Video Highlights of the 2008 Republican National Convention

The speeches at the 2008 Republican National Convention were inspiring and insightful, but why can't I download them? I was very excited to see that iTunes had these posted, but when I tried to download them, the ones I wanted most (McCain/Palin) wouldn't download! Please fix this!!

Everyone -- especially those in the political pundit class seems to be calling Sarah Palin a loser, a quitter, a committer of political suicide by leaving office mid-term. They are all very wrong. What's being missed is that the usual political calculations simply do not apply to Sarah Palin, one of the most unusual public figures to come along in years. With this decision and this announcement, Sarah Palin has been absolutely true to herself. Long-term, this will translate to a success that will leave most political pundits in the dust. Why? The pundit class is basing their analysis on calculations of the past (i.e., people who got elected president didn't quit as governor) and on the assumption that Sarah Palin made a political calculation in resigning. They are simply not seeing either Sarah Palin for who she is, or what truly matters to the millions who support her, and they can't compute that there were no political calculations involved. Her decision was one with her brand for two main reasons: 1) She's practical and holds government to the same standard. This means that when she was watching millions being spent on what seems to amount to frivolous investigations against her, she couldn't stand by and watch the money be wasted. Not only was she being hamstrung in her job, but dollars were being thrown out the window. Her frustration over this waste showed at her press conference. Not only does this point back to the sincerity of her brand and reinforce that she actually cares about every taxpayer dollar, but it puts her "quitting" in a different light -- by stepping aside and risking hurting her political career, she is actually saving Alaska money (one of her core promises she made to the people of that state). 2) She embodies family values and put them first. For the political class, a family is often an accessory, but even so, families are semi-sacred ground for the media, that is except for Sarah Palin's. By any reasonable standard, her family was dragged through the mud. The wife and mother making the announcement on July 3 was someone who could not and would not bear any more. She made a choice that came out of the deepest part of herself (her core brand) -- no wonder the political class was left scratching its collective head. They hadn't taken her claims of loving her family seriously. But the wives and mothers who make up Palin's supporters got it. Fact is, as Stanley Fish over at The New York Times pointed out: if you just listened to what Palin said at her press conference, you'd understand that this was not someone making a traditional political calculation. This was someone being real about her choices and her pain. And that's why Sarah Palin has just strengthened herself for the long run (if she ever chooses a political future). She wasn't erratic at all; she was true to the things she believes in. Just look at her latest interview with the Associated Press:  You would be amazed at how much time and resource my staff and I, the Department of Law especially, spend on this every day. It is a waste. We are spending these millions of dollars not on teachers and troopers and roads or fish research and other things that are needed in Alaska." She's a woman who means what she says and does what she believes. But the pundits simply aren't listening. So let the pundits piece this out over the months and years ahead, but one thing is already clear: her base is still with her, and Sarah Palin is poised to grow. And remember, things are always easier to understand when you keep marketing and branding in mind.

Thanks for uploading this iTunes. McCain/Palin '08 - because not everyone can be on welfare!

Obama is an out-of-touch elitist fatally lacking in the experience nessecary to lead this country and doesn't promise real change, but Sarah Failing is a smart, slice-of-life, experienced person who will bring real change to washinton. Uhh....... No. Try again, spinmasters. I found these things called "facts", I think they are called, and they take issue with the above statement. -Obama graduated with honors from Harvard Law. Sarah Palin went to 5 different colleges before graduating with a bachelor's in SPORTS REPORTING. Oh, and there's also the fact that when she's off the teleprompter, she can barely string two words together in a coherent fashion. Every morning her empty head is filled up with buzzwords and she distills them throughout the day- sometimes in a way that makes sense, but mostly not. -Obama grew up in Hawaii, which the last time I checked was a STATE. So's alaska, but to claim one makes you scary and the other makes you real is just asinine. Drop that flogging point right now, conservatives. It doesn't make sense. ...but since when does that stop you? -Obama grew up under a single mother living on food stamps a few times. He worked his way into Harvard and from there served as a constitutional law professor for 12 years. And he's elitist? Here, take this sock and stuff it in your mouth so I don't have to hear your inanities anymore. Please. -Obama served as a community organizer (what a stupid thing hur dee hur hurr) and served as senator for 3 years. Sarah Palin served two years as governer of Armpit, USA. Qualified to be president? She isn't qualified to manage a hardware store. -Obama is intellectually curious. When something happens, he educates himself on the position. Sarah Q. Moron, on the other hand, doesn't even read anything. Neither of them have the amount of experience of say, Joe Biden, but the difference is Obama actually works to learn. Palin just sits there and smiles and hopes no one can hear the air whistling as it rushes out of her head. -Sarah Palin has: kept the 300 million of taxpayer's money from the bridge to nowhere- something she at first supported. Charged the state for 300 nights she spent in her own damn home. Pressured a librarian to resign when she refused to ban the books Palin wanted banned. Fired the police chief when he refused to fire her brother-in-law. And she's the candidate of reform? Oh, please. 1) What are you smoking, and 2) where can I buy some? Sarah The Dipshit is a really funny and sadistic joke. I still fully expect, this weekend, for McCain to go on national television and say "Hey, that Palin woman? Heh, I was just kidding. I really chose Joe Liebermann. Come on, you'd have to be a moron to think I'd honestly let such an idiot anywhere near the presidency. But I pulled one over you, america!" And I'll laugh hysterically with relief and say "yeah, John, you sure got me. But man you had me worried." If John McCain wins, I am leaving the country. Seriously. To be shanked for 8 years and then elect a guy who's just going to pick up the spoon again and keep on stabbing us in the back means that 51% of americans are total morons. I'll quote Christopher Hitchens. Hell, I'll paraphrase all the conservative icons who are ENDORSING OBAMA. George Will, Charles Krauthammer, Christopher Hitchens, Colin Powell, the list goes on and on.... "McCain should not be president". How does it feel to have your own leaders endorse the other guy and flat-out say that your candidate should, in no uncertain terms, be president? Yeah, I know you've stuck your head in the sand and are singing loudly over me right now so you can keep your happy illusions. But when Obama is elected, I will laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh...