Barack Obama today:

“At times over the last 16 months, my patriotism [has been] challenged - at times as a result of my own carelessness, more often as a result of the desire by some to score political points and raise fears about who I am and what I stand for.”

Not a bad theme. You can almost imagine the ad that might come out of it. Something that looks a little like this …

Speaking of 20 years ago, Obama might also borrow a rhetorical page from the Dukakis playbook in dealing with the Wesley “I don’t think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president” Clark flap.

From the August 1988 Time magazine:

When Michael Dukakis was asked about news stories casting doubt on George Bush’s World War II heroism, he said, “I don’t think that kind of thing has any place in the campaign . . . You don’t fly 58 missions without enormous courage and tremendous patriotism.”

Dukakis got a lot wrong in that campaign.  But on military experience, he got it right.

Best case we’ve heard yet for John McCain to pick Alaska Governor Sarah Palin for his running-mate. From “Fox News Sunday”:

BILL KRISTOL: You have to go for the gold here with Sarah Palin. She’s great. She’s a reform governor.

JUAN WILLIAMS: Mother of five, I believe.

KRISTOL: Mother of five. Ethics, incredible record of cleaning up — she took on her own corrupt Republican Party in the state, cut spending.

CHRIS WALLACE: Of course, they’d have a problem on ANWR, since she’s for drilling in ANWR and he’s against it.

KRISTOL: And she could persuade McCain to take the last step to the sensible position on energy and gas, which is to be for drilling…

WALLACE: Can we please get off Sarah Palin?

KRISTOL: … for drilling in ANWR.

UPDATE: What would a McCain-Palin ticket look like?  Perhaps this.

In today’s Post, Bob Kaiser’s focus on focus groups and Peter Hart has this adorable nugget:

Hart reported these reactions to the Mondale campaign, which quickly produced a new television commercial featuring a red telephone with a flashing orange light. A narrator intoned:

“The most awesome, powerful responsibility in the world lies in the hand that picks up this phone. The idea of an unsure, unsteady, untested hand is something to really think about. This is the issue of our times. On March 20, vote as if the future of the world is at stake. Mondale. This president will know what he’s doing. And that’s the difference between Gary Hart and Walter Mondale.”

Mondale won in Georgia, and kept this ad on the air in all the states that later held primaries. “The Hart people never had an answer to it,” Peter Hart recalls.

(Thanks to the wonders of YouTube, that 1984 Mondale commercial can be seen by going to www.youtube.com and searching for “Mondale Video 10.”) at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fu-2Ew1ijg .

Ah yes, the “wonders of YouTube,” that mystifying sorcery device we find on our Google machines.

Too intimated to search “Mondale Video 10″?  You can also magically find it by searching “Walter Mondale Phone Ad 1984.”  And even “I’m with Bob Kaiser, YouTube is amazing Mondale 1984 ad phone.”
Will wonders never cease?

In December we noted that the wife of Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell was a Washington Redskins cheerleader back in 1974.

We ran this photo of Maureen.

We got a nice chuckle out of the item.  But we didn’t think we’d need to update it.

Turns out, we do.

Fast forward from the 1974 Redskins cheerleaders to the 2008 Washington Wizards cheerleaders.

Guess who, apparently, is the poster girl for the Wizard Girls.

See any similarity?

We noticed this photo on two blogs, here and here.Quite an inspiration.  And if you look at the linked blogs, quite a realization how much life was tamer 34 years ago.

Poor Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick.  In a year in which Democrats are making news for heading toward a supposed bulldozing of Republicans, the six-term Detroit Congresswoman faces bad news of her own: a tough re-election battle, in the primary.
Who’s to blame?

Would you believe, her son?

On C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers” program today, Kilaptrick says this about her scandal-prone son, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick:

“Absolutely, my son’s situation has impacted my race … I’ve done polling and, yes, it has impacted.  . So I have a difficult race, but it’s OK. It’s part of the American process and I accept that.”

Asked if voters will take out her son’s troubles on her, she replied, “There probably will be some. But I don’t advocate that he resign. I advocate that he have his day in court. We believe that he’ll get through that.”

Now that’s solid family values.

Barack Obama’s camp announced yesterday he will make a trip to Europe and the Middle East — including a visit to Israel.

Judging by some of the media’s accounts of the Israel swing, it’s not a moment too soon for Obama.

Associated Press:

The stop in Israel could help improve Obama’s standing among Jewish voters. Some Jews are concerned about Obama’s willingness to speak with Middle Eastern nations that oppose Israel, while others wonder whether he is a closet Muslim.

AFP:

Seeking to beat back a perceived weakness with Jewish voters and Republican claims he is naive on national security, Obama has poured lavish praise on Israel in recent weeks…

Europeans likely will fawn all over Obama.  After all, what could be better for Hyde Park in London than someone from Hyde Park in Chicago?  But what do Israelis think of Obama?

Saturday’s Washington Times offers this clue:

Sen. Barack Obama’s recent efforts to woo American Jewish voters by staking out pro-Israeli positions seem to have fallen on deaf ears in the Jewish state, according to a poll published Friday.

Asked to name their preference to become the next president, a sample of 500 Israeli Jews favored presumptive Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain, over the Illinois Democrat by a 36 percent to 27 percent advantage.

The poll, the first presidential such survey in Israel since the end of the Democratic primary race, was conducted June 18-19 by Israel’s Mutagim survey institute for the right-wing weekly paper Mekor Rishon. The 500-person sample has a 4.5 percentage margin of error.

For Obama, this Israel visit might need something more substantive than symbolism.

Nancy Pelosi’s Congress is taking its lumps these days over an issue that might energize conservatives in the fall elections: the Fairness Doctrine.

Investor’s Business Daily editorial:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi intends to restore the “Fairness Doctrine” regulating political speech — proof that in the Internet Age, Democrats have lost the communications war. … Pelosi would have Uncle Sam again become speech policeman — because in the free market of mass communication, her party’s message is losing.

And Grover Norquist writes in the Financial Times:

Every radio talk-show host and Christian radio and television station knows that if Democrats take complete control, they will restore the so-called “fairness doctrine” that would require “equal time” for opposing viewpoints. The rise of Rush Limbaugh, the conservative radio host, was made possible only after that doctrine was abolished in 1987 by the Reagan administration. The talking heads of the secular and religious right have their heads riding on this election as on no other in the past. They will engage with gusto.

Poor Michael Silence.  Our favorite blogger — indeed, our perennial choice to win the Pulitzer Prize for Community-Serving Blogging — seems to have lost command of his considerable senses.  Today he praises — egads! — Heath Shuler.

Michael uses this article …

In surprisingly blunt language, U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler complained this week of “a lack of maturity” in the U.S. House.

The North Carolina Democrat accused some of his fellow lawmakers of thinking they’re “Hollywood stars” and said many of them spend more time playing politics than doing what’s best for the country.

“It’s quite embarrassing,” he said. “I mean, I wish all constituents could sit sometimes in the gallery and just see what goes on on the House floor.”

… to make this observation (as conveyed by Instapundit):

Now this is some talk I can get behind. Shuler ought to team up with U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-TN, to bring some sense to both chambers. Isn’t it refreshing when members break ranks. I call that a sanity break.

The problem is, Heath Shuler is the last person who should call others embarrassing.

Consider Shuler’s track record with the word:

• The April 18, 1997 Washington Times:   Shuler threw five interceptions in an embarrassing home loss to Arizona.”
• The August 30, 1995 Virginian-Pilot: Shuler’s 11-of-32, five-interception performance against the Arizona Cardinals at RFK Stadium. That was a 19-16 overtime loss in which 46 of Shuler’s 158 passing yards came on a first-quarter toss to Brian Mitchell. Thirty-one other throws gained an embarrassing 102 yards and earned Shuler a three-week seat on the bench, officially with a sprained ankle.
• October 5, 1994 Philadelphia Daily News: “Redskins are 1-4 and are coming off an embarrassing, 34-7 homefield loss to Dallas in which high-priced rookie quarterback Heath Shuler appeared clueless.”
• September 5, 1994 Washington Post: “One of the more embarrassing plays was the first play of Shuler’s second drive in the second quarter. Left guard Ray Brown and left tackle Jim Lachey pulled, but Seahawks defensive tackle Cortez Kennedy knocked Lachey into Shuler before he could start the play.”

Our dear friend Michael Silence may praise Shuler for crossing lines.  But to folks familiar with Shuler’s history with the Redskins, it’s more like just another interception.

The New York Times today profiles spoiler Libertarian candidate Bob Barr:

“’Well, gee, you might take votes from Senator McCain,’” Mr. Barr said this week, mimicking one of the complainers, as he sat sipping Coca-Cola in his plush corner office, 12 stories above Atlanta. “They all said, ‘Look, we understand why you’re doing this. We agree with why you’re doing it. But please don’t do it.’”

We sure wish Barr didn’t sip that Coca-Cola, even if he is in Atlanta.  Surely you remember what happened the last time Barr ate in front of a reporter?  Click here for the surprising result.

Could China’s warm Wen Jiabao be just as friendly as America’s cuddly Ron Paul?

Check out these stats in Time about the Chinese Premier:

Lauded by Chinese for his visits to areas hit by the Sichuan earthquake–has become the most popular non-U.S. politician on Facebook. Since a profile of the “people’s premier” first appeared in May, it has been adorned with thousands of admiring posts and more than 700 photos of Wen giving speeches, chatting with citizens and playing baseball.

FACEBOOK’S FAVORITE POLITICIANS

1st PLACE
BARACK OBAMA
1,046,851 friends

2nd PLACE
HILLARY CLINTON
158,127 friends

3rd PLACE
JOHN MCCAIN
153,654 friends

4th PLACE
RON PAUL
89,761 friends

5th PLACE
WEN JIABAO
53,036 friends

15th PLACE
GEORGE W. BUSH
14,434 friends

(SOURCE: FACEBOOK.COM, AS OF JUNE 25)

We’re betting our home boy Ron Paul has a plan for holding onto fourth place.  Yangtze nuthin’ yet!