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- For whatever reason, a number of John McCain's campaign surrogates have either stumbled or gone completely off message today. First you've got Carly Fiorina remarking that Sarah Palin, while perfectly qualified to be vice president, never could handle the duties of being a Fortune 500 CEO. Fiorina later clarified her remarks, insisting that both McCain and Obama were also not up to the job of running a major corporation. Then you've got Douglas Holtz-Eakin, who, as Tim discussed earlier, claimed McCain helped create the Blackberry. Finally, hapless McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds is getting no love from cable news hosts.
- David Brooks more or less (Adam has more of the less) says what needs to be said about Sarah Palin as a VP pick. Key line for me: "Democracy is not average people selecting average leaders. It is average people with the wisdom to select the best prepared."
- It looks as though the 527s -- left and right -- are getting into the game for the final stretch.
- Politico has a story on the Obama campaign denying a request for cash from Senate Majority leader Harry Reid who is pushing hard for a filibuster-proof majority in the 111th Congress. I'd say Democrats should focus on the much more reasonable goal of getting to 57 seats (including Bernie Sanders and counting out Joe Lieberman) and count on defections to get to 60. From that point of view, the bigger goal ought to be electing a Democratic president to sign legislation the Senate passes, and Obama's going to need all the money he can get to make that happen.
- The Wall Street Journal Washington Wire blog reports that Sarah Palin will meet with foreign leaders at the UN later this week.
- And finally, Marc Ambinder has the response from the Indoor Tanning Association to the revelation that Gov. Palin had a tanning bed installed in the governor's mansion: "While partisan bloggers and the sun scare industry will use this as an opportunity to undermine Gov. Palin and demonize the indoor tanning industry, the fact is that Governor Palin's decision to get UV light from a tanning bed positively impacts her health."
--Mori Dinauer
