PSA: The $700 Billion Bailout Wasn't $700 Billion

You Will Never Get This! (c) Borat

By now you've all heard that the $700 billion bailout plan was defeated at the House yesterday.

But what you probably don't know is that the bailout was similar to a football contract in that the guaranteed amount was entirely different than the alleged value of the entire contract.

For example, when Nate Clements from the San Fransisco 49ers signed an $80 million deal in 2007, it was repeated ad nauseum because $80 million sounds fantastic. But in reality, he's only going to make about $22 million because the most of the money in the contract was back-loaded on years that he's never going to get paid for.

Same thing with the "$700 billion bailout."

This is a key tidbit from an article by Kevin Hall talking about the basic details of the bailout:

Q.Is Congress writing a $700 billion check to Wall Street?

A. No. The money will be disbursed in installments. The Treasury will get $250 billion to immediately begin buying the bad assets. Another $100 billion can be obtained with a report to Congress on the need for it, and the remaining $350 billion will be released only upon congressional action.

So the $700 Billion bailout was really only $250 billion with options for the rest (still a big number, but not $700 billion).

Cue the Music:

Bill that will singlehandedly save economy not passing

You remember that great compromise plan for the bailout that would save our economy and was the result of John McCain heroically suspending his campaign and had enough things in it to satisfy both Democrats who didn't want to reward billionaires for their own idiocy and Republicans who didn't want to see large segments of private business come under government control? It just got defeated in the House. Just now. It's on all the cable news outlets.

The bill, which would have given possibly as much as $700 billion to the Treasury and had the backing of President Bush, will now likely have to be reworked in order to pass the House. It was defeated 227-206, with 218 votes needed to pass. Among Democrats, 141 voted for the bill, with 94 opposed. 133 House Republicans voted against it, with 65 voting for.

Meanwhile, the Dow is down like 500 points since the vote became official. So that happened.

(ed. note: The Dow dropped 777 points yesterday after the vote became official, the biggest drop in the history of the market.)

That didn't take long

I should have known that in a debate held at an SEC campus, the candidates would make ads based on the debate with great SPEED.

Here's the McCain campaign's ad, focusing on the number of times Barack Obama agreed with McCain in the debate. A solid ad, though the ending is a bit anticlimactic.



The Obama camp also has an ad out now, featuring a clip of the Illinois Senator talking about the importance of the middle class at the debate. It's a good point made in a rather vanilla ad.



As for the winner, most polls gave the slight edge to Obama or called it a draw. A poll conducted by CNN (that surveyed more Democrats than Republicans) showed Obama leading in every category except national defense, which he gained ground on. A CBS poll of 500 uncommited voters had similar numbers, with 39% saying Obama won, 37% calling it a draw and 24% saying McCain won.

Often, the impact of the debates aren't seen until a few days after, so it will be interesting to see who gets the biggest bounce from this.

Politician + Church = Ruh Roh

Apparently Sarah Palin didn't get TV way up in Alaska and hadn't heard of the Rev. Wright controversy, because this video of her being blessed by a radical preacher has surfaced.

The preacher is Bishop Thomas Muthee, a pastor at Wasilla Assembly of God church, where Palin has been a member for years.

In the clip, he asks Jesus to protect Palin from all forms of witchcraft and blesses her campaign for Governor. She later went on to win the seat in 2006.

This stuff practically writes itself.

McCain: Yah Mo B There

Pictured: John McCain

All the cable news outlets are reporting that John McCain will in fact be at the debate tonight in Oxford, Mississippi. This despite the fact that we don't officially have a plan for the bailout set, unless you count the Paulson/Dodd/Frank plan that was already mostly agreed upon before McCain "suspended" his campaign (even though state headquarters were still open and advertisements have still been airing both on TV and online) to come to DC.

So to recap, McCain's big move led to him pissing off David Letterman, not leaving for Washington until the day after he said he would, reportedly saying nothing in the big meeting with Bush yesterday and attending the debate anyway.

Well, that was a productive stunt.

You Make the Call

This is the first part of Katie Couric's interview with Sarah Palin on CBS Evening News last night...


The second part of the interview is here:



It's not scheduled to air on television until tonight, so maybe you could make bets on what she says and win a little money later.

McCain calls timeout

Pictured: John McCain

John McCain has suspended his campaign and asked to delay the first debate. This is ostensibly so he can go back to Washington and singlehandedly figure out the bailout package. Barack Obama politely told the congress(man) thanks but no thanks and that he was going to go to Washington to vote on the bailout, then take an aeroplane to Mississippi and start debating.

The move comes at a time when McCain's poll numbers are looking not good and is certainly a curious one. George W Bush and Al Gore debated in 2000 five days after Osama bin Laden attacked the USS Cole and Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan debated throughout the Iranian Hostage Crisis in 1980. Is our economy really worse than either of those tragedies? And why can't the candidates vote in Washington during the day and fly to Oxford to spend 90 minutes explaining to the American people why they deserve their vote?

A meeting is scheduled for tomorrow between President Bush, Obama, McCain, and congressional leaders from both parties to hammer out an agreement for the bailout. My guess is this all gets worked out late tomorrow night and McCain shows up at the campus of Ole Miss on Friday.

Peepology Pt. 2: Crouching Campaign, Hidden Palin

Sarah Palin on an Award Tour.

As the honeymoon between Sarah Palin and the press starts to end, outlets are starting to voice their frustration with the McCain campaign for strategically keeping Palin from answering real questions.

When MSNBC News asked Senior McCain Advisor Nancy Pfotenhauer why Palin has been protected from the media, she effectively ducked the question by talking about McCain's accessibility vs Obama's accessibility.

Pfotenhauer accused MSNBC of reaching, then she dropped this gem:

"Governor Palin has had two or three interviews, I think she's sitting down with Katie Couric today," she said. "We have her in front of tens of thousands of Americans every week, so she's getting plenty of exposure."

So apparently we'll have to wait until the Vice Presidential debates to see if she in fact does know anything about anything.

NORM!

Life's going okay for Norm Coleman. Despite a down year for Republicans, he's currently ahead of Baggage Handler #1 from Trading Places and looks to be headed for another six years in the Senate.

So why did he say possibly the most blatantly false statement anyone has said in this entire lie-happy election season?

Coleman told the Mankato Free Press (the paper that routinely gets beaten like a pinata by the Strib and the Pioneer Press on Vikings training camp stories despite seemingly holding home field advantage) that not only is the bailout not going to cost any money, but that it will turn a profit down the road.

“The government could make 10 or 20 times what it pays on this, possibly,” Coleman said during a campaign stop at Christy’s Cafe in North Mankato Saturday morning.

Coleman said the government takeover of Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, AIG and others was necessary but said “I worry a little bit,” about the government spending perhaps a trillion dollars or more to shore up failing financial institutions.

Coleman now says he presumes he wasn't talking about this particular bailout, but bailouts in general. That would seem to make his use of the phrase "could make" a misquote, although Coleman isn't denying the quote the MFP used.

Look, no one likes the bailout, but we all accept it as an inevitability. Politicians don't like it because it makes them look like hypocrites when they talk about not wasting taxpayer money, even though they pretty much have to vote for it anyway. The people being bailed out don't like it because it basically means they've failed at life. Citizens don't like it because a ton of out money has to pay for it and we get absolutely nothing in return.

He's still going to win, but Coleman just killed his credibility on economic matters.

The Big Loser in this Financial Mess? You.

You don't know this man, but he's about to take alot of your money.

Whether the $700 billion bailout will save the economy or not is the subject of every talk show up and down the dial, but what we do know is at the end of the day, the bill will come to your doorstep.

You will pay for this bailout not only with your wallet, but in the lack of ability of the government to do things for you in the future because of it.

Barack Obama is already talking about having to cut back on some of his plans if he's elected president if the bailout goes through.

"Does that mean I can do everything that I've called for in this campaign right away? Probably not," he said on NBC's "Today." "I think we're going to have to phase it in. And a lot of it's going to depend on what our tax revenues look like."

I also hope you've noticed, the one person who hasn't been asked what should be done with your money is you.

Makes you re-think the $10 you just donated for change huh?

Guns (with the Greatest ad of this election so far)

Not to get all ad/video heavy, but this is too good. The NRA has a new ad in Pennsylvania, Colorado and New Mexico about Barack Obama and why he will disarm every white person in America so that they're ill-prepared for the race war that will occur if he wins the election. Let's take a look.



Highlights

• There's no way that is that Karl guys actual voice. He probably sounds like a woman so they had Keith Olbermann do his Bill O'Reilly impersonation and dubbed it over Karl's voice. Because nobody can really sound like that for real.
• First ten seconds are about gas prices, because if gas is expensive so are guns (maybe?)
• "And now I learn Barack Obama supports a HUGE NEW TAX on my guns and ammo." At the bottom of the screen, the source is shown as the 12/13/99 issue of the Chicago Defender. Since it's a "new" tax, I can only assume it's an issue from 2099. This man is from the future, and what a terrible time it must be. In 2099, a robot Barack Obama has made himself Emperor For Life and taxes guns so heavily that the Human Uprising can not arm themselves and only black newspapers are still allowed to publish.
  
• 15 seconds in. "Where is this guy from?" Who knows? Africa? Iraqistan? MARS? Why won't he just admit he's an illegal alien Muslim terrorist who only came here to take our jobs and violate our womenfolk after making them smoke a reefer cigarette? But the way he looks at the camera puts the "b" in "subtle accusations that Obama isn't really American."
• 18 seconds in. "He's probably never been hunting a day in his life." Sadly, there are no future newspapers brave enough to report on this, so that's why he had to say "probably."
• 25 seconds in. Dick Cheney is about to shoot that chubby kid with glasses because he Knows Too Much. At least now this kid won't have to live through the horrible future that will be the Obama presidency/empire.
• 27 seconds in. " . . . the shotguns and rifles MOST of us use for hunting." And the ones that don't use these for hunting? What do they use them for?
• 30 seconds in. The shot of Karl stalking through the woods while he says "No politician is going to take away my guns and ammo" tells us exactly what the rest use them for.
• 32 seconds in. "You don't have to be bitter . . ." Oh, he's referencing something that happened. And I understand it! Karl, you're a regular Seth MacFarlane.
  
• "Defend Freedom, Defeat Obama." Just like in Contra!
  

And this is coming on the heels of a Saturday appearance in Virginia by Joe "Never hit the club unless I get my Beretta in" Biden where he threatened to shoot Obama and become our second black president if he ever tried to take Joe's guns.

Sen. Barack Obama better not mess with his running mate Joe Biden's guns...or else.

In an out-of-nowhere attempt to re-assure a southwestern Virginia labor crowd about gun owners' rights, Biden -- who regularly scores "F" ratings from the National Rifle Association -- warned Obama that if "he tries to fool with my Beretta, he’s got a problem."

"I guarantee you Barack Obama ain't taking my shotguns, so don't buy that malarkey," Biden said Saturday at the United Mine Workers of America's annual fish fry in Castlewood, Virginia. "Don't buy that malarkey. They're going to start peddling that to you."

Biden told the crowd that he himself is a gun owner. "I got two," Biden said, "if he tries to fool with my Beretta, he's got a problem. I like that little over and under, you know? I'm not bad with it. So give me a break. Give me a break."

Maybe Karl's malarkey sales are down and that's why he's complaining about gas prices.

Weekend viewing material

The Living Room Candidate is probably the greatest site ever in the history of all internet traditions. It's an archive of presidential TV ads from 1952 to the present day courtesy of the Museum of the Moving Image. The entire site is golden.

You can probably learn more about any election by watching the ads on this site than you ever could in a classroom.

How did Reagan crush Mondale by such an overwhelming margin in 1984? Watch his ads.



AIDS epidemwhat? Screw that hippie garbage, I want to vote for the Gipper! I feel all happy and warm just watching that.

This is what Mondale ran.



What the shit is that? I'm not even sure what the point of this was. Mondale wants to nuke the kids? Or does Reagan? JFK? Get off the stage you boring old man.

Or Dwight Eisenhower. He was the last president to serve at least one full term and never have his approval rating dip below 50%. How was this possible? Well, the post-WWII economy was good, he pulled our troops out of an unpopular war in Korea, and he ran commercials like this.



There's no way the "We Like Ike" song won't be in your head for the rest of the day.

And some yahoo named Adlai Stevenson tried to convince us to not vote for the man with the cartoon elephant with things like this.



Decades later, Rudy Giuliani would jazz up part of her message by turning it into DRILL BABY DRILL! So much more exciting, and he decided to than she did.

But the most bizarre ad on there is probably this, also from the Stevenson camp that implies Eisenhower has a gay lover named Bob or something.



Anyway, there's a lot more at The Living Room Candidate, so go check it out.

Sen. Hagel Earns Masters in Peepology

Do you see what he sees? I do!


Peepology: The study of seeing between the lines, aka peeping it.

Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska proved distinguished himself as a man of keen peepology when he told the Omaha World-Herald that VP candidate Sarah Palin was not qualified to be president.

An excerpt from the interview:

"She doesn't have any foreign policy credentials," Hagel said in an interview published Thursday by the Omaha World-Herald. "You get a passport for the first time in your life last year? I mean, I don't know what you can say. You can't say anything."

He also shot down the idea that she has foreign policy experience because of Alaska's proximity to Russia.

I think they ought to be just honest about it and stop the nonsense about, 'I look out my window and I see Russia and so therefore I know something about Russia,'" he said. "That kind of thing is insulting to the American people."

Hagel will not get a Christmas card from the GOP this year.

Bush is "concerned" and "working" on fixing economic collapse

Remember me?

While both presidential candidates have spent the week addressing the market dive and the bailouts of AIG and Lehman Bros., George W Bush has been noticeably absent. Chris Matthews even compared it to Bush's handling of Katrina. Well, he finally spoke on the economy earlier this morning, and it was everything you'd expect. Short, uninformative and pandering.

After courageously canceling fundraiser appearances to address the nation outside the White House, Bush said that he was "concerned" and told the gathered group of reporters that "the American people can be sure we will continue to act to strengthen and stabilize our financial markets and improve investor confidence."

He failed to give anything resembling a specific plan, then walked away as a sexist elitist reporter asked Bush if he thought the economy was sound. I know he's a lame duck president nobody thinks about anymore, but isn't he at least going to try and salvage his legacy?

The September Slaughter Continues

The AIG Building

The corporate dominoes continue to fall this week as the federal government announced a plan to spend $85 billion to bail out insurance giant AIG.

The move comes after AIG failed to recieve a $40 billion bridge loan on Monday and it couldn't raise enough capital to avoid a complete failure, which many analysts speculated could send shockwaves throughout the economy.

What this means to you is that the economy is now officially the highest priority issue in the upcoming election. Expect to see more ads pertaining to the economy, and both candidates will start to make it a point to talk about what they can do to fix the mess.

Here is John McCain's take on what happened with AIG.

Everybody Hates Tucker

McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds is probably looking forward to November 5 even more than most. It seems like anytime the media wants answers from the McCain camp, Ol' Tuck trots out to the cable news stations (via satellite of course) and tries his darndest to spin like any good campaign flack. Unfortunately, for whatever reason the media seems to insist on actually, you know, questioning him and not letting him off the hook with standard talking points.

It all started on the opening day of the Republican National Convention when CNN's Campbell Brown grilled Bounds on the question of Sarah Palin's foreign policy experience.



The Republicans were so upset at Brown acting like an actual journalist that McCain canceled a planned appearance on Larry King. But yesterday, Bounds was again asked actual questions by the other two cable news networks (yes, even Fox News!) Prepare to be astounded as Fox's Megyn Kelly attempts to hold him accountable for the McCain campaign's recent attack ads.



"Independent analysts?" You mean besides Oliver North? Where did that come from? But to complete the hat trick of awkward plea copping, Bounds appeared on MSNBC and Norah O'Donnell started asking even more questions about the accusations of negative ads until some well-timed technical difficulties save him from more embarrassment.



So what's the deal? Is he just the worst spinmaster ever? Did Campbell Brown manage to cut him a little, thus sending other sharks to Tucker's flailing and drowning body? Sexist female reporters taking it out on a poor helpless male? The fact that everyone, regardless of race, religion, political affiliation or gender just wants to hate someone named "Tucker?"

Tucker Bounds: Officially having a worse September than Vikings fans.

Fall Fallout

Caution: Watch out for falling blame


The collapse of two storied financial institutions has both parties scrambling to point the finger to boost their campaigns.

Barack Obama and John McCain took turns responding to the Whirlwind on Wall St. involving the selling of Merrill Lynch and bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, two of the biggest finance houses in the country.

AIG is also on the ropes today as it is asking the Fed for a $40 billion bridge loan to hold off collapse while it sells assets.

Barack Obama seized the opportunity and threw a jab at the GOP.

"(I do not fault Sen. McCain, but) I do fault the economic philosophy he subscribes to. It's a philosophy we've had for the last eight years — one that says we should give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else."

John McCain's camp already has an ad circulating to counter punch what happened to the economy.

An excerpt from the ad:

"Our economy in crisis. Only proven reformers John McCain and Sarah Palin can fix it. Tougher rules on Wall Street to protect your life savings. No special interest giveaways. Lower taxes to create new jobs. Offshore drilling to reduce gas prices."

One thing that isn't in crisis is the campaign fund for either candidate. Both candidates reported personal-bests in fund raising for August, with Obama claiming $66 million and McCain raising $47 million.

McCain: Mayors, Governors not fit to lead

Why you gotta go and do that, HuffPost?

During a Republican debate last year, John McCain explained why he, as a long-time Senator, was more fit to lead than a lowly mayor like Rudy Giuliani or a simple governor like Mitt Romney. Take a look.



Of course, this wouldn't be important if Sarah Palin's experience as both a mayor and a governor hadn't become major Republican talking points in recent weeks.

We're Not Gonna Take It

Barack Obama is planning on lining his campaign up in the shotgun formation and going on the offensive as the race between him and McCain tightens around the country.

Campaign manager David Plouffe told the Washington Post that enough was enough with the Republican attacks.

"We will not allow John McCain and his band of Karl Rove disciples to make this big election about small things," he said.

Both campaigns went back to their respective corners yesterday to unite for a 9/11 ceremony, but Obama is already coming out swinging with two new ads, one positive and one offensive.

Here's one of the ads:

New ad from John McCain proving Obama hates women and/or pigs

Here's a new ad from the McCain campaign, just released today.



OMG he called her a pig. Why would you call this beautiful Alaskan snowprincess a pig? What did she ever do to you, you elitist secret Muslim commie?

Here's the Obama quote with a little more context, from an Obama campaign stop in TERRORIST STRONGHOLD Lebanon (Virginia.)



Tough to say if this will have a big impact on Obama. The last time McCain came out with "the big guns" for an ad, it was the Tony Rezko spot. Remember that? Of course not, because it was forgotten about almost instantly. But media superstar Sarah Palin changes everything.

I wonder if Obama will accuse McCain of playing the sex card from the bottom of the deck.

And courtesy of Wonkette here is proof that John McCain also hates Sarah Palin.

Who Be Hatin Palin?

Sarah "The Northern Light" Palin.


Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin continues to be the hot topic in both campaigns...

Barack Obama formed a group of Alaskans today called the "Alaska Mythbusters" to challenge Palin's accomplishments and rhetoric.

Obama said the group "will set the record straight about whether Palin has what it takes to bring the change that’s needed in Washington, D.C."

What change actually means in this election is beyond me at this point.

Hill Dawg Scared of the Pit Bull?

Keep that pitbull away from me!

Hillary Clinton has found the desire to keep her hands clean after playing in the mud for seven months during her primary campaign versus Barack Obama.

At a town hall meeting in Florida, Hill Dawg stuck to the script, refusing to attack Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin directly.

The most she could muster was a half-hearted revision of her line during the Democratic National Convention.

"No way, no how, no McCain, no Palin."

This appearance further cements the fact that Hill Dawg plans on playing her part as a powerful Democrat in this election, but not much else going forward.

Obama will have to find somebody else to girlfight with Palin...hopefully it's on Pay Per View.

Vice Pitbull with Lipstick to give first big interview to . . .

Charlie Gibson?

Yes, according to the AP, ABC Nightly News anchor Charles Gibson will get the first one-on-one interview with Sarah Palin since she was named John McCain's running mate. Nothing against Gibson, but . . . really?

I didn't think it would be Campbell Brown, but the choice of Gibson is a little underwhelming. He's not exactly known for being the hardest hitting TV journalist (as The New Yorker so helpfully pointed out during the Democratic primaries,) and this comment from McCain campaign senior adviser and herpes-infected LA Clippers guard Rick Davis implies that they intentionally went with someone who wouldn't ask Palin too many tough questions.

"Why would we want to throw Sarah Palin into a cycle of piranhas called the news media that have nothing better to ask questions about than her personal life and her children?" he said on "Fox News Sunday" Sunday.

I understand there may be a legit concern over family questions, but most of the questions asked of Palin have involved real concerns, such as her record, her experience, the vetting process her stance on the issues and the suddenly-forgotten "Troopergate" (can we stop adding "gate" to any word to make a scandal? It's 2008 people,) story. Equating everyone in the news media with piranhas on the same day you announce her first interview with a softball pitcher speaks volumes in the lack of confidence the McCain campaign has in Palin to handle herself.

The Aftermath

We're back at it!

Sorry for the brief spell...Its football season, so I was getting my fantasy team together for a run to glory and Ty was arranging appointments for the psychiatrist to deal with the pain of the horrible season the Vikings are about to have.

Now that the Conventions are over, these things are certain:

~Republicans seem to think the key to victory is attacking Barack Obama's cult-level celebrity status, and the Democrats plan to win by associating John McCain with George Bush and hoping people are smart enough not to want four more years of that.

~John McCain is a POW...did you know he was a POW? Because if you didn't, he'll be happy to tell you about it...over and over and over again.

~Sarah Palin has rallied two bases; Conservative Republicans, and guys who like hot older chicks.

~Levi Johnson (Bristol Palin's Baby Daddy) picked the WRONG girl to knock up. I bet he didn't see that one coming.

~Barack Obama will fill more arenas than The Rolling Stones this fall.

Stay tuned, this race will only get more interesting in the coming weeks.

Pressure Busts Pipes

The Republican National Convection Oven


Like the old saying goes, if you can't take the heat, stay out of the kitchen...

John McCain is already screaming for an end to the avalanche of questions surrounding Sarah Palin, the Vice Presidential candidate he announced just last Friday.

According to McCain's campaign officials, all of the criticism focused on Palin is a "faux media scandal designed to destroy the first female Republican nominee for vice president."

Or people could be genuinely interested in an unknown entity that came out of left field to become a VP candidate over much more established and recognized names.

Nah, that couldn't be.

The Associated Press reported that Palin has several controversial items on her record, including:

*A private attorney is authorized to spend $95,000 of state money to defend her against accusations of abuse of power (allegedly she fired the Public Safety Commissioner because he refused to fire her ex-brother-in-law).

*Palin sought pork-barrel projects for her city and state, contrary to her reformist image.

*Her husband once belonged to a fringe political group in Alaska, with some members supporting secession from the United States.

*She has acknowledged smoking marijuana in the past.

Somebody has alot of explaining to do.

Do You Know This Woman?

Because I'm not sure John McCain does. Between the ongoing ethics probe by the state of Alaska and the revelation that her unwed teenage daughter is pregnant, you have to wonder how strongly McCain vetted Sarah Palin. Yes, he has an image built around being unconventional and willing to shake things up, but an unknown governor with limited experience (after months of trying to make "experience" the center of his campaign) and some skeletons (in addition to the two other things, she may have been a member of an Alaskan separatist party) in her closet? Why?

The Old Grey Lady says that she wasn't even vetted like other prospective running mates were.
According to the Times' Elisabeth Bumller, McCain offered the job to Palin almost immediately after meeting her for the second time in his life on Thursday.

The details

Up until midweek last week, some 48 to 72 hours before Mr. McCain introduced Ms. Palin at a Friday rally in Dayton, Ohio, Mr. McCain was still holding out the hope that he could choose a good friend, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, a Republican close to the campaign said. Mr. McCain had also been interested in another favorite, former Gov. Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania.

But both men favor abortion rights, anathema to the Christian conservatives who make up a crucial base of the Republican Party. As word leaked out that Mr. McCain was seriously considering the men, the campaign was bombarded by outrage from influential conservatives who predicted an explosive floor fight at the convention and vowed rejection of Mr. Ridge or Mr. Lieberman by the delegates.

Well that was to be expected. After all, you can only be so much of a "maverick." But why not someone like Mitt Romney or T Paw, who are better known? Romney has already had the national media go through his record with a fine tooth comb and both men offered much less risk. Apparently Rick Davis, McCain's campaign director and protege of Rove, was pushing for McCain to swing for the fences and shake things up, even though the others had been thoroughly vetted and Palin hadn't.

I'm not going to say this is a Thomas Eagleton (google it) situation yet, but McCain hurt his own campaign by trying too hard. No, Romney or T Paw wouldn't have made the earth stop less than 24 hours after Barack Obama's stadium status speech, and Lieberman or Ridge would have never flown with pro-life conservatives, but this is a classic case of thinking like a candidate instead of a president. In their effort to win the post-DNC press coverage, they may lose the campaign.