Gov. Palin testing waters for 2012 run?

There has been reports of robocalls to Iowa and New Hampshire residents polling about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Nobody knows who is behind this, but I'm sure the governor will know about the results. Is America ready for Palin after her defeat alongside Sen. John McCain?

The trouble with Palin has been her narrow audience base. She's a big hit with conservatives, but in order to win votes you have to be a big hit with the majority, not just the base crowd. The only way I can see her presidential dream come to fruition is for the current administration to screw up big time. And I mean BIG TIME. That means President Obama puts us in a much worse position than even now. Yes, this financial mess is bad, but it has not punched a hole in Obama's popularity yet. It hasn't been six months yet, so who knows what the next 3.5 years will bring?

Additionally, Republicans have a good chance at regaining seats in the 2010 elections. Expect to see rising stars, and therefore, potential Palin opposition, within the GOP after the 2010 momentum. Palin would have to re-evaluate her chances then.

Chambliss wins in Georgia

The Democrats won't be able to attain their 60-seat majority in the Senate as Georgia incumbent Sen. Saxby Chambliss wins with nearly 60%. My guess is that a lot of Republicans and conservatives came out to vote for fear of the Democratic super-majority threat. It's good to know that Georgia remains red. The win by Chambliss will look good on all those who'd gone to Georgia to campaign for him: Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, John McCain, and especially Sarah Palin.

Ted Stevens loses senate race

Sen. Ted Stevens has lost re-election in Alaska, defeated by Democratic challenger Mark Begich. Sen. Stevens was the longest running Republican senator in Washington.

Now the Democrats have 58 seats in the Senate. The Georgia runoff race between Saxby Chambliss (R) and Jim Martin (D) is attracting attention from the top. Former President Bill Clinton is said to be in Georgia to rally for Martin, while Republican heavyweights John McCain and Mike Huckabee are gathering support for Chambliss.

Calls for Obama to keep turning left

David Sirota writes in Salon for Obama to "go big and go liberal," claiming that is what the voters want:

... acknowledge their progressive mandate, rather than denying it as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid did on Tuesday. "This is not a mandate for a political party or an ideology," he fearfully told reporters.

They should also retire the Innocent Bystander fable about being powerless onlookers. Democrats first cited this myth as reason the Iraq war continued during their congressional majority -- expecting the country to forget that Congress can halt war funding. Today, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said that "there's not much we can do" to amend the sputtering bank bailout. In 2009, such mendacity will metastasize from banal dishonesty into grist for scathing comedy-show punch lines.

Wait a minute, "progressive mandate"? Let's have Mr. Sirota run the Democrat Party, I'd love to see him drive it to the ground. If Obama had won 60% of the popular vote, then I'd agree with "mandate." But he won only 53%, and as much as people hated Bush and disagreed with the Republicans, still 46% of voters chose McCain. Why? Because they weren't going to give Obama a mandate.

This will be the primary struggle for the Obama presidency. Based on his background, we know he leans very left and there are many supporters who share that spectrum of ideology. But when he governs from the White House, he also has the other half of the population to please. After all, he'd want to keep his job after four years, no?

McCain campaign postmortem

We all know that the Obama campaign did many things right. It energized the youth vote with new voter registration drives. It kept Sen. Biden away from the press in the later weeks. It never allowed the candidate to speak without a teleprompter (when he did, he created the "Joe the Plumber" panic). Undoubtedly a well-oiled political machine.

So what went wrong with McCain's campaign?

It took too long to bring Obama's past and current associations into focus. It wasn't until the last presidential debate that McCain decided to talk about Bill Ayers. It was a valid topic, but at that time the general perception was that McCain is desperate, especially when polls continued to show a comfortable Obama lead. Plus he never followed through -- kind of just mentioned Ayers' name, Obama rebutted, and moved onto the next topic.

The choice of Gov. Sarah Palin as running mate was a masterful maneuver. She was a breath of fresh air in politics, a strong conservative leader far away from Washington. She was comfortable on stage and in front of the cameras, perhaps thanks to her experiences in journalism, television, and beauty pageant. Many people had doubts about her when McCain made the announcement, but overall she was welcomed by the conservative base. McCain kept his decision under wraps in order to launch a surprise attach at the opponent. This may have backfired as there was no time to prepare her for the national stage. There were some interviews where she bombed, I think mainly because of lack of preparation. But when you are the underdog you cannot afford mistakes. Unfortunately towards the last several weeks, many have labeled Palin a liability rather than an asset to the campaign.

Then there was the issue of fund utliziation. Obama was outraising and outspending McCain. But when you have little money, you should use it wisely, get the most bang for the buck. Recall Mike Huckabee's campaign. He had no money, but he lasted till the end losing to McCain in the primaries. Huckabee had a great online following, and what better advertising medium than the Internet? The McCain campaign was not inventive enough in advertising. His opponent actually bought ads inside a video game. What better way to reach the younger voters?

These are just some of the things I came to think about after McCain's loss. His campaign was still respectable, but there were definitely some strategic mishaps and lack of vision.

Tension between McCain and Palin?

On stage they seemed to be the perfect maverick combo: McCain the war hero and seasoned senator; Palin the Washington outsider who fought the Republican establishment. But now that the votes have been counted, details are emerging about the tensions between them.

This is another clear example that Republicans need to get their acts together and unite. Yes, you lost. Now is not the time to sling mud amongst yourselves, especially with respect to the ticket.

The day after...

So America and the world celebrate Obama's victory, another orderly and lawful power transition in the United States. Many heralded the end of racism in the country and proof that in America, you can reach your dreams no matter your skin color and background.

As of this posting Obama/Biden won 349 electoral votes vs. McCain/Palin's 163. Things started to look gloomy for MacCain last night when Ohio and Virginia turned blue. In popular votes, Obama/Biden captured 52% against McCain/Palin's 47%. Some would categorize this as a landslide win, but I beg to differ. Maybe in the Electoral College, but not among the population.

The result of the senate races did not give the Democrats a mandate, either. First, Harry Reid's hope of leading a filibuster-proof senate is dashed. The Democrats' plan to unseat minority leader Mitch McConnell also fizzled as he won re-election by a comfortable margin (53% against Lunsford's 47%). In the hotly contested Minnesota senate race, Republican Norm Coleman held a slim lead to win over Democrat and entertainer Al Franken. The race is still tight in Alaska where convicted Republican Ted Stevens holds the lead, but whether he is actually seated is still questionable; and in Georgia, incumbent Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss may have a run-off against Democrat Jim Martin if neither garner 50% of votes (Chambliss leads a slim margin right now). Overall it looks like Democrats will pick up five more senate seats.

There's a lot of talk about a change in the electoral landscape. Yet that isn't really the case. We still have a Red South, Red Midwest, and Red Prairie. With the exception of Virginia and North Carolina, the other battleground states have traditionally been toss-ups. The GOP needs to refocus on why support in the south has slipped. Although Georgia went for McCain/Palin overwhelmingly, it was troubling that the state became a toss-up in the latter weeks of the campaign.

History is made - Obama is president-elect

There's no need to count California's votes... The state's 55 electoral votes will go to Obama. (As well Oregon's seven, Hawaii's four, and Washington's 11.)

That puts Obama over the 270 electoral votes necessary to become the next president, and history is made as America will have her first black president.

Congratulations to Obama and his well-run campaign. As much as I don't agree with his platform, I think it is a well-deserved finish to his historic presidential campaign. Congratulations.

This is beyond a wake-up call for the GOP. The wake-up call was two years ago when the party lost control of Congress. Now there will be a Democratic president in January, not to mention more Democratic senators and House representatives. The GOP has to completely turn itself inside out and return to its true conservative roots.

True. Conservative. Roots.

It's now or never.

Virginia goes to Obama

FOX News just called the battleground state of Virginia for Obama. Well done, as Virginia hasn't turn blue in decades. He now has 220 electoral votes as of this posting.

Unfortunately, with the loss of Ohio and Virginia, it's unlikely for McCain to obtain 270 electoral votes to win the race. The next wave of poll closings come from the west coast, and it's almost certain that states like California, Oregon, and Washington would not flip to red.

Ohio called for Obama

The bellwether state of Ohio has been called for Obama. McCain's outlook is even dimmer now unless some sort of miracle happens...

Georgia holds for McCain

The McCain camp can let out a sigh of relief as Georgia is called for the candidate. This was a southern state which ended up being a toss-up in recent weeks.

Networks call Pennsylvania for Obama

Not a good sign for McCain: TV networks are calling the Keystone State for Obama. This was a state which McCain concentrated in the latter weeks of the campaign in hopes to turn the tide to capture its 21 electoral votes.

America decides tomorrow

Americans will wake up tomorrow morning to greet one of the most important days in history -- Election Day 2008. Tomorrow voters will stand in long lines, perhaps in dreary weather, to cast a ballot for the candidate they think qualifies for the most important job in the world: President of the United States.

The next president won't have it easy. Our troops are still fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. The economy is in a global recession. The government is borrowing and printing money like never before. The threat of terrorism against America is still real.

Each candidate promises change for the better. One is eager to bring soldiers home at the expense of a new democratic Iraq. One is an advocate of taxing wealth to give to the poor. One does not recognize evildoers and the ill they have against America. One spent his political life so far avoiding votes.

The other candidate is determined to achieve victory in Iraq. He also wants money made to be kept in the earner's pocket. He's also seen the faces of evil and lived through hell. He has a voting record of ayes and nays.

Sen. John McCain's life is an open book. Americans who lived through the Vietnam War know him as a surviving POW and war hero. He embodies the American spirit: self-sufficient, perseverance, sacrifice. He understands that there is something greater than himself -- his beloved country. And he genuinely wants to better her and her people.

History will be made no matter who wins the election. Tomorrow you will have a vote in your hand to pen your words in America's history pages.

Keystone State to become key state

Voters in the Keystone State hold the key to the presidential election on Tuesday. The McCain campaign has been targeting Pennsylvania in order to capture its 21 electoral votes, something to counter the likely losses in the west (Colorado, Nevada, and New Mexico). Sen. McCain may have a good chance there, as Selena Zito points out in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

Most Pennsylvania Democrats who live outside of Philadelphia are very Midwestern in their values and their votes.

If they lose their jobs, they go out and get two more to make up for the loss. They do not take handouts and they don't whine; they provide for themselves and their families.

What are these people made of? I can remember listening as a child to my union-Democrat immigrant grandparents saying they never took "relief" during the Great Depression -- and they were raising five children, had no education beyond the fourth grade and spoke broken English.

Liberal racemonger

For some reason I am sensing some doubt in the Collective Left. The majority of polls have Obama leading, way ahead of McCain. But then there's some eye-catching news about some polls -- ones with a better history -- in a statistical tie between the two candidates. Not to mention that the gap continues to narrow as election day closes in. Let's not ignore the fact that the undecided voters still consist of a big chunk of voter bloc, and a lot are leaning McCain. Also, "Joe the Plumber" has become an effective narrative in outing Obama as a liberal.

But the biggest indicator that the Collective Left has lost some confidence is when they turn into racemongers. Susan Estrich trusts the Obama-positive polls so much that she decides if her candidate still loses the election then it must be caused by -- gasp! -- racism:

The only way all these polls could be that far off is if people are lying in numbers never before seen in American politics.

Why would they do that?

You tell me it has nothing to do with race. I'll laugh. What else could it possibly be?

Here's the problem though. Obama has been elevated to uber-celebrity status by the media and has a cult-like following. It's sort of like how Bush-hating has become hip. If you like Bush, you're labeled a right-wing nut, Nazi, or worse. Well, turn that around and apply to Obamamania. If you don't love Obama, there's something wrong with you and you're an idiot. It's hip to endorse Obama. He'll save us from everything bad in life and should star in the next 007 movie.

I won't be surprised if there are people who will lie when being polled. That will always happen and there is no way to prevent it. People lie for various reasons, too. Maybe Joe Smith just want to be left alone by pollsters. Maybe Joe Smith is really undecided and leans Obama for the moment. Maybe Joe Smith just wants to screw around with the poll numbers. Who knows?

But please, it is insulting to assume that such a poll liar is a racist. Stop with the racemongering already...

The purge begins...

The headline this morning on Drudge: The Big Purge... The NY Post, Dallas Morning News, and Washington Times were given the boot off the Obama plane. Interestingly, these three newspapers endorsed McCain a few days ago.

Well, there's really nothing wrong with that. The Obama campaign can invite and kick out whoever it wants. It's just funny that they did this soon after the publications endorsed the opposing candidate.

Drinking the polling Kool-Aid

How incredible is this: Andrew Kohut, the president of the Pew Research Center, has a piece in the NYT that Obama leads McCain 52 to 36%.

No. Friggin'. Way. Look at Pew's track record and it's not that accurate.

Counting down...

In less than a week will Americans cast votes for their next leader in the most important job in the world. The race is still close according to polls with better track records. Other media-sponsored polls have Sen. Obama leading many points. The media has already picked its winner.

But most polls have Obama still under 50%, and that means a good 10% or more are still undecided. These are the folks that'll decide the outcome of the Electoral College and determine which candidate reaches the magic 270 electoral votes.

It's been said that America is a center-right country. Obama's surge and consistency in polling numbers certainly question that. Here is a community-organizer-turned-politician from Chicago with an affinity to Marxism and calls left-wing nut Bill Ayers a friend. Without a doubt Sen. Obama is the most left-leaning presidential candidate in U.S. history. But he's probably also the most charismatic and eloquent -- a celebrity in the media's eyes -- and one of the youngest. More importantly, he made history by becoming the first black presidential candidate of a major political party. That's something all Americans should be proud of.

However, Americans should also be proud of their unique heritage in the context of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, two of the most important documents in Western democracy. The Declaration tells the truth of our "unalienable Rights... Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." The Consitution starts in its preamble with "We the people..."

Which candidate offers us a closer ideology to what our Founding Fathers had in mind? Right to life -- denied by pro-choice activists. Right to liberty -- limited by leftist lawyers and judges. Pursuit of happiness -- something the government is more than happy (no pun intended) to take its share with taxation.

So ask yourself: Which candidate cannot bring himself to acknowledge that life begins at conception, even though he's a Christian? Which candidate desires a court with activist judges? And which candidate thinks taxes, not opportunities, are a way to achieve fairness in society?

We the people... have we lost sight of the principles this great nation was founded on? Have we been caught up in the celebrity culture of modern day? Have we become so selfish that we no longer care for the devastation we could cause to our children and grandchildren? Yes, we the people...

Liberal Halloween props

I suppose it's no surprise that people are going to make Halloween decorations a platform for their political views this year. But a Palin mannequin hung from a noose and a McCain emerging from flames?

Only in West Hollywood.

Obama up, markets down

Are we seeing a correlation here? As Obama gathers even more steam in the last week and a half until election day, the global markets continue to slide in a downward death spiral. Investors are well aware of an Obama presidency and the policies that will bring. If this is any indication of the collective intelligence, I'm going to believe that the public is smart enough not to want a socialist America and will not cast the ballot for Obama. A few polls showing McCain and Obama in a tight race are starting to get more attention, and people are starting to discount those polls having Obama leading five or more points.

As Peggy Noonan says in the WSJ, "Obama looks like a winner, but it's not over yet."