooks won’t be headed to the Twin Cities next week for the Republican National Convention but says she’ll be watching closely to hear delegate reaction.

Yes, because she has indoor plumbing, just like Hillary, voters will ignore the fact that this woman stands for everything that they, and Hillary oppose. Sure, I see this as a win-win for the Republican ticket, don’t you?

David Flaum, a property developer from Brighton, is scheduled to speak to the Republican National Convention next week in St. Paul. He is the chairman of the Republican Jewish Coalition. From the D&C:

While Jewish voters are largely enrolled as Democrats nationally, some have turned to McCain because they have viewed him as stronger on Israel than Democratic candidate Barack Obama.

“David Flaum’s participation in the GOP convention program is another example of the high priority the GOP gives to the issues of importance to the Jewish community and another indicator of the continued inroads the GOP is making amongst Jewish voters,” said the group’s executive director, Matt Brooks.

“Continued inroads”? Are you kidding me? Of the 43 members of the House and Senate who are Jewish, only three of them are Republicans. That’s right, 93% of the Jewish members of Congress are Democrats. And with Arlen Specter possibly retiring in 2010, and Norm Coleman possibly being defeated this November, that number of Jewish Republicans in Congress may go as low as one within the next few years.

Being a Jew from Brighton myself, I can tell you from years of firsthand experience, the overwhelming majority of us are progressives, if not all-out Democrats. Have any of you ever driven around Brighton in the fall of an election year? There isn’t a Republican lawn-sign anywhere in sight. At the town hall meetings with Randy Kuhl, which have apparently been discontinued, no one has ever had anything positive to say to him.

Jewish voters supported Kerry in 2004 by nearly a 3-to-1 majority of 25% to 74%. And while Jewish Democrats largely supported Clinton in the primaries, it is another group that has quickly transitioned its support to Obama and we are now one of his strongest constituencies. Indeed, Obama is now far more popular among Jewish voters than even Joe Lieberman.

“Inroads”? More like out-roads.