So, I’ll go back and update that post. Meanwhile here is the clip:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Gov. Palin isn’t even mentioned. And for the record, here’s Sen. McCain talking about Hillary Clinton’s health care proposals:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Again, he’s not talking abut Sen. Clinton, but her proposals.

So I have to side with Sen. Obama on this one. This is a manufactured outrage.

First up on the block is the only other thing in life that is cetain, besides death – TAXES.
What have the candidates said about this issue?

McCain said he would:
• Keep taxes low and cut them where he could.
• Double the child tax exemption from $3,500 to $7,000.
• Cut the business tax rate to help American companies compete and keep jobs from moving overseas.

Obama said he would:
• Cut taxes “for 95 percent of all working families.”
• “Eliminate capital gains taxes for the small businesses” and start-ups “that will create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow.”
• Advocate “a tax code that doesn’t reward the lobbyists who wrote it, but the American workers and small businesses who deserve it.”
• “Stop giving tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas” and “start giving them to companies that create good jobs right here in America.”

Anon E. Mouse Analysis:
Mr. McCain offers up, perhaps, the only actual objective “promise” out of the convention oratory. Doubling the Child Tax Exemption from $3,500 to $7,000. Keeping taxes low is important to many folks who look at the difference between the gross and net numbers son their paychecks every week and want to cry. Please tell me how you are going to make sure that your new tax breaks for corporations are going to keep jobs in the USA and not just line pockets of the big shots that sit on the Board of Directors.

Mr. Obama*, at least in this analysis, offers up rhetoric. What does he mean when he says “95% of all working families”? This sounds great but please define “working family.” Also, please define “small business.” Please cite examples of the tax code you wish to change – especially examples of those that seem to be written by lobbyists. I have no doubt they exist, but it just sounds awfully vague.

*I know my criticisms appear a bit one-sided. On this subject, I believe they are warranted. As this series progresses, you should see that I criticize both candidates for being vague or having nothing to say at all on some subjects.

Coming up next: Education

So ask yourself: could Sarah Palin have run a national election campaign against, say, a machine as powerful as the Bush family, and won? Does she have the skill set to construct a campaign that would actually have brought her to the nomination herself? I find the comparison with Obama ludicrous. But it will be made. Palin looks to me like a lovely person and a good local politician, with some inevitable rough spots. I’d be delighted if she took a leadership role in the GOP in the future. But in the same league as Obama? Do Republicans really think that little of him?

John McCain chose Palin for several reasons. She’s a social conservative. She has a compelling personal story. And, oh yeah, she’s a woman in an election where there are a lot of women ready to bolt the Dems because Hillary Clinton didn’t get the nomination.

But is Palin ready to lead the country, if the need arises? She’s been a governor about half the time Obama has been a senator. There’s some truth to the contention that governing a state is better preparation for the presidency than being one of 100 Senators.

But presidents are leaders only in as much as they can convince others to follow them. That is the beauty of campaigning for the presidency. If you don’t have the skills to capture your party’s primary and then win the general election, how can you hope to guide your agenda through Congress?

But then, who would have thought that Obama could win the Democratic primary, considering the cakewalk that was his election to the Senate in 2004.

Hat tip: Eric Zorn’s blog.

Already the pundits are at it, praising and bashing the choice, spinning their hearts out, slanting the news to suit their particular interests in the campaign. For now, let us set that aside.

Looking at the race as it now stands, with tickets for each side filled out, we are now destined to have a historic result come November. I already left a comment over at CJ’s Peoria Chronicle but I’d like to expound on it a little more. A historic outcome is probably going to be accompanied by an unprecedented campaign.

You can bet the Republicans have studied the Hillary Clinton campaign. The HRC campaign for President will serve as a trial balloon for the Sarah Palin campaign for Vice President. They will also apply the lessons to their approach against Barack Obama.

The tickets really do resemble each other is many ways.

• Each ticket has a traditional candidate (old/white/male) who has been in the Senate for quite some time and whose strength is in foreign policy.
• Each ticket has a non-traditional candidate (not old/white/male) who has little or no Washington experience. They are relatively good looking and focus on more domestic agendas.
• Each ticket represents and advocates a “Change” theme.

Say what you will about any of the four candidates, none have changed the race like the addition of Palin. Biden was the safe, insiders choice. One wonders who will actually be able to wave that “Change” banner most honestly.

Say what you will about any of the four candidates, none have changed the race like the addition of Biden. Palin is the freshest of faces. One wonders who will actually be able to wave that “Experience” banner the truest.

The debates will be more important than ever. Much like we (those of us that talk about such things) still talk of Lincoln-Douglas and Kennedy-Nixon, I think Obama/Biden vs. McCain/Palin will be spoken of long into the future. There has never been an election like this one.

One thing is for certain, the game is afoot.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The McCain campaign immediately released a statement saying that this is an indication that Biden is going to be pulling the strings because Obama is too inexperienced.

So, let’s get this straight: Obama is a bad choice because he’s too experienced in foreign affairs. But he’s also the wrong choice because he selected running mate who has experience in foreign affairs. And if Obama relies on his vice president’s experience, he’s somehow going to be a puppet. But when Dick Cheney advised Bush, it’s OK.

Gotcha.

The stupid things these people argue about just turns off moderates. It makes about as much sense to make a big deal about how much real estate the candidates own.

And if I were a member of the GOP, I wouldn’t be throwing stones at Obama or Biden over verbal miscues:

Click here to view the embedded video.

This is nothing new, albeit a but more blunt than how it’s usually done. Rush Limbaugh has spent years teaching his listeners how to use humor and ridicule to result arguments from the left (a task that is sometimes not all that hard). Democrats do the same.

Both IP and CapFax are on a suggested list of blogs to target. Both ask readers to not do that, with Mr. Miller going as far as to threaten banning.

I’m half-tempted to issue the same warning. This sort of fake grass-roots stuff drives me nuts. I didn’t hesitate to toss letters to the editor that appeared in other publications.

But I have an endless supply of space on this blog, while empty space on an editorial page is limited. I’m not likely to delete as much as I am to ridicule.

So be warned.

Paris makes sense. Her plan would address short turn concerns about high prices by increasing supply, and help lower demand in the long run by stimulating technological innovation.

One quibble, however. There already are incentives in place for electric vehicles. My parents drive one, and the tax credit usually puts some cash in their pockets.

Thank you, Paris, for inserting some middle of the road sanity into the debate, as well as a discussion on the issues. I wonder what her position is on signing statements?

And here is the McCain ad that got Paris into the race:

Click here to view the embedded video.