Barack Obama will win tonight with at least 53 percent of the popular vote, making him the first Democrat since Jimmy Carter in 1976 to win a majority.

Here are all of the polls released yesterday, the last day that the major polling firms collected data. Obama’s aggragate average is approaching 52%, but I believe these polls under report the youth vote because of they generally don’t call cell phones, and we will probably see a disproportionate amount of the African-American vote judging by the early vote counts in many states.

We will have to look out for the Bradley Effect, which may or may not be a myth. Even if it’s true, I have a feeling it might be off se by the Reverse Bradley Effect. Paraphrasing Bill Maher, the Reverse Bradley Effect theorizes the pseudo racists are telling their buddies down at the Moose Lodge they’re voting for McCain, but when they get in the voting booth they might start thinking, “Hmm, well my kids teeth are falling out… and Obama is the only one that will give me health care. Maybe I will vote for the black guy.”

As far as the electoral college, Obama should get 338+ electoral votes, putting him well over the 270 needed to win. He will almost definitely flip Colorado, New Mexico, Virginia, and Iowa from Red States to Blue, and I think he squeak out Ohio, Florida and North Carolina, as well. Missouri and Indiana will be tough but if either fall for Obama, it will be over by 9 o’clock.

If McCain has any chance, he absolutely needs Pennsylvania. The east coast bellweather state is one of the first to close their polls, so if it is called early for Obama, it will be a good indicater of how the night could turn out. If Obama’s lead is 8 to 10 points and its over shortly after the polls close, then there will be no need to sweat. Barack Obama will be the President Elect. If we are still wondering who won Pennsylvania after a few hours, it might be a long night.

Check out CNN’s interactive map and make you’re own predictions.

Amidst all the political bickering that’s surrounded the 2008 presidential election, there’s one thing that campaign officials, pundits, and political leaders alike can agree on “" that the “youth vote” will undoubtedly play a crucial, perhaps unprecedented, role in determining which candidate emerges victorious.

For the past five national elections, Rock the Vote, a non-profit organization founded in Los Angeles in 1990, has partnered with musicians and actors to inspire young people to take an active role in politics.

Among the artists supporting the 2008 Rock the Vote campaign (the list includes Madonna, Good Charlotte and Tim McGraw) is Florida punk outfit Against Me! Known for their politically-charged material (see: “From Her Lips to God’s Ears” an anthemic skewering of Condoleezza Rice), the band partnered with Rock the Vote in April to film a video for their single “Stop!” from their latest record, “New Wave.”

Singer Tom Gabel recently took some time out from touring to offer his thoughts on the impending election and Against Me!’s participation in the Rock the Vote campaign.

BLAST: What prompted you to make your Rock the Vote video?

TOM GABEL: We were approached by Rock The Vote about working with them as they were interested in using the song for their campaign. At first I was hesitant because the song isn’t really a political song, but after talking with (them) about it, I saw that the chorus did really work well for their cause. It’s important to me to be involved in this election. If shooting a PSA is a potential way we can motivate young people to vote, then I’m up for trying.

B: Which candidate are you supporting in the election and why?

TG: Barack Obama for sure. I’m certainly not a Republican, but I’m also not a Democrat. I think that Obama would be a breath of fresh air for the country and would change the rest of the world’s views towards us in a positive way. I think Obama is a very intelligent individual; I think he “gets it.” Whether or not that means he’ll be able to change anything, I don’t know. I believe he’ll try though.

I do believe that McCain can change things as well, but in a completely negative direction. Read McCain’s book, listen to him talk about how excited he was as a young man to start flying combat missions in Vietnam, “Ëœcause that’s what he was “trained” to do. He comes from a family with a long history of military service; war is bred into him. You’re fooling yourself if you think he wouldn’t be just as excited to sit in the Oval Office with the power of the big red button under his finger. He wants to command.

B: Why is it important for people of any age to vote, and to keep up with politics in general?

TG: Well, I think it’s important to be an educated person. I think it’s important to realize the effect your actions have on your immediate surroundings and on the world in general. It’s important to know how completely connected we all are. Politics are an extension of that. The people (we) elect into office have a very direct effect on our lives. Don’t you think it’s important to be aware of how other people affect your life? Don’t you think it’s important to have some kind of say in the decisions being made? It’s your world too.

B: What is the most important issue for you in this year’s election and why?

TG: I don’t think I can choose just one. The environment, the war in Iraq, America’s foreign policy in general, education, health care, women’s reproductive rights, marriage rights, etc. All the issues are equally important.

B: Why do you think so many Americans are disillusioned with politics?

TG: Because most politicians are fucking liars. The system is corrupt. It’s hard to actually effect change because of these factors. Most Americans are too busy worrying about how to pay their rent.

B: Does politics have a role in music? If so, what is that role?

TG: Everything is political. You don’t have to sing about politics to be politically involved. You could be a band that gets up on stage every night and sings exclusively love songs and still be the most political band in the world. At the same time you could be a band that gets up on stage every night and shouts their heads off about “Revolution” this or that, and have it mean nothing politically. Words and actions are two different things. How does a band treat their fans? What kind of shirts do they print their shirts on? Do the companies have fair labor policies? Are they environmentally aware? How do they treat their employees? What about on a personal level? Where do they shop? What companies do they support? There’s a million different angles.
I don’t think artists have a responsibility to sing about political topics. But I do think that people in bands have just as much responsibility as anyone else to be aware of the effect their actions have on the world around them.

For more information, visit www.rockthevote.com or www.myspace.com/againstme.

Below is an open letter to the national media from Ralph Nader.

Dear Members of the 4th Estate:

Having spoken to numerous reporters and some editors with the national media (as distinguished from the local media) about the blackout or near blackout of the Nader/Gonzalez presidential campaign, striving to challenge the two party, exclusionary duopoly, (debates, ballot obstacles, etc.) I must ask a general question:

What journalistic criteria have you been employing in this presidential year that guides your pronounced non-coverage of the number three campaign that advances majoritarian agendas based on long experience, involvement, and accomplishment. These agendas are either opposed or ignored by McCain and Obama (see www.votenader.org) and are often rooted in the very investigative reports by your reporters?

It is puzzling how editors and publishers who oversee these prize winning stories seem to lose interest in covering Americans who are trying to do something with that information for a better country.

We asked one top editor of a major daily why his paper was not covering us at all and he said, “Because you can’t win.” Besides being a catch-22 that he quickly acknowledged, that is not a supportable newsworthy judgment. News Media have covered many stories outside the electoral arena of people “who can’t win” and such coverage extends to both the import of the struggles and the reasons why “winning is not possible” given the stacked deck against them.

There has been a witting or unwitting political bigotry against third parties and independent candidates, as there was years ago against minority voters. Against the status of such candidates obstructed through ballot access laws by the two parties that dislike competition they present other rigged ways to secure their domination over the electoral landscape, including gerrymandering each other in the majority of Congressional Districts, for example.

This is meant to be a short letter. Journalism scholars, reporters, and other post-election writers of books and articles will be chronicle, no doubt, the quantity and quality of media coverage (see the previous analysis by such scholars as Stephen Farnsworth and S. Robert Lichter).

For now, please verify for yourselves your own non-coverage or coverage and inform us what your journalistic criteria standards or policies led you to this definition of your readers, listeners, and viewers rights to know.

Thank you for responding, even though there is obviously no obligation to do so.

Sincerely,

Ralph Nader

Beer has long been a part of American politics, and today is no different, from “who would you rather have a beer with”, to brewers crafting recipes named after candidates.

From the early days of George Washington’s home-brewed ales and James Madison’s attempts at creating a national brewery, patriots and early American leaders relied on beer for nutrition and inspiration.

In more recent history, Jimmy Carter’s brother, Billy, promoted his own brand of brew, Billy Beer, shortly after the Georgian peanut farmer was elected. During the last presidential election in 2004, polls found that Americans would rather have had a beer with George W. Bush than John Kerry.

Throughout the country’s existence, the humble hopped beverage has lubricated the wheels of democracy by sparking debate or resolving conflicts. And the beverage has come up in some pretty interesting ways this year on the campaign trail.

Senator John McCain faced criticism after the Associated Press highlighted the candidate’s extensive fundraising connections to Anheuser-Busch through his wife’s fortune and high-powered position in Hensley and Co., the nation’s third-largest A-B distributor. Although McCain’s financial connections to the brewing giant may be close, don’t expect the White House to replace the stemware with Pilsner glasses. McCain’s campaign manager Jill Hazelbaker told the Associated Press that he “very rarely, if ever, drinks alcohol.”

But who could forget Governor Sarah Palin’s now infamous appeals to “Joe Six-Pack”?

In August, Democratic candidate Barack Obama’s taste for beer was challenged during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes. During a discussion of his campaign’s attempts to court blue-collar voters, Steve Kroft, the interviewer, remarked to Obama, “You tried really hard to reach these people. You went and sipped beer, which I know you don’t particularly like.” Obama promptly told the reporter that he had a beer the previous night and then said, “Where does the story come from that…I don’t like beer? …C’mon, man.”

Though politicians may use beer as an image to appeal to the common person, some breweries and drinking establishments have long abided by the folk ethos of not combining politics and alcohol, while others embrace the mix. With the heightened energy of the upcoming election, many brewers and barkeeps around the country are getting into the spirit of the election season.

“What better way is there to celebrate the diversity of ideas and thoughts that come out every four years during our election process with something that goes way back to our founding fathers, that’s beer and ale,” said Wayne Mayer, director of marketing for the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company.

The northern California based brewery’s ALECTION lets customers “vote” for a candidate by buying either the “Obama Ale,” or the “McCain 2008,” re-labeled versions of their English-style light ale. Each week the results are tallied on the brewery’s website.

While encouraging their drinkers to show their preference for the candidates, the style of the beers themselves is the same.

“We did that for political reasons so no one could say that we were trying to favor one over the other,” explained Mayer.

Currently the Democratic candidate is in the lead “by quite a bit,” according to the brewery. When Blast contacted Half Moon Bay in mid-October, Obama had 4,991 bottles over McCain’s 1,274.

“We’ve seen a huge jump in our incremental beer sales” said Meyer.

Unlike the real upcoming vote this November, Mayer jested, “This is the only election where you can vote early, often, and legally.”

Magic Hat Brewing Company, based in South Burlington, Vt., released a politically themed Participation variety 12 pack, containing a few of their normal offerings and a special pre-prohibition style “Participation Lager.”

“Beyond the political packaging and beyond the beer itself, which is also politically themed, we actually as a sales team go into our bar promotions and register voters,” said Krissy Leonard, spokeswoman for Magic Hat.

Magic Hat partnered with HeadCount, a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization to register people to vote. On the night before the election, the brewery is sponsoring a concert at the Highline Ballroom in New York City to benefit HeadCount featuring Robert Randolph, Joss Stone, and other artists.

Winter variety packs are now being shipped but there should be more of the politically-themed 12-packs in stores until Election Day, Leonard said.

Below the Mason Dixon line, the Flying Saucer Draught Emporium, a chain of beer bars, is conducting another presidential poll. Patrons at the bars can buy a pint glass for $5 bearing either Obama or McCain’s face drawn as a cartoon, which is counted as one vote.

With 13 locations in Texas, Arkansas, North Carolina, and other traditionally red states, some might find the current standings a bit surprising. Obama’s 11,420 bottles leads McCain’s 9,220 as of Oct. 28, according to the company’s website.

Fort Worth, Texas and Cordova, Tenn. are the Flying Saucer’s only locations where McCain is holding a lead.

In New York, one of the strongest Democratic support bases, Sixpoint Craft Ales located in Brooklyn created the “Hop Obama” in honor of the democratic candidate’s grassroots campaigning style.

“We were tossing it around as far back as late September last fall,” said Jeff Gorlechen, one of founding members of Sixpoint. “Then his campaign started steam rolling. At the time it was all word of mouth, and we identified with that.”

After Obama won the first few primaries, Gorlechen and the other four workers at the brewery decided to brew the ale.

While the brewers may admire the candidate, Sixpoint stopped short of fully endorsing him, as their label points out: “Although we do not intend this beer to be a direct Sixpoint endorsement of Obama, we do believe the delicious and refreshing quality it represents reminds us of the Senator’s successful grassroots campaign.”

There are “many parallels” between the rise of craft and micro brews and Obama’s style of campaigning, he said.

“There was no marketing, no advertising dollars behind it. It’s hard not to admire him,” explained Gorlechen. “In the last five years the craft market segments exploded. It kind of caught the major breweries off guard. I think [Obama] did the same thing when he won Iowa.”

Available on draft in N.Y. and Mass., Gorlechen described the Hop Obama as a hybrid ale “sort of like a British session ale, sort of like an amber, sort of an ESB [Extra Special Bitter]” that uses Scottish, English, and German malts and three different hops from the Pacific Northwest. Also, a part of the profits go to Get Out The Vote, an organization that registers voters.

Of the seven ales produced by Sixpoint, it is currently their second best seller and the brewery sold its stock of the beer faster than any other single batch released for the first time.

Although one of Sixpoint’s best selling products, some bar managers have refused to serve their beer because it is mixing beer and politics, he said.

The “Ale to the Chief” by Colorado’s Avery Brewing Co. has hit shelves in the 32 states. “Instead of an Imperial Pale Ale we’re calling it a “ËœPresidential Pale Ale’ because it’s a democracy here, it’s not an imperialistic nation,” mused Matt Throll, beer manager for Avery.

This past spring, Adam Avery, the owner of the brewery, returned from a road trip with the idea of creating a politically themed beer.

Overall, the reaction to the “Ale to the Chief” has been positive, the Brewery said.

“We’ve only had one person call up and complain to say “Ëœleave politics out of beer,’” Throll said. “We had to tell them that beer has been a part of politics a long time, that’s just the way it is. We weren’t setting out to offend anybody, but of course that’s going to happen.”

“It was not necessarily pro any of the candidates but pro change,” said Throll

Avery’s brewmasters have another batch of “Ale to the Chief” underway for Inauguration Day.

In the Midwest, the St. Louis Brewery Inc., producer of the microbrew Schlafly, is selling posters and T-shirts with altered versions of their labels featuring the candidate’s images.

“I changed our Hefeweisen to‚  “ËœHefe-Biden,’ our Oktoberfest became “ËœBaracktoberfest,’ and our actual flagship pale ale became “ËœPalin Ale,’” explained Troika Brodsky. graphic designer for Schlafly Beer.

Two days before the Vice Presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis, Brodsky learned that a church group would be screening the debate at Schlafly’s downtown brewery and restaurant.‚  To celebrate the debate, Brodsky made four custom tap handles and posters featuring altered “Ëœpolitical versions’ of the brewery’s labels.

Although the other candidates’ names were easy to juxtapose with the labels, Brodsky said creating one for McCain was difficult. He settled on “ËœMcCain’s Maverick’ American Pale Ale.

“Its basically just parody,” he said. “They were a big hit, actually.”

Even though the church group holding the screening was “more conservative-leaning,” Brodsky said, “Still, the Baracktoberfest and the Hefe-Biden taps sold far more.”

Schlafly is now selling a limited number of Baracktoberfest and Palin Ale T-shirts on its website.

Beyond the tension and mudslinging of the election, it’s all in good fun, he said.

“The point of this is that everyone’s really exited about the election around here. We want to encourage that energy, encourage people to vote,” said Brodsky.

The Republican Jewish Coalition lashed out against Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama Monday, saying his policies and advisors posed threats to Israel and American Jews.

“Sen. Barack Obama surrounds himself with a number of individuals and advisors who are hostile to Israel and American Jews,” the coalition said in‚ a statement. “They include Zbigniew Brzezinski, General Tony McPeak and Reverend Jeremiah Wright. All are known for their anti-Israel views.”

Jeremiah Wright’s name gets mentioned again and again in this election.

They also say Obama voted against legislation to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization and‚ ”his willingness to meet with Iranian President Ahmadinejad without any preconditions,” echoing a popular John‚ McCain sentiment.

From Dow Jones

NEW YORK — Results from the Dow Jones Insight-2008 Presidential Election Media Pulse show that Sarah Palin continues to hold the lead in overall media coverage of the four nominees for president and vice president — clearly giving a boost to Republican running mate John McCain, whose recent coverage has matched or exceeded that of rival Barack Obama after trailing the Democratic candidate for most of the year.

While Palin had virtually zero coverage in the days prior to her August 29th unveiling as the Republican vice presidential nominee, in the period from August 30 through September 13 her coverage surpassed that of presidential nominee Obama, and left vice presidential rival Joe Biden far behind, according to analysis of mainstream and social media sources tracked by Dow Jones Insight.

When considering coverage of the two presidential candidates only, McCain had 179,004 total mentions in all tracked media sources during the same time period, or a 55 percent share, to Obama’s 148,000 mentions, or 45 percent share. McCain also led in terms of headline mentions in the mainstream press, with 21,995 mentions, or 54 percent, to Obama’s 18,769, or 46 percent, while in social media sources (blogs and boards) Obama had 33,120 headline mentions to McCain’s 32,900, for a 50-50 split.

Palin May Have Stolen the Show in Minnesota, but Obama Still Pulled in Higher Convention Coverage

The timing of the Palin announcement could be viewed as a clear effort to steal Obama’s thunder, but it couldn’t quite offset his coverage during the Democratic convention itself. While the spotlight has shifted toward the Republicans over the past few weeks, when comparing mainstream and social media coverage of both candidates around the time of their respective conventions, Obama still came out ahead.

Dow Jones Insight tracked coverage of the candidates on the four scheduled days of each convention, plus the preview day before and the wrap-up day afterward — or August 24-29 for the Democrats and August 31-September 5 for the Republicans — and found that the Democratic convention time period saw 91,395 total mentions of both candidates, 14% more coverage than the 80,250 total mentions in the days surrounding the Republican convention. Since the Republican convention was shortened by a day due to Hurricane Gustav, the higher overall total for the Democratic convention is understandable. However when comparing each candidate’s percentage of total mentions, Obama had a more dominant share of the conversation during his convention than McCain had during his.

• Obama had 54,624 mentions, or a 60 percent share, during the Democratic convention time period tracked, compared to McCain’s 36,771 mentions, or 40 percent, in the same timeframe.
• In the days tracked surrounding the Republican convention, McCain received 45,448 mentions, for a 57 percent share, compared to Obama’s 34,802 mentions, or 43 percent
• When combining mentions from both time periods, Obama received 52 percent of the total to McCain’s 48 percent

If Money Talks, Which Candidate Speaks Loudest?

With Barack Obama’s announcement this week that he had raised a record $66 million in August and lined up more than 500,000 first-time donors, he is by far the leader in donations from the public, and also leads the way in terms of media coverage on the topic. According to analysis of mainstream and social media sources tracked by Dow Jones Insight, there were 1,740 mentions of Obama’s name in close proximity to fundraising-related terms in the previous seven days, or 36 percent of the total 4,826 fundraising mentions of the four candidates over that period. His running mate, Joe Biden, who has not played a very public fundraising role, netted just 279 mentions, or 6 percent.

While Obama declined to take public funds to finance his campaign, McCain, who has accepted public financing and is therefore limited in how much he can raise and how he can spend it, is expected to spend far less time drumming up donations. In the previous week McCain drew 1,665 mentions in reference to fundraising, or 35 percent of all fundraising mentions of the four candidates. Meanwhile, Palin received 1,142 mentions on the issue, or 24 percent, as she took on a major fundraising role for the McCain campaign.

Higher Overall Coverage for McCain Translates to Ownership of Additional Issues

In the period August 15 – September 15, media coverage of the campaign issues being tracked by Dow Jones Insight surged again, with a trend in issues ownership toward McCain reflecting the overall increase in McCain- related coverage. McCain had the lead in 17 of the 25 issues being tracked, up from six in a previous analysis. Among the issues he led were the economy, taxes, terrorism, health care and abortion (each with a split of 54 percent for McCain to 46 percent for Obama), as well as energy (59 percent to 41 percent) and the environment (56 percent to 44 percent). Obama owned just five issues, down from seven in a previous analysis, including faith, race, Israel, gun control and NAFTA. Total issues- based coverage was up 22 percent during this period, reaching 1,137,582 mentions of all 25 issues compared with 934,408 from the previous analysis.

The Dow Jones Insight-2008 Presidential Election Media Pulse (http://dowjonesinsight.blogspot.com/) provides a high-level view of a competitive media landscape and demonstrates how candidates and issues are covered in the media and how that coverage changes over time. Dow Jones Insight combines proven research methodologies, trusted content and advanced text-mining and visualization tools to deliver strategic qualitative and quantitative media measurement metrics. Organizations use the analysis to nurture their reputation, demonstrate the effectiveness of their communications strategies and achieve business objectives. The platform processes nearly a million articles, Web pages, blogs and message board posts per day.

I just saw, on CNN, some guy holding a black sign saying “You can’t win an occupation” during John McCain’s speech at the Republican National Convention.

Anyone else see that? Anyone capture it on video/screen grab?

Security also threw out a protester in a pink dress after someone ripped a sign out of her hands.

McCain rolled well with the punches: “ignore the static and background noise.”

I dunno, folks. There’s a time and a place for this, and there are some legitimate gripes to hear heard. But let the man speak.

As a woman, I take offense to the tactics being used by the media to accuse Alaska Governor Sarah Palin of being incapable of balancing motherhood and the vice-presidency should she be elected to the White House alongside Arizona Senator John McCain this November.

While I may disagree with her politics, I have to admit that her nomination to the VP slot is a big deal. Hillary Clinton herself proclaimed during her speech last week at the Democratic National Convention that she and her campaign had made eighteen million cracks in the glass ceiling. This is one more.

Sarah Palin’s capability to fulfill the duties of Vice President shouldn’t be questioned simply because she’s a mother with young children.‚  No one has asked Senator Barack Obama, who has two young children himself, if he will have the time to balance being fatherhood and the presidency.

I commend Sarah Palin for continuing to push up against that glass ceiling, though I may not be a Republican, I admire her for holding strong to her beliefs, supporting her family, and ignoring the naysayers. I’d like to think America has come a long way since the 1964 film “Kisses for my President” which featured a female President who resigned when she become pregnant while in office ‘for the good of the country.’‚  I guess we’ll just have to see.

Make sure to follow along tonight as I live blog the highly anticipated speech of GOP VP candidate Gov. Sarah Palin.‚  She has garnered a lot of negative media attention since her inclusion in the campaign, so it will be interesting to see how she validates herself as the VP candidate.

Last night, Sen. John McCain was endorsed by Sen. Joe Lieberman, President George Bush and Former Sen. Fred Thompson.‚  All named McCain as the right choice for office and tried to assure republicans and Americans that he is ready to lead.

Tonight, Palin will try to establish her place on the ticket.‚  She will try to reassure everyone that McCain’s choice was a wise one, and she may address some negative comments that have been made about her, her abilities, her past and her family.‚  The latter may not happen though, she may steer clear of that.

She will definitely talk about how she’s shaken up Alaskan politics, uncovering corruption and putting “country first,” or in her case, state first.

Make sure you join me tonight.‚  Palin is scheduled to hit the podium around 10:30 PM.

10:30 PM

Palin hits the stage.

10:32 PM

Palin accepts nomination for GOP VP.

10:34 PM

Palin launches into a speech about McCain, praising him, his resolve and his “sheer guts.”

10:36 PM

She mentions his service, and his approval and support of the troops in Iraq.‚  She supports his position because her son is in the military, about to go to Iraq.‚  Her nephew is serving in the Persian Gulf.

10:38 PM

Well, I guess she does want to talk about her family.‚  I think it’s wise that she’s decided to do that.‚  She’s connecting with middle-class America, saying that her family goes through the same hardships as every other American family, so she knows what it’s like to deal with them.‚  She addresses families with children with special needs, saying that if they elect her, they have a personal representative in high government.

10:40 PM

She introduces her husband, who stands to introduce himself.‚  He receives a standing ovation…..

10:42 PM

She references her Alaskan citizens, saying they are some of the hardest working Americans in the country, of course, talking about herself as well.‚  “The difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull—lipstick.”‚  Funny.‚  Also shows she is savvy and gritty.‚  Look for more grittiness throughout the speech.

10:44 PM

References Obama’s old comment about how small town folk cling to guns and religion.‚  Says he talks one way to people’s faces, and another behind their backs.‚  Says John McCain will never do that.‚  He is the “same” man.‚  Funny, democrats say he’s the “same” man too…

10:46 PM

She references the media’s speculation that she is unqualified because she has no real Washington experience.‚  She says, “I’m not going to Washington to seek their good opinion, I’m going to Washington to serve the people of this great country.”‚  Basically, says she doesn’t need experience in Washington because she is going to change it.‚  Don’t you need to know something about what you plan to change?

10:48 PM

Palin is repeating a lot of the things she said when she was first introduced.‚  She talks about how she and the citizens of Alaska reformed the government and put it “back on the side of the people.”‚  She talks about her economy reform in Alaska, and how McCain says he will use vetoes as president if necessary.‚  She tells the audience that she has vetoed nearly half a billion in unnecessary spending in Alaska.

10:52 PM

She talks about the $40 billion pipeline that is being constructed, that will “lead America one step further away” from oil dependence on foreign nations.‚  She says that the U.S. should not draw from their strategic oil reserves, Obama wants to do that.‚  Some people int he crowd caught that reference.‚  She does not want the country to be at the “mercy of foreign suppliers.”

10:54 PM

She’s now referencing the oil situations in different countries, basically showing the audience she does know a little about foreign policy and what’s going on in the rest of the world, and that she isn’t just a sheltered Alaskan governor.

10:56 PM

Talks about keeping jobs in America.‚  She says that Obama has authored two books, but no reform.‚  References his celebrity status again.‚  That’s really not working anymore.‚  Basically says he thinks he has a God-like status, “turning back the waters and healing the planet.”

10:59 PM

She says Obama wants to raise taxes.‚  Not really, only for the highest 5% of the population.‚  He actually wants to lower them for 95% of the population.

11:00 PM

Says McCain uses his career to “promote change.”‚  She’s saying, basically, that Obama is all-talk, he’s just an orator and has no substance.‚  She says McCain has actually accomplished things.

11:03 PM

She says the “American presidency is not supposed to be a journey of personal discovery.”‚  The U.S., she says, does not just need an organizer.‚  Says there is only one man in this election that “has ever really fought for you.”‚  “That man is John McCain.”

11:05 PM

She references his past as P.O.W.‚  A journey from Hanoi to the White House.‚  References John McCain’s optimism during his torture, how he smiled while walking back after the treatments.

11:08 PM

She ends by saying that if it’s change you want, join us.

11:11 PM

McCain joins Palin’s family on stage. Asks the audience if they think he made a good choice.‚  He’s already making me sleepy.

That’s it from the RNC.

Her speech was good, she took countless shots at Obama, part of what people wanted to hear.‚  She talked about herself a little, but all she said, we’ve heard before.‚  It leaves people thinking that, what we’ve heard that she’s done, is all she’s really done, that’s all her experience, and that will be a problem for many non-hardcore republicans.

She talked about, for the majority of the speech, John McCain’s goals, ambitions, and what he will accomplish as president.‚  She took more shots at Obama than many of the other speakers combined.‚  She is gritty, republicans will love her after this speech.

Not much talk about the economy or jobs in America.‚  A little, but not a lot.

Our heralded PSA Blog makes the case against Sarah Palin. Check it out.

Here’s a snippet:

Late last week, John McCain picked his running mate, the relatively unknown Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska. Aesthetically, for McCain, it was a great pick. The grumpy, ugly, old man picked a smiling, attractive, young woman as his potential Vice President. The excitement over the first woman Republican VP nominee in history also probably blunted Obama’s poll bounce after his rousing convention speech on Thursday.

But while McCain’s pick got relatively good press over the weekend (and made him some money: The campaign has raised over $10 mil since Friday), it’s about to explode in his face, and I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if she is off the ticket for good by the end of September. I had to make this a bulleted list because it is extremely long and probably will need to be updated almost hourly because right now, there is an army of progressive bloggers vetting her much more thoroughly than the McCain campaign ever did.

Seventeen-year-old Bristol Palin, daughter of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, is pregnant, media learned today in a statement issued by the presidential campaign of Senator John McCain.

Bristol plans to marry the father of her child. She is reportedly five months along.

In a public statement, Palin and her husband said, “Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. We are proud of if Bristol’s decision to have her baby, and even prouder to become grandparents.”

Gov. Palin, during her campaign for Alaska governor, supported abstinence-only education in schools. In 2006, she wrote in a conservative group questionnaire, “explicit sex-ed programs will not find my support.”

The information was released in efforts to control rumors that claim Palin’s four month-old daughter, who has Down Syndrome, is actually Bristol Palin’s child.

Senator John McCain said he knew Palin’s daughter was pregnant before he tapped Palin as his VP.

Senator Barack Obama recently told media he thinks that this will have no effect on Palin’s political career and “people’s children are especially off-limits,” when it comes to politics and the media’s coverage.

Obama’s mother was 18-years-old when he was born.

If you are anything like me, or the millions of utterly confused Americans (yes I live in Canada but I am an American citizen) following the blisteringly long 2008 presidential election, you were baffled by Senator John McCain’s running mate choice.

Sarah Palin?‚  Apparently the most popular governor in the United States.‚  I guess we all missed that memo.

Palin is an ultra-conservative who is pro-life, pro-guns, pro-offshore drilling, against gay marriage and a staunch supporter of McCain’s stance on the war in Iraq.‚  She has been described, by republicans mind you, as a ‘gun-toting’ mother.

From 1996-2002, Palin was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, a small town of under 7,000 residents. In 1984, she wore the crown of Miss Wasilla, and competed in the Miss Alaska competition, placing second.

She was elected Alaska’s 11th governor in 2006, defeating republican incumbent Frank Murkowski.

By choosing Palin as his running mate, McCain has effectively shattered the argument he so often uses to belittle his adversary, that Obama is too inexperienced to govern the country.

I know Palin is the VP choice and isn’t running for president, but when you are faced with the prospect of electing a 72 year-old man into office, the VP plays an important role.‚  It isn’t absurd for the public to be concerned about this, and the fact that McCain has had serious health problems in the past only heightens the public’s anxiety.‚  His recently released medical records show a pretty clean slate, but still concerns are concerns and the public is entitled to them, and will continue to have them for as long as he is in the running.

With Palin as the VP choice, if McCain is elected to office she will be next in line for the presidency.‚  If in, let’s say, two years McCain (if he is elected) is unable to continue his presidency, Palin will be sworn in as the President of the United States.

That’s something, even taking into regard her wonderful work uncovering corruption, managing the budget and improving energy and environment situations in Alaska, that will be a constant fear for all Americans since she, among many other things, has no foreign policy experience.

Clearly I disagree with Fox New’s Steve Doocy, who said Palin does have foreign poilcy experience because Alaska is next to Russia.

What Palin lacks in foreign policy experience, McCain claims he has.‚  What Obama lacks in foreign policy experience, Senator Joe Biden certainly has.

The fact remains, even though Obama is not a very experienced leader, his ideals, goals and ambition for his country are genuine.‚  With Biden by his side, experience is there.

People can argue that McCain has the experience Palin lacks, but it seems that McCain’s choice might do more harm than good.‚  She is a dark horse pick, she has uncovered corruption in her state and propelled Alaska to a better balanced budget.‚  But she lacks what Biden has, and it will be very interesting to see how she fairs in a debate against him.

She has been described as aggressive, and was known on her high-school basketball team as ‘Sarah Barracuda.’‚  But how far can aggressiveness get you in a debate against one of the most seasoned politicians in Washington?

McCain has come under much criticism for the pick, which many thought, and think, was made as to attract disenchanted Senator Hillary Clinton supporters.‚  That probably won’t work because of their different views on many important issues.

McCain obviously sees something in Palin the public currently doesn’t.‚  We’ll see how many republicans warm up to the selection in the coming weeks.

Indecision 2008 Continues as Senator John McCain — the certain Republican presidential nominee — faces John Stewart on “The Daily Show” Wednesday at 11 p.m.

This is McCain’s 13th time on the comedy news program. He also appeared April 24, 2007, the night he announced he would be running for president.

Each episode of “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” repeats at 1:00 a.m. the same night and at 10:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. the following day (all times ET/PT).  The May 7 interview will be posted for viewing the following day at both www.thedailyshow.com and www.indecision2008.com with URL links and embed codes, so go nuts, all you bloggers!

Howard Dean, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, gave the Democratic radio address to the nation this week. He used it to come out strongly against Senator John McCain, the presumed Republican presidential candidate.

“Citing Senator John McCain’s belief that the country is better off, when more than a quarter of a million jobs have been lost this year and many people are struggling to make ends met, Dean noted how out of touch McCain is with the challenges facing American families,” the DNC said in a statement Saturday. “Despite his talk about fiscal discipline, Senator McCain has failed to account for the costs of a long-term engagement in Iraq, making the Bush tax cuts permanent, and giving additional tax cuts to billionaires.”

Transcript:

Good morning. I’m Governor Howard Dean, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. I want to start by offering Pope Benedict XVI the warmest welcome as he travels here in the United States. He is in our thoughts and prayers while he visits America.

His visit reminds us of the Catholic values of social justice, working for the common good, and caring for those most in need.

These are also the values of the Democratic Party.

We face challenging times in our country and our world. Our troops are in Iraq – many on their second or even third tour of duty. The gap between the most fortunate and everyone else is widening. As we elect our nation’s next leader it’s important that we choose someone who understands the struggles that so many families here at home face as they try to make ends meet.

As I listened to Senator John McCain’s remarks about the economy this week, I heard more of the same Republican policies that George Bush has brought us for the last eight years.

This year, more than a quarter of a million Americans have already lost their jobs. Since the Republicans have occupied the White House, seven million more Americans have lost their health insurance. Wages have fallen. Gas prices are at record highs. And even groceries cost more than they have in the past 17 years. And America has the largest deficits in our history.

Senator McCain believes we are better off.

On the campaign trail, Senator McCain talks about spending American tax dollars responsibly. But how can he think he’ll pay for a $12 billion a month war in Iraq, make the Bush tax cuts permanent, and give additional tax cuts to billionaires without making our deficits even bigger?

So far in this campaign we have heard very little “straight talk” from John McCain.

He was against the Bush tax cuts before he was for them. He was for comprehensive immigration reform before he was against it. He was for campaign finance reform before he said it didn’t apply to him.

Next week, Senator McCain will embark on what he’s calling a compassion tour. We haven’t seen much compassion from George Bush and I don’t think we are going to see any more from John McCain: privatizing social security, denying our children health care, adding eight trillion in new deficits, no plan to turn our economy around, or help people keep their homes.

We honor John McCain’s service to our country, but John McCain is not the right choice for America’s future. This November, voters do have a choice. If you want to see more of this Bush economy, if you want to see our troops in Iraq for a long period of time, we can stay the course with Senator McCain.

But the Democrats have a different vision for America’s future. Both of our candidates for president have a plan to get us out of Iraq responsibly so that we can invest in the American people and American jobs.

We have a history of balancing budgets, the only party to do so in the past 40 years. Both of our candidates will turn our economy around with fair and honest tax policies, will help people keep their homes, and finally have a health care system that makes sense for all of us.

But most importantly, both of our candidates will restore America’s moral leadership at home and around the world.

I’m Governor Howard Dean, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Thanks so much for listening.

In the “old days” a bunch of states held their primaries this week. This year, only Texas, Ohio, Vermont and Rhode Island maintained their traditional dates in yesterday’s “not-so-Super-Tuesday.”

Barack Obama finished the night with one win, a disappointment to that camp as Hillary Clinton was expected by many to end her campaign if she suffered losses in Ohio and Texas.

But suffer losses she did not. Senator Clinton clinched wins in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island, and her campaign will trudge on to Pennsylvania’s April 22 primary, which looks critical for both sides.

It is estimated that Senator Clinton may have picked up 187 delegates to Senator Obama’s 183 yesterday. It is also rumored that Senator Obama has 50 super delegates waiting in the wings to be announced as a block in the near future. However, super delegates are not committed, and as we’ve already seen are not committed to anyone regardless of whether they’ve already pledged support.

Meanwhile on the Republican side of the aisle, Governor Mike Huckabee ended his campaign Tuesday night as Senator John McCain officially clinched the Republican Nomination with decisive wins in all four contests.

Governor Huckabee still lagged behind already dropped out GOP candidate former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in delegate counts.

Senator McCain now has until August when the conventions will take place to attack the Democratic candidates and win over the crucial independents throughout the country. They will be vital for a win in November.

Former Massachusetts Governor, Republican Mitt Romney will suspend his campaign, effectively ending his run for president.

“I must now stand aside, for our party and our country,” Romney said during a speech in Washington Thursday.

The move means Senator John McCain has all but won the nomination.

Romney suffered a string of embarrassing third place defeats in the South, where he was banking on conservative votes on Super Tuesday. Instead, it was former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee who won nearly all the southern races. Huckabee still trails Romney in the delegate counts, but McCain has a commanding lead over both.

“This is not an easy decision for me. I hate to lose. My family, my friends and our supporters … many of you right here in this room … have given a great deal to get me where I have a shot at becoming President,” Romney said. “If this were only about me, I would go on. But I entered this race because I love America.”

McCain leads with 707 delegates, to 294 for Romney and 195 for Huckabee. It takes 1,191 to win the nomination at the Republican convention in St. Paul, Minn in the summer.

“I disagree with Senator McCain on a number of issues, as you know. But I agree with him on doing whatever it takes to be successful in Iraq, on finding and executing Osama bin Laden, and on eliminating al-Qaida and terror,” Romney said.

Romney has been attacked from the start for flip-flopping on a number of key conservative issues.

Going into Super Tuesday, the closest thing we have to a national primary, Romney labeled McCain as a liberal and claimed he was the clear conservative choice in the Republican Party. He was aided by conservative pundits like Rush Limbaugh, who said he would vote for Hillary Clinton if McCain was the Republican nominee.

The world waits with baited breath to see if he follows through. But a serious question remains as to whether or not McCain can rally the whole party to his cause.

Video courtesy/The Boston Globe

WASHINGTON — Senator John McCain, in a tight race, has won the all-or-nothing Republican primary in Florida.

Over the past few weeks, since his victories in both South Carolina and in New Hampshire, McCain has begun to emerge as something of a steamroller. Depending on how he fares on February 5, in what is as close to a national primary as possible, he could likely secure the nomination in a few weeks.

McCain won all 57 of Florida’s delegates after winning 35 percent of the vote. In Florida, McCain received the endorsements of wildly popular Republican Governor Charlie Crist, and Republican Senator Mel Martinez.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney came in second place with 31% of the vote. Romney, despite his second place finishes (with wins in Michigan, Nevada and Wyoming), has enough money to ensure that this campaign carries on and will not likely concede the nomination anytime before the last primary in June.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani finished a disappointing third after throwing all of his resources of the past month into the Florida primary.

Sources say Giuliani will drop out of the race tomorrow at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California and endorse McCain. Despite tensions among the other candidates, the two have always been respectful of one another.

Only Senator Hillary Clinton campaigned in the delegateless Florida primary. She claimed victory at a rally on Tuesday night. The Democratic party stripped Florida of its delegates for holding an early primary.

The nation now turns to February 5, where over 20 states will hold their primaries.

Stick with Blast and our Politics with a Touch of Class blog!

Mitt Romney has won the Michigan Republican Primary.

Stick with our Politics With a Touch of Class blog for details!

From our Washington reporter:

Rumors have it that if Romney doesn’t do well tonight, this could make or break his campaign – the man has millions so I don’t understand but coming out of Iowa and NH with a couple second place wins and a "gold medal" from Wyoming, his support seems to be waning [...]

Blast Magazine Washington reporter Heidi Buchanan, a former congressional intern and 2004 alternate Vermont delegate at the Democratic National Convention, will be providing blog coverage of the 2008 presidential campaign starting next week.

Moving forward from their victory in Iowa, both Illinois Senator Barack Obama and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee face the challenge of translating their early success into momentum which will sustain their candidacies through the remainder of the primaries.

Senator Obama won the Democratic Iowa Caucus’s on Thursday night with 38% of the vote. In second place, former North Carolina Senator John Edwards came out with 30% of the vote with Edwards having a slight edge over Senator Clinton in third place with 29%.

On the GOP side, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee won with 34% of the vote with former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney taking second place with 25% of the vote. Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson and Arizona Senator John McCain tied for third with 13% of the vote.

Both winners are widely seen as the "likable" candidates out of the wide playing field of presidential hopefuls. However, historically Iowa has not been a reliable predictor of the eventual nominees. In recent New Hampshire polls for instance, Governor Huckabee has been polling in the single digits behind Senator McCain

The next primary in New Hampshire will bring the candidates in front of a different electorate. Whereas in Iowa, Huckabee relied heavily on his Evangelical beliefs, religious values tend not to be as important to New Hampshire voters. It’s an open question whether Huckabee can broaden his appeal beyond the self described Evangelical and born again Christians responsible for his rise to the top tier in Iowa.

Ultimately, the most important factor that Iowa serves is to narrow down the field of candidates in the race — by the end of the night two Democrats, Delaware Senator Joe Biden and Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd, ended their bids for the presidency, and no doubt several other may follow suit in the coming days.

Blast Magazine staff writer John Guilfoil contributed to this report.

This was Blast’s live coverage, updated throughout the night of the Iowa caucuses.

In the Iowa Democratic caucus, Barack Obama has won over former senator and vice presidential nominee John Edwards and Senator Hillary Clinton. Clinton is likely to finish in third place in a 37, 30, 30 close race.

In the rural , 95 percent white state, Obama has made a broad statement going forward.

The Associated Press has called the Democratic poll for near 9:30 p.m. Thursday.

This is terrible news for John Edwards, who many feel needed a win in Iowa to maintain his strength in the Democratic race. He has little funding left, and won’t get much of a bonus after barely sneaking away with second place.

Blast Magazine has learned that Senator Chris Dodd (Conn.) will drop out of the race. Senator Joe Biden also announced near 11:30 p.m. Thursday that he would leave the race.

On the right side of the aisle, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee has won the Republican straw poll.

NBC and CNN called the race shortly after 9 p.m. Thursday.

Huckabee beat out former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney by nearly 10 percentage points.

Fred Thompson finished third while John McCain was down in fourth.

Rudy Giuliani is not campaigning in Iowa.

Huckabee was outspent 15:1 in Iowa. “People are more important than the purse,” he said during his victory speech.

“Tonight the people of Iowa made a choice, and their choice was clear; their choice was for a change,” Huckabee said.

Huckabee will certainly find financial support in the coming days leading up to New Hampshire — whether his momentum will propel him remains to be seen.

Blast Magazine staff writers Heidi Buchanan and John Guilfoil contributed to this report.