Someone's trying to win an iPod and an audio book of W reading 'The Pet Goat?'

What's so heroic about being shot down while bombing a "heavily populated" (McCain's own words) area of Hanoi? They had to shoot him down, he was bombing civilians! What would you or you or you doing if it was your home and your children that were being bombed and the bomber fell into a lake where you could get your hands on him or her? John McCain served his country in a war of near-genocide against the Vietnamese, who never attacked our country...well, I could go on. I just think we need to do it carefully, but do it at all costs: bust this Hero-POW miracle-bubble that McCain has enveloped himself within.

It surprised me that after the 2004 Debacle that dems would let repubs go 2nd in conventions. Thats twice in a row (if not more) that they have gotten to rebut the DNC convention rather than the other way around. I think it would do a lot for limiting the attacks if they went first. I don't know how it works but whoever plans the next one should try to go 2nd.

Torque

This would be the same Patty Murray who, after 9/11, said, ""We've got to ask, why is this man [Osama bin Laden] so popular around the world?" Her answer: bin Laden has been "out in these countries for decades, building schools, building roads, building infrastructure, building day care facilities ..."

Yeah, I can just see those radical fundamentalist Islamists out there building day care centers.

What a hoot!

You mean like Swift Boat Veterans for The Smear?

My god. Do you people ever listen to yourselves? -- omooex

They don't dare, otherwise they'd be so revolted by what they really are that suicide is their only option.

Now that was funny! Partly, no doubt, because it is so true.

If the Dems don't get on the stick fast, within a week the phrase 'community organizer' will be embedded in the vernacular as meaning 'black'.

The Repubs will then be able to play race to their hearts' content while claiming innocence.

and made it easy for them.

Once again in American politics, the bar is set close to the floor.

Obama was the worst of the whole bunch, hillary second.

If you'd had Edwards or Kucinich then at least we'd be able to engage them on policy.

How would they criticise Edwards..for his haircut? You lot nominated a cynical, empty suit with no experience. You reap what you sow.

Only a third party with a strong showing is going to change the dynamics of America's dysfunctional political system. Only a third party can force Dems and Repubs into a better quality of debate.

Vote Nader.

My overall impression of Palin's speech, (given that she didn't even write it) was that it was a speech given by a high school or even Jr Hi prom queen running for student body president. So spiteful, hateful, petty ...

Did you look inside the convention hall? White faces, male predominant, seemingly almost no one under 40. This sort of thing still works for them and many like them. Polls show that those (male and female) under 40 are abandoning the party in droves and are roundly turned off by the line of attack Palin et al used last night.

If you want to know what IS resonating with the under 40s (the future of this country, which in no way resembles the crowd at the convention), watch The Daily Show.

That's not to say that Greenwald's caution against allowing the smears to go unanswered isn't valid and good advice. To be effective, though, it can't be tit or tat. It has to be brief, cogent, to the point and well-crafted to demonstrate the utter desperation and mental and moral bankruptcy of the purveyors. Otherwise it just adds to the noise and people tune out.

ever heard of message discipline?

while the Republicans can afford to alienate swing voters because they only want their base to vote, Democrats know that when you go too negative voters don't care if you are right, especially low information voters.

I realize it might feel good in the short term to be as mean and vicious and stupid as Republicans, Obama is thinking in the long term...

and while he respects netroots, he also knows that by postponing revenge...you can actually win rather than feel all virtuous in the short term.

This is different from Kerry's and Gore's slowness to respond.

Biden is playing the expectation game with Palin. And he just doesn't want to show his hand right now.

He plays poker, not craps.

That is why we are going to win.

Glen, I truly dislike the GOP and their convention discussion is, so far, brain-dead.

But the idea that the GOP is nasty and negative and Obama is all flowers and unicorns is nonsense. Obama ran the most negative campaign in the primaries by a major Democratic candidate in my memory. He and his Rove/Atwater, David Axlerod started personal attacks on Clinton and Edwards before those two even declared. The sexism (who can forget "Annie Oakley") and racist smears (See PBS' Moyers on the Obama lies about MLK/LBJ)) and then as soon as Obama was assured of the nomination he started on McCain.

Check out: Race Man. How Barack Obama played the race card and blamed Hillary Clinton, by Sean Wilentz, in The New Republic:

http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=aa0cd21b-0ff2-4329-88a1-69c6c268b304

And Misogyny I Won't Miss, by Mario Cocco, Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/14/AR2008051403090.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

And, of course, there is the wonderfully positive statement by the Obama campaign manager in charge of liasing to black churches: "We blacks don't owe the Clintons nothin'. They done to us blacks what they did to Monica Lewinsky," said while simulating intercourse on a church podium in front of young children. Gee, Obama never did recant that did he?

And, if you believe Obama didn't know about that, you'd believe that Obama isn't raising money from the likes of Goldman Sachs, Chevon, Exelon, and is now doing a major fund raiser with the felon from his infamous (D-Punjab) press release.