As politics begins to edge out talk of the economy many have picked up where we left off before the financial crisis, revisiting old favorites (Palin: love or hate her?) and exploring new ones (Mudslinging: who's worse?) in preparation for the presidential debate Friday. Today's buzz: the great partisan divide.
- McCain first said he was for less regulation then blamed the financial crisis on "casual oversight" -- so which one is it? writes Lanny J. Davis in the WSJ. McCain is in a difficult spot: either he alienates his base or he continues to put forward that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. Take-away: "Mr. McCain has a serious problem."
- Obama is resorting to the scare tactics in his campaign ads that he once derided, writes Ruth Marcus in the WaPo. Obama's hyperbolic ads are as misleading as they are disappointing. Take-away: "Obama has descended to similarly scurrilous tactics on the stump and the air."
- Sarah Palin just isn't ready. And elitism should not be a bad word in politics, writes Sam Harris in Newsweek. Nor should we be eager to hand over nuclear codes to those who believe God directs world events. Take-away: "Why would God give Sarah Palin a job she isn't ready for? He wouldn't."
- Mark of the Philly Inquirer takes issue with the lesser-scrutinized, unalienable-rights-be-damned part of Palin's convention speech. She chided Obama for not taking a hard-line on terrorism, claiming he was afraid that someone "won't read [terrorist] their rights." Take-away: "The sentiment is on the wrong side of a deep principle, one that we have long honored in this country."
- Palin insists that she's a maverick and reform-minded but she's stonewalling Americans on Troopergate, writes Clarence Page in the Chicago Tribune. Take-away: "Troopergate is less about the scandal than about what appears to be a convenient cover-up by the McCain-Palin campaign."
- Palin has modeled herself after Dick Cheney and that's not a good thing, writes Cynthia Tucker in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution. Take-away: "She has proven a quick study of the Sith lord."
