McCain's new stage for speech

Apparently McCain's VP nominee couldn't find any past republican leaders to mention in her speech last night...instead she referenced JFK "Profiles in Courage" and President Truman just to name a few...it is funny how at election time the republicans want to be associated with Democrats...probably because Democrats do things to make a real positive impact on people, families, civilization...just keep asking yourself, where would we be if Al Gore was president these past 4 years...I doubt we'd be in Iraq...

Sure trumps the styrofoam Hollywoodesq Roman columns. How pretentious and self-righteous can B. Hussein Obama be with that staging? What on earth were his handlers thinking?

The contrast between the two speaks volumes about their differences in how they want to relate to the American public. One takes the celeb route shouting out "it's all about me me me!" The other plays on Sarah Palin's folksy small town image.

Regardless of the excuse that those styrofoam Roman columns are suppose to represent the Gateway to the White House and present a regal setting, you must admit it did NOT play well in Peoria. Maybe it played well in the confines and cocoon of the Washington Beltway or in LaLaLand but not here in small town PA. And guess where this election is going to be won? You can kiss the key states of PA, OH, WI, MN, MI goodbye King Obama.

Why doesn't he just forego the stage all together, do it from his living room with a fire going in the background, a cat on his lap, and a cup of hot cocoa on the end table near him. It can be a fireside chat like FDR used to do on the radio.

Of course, he'd have to figure out which of his 7 (or is it 8?) homes he'd like to do it from.

I'm sorry, but Mr. McCain, a true American hero who went through a lot more than I ever will, or most Americans will, is running for the Presidency here. These gimmicks are just that. Superficial and phoney.

McCain is better than this. Maybe he should get rid of the Karl Rove Consulting Group who are no doubt advising him on each step of the campaign lately.

To: M R Dragon
"I doubt we'd be in Iraq" You are correct. Iraq would probably be HERE!!

hey Smalltown PA: do you want energetic, new leadership from someone with a plan to get this country out of the hole Bush dug, or someone with a "folksy small town image" and zero credentials? it's unbelievable to me that there are people in this country who would support this woman for vice-president, one heartbeat away from the presidency. have you REALLY stopped to think about this? get your head out of the sand, people!

Small town PA you shouldn't be focusing so much on background images then you should on policies and gimmicks. McCain is relying completely on this false image that he thinks Palin is going to bring. It's ridiculous. He is ridiculous and is not going to win the election no matter what states rally behind him. If your backing McCain your backing the Bush administration and LORD knows they did sooo many wonderful things for us. (sarcasm) It's sad that he has to delegate a woman that he barely knows to be his pick for president if anything were to happen to him. The only reason why he did it was to win over Hillary supporters. If he wanted a woman there were so many more obvious choices, but he doesn't care about this nation. He only cares about himself and how quickly he can become Bush the third. Did you hear any real ideas for change in Palin's speech last night? If you did please inform me of then, apparently I was to distracted with the spin that the Republican party puts on EVERYTHING..

..OBAMA 08.. change is coming.. I hope you're ready!

John McCain knows he can not match Barack Obama in style or substance so he is trying to reach them on a personal level to make them feel obligated to vote for him. It is like hiring your brother in law , you would rather not but you feel obligated by the rest of the family.

I think Sarah used one of those styrofoam columns and knocked Obama to the pavement and stole his lunch money! Watch out, guys!

hey Smalltown PA, I am here in smalltown CA. I think you can count me in feel exactly the same way. Oh boy! some left wingers are angry, aren't they?

Too bad the Republicans will lose in November; I always wondered how Geena Davis' short-lived "Commander in Chief" show would have tourned out had the viewership not declined...oh welll!

To M R Dragon...

You are 100% right. We wouldn't be in Iraq because we would all be dead.

McCain is a joke, or he would be if he weren't so scary. This man is flip flopping all over the place. At least the Democrats talk about the real issues facing America. Family Values! What about jobs, credit, healthcare, education and not wasting money on bombs and kevlar vests.

Listening to both conventions and the comments posted here are sad. Is it possible to consider that both Obama and McCain are decent men who simply have different views about the direction the country should take? At least Joe Biden's speech was not a caustic, adolescent attack on McCain. Mrs. Palin is obviously very talented and capable, but as a high school teacher, her speech reminded me of the tone I hear from "popular" girls making fun of everyone else. And, perhaps someone should tell Obama to spend as much time explaining what he actually plans to do as he does creating stadium theater.

Tell me what an "independent" voter should do. I'm at a loss! HHS Atlanta, GA

HHS

M R Dragon is correct. If Al Gore was President we wouldn't be in Iraq........They'd be here! Al Gore is an idiot. There's actually real scientific proof of that.

Republican's are crazy if they think that Palin speech will win votes. Smart women can see right through her crap and realize she has no experience. She did not even bring up any important issues last night. Selling a jet on Ebay hardly qualifies you to run for VP. By the way a Community Organizer is nothing to be laughed at. The only thing that I will be laughing at at the end of this election in Sarah Palin and the Republican's failed attempt's to trick us into another painful four years of Bush politics. Wise up everyone!

Okay, she delivered a good speak in a great way. Now, comes to what policy will be from McCain. Dems have had their say, let's hear hear from the Republicans, then we can get on with real details, please.

MR Dragon .. we wouldn't even be in Afghanistan with Al Gore.
The liberals also compared 0bama to Lincoln, who was, of course,
a republican. Go figure.

Everybody take a deep breath, let's wait and see what McCain has to say, how he says it and if we believe him. This is too important of an election to be drawing conclusions and making decisions until we have heard from both presidential candidates and VP candidates. We still have numerous debates to listen to. Let’s not be so narrow in our thinking or be hasty, this is to important

I'm from small town PA and I say, "YES WE CAN!" The entire DNC was AWESOME! And the repubs have sealed their fate with Sarah! HERE'S TO A BRIGHT AMERICAN FUTURE WITH BARACK OBAMA!!!!!!!!!!

ps- I can't help but notice the audiences in the conventions... Democratic was diverse in many ways and Rebublicans looked like a big room of old white people with the sporatic young moron that just didn't know any better.

Whatever side of the line you stand on is fine. Have a little respect for the fact that a true American hero like McCain wants to feel comfortable delivering a speech. We have bigger things to worry about than the shape of a stage. As far as Al Gore being elected four years ago, he wasn't, move on.

" have you REALLY stopped to think about this? "

no they havent, people dont think during the elections, they hear what theyre told and nod like the sheep that they are.

Its great the stage set up for McCain! Awsome! The Camera can see the Republic Party around there new leader, Americans @ home can see what part of the country McCain Repersents! OLD WHITE PEOPLE! I counted 10 Black people, 6 asians, a group of Hawians, Do you honestly think this is the Party of the future!
Im white by the way! lol

>> "Too bad the Republicans will lose in November"

I guess that's it, the GOP should just go home and we should just call this election now. No need to further educate ourselves about the candidates.

Honestly, this presumptuous tactic is getting old. Reminds me overhearing a Seattle native (I'm one myself) comment how they couldn't understand how Bush won in 2004 since they didn't know a single person who voted for him. The attitude that just because you and the world you surround yourself with think one way that alternatives are impossible, unthinkable, or wrong is plain naive and arrogant.

This election is definitely up for grabs.

To: M R Dragon and Just say No...,

You guys are living in a dream world. If a powerful country like the US, which spends more money on defense than ALL other countries in the world combined, and has the best military and people in the world, couldn't even keep a backwards little country like Iraq in line for a few short years, just how could such a backwards and cowardly group of people from Iraq EVER been a real threat to us.

Give me a break!

Guys, please. When electing a president it's time to stop getting your information from Fox news and comic books. Read some real newspapers. By invading Iraq, which was not involved in 9/11, Bush made it impossible to devote enough resources to Afghanistan, which was. And now you want Sarah Palin a short step away from the Oval Office? I'm sure she's a lovely person, but if she's president, I'm building a bunker.

To Dragon and "supporter": it's the ill-informed and malleable minds such as yours that make fascism possible. The real danger to our country was NEVER from Iraq (with its NON-EXISTENT WMD!), it is from home-grown fascism, Bush style, and the lemmings who will blindly support him no matter what.

If you can (yeah, right) be called upon to THINK for a moment--please explain how we would "all be dead" from an attack by Iraq. Perhaps from their non-existent nukes? After they enriched Uranium with facilities that don't exist, using aluminum tubing that BUSH WAS TOLD IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS could not be used for that purpose? Or would it be through their non-existent Al-Qaeda connection?

I listened to every speech so far. I didn't hear Obama shout "me, me, me" or even allude to the fact that this election was about him. (Actually what he did say was directly the opposite of this statement.)

I also paid close attention to Gov. Palin's speech. Which offered nothing to qualify her and offered nothing about the policies of that ticket. Normally this is the VPs job on the campaign trail, so we'll see how it works out for her in the coming weeks. She was certainly right in calling herself a pitbull though, she plays attack dog well.

Bush also took an interesting route and made particularly divisive comments about his political adversaries. These came direct from the Whitehouse and from our sitting leader. I believe this exemplifies what we'd see from a McCain-Palin administration.

Iraq here....

Um yall know Iraq was a government right? Not the terrorist group that we were attacking at the time in Afghanistan. Iraq, who did not have a navy capable of attacking us at the time. So how would the Iraq who the bush administration falsely accused and we attacked any way.

Lets get this straight once and for all.
Afghanistan is where the terroist attacked us from. That is where we went to war first, have not finished the war yet, and are still fighting.
Iraq is where we went to war second after Bush lied. Where we already won the war and are now an occupation force that the new government of Iraq wants us out.

See it is simple, we never had to attack Iraq, the terrorist who we are after would have been just as happy to attack us in Afghanistan and not have to travel here.

Simple scared children you are to hold onto the fight them thier card when you already have it.

People like you let the terrorist win when you sit and do nothing but worry about it.
You take your freedoms away and give the terrorist what they want, A divided America at war with itself. Way to go, pat yourself on the back.

I want to hear McCain talk about our national security since he's appears ready to march our young men and women into another war with Russia, of all countries. He talks about securing our Nation but voted against strengthening and upgrading cargo containers. See : S.Amdt. 4999 to H.R. 4954 .

There is a lot of real information on our Senators, how they have voted and what they are interested in. You can see for yourselves their record over several years at senate.gov. This is the information age.

Every 4 years I see a Republican machine (more than Democrats) coming out with a bunch of negative stuff against their fellow Americans, divide us, divide us, divide us.... All of us have a stake in the country, why aren't we being smart and looking at the facts? I try to research every bit of negative hype I read, and I have to say, I see a lot of untruths coming from the Republicans, why is that? Democrats have their share of it too, but in fact checking there seems to be less of it.
If Obama is more popular maybe it's because his message resonates with those who are struggling and trying to make sense of what Bush has done. If anyone of us is going to say something, back it up, not with the media, who gets paid for it, but at the source of the discussion.
Here is a challenge for you: Do some research on the people who have had to leave John McCain and Barack Obama's campaigns due to having ties with really nasty lobbyists. Dont just skim the surface, really research these folks. So far my vote is for Obama, he's not perfect, his people aren't perfect, but there are fewer scary people in his party. So change my mind with truths, don't hurl stones at me, I'm your neighbor and we have more in common than not.

I thought Obama made a terrible mistake in not picking Hillary as a running mate and was certain the McCain camp was going to pound on him for his lack of experience.... Jeesh, Biden said Obama wasn't ready, Hillary said he wasn't ready - he isn't ready! Now McCain tosses that opportunity away by picking a 44 year old woman who has governed a small town and a state with a population of a small town. I really wonder about McCain's judgement now.

To M R Dragon

It is easy to look back and say things like..."we'd been better off with Gore".
As a Bush supporter, I'll admit, he hasn't looked like our best president ever. But these haven't been easy times to deal with either. I'm extremely thankful Gore was not elected president now....especially after the tough times we've been through. I'd hate to think how much worse things could have been if the "father of the internet would have been elected" :-) ...what a joke! Gore is also the same guy who brought about the global warming theory and placed it as a major issue for our government to start mandating...and taxing. Oh- it's been big business and big dollars for our government, at the exenpse of tax payers nation wide. Thanks Mr Gore. What a guy....we didn't even elect him president and he still costs us money.

Oh, is this John McCain's convention?? From everything I've seen so far, I thought it was Sarah Palin's. After all, she is getting all the attention and has all the executive experience. Now that I understand that McCain is the one running for President, I'll have to review my options.
Iraq would be here, or we'd all be dead?? How would they get here?? Camels. How would they kill us? Dying of laughter at the ineptitude of their military, whom we've beat up (twice) in a week.
Get real.

Great political parties produce great leaders. Individuals who are able to lead the nation to a better future. The Republican party failed to do that eight years ago, and we are less well off, less secure, and less prepared to face the great challenges of today because we decided then to follow the wrong drummer. The Republicans haven’t changed. Once again they are offering us an empty sack, and Sarah Palin is proof of the pudding. We need excellence not mediocrity in the second highest office of the land. We can’t afford another President who makes risky choices and relies on gimmickry. We need substance and real change.

Hey, G.C. underwood and Just say no to Hussein....

It's people like yourselves who are the ignorant fools who actually make this election closer than it should be. If you really believe that if we didn't attack Iraq, they would have attacked us here, you need to get your facts straight. The fact is that Al Qaeda in Iraq didn't come about until we invaded their country. There were no WMD's nor terrorists in Iraq beforehand. Yes, Saddam Hussein was a ruthless tyrant, but the real enemies were and are in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Sudan. Obama wants to go after the Taliban and the terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where we have been losing ground over the last year or more, and where we should have committed most of our resources too from the beginning.

Get your facts straight, vote based on where the candidates stand on the issues, and try not to listen to media spin...on both sides.

If the republicans win we will get less respect for those who disagree with their opinions, more vitriol for those who have different ideas than we are used to. Other than belittling their opponents last night did Guiliani or Palin have anything about acutal policy to present to the American people? Do we really want four more years of 'Do as I say and not as I do?' And 'If you knew what I know, you would totally agree to domestic wiretapping without without a legal warrent.'

I grew up in a small Ohio town, moved to a big California town and now live in a small Colorado town and small towns can be just as bad, if not worse than the big towns. In the small towns when the majority disagree with someone else's opinion, I have seen time and time again that majority act like a childish high school student and ridicule their opponent until their opponent just stopped discussion the issue with them. This is what I saw Palin do last night - ridicule her opponants past and personal character because she disagrees with him. She provided no details of why her policy's were better and how they would impact me positively. She just repeated the republican scare tactics and fear mongering that Rove perfected 8 years ago. I am an independent and disagree with obama on many things: what we should do about the war in Iraq now, how to handle the current financial crisis and a few more. But at least he can conduct a campaign with out resorting to belittling his opponents. What does it say about us as Americans if we elect another president who is willing to attack a fellow American for the work they have done to get to their position today just because it was different than their own work? I think that if politicians do not have anything nice to say about their opponents they should not say anything at all. If they can't differentiate the differences in their policies from their opponents policies respectfully then they are not qualified to take those policies to the national or international level.

Its amusing that the left wing has hammered away at the Republican's VP candidate as having no expierence and being one heartbeat away from the Oval office. Amusing because the Democratic heartbeat has even less executive expierence than the Republican VP candidate.

There are a whole bunch of better issues to harp on that this one. Please move on.

Boston4obama, aka City Slicker.
She probably picked up 5% by being proud about being from a small town. Small town folks (in general), don't trust:
1) The media
2) City slickers
3) Big government that shoves rules/regs and new laws down their throat

Democrats from small towns will be voting Republican. Won't show in all of these early polls, but it IS going to happen.

Sarah Palin did indeed put the State's jet on e-bay. Unfortunately, it never sold and she ended up selling through a broker for a loss of a half-million. So what, my state has sold planes too. They are reaching

Divided we fall. Does John McCain want a better America? Of course. Does Barack Obama want a better America? Of course. John McCain has served Arizona well. Barack Obama has served Illinois well. The media machine is functioning well and, in response, we begin to attack each other's character. Republicans want what is best for this country. Democrats want what is best for this country. You may feel that a party's ideology differs from you, but really- we are all Americans. Stop hating.

Hate comes from ignorance and fear. I would like to believe that we have evolved past that. But, alas, it appears as if we haven't.

To all the Conservative Republicans...Jesus Christ preached unconditional love. Period. If you truly hold to this in your heart, how can you constantly be trying to put another person or political party down? Be smart, be kind. The political process will work as well as it has in the past (much to my chagrin), and we will see as a country what happens.

That being said...Go Obama/Biden!

To All the Dems reading this...
The Bush administration did let us Rep. down - no doubt. You didn't like him, we didn't like him. If you could just produce a candidate that isn't a 10 on the scarey scale, you might actually get into the Oval Office. Obama has a chip on his shoulder, thinks America is all but lost, believes allah or whoever knows what (and yes, when it comes to leadership, beliefs and principles do matter), and has ZERO experience....nothing...nada...zip! I don't care if his skin is purple, he is an unknown entity and totally unqualified. He gets high marks for being a very good orator, but take that away and you have absolutely nothing. McCain isn't my favorite either, but he has experience and, like it or not, has a proven track record of making good tough decisions. Sarah Palin is a breath of fresh air - strong feminity...not woman Hilla-liber hear me roar. Like it or not, women, even the purple ones, will relate to her and like her. So, stop acting smug and worry on.

OBama is like a post turtle. He doesn't know how he got up there (DNC nomination), doesn't know what to do now that he's there, and doesn't know how to get down....A campaign run on only hope and change with no specifics isn't going to last much longer when the rest of the people finally realize there is no strategy. No matter how much DNC money is spent proping up Obama it doesn't change anything. Our country has unique issues present and we don't need a yard sale organizer thinking he can run things. Our hats are off the McCain/Palin and to Sara for finally hitting the nail on the head!

Will American's really be hoodwinked by McCain the "Reformer" and his small town maverick faux Hillary? The Republican’s had the White House, AND the House and Senate for nearly EIGHT years and look at the state of this country! How is it that they paint themselves as the phoenix rising out of the ashes when they are very same politicians who started the fire? At the RNC - No talk of the last eight years - It's like they weren't there, not responsible, not US - MUSTA BEEN SOMEBODY ELSE!!?? If Sarah Palin has more executive experience than Obama, then she also has more experience than McCain (Huh??). So, who is the presidential nominee? McCain is 72 years old and are we really ready to hand the country over to a woman who has 1 1/2 years of governing a state with 683,000 residents and prior to that a city of 7,000? And what's with the skewed morality of the Republicans? "Life Happens"…? It's the same arrogant, divisive, pathological party full of tricks that we’ve had for the last eight years. THE VERY SAME PARTY------

To EVH69, that's why it's called an "INCONVENIENT" truth. Another INCONVENIENT truth, from your perspective, is that the escalation of global warming has its own costs--not just environmental, but monetary as well. And where are these new "taxes" that you speak of? It's easy to throw out the "T word" to rally the Republican fan base, but if you want to speak to anyone beyond that base, be prepared to back up your statements.

And while we're talking about money and INCONVENIENT TRUTHS, how about the INCONVENIENT TRUTH (again, from your perspective, as it doesn't suit your argument) that we're spending TRILLIONS on a pointless war in Iraq. How far could that have gone to combat global warming?

I don't like to see smugness on either side. As many past elections have shown, the actual winner of an election can defy polls and surprise Americans. Essentially we (the people) are given only two choices: 1) Obama, an inexperienced legislator who is highly educated, and 2) McCain, an experienced politician who is an experience war vet. It is almost as though there is a war of education vs. military service. All the education from the finest instituation does not guarantee an excellent president, nor does a highly decorated POW. I have said before that education in many parts of this country doesn't matter much, but military service is lauded my thousands. The educated person, unfortunately, can come off as self-serving and striving for no other goal then themselves. The military person is given carte blanche at being given the title of hero from sacrificing themselves for the masses to fight.

Obama doesn't oppose drilling for oil--his main point is that if we drill for oil now it will still take a decade or so to materialize the efforts. Obama's comment in regard to "being above his paygrade" is actually humble, but it's difficult to understand for some to see this. What he's actually saying is God is above his paygrade and that would be the one determining that issue. So why doesn't he just say God, because he wants to include people and not segregate people out as most right wing Christians will and can do to people. When Obama says that people cling to their religion and guns this means that many have been so frightened of the governments dealings that their relationship with Jesus and/or God becomes even stronger in times of strife as well as a feeling of one's need to protect themselves and their families with ammunition. Obama's comments aren't meant to divide, but it happens because as a people we often so generally on the defensive. Obama's statement is to say that we ARE in such dire straights and when people feel threatened they go towards what they feel will protect them and help them even more.

Sarah Palin is a lovely, accomplished woman with a blossoming regular family. I applaud her choices, but I know when it comes down to McCain and Palin, they have a tendency to substitue a moral philosophy for a political one . . . my main concern becomes how their policy choices affect my family and millions of other Americans. Frankly, I don't care about how Sarah Palin or John McCain take care of their families.

An Obama victory in November would lead to faster economic growth with less inequality, while a McCain victory would lead to slower economic growth with more inequality . . . take a look at history.

Sincerely,
A registered Christian Republican who will vote for Obama,
E. Freeman

"To All the Dems reading this...
The Bush administration did let us Rep. down - no doubt. You didn't like him, we didn't like him".

So... We should trust the judgement of the Republicans just one more time? George Bush was hardly a whisper at the RNC because he and his party have screwed things up so horribly they want to disassociate themselves - Huh and no Mr Cheney either...

I'll take my chances with John McCain if the rest of the Republican party resigns.

OTHERWISE: Once Burned, Twice Shy, Thrice Scared for Life.

OBAMA and BIDEN in 2008!!!

I think a small town mayor with *real* responsibility has more experience for this job than the one who with experience as mere 'community organizer' and who has been campaigning for the last 2 years out of his total 4 year 'experience'.

Once again - Palin's experience is in question - WT... Palin has more leadership and government experience than OB ever thought of having, she's been a mayor and a govenor, neither of which OB has. As for the war we are currently fighting - well I was standing on the deck of Naval ship when we heard the news about the attack on our country. I served my country for 28 years, and I'll support McCain before I'll support an attention whore like Obama. he talks smooth, he postures, but he can't deliver one iota of what he is proposing - he doesn't have the power or the intestinal fortitude to follow thru - his record speaks for itself - don't commit - he wouldn't want to offend anyone. Give me a break - McCain and Palin have what it takes to ensure that we win this war - and not slink away with our tails between our legs and provide the enemy with PR to build a bigger force to wreck havoc on us in horrendous ways in the future. There are a whole lot of military folks that will be voting for the Republican ticket in November - I'm one of them.

Palin's National Guard faces a crisis:
The Alaska National Guard, which Republicans are pointing to as an important national-security credential for vice presidential choice Sarah Palin, is the most poorly staffed in the nation. Air Force Maj. Gen. Craig Campbell, the Alaska Guard's top officer, warned in an internal memo 6 months ago that that "missions are at risk." The lack of qualified airmen has reached a crisis level." That could result in missions and equipment being moved out of Alaska. The Alaska Air Guard has only 84 percent of its assigned positions filled, the lowest rating in the country.
Overall, the Alaska National Guard has about 3,800 troops in its air and ground units. Under state control, the Guard's frequent duties are minor and routine operations. For example on Monday this week, Guard soldiers had to transport a woman with an eye injury to Nome for medical treatment. A few days earlier, Guard airmen rescued a man after his plane went down in a spruce bog 57 miles southeast of Galena. And in late July, the Guard was called in to a help a man who'd fallen off the roof of his cabin in the Brooks Range Mountains. On the mainland US such duties are handled by Fire Departments, volunteer firemen or Emergency Medical Technicians.

As usual, we see all the rhetoric and support splitting right along party lines. Defying any semblance of reason, Republicans tout Palin as well-qualified and Obama as unqualified.

Ask yourselves honestly, those of you who also gave us Busch, Dan Quayle, and more--would you be so rah-rah-rah behind Palin if she were the Democratic VP choice?

I didn't think so.

For godsakes people, THINK FOR YOURSELVES instead of being led like sheep by a party that has nearly ruined this country!

As usual, we see all the rhetoric and support splitting right along party lines. Defying any semblance of reason, Republicans tout Palin as well-qualified and Obama as unqualified.

Ask yourselves honestly, those of you who also gave us Busch, Dan Quayle, and more--would you be so rah-rah-rah behind Palin if she were the Democratic VP choice?

I didn't think so.

For godsakes people, THINK FOR YOURSELVES instead of being led like sheep by a party that has nearly ruined this country!

"she's been a mayor and a govenor, neither of which OB has"

And Palin doesn't have experience in the U.S. Congress. Your point is...?

"he can't deliver one iota of what he is proposing"

That remains to be seen. At least he IS proposing something other than "more of the same."

"McCain and Palin have what it takes to ensure that we win this war"

You mean, the war we were supposed to have won years ago? The war that no one has a concrete plan for "winning"? The war that McCain wants us in for another 100 years? What exactly has McCain put forth to "win" this war, and how is it that a Republican president and Republican congress didn't "win" it already?

"McCain and Palin have what it takes to ensure that we win this war

Sarah Palin has experience and is ready to be the potential occupant of the White House. How convincing is that statement? Let’s examine some of that experience. When Palin was mayor of Wasilla, the population was approximately 7,000. The current mayor of Wasilla is also a woman, Dianne Keller. Would John McCain have considered her as a potential running mate? How many small town mayors across the country would consider themselves ready to become President of the United States? After serving as mayor for two terms, Sarah Palin moved up to become the Governor of Alaska. According to the U.S. Census Bureau the population estimate for the state is 670,053. In comparison the population of the State of Rhode Island is roughly double that of Alaska. Could it be that not all governors are equal? More importantly, could it be that not all experience is equal. If Sarah Palin had decided on her own to seek the office of President of the United States, how likely is it that she would have succeeded? During the recent Presidential Primaries both major parties fielded an array of highly qualified candidates. Anyone of which arguably would have been as qualified or more qualified to become President of the United States than Governor Palin. So what makes Sarah Palin qualified? She has yet to make a convincing argument. Ultimately her qualifications for the job need to be examined and we need to ask, “how and why did John McCain make this choice?” Furthermore, we the voters need to ask, “are we ready to entrust Sarah Palin with that level of responsibility?” John McCain may be ready to take the risk, but are we ready to take the risk?