I'm afraid on Palin, there are indeed people who think that because Russia is next door to Alaska, that gives her foreign policy experience. One such popped up on UK TV last night - a delegate to the Republican convention. I guess that makes me an expert too - after all I live next door to France - I've even been there.

I've said this before.

A professed staunch Conservative told me long ago that McCain is an idiot and that the party didn't want him. What bothers me is that even they've lined up behind him after he won a couple primaries despite that they KNOW what he is. Yesterday, I heard two ministers who I respect discussing Sara Pallin and both used the word 'hypocrite'. I think they are right on target.

The day I put a political party line before my beliefs, I hope someone has the kindness to shoot me because I will have lost my senses completely.

I am hearing some rather disturbing information about McCain's connection to the Georgia region. They involve commercial interests in an oil pipeline and McCain's possible financial involvement. I intend to research this in coming days and will report on my blog.

I agree with everything you said and it scares me. I don't think it's just his age but his age might've made him worse. He was always this way and he is unsuited for being president as is his chosen running mate.

What upset me last night was watching the Daily Show (one of the few places you do see some biting commentary and that says a lot about the mainstream media). They were interviewing people at the convention and trying to get them to say the word 'choice'. It was funny and yet very scary to see these mind-numbed people, who are the ones who cheered on Palin, who want McCain, and the almost dead look in their eyes as they either tried to understand or avoid understanding what the question entailed.

Some commentators have said we have seen the Republican party become the religionist party and it sure looks like it. They no longer care about anything but that their candidate be a fundamentalist christianist. And make no mistake this is not Christianity that these people are following. They call it that but the teachings of Jesus are a long way from what they are most concerned with following.

Fascism is made up of a type of religion and patriotism, neither one of which are really what we normally think the words mean. For a long time under Bush it has looked like fascism is gaining in this country.

Seeing clips from Sarah Palin's speech and realizing all the praise for it was the opposite of how I saw it also made me feel there is a huge chasm in this country. I don't know how it will play out but it's about more than McCain. It's about who are we as a people?

Yes. Well, again, as you have so comprehensively pointed out, Ronni, people age at different rates, etc., etc., so on and so forth. Some of us are still hiking and climbing and doing all sorts of things while others have slowed down significantly. So, for me, age is one factor, but not, by far, the biggest factor in why I think that McCain/Palin would be a disastrous team to lead this country. BOTH of them are arrogant, have little or no comprehension of what people are REALLY struggling with in this country, and not only do they not know, they DON'T CARE. Deja vu all over again (to quote one of my favorite cartoon characters). We've had eight years of an administration that puts its personal agenda before the public agenda, and McCain and Palin demonstrate that same "if you don't like it, tough!" attitude. Beyond all of that, and to further demonstrate their lack of understanding that 18% of America's children are now being raised in poverty, Cindy McCain, I understand, was wearing an outfit that cost more than $4,000 at the convention last night. That's a lot of bowls of beef stew for hungry kids, eh?

As an Independent with Libertarian views, McCain is not my first choice, not by a long shot. But Obama scares me almost as much and maybe even more than McCain. I will stand in line and vote come this November, but I will not like the names I will have to choose from on the ballot.

Election day will be a sad one for me, guaranteed.

Ronni, you alluded to Governor Palin banning books. I have not found any substantive information to support this. I'm very against censorship and would like to know some facts about this. After one writer showed a list of the books, I found this disclaimer:

note: there’s some buzz being generated that says that this post contains a comment that lists the books that Palin supposedly wanted banned. The list is here, but there appears to be no truth to the claim made by the commenter, and no further documentation or support for this has turned up.

I am a McCain/Palin supporter as of Thursday but still want to review my options, as there are other issues I do not agree with on their platform

Thanks!

Granny Annie:

Palin's attempt as mayor of Wasilla to ban library books has been widely covered. In Time magazine:

"Stein says that as mayor, Palin continued to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. "She asked the library how she could go about banning books," he says, because some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them. "The librarian was aghast." That woman, Mary Ellen Baker, couldn't be reached for comment, but news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire Baker for not giving "full support" to the mayor."

In The New York Times:

"Shortly after becoming mayor, former city officials and Wasilla residents said, Ms. Palin approached the town librarian about the possibility of banning some books, though she never followed through and it was unclear which books or passages were in question."

And many others. Here is a well-researched story from the Atlanta Journal Constitution devoted entirely to the library issue.

Thanks! So, no book banning ever took place. That's good.

I suggest if you don't like Sen. McClain, vote for the other guy, and let's me on to a more productive topic.

There is nothing we can say that is going to change the Senator or his running mate. It is a fruitless exercise to keep pounding on them.

I agree, Ronni. His candidacy, and the possibility that he might win just scares me to death (and so does she).

I agree with kenju! The possibility of a McCain/Palin win scares the living daylights out of me.

I have to admit that I've never given money to any political campaign. Yesterday, someone from the DNC came by my house and started his spiel. I told him he didn't have to continue, just tell me where to sign and let me get my checkbook!!

McCain failed us in choosing Palin, since his age and life experience do need to be factored into the equation, as you have explained so well.

Take this scenario: with their usual devious tactics, the Republicans get McCain elected, then they have him assassinated and Palin gets to impose her way of thinking on the country. That could be even more disastrous than what Bush has wrought. I was never one to believe this kind of thing could happen in the United States, but now I have my doubts.

And, I think Mary hit it on the nail. Their supporters have become more numerous. They do not reason the same way. This is downright scary.

I remain hopeful that the wave of optimism Obama/Biden create will take the Republican party by surprise. I would be so proud to have Obama and Biden lead the country and cringe at the idea of being subjected to Palin instead, even as Vice-President should McCain manage to stay alive ....

Last night, John McCain presented himself to the nation as a gentle, humble and courageous man who loves his family, loves his country and is the best qualified to be the next President of the United States. His quiet demeanor was in stark contrast to the strident tone of his running mate, and was impressive.

John’s qualifications? He was a POW and survived horrendous treatment, injuries to both body and spirit, and came home with an even stronger love for his country. Does this qualify him to be President? He obviously has an iron will and great survival instincts which served him well in this instance and one cannot take that away from him. His will to live and his love for country cannot be denied.

But, let us consider what we have here. John’s iron will and determination has shown itself repeatedly recently. We have a man who has demonstrated that he likes to be considered a maverick, which is another name for a person who goes against the common sense or consensus to have his own way. I call that arrogance and stubbornness.

John has further demonstrated that his determination to have his own way impedes his good judgment. His choice for a running mate is clearly an indication of his need to flex his muscle and thumb his nose at those who wouldn’t let him have what he wanted. Obviously, his first priority was not choosing a person who could be President should something happen to him.
Apparently, he doesn’t think anything can happen to him. Is this an indication of his good judgment?

John McCain loves his country and has served it well. That alone, however, does not qualify him to be President. If loving your country, loving your family, and being arrogant and stubborn are qualifications for being President, I might be qualified.

A president need to be a strong executive. If he has a great team and he is a strong leader with a clear mission and set of goals he doesn't need to be a young vigorous person. It is all about leadership. I've worked for one or two great leaders in my life and the key to their success was that they built a team that got things done not that they did it all themselves. They had a relentless vision and focus on what we were going to achieve. An overarching vision that was empowering.

I fear McCain's temper far more than his age. I regret that Hillary Clinton was not the D candidate; not finishing his Senate term gives young Cassius a lean and hungry look, as Shakespeare wrote in Julius Caesar. Palin is young enough to be dangerous: my daughter chose life; yours shall not have the choice if I get my way. Biden is the best of the lot with a lifetime commitment to more-or-less progressive policies.

I suppose all politicians will employ people to dig dirt on their opponents but i recently read something that could easily be checked.
It seems that Palin, who is being praised by her supporters for standing by her pregnant daughter has voted against a) measures to educate teenagers in sexual matters b) help for unmarried mothers and c) contraceptive advice for teenagers. Also, if she said she let her daughter make her own decision whether or not to keep the baby why would she deny the same right to decide to other pregnant women (as I gather she is anti-abortion).
The news of McCain's temper is pretty terrifying. How could the world rely on a ratonal decision from such a president?

Maybe it isn't just his chronological age that makes McCain seem "old", it's the current version of conservative philosophy. Liberalism has what is often considered a "youthful" appeal because it is inherently optimistic and advocates adapting to change, actually shaping it more than just adapting, and the future. Obama, after all, isn't one of the twenty-somethings for whom he has such appeal. We associate conservatism with aging, I think, because it is oriented toward resisting change., and it does seem to get harder to adapt to changes around us as we age. Preserving the best of our past can be a good thing, but today's conservatism in practice also advocates the most for those who benefit most from the status quo and not necessarily for the good of all of us. There are elderly liberals who appeal to the "youthful" attitude and also appeal to young people and the idealistic youth in all of us. But liberals don't want to recklessly throw out the past; preserving and protecting our traditional Constitutional liberties is one of the pillars of liberalism. It is only when our civil liberties are sound (as well as our physical needs provided for) that we can look to the future with optimism and openness to change. We liberals also focus on preserving our communities, as well as bettering them, and we reject this idea that our government of the people is the enemy. We don't want to get rid of government or shrink it to the size that it can be drowned in the bathtub as conservatives say, we want good government.
DeanOR, age 70

I agree with many of the comments about McCain and Palin, so won't repeat them yet again.

One other thing that upsets me, though, is the apparent intention of the McCain campaign to protect Palin from any sort of appearance where she would be required to demonstrate the ability to answer questions or speak on any topic that has not been pre-scripted.

The American people don't know much about Palin, so they are taking her at face value in the way she has been presented by the campaign. We need to see her in a forum where she has to answer questions and demonstrate whether she has any knowledge of economics, foreign affairs, and all of the many complicated issues that a President of the United States has to deal with. The campaign is making the despicable assumption that if she's protected from making any gaffes the voters will assume the best of her.

We've had 8 years of an incompetent puppet government - I don't think the country can survive another 4 years of this.