Not Larry Sabato

BOLLING KEEPS GAY GUIDEBOOKS IN THE CLOSET- UPDATED

From Channel 5 in Minnesota:

"The Virginia delegation canceled their order of The Rake magazine's Secrets of the City guide because it includes a section for gays and lesbians. The publication is a guide to various attractions in Minneapolis and St. Paul."

HAHAHAHAHA!  Are you serious?  Who did this?

"The campaign for Virginia's Lt. Governor Bill Bolling ordered 150 of the guides to give to Virginia delegates as gifts when they arrived in the Twin Cities. But after reviewing the guide and finding it had a six-page section for gays and lesbians, they canceled their order, said AJ Kiefer, The Rake's advertising director."

Wow.

Original cancellation request e-mail from Melissa Busse, Bolling's political director sent to Tom Bartel, of The Rake:

"I am so terribly sorry to do this, especially when the both of you have been so "out of your way" helpful, generous and easy to work with. But, we need to cancel the order for 150 of the "Secrets of the City" guidebooks.

Thanks for sending a copy to me so expediently, Tom. Upon looking at it, though, having a section dedicated solely to GLBT will be a BIG problem for many of our folks. We simply can't hand them out.

Please still bill us for the copy sent along with shipping, though.

Again, I'm so sorry."

I want to know what they are going to do with the one copy they kept.  :)

UPDATE: From Randy Marcus, Chief of Staff to Bolling:

"Here is the background on the guidebooks situation.  The guidebooks had not been ordered by the Virginia delegation to the Republican National Convention.  The guidebooks had been ordered by our campaign and were going to be presented as a gift to Virginia delegates from the Lieutenant Governor.  After receiving and reviewing a sample of the guidebook a staff member decided to cancel the order and order a different guidebook.  The Lieutenant Governor was not aware of the decision.  Frankly, the Lieutenant Governor has no problem with the guidebook and it would have made no difference to him.

We are sorry that this has occurred and wish it had not happened.  We have contacted the publisher of the guidebook and extended an apology for the cancellation of the order.  We have also agreed to reimburse the publisher for any expenses they incurred as a result of the cancellation. "

WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW

SARAH PALIN AT THE UNIV. OF IDAHO

DOES HER SHIRT SAY WHAT I THINK IT DOES?

Wow that is trashy.  This is a social conservative???

Here's where I found this- no fake- it was released by her family.

McCain-Palin Logo

Hat Tip:  Wonkette

Kaine: From the Short List to the Short Term

Given John McCain’s bold and excellent VP selection in Governor Sarah Palin, it is time for all Virginians to be grateful that Barack Obama did not select Governor Tim Kaine as his Vice President.

Can you imagine a debate between them?  All stereotypes would have been thrown against a wall. 

It wouldn’t be the woman who would boil down complex federal policy to a couple lines about how great her guy was and how he could do anything- it would have been Tim Kaine. 

It wouldn’t have been the Republican explaining why they eliminated the estate tax on estates of multi-millionaires upon their deaths while attempting to raise a regressive sales tax on the poor- it would have been Tim Kaine.

It wouldn’t have been the woman who spent hours in a make up chair worrying about how her eyebrows looked- it would have been Tim Kaine. 

It wouldn’t have been the Republican on stage explaining why they tolerated “pay to play” politics in their state- it would have been Tim Kaine.

Most important- it wouldn’t have been the woman who looked indecisive and had people questioning how they became Governor- it would have been Tim Kaine.

Thank You Barack Obama for not allowing Virginia's reputation to be soiled by Tim Kaine on the national stage!

The 18,000,001st Crack in the Glass Ceiling?

WRITTEN IN PHOENIX, ARIZONA

Coming back on my flight from Denver, I am shocked at what I am hearing while listening in to conversations regarding the Presidential race.  Despite the spectacular speech by Barack Obama- seeming to put a great seal on what had otherwise been a show of his rivals at the convention- the buzz in airports in Denver and Phoenix has not been Obama- but has been the announcement by John McCain that his running mate will be Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

Maybe it is the mystique of Alaska, a land most Americans have never visited and know very little about.  Maybe it is her stunningly good looks, perhaps being the nicest looking Governor in U.S. History.  Maybe it is the combination of all of this with her tough background as a union fisherman’s wife and as a normal mom before she got into politics a few years ago.  Or maybe this is just the revival of the Republican Party- which seemed impossible only a few months ago due to the hideous legacy of Bush and Cheney- but now seems possible with a national ticket of Bush’s chief rival in 2000 and a Governor who took on the Republican establishment in a primary and won.

Now with polling indicating that Barack Obama has achieved very little bounce out of his Democratic convention (but Hillary may have)- the question will turn to Minneapolis this week.  John McCain may already be catching a huge break- with a hurricane approaching the south this weekend President Bush is likely to skip his traditional role on the first day of the Republican Convention.  This is McCain’s dream come true- without upsetting his base for asking Bush not to speak he is still managing to avoid having him featured in front of the American people.  Could Dick Cheney stay home too?

This election might be over soon, and not in the way we all thought it would be a few weeks ago.

Could we see a battle of pantsuits in 2012 between Vice President Sarah Palin and Senator Hillary Clinton?  It’s quite possible- especially if the Democrats are dumb enough to attack Palin as a small city elected official who isn’t ready for this job- making the same mistake they did in 2000 by setting expectations so low for President Bush that even he could jump the hurdle.

I can’t wait to see what this does to the gender gap.

McCain-Palin

Sarah Palin.  Wow- this is going to be a boost for John McCain.  Smart pick.

Young, Attractive, Reformer- what's not to like?  And she directly took on the corrupt Alaska GOP.

UPDATE:  Hillary Clinton issued this statement a few moments ago about John McCain's running mate:

"We should all be proud of Governor Sarah Palin's historic nomination, and I congratulate her and Senator McCain. While their policies would take America in the wrong direction, Governor Palin will add an important new voice to the debate." 

Blogger Big Tent

Check it out!! Use this as an open thread for tonight at the DNC- I will be live tweeting from Invesco Field.

Thanks to C-SPAN for the great convention hub to host this coverage.

Why Democrats Lose Elections

Mellisa Ethridge on stage singing "Give Peace a Chance" while a bunch of 50-70 year old delegates who look like they used to be hippies hold up peace signs with their fingers?

That will appeal to middle America.

Terry For Governor

So Terry McAuliffe is out working Virginia delegates today about running for Governor in 2009.  Good timing- all Hillary supporters are looking good today after her magnificent speech last night.

Terry For Governor.  Hmm... Actually it's not a terrible idea.

Both Brian Moran and Creigh Deeds are untested at this level.  Getting a big name in the primary would give them a chance to prove themselves and if they are capable of being the nominee for Governor.  Without a big name in the primary the race could be seen as... something like this.

I hope Terry runs.  That doesn't mean I will support him.  But it will liven up the race- and count me as one person open to his candidacy and listening to his vision for Virginia.

A Great Night

A huge victory for unity in the Democratic Party.

Now we need to see how the roll call vote goes tomorrow.