SCHWARZENEGGER: The speech I would have given is the one that Fred Thompson gave. I gave him my speech because I did not go to the convention. It was a great speech because it talked in minute detail about McCain’s torture and his being a POW, and that’s the speech that the party wanted me to give. Why? Because this way I don’t go and talk about centrist politics and maybe rub some people the wrong way. That’s another stage.

Though Schwarzenegger endorsed McCain, he has since criticized him, giving McCain’s climate plans a grade of “F.”

KYL: It is true that the question of earmarks is more symbolic than it is significant in terms of the total amount of money. But if he combines that with the notion of ending wasteful Washington spending…And so if addition to earmarks, which are relatively small, you begin to focus on not just raising taxes but to reducing spending here and there, that is a big deal.

Watch it:

Kyl also said that the frequent conservative catch phrase “wasteful Washington spending” is just political rhetoric. “The reason that I use it is because the consultants who look at the polls tell us that if there’s anything that drives American taxpayers crazy it’s that phrase ‘wasteful Washington spending,’” he admitted. “They hate it.”

As a solution, Smith suggested that “students must find the God of the Bible and Biblical values in the classroom”:

SMITH: Our schools need to become oases of goodness, sound moral teaching and, they must become agents of change in the culture. Our students must find the God of the Bible and Biblical values in the classroom, on the campus. I believe we need to do more to find effective ways to educate and inform policy makers and hold them to account.

Watch it:

Smith’s call for “Biblical values in the classroom” could easily be interpreted as a call for the promotion of Christianity in American schools. But, as the First Amendment Center has pointed out, “the courts have been clear that public school teachers cannot teach religion to their students or read the Bible to the class as a way of promoting their faith.”

Smith’s comments appear to be more radical than Rep. Steve King’s (R-IA) claim last year that “every child” in American schools needs to learn “the tenets of the Christian faith.” While King conceded that if “the tenets of Christianity” are to be taught in school, “other faiths” should be taught as well, Smith said no such thing.

Transcript:

SMITH: They challenge the young to get personally involved, to run for office, to be the judges and the professional staff. Like you, I am very concerned that many of our schools and universities have lost their way, having become bastions of moral relativism and moral compromise with the culture of death. Too many university presidents, administrators, professors and deans, including those at faith-based institutions of higher learning, often care more about their football team scores and their basketball team records or being progressive, than advancing the culture of life. It’s appalling, it’s a cause for sorrow and it has to change. Our schools need to become oases of goodness, sound moral teaching and, they must become agents of change in the culture. Our students must find the God of the Bible and Biblical values in the classroom, on the campus. I believe we need to do more to find effective ways to educate and inform policy makers and hold them to account. To live this life is hard. I’ve been a congressman for twenty eight years. Even men and women, like Sam Brownback, who’s a great man, and others in this room, we need to be encouraged and prayed for, that we can advance the kingdom of heaven.

During an interview with ThinkProgress in St. Paul yesterday, MSNBC host Joe Scarborough told us, “The McCain campaign has made a very calculated decision they’re going to run against the press. Personally, I don’t think it works.” He continued:

Attacking the press for conservatives, for Republicans, it always provides a sugar high. It excites the base. It is never ever worth the pay off. … Don’t engage in a war. I think McCain’s campaign is making a mistake. Because that never pays off in the end.

But, they’ve adopted that strategy. Make no mistake of it. They’ve adopted the strategy publicly, privately. They’re fighting behind the scenes. And we’ll see — maybe it works this year. I don’t think so though.

The McCain campaign recently said journalists are creating a “faux media scandal designed to destroy the first female Republican nominee.” In a jeering and sarcastic column this past week, Politico’s Roger Simon wrote, “On behalf of the elite media, I would like to say we are very sorry” for asking basic questions about Palin’s record.

Scarborough said he’s always had a better relationship with the Obama campaign than with the McCain campaign. He added, “The Bush White House — not a big friend of mine. I think they stopped talking to me after Hurricane Katrina.” Watch it:

When Palin was first announced last Friday as John McCain’s vice presidential running mate, Scarborough declared that she had too little foreign policy experience for the job. Earlier this week, ThinkProgress questioned whether Scarborough was backtracking a bit from his initial criticism.

But during the interview yesterday, Scarborough reiterated his initial concerns. In the wake of developments in Georgia and Pakistan, Scarborough said now is “no time to have a vice president that has so little experience. And I still agree with that.” That being said, he added, “she has a remarkable resume.”

During their September 2 and September 3 coverage of the Republican National Convention, MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News each dedicated more on-air time — significantly more in most cases — to speeches and other official Republican convention programming during the most-watched portions of their coverage than each channel dedicated to official convention programming during the same times on comparable nights of the Democratic National Convention one week earlier.

Digg It!

Well, it means we have to work harder. We have to make sure that the McCain-Palin administration…don’t make these issues, the social issues, the central portion of their policy agenda, as Bush has done. We have a lot of work to do. We don’t believe McCain would — he really doesn’t care much about the issue, even though he has almost perfect pro-life voting record.

On the prospects of McCain overturning Roe v. Wade, Stockman said, “The only thing that gives me comfort is that Democrats are going to win the Senate.” Watch it:

McCain’s lack of knowledge on women’s issues is well-documented. In July, a reporter asked if it is “unfair” that insurance companies cover Viagra but not birth control. “I certainly do not want to discuss that issue,” he said, pausing uncomfortably for several seconds. “It’s something that I had not thought much about.”

Digg It!

During the Republican National Convention this past week, Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) campaign worked hard to put distance between the senator and President Bush. Bush spoke briefly via satellite and Vice President Cheney didn’t address the crowd at all.

Despite these attempts, what was most evident during the convention was how similar the two men’s policies were. New ideas to address the country’s problems and actual policy discussions were given little attention. As FiveThirtyEight notes, instead, much attention was given to “the three P’s — Palin, Petroleum, and POW.”

ThinkProgress has put together an analysis based on the prepared remarks (a total of 40,752 words) of the convention speakers, looking at how many times Republicans said various words. A glimpse at conservatives’ priorities:

The New York Times has an analysis of the Democratic convention here.

Digg It!

UPDATE 9/8: This count has been updated to fully reflect non-prime-time speakers.

PALIN: Our opponents say, again and again, that drilling will not solve all of America’s energy problems – as if we all didn’t know that already. But the fact that drilling won’t solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all.

Watch it:

PALIN: And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves. I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a “community organizer,” except that you have actual responsibilities.

Today, the nation’s leading organization’s responded to Palin’s attack:

– Center for Community Change: When Sarah Palin demeaned community organizing, she didn’t attack another candidate. She attacked an American tradition — one that has helped everyday Americans engage with the political process and make a difference in their lives and the lives of their neighbors.

– Assn. of Community Organizations for Reform Now: ACORN members, leaders and staff are extremely disappointed that Republican leaders would make such condescending remarks on the great work community organizers accomplish in cities throughout this country. The fact that they marginalize our success in empowering low- and moderate-income people to improve their communities further illustrates their lack of touch with ordinary people.

– USAction: These groups, and the millions of individuals they represent, are dismayed by the recent dismissal of their efforts in the form of political attacks. Community organizations have been at the heart of every major reform in modern history – from the Boston Tea Party to the civil rights movement for example, the quest for civil rights began when community organizers mobilized the disenfranchised.

– Community Organizers of America: The last thing we need is for Republican officials to mock us on television when we’re trying to rebuild the neighborhoods they have destroyed. Maybe if everyone had more houses than they can count, we wouldn’t need community organizers. But I work with people who are getting evicted from their only home. If John McCain and the Republicans understood that, maybe they wouldn’t be so quick to make fun of community organizers like me.

Faith In Public Life has more responses from leading community organizers.

Check out The Sarah Palin Digest.

Digg It!

There’s no question that the climate is changing and scientists will tell you that one of the outcomes of that is more frequent and more severe storms, droughts, and floods. They just can’t tell you when or where these things will actually occur. … Scientists will tell you that there is a definite correlation between these temperature changes that we’re seeing and the frequency and intensity and severity of storms.

Watch it:

Whitman added that she is “not as comfortable as [she] would like to be” with some of the decisions made by EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson.

Westmoreland was discussing vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s speech with reporters outside the House chamber and was asked to compare her with Michelle Obama.

“Just from what little I’ve seen of her and Mr. Obama, Sen. Obama, they’re a member of an elitist-class individual that thinks that they’re uppity,” Westmoreland said.

Asked to clarify that he used the word “uppity,” Westmoreland said, “Uppity, yeah.”

And I have one more recommendation for energy conservation — let’s keep Al Gore’s private jet on the ground!

Watch it:

ThinkProgress contacted Gore spokesperson Kalee Kreider, who replied, “Gore doesn’t own a jet.”

Digg It!

CARNEY: We don’t know yet and we won’t know until you guys allow her to take questions, you know, can she answer tough questions, you know, domestic policy, foreign policy–

WALLACE: But I mean like from who? From you? Who cares?!

CARNEY: Who cares? I think the American people care.

WALLACE: I think the American people want to see her — I mean who cares if she can talk to Time Magazine? She talked to the American people. The American people want to say, “How am I going to save my home?” She can answer that question. … She took the stage and talked to the American people about things they care about: How they’re gonna save their homes.

Watch it:

Of course, Palin never said anything about the housing crisis in her speech. Though she attacked Barack Obama and community organizers, lied about her opposition to the Bridge to Nowhere, and reversed positions on whether we can “drill our way out of” the energy crisis, Palin did not mention any aspect of domestic or foreign policy during her speech. She discussed McCain’s POW experience, compared herself to a pitbull, and declared that “victory in Iraq is finally in sight,” but never said anything remotely related to how Americans could save their homes.

Appearing on CNN this morning, Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) praised her performance but said it lacked specific policy recommendations. “I didn’t hear the phrase ‘middle class.’ I didn’t hear a single word about health care. I didn’t hear a single word about helping people get to college,” Biden said.

Digg It!

Well I would like to see him move a little closer to being a Republican. I’d like to see him vote with the Republicans when we go back in September. He’s practically there. That would have the consequence of giving us a Republican senator . We could confirm a lot of judges. We could do a lot of things.

Specter said he has talked to Lieberman about switching parties “over the past many months.” Lieberman responds with “a very winning smile” when discussing the matter, he added.

I haven’t really focused much on the war in Iraq. I heard on the news about the new deployments, and while I support our president, Condoleezza Rice and the administration, I want to know that we have an exit plan in place.

Yesterday at a Republican National Convention event, ThinkProgress asked Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) how Palin’s desire for an “exit plan” is consistent with McCain’s refusal to call for a withdrawal timetable from Iraq. Lieberman said McCain does indeed support an “exit plan”:

Yes, [he supports] an exit plan from Iraq. But the question is what is it. In other words, a lot of my Democratic colleagues in the Senate including Senator Obama kind of gave up on Iraq when things were going tough in 2005 and 2006. … The goal has always been to leave, but not to leave on a politically mandated timetable from Washington.

Watch it:

But it’s hard to believe that McCain supports a clearly defined “exit plan” from Iraq. He has for years been opposed to all withdrawal plans from Iraq, claiming the U.S. will withdraw only when there is “victory.” “If you pass a resolution…that dictates withdrawal and a time for withdrawal, all you’re doing is telling the enemy, ‘hang on, we’re leaving,” he said in March 2007.

Lieberman today also suggested that McCain supports the new withdrawal timetable reached between the U.S. and Iraq, which would call for the removal of combat troops from Iraq by 2011:

The sooner we’re out the better. It looks like the Iraqis and our government have agreed that 2011 is a reasonable goal, not a forced timetable, to be out of there with all of our combat troops

But Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki did indeed ask for a “forced timetable.” “There is an agreement actually reached, reached between the two parties on a fixed date which is the end of 2011 to end any foreign presence on Iraqi soil,” Maliki said last month.

Digg It!

GIULIANI: For four days in Denver, the Democrats were afraid to use the term “Islamic terrorism.” I imagine they believe it is politically incorrect to say it. I think they believe they will insult someone. Please tell me, who they are insulting if they say, “Islamic terrorism.” They are insulting terrorists!

Not surprisingly, Giuliani also said he wanted Democrats to invoke the 9/11 terrorist attacks more often. Watch it:

Experts, including those in the Bush administration, disagree. The issue goes beyond just “insulting” someone. Such religious rhetoric is actually counterproductive in combating terrorism:

– Department of Homeland Security: U.S. officials may be “unintentionally portraying terrorists, who lack moral and religious legitimacy, as brave fighters, legitimate soldiers or spokesmen for ordinary Muslims.”

– National Counter Terrorism Center: “Avoid labeling everything ‘Muslim.’ It reinforces the ‘U.S. vs. Islam’ framework that Al-Qaeda promotes. Be specific (Egyptian, Pakistani) and descriptive (South Asian youth, Arab opinion leaders), where possible.”

– Ret. Gen. John Abizaid: “I mean, even adding the word Islamic extremism, or qualifying it to Sunni Islamic extremism, or qualifying it further to Sunni Islamic extermism as exemplified by government such as Bin Laden, all make it very, very difficult [to fight terrorism] because the battle of words is meaningful, especially in the Middle East to people.”

– Islamic Society of North America: “If it’s not our intent to paint everyone with the same brush, then certainly we should think seriously about just characterizing them as criminals, because that is what they are.”

Railing against “Islamic” extremists and terrorists is one of Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) favorite talking points as well. “Senator McCain refers to it that way because that is what it is,” campaign adviser Steve Schmidt said in April, defending the rhetoric.

OLBERMANN: Biden got 15,000 votes in Florida, 18,000 votes in California, in the primaries there — more than could have been gotten in two elections for the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska for Sarah Palin.

Watch it:

Olbermann also corrected Huckabee’s claim that Abraham Lincoln was the founder of the Republican Party. “It was actually founded in 1854 by disaffected members of the Whig party,” Olbermann said, adding, “Mr. Lincoln joined later on and ran for office in 1860.”

Conservative strategist Mike Murphy argued that Palin’s record was nothing to be concerned about. He dismissed Palin’s record of supporting large earmark spending, said he didn’t “buy” that Palin was closely linked to the indicted Stevens and joked that her association with the fringe Alaska Independence Party makes him “like her more.” Watch it:

Murphy, however, was apparently lying. Today, MSNBC inadvertently broadcast Murphy sharing his honest opinion of Palin’s record with the Wall Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan and MSNBC’s Chuck Todd. Murphy said, “I totally agree” that Palin was selected without consideration of her record and that “it’s not going to work”:

MURPHY: It’s not gonna work. And –

TODD: Yeah, I mean is she really the most qualified woman they could have turned to?

NOONAN: The most qualified? No! I think they went for this — excuse me– political bullshit about narratives – [...]

MURPHY: I totally agree.

Watch It: