2004 VPs were John Edwards and Dick Cheney. Cheney has a long resume, but Edwards? Only 2/3 of one Senate term under his belt.

1992 Gore and Quayle  -- Quayle was... well, Quayle.

It was a perfect Colorado summer day - hot, sunny and dry, with a brief afternoon shower and a gorgeous sunset.

I have three questions:
Why do people attend lectures/demos and talk loudly on their cells phones throughout instead of listening?
Why do people go to concerts and sing along with every word - badly? (Yes, I'm very impressed that you know all the lyrics. So so I. STFU, I didn't come to hear you.)
Why do people stand in the middle of walkways?

Far from being a last-minute tactical move or a second choice when better known alternatives were eliminated, Palin was very much in McCain's thinking from the beginning of the selection process, according to McCain's advisers. The 44-year-old governor made every cut as the first list of candidates assembled last spring was slowly winnowed. The more McCain learned about her, the more attracted he was to her as someone who shared his maverick, anti-establishment instincts.

"He looked at her like a kindred spirit," said one close adviser, who declined to be identified in order to speak more freely. "Someone who wasn't afraid to take tough positions."

Rick Davis, McCain's campaign manager and the person at the point of the vice presidential process, said there was no abrupt change of course in the final hours. Nor, he said, was Palin selected without having gone through the full vetting process that was done for other finalists. That process included reviews of financial and other personal data, an FBI background check and considerable discussion among the handful of McCain advisers involved in the deliberations.

"Nobody was vetted less or more than anyone in the final stages, and John had access to all that information and made the decision," Davis said. "It's really not much more complicated than that."

In part to blunt criticism that McCain had pulled a last-minute switch and turned to Palin without all the information he may have needed to make a decision, some of those advisers shared details yesterday about the steps that led to McCain's choice, mostly on a not-for-attribution basis.

I've tried to raise the question a couple of times and it just lays there like a lox.

However, Robot Porter made a couple of good comments, and a new guy(?), named Lyle, denies that global warming is man-made.

My dog is terrified of thunderstorms, so it's not a stretch to think I could lose her in a tropical storm or just heavy edge of hurricane storm, especially if I had evac-ed and we were in unfamiliar surroundings. Same with my cats.

there is a psychological dynamic at work in that line of reasoning that I think is dysfunctional for the party.  and for Obama.

I mean it's nice to know Clinton has that much power, and she was going to say the right things regardless.  

and i mean, i don't support certain solutions because Clinton supports them, I support them because I think they will solve the problem.

So. Anyway.

The argument that Dem ideas are better -- and more moral -- than Republican ideas -- remains the best argument.

in the end, Obama wasn't able to cross a certain threshold (a threshold that I think would have totally unified the party) with me, and even though I should still believe he values the support of those afflicted with CDS more than he values my support, that Dems > Republicans might somehow still apply.

Why aren't we owning the women's rights legacy? Instead, we're getting sexist dismissals of Palin.  She's unqualified! She's the mother of a newborn with a disability!  She's a Barbie doll! She's a beauty queen!  She's a vpilf!  

Why can't we celebrate the opportunity she's been given, while taking credit for her creating the conditions for her to be considered for it in the first place?  Why can't we make the case that we're the ones who will continue to break down barriers for women, so leaders like Palin can walk through?

We're insulting and demeaning her instead of giving credit to our side for making her candidacy possible in the first place.  A simple statement like, "We're so proud that the barriers destructed by Hillary Clinton this year made the idea of a female president that much more acceptable to a society that has yet to elect one.  We congratulate McCain for building on the foundation that the Democrats laid down over the past forty years.  Maybe now he can see why our our policies championing women's rights make a positive difference in American society."

"We're going to make sure that equal pay for equal work is a reality in this country," Obama said at an economic forum in Toledo, Ohio, a battleground state this fall. Alluding to Palin without saying her name, he told about 200 people sitting on a sun-drenched office rooftop that she "seems like a very engaging person, nice person. But I've got to say, she's opposed, like John McCain is, to equal pay for equal work. That doesn't make much sense to me."

[Italics added.]

As governor of Alaska, Palin is briefed on highly classified military issues, homeland security, and counterterrorism. Her exposure to classified material may rival even Biden's.

She's also the commander in chief of the Alaska State Defense Force, ASDF, a federally recognized militia incorporated into Homeland Security's counterterrorism plans.

Palin is privy to military and intelligence secrets that are vital to the entire country's defense. Given Alaska's proximity to Russia, she may have security clearances we don't even know about.

TOLEDO, Ohio (CNN) - Joe Biden says there are obvious differences between himself and fellow vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, but they're not just on policy. She's good-looking.

"There's a gigantic difference between John McCain and Barack Obama and between me and I suspect my vice presidential opponent," Biden said at an outdoor rally Sunday, getting ready to hit the GOP ticket for their economic policies.

"She's good-looking," he quipped.

LINK

MCCAIN:  ...I don't particularly enjoy the label "maverick,"

Yeah I believe that.  Eyeroll

If something is really off, you or BTD have always been quick to flag it. Other writers have always challenged the "off" posts, too. I think we all recognize that it's your (and BTD's) site, and certain things are off-limits.

Why I'm drawn to TL is that I find out-of-the-box thinking here, and people who have off-the-beaten-track knowledge and sources.

But those very people are the most likely to be targeted for anonymous "1"s, often by cowards who won't articulate their gripe. I'd hate to see people subtly and anonymously pressured to conform to the "correct" P.O.V.  (If it ain't edgy, why bother?)

A lot of these people, I suspect, are trolls working formally or informally for candidates, and there's no real way to protect the site from that. Therefore, why not abandon these?  On the last thread, it was really obnoxious seeing a regular contributor get a "9" for something pretty bland.

Doesn't seem to be happening so much on this thread.