Banned Books Week 2008

Thanks to Amanda over at Pandagon for reminding us that it is once again Banned Books Week.

Keep stokin’ that fire, maw! We got us some Alice Walker, commie-lovin’ screed to roast!

Prep School

After her logical train wreck with Katie Couric last week, rumor has it that Sarah Palin will be spending the next two days cramming in Arizona for Thursday’s debate whereby her handlers will be trying a new strategy of giving her broader liberty to be herself.

Not a bad idea.

But there’s a problem: if Palin comes across as too slick and cocky in debate (as she did in St. Paul; remember, she won’t be preaching exclusively to the choir here), I suspect many voters will see her as the equivalent of Saran Wrap: thin, transparent, and disposable.

In order to do her boss any good, Palin must have a detailed knowledge of domestic and international issues.

And so far, she has demonstrated no signs of doing so – as shown in an unaired portion of the Couric interview wherein Palin reportedly blanked when asked to cite a Supreme Court case other than Roe v. Wade.

The Beginning of The End

The greatest risk (or folly) about making political forecasts is that they are solely dependent on what is happening today – not to mention subject to virtually anything that pops up tomorrow throwing one’s election year strategy into a thresher – such as, say, a surprise indictment, or the press finding out about that dead hooker in Barbados last spring.

Still, although my own predictions about which presidential candidate will win this cycle has evolved with time and polling trends, I am beginning to feel that John McCain’s presidential goals may be on a permanent slide.

The reason why is because I’m seeing today in Team McCain mistakes similar to those made by George H.W. Bush in 1992 when running against Bill Clinton – that is, engaging in petty, spitball-like attacks versus offering voters actual solutions for what the nation is going through, which today--as it did 16 years ago--is leaning heavily on the economy.

Further, like Bush The First, McCain is doing a poor job of learning from his mistakes, and repeatedly making kneejerk decisions (e.g. Georgia, Palin, obstructing the bailout plan) which are backfiring on him.

And as what could be argued as a result, McCain’s polling numbers—both nationally and in key states—are dropping steadily, which poses the natural question of what the hell McCain’s gonna pull out of his ass this time to hog the election spotlight.

My guess is nothing. Well, either that or a handful of pocket lint.

McCain has already played (and re-played) his trump cards, and unless that proverbial shot of a dead hooker in Obama’s bed surfaces (and awfully soon), I think his candidacy will begin to flatline.

Setting The Table

So the National League post-season schedule has finally been set.

This Wednesday, the Cubs begin their five-game series versus the LA Dodgers, and Philadelphia plays Milwaukee, which today clinched Wild Card berth after the Mets and Carlos Voltron died.

Forecasting the MIL-PHL series is easy--the Brewers will be swept in three—but I think the Cubs will have a challenge with the Dodgers.

Still, I’ll say the Cubs win in four games--perhaps five--and go onto the NLCS versus PHL.

More Bad Mojo for Palin

This time, via CNN's Jack Cafferty....

The Bloom Is Definately Off The Rose

The footage above was taken last night outside a Philadelphia pub where Sarah Palin had stopped in to view the first presidential debate on TV.

Yikes. The only things missing from the crowd are pitchforks and torches.

Elsewhere, via Ed Schultz and HuffPo, there are rumblings on the interwebs today that Palin was recently put through a mock debate and press conference by Team McCain, and did horribly in both -- prompting some to begin guesstimating when Palin will resign as McCain’s running mate for “family reasons.”

(If so, Palin were to drop out, it would have to be very soon so her replacement (some say Rudy Guliani, who was with McCain last night) could take over in time to debate Joe Biden on Thursday. Also, bear in mind that Tina Fey is supposed to be on SNL tonight doing another Palin sketch; even money says it will be one mocking her interview with Katie Couric.)

But all nuttiness aside, I’m taking these Palin-to-resign rumors with a block of salt – yet also I can’t imagine that McCain’s staff isn’t very concerned about her ability to cope with the world beyond Alaska. So far, with the exception of St. Paul—which featured her reading a canned speech—Palin's post-convention performance has been dismal.

Either way, barring any sudden news out of Team McCain between now and next Thursday, I still expect Palin will be in St. Louis next week, and perform well versus Biden. Yes, Palin may be in over her head, but I’m not going to make the mistake of underestimating her.

And unless they are very stupid—and it doesn’t look like it--neither will Biden and Obama.

Scorecard

The ebb and flow of tonight’s surprisingly debate was engaging – if a tad dull in the middle.

At the immediate conclusion, I was willing to give McCain a slight edge – yet I was impressed with Obama’s mastery of the issues, and ability to resist his habit of coming across as a professor. As for McCain, his well of experience was clear, but inconsistently applied. McCain’s failure to look Obama in the eye while the latter was speaking to him also struck me as awkward, and frankly a bit rude.

But for the record, I’m going to give both candidates good marks in a debate I’m going to call a draw.