Dave Caolo

Congratulations to the New York Times on this wonderful, interactive timeline of the 1st Presidential debate. Very well done.

Nails it.

For decades, the Republicans have campaigned not on their strengths, but on their opponents’ faults. It’s as if the old Republican book of political strategy says, “You don’t win elections by making yourself look good, you win elections by making the other guy look worse.” It’s a strategy of misdirection and hate.

At last night’s GOP convention, newcomer Sarah Palin demonstrated that it’s business as usual for the Republicans.

Here was her first opportunity to address the bothersome stories of the Labor Day weekend and introduce herself to America. For most Americans inside the continental United States, the convention was their first look at Sarah Palin.

What did she do with her first time on the national stage? She ripped Senator Obama apart. After describing herself as “… a pit bull,” she launched into attack mode:

“This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting and never use the word ‘victory’ except when he’s talking about his own campaign,” she said.

She slammed Obama for “…saying one thing in Scranton and another in San Francisco,” argued that he had written two memoirs but never authored a major piece of legislation and asked what he would do “…when those Styrofoam Greek columns are hauled back to some studio lot,” a reference to the stage where Obama gave his acceptance speech last week.

It’s very disappointng. She’s a veritable unknown, the first woman on a GOP Presidential ticket and only 44 years old. But in every other way, she’s no different the rest.

Oliver Willis agrees.

As i09 points out, John McCain and Sarah Palin resemble Colonel Saul Tigh and President Roslin from Battlestar Galactica:

Of course, that would make McCain an alcoholic robot. Meanwhile, the blogosphere is running with the meme:

“The parallels continue! McCain is a military man who spent time in a Vietnam prison camp, the character of Col. Tigh is a military man who spent time in a Cylon prison camp. Sarah Palin comes from a family of school teachers, the character of Laura Roslin was school teacher before becoming Secretary of Education (and then later President).”

Oh, my.

Update: This was inevitable.

100 reasons why McCain won’t be President. A tour de force.