Soo... this is supposed to be funny because Palin is more dominant than McCain? I realize this is targeted at the teenaged boys who frequent youtube, but I expected something a little more sophisticated from a progressive Obama supporter like Lisa Nova than "ha, ha, you let a gurl tell you what to do." And making fun of McCain's torture is in poor taste, even by dismally low internet standards.

I don't agree with the majority of Palin's stances on social issues and it's ludicrous that the Republicans are still trying to push Reaganomics, but she's straightforward and has lived her life according to her convictions. I need to learn more, but after listening to her answer calls for an hour from people all over the political spectrum, she's clearly intelligent, hard working, articulate, and interested in practical solutions. It's a shame that I can't say the same for Obama, since the policies of his party are actually more in sync with my personal ideology.

Whomever you support, it's very clear that this Palin announcement has most Obama supporters (comediennes and otherwise) scared, and they should be. I'm a lifelong Independent (practically a socialist), and it's incredibly pathetic that after two terms of Bush, the morons at the DNC might just botch a second slam dunk. They're shooting themselves in the foot with those idiotic caucuses that usually pop out candidates that are too far to the left to represent all Americans. Don't get me wrong, as a member of the far left, it feels good to be represented in the primary, but it's kinda important to win the general election too.

This video isn't making fun of Palin, it's making fun of McCain. The whole point of the video is to ridicule him for thinking Joe Lieberman would fly with Republicans, and then having to make a glamour pick for VP a week before the convention without proper vetting. How much more 'sophistication' do you really think they can squeeze out of a 3 minute video?

You don't see Obama as being intelligent or articulate? Wow. We've been listening to a different Obama all this time. And his ideas are more practical than the Republicans - "tax less, spend more" isn't the most practical economic scheme, after all.

With regards to McCain being tortured - well, ask the man himself, he wasn't tortured. All of the things that were done to McCain during his time as a POW are things that he's currently fighting to keep legal under the banner of "enhanced interrogation". If even he can't take it seriously, what hope do the rest of us have?

Palin is a joke, and a slap in the face to women everywhere who actually work to achieve their positions...instead of being selected by a guy to pander to their compatriots.

I'm sure her life story is very nice and compelling, but that is true of LOTS of people, the fact is that she is far too partisan and inexperienced to be a good president.

Governing Alaska and being really close to Russia, and commanding the Alaskan national guard, aside...OF COURSE. (/sarcasm)

She tried to ban books that she did not approve of from the library. She wants creationism taught in science classes. Yup, she's a nut.

Palin is a joke, and a slap in the face to women everywhere who actually work to achieve their positions...instead of being selected by a guy

I'm not generally inclined to defend McCain's choice of Palin, but that's pretty unfair. She has held two elected offices on her own merits. I don't see how that's a slap in the face of women.

Palin is not a joke to millions of Americans including myself, although her selection was clearly politically motivated (shocking!). If you consider her an inexperienced, partisan joke, Obama must be a laugh riot. He is intelligent, but after listening to him answer dozens of unscripted questions, he is clearly not articulate.

Even Obama supporters have to admit that it's a miracle of incompetence on the Democrats' part that this election is close at all. They need to attack Palin's stance on social issues without being sexist (which would be a huge turn off for many ex-Hillary supporters) and clearly attack McCain's economic policies, which history has proven are completely ineffective. This "another 4 years of Bush," stuff is not really getting through to swing voters.

Palin is dangerously regressive. She tries to present herself as some kind of feminist role model, but her politics and social convictions are at the complete opposite end of the spectrum from feminism. I realize that she's trying to pander to the affronted Hilary supporters or the Independents, but as a woman I am insulted that I am being told to believe that she represents my interests, my values and my beliefs, simply because we share a particular chromosomal makeup.

Taking away people's rights, telling them what and how to believe, installing your God as the right and only God...sounds a bit familiar for such a 'reform' candidate.

"She tries to present herself as some kind of feminist role model..."

She does?

"Palin is not a joke to millions of Americans including myself"

AKA: Republicans.

Obama is highly articulate. You make the mistake of thinking otherwise because he peppers his answers with "uh" "umm" etc. It's a bad habit that he needs to break, but if you cut out the chaff and listen to the substance then you realize that his answers are thoughtful and precise. I infinitely prefer hearing his unscripted answers to his unchanging stump speech platitudes.

Palin is not intelligent. You cannot support the teaching of creationism in science class and be intelligent at the same time. Good Christ on a pogo stick, that bullshit frustrates me.

Neither is Palin interested in practical solutions. No politician running for election is. Quick, show me a politician that gives a practical solution to the impending social security crisis and I'll show you a politician who's out of a job.

This is politics in our country. It's not the fault of the DNC, or the RNC for that matter. It's the fault of the voters.

amanohyo, calm down! Wow you take things way too seriously. It's okay to make fun of politicians. We can't be politically correct all the time. I personally don't see it as a "Haha a woman told you what to do" schtick anyway. I see it as making fun of a last minute decision to make the base happy, and at the same time, try to pander to us women who clearly only voted for Hillary because she had two x chromosomes.

Also, if you're basing someone's articulation on how they answer questions, maybe you should wait for Palin to do the same before you decide she's more articulate than Obama. Let's see how she does in the debates with Biden and on the road with the press.

Alli, thank you for your concern; I'm very calm, I always take things seriously, and I love to make fun of politicians. However, when a video is called, "Is McCain Palin's bitch?" it seems pretty clear that it's supposed to be funny because McCain is desperate and submissive and Palin is in a "masculine" position of power over him. Maybe the sexism is being used in a self-conscious, tongue-in-cheek way, but face it, that's not how 99% of the youtube community is going to take it.

As I said already, I'm waiting to hear more from Palin, but she communicated with the CSPAN callers very impressively the one hour I have heard her speak, and if you've ever heard some of the angry nuts who call in, that's not always an easy task. I understand that she is practically on the opposite end of the political spectrum from me, but I respect her. So far, there doesn't seem to be a disconnect between her words and what she has done in her life. That's not the case with Bush, and it's not the case with Obama.

I respect what Obama says he wants to do; I agree for the most part with the direction he wants to take the country; I respect him as a giver of corny yet effective speeches, but I do not respect him as a person who is applying for one of the most important jobs in the world. When someone is promising me that they're going to enter a delicate situation and do something major to dramatically change and improve it, I like to know that they've done similar things before. His spectacular "concert" did very little to ease my fears about wasteful spending. It's an unpleasant choice either way for me.

Anyway, I live in a blue state that's in the bag for Obama and am currently wavering between Nader and writing Hillary in; However, I'll wait and see what specific policies and "crazy promises" the major parties add to their platforms in the next couple months before I decide to "throw my vote away."

Is there anything worse than a Hillary supporter whose feelings are still hurt?

As for being scared about Obama's chances, i'll be surprised if he wins with fewer than 320+ electoral votes. The media can spin it any way they want to but the trajectory of the election is the same with or without the wolf-killing fundie from the wild frontier. State by state things are looking very good for Obama.

Yes, there are plenty of things that are worse, much worse; I won't list them all here. Whatever happened to the "50 state strategy?" Weren't a lot of those red states going to magically turn blue? After all, he is an unstoppable unifying force and "there are no red states or blue states, only the United States."

*sigh* Obama's speeches would be just as funny if Hillary Clinton had never been in the running. I won't lie, it's more painful going from a candidate who would accomplish something to whatever we have now, but I couldn't respect anyone who gave speeches like his with his paltry record. On the bright side, I can at least look forward to more cheesy, canned inspiration if he wins.

I really hope he proves my fears wrong in office.

I guess I never accepted that Hillary was that much more experienced than Obama. But I get the problem for some people is Obama is running on lots of message, but it's near impossible to tell what substance he'll bring to the position. I'm willing to give him a shot, because I think he's smart, and willing to listen. Two qualities we've been in short supply of for many years.

I blame the lack of true substance more on the current political culture than anything else. I would love to see McCain and Obama have a frank discussion about what they want for this country, and the ways they want to fix it, the easy truths and the hard ones. But that will never happen, instead we get pandering on both sides. Carefully crafted talking points and projected images. The media or each party would spin such a discussion into tiny soundbytes, and if even half the country based their opinion on that, everything's skewed.

Yeah, and it seems to be getting worse and worse as people's attention spans get shorter and shorter. I'm scared, but willing to give Obama a chance. If we do end up with a Democratic congress and a Democratic president, they'd better not make excuses and/or go on vacation when all those hard truths have to be faced and compromises need to be made to keep things moving. We've all had enough laziness and lip service to last a lifetime.

Well, that was a quick derail. All I'll say to those concerned about Obama being no substance is watch his acceptance speech. He's very specific about his plans. I think the experience argument is pretty meaningless, as there's no correlation between experience and success in presidents. James Buchanan was one of the most experienced presidents, and Abraham Lincoln one of the least. One brought on the Civil War, and one won it. And anyway, if you count state office (which no one seems to, for some reason), he has roughly a decade of experience as an elected official. Palin, on the other hand- well, her views are clearly radical, so she was chosen just to shore up the base, who aren't thrilled with Mccain, and perhaps poach a few Hillary voters. I think that's a sexist way of thinking, as though women would vote for someone who disagrees with them on almost every issue just because she's a woman. I know one middle-aged woman who was undecided until Palin's pick, and then said she'd vote for Obama just because Palin was such a joke. I don't care so much about her experience, or lack thereof, except that the Mccain camp has made experience the central plank of their campaign, so they seem like hypocrites to put someone who's only experience is running a small town and then a small state a heartbeat away. That's especially important given Mccain's age and health history.

Anyway, I meant to avoid the diversion, but got caught up with myself. I thought the video was actually pretty funny. Mccain's desperation in the pick was the target, and that's what really stinks about the choice: Mccain's been running as the grown-up who knows how to govern, but the pick was clearly about nothing more than electoral tactics. Is he thinking ahead to what having her as VP would actually mean? So, I liked the video. The Mccain impersonator wasn't great, but the Palin one was dead-on. I actually thought it was real footage of her at first.

Yes, I AM suggesting that Palin is a serious threat, and the Democratic pundits know it. I'm not sure how many people posting here have lived (or currently live) in smaller, working-class, predominantly white towns. I don't claim to be a political expert, but I've lived in eight states: red, blue, purple, southern, midwestern, northern, west coast, east coast, in large and small cities, in suburban, urban, and rural areas. I'm confident that Palin is going to attract a lot of working class, religious women and men in battleground states like Pennsylvania and Ohio. Not just rural Republicans either.

Of course Obama has energized a lot of new voters, and Palin could easily screw up big-time in the next few weeks. However, McCain's choice is only absurd and insulting from the rational, progressive perspective of most of the people on this site. Anyone who thinks that most Americans share that perspective clearly wasn't paying attention the past two presidential elections. She's a nut, but she's a respectable, consistent nut and strategically, a good pick. If you laugh too hard at this "hail Mary pass" you might just miss an (admittedly unlikely) game-winning catch. Don't forget that it's in the media's best interest that this race be as close as possible.

Just a few comments.
The Dems should win this election easily (highly unpopular incumbant party with a bad economy and an unpopular war). However, they should also have won the last two general elections and managed to lose both.
Looking closely at the most recent polls, which reflect the bounce from the Dem convention but not that of the Repubs, the election, if held today, would go to Obama with 301 electoral votes.
Sounds good for the Dems but it actually isn't. The Dems had been ahead but steadily lost ground over the last few months. The convention bounce only made up lost ground.
At this stage the Dems should be way ahead. But they aren't. The 301 sounds good but it is held by a thread i.e. Virginia is a virtual tie, Indiana is so close it could be called the same, etc.
If Obama loses just a couple of % points in some crucial, usually ignored, states like NH, CO and NV he loses by the same margin as Kerry.
The new polls are coming out this week. They will, for the first time, show the bounce that the Repubs got from their convention. My gut says that they will making up ground over the next few weeks.
The Palin pick may turn out to be brilliant move by McCain. It injects energy into a base that might well have sat this one out.
By contrast, Biden brings nothing to the Obama campaign. Hillary was a far better choice for the VP slot. Biden has no appeal at all to any voter group on a national level, his favorables are low and he has no marked advantage over Hillary in any place they need to carry. To the extent that he brings experience to the campaign he also undercuts the promise of change that is the single strongest message carried by Obama. If you want to 'change Washington' why go for the essence of business as usual. The Dems made this same mistake in the last election. John Kerrys lifetime in DC made him an unconvincing agent of change.
Hillary was the best choice for VP. She was the candidate most favored by undecideds in the states that are now in play.

You're wrong for two reasons amanohyo. First, the election is between Obama and McCain, not Obama and Palin. People will remember that soon enough.

Second, there will be a VP debate between Palin and Joe Biden. Anyone who's still enthusiastic enough about Palin to watch it is going to get a big old anvil dropped on their head that reads "Laughably Inexperienced." Remember, this is someone who admitted: "All I know is we haven't been attacked since we took the war to Iraq."

I think Palin is a threat and the DEMS shouldn't underestimate her influence...her policies are far to the religious right, an religious extremist. Says Jesus is coming in her lifetime, says that "Iraq if a Mission from God", etc. Really regressive policies for women. But she's quickly becoming America's darling. This is seriously scary.
Video is funny sort of...if it wasn't so close to what could be reality.