memeorandum: Hurricane Gustaf Forces Some Changes in GOP Convention (Washington Wire)

3:40 PM ET, August 30, 2008

Top Items:

Obama Campaign Behind Anti-Palin Smear Site? — Suddenly appearing among the Google search results for “sarah palin gay,” a web site titled: Sarah Palin Supports Gay Rights. … Interesting. There's nothing else on the page. This sure looks like the work of the dastardly right-wing anti-gay attack machine, doesn't it?

Discussion: The Strata-Sphere, Founding Bloggers and Neptunus Lex

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

QUOTE OF THE DAY.... I'm not sure if the McCain campaign has thought this line through. … First, it's not an especially good idea for top McCain aides to joke about whether McCain is going to survive four years in office. — Second, it's not an especially good idea to describe McCain as …

Discussion: Think Progress, Newshoggers.com, Corrente, Harry's Place, pandagon.net, New York Times, TPM Election Central, Lance Mannion and Jesus' General

Anchorage Daily News:

Choice stuns state politicians — John McCain's choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate stunned and divided Alaska political leaders on Friday. Supporters said she was a shrewd choice, but others argued Palin has no business being a heartbeat away from the presidency.

Discussion: pandagon.net, Think Progress, AMERICAblog News and Mudflats

MataHarley / Flopping Aces:

Palin's Trooper'Gate: Beating MSM distortions to the truth — **Welcome readers from Lucianne, Ace of Spades, Gateway Pundit, Protein Wisdom, The Corner, Wizbang, The Strata-Sphere, Macsmind, and Memeorandum....thanks for the link! It's been over 12 hours now since Alaskan Governor, Sarah Palin, has been named as GOP choice of Veep.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Right Wing News, protein wisdom, JammieWearingFool, Fausta's Blog, The Strata-Sphere, Washington Post, The New Republic, Roger Ailes and Macsmind

William Kristol / Weekly Standard:

Let Palin Be Palin — Why the left is scared to death of McCain's running mate. — A spectre is haunting the liberal elites of New York and Washington—the spectre of a young, attractive, unapologetic conservatism, rising out of the American countryside, free of the taint (fair or unfair) …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Angry Bear and BeldarBlog

Matthew Continetti / New York Times:
Two-Front Republicans — THE country is at war. The economy is in shambles.

Discussion: Weekly Standard Blog, The Daily Dish and Wall Street Journal

Jonathan Martin / Jonathan Martin's Blogs:
Obama tiptoes around Palin in new ad

Discussion: BeldarBlog and Althouse

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
THE CRIME AND THE COVER-UP.... At her kickoff event in Ohio yesterday …

Discussion: The Edge of the American West and Bring It On!

William Yardley / New York Times:
Palin, an Outsider Who Charms

Discussion: Washington Post, Don Surber, Hot Air, New York Times, Spin Cycle, The Swamp, Jules Crittenden, The Reaction, Tennessee Guerilla Women, NewsBusters.org, The Huffington Post, Deadline USA, The Strata-Sphere, Change & Experience, The Caucus, USA Today, Jesus' General and Guardian

Nate Silver / The New Republic:
McCain Was Right To Take a Risk, But Was Palin the Right One?

Discussion: Hot Air, The Opinionator, Exurban League and www.redstate.com

Rebecca Traister / Salon:
Should Obama have picked Hillary?

Discussion: Feminist Law Professors, The Confluence, Media Blog and Feministing

Marcus Baram / ABCNEWS:
Palin Could Be Deposed in Probe

Discussion: MSNBC

The National Organization for Women (NOW) web site:
Not Every Woman Supports Women's Rights

Discussion: Neptunus Lex, Taylor Marsh, Talk To Action, The Huffington Post, Religion Clause, I Don't Like You Either, MyDD, GlennSacks.com, Dean's World, Brilliant at Breakfast and Media Matters for America

Washington Post:
Palin Focus of Probe In Police Chief's Firing

Discussion: Weekly Standard Blog, Roger Ailes and TPMMuckraker

The Politico:

6 things the Palin pick says about McCain — The selection of a running mate is among the most consequential, most defining decisions a presidential nominee can make. John McCain's pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin says a lot about his decison-making — and some of it is downright breathtaking.

Discussion: Yahoo! News, QandO, Associated Press, The Impolitic and TIME.com

Rasmussen Reports:

Palin Makes Good First Impression: Is Viewed More Favorably than Biden — Sarah Palin has made a good first impression. Before being named as John McCain's running mate, 67% of voters didn't know enough about the Alaska governor to have an opinion. After her debut in Dayton and a rush …

Discussion: Weekly Standard Blog, Riehl World View, TalkLeft, Don Surber, Hot Air, Power Line and JammieWearingFool

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:

Desperation from Democrats — Now that almost a full day has passed since John McCain has named Sarah Palin as his running mate, we can already see the themes his political opponents will take in criticizing her. Irony runs through a number of these arguments, as most of them apply …

Discussion: Commentary, Right Wing Nut House and The Strata-Sphere

Gail Collins / New York Times:

McCain's Baked Alaska — It is conceivable that some people will think John McCain picked Sarah Palin to be his running mate because she is a woman. I know you find this shocking, but I swear I have heard it mentioned. — McCain does not believe in pandering to identity politics.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The Mahablog, neo-neocon, Open Left, New York Times, Don Surber, NewsBusters.org, American Prospect and Prairie Weather

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:

The story behind the Palin surprise — John McCain on Friday announced a running mate whom he met only six months ago and with whom he spoke just once on the phone about the position before offering it in person earlier this week. — McCain's first encounter with Sarah Palin came …

Discussion: Guardian, CNN, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Reason Magazine, Washington Post, The Huffington Post, Washington Monthly, TPM Election Central, Flopping Aces, BeldarBlog and TIME.com

Nate / FiveThirtyEight.com:
Women View Palin More Skeptically than Men

Discussion: Feminist Law Professors

Shannen Coffin / The Corner: Palin Pick — I was travelling on business yesterday …

Jonathan Alter / Newsweek:
McCain's ‘Hail Sarah’ Pass

Discussion: Newsweek Blogs, The Confluence, Fox News, Daily Kos and Jack & Jill Politics

Mark Steyn / The Corner:

The hostess with the moosest — Over in the Frumistan province of the NR caliphate, our pal David is not happy about the Palin pick. I am - for several reasons. — First, Governor Palin is not merely, as Jay describes her, “all-American”, but hyper-American.

Discussion: Weekly Standard Blog

Joe Klein / Swampland:

Gunslinger — I woke up this morning and realized that the most significant aspect of the Palin pick isn't Palin—we really don't know all that much about her yet—but the process by which she was selected. McCain really doesn't know that much about Palin, either. He met her once in February.

David Frum:
Palin — The longer I think about it, the less well this selection sits with me.

Discussion: Electoral-vote.com, National Post, I Don't Like You Either, The Huffington Post, Real Clear Politics, DownWithTyranny!, marbury, Outside The Beltway, The Other McCain and Jack & Jill Politics

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Three Words

Discussion: Ross Douthat, Daily Kos and Stop The ACLU

Julia Hoppock / Political Radar:

Cindy McCain tells Stephanopoulos that Obama Offended Her — ABC News' George Stephanopoulos reports: Democrats' attacks on her family's wealth are unfair and offensive, Cindy McCain said today in an interview airing tomorrow on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.”

Discussion: TIME.com

Jonathan Martin / Jonathan Martin's Blogs:

GOP grassroots on fire — I've been covering the GOP presidential race since November of 2006. In those many months — across many states — I have never seen a crowd with the energy that I witnessed yesterday at the Erwin Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio. — Yes, there was an inherent buzz owing to the pending veep announcement.

Discussion: American Spectator

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

KARL ROVE'S BRILLIANT ANALYSIS..... Looking back at Karl Rove's campaign analysis from earlier this month, this might be the single funniest thing I've read in a long time. … Yes, the real problem with Tim Kaine is that he's only been governor of a large state for three years, and before that, he was only the mayor of a mid-size city.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, TalkLeft, Roger Ailes and Think Progress

Moira Whelan / The Huffington Post:

What's wrong with this Hurricane? — I just noticed that the daily brief customarily done in advance of a hurricane is happening because Gustov is bearing down on the Gulf Coast...but a big shift here: the briefing is being given by NORTHCOM. So what does this tell us and why does it matter?