From The New West Blog
Despite Palin, West Still in Play, Schweitzer Says
By Matthew Frank, 9-15-08
Moose, snowmobiling and so-called small-town values have been injected into the presidential race thanks to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, but it doesn’t mean she and Sen. John McCain are a lock to win Western states, says Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer.
As the Chicago Tribune reports, Schweitzer was the featured speaker at Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin’s annual steak fry Sunday, and he said Montana, Colorado and New Mexico are still very much in play and he doubts polling that shows McCain gaining ground.
“Polls bounce back and forth. After every convention you get a little bit of a bounce,” said Schweitzer. “They were about tied when they started and they’re about tied now.”
Schweitzer also suggested polls don’t reflect Obama’s support among younger people.
“If you want to start talking about the people who are underpolled, start talking about college students, start talking about young people,” said Schweitzer, who said that the cell-phone generation isn’t being reached in surveys.
“We’ve given them the greatest challenge with a non-sustainable food system, a non-sustainable energy system and yet they are up to the challenge,” said Schweitzer. “They’re going to vote for Barack Obama and they carry cell phones.”
For a thorough unpacking of Palin’s Western identity, check out Katherine Roberts’ piece in the New York Times.
[End of article]A few weeks ago a national conversation about (moose hunting) would have seemed unlikely. But that was before the emergence of a candidate who has divided the country in unexpected ways — not simply because of her record and her views, but also because Governor Palin comes from a place in the West that embodies deep-seated ideas and myths and contradictions about the role of the frontier in the American psyche. In some sense, Ms. Palin has become a metaphor for Alaska itself, and as grand a landscape as Alaska is, the current discussion is less about a geographical location than about a state of mind, or states of mind.
Palin may have small town values, I will give you that BUT she is running for the vice president of the United States. What about Iraq, Iran, China, Chad, Venezuela, Pakistan...etc.? Her international experience is non-existent. And potentially our new first lady Cindy McCain says that because Alaska is so close in proximity to Russia, she does have the international experience needed to be the VP. Doesn't anyone else think that statement is ludicrous? Just watch for yourselves.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zP8uFPWxaA
I used to believe that the war in Iraq and global climate change issues were the largest issues facing Americans today but I now believe it is education because if more people in this country just did their own research instead of the FOX news viewing we wouldn't have had Bush for 8 years and we wouldn't be in a race that was neck and neck. Obama would win by a landslide if people would just do a little bit of research and use common sense
So to assist in some personal research try http://www.factcheck.org which is a non-partisan website that reaches out to get the facts straight. It only seems like it may be a liberal website because it constantly has to call out the GOP for its lies and hypocrisy.
Comment By flounder, 9-15-08christophster, the #2 person at factcheck.org is named Viveka Novak. During the Plame scandal (where the White House sold out a CIA agent they didn't like), Viveka Novak was working for TIme Magazine. When Novak's co-worker Matt Cooper was preparing to testify to the Grand Jury as to what McCain adviser Karl Rove told him about Valerie Plame, Novak called up Rove and spilled the beans on what Cooper was going to say. Rove, who had already given a different story to the Grand Jury, went back and "revised" his testimony. In all, Rove "revised" his testimony something like 5 times.
This makes Viveka Novak a right-wing operative. When the #2 person in your operation is a right-wing operative, that makes your organization a "right-wing outfit".
Why does this matter? Well, if McCain is getting called a liar by a right-wing outfit, he must really be telling some whoppers.