As you said, the Repubs can't win on issues, they always go for the body blows. And their efforts to intimidate the media works. Can you imagine how the Keating Five, Cindy McCain's theft of drugs and McCain's age would play if they were Democrats? Already, the Repubs have taken us back to Obama at age 8 and his casual acquaintance with a onetime SDS member. Dems are fair game; Repubs are not. I wish just once when the Dems praise McCain's imprisonment (enough already!!)they would add "40 years ago in Vietnam." What has he done since then, one might ask?

So now it's up to Hillary?

Well, where she is not is on the ticket where I assume many of you wanted her to be.

You need to recall it's Obama/Biden...where are they?

All the old republican smears were/are on full display: the democratic opponent is weak on defense, he doesn't love america, he's somehow "not like us".

Then they added a bit of twilight zone:

Mitt Romney said the most radically conservative administration since Torquemada was actually...wait for it...'liberal'. Oh! Since you say down is up, Mitt, it all makes sense how you can run against your own party's record!

Then Huckabee did his Huckabee thing, complaining about the media when he used to be a regular on the Colbert Report, & playing out the plain folks trope while pretending he wasn't a governor who also ran for president.

Then arrived Giuliani, who somehow morphed into a midwestern anti-eastern-elites farmer, forgetting he was mayor of the most elite city in the world. His gleeful cruelty & dishonesty should have therapists mailing their cards to his home.

& let's not forget Lieberman - the man without convictions who arrived to vouch-safe for McCain's convictions.

& ah...Sarah. Who doesn't love Sarah? Most everyone who wasn't vetted during the non-vetting vetting process, it turns out.

They all combined to re-enforce the only tactic they know & can employ:

Culture Wars! Yay!!! It's them dang Lib'rulls what done it!!!

So now it's up to Hillary?

Well, where she is not is on the ticket where I assume many of you wanted her to be.

You need to recall it's Obama/Biden...where are they?

-- kairos

Knock it off. Asking Hillary to step up isn't excusing any slack in stepping up by Obama and Biden.

The GOP does always play this game, but with the press in their pocket, only the GOP can get away with it.

The GOP even played the victim card when the press started to ask basic questions of the unknown VP.

The media conglomerates will pull out all the stops to help the GOP as they always do. Papering over lies, he said/she said narratives, and if the Dems fight back they will trot out "angry" and "sexist" and "POW, POW, POW".

People are catching on this game, but the press still have a lot of fuel to burn before the entire media is known to the masses as GOP mouthpieces.

As much as I would like to see the Dems tear into these fundamentally (hee) unsuitable candidates, they have to do so carefully or they lose on the partisan factor since only Dems can be labeled partisan by press definition.

I think there are lines of attack that are immune to most of these pitfalls, but the press folk always go back to their narratives no matter how contrary to reality.

So back to where I started: it is a difficult problem. Once you decide to play post-partisan you are even more stuck, but I don't think there was any choice based on the media rules. Just like in middle school, the stupid and nasty usually wins. Used to be that the real world was different, but politics in the village never made it past the eighth grade.

Nobody has belittled Palin experience. She's been given the red carpet treatment. Pundits, including Glenn in his last post, completely dismiss her experience and won't even admit that she is a Governor. Her attacks on obama's experience were rightfully in response to the horrible attacks on her.

obama opened the cultural attacks with the clinging to guns remark, the association with reverend wright and his wife's lack of pride in her country.

Stop playing the submissive victim Glenn. When it comes to "brutal personality and cultural attacks" you guys are the tops.

This is the kind of stuff you do better than anyone else. Thanks.

On 60 Minutes last Sunday, when Barack was asked if he was tough enough to take on the Republican attacks replied, “I am a good counter-puncher.” He has demonstrated that ability so far by either shrugging attacks off or pointing out errors/hypocrisy. His team responds very quickly with written responses and ads. I don’t see him in the same category as Gore and Kerry both who attacked strongly in their 2008 Democratic convention speeches. I also believe this is a different election playing field.

Biden’s response to Palin’s speech showed his and Obama’s approach will be to say America’s problems are so serious that we have to talk about issues. During the 2004 campaign, the only issue the majority of Americans were concerned about was the war and Kerry admits that his lack of immediate challenge to the false claims about his service and patriotism hurt his credibility. At that time, the war had not really affected most Americans by design of the Busheviks and even after civil war broke out, it’s direct affects have been minimal.

The difference in this election is that Americans are feeling the full brunt economically of the disastrous Bush presidency. That is why Obama-Biden need to remain counter-punchers and keep with the themes, ENOUGH, MORE OF THE SAME, WE CAN GOVERN BEST.

While the M$M, and the now politicized AP, are to some extent falling for some of the same Repug nonsense, the attack and blame of the “liberal media” may backfire this go round. The Palin pick is so blatant and the nation’s problems so serious, that the M$M, as Joe Klein has, may discover they still have a conscience. And if they believe that McSame’s starting slim chances are proving there is no longer a horse race that is believable, then you will see the M$M start rushing toward Obama because they need some ass kissing before November 4.

Yes there is danger in betting on the American public coming to its senses. Obama believed in them in defeating Hillary and is betting on them again. All but the most die hard RWAs know how bad our country has been run under Junior and the seriousness of our economic problems and negative image around the world. So, I believe Obama’s bet is worth taking. If he stoops to the Repug level and shows that he cares more about winning through dirty politics, he becomes a hypocrite in everything he has said he stands for. I think his approach of saying McCain and Palin care about America as much as we do, they just want more of the same and our nation will fail if you elect them, will work this time.

There are plenty of surrogates, Bill, Hillary, Al, John, etc., who can do attacks. When talking this week to undecided long time Republicans, during my calls for my Democratic US House candidate, they all tell me over the phone they don’t like either presidential candidate (one even said he would vote for me, that shows you how desperate they feel) and then admitted the Palin pick pushed them more towards Obama.

So Glenn, I agree the Democrats have to be tough in their response, but not tough using Repug tactics. Never forget, the Repugs have proven when left to make decisions even in campaigns, they are their own worst enemy. And Rove was not such a genius in the 2006 election.