My Kitchen Table

Sarah Palin explains it all

Here is Sarah with Matt Lauer.

The real Sarah Palin

Well, it's started. And on Fox News of all places.

She didn't know what countries were in NAFTA.

She didn't know that Africa was a continent. (She thought it was a country.)

She refused to prepare for her interview with Katie Couric.

She had repeated temper tantrums.

Again, this is all coming from Fox News. Not CNN, not MSNBC.

And they say that even more is coming out over the next few days.

What did McCain think he was doing?

It has been a long time coming

I don't think it can be said any better than Sam Cooke said it ...

It's all over

Now that Obama has won New Mexico, that gives him 200 votes. With California that's 255, with Oregon, Washington and Iowa, and Hawaii  ... that's much more than the 270 he needs to win.

The rest is just noise. Barack Obama will be the 44th president of the United States.

Standing at the moment before history

It is a curious sensation to realize that we, as a nation, are standing at the edge of history. We don't often get such advanced notice. But one way or another, Obama or McCain, the results of tomorrow's election will change this country. For the first time it won't just be old white men in charge of the executive branch of the government.

Barack Obama's role would obviously be more important, but don't dismiss the change that Palin symbolizes. I'm not one of her fans at all, yet her presence of the GOP ticket has already changed how the game will be played going forward. Combined with the candidacy of Hillary Clinton (and Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House), and it's not just a dustup for the boys anymore. And if Barack Obama does win, as it appears he will, then the game is not just changed, it's completely transformed. Now when we hear that old saw about any boy or girl (and  now I do mean any) can dream about growing up to become president, it will really be true.

It's a bit like being at Ebbet's Field the moment before Jackie Robinson first ran on the field to play for the Dodgers. You know what's coming, but it still hard to believe. And while the nation has changed since Robinson first played baseball 61 years ago (to no small degree because he did play), Obama will face many of the same sort of challenges because of his race and youth. Electing a black president won't eliminate racism, but it will change the way we confront it. It will give courage to those who believe in equality. It will say to the world that, despite all our problems, America is still a place where radical positive change is possible.

Elizabeth Dole goes over to the dark side

Want to know how badly Elizabeth Dole is losing her reelection bid in North Carolina? The fact that she is running this ad says a lot about how much she must be behind Democrat Kay Hagan.

We've been down this last gasp road before

As Dave Weigel points out on Reason, we've seen predictions of last-second comebacks before. From the AP on Nov. 2, 1988

"Today, the polls are closing, the momentum is our way," [Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Lloyd Bentsen] told a rally attended by about 2,000 students Tuesday night at Washington University in St. Louis.

The Republicans think the campaign is over and are "popping those campaign corks, but I'll tell you on November ninth they're going to have the worst hangover they've ever had," he said.

As he has been doing at other stops, Bentsen held over his head a reprint of the 1948 Chicago Tribune which declared, wrongly, "Dewey Defeats Truman."...

[Bentsen press secretary Mike] McCurry, asked about new national polls sponsored by news organizations showing double-digit leads for Bush, said, "we don't necessarily think those are accurate. They are not consistent with the campaign's own polls," he said.

I had a talk with a good friend, who is a die-hard conservative tied into the national Republican Party. While she still holds out hope for a McCain comeback - she believes that many people who say they are voting for Obama are lying - her demeanor undermined her comments. She's very smart. I think she sees the writing on the wall, but doesn't want to believe it's true.

Sarah, Sarah, Sarah!

No election will ever be the same now that YouTube is here.

Wassup!

This may be the best YouTube video of the entire presidential campaign.

It was all a hoax

The McCain worker who told police she had been attacked by an Obama supporter and had a B cut in ther face has told police that it was a hoax.

As Andrew Sullivan points out, John Moody, the executive vice president of Fox News has written earlier this week,"If the incident turns out to be a hoax, Senator McCain’s quest for the presidency is over, forever linked to race-baiting."