Campaign Carnage Casualty: Democrats' Chances

AK gov. steals Dems' after-glow; could attract indy, Hillary voters

(NEWSER) - John McCain turned heads by choosing Sarah Palin today as his running mate, and the Weekly Standard explains why she’s the right woman for the job.

• Democrats just wrapped their glitzy convention, but the Sunday talk shows will be abuzz with Palin chatter.
• The mother of five softens McCain’s “crotchety” image and revives his reputation as “fly-boy and gambler."

Clinton's challenges outweigh Obama's

(NEWSER) - The day after a heckler held up a sign reading "Iron My Shirt" at a Hillary Clinton rally, Gloria Steinem got out the big guns in today's New York Times. Asserting that “gender is probably the most restricting force in American life,” she argues that a woman with Barack Obama’s biography wouldn’t have a glimmer of hope in this election. More»

Now Dowd wants to play him at Scrabble

(NEWSER) - Turns out Tom Friedman played golf with President Obama last month—and fellow New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd isn't ashamed to admit she felt "a twinge of envy." Dowd's happy that Obama finally invited a woman to join him on the links this weekend, after catching heat over all-male basketball games and the "frat-house atmosphere" of White House meetings. Caught up in the spectacle of our first black president, "it took quite a while for anyone to accuse Obama of being exclusionary." More»

Aides didn't defend Obama on McCain's 'race card' accusation

(NEWSER) - The Democratic primary battle ended months ago, but many in both Hillary and Bill Clinton’s circles still harbor a grudge over the way her campaign was painted as racist, Ben Smith writes in Politico. This ill will is coming back to haunt presumptive nominee Barack Obama as he grapples with the McCain campaign's suggestion he is now playing the race card. More»

Candidate should do for gender what he did for race

(NEWSER) - It’s a shame that Hillary Clinton never gave a speech about gender to match Barack Obama’s speech about race, writes Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times. So why not make that speech yourself, Barack? Kristof even has the talking points for you:

• Racism is deeper, but sexism may be wider. More Americans say they’d vote for a black man than a woman.
• Biases are stealthy. Americans don’t mean to discriminate based on gender; but the subconscious harbors stereotypes.