An important message from Sarah:
October 31, 2008
(I don’t normally post such things here, but we’re so close to the Big Day and the race is so tight that anything and everything you can do to help WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE. I strongly urge you to give, even if it’s just $5. We can do this!!)
Dear Supporter,
We’re now four days away from Election Day. 
All the polls are tightening and important races across the country are going to come down to the wire.
The Obama-Biden Democrats are using their financial edge over our candidates to flood media markets with ads, stuff mail boxes with their literature, and pay workers to canvass neighborhoods.
We must raise an additional $5 million in the next 72 hours to help fund our final get-out-the-vote efforts.
Our team needs you to make one more donation of any amount you can afford as we head into this weekend.
Thanks to your generosity, our candidates are closing in the polls, but in these final days turning out voters to the polls and convincing undecided voters is the name of the game. Read more
Palin Turns Focus to National Security
October 31, 2008
Following her running mate’s lead, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin sought to turn the focus to national security on the campaign trail today, charging that Sen. Barack Obama is “incapable of meeting” the national security challenges facing the country.
“In five days, it’s all gonna come down to a choice between two men — Barack Obama and John McCain,” Palin said at a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania today. “And you know a man can be admirable in many ways, and quite promising and still not be quite ready for the most important and demanding job in the world. Rousing speeches can fill a stadium, but they cannot keep our country safe.”
Palin dismissed Obama’s 30-minute ad buy that aired on seven television networks last night as a “warm and fuzzy, scripted infomercial” that ignored Iraq and Afghanistan.
“He didn’t talk much about the stakes in the wars that America is fighting and he didn’t explain why he voted to cut off funding for our troops over there in the war zone when they need our support,” Palin said. “Instead, he wrapped his closing message in a warm and fuzzy, scripted infomercial intended to soften the focus in these closing days. He’s hoping your mind won’t wander to the real challenges of national security, challenges that he is incapable of meeting.”
Palin had introduced the new line of argument after participating in a “National Security Roundtable” in Erie, PA with a panel of McCain campaign foreign policy advisors, including former CIA Director James Woolsey, former 9/11 Commission member John Lehman, and former Secretary of Homeland Security and Erie, Pennsylvania native Tom Ridge.
After the roundtable, Palin argued that domestic and foreign policy cannot be separated, citing energy policy as an example of an issue that has an impact both at home and abroad. Palin had spoken extensively about the Republican ticket’s plans on energy security in a policy speech in Toledo, OH yesterday.
“Gone are the days when we had placed domestic and foreign concerns in two distinct categories and just choose a president according to the priorities of the moment,” Palin said. “On November 4th we need to elect a president who can handle the difficulties in the economy and the dangers of the world all at the same time.”
Palin said she understood that most Americans are focused on the current “economic hard times” instead of foreign policy.
“When your most valuable assets — from your home to your retirement plan — seem at risk, it may be hard to spend much time worrying about great troubles in far-off places,” Palin said. “It may be hard to spare much thought even for the most urgent matters of national security.”
But she argued that the “dangers of the world do not disappear” and that the next president will still face foreign policy threats after the economic crisis has passed.
“The terrorist threat will be with us for many years, and millions of innocent lives are hanging in the balance,” Palin said. “And in this time for choosing, the question is which man will protect us from Osama bin Laden, from Al Qaeda, from the prospects of a nuclear-armed Iran, and other grave threats in the world, which one understands that threat? That man is Senator John McCain.”
Palin charged that a Democratic Congress would not protect the country, slamming comments made recently by Democratic Rep. Barney Frank, in which he called for a 25 percent cut in the defense budget.
“Let’s not retreat from wars that are almost won,” Palin said. “And let’s not gut the defense budget, in a time of multiple conflicts and obvious dangers. And let’s not entrust all the powers of the federal government to the one-party rule of Obama, Pelosi, and Reid.”
Palin closed by arguing that only McCain knew the costs of war, and was ready to lead on the country’s security challenges as president.
“He is a man of unquestioned honor and personal and political courage, and of tested judgment – and the kind of judgment that avoids crisis instead of inviting it,” Palin said. “In a time of great danger, we are fortunate to have a man of his caliber ready, deserving, to serve as commander in chief.”
Name the VP
October 31, 2008
By Ron Burtz
Name the VP - More amazing video clips are a click away
Study: Palin coverage negative (No way!)
October 31, 2008
Media coverage of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin has been overwhelmingly negative according to a new study by the Culture and Media Institute, a conservative media watchdog group.
A survey of stories shown on NBC, CBS and ABC between September 29 and October 12 showed that negative stories about Palin were shown over positive stories at a rate of 18-1. Of the 69 stories about the Alaska governor shown during the stretch, 37 were deemed negative, 30 neutral and 2 positive.
Both of the positive stories were aired on CBS. More than half of each of the networks stories were negative. The study did not offer any information on how Palin coverage has skewed since Oct. 12.
“If the polls are accurate, the networks have successfully created a caricature of Sarah Palin that ignores her all-American appeal, intelligence and accomplishments,” Media Research Center President Brent Bozell said in a release accompanying the report. “CMI’s analysis shows an undeniable pattern of bias against her in a critical period before the election.”
According to the report, most of the negative stories portrayed Palin as either unqualified and unintelligent or as attacking Barack Obama unfairly.
Since being unveiled as McCain’s running mate, Palin has had a contentious relationship with the press. The Alaska governor has been criticized for not being available to reporters and, by many measures, failed her first tests in interviews with ABC’s Charles Gibson and CBS’s Katie Couric.
Palin has frequently criticized the press as biased and sexist both on the stump and in interviews.
During an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America” Thursday, the Alaska governor said there is an “obvious double standard” in her coverage.
“I mean, talk about my wardrobe and never talking about the male candidate’s wardrobe. Or the questions posed to me of how I will be able to serve in office and still raise a family. I’ve never heard that asked of a male candidate,” she said.
“But I’m not going to complain about that, because if my skin isn’t thick enough to take that as a candidate, I should not be even thinking of serving this nation as vice president.”
Sarah Palin’s Son Track Stars in Iraq
October 31, 2008
Pfc. Track Palin has been promoted from driver to an “air guard” position in one of the rear hatches of the Stryker vehicle. He stands in the hatch with a rifle and watches out for danger to the vehicle, be it airborne or on the ground. His unit also provides security for the brigade’s commander and deputy commander. From there, the next promotion is to be a dismounted soldier, one that leaves the 20-ton, eight-wheeled armored combat vehicle.
From all reports, Track Palin is an unassuming and humble fellow and very quiet about the whole “mom running for vice president” thing. “He’s a good kid and a good soldier and he’d like to remain anonymous,” says Col. Burt Thompson, who commands the Alaska-based 25th Infantry Division’s 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, known as the “Arctic Wolves.”
