Right Wing Nation

This time, not Obama’s.

The leaders of a women’s political organization that launched earlier this year to support Hillary Clinton are speaking out against what they say are examples of media sexism toward Sarah Palin and urging members to tell the press corps “to back off.”

WomenCount, a group co-founded by top Hillary fundraiser Susie Tompkins Buell, posted a lengthy item on their blog decrying questions over whether Palin can, as a mother of five, juggle her family responsibilities and still be vice president.

“The very notion that Sarah Palin should not have accepted this nomination because she is a mother with demanding challenges underscores just how far we have to go,” wrote Rosemary Camposano, the group’s communications director.

She added: “It will be good for America to watch Sarah Palin on the campaign trail – bouncing from parenting to politics. That’s how most women function – multi-tasking, leaning on friends and family, and waking up each morning and doing it all again.”

They’re not conservatives:

The group notes, however, that they do not approve of Palin’s politics. “We cannot pretend that Governor Palin meets any standard of progressive politics or social values,” Camposano writes.

But unlike the shrieking feminist harpies, they have principles:

Unlike other feminist organizations which have taken up against Palin because of her conservative views, however, WomenCount says they’ll “work to stamp out sexism when we see it on the campaign trail.”

“To paraphrase the words of one blogger who said it best over the weekend: We will defend Sarah Palin against misogynist smears not because we like her or support her, but because that’s how feminism works.”

Good for them, liberals or not.

Probably not the best move.

It appears that two of the citations that the latest Obama ad uses are actually examples of John McCain voting for education funding and Joe Biden voting against it

Volunteering at McCain headquarters this afternoon. Can’t do that and blog at the same time.

I’m hoping they’re more organized today.

Huge: 20-point shift towards McCain among white women since last month in new ABC poll

Hot Air: “Will flip-flop for food.”

This is from Rasmussen’s latest poll results. This is like posting something from the WSJ (at least before they dropped the subscriber firewall). I’m a Rasmussen subscriber and I’m not sure what’s behind the firewall and what isn’t. So if this link doesn’t work for you, this one will (though it won’t have all of the information — that’s the point of subscribing). Like yesterday’s Gallup poll, Rasmussen has McCain ahead of Obama (51-44), but the results from the battleground states (Colorado, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia) are particularly interesting. (Insert standard disclaimer about polls here — and do I have to keep doing this? You people know by now, right?) For each state MOE: ±4.5, 95% CI, N=500 LV.

A collective look at all five states confirms the overall sense that the race for the White House is very competitive and that these five states will be considered key battlegrounds. Four of the five state polls show the candidates within 3 points of each other. The sole exception—Ohio—shows McCain with a 51% to 44% advantage and also remains competitive.

[ . . . ]

Ohio—shows McCain with a 51% to 44% advantage and also remains competitive.

[ . . . ]

A number of themes emerge from the data that are consistent across all five states:

· McCain is trusted more than Obama in all five states.

· In all five states, McCain is viewed more favorably than Obama.

· Also, in all five states, Sarah Palin draws higher “Very Favorable” ratings than any other candidate.

· In all states except Colorado, McCain enjoys a bigger margin among Republicans than Obama does among Democrats. In Colorado, they are even.

· Economic issues are the top issue in all five states with national security matters a distant second.

· The number who would not be comfortable with Obama as President is higher in every state than the number saying the same about McCain. This is consistent with national polling data showing that McCain voters are more likely than Obama supporters to be primarily voting against the other candidate.

· Obama has the edge among unaffiliated voters in three states, McCain in two. Nationally, unaffiliated voters are fairly evenly divided.

· Pennsylvania has more undecided voters than any other state—seven percent (7%). Most of these are Democrats or unaffiliated voters.

Obama leads McCain by only two points (47-45) in Pennsylvania. McCain’s approval ratings are 88% favorable among Republicans, which is a significant change from the last time I looked. McCain has solid support from 84% of Republicans; Obama from 65% of Democrats (35% of Democrats said they may change their minds). Among all likely voters for both candidates, 74% are solid support, and 26% soft support. Of likely voters, 58% would be comfortable with Obama as President, and 65% with McCain as President. McCain is more trusted than Obama among likely voters (48-41).

Maybe the Democrats shouldn’t take Pennsylvania for granted.

Jonah Goldberg in the LA Times:

Obama’s idea of ethics reform is to mandate clean sheets in the brothel. Palin’s is to tear it down.

Factcheck takes on some of the Palin smears, and promises to continue:

• Palin did not cut funding for special needs education in Alaska by 62 percent. She didn’t cut it at all. In fact, she tripled per-pupil funding over just three years.
• She did not demand that books be banned from the Wasilla library. Some of the books on a widely circulated list were not even in print at the time. The librarian has said Palin asked a “What if?” question, but the librarian continued in her job through most of Palin’s first term.
• She was never a member of the Alaskan Independence Party, a group that wants Alaskans to vote on whether they wish to secede from the United States. She’s been registered as a Republican since May 1982.
• Palin never endorsed or supported Pat Buchanan for president. She once wore a Buchanan button as a “courtesy” when he visited Wasilla, but shortly afterward she was appointed to co-chair of the campaign of Steve Forbes in the state.
• Palin has not pushed for teaching creationism in Alaska’s schools. She has said that students should be allowed to “debate both sides” of the evolution question, but she also said creationism “doesn’t have to be part of the curriculum.”

Details and citations at the link.