MOMocrats™

The Veep Debate Through the Eyes of Lawyer Mama

Some fabulous MOMocrat, cough*Glennia*cough, had the fabulous idea to host MOMocrats debate watch parties all over the country for the vice presidential debate between Joe "El Dog" Biden and Sara "Pitbull" Palin.  She brilliantly coined a catchy title: "Read My Lipstick: I'm Voting for Obama/Biden" and we were set.

I decided that we needed to have a Read My Lipstick watch party here in Hampton Roads and enlisted the help of my fellow Blue Star Family for Obama members, Vivian and Casey, to co-host.  In a few days, we had a location (see picture), a press release, local politicians, banners, signs, stickers, and lots of interest.

Because BSF4O has recently begun live blogging the debates, we decided we had to make that happen despite being in a bar with no wifi.  An anonymous donor came to our rescue with a wonderful little wireless router outfitted with a broadband card.  Between that, our 80 foot extension cord, my squid, and 4 laptops, we looked like we were ready to host Cheney's next "undisclosed" command and control center.

Setting up before the watch party.

Scenes from Outside the Vice Presidential Debate

At the 2008 Vice Presidential Debate at Washington University, some students standing outside the debate venue before the event began had strong opinions to share on Sarah Palin.

Lisa, a law student, had letter for Sarah Palin from Planned Parenthood, signed by 70,000 people:

VP Debate: The Sarah Palin Debate Flow Chart

That's funny, but let's get serious. Three things occurred to me last night as I was watching the debate with a group of about 100 folks to who turned out to our MOMocrats Palo Alto fundraiser:

1. Palin's responses were so heavily scripted that it was like she was having a debate all by herself. Joe Biden handily outdebated her and I was so happy that he kept McCain and relevant issues in his sights. McCain faced a blistering attack of his voting record and his stance on issues, and Palin did little to defend her running mate. Joe, thank you for answering the questions that matter to voters.

2. Her lack of smarts really shows in the way she speaks, but more specifically, in the way she constructs her sentences.  Her bad habit of speaking in a flurry of run-on sentences with dangling participles and ending sentences with prepositions etc. (when she could have stopped 4 or 5 words ago) is bothersome and annoying. Let's face it— it's hard to diagram her sentences. Sarah, you didnt pay attention in school, and it shows.

3. The winking? That made me want to punch her in the face.

She did better than expected, I'll give her that, but only because the bar for her was set so low. What does that say about women, the qualified women who will come after her? Anyone who thinks she did a great job last night, I'd like to know, "Did she answer any questions? And if that doesn't matter to you, why the hell not?"  If she can't answer a question without repeating: Alaska, energy, Wasilla, Joe Six-pack (puhleez) and "maverick,"—you know, the things on her script—then what does that say about how the McCain-Palin ticket feels about voters who are interested in hearing the answers to those questions? Pretty cynical in my view.

h/t for flow chart: @PsychMamma on Twitter who linked it from The Daily Kos

VP Debate Live Chat

Obama-McCain Debate: What I saw was the presidential spirit of ohana

First, I need to set the tone. Let's all begin by looking at these pictures of Barack Obama in Hawaii. These vacation photos provide me with a deep understanding of Barack Obama's temperment which helps to explain his measured, even-keeled performance in Friday's debate. How can that be, you ask? Allow me to explain.

As a MOMocrat who grew up in Honolulu, I have a unique view of Barack Obama, one that you can't have unless you grew up in Hawaii and understand the culture. Hawaii is a special place and it's like no other state in the United States. It's a state that is diverse, where minorities are the majority, and you are only unique if you are all one race. Most races and cultures in Hawaii have blended together over the years so it's not unusual for people to claim 5 or 6 different nationalities. We're "chop suey," as we call it. When Barack Obama talks about his story only being possible in America, I know that it was especially possible because he grew up in Honolulu.

 

Just the facts, Jack: Another McCain reality check--this time about earmarks

John McCain has been talking big about earmarks---about how bad they are, how often his opponent Senator Barack Obama indulges in them, and how he will eliminate them.

In the debate, McCain criticized Obama's point about reforming earmarks when he said, "Sen. Obama suspended those requests for pork-barrel projects after he was running for president of the United States. He didn't happen to see that light there in the first three years as a member of the United States Senate."

In the past, McCain has promised he'll be the messiah of earmark reform:

"I can eliminate $100 billion of wasteful and earmark spending immediately--35 billion in big spending bills in the last two years, and another 65 billion that has already been made a permanent part of the budget."

--John McCain, NPR All Things Considered, April 23, 2008.

McCain isn't per se lying when he says that he's long been against earmarks:

Sen. John McCain has been a crusader against so-called earmarks and says his opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, has asked for almost $1 billion in pork-barrel projects for his state in just less than four years in the Senate.

"Nearly a million dollars for every day that he's been in office! And that's change? My friends, don't be fooled," McCain said September 9.

Earmarks are requests for money by a specific legislator, usually for her or his constituency, added onto often-unrelated government spending bills.

---"Fact Check: McCain earmark claims examined," CNN Politics ElectionCenter2008

The problem is that earmarks are often a case of one man's trash is another man's treasure, and even Senator McCain has indulged in them when he's felt it was necessary.

This is another case of McCain mis-stating, misdirecting and misleading.

Presidential Debate 2008- MOMocrats Live Coverage

The McCain Campaign Suspension That Wasn't

On Wednesday, Presidential candidate John McCain announced:

Tomorrow morning, I will suspend my campaign and return to Washington after speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative. I have spoken to Senator Obama and informed him of my decision and have asked him to join me.

I am calling on the President to convene a meeting with the leadership from both houses of Congress, including Senator Obama and myself. It is time for both parties to come together to solve this problem.

We must meet as Americans, not as Democrats or Republicans, and we must meet until this crisis is resolved.I am directing my campaign to work with the Obama campaign and the commission on presidential debates to delay Friday night's debate until we have taken action to address this crisis.

However, that same evening, McCain campaign manager Rick Davis held a New York fundraising dinner on behalf of the campaign. Sarah Palin, rather than rushing to Washington to support McCain's supposed efforts to save the nation from imminent economic disaster, made a surprise appearance at a star-studded charity event, on the arm of Rupert Murdoch.

As of Thursday, McCain campaign attack ads criticizing Obama continue to run in key battleground states, including my own state of Missouri. McCain campaign offices across the country remain open and running. McCain's website donation link is still up and functioning. 

And McCain campaign surrogates like Nancy Pfotenhauer and Tucker Bounds continue to make the rounds on cable news shows on behalf of the campaign, attacking Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

Breaking News: McCain follows Obama's lead, claims it as his own, then drinks some Metamucil.

It's just been announced that John McCain has requested to postpone the presidential debates so that he can "focus on the economy."

Which almost sounds like a good idea. Until you realized that when Obama started focusing on the economy months ago by convening a major economic summit in Florida with a bipartisan team of advisors including Warren Buffet, Google Chair Eric Schmidt, and former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neil--McCain dismissed it as "political theater."

Virginia's 2nd Congressional District Debate: Nye v. Drake

We interrupt this coverage of Barack Obama and John McCain, to give you some local political news.

If you haven't guessed, from my coverage of the Virginia Democratic Convention, I live in Virginia.  A swing state.  Finally!  We've been working hard to make Virginia turn blue this year.  It's happening in our local elections too.  We're actually fielding Democratic candidates in all 11 of our Congressional Districts for the first time since anyone can remember.

I see what's happening in our local elections as demonstrative of what's happening in the national election and all over the country.  Virginia's 2nd Congressional District is the perfect example. So, I badgered the local Chamber of Commerce and Central Business District Association (the organizations hosting the event) to let me in for the first debate between Glenn Nye and Thelma Drake (R-Va).

First, I have to clarify what I mean by "badger."  The CBDA had only invited the local paper - the Virginian Pilot - and the three local networks.  Aside from wanting to go myself, that didn't sit well with me.  The networks simply can't run the entire debate.  Nor can the local paper print the entire transcript.

Frankly, making the people of the 2nd District who weren't fortunate enough to attend the debate watch network TV for debate sound bites, or peruse the paper to find the newspaper's analysis, is simply unacceptable.  Those hosting the debate owe it to the voters to make the debates as open to as many media voices as possible.  They didn't want me there initially.  Why?