What Caught My Eye Today

2008 Presidential Campaign - So much to choose from today. Let's start with the polls shall we? People's regard for the Republican presidential nominee has deteriorated since September, with McCain losing ground in how favorably he's seen and in a long list of personal qualities voters seek in White House contenders. Negative campaigning and a month of intense public focus on collapsing global economic and financial markets have not been kind to McCain. Go figure. i always found character attacks to be rather attractive in a presidential candidate. During the same period, Barack Obama went the other way. For McCain, the poll's good news is that despite a difficult month, his public image is not dramatically worse than Obama's and in several areas remains better. The public still rates him higher than Obama for keeping America safe, working with both political parties, and being decisive, experienced and competent. Aside from the obvious--no one has ever won the presidency based on poll results--I have a big problem with this poll in particular. Where are the questions on which of these guys offers those most plausible solutions for addressing the problems that our country is facing from the economy to foreign policy to...you name it, and it's probably messed up.

Perhaps it is polls like this that are leading the Obama campaign to shift its focus to other things...

Barack Obama's transition team recently held a large organizational meeting as part of an accelerated effort to plan for a possible new administration. Jumping the gun there a bit, aren't you spark plug? Maybe you should win the election first. The effort is largely separate from the campaign structure that helped plan and execute Obama's remarkable rise to the position of front-runner in a race in which he is bidding to become the first black president. Yeah, right. They expect us to believe that the dudes responsible for putting Obama into the White House aren't angling for some career advancement opportunities?

And then there's our friend, Sarah Palin. Girlfriend cannot seem to get any love from anyone these days...even from her own party.

John McCain got a call from Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was on the phone to Barack Obama, and to his Democratic running mate, Joe Biden. Nobody called Sarah Palin. The calls this week were part of the Bush administration's campaign to line up political support for a compromise deal with Iraq that cedes some authority over U.S. forces, and a courtesy to the presidential hopefuls on whose watch the deal would take effect. Palin, the only politician among the presidential and vice presidential contenders who is not in Congress, didn't get the call. Gee, I wonder how Palin's going to spin this into being another ploy by the press or Obama campaign to besmirch her good name. You know she sure-as-heck is going to try. Administration officials said that although the Alaska governor is the only candidate at the top of the tickets not contacted, there was no snub. Initial telephone briefings by Rice, Gates and other senior officials were aimed only at key lawmakers whose support for the agreement is considered essential, according to the White House. McCain, Obama and Biden are all senators who serve on relevant foreign affairs and military oversight committees. Sounds official and all, but I'm still not buying it. Frankly a snub would have been an improvement. At least that suggest that the White House thought of Palin in the first place. This lame-ass excuse makes it sound like the notion of notifying Palin never even entered the conversation.

Iraq - This next item is a perfect illustration of why the military shouldn't try its hand at diplomacy. In an interview published in the Washington Post, General Ray Odierno, who took command of the U.S.-led coalition last month, said U.S. intelligence reports indicated Iran has tried to bribe Iraqi lawmakers to derail the agreement, which must be approved by parliament before the U.N. mandate expires at the end of the year. Here's my favorite part. When asked for proof of his allegation, Odierno couldn't produce any but said he read a bunch of intelligence reports suggesting that bribes were mad. Now that is surprising, what with the sterling reputation of the U.S. Intelligence services. And how do you think the Iraqi government reacted to this? Two words--not well Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said, "The American commander has risked his position when he spoke in this tone and has regrettably complicated relations. How can he speak like this about a baseless allegation? What has been said is truly regrettable." What al-Maliki doesn't seem to understand is that America doesn't give two-shakes what Iraq thinks. If we think Iraqi officials are taking bribes from Iran, then obviously that's what is happening. We don't need trivial stuff like facts or proof to justify our claims. How dense is this guy, anyway?