So last night I wrote a diary encouraging other Kossacks to sign the on-line petition to drop Sarah Palin from the ticket. In spite of normally adhering to the old adage that one should "never interfere with an enemy who is in the process of self-destructing" - I suggested that we could help provide fodder for some of negative stories in an effort to overshadow the GOP's attempts to control the news/message coming out of the convention.
Well fellow Kossacks........tonight I take it ALL BACK.
The big story tonight is not about babies, or teen mothers, or bridges or lobbyists, or troopers, or hurricanes. The biggest story of the day is simply this. The start of this convention is nothing short of a complete disaster, and the GOP is starting to like they are in complete disarray.
Case in point: Tom Brokaw just asked Chuck Todd "Will she (Palin) help [win] the West....if she stays alive?" (My emphasis obviously).
There is blood in the water here folks. Let's review just a few highlights of the news surrounding the start of this convention.
So last night the GOP convention was essentially cancelled due to hurricane Gustav. And from the time they woke up this morning until the start of their convention today, the news for the GOP has been ridiculously horrible.
CBS News spent nearly the entire half hour of tonight's broadcast talking about all of the different controversies surrounding Palin. They mentioned: Palin's ties to AIM; Troopergate; her support of the 'bridge to nowhere'; her hiring a lobbying firm to lobby for earmarks; the fact that Palin has cleared her schedule with no explanation from the campaign.
ABC is reporting that everywhere McCain goes now he is facing questions from the press about the vetting process. They also featured a story about Tom Delay throwing a party last night at the convention. They mentioned that he is awaiting trial on money laundering, and then showed Delay literally sneaking in the back door of his own party.
Oh, there was also footage of a Florida Congressman literally 'headbutting' the ABC News camera.
On the "Entertainment News" show Front today:
The tv show Extra spent the first ten minutes talking about the Palin teen-pregnancy drama.
And on The View this morning there was a ten minute discussion/debate about the teen pregnancy story.
Us Magazine is running a front page story about the teen pregnancy issue with the words 'scandal' across a picture of Palin.
And in a move that will virtually guarantee that the baby story continues throughout the convention,
the AP is reporting that Levi Johnston (father of Bristol's baby) is on his way to MN to join the Palin family at the Convention. The article also quotes Johnston's mother as saying something along the lines of "the kids were planning to get married anyway" and the baby is just a "bonus".
At this very moment, Joe Scarborough is saying that the GOP convention crowd is the smallest he has ever seen, and that the energy is incredibly low. Joe says that "there are a lot of questions being raised here."
And Micah B. is saying that Palin is going through an incredibly difficult day trying to work on her speech for tomorrow while dealing with her family re: the teen pregnancy story.
KIETH O is talking about the car wash story.
And then of course, there is the Brokaw's slip about if Palin 'survives'.
All of this can only mean one thing: that a consensus is forming among those in the MSM that the choice of Palin was a huge mistake and will ultimately blow up in the face of McCain and the GOP.
It also means that there are 'whispers' about whether or not she will remain on the ticket - at least among the MSM.
And what is tonight's exciting line-up to counter-act all of this bad news?
Well President Bush(whose approval/dissapproval stands at 31/64) will appear by satellite, (not in primetime) marking the first time since 1968 a sitting President has not attended his own party's convention.
Then Joe "Joementum" Lieberman will 'wow' the crowd, followed by another incredible 'orrator', Fred Thompson, whose campaign collapsed in a gigantic 'yawn' some time back.
But hey, at least there are two more days for the GOP to get on top of this and get their message out (and what is their message exactly?).
Oh, wait, that's right - there is another hurricane on its way just in time to overshadow news coverage of McCain's big speech on Thursday night.
Update I: Phlogiston Junkie reminded me/us that Thursday is also the start of the NFL season.
So, please fellow Kossask. Please forgive me and excuse my transgression. I take it all back. Stay away. Stay as far away from this convention as you can. This is a complete disaster for the GOP, and there is not one single thing that we can do to make this go any worse for them.