On last night, we finally got to see Sarah Palin on the hot seat with ABC’s Charlie Gibson. Forget about your political affiliation – watch THIS video, and tell me that this woman hasn’t been seriously coached on how to answer Charlie’s questions:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD3Yk9RZRF0]

I think Matt Damon said it best – this whole thing is like a bad Disney movie, except if it WERE a bad Disney movie, it would at least end with the mother realizing that her place is with her children, and that she loves her country too much to be used as a political pawn, whose very presence on the ticket might endanger all our futures. What say you, Sarah?

The most disparaging thing about all this is how easily right-wingers can be swayed by someone who, though personally appealing and politically in alignment with their views, has absolutely NO business being considered for the office of Vice President, especially on a ticket where the Presidential candidate is, sorry, old and feeble.  It’s absolutely terrifying. I happen to believe that there is a great deal that goes on at the highest levels of government that protects us, keeps us safe, keeps our way of life on an even keel that we never even know about – and that it takes experienced legislators, operatives, and executives to keep it all working as it should. And look-it, we’ve already taken a chance on a ‘cowboy’ governor who promised to be compassionate, had a shaky, questionable past, but that was tough, and conservative, and who would take such good care of us, and look where that got us.

We cannot be distracted. The bottom line is that there are more Democrats in this country than Republicans, so the real fight is on the ground, getting to un-registered voters and making sure that they get registered and come out to the polls on November 4th.  From the zeal Ms. Palin exhibited in trying to sound knowledgeable and worthy of position she is in, I think we can assume that she won’t be pulling out of the race anytime soon, so it is our job as Obama supporters to continue to fly under the radar and keep the ground game moving as we have been. It’s critical – anything else would mean handing the presidency over to a hot-tempered, war-mongering, ex-playboy and a moose-shooting, book-burning, hockey-mom who can’t tell a foreign policy from a oil rig.

Sarah Palin

By Patricia Wilson-Smith

The Republican Convention has been nothing if not entertaining. I started to skip the whole thing – I thought it would just be too darned hard to watch so many uppity people casting aspersions on my favorite Senator and yours. But I tuned in, and after three nights of truth-bending rhetoric, name calling and selective memory recall from the Republican smash machine, I’m alright. I’m just fine.

It was yesterday, during Sarah Palin’s speech that a deep calm came over me. Somewhere around the time when Ms. Palin began to mock Senator Obama’s background in community organizing. It was then, right then, that I realized that these people either a) have no idea what they’re up against, or b) can’t admit it to themselves. Either way, I’m golden.

Of what do I speak you ask? Well, you heard it – the notion put right out there for the world to see and hear by none other than the unqualified-one herself, Sarah Palin, that Senator Obama’s work as a community organizer consisted of no ‘actual responsibilities’. Which is to say (I guess) that his skills as an organizer have also had no impact on the campaign, or will hold no relevence for his presidency. That’s funny to me. Is it funny to you?

If it isn’t it should be. Way back when, during the days leading up to the hotly contested Texas primary, I found myself in Austin, Texas in a high-rise building phone-banking with total strangers, when Ashley Collier, one of the Obama campaign’s field directors walked up to me and exclaimed excitedly, “Miss Pat, is that you?!?” I had worked with Ashley and many of the other campaign workers in the Atlanta office during the Georgia primary run up. I had helped plan events, held phone-banking nights at the campaign office, etc., and so I had gotten to know Ashley pretty well. 

Space was at a premium in the suite of offices that was the epicenter of Obama campaign activity in Austin. I had had to battle it out with retirees and college students for desk space to spread out the call sheets that I was working from each day. To my delight, Ashley advised me that she shared a small cramped office with two other campaign employees who happened to be out of the office on that particular day, and that she would be happy to let me crash with her to do my work while I was there. I was thrilled – it made me feel like a campaign insider!

I’ll never forget the time I spent with Ashley there that day. We talked about her work on the campaign, the crazy ‘Texas Two-Step’, her thoughts about Obama’s chances, and the empassioned men and women that made up the volunteer corps of the campaign. We talked about the success of Camp Obama, and I mentioned to her how tight a ship the campaign leadership seemed to run. And that’s when she said it – that’s when she said the words that made me realize, really for the first time, the true genius of the man for which I had worked so hard.

“(Paraphrasing) Oh, this is all Barack. He’s running every bit of this campaign – he is a brilliant organizer“.

A brilliant organizer. A brilliant organizer. I’ve never forgotten those words, and knowing what I know now about how Senator Obama has been able to inspire millions of apathetic Americans to get off their butts and get engaged, how he’s amassed more money for his campaign through individual donations than any politician in history, how he’s given birth to a new generation of activists and taught them not only how to get and stay involved, but how to organize to get others involved as well? I can’t do anything BUT laugh at the idea that Republicans would belittle his community organizing skills, since it’s the ultimate organized community that is poised to help him kick John McCain’s butt in November.

Yep. I’m truly gratified. Because, though it is not easy to turn from the train wreck, watching night after night, wanting to look away, but being somehow unable to, I have heard nothing, and I mean NOTHING that could possibly be mistaken as truth, and I know what millions and millions around the country and the world like me know – this is Senator Obama’s time, and no amount of name calling, belittling, or posturing from a chorus of Republican loud-mouths will change that.

And so, little Miss Firearms, go ahead and mock Senator Obama’s community organizing past. While you and your buddies shoot moose and swill beer and have a great laugh, Senator Obama’s organized community will continue to do the work that will push us across the historic finish line to a new direction for this country, and a total rejection of the last eight years of damaging, deceptive, destructive, and divisive Bush policies. Let ‘em say what they want – I’m PROUD to be a part of the organized Obama community, and proud of every bit of the journey that has brought Senator Barack Obama to the edge of history -  including those days in Chicago long ago.

By Patricia Wilson-Smith

PTTMCHLICMAM? We’ll get to that in a moment.

First an acknowledgment:

It’s getting increasingly harder to write these blog entries, primarily because there’s so much to write about, it’s difficult to settle on something and just, well, write it. But this morning, the McCain campaign has bestowed upon me an incredible gift – the gift of a lifted writer’s block. Thank you, John McCain!

Okay (clear throat). So, if you’re like me, you spent some part of yesterday scratching your head, trying to understand why the McCain campaign thinks that an ad depicting Moses (played by a recently deceased and beloved actor), and showing Senator Obama in various stages of his campaign (sometimes joking, sometimes lifting audiences with one of his soaring speeches) is anything but – dumb. And offensive if you REALLY loved “The Ten Commandments”.

This new ad was just as strange and confusing as the now infamous “Britney-Paris’ ad. The truth is, it was only because I had been forewarned that the BP ad was out there that I even knew it was a McCain ad. The references to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton were strange to be sure, but the ad, like this new one, shows our favorite Senator in front of adoring crowds, and has a constant ‘Obama! Obama!’ chant in the background. If you’re watching these ads and you’re a supporter of Senator Obama’s, you won’t know whether to cheer or collapse on the floor in a fit of confusion. But I can tell you that what I was at NO time tempted to do, was doubt the importance of Senator Obama’s ability to inspire, because (and please listen closely Mr. McCain) that is what real leaders do.

I think the McCaininites have stepped in it this time. If I were writing ads for the Obama Campaign, I would be all over this like a cheap suit, because in attempting to question whether or not Senator Obama can lead, what they’ve really done is shined a light on the fact that as one who has an almost endless ability to inspire, he possesses what is considered to be one of the most important traits of a truly great leader.

That’s Management 101 people. Any random Google search of ‘What makes a great leader?’ will return a list similar to the one below:

1. Visionary
2. Inspirational
3. Strategic
4. Tactical
5. Focused
6. Persuasive
7. Likable
8. Decisive
9. Ethical
10. Open to criticism

Let’s examine, shall we? Let’s see – John McCain is no visionary, and I think that by producing these ads his campaign has all but admitted that he’s about as inspirational as a bag of dirt. His ability to act strategically and tactically? Hmmm – he’s been in the Senate for like, a billion years, so I guess one has to assume that he has some measure of these skills. Let’s keep it movin’.

Watching him on the campaign trail, I haven’t seen much focus, and let’s face it, he is neither persuasive or likable. I’m sure he’s plenty decisive, but he’s proven in the past that ethics could be a problem for him. And finally, if you’ve seen him growl at one of his press corp reporters from time to time, you know he’s not the best at taking criticism. The evidence is overwhelming – the McCain campaign really needs to stop asking whether or not Senator Obama can lead, before someone turns the question back around on them.

This is a slippery slope for a number of reasons. The McCain campaign has to know that any line of attack that assumes that Senator Obama is all glorious speeches and no substance is a direct insult to me and people like me – and Senator Obama has said as much in his responses to these strange ads. And I feel it personally, because by throwing up the whole ‘Obama thinks he’s Moses’ thing, the McCain campaign is accusing me, and all of you, of being Pied-Piper like lemmings, with no real discernible ability to choose a candidate based on the issues, especially if he happens to be charismatic, drop dead gorgeous, and an impassioned and eloquent speaker.

Following that line of thought, there are a lot of great leaders who should have had ad campaigns levied at them chocked full of mocking references to biblical figures. Try to imagine what it would have been like if in 1980, Jimmy Carter’s campaign, desperate to stem the tide of admiration for Ronald Reagan and his good looks, articulate speeches, and Washington outsider status, had resorted to such tactics, perhaps by producing ads comparing him to Jonah, complete with a big whale that spewed peanuts, or hair gel.

The hair gel thing was a reference to Ronald Reagan’s always perfectly coiffed hair. I’ll move on.

Or if in 1960, Richard Nixon, upset by a clear upstaging from a young and attractive John F. Kennedy Jr., had somehow been able to foist ads upon us that compared him to John The Baptist – can’t you just see it? John The Baptist baptizing Uncle Sam in some lame attempt at belittling JFK?

Sounds ridiculous, I know, but no more so than the crap the McCain campaign put out this past week. Sadly, though their methods are goofy, I actually would have been disappointed if they hadn’t come back with something after having to sit through footage of Senator Obama in front of 200,000 chanting Europeans last week, all of whom seemed to be screaming, “We want you to lead the Free World, and not the old guy! We want you to lead the Free World and not the old guuuuuyyyyyy!” That would send any candidate over the edge. But it simply points out McCain’s clear disadvantage to produce these kinds of ads, and does nothing to change the inescapable fact that inspiration is what we want in our leaders. And those of us who know, know that Senator Obama is the near perfect combination of inspiration, brilliance and charisma. And more importantly than that, he knows how to inspire people to action, and then lead them when they move to act. John McCain couldn’t inspire me to even turn up the volume on one of his speeches, let alone do anything else he asked of me.

I understand this is all just politics. I do. But what I don’t get is how the McCain campaign could possibly get away with a line of attack that is first of all offensive, secondly – more than a little ridiculous, and thirdly, borderline blasphemy. Attacking Senator Obama because he’s inspirational? That’s like blasting Kobe Bryant because he’s good at popping 3-pointers.

If the McCain campaign wants to go all ‘can he lead?’ on us, then let us examine the facts, lest we forget:

Senator Obama has lead a campaign that on its own, and without special interest PAC money, has raised over $340,000,000 dollars.

Senator Obama has single-handedly awakened the American people from a long, tortuous slumber, brought on by decade after decade of exclusionary politics, and moved millions of them to get and stay involved in the political process.

Senator Obama has run an organization that at every step of the way has been professional, productive, organized, and meticulous in its dealings with his opponents, the media, and each other.

Senator Obama has consistently stayed on the defensive when it comes to negative campaigning, and has at no time resorted to the childish and misleading tactics that the McCain campaign has this week, and has been adamant about keeping his message about the issues and the needs of the American people.

Yikes – I could go on and on. But the bottom line is, I was not fooled by the McCain campaign’s attempt to lessen the importance of the man who is destined to become the next President of the United States, and I don’t think very many other people will be either. Just check out the blogs, they’re telling the story this morning. I think even McCain supporters are wincing over this one, and it’s hard to blame them. By now, they too are convinced as I am that this is ‘PTTMCHLICMAM’ – Proof-That-The-McCain-Campaign-Has-Lost-It’s-Collective-Monkey-Ass-Mind.