When Gov Kaine was on the Daily Show last week, he gave Jon Stewart a button with this logo. I almost wish Kaine had gotten the nod just to see it get wider play. Well, not really, but it still would be pretty funny.

This isn’t breaking news, but it’s just too fun to pass over noting. Here’s Karl Rove on a certain potential veep pick a little while back.

“With all due respect again to Governor Kaine, he’s been a governor for three years. He’s been able but undistinguished. I don’t think people could really name a big, important thing that he’s done … [Kaine] was mayor of the 105th largest city in America. And again, with all due respect to Richmond, Virginia, it’s smaller than Chula Vista, California; Aurora, Colorado; Mesa, or Gilbert, Arizona; North Las Vegas, or Henderson, Nevada. It’s not a big town.”

Put Palin in there and Kaine actually sounds experienced. Especially since Richmond has almost 1/3 the population of all of Alaska, not to mention Richmond vs Wasilla.

In the most recent National Journal blogger “insiders” poll, 50% of “left of center” bloggers said that Sen. John McCain’s selection of Gov. Sarah Palin to be his running mate on the Republican ticket will help at least a little. They join the 18 of 19 “right of center” bloggers who think the pick will help.

I stated the pick would help a lot and “that The energy that just has been given to conservatives is amazing. That energy has to transmit to the rest of the electorate. I have never seen a McCain event so electric and it’s all due to one person: Sarah Palin. Besides, she’s just so darn likable!”

I know…not the most intellectual argument I have ever made, but give me a little break: I was watching the event unfold on Friday as I was answering the poll question.

The article was titled “Scholars question Palin credentials” as it quoted 4 “scholars” who bash Sarah Palin.

The McCain campaign caught it! The 4 “scholars” were either Obama donors, Democrat donors, or former Democrat speechwriters.

Kudos to McCain’s staff! Don’t let the media get away with it. Here’s their Press release:

Things are definitely starting to heat up in the 2nd, but it looks a lot like politics as usual.

Glenn Nye, Democratic challenger attacked Rep. Thelma Drake, a Republican, for her speaking role at the RNC convention on Monday by saying, among others, that she voted against the new GI Bill.

This prompted Corry Bliss, Drake’s campaign manager, to fire back by saying Nye was jealous he didn’t get to speak at the DNCC and that Drake had, indeed, voted for the GI Bill.

Which led to Rick Fromberg, Nye’s campaign manager to write via email:

“Its obvious that Corry Bliss should do some research on his own candidate’s position on the GI Bill. As the headline stated on May 19, “Drake says ‘no’ vote on GI Bill was due to Veto Warning.” The message from Thelma Drake is clear—its more important to vote how your party tells you to get a nice speaking spot than to stand up for veterans.”

While I appreciate the rhetoric for the political theater it provides, I have to wonder when the posturing is going to end.

Drake indeed did vote against the bill on its first run through the House when it was loaded up with domestic spending. The principled representative has had a long-standing and verifiable position of not voting for defense appropriation bills that have domestic add-ons.

Drake, a House sponsor of the new GI Bill (H.R. 2740), took a principled stand against political posturing by the Democratic leadership in the House.

Thankfully, the Senate, including our own Sens. Jim Webb (D) and John Warner (R), led a bi-partisan compromise (read: acted like adults), and removed the riders…sending the true bill back to the House.

Without any hesitation, Drake voted in favor of the bill. According to a statement on Webb’s web site:

Senator Jim Webb introduced this bill eighteen months ago on his first day in office. The bipartisan measure– principally cosponsored by Sens. Chuck Hagel (R-NE), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), and John Warner (R-VA), has unprecedented support from all major veterans’ organizations, in addition to strong bipartisan support in Congress, with a House vote of 416 to 12, and a Senate vote of 92 to 6.

So, both camps are only partially telling the truth. For Bliss, it is irrefutable that Drake voted for the new GI Bill…but it is equally irrefutable that she voted against the initial bill. However, the Nye folks are completely misrepresenting the truth by implying Drake never voted for the GI Bill.

Which sin of omission is worse?

Update: Travis Burk, press secretary for Rep. Drake, further clarifies Drake’s votes with this e-mail:

“Just to be clear, Corry said that Rep. Drake voted for the version of the GI Bill that became law. That statement is completely accurate. Also, she held out the first time around because the bill would not allow sevicemembers to transfer their benefits to family members and had a tax increase. The version that she voted yes on didn’t have a tax increase and included transferability of benefits. If a number of members, including Rep. Drake, had not taken the tough vote the first time around, veterans would have ended up with a worse bill.”

So, if you think about what Burk just wrote, does that mean Nye feels that the best bill was the one that limited the benefit to veterans and contained a tax increase?

According to a Kos diarist, Sarah Palin faked her last pregnancy to cover up the fact that the child was actually her 17 year-old daughter’s.

Very classy. And the comments are even more so.

One of the oft-cited examples of Gov Palin’s good-govt bona fides was her opposition to Alaska senator Ted Steven’s “Bridge to Nowhere” earmark. According to Bradford Plumer over at The Plank, this may not be as clear as its been portrayed. Back during her election fight in 2006…

she was very much for the bridge and insisted that Alaska had to act quickly—the party of Ted Stevens and Don Young might soon lose its majority, after all. By that point, the project was endangered for reasons that had nothing to do with Palin—the bridge had become a national laughingstock (The Plank)

It appears her support only faded after the federal faucet dried up and it looked like funding would come out the state’s own kitty. Isn’t this kind of like a hunter posing for a photo with their foot on a dead bear they found in the woods?

Am I the only one who sees the inherent irony in McCain, the earmark crusader, picking as a running mate the governor of Alaska, a state that would likely cease to function without earmarks and a constant disproportionate influx of federal dollars?

Regardless of who wins the election on Nov. 4, an American first will occur. We will either have the first African-American president or the first woman vice president. Thanks to Sen. John McCain’s bold pick of Gov. Sarah Palin as his VP, this election ceases to be about the color of a person’s skin or the gender God has given them, but about the character, talents, and policy positions each candidate brings to the table.

Just as you never base a job hire on whether a person is black, Catholic, Jewish, female, etc. — using those qualities to decide a president shoud not be considered.

I’m not naive. I know that it is…otherwise we wouldn’t be hearing from so many “insulted” Democratic women thinking that McCain is pandering for their vote by selecting Palin.

My hope, though, is that because each ticket now has an identity that will make an American first, we can select the team who will best lead America.

Who will stand up to special interests? Who will eliminate government waste? Who will make prudent national security decisions? Who will have policies that help create the conditions for a prosperous economy? Who will address our social security, health care, and education issues best? Whose ideas will lead us to energy independence?

Those issues matter…those issues are what this election should be decided on. Hopefully voters will now move past lofty and hollow rhetoric, and gender or racial politics, to vote on what’s in the best interest of the country.

As a concluding aside: I ask all those who consider experience at the bottom of the ticket to be a bonus…isn’t that what we have in the current administration? How do you feel about their performance?

Now that the stage has fnally been set and all the pieces are in place for this fall’s general election, it is time to look at the choice that Americans will face when they enter the voting booth on November 4.

For me, this choice can be summed up in one simple phrase: “A little less talk, and a lot more action.”

(OODA loop info here). More here - an excellent article by Bill Whittle (H/T - Kat).

I just returned from Dayton and my on-stage seat. This gave me a great view of the back of people’s heads, but also a chance to meet and shake the hands of Gov. Palin and Sen. McCain (and their proud spouses). Enjoy my pictures and I apologize for the blurriness. There was not a lot of light and I did not take the “good” camera (too bulky).

Click here to see the pictures

Hillary ran an ad against Obama regarding the 3 a.m. phone call. McCain also had his own 3 a.m. ad.

So, what does Sarah Palin do at 3 a.m.?

According to Wikipedia:

“Sarah and her father would sometimes wake at 3 a.m. to hunt moose before school, and the family regularly ran 5 km and 10 km races.[4]”

Hey, Bullwinkle, DUCK! (Maybe she really is the next Cheney?!)

A governor, youthful…certainly conservative…not from DC…a reformer!

I didn’t think McCain would do it…but I am very happy! What a great day to be a Republican!

Update: KC Star has instant analysis of Palin’s speech

Fred Thompson pays a compliment:

“I am absolutely delighted by this selection. Once again, John McCain has shown that he is an independent thinker who paints in bold strokes. Sarah Palin is a conservative reformer with executive experience who will bring a breath of fresh air to Washington. She will be an ideal running mate for John McCain, and will make a major contribution to our country’s future.”

Riley, whom I agree with completely here, shows how the Palin pick trumps three major Democratic arguments.

Rep. Drake states:

“Governor Palin is an accomplished woman who has shown she can work in a bipartisan manner. She is a leader on energy policy, has cut wasteful spending and reduced taxes. She is a woman of great courage and principal who has stood up to corruption. As the mother of 5 children her oldest headed to Iraq and her youngest having down syndrome she brings the perspective of American families. I am very proud of her selection and I believe she will be an inspiration to many women.”

Our first post on Sarah Palin was when she gave birth to her son a few months back, we also ask if she’s ready for the 3 a.m. call?

Also, PWC talks about Palin’s visit to the Middle East over a year ago…while McCain was floundering in his campaign and she wasn’t even a thought on the national scene…yet she still supported the troops.

It ain’t Hillary, but FoxNews says Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has leapfrogged Romney and Pawlenty in likelihood.

UPDATE: MSNBC and CNN are also confirming that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin will be McCain’s pick for Vice President. (Jason Kenney)