The Republican National Convention Electrified by Drama & Scandal

If the Republicans aimed to send out a strong campaign message during their convention about "McCain the Maverick," it’s not getting through. It isn’t Hurricane Gustav that's drowning out the convention message but the Alaskan pipeline of information on Sarah Palin.

The surprise Vice Presidential pick McCain announced just three days ago is generating headlines that read like a bad script from Desperate Housewives:

“Sarah Palin’s Teenage Daughter Pregnant”

“PTA Hockey Mom, Vice Presidential Candidate Under Investigation for Firing her Ex-Brother in Law”

“Vice Presidential Candidate and Husband Former Members of Alaskan Independence Party Whose Mission is to Seceed from the United States”

“Sarah and Todd Palin's Carwash Business Shut Down by the State"

What a distraction from the Republican Presidential Candidate, John McCain.

No question, Sarah Palin, a self described Pro Life Conservative Christian was brought in to help energize the far right base. It certainly wasn’t her 18 months experience as a Governor of a state with the population of Austin, Texas. Or, her time as mayor of town of 9,000. Or, her failed carwash business which has left many wondering, if she can’t even run a carwash, is she ready to be one 72 year old heartbeat away from the Presidency? It was undoubtedly Sarah Palin’s conservative Pro Life creds that jetted her onto the national stage.

But will it work? While figureheads of the Christian Conservative movement are reeling off McCain camp talking points, singing Sarah Palin’s praises, chatter among the rank and file religious conservatives indicates some cognitive dissonance.

Questions of her motherhood and family values are being posed: “How can Sarah Palin be there for her children, including her special needs infant while performing duties as Vice President?” “What kind of a mother would get on an eight hour flight while in labor?” “Does Sarah Palin love America if she was an AIP member?”

The inconsistencies are already tearing through the “Family Values” and “Love of Country” narratives that the Republicans so cherish.

With turncoat Democrat Joe Lieberman and the President with the Lowest Approval Ratings in History, George W. Bush, kicking off the Republican National Convention tonight, voters will be likely be more intrigued by the headlines that scroll across the bottom of the screen: “McCain Camp sends team to brief and fly Sarah Palin’s pregnant teenage daughter’s boyfriend to Minneapolis for convention.” Headlines that are proving to be more captivating than the theme set for tonight: Who is John McCain.

Republicans, the Party of Scandals, Lies and Mismanagement. McCain-Palin: More of the Same

Update: Shortly before Joe Lieberman took the stage to trash Barack Obama, (breaking a pledge he'd made earlier in the campaign that he would not attack Obama) and tout the McCain-Palin ticket, Politico, continuing the press' vetting of Sarah Palin, released more details on Sarah Palin's radical church which reveal some alarming views on Jews.

Jewish voters may be wary of Palin

Palin’s pastor, Larry Kroon, introduced Brickner on Aug. 17, according to a transcript of the sermon on the church’s website.

“He’s a leader of Jews for Jesus, a ministry that is out on the leading edge in a pressing, demanding area of witnessing and evangelism,” Kroon said.

Brickner then explained that Jesus and his disciples were themselves Jewish.

“The Jewish community, in particular, has a difficult time understanding this reality,” he said.
Brickner’s mission has drawn wide criticism from the organized Jewish community, and the Anti-Defamation League accused them in a report of “targeting Jews for conversion with subterfuge and deception.”

Brickner also described terrorist attacks on Israelis as God's "judgment of unbelief" of Jews who haven't embraced Christianity.

"Judgment is very real and we see it played out on the pages of the newspapers and on the television. It's very real. When [Brickner's son] was in Jerusalem he was there to witness some of that judgment, some of that conflict, when a Palestinian from East Jerusalem took a bulldozer and went plowing through a score of cars, killing numbers of people. Judgment — you can't miss it."

Palin was in church that day, Kroon said, though he cautioned against attributing Brickner’s views to her.

Move over, Reverend Wright.