Gotta love that headline in CNN - Palin acting just like Dick Cheney, won't "cooperate" with a probe she doesn't like, immediately calls it "tainted" as a way of discrediting it. Uh, guys? I think we've seen this movie before (the past 8 years)!
Meanwhile, Palin's popularity is plummeting, and Obama appears to be regaining the lead in national polls:
Today's results, coming on the heels of yesterday's Wall Street meltdown, show Obama at 48 and McCain at 44. Sarah Palin's fav/unfav continue slide (45/44 today, 52/35 on 9/11), and (I suspect) the economics issue pushes the culture war to the back burner.
Meanwhile, EJ Dionne nails it:
For some time, McCain's strategists figured they could deflect attention from the big issues by turning Palin into a country-and-western celebrity and launching so many ill-founded attacks on Obama that the truth would never catch up. The McCain strategists' approach reflected a low opinion of average voters, and some Obama supporters began worrying that their opinion might be right.But those so-called average voters understand the difference between low- and high-stakes elections. They develop a reasonably good sense of who is telling the truth and who is not. And though it sometimes takes a while -- and a shock like this week's economic news -- these voters almost always turn on politicians who manipulate cultural symbols as a way to escape the consequences of their policies.
One guess who's been "manipulat[ing] cultural symbols as a way to escape the consequences of their policies." Hmmmm...
I think, TurboAlto, (0.00 / 0) she's just doin' what comes natcherly.
This is the first time McCain has been ahead in electoral votes. What gives?
And it's not going to be a landslide for either candidate, at least thats the indication currently, so I wouldn't put on your party hat too early on Nov 4.
But then a funny thing happened: Palin lost some of her luster. Since Sept. 13, Palin's unfavorables have climbed from 30 percent to 36 percent. Meanwhile, her favorables have slipped from 52 percent to 48 percent. That's a three-day net swing of -10 points, and it leaves her in the Sept. 15 Diageo/Hotline tracking poll with the smallest favorability split (+10) of any of the Final Four. Over the course of a single weekend, in other words, Palin went from being the most popular White House hopeful to the least.
Regarding Palin, there has been a shift from surprise and novelty to a much closer and more critical scrutiny than she received during the pre-pick vetting. A legitimate question is whether portrayals of Palin as a petty and vindictive elective official who fattens up the public payroll with old schoolmates and makes questionable policy decisions is permeating the public consciousness.We might read the New York Times and Washington Post, but local news outlets might not be dwelling on these things. As the campaign progresses, it would seem to be inevitable that Palin will have to be more available to the press and answer more questions.
That will likely happen at a time when the questions will be more pointed and more focused on the items that have been discovered as news organizations and Democratic opposition researchers comb her record.
The lawsuit called the investigation "unlawful, biased, partial and partisan." None of the lawmakers who filed the suit in Anchorage Superior Court serves on the bipartisan Legislative Council that unanimously approved the investigation.The scandal known as "Troopergate" gained national attention after Republican presidential candidate John McCain chose Palin as his running mate. Since then, Palin and the McCain campaign have sought to distance Palin from the controversy and have taken actions that could slow its resolution until after the November election.