replace Palin.

He made his bed, now he has to lay in it.

This will go down as one of the most poorly thought out VP picks in American history.

I would stick either to the story about the firing of the supervisory officer or the Alaskan Independence Party story, myself.  I can understand a family's need to get even in one of these settings.  That impulse is inappropriate when third parties are punished (as in "troopergate"), but I see no problem with such feelings when they are directed solely towards the antagonist.  I wouldn't go in this direction, I don't think it's helpful.

I am glad the media attention is now on MacCain and Palin. it means they are going to be spending less time talking about Obama's "Problems" and talk about MacCain's bad judgment for a change.

oh and  CNN is all over this from what i know, they even went through the babygate story and the troopgate extensively.

We have been hearing a lot about whether McCain and his team knew about Bristol's pregnancy before Sarah Palin was selected.  But let's hypothesize for a moment a scenario where Sarah herself didn't know... unlikely, sure - but all the same can you imagine the scene in Ohio.  Supposedly the Palin kids were flown in under some pretext and only told upon arrival that their mother was McCain's pick for VP.  Supposedly this happened with mere hours to spare before the big speech.  "Uh, Mom?  Can I talk to you for a sec outside?  There's something Levi and I have been planning to tell you..."  Awkward!

The bar has been set very low for Republicans. Nothing seems to stick to them as it seems most in their party just don't care very much about integrity or good judgment.

Goodness. Jonathan, take Obama's advice to heart. Also, Wooten was accused of being a wife-beater. I've got no sympathy for the guy. Violence against women can't be taken lightly.

about the public vetting of Palin.

I can't wait for tomorrow's scandal!

Also, the moment they prove that Palin underwent the equivalent of electro-shock therapy, then we'll be in Eagleton territory. Right now, we're in Quayle/Ferraro territory which is bad enough for McCain.

This is the very definition of a feeding frenzy.

 for those around and paying attention during the '84 election.  did ferraro recieve this much attention?  i was born on the tailend of reagan's second term, so...

If Palin had done as the judge suggests and not sought to fire the trooper simply because her sister had a financial stake in his continued employment, that would be just as bad, and probably worse, from an ethical/good government standpoint, no?

It sounds to me like the judge was a garden variety misogynist asshole defending a grade A misogynist asshole.

I won't defend anything Palin did once she was in office, but the idea that the Palin family shouldn't have tried to get a wife-abusing, child-abusing, drunk-driving police officer fired, because it would be more profitable for them to stay quiet, is exactly the sort of fucked up, domestic violence normalizing shit that you'd expect from a conservative judge. Pretty gross to hear it coming from a family court judge.

If Palin had taken her own experience and used it to force through reforms of the state police investigation process, she'd be a hero. Instead, she just tried to use her clout to take personal revenge, and then lied about it repeatedly. Apparently, it never occurred to her that the wrong that was done to her family might actually be a sign of institutional problems.

...to keep track of this woman's scandals.

Near as I can figure, this is what we've got:

* This so-called reformer directed Ted Stevens' 527.

* This so-called reformer received millions in earmarks.

* She's under investigation for Trooper Gate, has made contradictory statements and is now lawyered up and will have to testify.

* She was involved in another firing scandal when she was mayor, for which she was almost recalled.

* She bankrupted that little town she was mayor of.

* She and her husband once belonged to a political party whose goal is to make Alaska secede from the union.

* She claimed to be against the Bridge to Nowhere, when reports of her speaking to the people of that island clearly record her supporting the bridge.

And, of course, that's not including all the personal stuff I'm not going into.

The Republican party has just verified the entire strategic position of the Obama campaign.  The more we learn about Palin the more we learn it is all the same.  Same tactics, same bullying, same denial of facts.  Sarah Palin is a mini Cheney in her assertions of executive privilege.  It is more of the same.  More we cannot afford.

Sorry if this is elsewhere but it's finally over 50%

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0 809/01/lkl.02.html

I agree with Jerome. I have this deja vu of all my liberal friends who didn't get Huckabee--and then Huckabee comes pretty close to winning, with almost no money. This is like a Huckabee choice, where McCain gets BOTH christians and independents, and unless the MSM starts ridiculing her, she's great for McCain. Also, one of the impacts of a VP is what s/he does to the rhetoric of the candidate--her rhetoric is mccain's at his most persuasive--punchy, independent, etc--and unfortunately this shores up his own comfort with his best language. She needs to be taken on on her merits, and quick, before she slides through this early phase on superficial and unsuccessful challenges.