Palin and Obama's "Tar Baby"

Bulletin: President Barack Hussein Obama makes dover of Mad Magazine!

Lee Atwater practiced "tar baby" politics. Willie Horton was Dukakis' "tar baby," and Atwater (along with a guy named Floyd Brown, who's still around) attached the "team" of Dukakis-Horton together. If I'd been king of the McCain Campaign, I would have suggested the same with the team of Obama-Wright. One problem: John McCain NEVER mentioned the name "Jeremiah Wright," and apparently forbade Sarah from doing so. I believe McCain only mentioned Bill Ayers' name once, perhaps twice.

The campaign gave Sarah a script to use on Obama-Ayers, and it was a pretty lame script ("paling around with terrorists"). They failed to portray Obama as a socialist who was proposing job-destroying (key term) tax policies. And on and on . . .

The result was that Obama, throughout the campaign, had very high "positives." At one point (with the lady in Wisconsin) McCain told us we "have nothing to fear from an Obama presidency." He should have added, "Heck, I may vote for him myself."

I'm not suggesting that McCain should have run a Darth Vader campaign, only that he should have established Barack Obama as a radical who would do great harm to individual Americans. As I've said before, I kept wondering "Exactly why is John McCain running for President? Does he really think it's important that the American people elect him rather than the other guy?"

As Pamela Geller put it recently in WND, Sarah Palin's "simplicity" is her strength rather than her weakness. For example, 18% of the people eligible for Medicare have "no health insurance." Make them sign up, and we significantly reduce the number of uninsured. Many of those people don't sign up because they don't want to pay the 90 bucks a month premium. Okay, find out what needs to been done to get them to pay it -- and then do what's necessary.

Those approaches may have some bad sides, but it's a lot better than what we're seeing now in Congress. If we PAID private insurance -- basic coverage -- for ALL the uninsured, it would cost less than the proposals now in front of Congress.

Sarah Palin will never be able to cite statistics on health care (from a TelePrompter) that come trippingly off the tongue of Hussein, but his statistics are all self-serving and ultimately bogus.

2012 Election: Palin Defeating Hussein

A significant majority of people who voted for Obama believe Sarah said, "I can see Russia from my house." As Debbie notes, Sarah never said any such thing. The sadsacks in the McCain Campaign, who ran everything, never counterattacked with ferocity, and thus "myths" were allowed to fester. I told someone today that I regard John McCain as an American hero, but I also regard him as a terrible presidential candidate.

Sarah will be a great candidate, particularly if she has people around her who are very talented and intensely loyal. Talent and loyalty translate into telling her the truth about what needs to be done to win. It also means anticipating what the enemy --- political and media -- will be doing next. To someone like John McCain, the MSM IS the media -- CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, the Times, and the Post. To me, they are the enemy that is out to do us (including SP) harm.

McCain and his senior staff were incredibly weak in terms of Internet politics, and volunteers, like the TeamSarah people played a much more important role than the McCain Campaign. The Hillary Supporters/NoBama group had more than 300 bloggers for McCain-Palin. We got zero help from the McCain Campaign, which may have been barely aware we existed.

At one point in the summer, John McCain went "across the aisle" to pat Barack Obama on the back and congratulate him on being the presumptive nominee. I thought at the time, "Barack Obama does not regard you as his esteemed 'colleague'; Barack Obama despises you and everything you stand for." Sadly, even after the campaign , McCain would be amazed to hear that. Sarah Palin, in contrast, knows a bunch of political dirtbags when she sees them.

Lee Atwater said of Michael Dukakis 20 years ago, "I'm going to make [convicted murderer and rapist] Willie Horton his running mate." I would have made Jeremiah Wright and Bill Ayers Obama's running mates.

McCain never wanted the name Wright mentioned. Naivete in the extreme.

Sarah Palin: The GOP's Future

Mitt Romney recently told Newsmax that Sarah Palin is "beautiful" but not influential. Romney I believe is the mega-millionaire who spent about $30 million of his own money to win the Wyoming caucus and the Utah and Michigan primaries -- period. Right now, Romney is going around the country in an effort to "re-brand" the Republican Party. I suggest he re-brand the Party by becoming a Democrat, which he seemed to be -- at least ideologically -- when he ran as a liberal in Massachusetts.

I agree with my friend Mike Avery about the need NOT to re-brand the GOP. If we just try to imitate the Dems, people are going to shake their heads . . . and go in the other direction. What's our slogan to be, "Hey, we're almost as liberal as they are?" Or, "We're spending a lot -- but not as much as THEM?"

Yes, sending out Romney, the Bushes, Bobby Jindal, and the boring Eric Cantor is a terrible idea. We all know what GWB did wrong -- including terrible communication skills and surrounding himself with people of questionable talent and loyalty -- and the idea is for us to do better. I read during the campaign that Romney had higher negatives than . . . Hillary Clinton. Eric Cantor couldn't draw a crowd if he handed out $10 bills. Bobby Jindal, in his response to the State of the Union by Obama, gave a speech that was naive to the point of childishness.

McCain was/is a lazy man. He's been in politics 30 years, and he never learned out to give an inspiring speech? He condemned the NC Republican Party for running a commercial mentioning the Rev. Wright . . . then, he admitted he'd never actually seen the commercial! He remained mystified by the world of online politics. He kept activists chronically short of yard signs, especially "Democrats for McCain" material. He had terrible outreach to key demographics, including young voters and suburban women.

Other than that . . . well . . . he never knew who his opponent (Obama) was or what he was up to. He never grasped Sarah Palin's appeal -- and ended up resenting it.

We don't need re-branding. We need to do smart things rather than stupid ones. The smartest thing we could do in 2012 is to nominate Sarah Palin for the presidency.

Why McCain Disliked Sarah Palin

On McCain, who was such a terrible candidate. When Sarah Palin went to Jacksonville, she drew a crowd in excess of 60,000, maybe the biggest political gathering ever in FL. I fear that John McCain (and the nasty Meghan) resented every one of those 60,000 souls.

Being President to McCain is not as important to him as "being a PLAYER," being a Washington bigshot who gets on the Sunday shows and hangs out with other Beltway types. He's married to one of the richest women in America, and it has been many, many years since he had a real connection to The Great Unwashed.

My slogan for Sarah 2012 is: "Sarah . . . she's ONE of US." Peter N., who wrote the piece below is also "one of us."

Winning the War for Our American Culture and Way of Life

"Von Clausewitz spoke of two main factors to waging war–means and will. Means is the easy part. History is replete with examples of oppressed people getting around the restrictions placed on them by their conquerors in order to fight back. Most Eastern “open hand” martial arts had their origins this way. Means can always be found, even if they need to be taken from the enemy.

"Will is the more difficult, and the more important. Without the will to win, and win decisively, any power, no matter how great, will lose. France in Indochina and Algeria. The US in Vietnam, and still possibly in the Middle East, time will tell.

"Will is everything. We must steel our will to win, no matter how long it takes, or how much it costs us personally. Decisive victory is required, or else we will be re-fighting this cancer over and over again over the next decades. It could be this particular enemy will never go away entirely, and the war must be re-fought every couple of centuries or so. But better a couple of centuries than decades. We must win, and win completely. To that end, we must have the will to go all the way."

The above is a very well-argued piece by Peter N., whom I salute for his candor and commitment.

How YOU Can Defeat Obama

There are practical political steps you can take to help ensure that your favorite candidates win elections. That's the heart of Kathy Morrison's new book, An Independent Call. In the New Hampshire primary and the general election, Kathy influenced hundreds of vote (at least). She will show you how to gain similar leverage with voters.

If Sarah Palin is to win the presidency in 2012, she must get strong support from the roughly 30% of American voters who regard themselves as "Independent." During the 2008, one of the most effective online Independents was Kathy Morrison of Epping, New Hampshire. She ended up as one of the most effective backers of John McCain and Sarah Palin.

Now, as you see, she's published a book about her experience in the past election. Kathy is a "keeper," and I'd urge you to buy and read her book, which you can do at: http://broadsideofthebarn.com/.

If you're a blogger or other online activist, Kathy has many valuable lessons to teach you. I hope you'll bring this book to the attention of your friends and fellow bloggers. Kathy is a member of TeamSarah.org.

Here's the general description of the book: "An Independent Call chronicles the journey of an Independent New Hampshirite from wary observer of town hall meetings to eventual McCain supporter and volunteer. It is an amusing look at the events of a campaign. From meeting candidates from both sides of the aisle, to becoming a blogger for McCain, to being chewed out on campaign phone calls, to receiving press credentials for the Republican National Convention, this account relates the experience of being a participant at the lowest level politics from an outsider's perspective. A mix of good humor and political opinion from the middle."

Rockingham NH County Commissioner, Maureen Barrows, recommends An Independent Call stating that it is…"A must read for anyone interested in the day to day life of a volunteer in a political campaign...attention to detail is brilliant."

An Independent Call - $14.00

http://broadsideofthebarn.com/

McCain Never Understood Sarah Palin

[Liberal Democrats generally don’t care much about unborn children. And by their willingness to send huge mountains of debt to their kids and grandkids they con’t care much about those already born and trying to make their way through life -- the subject of tomorrow's column about the profound differences between Barack Hussein Obama and Sarah Heath Palin.]

The McCain incident that helped seal his fate was when he dissed the older woman (in Wisconsin) with a McCain-Palin sweatshirt. She said she was afraid Obama was a "Muslim" -- which he may be in beliefs. McCain grabbed the mike from her and expressed some obvious disgust at what she was saying. He said, "You have nothing to fear from an Obama presidency" and added, "He's a family man." He basically was implying, "Hey, go ahead and vote for Obama."

McCain, a member of the Senate Gentleman's Club, had and has no understanding of why people rightly feared -- and fear -- Obama. He also apparently had no understanding of why he wanted to run for President. The Wisconsin episode was one of the most shameful moments among many in the disastrous McCain campaign.

When McCain mentions his favorite candidates, he never -- ever -- mentions a female candidate, including Gov. Palin. He doesn't know any Republican women who merit high office -- not Kathy Douglas of Wshington state, not Jodi Rell (Governor of CT), not Linda Lingel (Governor of HI), and not Marcia Blackburn, congresswoman from TN.

Sarah Palin defended him ferociously during the campaign as he blundered from state to state, drawing crowds that could fit in a telephone booth. McCain dearly wanted to name his "friend," Joe Lieberman, a liberal Democrat who's recently been sucking up to Obama and Reid. McCain had no real understanding of what his political base believed -- or why Lieberman would be a spectacularly bad choice. Lieberman's appeal to Republicans is almost non-existent.

Sarah Palin has the kind of integrity and toughness that scare McCain. She does not look at politics as a "game that older, rich white guys play." She appeals to people because they identify with her, see her a role model and an inspiration.

McCain wants to be a "player" in DC politics. Sarah Palin wants to be a leader.

Why CNN Hates Sarah Palin

Okay, within the last month or so, Jack Cafferty (who gives new meaning to the phrase "dry drunk") on CNN called Sarah Palin "an empty dress." Let's see, Jack Cafferty is an ugly guy, with a car wreck of a life, a nothing-job on a low-rated cable channel, and no future. Gee, why would somebody like that hate the woman he might end up calling "Madame President."

A while back, Alino Cho, a CNN reporter, was on the morning show with John Roberts & Kiran Chetry, and she cited a study which had determined the most stressful job in America. What was it they asked her? She said, "news show hosts and hostesses." Why. they enquired? She said, "Because they're so afraid of losing their jobs."

If she'd added 'losing their job and their status" she would have explained why the entertainment/media cultures have so many leftists. They are afraid. Somebody might be suspiciouos if they didn't slobber all over Obama. Thus, Sarah Palin gets attacked because people are trying to solidify their status and keep their (over-paid, but basically trivial) jobs.

Sarah Palin is not rich. In fact, she and Todd, because of the legal bills, are in debt up to their eyebrows. Of course, most big-time national politicians (Obama, Clinton, Kennedy, Rockefeller, McCain, Edwards (John), Kerry, Romney, Giuiliani, Gingrich) are not middle-class folks; they're rich males (except for Hillary). Barack Obama's income last year was $2.7 million. Joe Biden made nearly $270,000 -- and gave a whopping $1,900 to charity.

Washington politicians are certainly not mothers (or fathers) of five children. And most of all, they're not from Alaska, which to Beltway types is the equivalent of Al Capp's Dogpatch.

Notable female politicians are not attractive women -- instead they look like Janet Napolitano or Barbara Mikulski or Janet Reno. So, the media response to Sarah was that, if she's that beautiful, she must be dumb as a doorknob. All the women they know fall into that category. Also, she has more than the approved "2.3 children."

If anybody in Hollywood or Manhattan or Georgetown had a Down Syndrome child -- and trust me, they'd have aborted it in a New York minute -- they wouldn't send out a release starting with the words "God has blessed us...." as the Palins did. The reason Trig's maternity gets questioned is that elitists can't imagine anyone actually having such an offspring. Obama's gaffe (on Leno, of course) about the Special Olympics demonstrated what he really thinks about children that would be in said Olympics.

But why has John McCain -- more clueless with each passing day -- joined in with the anti-Sarah crowd? As someone recently said about McCain, "the most important thing to him is that he wants to be a . . . player [in DC]."

McCain was a terrible candidate. Sarah Palin defended him ferociously, and no one else did. He left me, a McCain supporter, wondering what the hell he was doing running for President.

Seriously, the man has been in public life for 30 years, and he still can't deliver a speech that doesn't sound as if he were reading the phone book? He has no idea how to raise money? Conservative don't like him, while liberal despise and make fun of him? Thus, he served as a punching bag for Obama and his (McCain's) supposed "friend," Joe Biden.

It's not surprising that Sarah -- the one bright light for Republicans in the last election -- became the McCain Campaign's "designated scapegoat." By far the most money John McCain ever raised in one 24-hour period ($6 million) in his campaign came on the day he announced Sarah was his pick. And. somewhere in John McCain's increasingly shriveled heart, he profoundly resented it. "Hey, I'm the war hero, so why do they love her more than me?" Because, John, to most Americans you're the old guy that kept their ball when it accidentally rolled into your yard.

The McCain campaign staff apparently resented Sarah because she was able to generate three things they couldn't: crowds, money, and votes. McCain is a guy who abandoned his first (and badly injured) wife. His second wife has kept him in luxury. Women voters rejected him en masse in the election. I bet in high school he brought his cousin to the prom.

Sarah Palin was much more popular with male voters than McCain. Sarah was young, vibrant, healthy, and dynamic, while McCain was none of those. What goes on in McCain's psyche regarding females would make a fascinating psychological study.

He chose Sarah to bring back conservatives (which she did) and to attract (mostly liberal) Hillary Supporters, two contradictory goals. In other words, he set Sarah up to be denounced "because she's not Hillary." True, she's not, for which Todd Palin (and the rest of us) are eternally grateful.

McCain Staff Corrupt, Palin Shines

"People who don't Think probably don't have Brains; rather, they have gray fluff that's blown into their heads by mistake." Winnie the Pooh. obviously speaking about Obama and his supporters.

Sarah Palin was a great vice-presidential candidate whose efforts were undermined by a disloyal and incompetent campaign staff, one extremely unhelpful either to Sarah or to John McCain.

[Scroll down to read about new book on Sarah Palin being "poised for the presidency."]

Karen Allen (http://www.annieoakley.org/) , who'd be a great staffer in a future Palin campaign, mentioned the story below (in smaller print) supposedly citing former members of the McCain campaign staff who worked with Gov. Palin for two months-plus in September/October. Read the story carefully please. Gov. Palin is criticized (as is her Alaska staff) for her "extreme candor." I guess extreme candor is not in this year.

Also, the people supposedly criticizing Sarah Palin are those characterized as ones "who showed extreme loyalty to Palin, continually getting thrown under the bus or slapped in the face . . ."

Somehow, I don't see these people as exactly showing "extreme loyalty" to anyone but themselves. Their post-campaign actions don't exactly mirror those of, say, John Ziegler or Bill Kristol. In general, the McCain Campaign staff was awful, serving as punching bag for Obama's far superior stafff.

On Sarah's staff, where in "H" was Adam Brickley, the political whiz who almost single-handedly got Sarah the v-p nomination? Adam's site (http://palinforvp.blogspot.com) has been recognized by the Library of Congress, which made it part of the permanent collection. He should have had a top position on the Palin staff. (Adam now blogs at: http://thebrickyard.blogspot.com/)

Where was the first-rate speechwriter? I've written speeches for CEOs of ten of the world's largest companies, and I would have worked for her for free. The BBC in London is asking me to speak on Obama and the G-20 summit in London -- the tenth time I will have spoken on the BBC. They know I exist, which is more than I can say for the McCain Staff.

Where was the take-no-prisoners media person? She needed Dana Perino, and she got The Invisible Man (Tucker Bounds).

My guess is that Sarah looked at the people around her as one she needed more to pray FOR than pray WITH. Here's the story:below:

Palin's prayer remark angers former staffers

Some of Sarah Palin's former campaign aides are frustrated with the Alaska governor for remarking in a lengthy, freewheeling speech that she had refused to pray with them before last October's vice presidential debate.Palin told the story in a speech to a GOP dinner in Alaska last Friday."So I'm looking around for somebody to pray with, I just need maybe a little help, maybe a little extra," she said of the moments before the debate. "And the McCain campaign, love 'em, you know, they're a lot of people around me, but nobody I could find that I wanted to hold hands with and pray." In this Feb. 11, 2009 file photo, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin listens to a question during a news conference, in Juneau, Alaska. Palin reinforced her conservative credentials when she announced she would not accept nearly one-third of the federal stimulus money offered to the state, but a day later, was fending off critics who said it will hurt Alaskans. - AP Photo As the audience laughed, Palin noted that she meant no disrespect to the McCain campaign and that ended up saying a prayer with her daughter Piper.A handful of the McCain campaign staffers who traveled with the former vice presidential nominee nearly every day for two months caught wind of Palin's remarks on Thursday morning — and they aren't thrilled with her quip."We all talked this A.M.," said one former Palin aide in an e-mail. "This set off a nerve for sure with a lot of people.""It's yet another example of the few staff still loyal to Palin questioning their loyalty and ardent defense of her over the several months since the campaign," said the aide, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly about campaign colleagues.Since election day, Palin has publicly griped about the way she was handled by the McCain team and pushed back against some of the campaign advisers who attacked her anonymously in the press.But another former staffer said that in doing so, Palin is failing to distinguish between the strategists at McCain headquarters and the people who were at her side every day from late August through election day."It's about us people who were on the plane, who showed extreme loyalty to Palin, continually getting thrown under the bus or slapped in the face by her comments, whether she means it or not," the staffer said, adding that Palin's remarks "cause you to question not only your loyalty but her judgment as a leader."The former aides said they place part of the blame for Palin's post-campaign candor on the governor's staff in Alaska. Several have reached out individually to offer advice or assistance to the governor, but "have gotten only pleasantries in response," said one aide."Who is the one making the decision that she needs to be out there saying these things?," the second staffer asked. "Someone needs to be telling her, 'Listen, let's not talk the campaign any more.' We need to talk about what's relevant and thinking about her influence as a voice in the Republican Party.""The people that she has, either working at her PAC or advisers in Alaska, aren't exactly making the best decisions for her," the staffer said.Palin's office in Alaska did not respond to a request for comment.

http://www.bnd.com/news/state/story/706665.html

SARAH PALIN POISED TO BECOME AMERICA'S FIRST FEMALE PRESIDENT

Sarah Palin became the Republican vice presidential nominee, few Americans knew much about this young governor of Alaska. During the campaign, the media attacked her, as did her detractors from within and outside of the Republican Party. But Americans saw a tenacious political warrior who would not acquiesce in a male-dominated political battle. The purpose of this work is to introduce Americans to a young woman who has the character, the qualifications, and the unprecedented historical opportunity to become the leader of the greatest nation on earth. So, who is Sarah Palin? What was her journey like from a concerned hockey-mom to becoming governor of Alaska? How and why was she chosen to become the Republican vice presidential nominee? What is her future in the Republican Party and her opportunity for national, political office? You are likely to find some answers within the covers of this book.

Available at Amazon.com

Palin: Really "One of Us?"

Thumbs up for Sarah Heath Palin, our next President

But what makes arah run?

I've been suggesting Sarah Palin's campaign slogan in 2012 should be: "Sarah . . . she's one of us." But is she really one of us, as she seems in so many ways an "average American?" Let's just say that she's an above-average American. What's more, she has a background that has made her a uniquely independent spirit.

Even though I hear Sarah Palin has some issues with Lorenzo Benet's book about her ("Trail Blazer"), it gives great insight into her early life and her parents' examples. They lived in Skagway, 100 miles north of Juneau. It was a very isolated community -- children there thought bananas had black skins because that was the way they were when they saw them on rare occasions.

[Hey all, come visit the new blog I've launched with Cindy Reidhead of ThePinkFlamingo blog fame. See it at: http://the80percentsolution.typepad.com.]

Sarah's father taught her (at ages 4 & 5) how to box, and she used to box against her older brother, Chuck (a future football star), among others. The kind of rugged idividualism she learned and still practices is foreign to most of us in the "lower-48."

If for some reason the grocery store in our town closed, we'd probably starve to death. In Skagway, there really wasn't any food store as we know them. If they wanted meat or fish, they had to shoot or catch it.

We Repulbicans know the job of the liberal Democrats is easier than ours. Their motto seems to be: "Open your mouth real wide, little bird, and we'll put a worm in it." The notion that ultimately we're responsible for ourselves and our families (to the degree we're able) is foreign to the Left.

The problem is that socialist societies (France, Great Britain, Germany) have low economic growth, high unemployment, and relatively limited opportunities. On the other hand, they supposedly have "great unemployment benefits." They need them.

How conservative is Sarah Palin? Not conservative enough for some conservatives. She has conservative values but governs from the center.

Today's article in my 80% Solution blog on former congressman J.D. Hayworth shows the problem with the hard-right approach. It attracts conservatives, but it doesn't appeal much to anyone else.

I've said of John McCain, who has known some tough guys in his life, that Sarah is probably the toughest, most fearless person he's ever met. She doesn't sleep very much, getting up just about every morning at 4 a.m., checking the Internet, making sure the younger children are okay, and then heading off to the office at 7 a.m. She's one tough lady.

I believe Sarah mystifies John McCain. A spoiled child like Meghan McCain has no understanding of unspoiled Sarah. My impression: the better the American people get to know Gov. Palin, the more they're going to like her.

NOTE: ON MY OTHER BLOG I'VE BEEN HAVING SOME BLOCKBUSTER COLUMNS ON OBAMA'S LATEST PLOYS TO DEFLECT ATTENTION FROM HIS SOCIALIST AGENDA, See the columns by going to: http://stevemaloneygop.blogspot.com. Also, find out how you can help Republican Jim Tedisco win his race (election on Mar. 31) in NY's hotly contested 20th congressional district. Click on the Tedisco for Congress link on the top of the sidebar at your right. Cindy Reidhead and I have launched a new site dedicated to explaining exactly how the GOP can stop losing critical elections. You'll find it at: http://the80percentsolution.typepad.com.

Sarah Palin Despises Disloyal People

In politics, the people you need to worry about most are your "friends" -- not your enemies, whose behavior you can anticipate. On Saturday and Sunday, I'm going to discuss Sarah and the Palin family in very candid terms. The criticism Sarah and her family have been subjected to has inflicted some damage on the famously tough and dedicated Palins. Sarah demands absolute loyalty from her staff, and she's entirely to do so. Disloyal staffers -- and, frankly, disloyal "supporters" -- are useless.

In the meantime, I hope you'll scroll down to read my criticism of John McCain, who in fact was not loyal to the woman he chose as his running mate. That may have rubbed on the McCain Campaign Staff, which at times seemed disloyal to a fault when it came to Sarah. It's widely believed by many, including me, that Meghan McCain, John and Cindy's notoriously narcissistic daughter, was a source for some of the false rumors about Sarah Palin.

Also, when Sarah came under ceaseless attack during and after the campaign, John McCain did a terrible job defending her. Senator McCain, like his dismal staff, was looking around for someone to blame for his own half-hearted presidential effort. Sarah? In the face of adversity, she was generally magnificent.

Sarah Deserved Better Than McCain

Which one of these two people would make a better President?

Yes, John McCain spent 5 1/2 years in the "Hanoi Hilton," but somehow he never fully understood Sarah Palin's toughness, indomitable spirit, and loyalty to , , , him. In all his years as a Washington Insider, he apparently had never met anyone quite like her.

John McCain is now speaking out against the Obama Omnibus Spending Bill, but his words demonstrate the same naivete that has characterized him for decades. In recent days, he's sent a new fundraising letter, which is what he did best in his campaign. In those days, I contributed approximately $500 to McCain and organizations backing him. In gratitude, I guess, the McCain Campaign sent me approximately 50 fundraising appeals.

For my contributions, I also got two pictures of Cindy and John. She looked great; he looked old tired, and generally clueless. Don't get me wrong: I admire John McCain for what he was and revere his service as an American hero, but the fact that he now is surprised by Obama's actions -- ones The Anointed One has engaged in his entire political career -- establishes that John is hopelessly naive.

Of course, he won't go so far as to call Obama a "socialist." He wouldn't do so if BHO started wearing whiteface, donning a Karl Marx wig, and carrying around a copy of "The Communist Manifesto."

John will go to his grave disbelieving that "going across the aisle" isn't necessarily a good thing. In practice, it's a one-way street, with Democrats -- the daffy Joe Lieberman doesn't count -- never doing any such thing. John continues to talk of Joe Biden as his "friend," although Biden portrayed McCain as erratic and even dangerous during the campaign. That doesn't seem to have registered with John, alas. Clearly, he has very low standards when it comes to choosing friends.

When McCain staffers like Mark Salter (and, apparently, John's daughter, Meghan) came out with nasty and made-up rumors about Sarah Palin, it demonstrated that, for all his life experience, McCain isn't a good judge of character. John adores Meghan -- even though she generally deserves a spanking and a sharply reduced allowance.

For months, Gov. Palin ferociously and consistently defended Senator McCain. However, when he had opportunities to reciprocate and defend Sarah, he decided instead to go on "Letterman." The general hostility in McCain quarters for the heroic Gov. Palin was that she drew huge crowds . . . while McCain couldn't draw flies if he was buried up to his head in a landfill.

He has chronically exaggerated the character of Barack Obama. When John told the woman in Wisconsin that we "have nothing to fear from an Obama presidency," he was -- as we've learned -- just plain wrong. People fear Obama because he has greater allegiance to the Democratic Party and its electability than to his country. Hey, he's from Chicago, right?

In the primary season, McCain regularly said that he "would rather lose the presidency than lose a war [in Iraq]." With his dismal, lackluster campaign he apparently succeeded in losing both.

I'll always believe that if Sen. McCain had run a more forceful campaign, a few GOP Senators might have come through with victories. Perhaps there would have been enough to defeat the omnibus bill that now concerns him.

Instead, he chose to wage a "gentleman's campaign," while his opponents trashed him and his V-P choice at every opportunity. He never knew what hit him. He smiled a lot, almost oblivious to the political thrashing he was receiving. When he lost -- badly -- he refused to let Gov. Palin speak, perhaps fearful she would upstage him one last time.

And oh, by the way, no more requests for money, John. I'm giving it all to your former running mate.

Comparison: Sarah Palin, Hillary, Barack

In making comparisons between the heroic Sarah Palin and the intensely political Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, one soon finds there is no comparison. "For Obama to be Commander-in-Chief is equivalent to Madonna entering a nunnery."

I believe Barack Obama is destroying America as a land of freedom, tolerance, and opportunity (the three terms are from speeches by Sarah H. Palin), and that all Americans who love this country, including "The Big Dog" (Bill Clinton) and his spouse, have a moral obligation to oppose him.

"I have a lifetime of experience. John McCain has a lifetime of experience. Barack Obama has a speech he gave in 2002." (HRC) And did she then endorse her "friend" John McCain and oppose her tormentor, Barack Obama? Did she ever defend a her under-attack political sister Sister Palin? We know the answer to that one. She did what was best for Hillary.

Mrs. Clinton has spent a lifetime with a husband who humiliated her consistently through constant acts of adultery? Why did she stay with such a man? He recognized it as a necessary "career move." Bill Clinton was her ticket to bigger (and better?) things.

The Palins? They have a marriage that most Americans regard as near ideal. The Palins have five children. The Clintons have a much more trendy one.

As a little boy many years ago, I had some wonderful Catholic nuns emphasize to me the need "to tell the truth." I am not God Almighty and sometimes I'm dead wrong, but I have always tried to tell the truth. At times, that has hurt my "career" (to say the least). On the Clintons4McCain BlogTalkRadio show, I defended Mrs. Clinton (and even Bill) on a couple of occasions where I believed participants had gone overboard in criticizing the Clintons.

I know many people (too many) who died for their country in war (mostly Viet Nam), including some of my best friends from childhood. My closest friend now in Pittsburgh won a Silver Star in 'Nam. They did not want to die (or get badly injured) in War, but they didn't hesitate to put their lives on the line. Of course, getting killed or damaged for life in war is not a "good career move."

My military friends have standards of courage and honor that I also find in Gov. Palin and her family. Her children have inherited toughness -- courage -- from Todd and Sarah. Her son Track is in Iraq now -- in an infantry unit -- and his life is very much on the line.

I know many politicians will shed a tear in expressing their love of country, but would they really put their lives on the line -- or encourage members of their family -- to do the same? Would Obama? Of course not. Would Speaker Pelosi or Majority leader Reid? Would Hillary Clinton? Guess.

Barack Obama's daughters, Malia and Sasha, would no more choose a military career than they would aspire to be pole-dancers. From all available evidence, Obama has never had even one good friend in the military.

During the campaign, he invented imaginary feats supposedly performed by his "uncles" -- saying they had liberated concentration camps that were in fact freed by the Soviet Union's Red Army. He sought almost desperately to establish personal links with the military, but never found any. For him to be Commander-in-Chief is equivalent to Madonna entering a nunnery.

"Country first," to coin a phrase. Career does not come last, but it's pretty far down the list for people of real integrity.


Sent the following out today to some hard-core Palinites:

I(I like Cindy R's concept that "the group with the most e-mail addresses wins in 2012)Hi:

I thought Rush Limbaugh's speech today was outstanding, quite a remarkable achievement. As he said, one of our greatest tools in voter recruitment is to remind everybody that we're advocatinng liberty, tolerance, and opportunity.

By 2011 (or earlier), the bloom will be off the Obama rose. He will still be handing out truckloads of cash, but fewer and fewer people will be fooled about what he's up to. "Let them eat speeches" will be his mantra.

I don't put much stock in CPAC's straw poll today (and I wouldn't have even if Sarah had won). I'm sure some CPACers were punishing Sarah for her temerity in actually fulfilling her duties as Governor.

I'm certain if Mitt Romney is the nominee in 2012, we will all go through the motions and vote for him as we watch him lose 46 states. His concession speech (delivered eight minutes after the polls close in the Northeast) will contin the immortal words, "Thank God for the good people of Utah, Idaho, Alabama, and Mississippi."

One way we will win is by having 20,000 real activists across the country -- at least 10 in every state, with emphasis on states like Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Ohio, Michigan, Colorado, New Mexico. Our activists will play major roles in winning the electoral vote. By 2012, we won't be ready to carry states like MA, NY, and CA, but we need activists who will reach out -- and, in some case, travel to -- contested states.

One thing I've been doing over the past several years is collecting names (and e-mail addresses) of such "real activists" -- people like Sharon Caliendo, who could run a national campaign if someone put a gun to her head. (Actually, if you asked her, she'd gulp twice and say yes).

The people we need to recruit are individuals who are, in many ways, like Sarah herself: women, mothers, military families, Christians, supporter of women's rights, members of union families, athletes, small towners, and on and on. Sarah is so many things, has so many positive qualities, that it should be very possible to build her a huge, solid group of supporters.

We also need to offer help to candidates who will back Sarah. They include Saxby Chambliss and his GA Senate mate, Rick Perry of Texas, Mary Fallin of Oklahoma, Sonny Perdue of Georgia, Rudy Giuliani, and others.

We do not need to bash Romney and Huckabee, who will do a great job, as usual, of bashing each other. They both have a low ceiling of support, and they will be gone when Sarah wins Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina (or whatever the exact order is by then). If I'm not wearing a barrel by that time, I expect to be in Iowa, NH, and SC. (I will buy a barrel in SC). I hope the Greyhound Corp. is still operating.

Bobby Jindal? He's a media creation, and the media is now busily "uncreating" him.

I'm not at all concerned that Sarah is taking some time to avoid the spotlight. Hard as it is to believe, it's only 2009.

We need to figure out ways to recruit more young people, including high school age types who will be able to vote in 2012. We also need to recruit more Hispanics (tough) and women (easy). As the bandwagon gains speed, the recruits will be seeking us out.

Sarah Palin: Images, Symbols, Attitudes

SIGN JOHN MCCAIN'S PETITION AGAINST THE CURRENT, BLOATED STIMULUS BILL. (Look below the Sarah Palin pictures.)

In the previous column, I talked about super-strategist Lee Atwater -- who engineered wins by Ronald Reagan in 1984 and George H.W. Bush in 1988. Atwater believed that issues and opinions were secondary with voters. What counted most were attitudes, ones based on emotional responses to candidates. He said that images (such as pictures and videos) and symbols were crucial in forming attitudes. Tomorrow, I'll be discussing images and symbols and how they can help Gov. Sarah Palin win the presidency in 2012. Consider the pictures below of Gov. Palin and what they say about her. She's NOT a frail woman. And she's a wife and mother, first, last, and always. She's a person of great character and strong values. Most of all, "she's one of us," which should be her campaign slogan. If you want to know what separates winners from losers in politics, I urge you to read a brilliant biography by John Brady: Bad Boy: The Life and Politics of Lee Atwater.

Sign petition opposing stimulus bill - It's quick and easy

http://www.countryfirstpac.com/petition/economic.aspx

John McCain Sponsors Petition Protesting Bloated Stimulus Plan

http://purplepeoplevote.com/2009/02/03/john-mccain-sponsors-petition-protesting-bloated-stimulus-plan/

Senator McCain sent an email to supporters explaining his opposition to the current emergency economic stimulus package stating that…

Yesterday, the Senate began debate on an economic stimulus package that is intended to get our economy back on track and help Americans who are suffering through these difficult times. Unfortunately, the proposal on the table is big on the giveaways for the special interests and corporate high rollers, yet short on help for ordinary working Americans. I cannot and do not support the package on the table from the Democrats and the Obama Administration.

Our country does not need just another spending bill, particularly not one that will load future generations with the burden of massive debt. We need a short term stimulus bill that will directly help people, create jobs, and provide a jolt to our economy.

He further explains the myriad of problems with this bloated stimulus package and asks for people to sign a petition to voice their disapproval of this bill.

Sign Vote No On The Stimulus Package Petitionhttp://www.countryfirstpac.com/petition/economic.aspx

Conservatives: Listen to Sarah Palin

On November 4, 2008, the conservative movement in America suffered devastating defeats. Almost invariably, the more conservative candidates lost, and the more liberal types won.

What do the American people owe those of us in the conservative camp? A one word answer: nothing.

Instead, we owe them the responsibility not to make adherence to conservatism sound like a visit to the dentist. Conservative principles (limited government, unlimited opportunities) are fine, but we must articulate them in a way that makes them appealing to most voters.

Instead, we sometimes come across as saying, "You don't have a job or health care? Tough luck!" That's not an approach that will work anymore, if it ever did.

The world has changed in my lifetime. Robert Frost's "The Death of the Hired Man" talks about family being, in essence, the place where they have to take you in when you show up in need.

Increasingly, it seems families (and communities) don't take care of each other -- or even talk to one another. Thus, people feel more vulnerable -- and are perhaps more fearful -- than they were in my childhood. "If the economy has grown so much, why am I not happier and more secure?" As our national wealth (GDP) grew dramatically, so did the poll numbers saying people believed we were heading in the wrong direction.

McCain-adviser Phil Gramm observed that we had become "a nation of whiners." That didn't go over well, and it shouldn't have. It was conservatism at its worse.

In conservative circles, the "dirty little secret" about Sarah Palin is that she has populist tendencies. (Reagan did also.) We do have a government "of, by, and for the people," so we'd better pay attention to them.

The Alaska Constitution says the resources of the state belong not to the oil companies but to the people. How novel. How "Palinesque."

Gov. Palin's motto is "Serve the People!" It's not "Serve only the people like us." Americans, even those who don't vote for the Governor, have to know that she understands them, will listen to their concerns, and wants to serve their needs.

I've suggested Sarah's campaign slogan in 2012 should be "I'm One of You." In fact, she is, and that's why she has a good chance of becoming President.