Barackstar on The Factor (Much More Entertaining Than RNC)

I’m coming out of the closet tonight and admitting a deep secret: I love ‘The Factor.’ I wish that Bill O’Reilly would send me autographed copies of his books to thank me for my obtuse letters, and I love it when he cuts people off (even the next President) to ask his signature statement-questions. I thank God for my Republican ex-boyfriend who forced me to confront my liberal bias and sit through it.

… And Tonight We’re Gonna Party Like It’s 1999.

Mainly because I still liked John McCain then, before he caved in defeat to the Karl Rove Machine and spent the last eight years in step with his party’s crazies in hopes that he’d be back in action tonight. Unfortunately, his moment has passed and the Republican philosophy has failed, at home and abroad. 

What America does he live in, where he can say that equal access to education has been achieved? What world does he inhabit, where we’ve dealt al Qaeda a major blow? How can he call himself a Maverick while co-opting his opponent’s “change” messaging, particularly as a member of the incumbent party?

It was frustrating listening to him tonight, and not because he’s a champion of conservative ideology. (It doesn’t make me angry when the Republican platform is presented thoughtfully, as opposed to “Drill, baby, drill.”) It was frustrating because he once was a great leader with the ability to unify the parties, but now he’s ceded that credibility to Little Miss Pitbull and a slew of divisive others. I know conventions are fraternity parties and secret handshakes and winks are standard operating procedure, but the RNC programming did little to convince me that a McCain presidency will be an innovative departure from the last eight years. (And I vehemently resist the BO camp’s over-simplified “Third Bush Term” moniker, so that’s saying a lot.) Palin was a short-term mastermind move that will keep him competitive in the general election, but McCain is going to have to live with the extremity of his gamble. What undecided voters are looking at the prospect of the return of the Cold War, invading Iran, a “mental recession,” offshore drilling, teaching creationism in schools, overturning Roe vs. Wade,  a pregnant 17-year-old … and racing to the polls to vote Republican? 

We’d all love to put aside partisanship and work together to solve issues we have in common, but both conventions illustrated that the divide runs much deeper than lipservice. As Barack noted in Denver: The Republican strategy of top-down resource management has failed, and right now the American people who believe in equality of opportunity have rallied together in a grassroots movement that is going to push our future from the bottom up. 

I would love to fight with John McCain, as he passionately implored me to. But as I absorbed the unbridled patriotism and teared up listening to him tell the sincerely heroic story of mentally defeating the prison guards in Hanoi with his belief in the country that saved him, I wondered how this remarkably tough man could succumb to the pressure of political posturing. 

Sadly, we can’t move this country forward on John McCain’s previous acts of courageous service, we have to acknowledge who he is now. And this week he showed us that the Straight Talk Express veered permanently off course somewhere in Crawford, Texas.

Post-Sarah: Dems $8 million, Repubs $1 million

Apparently I wasn’t the only person determined to show Rudy Guliani and Sarah Palin what community organizing entails. An Obama aid tells HuffPost’s Nico Pitney that the campaign has raised $8 million since last night’s speech.

Not surprising that 37 million people tuned in to see the spectacle. (Wonder what the cross-section is on people who watched both.) More from The Hollywood Reporter:

Cable news network estimates show Fox News is out in front with 9.2 million viewers (from 10 to 11:15 p.m.), followed by CNN with 6.2 million and MSNBC with 3.4 million. Note CNN won last week when the Democrats were on stage, and Fox News has been taking the lead now that the Republicans are having their turn. CNN and Fox News also bested the broadcasters in the adult demo. From 10 to 11 p.m., NBC had 7.7 million, CBS had 4.9 million and ABC had 5.9 million.

Obama Responds to Last Night’s Bashing

(Thx: Ari Melber’s Twitter)

Sans Guiliani, It’s a Solid Night for Repubs

I managed not to turn off the television when Guliani led the home crowd in a cackle of distasteful laughter at the work of community organizers. Beyond that, it was the most inspired performance by the Republican leadership we’ve seen this year. Romney and Huckabee were passionate and appropriately firm in asserting the (misguided) Republican platform, and Sarah Barracuda* knocked it out of the park. As much as I would have loved to see Biden take Lieberman down in a Veep debate, I’m considerably more pumped now to watch him and Palin duke it out this fall. 

Surely the Republican Spartans are ready for battle after this rousing show, but it’s unclear who exactly they’re mobilizing. I was g-chatting with a Republican pal during the programming and he suggested that Palin’s speech will appeal to rural Americans and that she’ll pull in an easy seven million angry, uneducated HRC voters. I’d be shocked if that happened. 

Undecided voters are not going to gravitate toward the agenda of the evangelical right that has hijacked the Republican party. What Palin didn’t spend much time talking about are the highest priorities of undecided voters: ending the war, reestablishing functional international relations and improving our economic state. Though well delivered under intense pressure, it was largely a cheerleader speech that rehashed her boss’ biographical highlights when we were looking for more information about the substantive things that she brings to the table (besides her pregnant daughter’s boyfriend). Unless an army of angry PUMAs joins the “Raising McCain” crowd on Nov. 4, the Republicans have yet to produce any new voters to counter the increased turnout Obama will deliver at the polls with college students, young professionals and minorities. 

Regardless, in the post-game most of the pundits rightfully proclaimed that a new Republican star was born tonight. She moved fluidly from showing a little personality to delivering scathing criticisms with conviction, and she is an energizing outsider who clearly has leadership ability. The historic nature of her candidacy was subtle and effective; she will clearly not kowtow to the boys club. Amy Holmes said on CNN’s coverage that Palin succeeded at what HRC always struggled for, a balance of authority and femininity. While the “Hoosiers for the Hot Chick” buttons disturbed me greatly, I respect a business woman who is comfortable enough to channel Jackie O and crack jokes about lipstick. (Watch out, Michelle. Your Best Dressed award is in jeopardy.) I also enjoyed her defiant defense of her family, which was achieved powerfully without uttering a word. Even Guliani was (gasp!) correct when he noted that no one would ever ask a man how he planned to spend time with his family if he were elected vice president.

More than anything (even better than the good fortune that allowed them to relegate Bush-Cheney to video conference), the greatest success of this week has been the shift in attention away from Barackstar’s incredible week in Denver. We didn’t even have five minutes to enjoy the Mile High Club before the maelstrom of Palin coverage quashed Democratic momentum. The only thing that could halt the Straight Talk Express any faster is the Maverick himself tomorrow night. Talk about lackluster: When McCain hobbled onstage after all that youth and zeal from Mitt, Mike and Sarah, I thought he was going to challenge Gretchen Wilson to a game of shuffleboard. 

Still, we politicos will sleep well tonight knowing that the 2008 election just got better than we imagined. Even in February. 

*NOTE: I really wish someone would give me a ferocious nickname; I’m quite jealous.