mccain

Just as in 2004, this year's presidential election is galvanizing the nation. How you vote in November is a very personal matter, but your choice can have professional repercussions. … [Read more]

Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska who has shot to prominence as John McCain's choice as running-mate, is best known as a passionate believer in new oil and gas exploration, including in Alaska's National Widelife Reserve - something McCain himself rejects.

But campaigners say she has a mixed record on her dealings with the oil corporations to which the Republican party has so many historic ties.

"There is no question that Palin's appointment as the Republican vice-presidential candidate cements the fact that John McCain is the candidate of big oil," Dan Weiss, a senior fellow at the Centre for American Progress, a Washington-based think-tank, told Al Jazeera.

"She supports the agenda of big oil - of more drilling - and she opposes investments in clean and renewable energy," he said.

Palin has presented herself as a challenger to corporate interests in Alaska, although that is because she believes the major energy companies have not acted swiftly enough in carrying out drilling and pipeline projects in the state.

Ending dependence

The Alaskan governor also sees more drilling of US oil reserves as a way of ending US dependence on oil imports from the Middle East and elsewhere. … [Read more]

 Sarah Palin during her Vice Presidential acceptance speech Wednesday lied openly and it is so sad. Here's a link to the picture showing Sarah Palin's boldest lie so far:

The Jed Report has "A fable for the gullible" with Sarah Palin holding a "Nowhere Alaska" t-shirt at a news conference in favor of the "Bridge to Nowhere".

The selection of a running mate is among the most consequential, most defining decisions a presidential nominee can make. John McCain’s pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin says a lot about his decison-making — and some of it is downright breathtaking.

We knew McCain is a politician who relishes improvisation, and likes to go with his gut. But it is remarkable that someone who has repeatedly emphasized experience in this campaign named an inexperienced governor he barely knew to be his No. 2. Whatever you think of the pick, here are six things it tells us about McCain:

1. He’s desperate. Let’s stop pretending this race is as close as national polling suggests. The truth is McCain is essentially tied or trailing in every swing state that matters — and too close for comfort in several states like Indiana and Montana the GOP usually wins pretty easily in presidential races. On top of that, voters seem very inclined to elect Democrats in general this election — and very sick of the Bush years. … [Read more]

 John McCain is getting scary. Watch this video clip where John McCain says "President Putin of Germany". Here I thought Vladimir Putin was Prime Minister of Russia --- not Germany. Is this really the presidential candidate you want making major foreign policy decisions at 3 am?

 When asked yesterday by Politico.com, John McCain did not know how many houses he owned...

From Politico.com: "Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said in an interview Wednesday that he was uncertain how many houses he and his wife, Cindy, own. "I think — I'll have my staff get to you," McCain told Politico in Las Cruces, N.M. "It's condominiums where — I'll have them get to you." [Read more]

With the polls continuing to show John McCain giving Barack Obama a run for his money, much of the press has seemed flummoxed by the turn of events. After all, the narrative of this campaign was supposed to be how a triumphant Obama rode discontent against the Bush administration to an overwhelming victory.

That still could happen. But if reporters seem surprised at the way things have gone so far, it may be because their account of what has already happened is flawed. As the poet once said, what's past is prologue.

The dominant narratives of this race have been how Obama upset the odds (and the Clintons) through a brilliant campaign, and how McCain mostly stumbled his way to the nomination, staging a comeback in New Hampshire and riding the momentum to victory. But maybe that's not what really happened. In truth, Obama always had a much better chance of emerging as the nominee than the press gave him credit for -- which is why this column even made him the slight favorite over Hillary Clinton way back in March 2007.

Yes, Obama was new to the national political scene. But in the primaries, insurgency is often an advantage, especially if the novice is as brilliant an orator as Obama. More important, because of Obama's race, he knew that if he could get a successful launch in Iowa or New Hampshire, he could count on solid support in the African-American community that would guarantee him more than a third of the delegates needed to nominate. That's one heck of a benefit, and he took advantage of it. … [Read more]

Matt Bai discusses McCain's recent admission that he could not use Google. New York Times magazine journalist Matt Bai was in Australia recently, on a break from covering the US presidential race. In an address to the Sydney Institute, he talks about the profound impact of the internet on American politics.

Matt Bai has written extensively about American politics, and his recent book, Billionaires, Bloggers and the Battle to Remake Democratic Politics is a look at the state of contemporary Democratic party politics in the U.S.

In this talk, he offers some insights into the Democratic primaries race, and argues that the November election will offer a pretty good choice for voters - The Sydney Institute … [Read more]

Barack Obama, June 3, 2008