Seriously though, I think whomever said that the debates should help clarify and narrow things down for me was probably dead on. Let's hope that they start soon.

Gore, Kerry and now Obama all have two flaws in common....being weak candidates and their single biggest flaw are their supporters. A weak cadidate has a chance to win if they get real lucky but nobody can win if the supporters continually blow it for them with the vicious hate they use.

It’s a stretch to say she “pushed” for any policy improvements. Though Palin did sign a law increasing special education funding in Alaska, “she had no role whatsoever” in its development, according to the bill’s author, Rep. Mike Hawker (R). Moreover, as governor, Palin vetoed $275,000 in Special Olympics Alaska funds (Page 100, SB 221 with vetoes), slashing the organization’s operating budget in half.

I doubt they cleared it with the big honchos at the Obama campaign. Seems the Obama campaign has a mind of it's own and like some kind of inch worm, one part doesn't know what the other part is doing -- Obama tells them to back off something and this forum and the blogs are alive with exactly what Obama ordered them not to talk about. It's like Obama's supporters just don't get it. Not a very organized group at all, imo.

So newspapers, which are private enterprises, don't get to decide who they will allow to pay them to distribute something?

I swear sometimes it's like the Sean Hannity/ Bill O'Rielly puppet sh0w, where do they put their hands?

I get it. It has more to do with looking smart than actually answering the question.

I wonder what areas of Michigan (what papers used to reach them) were targeted.

JUNEAU, Alaska — Five Republican state lawmakers filed suit Tuesday to end the bipartisan investigation into Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's firing of the public safety commissioner even though the vice presidential candidate once said she welcomed the probe into allegations of abuse of power.

The lawsuit called the investigation "unlawful, biased, partial and partisan." None of the lawmakers who filed the suit in Anchorage Superior Court serves on the bipartisan Legislative Council that unanimously approved the investigation.

The scandal known as "Troopergate" gained national attention after Republican presidential candidate John McCain chose Palin as his running mate. Since then, Palin and the McCain campaign have sought to distance Palin from the controversy and have taken actions that could slow its resolution until after the November election.

Palin fired public safety commissioner Walt Monegan in July. Weeks later, it emerged that Palin, her husband, Todd, and several high-level staffers had contacted Monegan about state trooper Mike Wooten, who had gone through a nasty divorce from Palin's sister before Palin became governor. While Monegan says no one from the administration ever told him directly to fire Wooten, he says their repeated contacts made it clear they wanted Wooten gone.

Palin maintains that she fired Monegan over budget disagreements, not because he wouldn't dismiss her ex-brother-in-law. Still, she said in July that she'd welcome and cooperate with the investigation ordered by the Legislative Council. "Hold me accountable," said had said.

McCain campaign spokesman Ed O'Callaghan now calls the investigation "tainted."

Alaska's House Speaker, a Republican who voted to authorize the review two months ago, on Tuesday questioning its impartiality.

Rep. John Harris wrote that what "started as a bipartisan and impartial effort is becoming overshadowed by public comments from individuals at both ends of the political spectrum." His comments were in a letter to the Democratic state Sen. Kim Elton, the committee chairman.

On Tuesday, three state representatives and two state senators sued Democratic Sen. Hollis French, who is overseeing the investigation; Juneau Democratic Sen. Kim Elton, who heads the Legislative Council; independent investigator Steve Branchflower; and the Legislative Council itself.

The lawsuit seeks to either delay the investigation until after the Nov. 4 general election or remove French and Elton.

"There is no nonpartisan reason to complete this investigation until after the election," said Anchorage attorney Kevin G. Clarkson. "We just want to take the politics out of it and bring fairness back into it."

Clarkson said he and a nonprofit legal firm in Texas, Liberty Legal Institute, were donating their work on the suit. A phone message for French was not immediately returned.

The Legislative Council, made up of four Democrats and eight Republican, voted unanimously to investigate the circumstances of Monegan's dismissal. Although Monegan was an at-will employee who could be fired for almost any reason, lawmakers wanted to see whether Palin tried to use her office to settle a personal score with Wooten.

Last week the state Senate Judiciary Committee voted to issue subpoenas for Todd Palin as well as nearly a dozen others and to gain phone records of a top aide to the governor. The subpoenas seek to compel their cooperation in the investigation.

O'Callaghan said Monday that Sarah Palin, who was not subpoenaed, was unlikely to speak to Branchflower and that he didn't know if Todd Palin would challenge his subpoena. At the same time, the campaign released e-mails it claimed supported Sarah Palin's assertion that disagreements over budget were behind Monegan's firing.

Among the e-mails released was a farewell note by Monegan. In it, he suggested the governor had reason to believe she had lost his support, and he urged his former colleagues to communicate better with her.

"For anyone to lead effectively they must have the support of their team, and I had waited too long outside her door for her to believe that I supported her," he wrote. "Please, choose a different path."

Palin's lawyer has sought to have the three-member state Personnel Board take over to investigation, alleging that public statements made by French indicated the probe was politically motivated. French had said the results of the investigation could constitute an "October surprise" for the McCain campaign, and he later apologized.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed

How do you figure that when more and more troops are being sent home from iraq? We are on our way out of Iraq.

Change from what ?? The same old liberal policies Biden has been toting for the last 40 years ? Where has that gotten us

Palin, is the real deal, more "citizen" than politician, and someone who sincerely walks the walk of her beliefs. Far less likely to "make nice" with the liberals, and bend over, while the leftists stick it to the taxpayers.

[t seems to me that it would be wonderful if Obama responded to panic, and switched VP candidates. It would be one more indicator that he's an empty suit, with nothing much to him, beyond slogans.

Christian radicals are or should be no more acceptable or welcome , IMO, for public office -- in this ostensibly officially secular nation -- than Muslim (or Jewish) radicals would be.

I mentioned polls, in context of noting a decline for Obama. 6 weeks ago, he led by 13%. Now he's down -2%. He's declined from +6% prior to the conventions, to -2% now, after the conventions. That's relevant, perhaps, to the VP candidates. Just citing the polls, out of context, is not, IMO

The election of a woman for VP and henceforth President would be far more electrifying than ANY man but of course the left would ONLY want her if she is one of theirs as evidenced by the so called "free" press.

For good or ill, this election will turn on the economy

I wrote a paper in college which I still stand by today. I argued that public policy usually changes incrementally. It's kind of like the football on a football field. You don't usually see too many hail mary passes to the inzone.

Personally, I think the decline had set in. As people get to know Obama, more and more of them turn away.

So, if you see my dilemma, then you'll understand that I now have no freaking clue who I'm going to vote for and am thus in a quite miserable state of limbo at the moment, still trying to right myself and decide once and for all. End of rant.

the book banning was declared a Hoax.

Taylor Griffin, a spokesman for the McCain campaign, said that Palin asked the head librarian, Mary Ellen Emmons, on three occasions how she would react to attempts at banning books. He said the questions, in the fall of 1996, were hypothetical and entirely appropriate. He said a patron had asked the library to remove a title the year before and the mayor wanted to understand how such disputes were handled.

Records on the city’s website, however, do not show any books were challenged in Wasilla in the 10 years before Palin took office.

Palin notified Emmons she would be fired in January 1997 because the mayor didn’t feel she had the librarians “full support”. Emmons was reinstated the next day after public outcry, according to newspapers at the time.

Hmm. Not only would this energize Obama and team but it would blindside the opposition, wouldn't it? Talk about not seeing this coming -- Interesting possibility, especially as close as we are to November 4. If Obama keeps sliding downward, this could be a real possibility, if it's legal -- is it?