Don't discount the McCain/Palin candidacy. Bush/Cheney were an equally laughable combination.

[AdHocSolver]

The question isn't how good or bad McCain/Palin are compared to Obama/Biden. The question is how stupid are 51 percent of Americans to vote Republican.

Actually, not even 51 percent are needed. Anything less than a 10 percent victory margin of the Democrats over the Republicans will allow them to steal the election as they did in 2000 and 2004.

Democrats have had their laugh. Now get serious about winning this election. The first order of business is to NOT underestimate the cleverness of the Republicans and the gullibility of the average American.

As other posters have pointed out, the "surprise" Palin selection together with hurricane Gustav have already deflected attention from the issues such as the economy, Iraq war, and health care. If you can't give them "bread", give them circus.

If the Republican spin machine can make an incompetent loser like George Bush into "the guy you would rather have a beer with...", then they shouldn't have too much trouble making a relatively young, slick-talking, attractive beauty contest winner acceptable to enough right-wingers to enable them to steal the election.

"Who would you rather have a mooseburger with..." will become the advertising campaign for the Republican ticket. They will invent a whole fantasy scenario about her (and McCain) equivalent to the selling of toothpaste. Democrats will ignore this reality to the country's peril.

Remember! It isn't how good their candidates are. It is all about their creating the right marketing campaign to sell their slate to enough of a dense American electorate so that they can steal the election.

There is also the possibility that the Republicans will switch candidates at the last minute. The Democratic campaign has to subtly paint the entire Republican Party as against the interests of the United States (as can be seen by what Bush did to this country in the last seven plus years). Then whoever the Republicans pick will be tainted merely by being Republicans.

Democrats can win this by getting out the vote for Obama/Biden. Overconfidence is our biggest danger. Don't dwell excessively on the McCain campaign. Keep reminding our side of why change is needed. Keep the people energized, but don't exhaust them. We can win this election. We must win this election.

[vaberella]

1. Cheney wasn't associated with a secessionist crew though. n/t

[AdHocSolver]

6. Your response tells me that you missed the purpose of my post.

"Remember! It isn't how good their candidates are. It is all about their creating the right marketing campaign to sell their slate to enough of a dense American electorate so that they can steal the election."

[vaberella]

13. You cannot in any way market your way out of actions

that can be deemed threatening to national security. I agree they can try to steal the elections, they were successful twice. But this sort of damaging news is bad PR to the point of political death.

[NJGeek]

2. Cheney is Darth F*!&ing Vader ...

Show the man some respect. Palin is a lightweight.

[pocoloco]

3. "Trust me, Kerry will win in a landslide"

[melody]

5. Yeah, that's right, all hope is lost, what were we thinking?

Hope must truly be audacious.

[LisaL]

4. Oh I know.

[Hugabear]

7. I never thought I'd do this - but I will say a few GOOD things about Cheney

He never wanted to secede from the United States (why should he, when he could run the entire country himself)

He had far more experience than Palin

[ginnyinWI]

8. In 2000, people thought Bush would be no worse than his daddy.

And they thought Cheney would help him out.

Different this time. We see an old man who will be getting basically no help from his veep (and probably a lot of trouble).

It's more like Cheney/Bush. An old dude and a political lightweight. But this lightweight doesn't have a parent who is a former president and the old dude has no executive experience.

[tomg]

9. Bush and Cheney were laughable

in a very different sense than McCain and Palin. Bush and Cheney were laughable because we could not imagine people being gullible enough to vote for them. McCain and Palin have turned themselves into a national joke. With that said, everything else in your post is solid. In fact, I think this could very well put the end to both Palin and McCain as candidates. Look for a Romney/ Huckabee backup.

[Agent William]

10. Ouch, the same thought is in the back of my head too.

Although I think this time around there is more genuine outrage. And conservitards are getting owned left and right by lightweight pundits (see Campbell Brown). The pick also shows that McSame is disparate and far behind in their internal polls...something that Bu$h never was in 2000 and 2004.

I fear that Americans will be distracted and then later drink the Kool-aid of "she's a good candidate". When my dad laughs at Phalin and calls the campaign over, I have to remind him of the Americans "electing" Bu$h twice. But I think circumstances are different this time around, and due to the hurricane the repugs loose out on there main chance to spin Phalin into a credible candidate.

The future will not be like the past.......I hope.

[blogslut]

11. The nation is different than it was then

We're bleeding money and lives on a war that everyone now knows is bogus. Gas is over $4.00 a gallon. People are losing their houses left and right. When people's pocketbooks get light, they stop being so damned rosy. The crap that got Bush selected twice ain't playing so well in the sticks these days. In November, we're going to have Democratic numbers that will have the talking head's jaws dropping for days.

[Drunken Irishman]

12. There are some major differences.

Cheney actually HELPED Bush, as he got an immediate bump after the choice. He also brought experience to the ticket. Palin has not done anything of this.

Oh and how many skeletons came out of Cheney's closet within the first 72 hours of being picked?