Sarah Palin and John McCain are out talking about how "greed and corruption" on Wall Street led us into the financial chaos that is hurting us all right now. They say they'll use their "maverick-y" ways to clamp down on these abuses.

That's why the details of the fundraiser in Naples, Florida yesterday that Sarah Palin headlined at a $10,000 per person (closed to the press) is of great interest.

The fundraiser was held at the home of  John "Jack" Donahue, the Chairman and founder of Federated Investors, a massive financial services company. In November 2005, Federated Investors paid $72 million in fines and penalties as the result of a SEC investigation into "unethical trading practices." They paid millions more in refunds to investors and as a settlement with then NY AG Spitzer.

The mainstream media has been inadequate, inept, and at times, downright awful in their coverage of this election, so I guess this shouldn't have come as such a huge shock to me, but it did...

I clicked on Howard Fineman's recent "analysis" piece on MSNBC, "McCain's last chance, or a chance to shine?" interested in reading his take on the upcoming debate between the two presidential candidates.  I was reading along trying to work my way through the fluff to something that would resemble a logical, intellectual political analysis.  About half way in, my jaw hit the floor.

McCain is like that trick birthday candle: you keep blowing it out but it keeps springing back to life.

I think I know the reason why this is so. There is something about what McCain represents -- a soldier willing to die for his country.

Voters are understandably reluctant to be seen as rejecting that ideal, or treating it with disrespect, especially in the eyes of a doubting world.

Obama is another reason why McCain cannot be counted out, no matter what the tracking polls and Electoral College summaries are saying. There remains something about the senator from Illinois -- the big-city, Ivy League, I-know-what's-good-for-you smoothie -- that makes many swing voters reluctant to accept him, even if you edit race out of the equation, which of course, you cannot.

I simply having a hard time digesting this ridiculous, pathetic excuse for political analysis.  In the lackluster and often horrendously ineffectual coverage of this campaign, much of what spews forth from Beltway insiders seems rather unexceptional.  But this shamefully unfair framing of the two candidates brings a whole new meaning to "Swinging on the Tire."

Well, I for one, decided to email my Mr. Fineman and share with him my thoughts.

My email, below the fold...

Over 1.3 million new low-income, minority, and young Americans registered nationwide!

Yesterday, as voter registration deadlines passed in most states, Project Vote, the nation's leading nonpartisan voter participation organization, and the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), the country's largest community organization, held a news conference to announce the completion of a joint nonpartisan voter registration drive, which has succeeded in helping over 1.3 million Americans register to vote. To listen to the conference in its entirety, please click here

Naomi Wolf Does not think so. This stuff is just in. No time to analise it, but this lady is not a fool. Please check out these links!

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_XgkeTanCG I

Google:

cspan YouTube Rep Brad Sherman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnbNm6hoB Xc

http://www.myamericaproject.org/

Crossposted at the Motley Moose

"Pallin' around with terrorists."

I just cannot fathom the level of desperation it takes to say such a thing.  I just cannot comprehend the lack of decency it takes to say such a thing.  I just cannot believe that an honorable public servant could say such a thing.

Mercifully, I don't consider Governor Palin an honorable anything.  More troubling, perhaps, is the fact that someone I did consider to be an honorable public servant sending her out there and allowing her (or perhaps asking her) to say such a thing.

This hurts our country more than Bill Ayers ever did.

Rasmussen reports the same eight point race he saw yesterday:

Obama 52
McCain 44

Rasmussen sees the race as essentially frozen for nearly the last two weeks.  He observes:

This is the second straight day that Obama has led by eight percentage points, his largest lead of the year. For the past twelve days, Obama's support has ranged from 50% to 52% while McCain has been at 44% of 45% every day.

Research 2000/Daily Kos likewise essentially sees the race as static, with Obama where he has been for the prior three days and McCain rising one point from 40 yesterday to 41 today:

Obama 52
McCain 41

Polls have already opened here in Georgia, although in limited quantities, usually one per county.    They have now been open for 2 weeks.
I am planning on going out to vote on Friday as I am off of work that day.

I wanted to open a diary to see who else is going out to vote early?  

I think that this is going to help us out a lot because it cuts down on lines at the polls and also give people more time to resolve problems, especially now that Georgia requires photo ID to vote.

We should not send Bob Sununu back to Washington. Schaffer has blindly supported the failed Bush economic doctrine of tax breaks for Wall Street, and reckless deregulation that has gotten us into our current mess.

Bob has done a "heckuva" job at taking care of Wall Street, while neglecting Main Street. He's also voted with Bush 90% of the time. How many times has he voted with the citizens of New Hampshire?

New Hampshire's main streets need a friend in Washington, but it's not Bob Sununu.