If you're going to steal your stories from Talking Points Memo, please give them credit for the original reporting.

IF YOU MENTION THAT THE MCCAIN CAMPAIGN SCREWED UP THE WALTER REED IMAGE YOU ARE ATTACKING SARAH PALIN BECAUSE SHE'S A WOMAN!!!! AND YOU ARE ATTACKING A 17 YEAR OLD PREGNANT TEEN!!!! THE PRESS IS SOOOOO MEAN TO HER. AND IT'S A FEEDING FRENZY. AND IT'S MEAN TOO. AND ALSO, POW.

I agree that McCain is not a great speech-maker. But that's one of the things I like about him. He humbly talks to the people. Obama lofty tones are obviously aimed at history. I started listening to McCain's speech as someone voting AGAINST Obama. I ended up as someone who will vote FOR McCain.

Washington DC's football team got their butts kicked in a game that ended right before McCain spoke.

By design or accident?

Documents released Tuesday by the University of Illinois at Chicago shed some light on Barack Obama’s relationship with William Ayers, a founding member of the 1960s and 1970s radical group the Weather Underground.

Obama’s association with Ayers, who now teaches at the university, has become an issue in the Illinois senator’s presidential campaign. The Weather Underground took credit for several nonfatal bombings on targets that included the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol, and critics accuse Obama of rubbing elbows with an unabashed 1960s radical.

Obama has said that, although he knew Ayers as a professor involved in community outreach efforts in Chicago, he doesn’t share Ayers’ extreme views.

The massive collection of newly released documents — 140 boxes full of them — includes agendas that clearly put Obama and Ayers in the same room for meetings of Chicago Annenberg Challenge, an educational initiative that Ayers was instrumental in starting and that Obama chaired in the 1990s.

stock_craft - I AM focusing on the top of the ticket and it's Obama for me all the way.

Tim in OH

so you are against people doing community service?

It seems the author sure thinks so...

I think obama is correct in getting people to do community service and be rewarded with other things... like completeing so many hours of community service will give you extra cash for college...

why is it so bad or wrong?
why are you republicans such flip floppers this year?

I mean you make fun of the governors obama was going to pick because htey are from small towns of 200k or less and have been governors only for 6 year

palin calls hillary clinton a whiner, mccains strategist says hillary needs to buck up because world leaders arent going to cut her a break...

and now they all cry sexism when people ask palin why shes qualified

Credit where credit is due, perhaps? I think Talking Points Memo was the FIRST site to make the connection between Walter Reed and McCain and Walter Reed.

outtahere, it's good for a straight talk unlike your candidate who flip and flop all the time.

stock_craft - yeah, only Obama's the beauty and Palin is the beast, aka pitbull with lipstick.

The Anchorage Daily News confirms its authenticity and describes her as a "stay-at-home mom, letter-to-the-editor writer and longtime watcher of [Mat-Su] Valley politics" who has been deluged with e-mail as she become's Palin's leading local critic.

She says she clashed with Palin over her 1996 "attempt at censorship," a reported suggested to ban books at a local library, which Palin later said wasn't a serious proposal.

The letter mostly contains undisputed facts, and while it's occasionally positive — "she's smart" — it offers a bit of an alternate, and mostly hostile, history to the campaign biography.

A sample: "They call her 'Sarah Barracuda' because of her unbridled ambition and predatory ruthlessness."

In any case, the full, viral anti-Palin e-mail after the jump.

ABOUT SARAH PALIN

I am a resident of Wasilla, Alaska. I have known Sarah since 1992. Everyone here knows Sarah, so it is nothing special to say we are on a first-name basis. Our children have attended the same schools. Her father was my child's favorite substitute teacher. I also am on a first name basis with her parents and mother-in-law. I attended more City Council meetings during her administration than about 99% of the residents of the city.

She is enormously popular; in every way she's like the most popular girl in middle school. Even men who think she is a poor choice and won't vote for her can't quit smiling when talking about her because she is a "babe".

It is astonishing and almost scary how well she can keep a secret. She kept her most recent pregnancy a secret from her children and parents for seven months.

She is "pro-life". She recently gave birth to a Down's syndrome baby. There is no cover-up involved, here; Trig is her baby.

She is energetic and hardworking. She regularly worked out at the gym.

She is savvy. She doesn't take positions; she just "puts things out there" and if they prove to be popular, then she takes credit.

Her husband works a union job on the North Slope for BP and is a champion snowmobile racer. Todd Palin's kind of job is highly sought-after because of the schedule and high pay. He arranges his work schedule so he can fish for salmon in Bristol Bay for a month or so in summer, but by no stretch of the imagination is fishing their major source of income. Nor has her life-style ever been anything like that of native Alaskans.

Sarah and her whole family are avid hunters.

She's smart.

Her experience is as mayor of a city with a population of about 5,000 (at the time), and less than 2 years as governor of a state with about 670,000 residents.

During her mayoral administration most of the actual work of running this small city was turned over to an administrator. She had been pushed to hire this administrator by party power-brokers after she had gotten herself into some trouble over precipitous firings which had given rise to a recall campaign.

Sarah campaigned in Wasilla as a "fiscal conservative". During her 6 years as Mayor, she increased general government expenditures by over 33%. During those same 6 years the amount of taxes collected by the City increased by 38%. This was during a period of low inflation (1996-2002). She reduced progressive property taxes and increased a regressive sales tax which taxed even food. The tax cuts that she promoted benefited large corporate property owners way more than they benefited residents.

The huge increases in tax revenues during her mayoral administration weren't enough to fund everything on her wish list though, borrowed money was needed, too. She inherited a city with zero debt, but left it with indebtedness of over $22 million. What did Mayor Palin encourage the voters to borrow money for? Was it the infrastructure that she said she supported? The sewage treatment plant that the city lacked? or a new library? No. $1m for a park. $15m-plus for construction of a multi-use sports complex which she rushed through to build on a piece of property that the City didn't even have clear title to, that was still in litigation 7 yrs later--to the delight of the lawyers involved! The sports complex itself is a nice addition to the community but a huge money pit, not the profit-generator she claimed it would be. She also supported bonds for $5.5m for road projects that could have been done in 5-7 yrs without any borrowing.

While Mayor, City Hall was extensively remodeled and her office redecorated more than once.

These are small numbers, but Wasilla is a very small city.

As an oil producer, the high price of oil has created a budget surplus in Alaska. Rather than invest this surplus in technology that will make us energy independent and increase efficiency, as Governor she proposed distribution of this surplus to every individual in the state.

In this time of record state revenues and budget surpluses, she recommended that the state borrow/bond for road projects, even while she proposed distribution of surplus state revenues: spend today's surplus, borrow for needs.

She's not very tolerant of divergent opinions or open to outside ideas or compromise. As Mayor, she fought ideas that weren't generated by her or her staff. Ideas weren't evaluated on their merits, but on the basis of who proposed them.

McCain wants to keep Palin away from the Press, but Sarah Palin is a Celebrity now and just like Paris Hilton and Britney Spears will be pursued by the Press. As you can see, Sentaor McCain, what goes around, Comes Around! God's Hand of Judgment is Swift!

And, You know, Jesus was a Community Organizer and Pilate was a Governor (Hah!) so was George Bush, so much for Executive Experience...

"Breaking News.....

We will have breaking news regarding an ongoing story around 10am Alaska time on Friday......"

AndrewHalcro.com, Alaskan Blogger

Charlie 35

some people believe that a president who is eloquent and shows outstanding judgment is far better then someone whos only idea is to drill, and to fight anyone anytime...

mccain doesnt speak well because mccain doesnt know how to talk... thats not a crime... but as president you want someone whos going to use diplomacy instead of power

you cant just fight everyone, you need to talk things out

mccain cant do it... having military experience and being beaten in a cell everyday doesnt make you qualified to be a president, it makes you more likely to have mental issues

Other notable "Community Organizers"

Mother Teresa

Ghandi

The Dhali Lama

McCain is a great POW. His experience as POW will serve him well in the White House. Once he's POW, we'll all be in a much better POW. After POW, the POW will POW and POW. POW to POW, POW POW POW.

In POW POW POW POW, POW POW POW.

POW POW POW POW POW POW.....

POW.

Good Message!

Palin has has own serious Pastor problem and she's actually in the videos to boot. Just posted at THE ATLANTIC.

I hope Sarah will lose about 15 pounds of chunk and will make a swimsuit calendar! That's her true celebrity calling!

I love America. This gal will soon be rolling in dough thanks to her affiliations with the Republican party.

Vote Republican, it could happen to you too!