1. Outgoing LD8 Senator Carolyn Allen (R) supports Democrat John Kriekard for State Rep in that district. “We need to get John Kavanagh out of there,” she said from the podium.

2. Brenda Burns has some major chutzpah. The Corp Comm candidate not only showed her SB1070 supporting face there – it was a very anti-SB1070 crowd and Rick Romley was given an award for his opposition to the law. But when it was her turn to speak she spouted some platitudes about how great immigration is and how she was a descendant of immigrants. Well, duh, Brenda. No one thought you were Navajo.

3. Describing CD7 Republican candidate Ruth McClung as a physicist and rocket scientist is quite a stretch, and not just because of her abysmal performance at her debate with Grijalva last night. I found out from one of the attendees at the mixer, who is herself an astrophysicist with a doctorate, that McClung has a bachelor’s degree in physics and works for Raytheon in some capacity or other but not as a bona fide rocket scientist.

The reason? It’s simple. The Republicans’ message won’t stand up to scrutiny. They prefer the hit-and-run sound bite and the 30 second ad to the kind of honest discussion that lets voters make informed decisions.

Sure, plain cowardice plays a big role in this but their evasions also reek with a palpable stench of arrogant entitlement.

Next up, I’ve been asked to encourage y’all to contact Jan Brewer to demand that she participate in debates with Terry Goddard. He wants to do 6 and she intends only to do the Clean Elections one, and you know she’d try to wriggle out of that one if her participation weren’t mandatory. Phone number is 602-542-4331 and you can contact her via email here.

Here’s what I’m sending:

Dear Governor Brewer,

Governor of Arizona is an incredibly important responsibility and this state has problems far too numerous and pressing for you to be avoiding debates with your opponent. If you have time to be interviewed by national cable news networks then you have time to face Attorney General Goddard and let voters know where you stand and how you plan to address issues ranging from education to the economy to public safety.

Disclaimer: I support Dana Kennedy but will be as unbiased as possible in my commentary.

I don’t know about y’all, but I’m pretty frosted about that dismissal of “women’s health” by McCain. 

Of all the moments in the debate last night, the one that really defined John McCain as the clueless old codger that he is, was when he derided $3 million being spent on what he called an “overhead projector” at the Chicago Planetarium.  For some reason, that remark irritated me more than anything else he said.  Which is saying something, since nearly everything that came out of his mouth was either snide, dumb, or a lie.   But what exactly is John McCain’s problem with a place where kids go to get excited about science?   Oh yeah, his problem is he’s a Republican.  Science has a decidedly liberal bias and must be stopped.   And for the love of all that is holy, ENOUGH with the moaning about earmarks already, John!  McCain is basing 99% of his economic plan on 1% of federal spending.   

I’m pretty sure the GOP has given up on anything resembling issues or a platform and has simply decided to campaign by smearing and sneering.  Smear n’ Sneer.  That’s Sarah Palin’s M.O. these days, as her rallies are starting to resemble scary lynch mobs.  Here in Arizona it’s evident in the local races, from what they’re doing to Dan Saban with those disgusting TV ads to the way conservative bloggers nitpick Democratic candidates over things like their living arrangements and hobbies they had in college.  It’s ridiculous.  Why don’t they just admit that their party is bereft of workable ideas and has nothing left to run on but personal attacks?   And picking on planetariums.  

UPDATE:  The Adler planetarium has released a statement smacking down Grandpa Simpson Senator McCain for his ignorant and false statement at the debate.  http://www.adlerplanetarium.org/pressroom/pr/2008_10_08_AdlerStatement_aboutdebate.pdf

The first sign of the yuckiness to follow was Jen referring to Obama as “Osama”.  My response was “you can choose to not like him all you want, but do NOT call him a terrorist.  He isn’t one.”  Both repugs at the table were unable (or unwilling) to come up with a single thing they liked about McCain, but both said they liked him.  Even when I asked how they felt about the fact that his campaign (and the man himself) keeps saying things that had been proven false again and again, their response “they all do that”.  I suppose that makes lying ok?

The most offensive statement actually came during a non-political conversation.  We saw a picture of the Virginia City Camel Races.  It was odd to see this in Iowa.  I mentioned my connection – my father raises camels in Nevada and the camels in the races are his.  He puts together the races every September.  I’ve been getting “towel head” and “camel jockey” cracks since I was a teenager, my father has more recently even gotten “terrorist” comments, even though all of my family are blonde-haired, blue-eyed Scandinavians.  Simply raising camels makes people assume that in some way we are Arab, and in some way, that is bad.  In surprise of seeing this touch of home in Iowa, I tell the ladies “Oh my gosh!  My dad runs the Virginia City Camel Races!”  Penny responds “I bet HE supports Obama.”

My jaw dropped.  I was shocked.  In that moment, it became crystal clear to me.  It is not that they love McCain; it’s that they hate Obama.  And why do they hate him?  Apparently, they are drawing some kind of connection between a dark-skinned man with a funny name to terrorism.  It is horrifying.  How on earth can we combat this kind of racism and discrimination?  When we’d said goodnight and parted ways, I watched the highlights to find that McCain had referred to Obama as “that one” as if he is not a man, but an object.  I feel like I spent last night in another century. What year is this anyway?  On an academic level, I know that this type of irrational thinking exists.  But I have no idea how to approach it when I find it in my own family.

Can’t wait to see what Tina Fey is going to do with this.  Palin didn’t screw up at the debate but those silly winks and verbal tics – you betchas and doggone its – are going to be etched into the public memory. 

Oh, and I love Joe Biden.

2.  Palin will answer every question will be answered with non-answers, glittering generalities, and folksy anecdotes.  So what if she doesn’t possess all that smartypants elitist “knowledge”?  She’s cute!  You can relate to her!  

3.  She will sneer at Biden.  A lot.  She will remind the audience how non-elitist she is.  Repeatedly.  While sneering at Biden.  And smirking. 

4.  At least one faux feminist outrage moment.  Palin will point at Biden and say something like “Don’t patronize me!”  Palin is nothing if not a faux feminist.   This will be the only time she will take a pause from sneering and/or smirking. 

5.  “Sarah Palin did what she needed to do!” will be on the lips of every TV pundit tomorrow.