A question for Palin

Dear Governor Palin,

What does it feel like to be a gimmick?

- Jane Q. Public

Wednesday Evening Reading Material

I'm a little late linking to these stories, but here they are for anyone who is as out of touch as yours truly -

Abramoff Had Closer Ties to Bush
Color me shocked!

Senate Republicans block windfall profit taxes on Big Oil
The unexpected just keeps coming...

Republicans: Not Warm and/or Fuzzy

A couple of months ago Jack Cafferty cited an article (I can't remember what publication, and I'm not really having any luck googling it***) that basically stated that the Republican nominee would have a hard time getting tough if Obama ended up being the Democratic nominee because they were going to have to really be careful not to say things that would be perceived as being racist. Republicans are not historically known for being warm and fuzzy toward other races or civil rights, so I think there's a good point to be found there.

I don't like that this country hasn't progressed enough for race not even to be a factor, but I'm also not bothered that Republicans/McCain may either a) have to tread lightly against my guy or b) fuck up and say the wrong thing (I think McCain will be extra careful not to do it, but I see it as highly likely that people within the party will end up making huge missteps - whether intentional or not - as far as things that aren't ok to say . . . like I said, not exactly warm and fuzzy with people who look differently/love differently/feel differently/believe differently) if it's going to help those swing voters turn blue.

I found an article today that went into this a bit:

Race issue may prove tricky for McCain campaign

***UPDATED 8:09 p.m.***

I found it! Cafferty paraphrased:

The Republicans are the party of Macaca and Katrina and race relations aren't their long suit. And it could prove awkward for them to get aggressive in a campaign against a black candidate.

The op-ed piece, "Who's Afraid of Barack Obama?" by Frank Rich ran in The New York Times back in December.

It really only touched on the above point I was trying to make, but still...