Excellent News...FOR MCCAIN!

Those who follow Talking Points Memo get the reference. For the rest, I'll explain. Talking Points Memo is a great blog off the Washington Post. What makes it good reading is that people who work in Washington and have access to a lot of brain power and inside knowledge contribute as readers, sometimes with remarkable information.

In threads during the primary season, someone with the handle "Idiotic" would respond to every post that reported polling numbers that favored Obama with the line "This is excellent news...FOR HILLARY!" It became a running gag, and Idiotic eventually had to disappear because of it, or got bored with the schtick.

So, Palin's speech is excellent news...for McCain! The good news? She energized the base. The bad news? Our base. Apparently, the phones are ringing off the hook at Obama headquarters across the country with women and independents calling and saying PUT ME TO WORK! WHAT CAN I DO?

And for a funny, clever look at Palin's speech, I have to recommend Gail Collins' article in the NYT:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/opinion/04collins.html

One of the Hillary Clinton delegates in the Maine delegation sent out a letter saying that because the US does such a poor job of putting women in legislative positions, she is supporting Sarah Palin. I am guessing she will vote for Susan Collins too. Turns out she was only a Democrat for 7 months, had always been an "independent" before that.

Now, she is welcome to her opinion, and she can vote anyway she wants. But it's a damned shame that she took up the space of a real Democrat for a once-in-a-lifetime shot at attending such a historic convention. I have suggested to her that when she gets her tickets to the Inaugural Ball, she should have the decency to give them away to real Democrats.

On the subject of the Maine US Senate race, we all have to get out and work for Tom Allen. Now, Tom's a nice guy. Not bold, not inspiring, and a bit of a Portland Blue Blood, but we HAVE to get rid of Susan Collins. She voted with Bush about 80% of the time, and when she didn't, it was because the Republican leadership let her because it wouldn't matter to the outcome. If you like Bush's policies, you like Susan Collins. Period.

She's a woman? Feh. She votes against women's issues most of the time, especially economic issues. She voted for the two recent Supreme Court nominees. Her gender hasn't given her any real appreciation of the needs of working women, and men, and if it has, she still voted the wrong way. Just about every time it mattered, she voted with Bush.

I have worked for women in office all my political life, from Bonnie Titcomb to Dale McCormick to Peggy Pendleton to Monica McGlocklin to Susan Longley. I am as feminist as just about any guy you'll find out there. But a woman who votes against women is no better than a man who votes against women. Just having the right plumbing doesn't do it for me.

So Tom Allen doesn't thrill you? Too bad. Hold your nose and vote for him. If the Republicans can filibuster everything that Obama tries to pass to undo the wretched excess of Bush and Co., they will prevent or water down important legislation. And the only way we can prevent that is to get to 60 in the Senate.

And the only way we can do that is to get Tom Allen elected. If you can't volunteer, give him money, any amount. Talk to your friends. Talk to your neighbors. Put on a bumper sticker or put out a sign. But find a way to help.