A Couple Things

Signed, sealed, and delivered. Vlade Divac has endorsed Obama!

Interesting. I assume the Reiham Salam is in the minority on this one. But at least he’s thoughtful about it.

Despite running one of the worst presidential campaigns I’ve ever seen, John McCain would, I’m convinced, make an excellent president. Among America’s friends and allies there is an almost unshakable conviction that only an Obama presidency can undo the damage done by President Bush’s supposed foreign policy blunders. And I can understand that – Obama’s personal story is inspiring; he is an unusually thoughtful person with a cool temperament and a commanding presence. But, hard though this may be to believe, this is precisely the right moment for President McCain.

The past seven years have been a time of extraordinary tumult in international affairs, and the world badly needs a period of consolidation and sweeping reform. Our diplomatic and economic institutions are ill suited to tackling the diffuse threats posed by climate change, financial contagion, mass epidemics and catastrophic terrorism. Only Nixon could go to China, and only McCain can reconcile conservatives to some of the hard steps the US will have to take.

Hat-tip: Andrew Sullivan.

For $4 million. That’s a bargain to keep Wakey around. Good signing.

Who would’ve thought this would be necessary?

The NY Times confirms it:

59 percent of voters surveyed said that Ms. Palin was not prepared for the job, up 9 percentage points since the beginning of the month. Nearly a third of voters polled said that the vice-presidential selection would be a major factor influencing their vote for president, and those voters broadly favored Senator Barack Obama… The increase in the number of voters who said that Ms. Palin was not prepared was driven almost entirely by Republicans and independents … 8 in 10 Democrats viewed her as unprepared, as well as more than 6 in 10 independents, and 3 in 10 Republicans.

Looks like this campaign was over the day McCain chose Palin for VP. This, by the way, sure makes the people that said the pick was “brilliant” look stupid: Ed Rollins, Josh Rosenstock, Robert Duvall, Tony Perkins. I could go on and on.

But it doesn’t matter.. we don’t hold our pundits to standards or check up on their predictions anyway, right?

Oops. Guess she’s a Socialist, too. The attacks on Obama kind of ring even more hollow now, don’t they?

In Alaska, residents pay no income tax or state sales tax. They receive a yearly dividend check from a $30 billion state investment account built largely from royalties on its oil. Palin raised taxes on big oil last year. With oil prices soaring this year, she was able to increase the checks by $1,200 to help residents hit by higher home fuel and gas costs. Thus every eligible man, woman and child got a record $3,269 this fall.

She also suspended the 8-cent tax on gas.

“We can afford to share resource wealth with Alaskans and to temporarily suspend the state fuel tax,” she said at the time.

Much as Obama explains his tax hike on the rich as a way to help people who are struggling, Palin’s statement talked about the energy costs burdening Alaskans:

“While the unique fiscal circumstances the state finds itself in at the end of this fiscal year warrant a special one-time payment to share some of the state’s wealth, the payment comes at a time when Alaskans are facing rising energy prices. High prices for oil are a double-edged sword for Alaskans. While public coffers fill, prices for heating fuel and gasoline have skyrocketed over the last six months and are now running into the $5- to $9-a-gallon range for heating fuel and gasoline across several areas of the state.”

In an interview with The New Yorker last summer Palin explained that she would make demands of a new gas pipeline “to maximize benefits for Alaskans”:

“And Alaska we’re set up, unlike other states in the union, where it’s collectively Alaskans own the resources. So we share in the wealth when the development of these resources occurs.”