Mixed Bag

I should have renamed today's post to barf bag because I just watched Mitt Romney. What an insufferable a$$hole but I'll get to the RNC later.

Either the McCain strategy has moved to the blame the press phase (it worked for Clinton towards the end) or the campaign is taking a toll on McCain. Take a read of his interview with Time. Here is a quick exchange:

What do you want voters to know coming out of the Republican Convention — about you, about your candidacy?
I'm prepared to be President of the United States, and I'll put my country first.

There's a theme that recurs in your books and your speeches, both about putting country first but also about honor. I wonder if you could define honor for us?
Read it in my books.

I've read your books.
No, I'm not going to define it.

But honor in politics?
I defined it in five books. Read my books.

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There has been some legitimate questions as to whether or not the press is being too hard on Sarah Palin. Due to her lack of time on the national stage, it is important that someone vets her since obviously McCain didn't.
While questions about her taking the VP job with a young child may be sexist, it isn't much different than John Edwards being questioned about running for President while his wife was fighting cancer. It doesn't seem that she is being held to a different standard.
Questions about her daughter may seem unfair, but most of what was presented when she was introduced was her family values and her life story. If you are going to put that on the table then you need to accept the consequences. Speaking of family values, could this be true? If it is, the race is over, if not it may lead to making her a sympathetic figure.

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Through almost two nights of the convention I would say the highlights were Fred Thompson and Mike Huckabee. Even with those two I think I am grading on the curve. Night one was incredibly bad especially listening to Joe Lieberman. Joe praising Sarah Palin who is diametrically opposed to every policy position he holds. It's one thing to praise McCain who he obviously respects, but when he ropes in Palin to that praise he is clearly disingenuous.

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Republican hacks Peggy Noonan and Mike Murphy were caught on mic saying things I'm sure a lot of other Republicans have thought. Howard Wolfson had this comment on his blog today:

Their comments echo others I have heard at this convention. While delegates I talked to seem genuinely excited and intrigued by Palin, Republican consultants and wiseguys think her selection is a disaster. One of the reasons that the press coverage of the pick has been so bad is that many of the Republicans that reporters talk to are trashing it behind the scenes. The McCain campaign can blame the media all they want for this firestorm — but their problem here is much closer to home. Murphy and Noonan merely said what a lot of their peers and colleagues have been saying privately all week.

All this makes me wonder, what will the post mortem look like if McCain loses?

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I really don't have anything against CEO's, but what does it say that there have been 4 CEO's speaking at the RNC tonight? One of them was actually pretty good.

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Rudy is firing up the base, but the scare me into voting Republican hasn't worked since 2004. I suspect this bluster is playing well with the base but poorly with independents.

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Somebody has to explain to me what it means when he says "I'd rather win a war than win an election". What does it mean to win in Iraq? I am not being facetious here, I still don't understand the end game or what constitutes winning. I thought mission was accomplished.

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Alright, Rudy is now rivaling Romney for asshole of the night award. Probably effective if you have an IQ of 90 or below.

That's it for the mixed bag for tonight. Probably add some comments as Palin speaks.