Month: September 2008

Dreher is struggling with his vote.

A poll – the Dish’s first real one. But it’s a burning question right now:

A reader writes:

The 40+ million figure includes PBS’ estimate. Without PBS, Palin’s speech was watched by 37.2 million. Obama’s speech still had more viewers, over 42 million, when adding in PBS estimates.

Is the party of traditional marriage aware that the vice-presidential nominee actually eloped with her now-husband? And just in case you missed it: Scott Richter, Todd Palin’s former business partner, has just filed an emergency motion to seal his divorce papers.

You know it’s rough:

The gamble is enormous. In a stroke, McCain gratuitously forfeited his most powerful argument against Obama. And this was even before Palin’s inevitable liabilities began to pile up — inevitable because any previously unvetted neophyte has “issues.” The kid. The state trooper investigation. And worst, the paucity of any Palin record or expressed conviction on the major issues of our time.

My italics. So Charles agrees with me. A person who heard about the surge "on the news" and wanted an "exit plan" is simply not a credible vice-president for John McCain. It can’t be defended with any measure of intellectual honesty. It could be defended as a cynical electoral gambit. But it cannot be defended by anyone even faintly serious about national security. And so you see what people like Mark Levin and Mark Steyn and Jonah Goldberg truly are: fathomless cynics.

Watching the conservative intelligentsia divide into those who still have some grip on reality and principle and those who long ago took their leave of both is really fascinating. Charles has not lost his marbles, even if so many others have.

Aired now on Instapundit.

Toles gets it:

You’d think the McCain campaign, in a time of economic distress, would avoid making stories like this one:

Vanity Fair editors estimated that McCain’s fierce saffron shirt dress with the popped collar, diamond earrings, four-strand pearl necklace, white Chanel watch and strappy shoes totaled up to $313,100 …

Throughout the convention McCain also kept recycling her accessories, including the four-strand pearl necklace and two rhinestone pins that say Navy and USMC — representing the military branches her sons serve in. Above those two is also a Blue Star pin, signifying she has a child on active duty.

"Cindy McCain accessorizes like a woman of her generation," Iglehart said. "It has all that sparkling going on."

McCain’s known to favor Escada, Michael Kors and Carolina Herrera and was recently seen shopping at Oscar de la Renta’s showroom in New York.

Kevin Drum is betting there won’t be radio silence from Palin. How about Hugh Hewitt? He’s a toughie.

David Harsanyi makes it.