What Would A Maverick Buy For $150,000 In Donations?

Last night while Letterman was treating Sarah Palin as though she is some kind of bozo instead of the candidate for the vice presidency (of the United States... of America), our pals at BraveNewFilms were rescuing the good name of a fine American family, the Mavericks.

Top Ten Sarah Palin Excuses For Spending $150,000 On Clothes

10."Need to look good for the Russians who can see me in Alaska"
9."The old man spends more on Polident"
8."Auditioning to be Paris Hilton's BFF"
7."Wanted to impress the American voters in the evening gown competition"
6."Maverick, Joe the plumber, maverick, maverick, William Ayers, you betcha!"
5."I fell for the liberal retailers' 'gotcha sales tactics'"
4."Because the dollar is so weak, it's really like I only spent $50,000"
3."Hmm...excuses? I'll find some and I'll get right back to ya!"
2."In addition to every newspaper and magazine, I also read every catalog"
1."The difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull: lipstick, Prada shoes, a Gucci handbag, and a few $3,000 suits"

Top Ten Extras

11."Relax, I dealt with it by firing the entire Wasilla police force"
12."Oh like you've never dropped a hundred G's in Neiman Marcus"
13."Buying sensible, reasonably priced clothes didn't seem very mavericky"
14."I'll pass a law against such outrageous spending once I'm in charge of the Senate"
15."Come on, it's not like we're going through a recession or anything"

Meanwhile,according to today's NY Times "prominent conservatives" take her seriously. They claim they're looking for a leader, but what they mean, of course, is they want their own puppet who is a convincing mime for their crazed ideas and are salivating because Palin draws many time more mindless zombies to her rallies than McCain or any other dull GOP empty suits do. One of the most odious of the far right lunatics, Brent Bozell "called it a 'top order of business' to determine Ms. Palin’s future role. 'Conservatives have been looking for leadership, and she has proven that she can electrify the grass roots like few people have in the last 20 years,' Mr. Bozell said. 'No matter what she decides to do, there will be a small mother lode of financial support behind her.'”

As McCain Limps Into The Debate, His Carefully Crafted Image Is In Tatters

Everyone who gets anywhere near McCain these days says he's a flaming asshole to deal with, the McCain we learned about from the hideous Turtle Island vacation, not the phony we see charming Jay Leno and playing the "straight-talker" role on Meet the Press.

A lot can probably be explained by the complete rejection he's experiencing from voters, as evidenced in every poll that's come out. It's looking like he's going to lose states that no Republican has lost since half the people in the country were born! The current issue of New York, however, digs a little deeper in John Heilmann's story How McCain Lost His Brand.



The high-powered lobbyists running his campaign expected his brand to take them all the way from K Street to the White House. But as McCain 2000 campaign honcho, John Weaver, explains, “There is no brand in politics you can just put on the shelf, run a campaign totally contrary to it, and then take it down later and still expect people to believe it." And that pretty much describes the McCain 2008 campaign-- the antithesis of everything he's tried to claim he stood for. Since the 2000 campaign the brand looked relatively healthy and even thriving, most of all with the always credulous press, which painted McCain’s increasingly frequent "deviations" from what were supposed to be his core beliefs as-- wink, wink, nod, nod-- "aberrations."

The speech at Falwell’s university? The reversals on the Bush tax cuts and torture? The support for the teaching of “intelligent design”? All had been dismissed by the press corps as necessary hedges, as a matter of McCain doing what he had to do to win the GOP nomination.

But then came September-- and everything changed. The selection of Palin. The lipstick-pig imbroglio. The ad accusing Obama of supporting the teaching of sex education to kindergartners, along with a slew of other spots rife with distortions and fabrications. Perhaps it was the sheer number of such incidents, perhaps the depth of their mendacity. But the meme began to take hold in the press that the “old McCain” was dead. Or perhaps that he had never existed in the first place.

Members of the press started realizing they'd been had. That the whole McCain Independent Maverick Dudley Doo-right thing was bullshit from day one and that they had bought it-- hook, line and sinker.

The press-- minus the GOP propaganda machine at Fox and hate talk radio + David Broder-- discovered that McCain has always been a fraud, that he has no integrity and that, except for George Bush, there's never been a less authentic candidate offered by a major party.

And as that skepticism began to take hold, it effectively doomed McCain’s maneuvers during the financial crisis (the suspension of his campaign, the threat to pull out of the debate) to be greeted with disdain and suspicion by the media. “By the time the financial crisis hit, we were past the tipping point,” says a national reporter who covers McCain. “Lipstick on a pig and sex ed were the last straw for some of McCain’s old hands and media allies. And because of this cynicism, he didn’t get the benefit of the doubt for his ‘suspension,’ and it was treated as the stunt it was.”

For McCain, seeing the press-- “my base,” as he once famously put it-- turn against him has apparently been more than painful. According to people close to the campaign, it accounts for much of the seething, simmering anger that he’s displayed of late on the hustings. And rather than attempting to mute that anger, Schmidt and his associates, with their attacks on the press, are only validating and even stoking it—with borderline disastrous results. The central memes that have always posed the greatest risk to McCain’s candidacy are that he’s dangerously erratic (the dark side of maverick) and that his notorious temper is forever threatening to explode. And, as evinced by the recent spate of stories about his sarcastic, cantankerous performance last week before the Des Moines Register editorial board (THE ANGRY WARRIOR? read the headline in a Washington Post blog), those two memes are now coursing wildly through the media’s collective bloodstream.

Tonight he makes his way to the debate a dead man walking. Can he revive himself? We'll know if a few hours.

The Speech Sarah Palin Needs To Give To Save Her Political Career

-by Mags

Even Charles Krauthammer is throwing in the towel in this election. It looks like the Obama will surpass Saint Ronnie in popularity this election. Sarah Palin who briefly breathed life into McCain’s Presidential campaign that lasted for a week to ten days post the GOP convention is now a less than appealing Vice Presidential candidate to say the least. Palin’s Gibson and Couric interviews left the country aghast while watching her implode in interviews seemingly without knowing how badly she performed. George Will was blunt about her ineptitude and unpreparedness to be a “heartbeat” away from the presidency (a phrase which is taking on new meaning in the current election). Kathleen Parker whose columns over the years have proven to be little else but lapping at the feet of the Republican masters even declared Palin unfit for the office of Vice President. Many women in the country see her as an embarrassment to competent women everywhere. David Brooks and Mike Murphy, both prominent voices in the GOP share our national apprehension.

Last night’s debate provided me a different view of Sarah Palin. In question after question what I saw was a woman who claimed to be a warrior and maverick for the people come face to face with the real record of John McCain. What should dawn on Sarah, if she is capable of critical thinking at all, is that the picture she presents of John McCain and his newly found populism is not accurate at all. In fact, if she is paying attention, she might begin to realize that John McCain is an asshole responsible for much the current crisis we all face. Far from being the Maverick who will take on the oil companies, John McCain supports legislation written by corporate America that places the people of America at risk. It should have become clear to Sarah that a tax hike for big oil that would be distributed to Americans in the lower 48 is not likely to happen any time soon or ever. As a resident of the lower 48 I can tell you that such an idea is very appealing and in the future I think it would be wise for us to lobby for equal treatment for Americans. Why should only Alaskans receive benefits? Seriously, do you remember any Republican arguing to take back the tax break for big oil or to charge them a windfall tax? Certainly not Mr. McCain. [Note: This year McCain has taken more "donations" from Big Oil than any other politician in America, $1,663,590, more than triple what they have given anyone else.]

The fact is that McCain is not looking very well lately. And, no matter how adorable Sarah Palin is and no matter how well-meaning she comes across, let’s face it, she is not ready for DC on any front. She does not have the “street cred” to muster the character of leadership that is required to stand up to DC.

The bottom line here is that Sarah Palin has the opportunity to jump off a sinking ship and to save her political career at the same time. If she just jumps ship to avoid the McCain debacle, and I predict it will be one, she will slip into either obscurity quietly or become a laughing stock. It is possible in my opinion that McCain might not even make it to inauguration so ill does he appear. McCain cannot help her future as a politician.

Here is the speech that can save her career.
 

Good evening my fellow Americans. Tonight I step forward to express my deepest gratitude for the opportunity to run, no matter how briefly for the office of Vice President on the Republican ticket with John McCain. In the last few weeks I have been steeped in talking points and political positions. Unfortunately for me, I did not know John McCain very well before he asked me to be his running mate. In fact, as I look back now I was hasty in saying yes. Not because I am not eager to serve the United States of America and not because I do not believe in my heart that I would love to someday lead this country, but because I believed that John McCain was who he said he was. I believed that John McCain was a Maverick for the good of the people. Sadly, the more I learned about John, the more I realized that my interest in helping Joe Six pack and the middle class folks across the country could not be served by the policies espoused by John McCain and his advisors.

In my debate with Joe Biden the other night, I started to realize that all my talking points were errors. I started to put two and two together and realized that the talking points for this campaign were making a fool out of me. They do not make sense in light of the truth. On almost every issue except for the issue of Choice, I agree with the positions of Barack Obama. I want people to have access to good health care, all of them. I want people to make good money with union jobs and to keep jobs here in America. I want more regulations on Wall Street so we will be secure on Main Street.

For this reason I am withdrawing from the McCain campaign. I am returning to Alaska. When I return to Alaska I can guarantee you that it will not be business as usual. For one, I am going to fix my family problems by making it clear that Levi Johnston and Bristol will be in charge of their own lives. There will no pressure for them to fulfill the fantasies of John McCain supporters by having a wedding forced upon them. They might, but it will be for them to decide.

Secondly, I will open the records in the Troopergate investigation. I will cooperate fully. I will now open my office to all Alaskans and work on becoming an open governor who gains favor from her citizens by honest and thoughtful government. I will listen to everyone and cooperate with both sides of the aisle in my home state. I will continue in earnest to root out corruption in Alaskan politics. Even though I am still a Republican, a move to the Democratic Party is under consideration when I run for Governor next election.

Third, I am going home to sharpen my governing skills and to raise my family with more close supervision for a few more years. I would like to make sure they all have a good start before I return to the national scene, and I would like to return to national politics, perhaps as first a Senator…or maybe who knows, to run my own Presidential Campaign. America can be sure that if and when I do, next time I be ready. May God Bless you all.

Thank you and good night.

 
If she doesn’t give a speech like this, John McCain will drag her down with him. Just a little advice from one woman to another.

UPDATE: OH, NO!

It's hopeless! She is a dumb as a rock. She's now claiming on Fox News she was upset because she could not level baseless charges against Barack Obama?