The Kicker

ABCNews.com is asking what Charles Gibson should ask Gov. Sarah Palin during The First Palin Interview later this week. Along with suggestions for specific questions (world leader pop quizzes, Fannie and Freddie, global warming, sex ed, etc.), readers are advising (begging?) Gibson not to go soft: PLEASE don’t do the regular “walk along the shore/family […]

Hair stylists. Handwriting experts. An astrologer. Body language experts. Feng Shui experts. Some embarrassing, prepubescent-looking guy who wrote a book… Is there an “expert” whose wisdom has not yet been tapped by the political press this election season? Ah, yes. Today, the New York Times‘ Elisabeth Bumiller brings us what “etiquette experts say” about “hugging […]

The following ad, its sound bites spoken and flashing on-screen, just aired on MSNBC: “This election is the most important of my lifetime.” — Bill Bennett “Friends of Israel are asking who is going to stand up most effectively against Islamo-Nazi terror, John McCain or Barack Obama.” — Michael Medved “Hey, no other station has […]

Everybody’s talking about Sarah Palin’s change of heart on the Bridge to Nowhere, but somehow the more interesting and arguably consequential part of the story keeps getting pushed to the bottom. “What happened to the $223 million Palin is saying she said ‘No Thanks’ too?,” asks TPM’s Josh Marshall. “She kept it.” But many papers […]

In all the discussions I’ve heard and read about Sarah Palin’s selection as McCain’s heir apparent, the best word I’ve come across to characterize that choice is “cynical.” Cynical, not because Palin herself isn’t a remarkable politician–clearly, she is–but cynical because Palin’s presence on the GOP ticket suggests the McCain campaign’s calculation that Americans care […]

Getting just a tad tired of seeing Barack Obama’s face on the covers of national magazines? Yeah, so are we. But we’ll make an exception for this particular exhibition of Obamartistry, which manages to be both relevant and–whew!–un-boring:

Two thoughts on Booth Moore’s (the LA Times‘ Fashion Critic) take today on “Sarah Palin’s Style:” 1) Maybe it’s parody? 2) What’s left for Robin Givhan to say? Some Moore: Barely a blip on the political radar before now, Palin has to go the extra mile to hone her VP style. But far from uglifying […]

In his New York Times column today, Bill Kristol tries to make the case that the reason that “the media” doesn’t like Sarah Palin is that McCain picked her “without, so to speak, consulting them.” The logic seems to be that our press is all upset because since Palin’s name didn’t surface via the Veep-stakes, […]

While the jury’s still out on whether McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate will prove, in the long run, politically beneficial to the GOP ticket, there’s been one clear winner following the announcement of his choice: Photoshop. Indeed, in the week since McCain revealed his pick, a cottage industry–Photoshopping Palin’s famously bespectacled […]

There are sins of commission and sins of omission. Oprah’s Sin of Omission: not having Gov. Sarah Palin on her show. Oprah confessed — er, announced — as much on Friday. Setting aside questions like, So, did Palin ask to be on the show and Oprah turned her down (No.) What of Ellen? Or Dave? […]

From “Media Bashing 101” (Intro to Media “Criticism” As Campaign Tool?) with the New York Times‘ Mark Leibovitch: [M]edia bashing may work better in dashes (like paprika) — nothing too relentless or overwhelming… Not the recipe the McCain campaign appears to be following of late.

ABC News’s Charles Gibson’s has landed the “first television interview” with Gov. Sarah Palin since Palin joined the Republican presidential ticket. Per the AP, “Palin will sit down for multiple interviews with Gibson in Alaska over two days, most likely Thursday and Friday.” More from the AP: The interview is a coup for Gibson, who […]

Per the New York Times, MSNBC’s “bold experiment…putting two politically incendiary hosts, Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews, in the anchor chair to lead the cable news channel’s coverage of the election” “appears to be over.” David Gregory, NBC News correspondent and MSNBC host, will anchor “news coverage of the coming debates and election night” and […]

There’s been plenty of buzz about Sarah Palin’s press unavailability, but now it seems that even the press corps who are supposed to be traveling with her don’t know where they’re going. Apparently the campaign still hasn’t made available Governor Palin’s schedule for the next few days, leaving some reporters wondering what’s going on. “It’s […]

Sensations in both Denver and St. Paul, the “Missile-Dick Chicks” are a burlesque troupe with a social conscience, marching with their, um, costumes and singing satirical war songs. (To the McCain-esque tune of “Barbara Ann”: “Oh, bomb Ira-a-an…because we ca-a-an…let’s bomb Ira-a-an…”)