Ready to Be Coddled

That wins funniest video of the day!

 

Sarah Palin's continued sequestration from the press says to me that the McCain campaign itself doesn't see where she can contribute anything to the ticket as its deals with an economic crisis. 

 

The campaign instead thinks their best use of Palin is to stick her in these horribly canned photo ops with foreign leaders--which seems to accentuate the fact that she's not ready for prime time and is trying to learn on the job from the likes of Henry Kissinger. 

 

I wonder if this explains some of the drift in polls toward Obama in the sense that McCain's pick of an inexperienced VP incapable of leadership looks increasingly bad when we are being buffeted by a complex economic crisis clearly beyond the VP's capabilities. 

 

That makes me wonder if McCain would trade Palin for Bloomberg or Portman, two guys who can't rally the base like Palin and amp up the attendance at campaign stops but who would be very useful as authoritative voices on the economy when more than half of Americans see that as the number one issue of the day.

 

This economic crisis has made Palin near to irrelevant to the campaign and probably an outright liability for the McCain ticket.

SouthSideDem, my co-host for the Pilsen Interactive Media Project live coverage on election night, wrote the rec'd diary on Kos about this.  A loyal FieldHand he is, and that was his first rec'd diary.  Quite a day for our boy John!

Everytime I think this campaign can't get any more surreal, well, here we are again. It just struck me that Palin in many ways personifies the Conservative movement of the last 30 years, in so many ways, and in one absolutely perfect way: Of course there is the religious-hyperosity, whether real or feigned, the anti-science, anti-intellectual mindset, there's the corruption, the servitude to Big Business, the power-for-power's sake, all of it that sums up the last 30 years of Conservatives from a policy perspective. But the key - and what I find to be key about these past 30 years -- is the post-modern war the Conservatives have waged against Truth, with the capital T. News is not fact, it's spin, opinions are as good as facts; repeat something often enough and it will become true, whether it is or not; you cannot trust the media, except the media explicitly on our side; and so on. And here we have Ms. Palin, who, objectively, has no business being on this stage at this time -- maybe in 10 years, but not now. And here we have the Conservative post-modern war in full view: They are attempting to make the reality of Sarah Palin from scratch. Control every appearance, every word; repeat the same talking points over and over; deny the facts, the truth, and distract, dodge, and ridicule. The entire operation is now working on Palin full time. I sit back, in much disbelief, and simply wonder in horror: Will it work, again?! Days like today give me a glimmer of hope that it will not. But the machine will grind on tomorrow. Couple this with the enormous pressures from the economic situation, and, well, we'll see if the Truth can overcome.

The Palin choice is looking worse by the day for McCain. She does rally the base, which he needed to do to have any shot whatsoever. But at what price?

Does he think people won't notice the stonewalling of Troopergate, the coddling, the lack of press conferences? Even the typical know-nothing "Independent" (read: apathetic who can't be bothered to pay attention) voter will notice.

As for Faux News calling her out, I just about fell out of my chair. Our friend Rupert must see the handwriting on the wall. But let's not get complacent. As Al is forever pointing out, we need to win this thing on the ground.

either that, or that woman is truly a disaster of epic proportions that she can't handle what is basically a photo-up by her self.

Al,

To lump Bono with Keanu Reeves & Britney is a cheap shot.  It's really easy & fashionable to take shots at celebs, until organizations and pols need them to shine a light on issues or raise money.  In Bono's case, he's done his homework and knows more than many politicians, world leaders, etc.  Being in the entertainment industry, I've seen first hand the kind of important work many entertainers do and how knowledgeable they are about the causes they support.  The really smart ones have applied their basic core skills to their humanitarian work and do the same, careful preparation they do for their music, acting, etc. Some performers are complete idiots & narcissists, but others aren't.  Joy Behar and Chris Rock have proven they're more incisive than the MSM.

That being said, what bugs me is Bono providing a photo op for Palin & McCain.  I know he has a history of being bi-partisan and reaping rewards for it.  But this time, he's going one toke over the line... unless being the dog that he is, he's only doing it to get Palin's phone number.

The McCain campaign is TERRIFIED this woman will do or say something to destroy his candidacy. They have her on lockdown and from what I can see are genuniely serious; Politco has started calling it Palin Protection. They don't want her to say boo that's not scripted.

I don't know what is happening but I do know something is up with this stuff; Palin is definitly no Bobby Jindal. I bet they're wishing they hadn't decided to give in to the racist vote and chosen Gov. Jindal instead of Gov. Palin. (Someone smart, shaken everything up, and actually improved over the course of the campaign.) With Jindal they could have made the best of both world's argument: Young smart guy like Obama, POW hero who can fight a war in McCain. That would have been a serious ticket IMO.

Thank God for us, they didn't go there.

 

 

The best thing about McCains crazy decision to drag Palin into his mess is how it is causing a quiet but potentially dangerous rift in the only part of the GOP base that really matters, the corporate plutocrats.

Their courtiers such as Mr. Brooks are quietly aghast at this lapse and Senator Hegel in Warren Buffet's backyard is none too thrilled.

While the bible thumper wingnut vote is generally the 'base', those hapless rubes get fleeced over and over again and have been since 2000. W tosses em an occasional easy bone in some speech or nominates some acceptible evolutionary throw back to the Supreme Court, but he rarely delivers much of substance if it is opposed by the plutocracy.

Wingnuttery are creatures of faith, after all, and it's amazing how cheap their vote is. Toss em a snarky crooked one of their own with a hair do and some winks and the crowd goes wild, except the crowd who expects a GOP win to ensure continued pillage with minimal fuss.

But I have been watching the economy since forever and particularly closely after the housing bubble broke and have been anticipating this convulsion since last summer.

If you go back to my earliest comment posts, when the discovery of the Field finally rescued me from the hysteria and awfulness of what passes for the "Progressive Blogosphere", you will note that I have steadfastly maintained that there are terrible forces at play beyond any one human's control that will impact this election and an addled 73 year old with a contrived record will not be a good bet no matter how mightily the Media Plutocracy struggles to foist him.

Now I see the end game. The implosion of all the significant investment banking houses marks the end of an unusually awful era that began with the fraud of the Reagan election and marked an orgy of swindles and looting ever since.

Now it is all cratering and we have yet to see the shockwaves of credit defaults on credit cards, auto loans and student loans. And I assure you, each of these categories is leveraged by equally ridiculous debt swap derivatives like the ones that convulsed the mortgage finance implosion.

One could even argue that McCain is cosseting this apocalyptic dunce because he has surely heard an earful about the horror of his Hail Mary selection from the plutocrat base. They can't cut her loose as it will be a disaster.

She will be remembered as the weird little canary fart barely heard in the roaring sawmill of the Great Depression Version 2.0.

Interesting comments by AP Chairman William Dean Singleton.

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_con...

...As has been his practice in the past, Singleton said he does not try to influence his newspapers' endorsements. As publisher of The Denver Post and The Salt Lake Tribune, he sits on their editorial boards so he has a say in their choices, which usually swing to the GOP side. But, citing the Post's 2000 endorsement of Al Gore, he said his own preference is not always taken by them.

...He said neither Obama nor McCain would make his top list for what is essentially "the next CEO of the country."

"...in order to get some photos of her very first foreign policy experiences!"

"Bring your Daughter to Work Day" indeed.

One would think that there'd be coverage of each of these meetings for the respective countries of each leader she meets with.  Or am I just being naive that someone, somewhere will spill the beans about the content of these meetings.

Al, 

Do you think she is really this bad?  It's hard to get past the lack of confidence the McCain camp has in her--but remember we were all yukking it up exactly this way before her speech at the convention set off a nuclear bomb.

Though of course that was before she swung and missed on the Bush Doctrine--and threatened war against Russia.

I'm genuinely mystified here.  All the signs (the coddling, isolation, hyper-defensiveness by the McCain campaign, etc)  point to a complete lack of confidence in putting their VP candidate in front of a camera and microphone.  Yet for the life of me I can't fathom that this woman can truly be as bad as all that.

Can she?

 

They appreciate the work of the fundies as far as getting enough votes to get corporate-friendly people into Congress. After all, they don't have enough time or warm bodies to get votes. After all, they will always be able to indulge in the various vices that the fundies disapprove of even if they are illegal-plane fare or bribery takes care of that should the law be too pesky for endurance here. It was no different during their grandparents time with porno, their great grandparents during Prohibition.

But it is understood that the fundies are to be indulged, not given actual power. They are simply too ignorant to be allowed on a national ticket where decisions affect profits and security. The real powers don't care about the Rapture and don't think it's real anymore than they believe in Santa Claus.

The choice of Palin by a senile and reckess McCain is already making ripple effects through the markets. Unlike Reagan, she cannot be cleaned up enough to even look like a plausible President, and as her record shows, she stabs all of her benefactors in the back, making her untrustworthy to even make the attempt.

Al's post-convention EC map was on the money. Ohio, despite being one of the hardest hit by Republican economic policies, is leaning McCain in recent polling. The other battleground states have shifted pro-Obama though. New Mexico and Iowa are pretty much in the bag and despite Pennsylvania tightening up, it's still leaning Obama. What's most surprising is how Colorado (leaning Obama now), Virginia, North Carolina, and even *Indiana* are toss-ups now. Those latter three are all better pick-up opportunities than Ohio!

In an earlier thread a while ago, I mentioned a good friend of mine who was a hardcore Hillary supporter and subsequent holdout. She is now an Obama voter (although not an enthusiastic one). Why the change from McCain to 3rd party to finally Obama? Palin. She's deathly scared of her. This is obviously anecdotal but I see this friend as a weather vane of Hillary supporters in general.

That line is especially funny given the fact that she sits there talking to President Karzai of Afghanistan (who can hardly be called a "world leader" because he's more like a glorified mayor of Kabul, actually), a country that has been under Soviet occupation for a while. Maybe they were discussing The Kite Runner although I suspect that since the book contains a homosexual rape scene it will probably be on the Palin "banned list".

Together with this bizarre credit crisis bailout plan, this is turning into more of a freak show by the day. Will Palin meet with acclaimed international policy expert Daddy Yankee too?

Having grown up in NW Ohio near the Indiana border, and currently living in Columbus OH, if Indiana goes for Obama Ohio will as well.  The poll numbers in Ohio may still have McCain ahead but they have been moving in Obama's direction.  I have yet to meet a single person here that has said the Palin pick was a good one. Plus having a Dem SoS and early voting should help overcome any possible racial disadvantage.  Don't write Ohio off, it is very much winnable.

For those interested in adding their opinion on Palin's qualification to be VP:

http://www.pbs.org/now/polls/poll-435.html

I go from being completely incredulous to totally pissed at the sheer mockery McCain has made of this election and what it means to each American and their one vote.  This is an absolute joke.  Countries that do not have democratic elections put better candidates forward than these two knuckleheads representing the Republican Party.

All of this hoopla with Palin as the pick, McCains mispeaks, His flippimn' and floppin', just proves to me that McCain is a man in serious mental decline. It's rather sad and I would have nothing but sympathy, except for the fact, that he is running for President of the United States.

Palin is the GOP spokesmodel for the Home Democracy Network...

OT - If there are any free FieldHands (or their friends) in West LA this Saturday we're phonebanking to Nevada - Come and join us!

http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gsxjk7

FREE SARAH PALIN

:D

Palgirl - Re: "Free Sarah Palin."

My gut instinct is counterintuitive: that it's not the McCain people holding her back so much as her own recognition that she's in way over her head, and her desire to get these world leaders alone both for her "education" and because she probably does better at making friends without the press present.

My guess is that the McCain campaign is having a hard time instructing someone like her on anything, so they're happy to play along with her cloistering from the media, but that it's as much her desire as theirs. Just a hunch.

The very good New Yorker piece this week about Palin by Philip Gourevich is well worth the read. In it, he quotes people in Alaska who have known Sarah for a long time saying that actually she's extremely self confident.  I don't know if that means she's locked herself in the cell or the McCain campaign is doing it to her. Your hunch is as good as mine.  That said, her appearances today look like photos of a kid's first day at school.  You know if Obama had to get Foreign Policy 101 classes in public like she is having, the GOPers would be screaming from the rooftops: He's not ready!

 

 

Sarah Palin is a delicate, fragile flower of Republican Gubernatorialhood who will evidently wilt if she is exposed to any questions, or even looked at funny. Or so the McCain camp wants us to think, so we must conclude the alternative is worse.

Do they want her to talk about energy, her "signature" policy? No. And when she does, she doesn't seem to grasp much beyond "record oil prices are good for Alaska."

Do they want her to talk about executive experience on domestic issues, a McCain weakness that a governor-veep pick would have seemed designed to address? No. Again, they don't seem to be able to equate a shred of that experience to issues that affect the other 49 states, who never wonder "what shall we do with all this extra oil money sloshing around the state coffers?"

And this is not her first exposure to foreign policy; have you forgotten you can see Russia from Alaska?

NY Times has another story on Rick Davis' lobbying ties to Freddie Mac. When the story broke earlier this week, McCain himself said he hasn't lobbied for Freddie for years.  Now the NYT reports Davis's firm continued to collect $15,000 per month from Freddie 2005 right up the point of their public bailout.  Apparently people at Davis's firm who saw the unfair McCain ad against Obama on Frank Raines leaked the additional information about Davis to the NYT.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/24/us/politics/w24davis.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Also, Obama has a dynamite ad out against McCain on equal pay.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxqjAejRF94&eurl=http://thepage.time.com/

You very aptly described this debacle of gigantic proportions which I now see being written about as the "money letter from Nigeria".  Apologies to the Nigerian scam artists...

I wonder what Paulsen said to the roomful of congressional leaders that had them sitting in stunned silence for a bit.  Perhaps it was a statement about the fact that housing is only the first card to fall.  The swaps that are out there on credit cards and every other type of debt vehicle isn't even being talked about yet. 

Sarah Palin - the weird little canary fart? Yeah, that sounds like the proper description.

My Repug friends who were rallied up initially after the Bridgette to Nowhere Palin pick are now realizing she was not the best choice. They have not said 'yet' (I am working on them softly) they will be voting for Obama, but definitely not happy with the way things have gone since the convention. Palin is failin.

How long can they keep her isolated from the press? Can they do this until Nov 4th? Won't the voters "complain" about it? What's the chance of the isolation hurting more than a "moderate" media exposure? Are they just delaying the inevitable or can they actually get away with it?

I'm asking honestly (not sarcastically). This is the first US election I pay attention to and I'm not in the US, so I have no idea what the "culture" is wrt this issue. My impression of the USA has always been that politicians actually do have to answer lots of questions from the press.

This attitude does indicate a lot of insecurity about her skills. As many commenters have pointed out, it invokes the question of "is she *so* bad that she can't talk unscripted?" My guess is that she is not *that* bad, but that the campaign is run by a bunch of true control freaks. And I agree with Al that she may feel insecure herself because this is just way too big for her, and prefers to take few risks.

After all, she's *adored* my millions as things stand. Why taking chances on spoiling it by answering uncomfortable questions?

They can't "cancel" the VP debate now (I hope), so she'll be soon exposed to questions. And maybe she doesn't do as bad. Is this maybe a way to not only avoid gaffes and buy her extra time but also to lower expectations for the debate?

Wrt McCain, I'm having the impression that he's lost somehow control of his own message and campaign, as if other people (advisers I presume) were the ones really in charge. I don't think this man has the same sharp mind and strong personality he used to have, and I can't help wondering how much of a toll the year of campaining can take on the mental strength of a 72 year old (I've seen grandparents' mental capabilities sharply decline after going through stressful situations).

We'll find out on Friday.

 

I think we should be careful about lowering expectations here. I read on Sullivan's blog that they have altered the debate format to leave less room for direct interaction between the candidates so it will be more like a talking-point war. Plus Biden seems a bit off his game the past few days. I just don't want us to fall into the low-expectations trap. What is up with Biden anyway? I guess he is known for his gaffes....part of his charm I guess.

Only that oh so small minority of world leaders who are either wetting their pants for McCain to win to push forth their own agenda at home are willing to meet her (Colombia's Uribe, Georgia's Saakashvili, and Afghanistan's Karzai, who probably owes a favor or two to McCain.)  Can someone say show me who your friends are...?

and they had him in the campaign all along.. I present to you The sarcastic, one liner hammerin' Austin Goolsbee The man made "blackberry" McCain surrogate curl in the fetal position.

Interesting article:  http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2008/09/palin_on_thin_ice....

 

 

I wonder what Paulsen said to the roomful of congressional leaders that had them sitting in stunned silence for a bit.  Perhaps it was a statement about the fact that housing is only the first card to fall.

 

It must have been something along the lines of "we're holding the economy hostage and won't accept any ransom below a trillion dollars. When it's paid we'll leave".

That is in any case the only explanation I can come up with for letting the hostage-takers manage a hostage crisis.

A few things, well really only one thing and a vent.

Catherine - At a meeting this week in Worcester Congressman  Jim McGovern said Paulsen told the congressional leadership that they needed to act immediately and then said 'God help our country if you don't.'  Maybe that was the stunned silence? Or was this a meeting that happened today or yesterday?

 

And about Palin and how she's playing to folks - I was shocked, seriously shocked by how my 75 year old neighbor fell over himself defending her to me today (yelling in fact). I knew he was a McCain supporter (and I'm sure his wife, a registered Democrat, is too) but he is far from Sarah Palin's demographic or at least would be if he actually believed any of the actual facts of her leadership decisions that are out there. Instead I found he's bought into the image the McCain team is selling hook, line and sinker. He's also bought into the lies that have been spread about Obama to a degree that really rattled me. He had one I hadn't even heard before.

We cannot give up and think this is in the bag. We need to do what we can to get every single Obama vote that we can. The stakes are too high and there are plenty of voters who are going to go against their interests and the interests of our nation and world.

A new poll done by Insider Advantage has it even now in Ohio at 46%.

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/09/23/insideradvantage_ohio_is_de...

An important shift that is being noted also in other polls is the senior vote. No doubt the meltdown in the stock market has brought home that Soc. Sec. is our only safety net in later life, and turning it over to Wall Street. is not what seniors want.

"In our last survey McCain enjoyed a more typical 52% to 41% lead among voters age 65 and over. In this latest survey McCain and Obama are even with 46% of the senior vote each."

 

 

I haven't been impressed with Sarah Palin, but I find the dubbed toddler video in very bad taste. This is the worst kind of bilious drivel, no better than the worst of the anti-Obama paraphernalia out there. The link to this video seriously undermines my respect for this blog. I'm here for substantive issues and hard data, not a pissing contest.

The Treasury Secretary's bailout plan includes the following interesting provisions:

(c) Sale of Mortgage-Related Assets.--The Secretary may, at any time, upon terms and conditions and at prices determined by the Secretary, sell, or enter into securities loans, repurchase transactions or other financial transactions in regard to, any mortgage-related asset purchased under this Act.

And....

Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.

Now, not that this would happen, but the language of the bailout plan doesn't seem to preclude it ...

The Treasury Secretary could authorize, absent scrutiny, that select players holding these dodgy assets (cronies and what have you) be paid 80 cents on the dollar for their holdings and then turn around and authorize the sale of the same assets back to the same players (or their affiliates/subsidiaries or newly created friendly ventures) for 20 cents on the dollar. 

That would provide the holders with an instant windfall on the bad assets and also allow them to hold the repurchased assets to maturity, when they might actually fetch 80 cents on the dollar -- since not all of the mortgages backing these securities are bad.

This would be one way to create "a value" for these illiquid assets in the market and prove to be quite a boon for those now stuck with these sour notes. Unfortunately, it also would rape the taxpayers in the end.

Now that is an extreme reading of the powers, but can anything be ruled out with this adminisration?

In any event, oversight seems to be an absolutely necessary component of this effort, or we could be right back where we started after all this is over.

 

Al - That her cloistering from media is mainly of her own doing appears to be a great hunch! It also helps with the work of understanding - still in the Bush-era, and from abroad - just where the surreal crosses into the real: How to be, think like, and act as a Palin!

I find that it works, given McCain/Palin as GOP candidates premised on the same thing: qualities that make them difficult to attack directly in an election campaign: the ex-POW status, the hockey mom appearance, and most strikingly, the perfect image of people with limited perspectives around us that "we" normally think it is too awkward to engage. Given your hunch being correct, this really IS Bush 2 - the improving version. But exactly that apparent skillfulness at manipulating appearances also makes her look less genuine.

Thankfully, the present situation would seem to help (Obama) with a counter-strategy - pulling McCain/Palin out into waters where they can be made to sink themselves? It's the issues...

Roger Simon on Politico.com, http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13815_Page2.html, says that you can get your vitamin D from salmon; you don't need a tanning bed for that, heh.

And then the bloom starts to fade from the Palin rose. Maybe she isn’t so in sync with blue-collar families, especially those who can’t afford tanning beds that may have cost as much as $35,000. True, Palin bought that tanning bed and had it installed in the Alaska governor’s mansion at her own expense. And the Indoor Tanning Association sent out a press release defending the purchase by saying, “In the bleak winter months, many Americans experience vitamin D deficiency, and the best way to manufacture vitamin D is through exposure to UV light.”

But it turns out you can also get vitamin D by eating things like salmon. Which is why bears in Alaska don’t need tanning beds. They just go down to a stream and scoop up some vitamin D. And how come tanning beds cost that much anyway? Do they come with an upstairs and a downstairs? Or a Prius?

"Successfully lowering expectations - again."  Now when she's able to form nearly complete sentences at the vp debate she'll be hailed as a stunning, lovely surprise.

The Dems need to start getting that bar up a little higher on her - if possible.

 

The George Will column was fascinating today.   Made me wonder if there was going to be a break with the Romney/business side of the party in all of this economic upheaval.  Is it possible those folks really would rather have someone steady and contemplative rather than reactionary?

To me, keeping Palin from the press is intentional - as in a strategy. It worked for the RNC convention, if you recall. Announce the pick, everyone laughed or cried or engaged in google-orgy. Meanwhile, in the back channels of of the GOP evangelivote, they send around a bio of her Christian cred (they've had their ground game perfected for sometime now). She blew the doors off the barn, as I expected. Afterwards, her favorability ratings go down the more she is interviewed because so much has come out.

Keeping her from the press has the highest chance of limiting her slide with independents.  And when she debates, she will be up against the same low expectations.  She has good instincts when it comes to crowds and her lack of depth is only revealed if there are multiple questions on the same topic, using prior answers as a basis for the next question.  Won't happen in the debate.  It will certainly work for the base -- no one doubts that.  And it might work for some independents - which matters in this election.  So, I think it is wrong to see the cloistering of the princess as a reflection of  McCain-campaign Palin-performance-anxiety.  More likely it is an effort to maximize her strengths and minimize her weaknesses in order to garner as many independent votes as possible.  She is very ambitious and she has shark instincts. She will do fine in the debates. And fine is more than she needs to do.  Don't get me wrong --  the pick, her candidacy, it is a fraud, a travesty. But she is here to stay as a player in American politics. McCain will lose and she will have 4 years to re-invent herself and re-introduce herself.  

The NYT has an interesting story on the banking crisis in Sweden in '92 and how they solved it, here. And the FBI is investigating fraud, they say.

I don't know, but this whole affair so close to the elections smells as if the neocon/neoliberal cabal is emptying the safe now that they know they're on their way out while holding the bank's staff and clients hostage. What's needed here is not crazy bailout and ransom schemes, but SWAT teams.

That was too funny for words. And yeah, that was just thisside of complete mockery.

 

Methinks the ' media' doesn't appreciate being completely PUNKED today. They got less than a FRIGGING MINUTE with Palin.

The current Wall St. meltdown and downturn into recession has given a breakthrough for Obama. Just out, ABC/Washington Post poll has Obama leading by 9 pts.

http://abcnews.go.com/PollingUnit/Politics/story?id=5866046&page=1

This is reflected in the numbers now coming out of Colorado, Florid and, Virginia, and the uptick in Washinton State.
What's clear is that the senior population and independents are now moving toward Obama. No wonder, as McCain is revealed for his policies, his advisors, and his plan to turn over soc. sec. to Wall St.

ABC/Washington Post is out with a poll today among its findings:

Age is important as 48% call it an important factor in their vote and Obama leads by 63-32 among those voters but "Far fewer – 16 percent, a new low – say race is an important issue, and that view does not meaningfully impact vote preferences."

A nice addition to the talking points on Fourniers inflammatory article.

 

At the top of the ticket it's Obama 52 McCain 43 among likely voters.

Lot's of other good news - see it all here:

http://abcnews.go.com/images/PollingUnit/1073a108ElectionUpdate.pdf

That in all of my hours of phonebanking, mostly calling independent and non-affiliated voters, plenty have refused to speak with me, some have told me they're voting for McCain or leaning McCain, some remain undecided, but of the hundreds or maybe thousands of people I've spoken with over the last two weeks, not a single person has expressed anything but negative feelings towards Gov. Palin - ranging from concern at her qualifications to outrage at her selection. In fact, many people have said that they had been leaning McCain until Sarah Palin became the VP pick, and now, especially in light of the economic crisis, they are leaning Obama. I've heard a LOT of people, in this very important swing state say that they are not decided yet about voting Obama, but they will never, ever, ever vote McCain if Palin remains his VP pick. 

Seeing how important the state of Florida is to the outcome of this election, I consider that any independent or non-affiliated voter that outright refuses to vote for McCain, even if still undecided about Obama to be a pretty darned good sign. 

I think we should extend the title to read Ready to Be Coddled On Day One

Elizabeth Duvert - Online polls serve one purpose only, to get people to look at the website. They are totally meaningless, and I don't see why people are so freaked out over this one in particular.