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Gail O'Hare

St. Paul
Commenter for
5 years 24 weeks

Recent Comments

Posted on 10/24/08 at 11:39 pm in response to Six years later, Wellstone memorial host Latimer still agonizes over event's political fallout

Only Jim Ramstad behaved with compassion and generosity. He said that Kahn's grief was palpable and the subject should be dropped. He seems to be the only one who understood what grief is like. It makes sufferers rage, look for someone to blame, and cry out for ways to immortalize the loved one. Even the young people booing Republicans must be forgiven just because they were young, and that loss may have been their first experience with sudden, cruel death.

But Ventura had to...

Posted on 10/23/08 at 02:28 pm in response to Fact checks: Obama and Biden statements

I think the assumption that Fed tax cuts will raise state and local taxes is a leap. Bear in mind that Obama is raising taxes on incomes over $250K. Some excellent tables of examples exist that demonstrate exactly how the two proposals look side-by-side. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008...

Posted on 10/20/08 at 04:34 pm in response to Bachmann's anti-Obama comments could affect close 6th District race

Eeeeeewwwwww! Don't give her ideas!

Posted on 10/20/08 at 11:24 am in response to Bachmann's anti-Obama comments could affect close 6th District race

No way can she weasel out of what is there on tape for all to see. She's been ranting on Larry King Live, as well, so her hope of back-peddling on this characteristic bigotry is futile. Since her days of skulking in bushes, Bachman has been an embarrassment to Minnesota.

Posted on 10/03/08 at 01:29 pm in response to The VP debate: no big gaffes, some cotton candy

I agree this was not a game-changer, but I hope people see through Palin's refusal to answer questions. Mild Gwen Ifill was incapable of enforcing the rules of the format.

Newt Ginrich's GOPAC trains its candidates to answer questions the way Palin did--if you don't know or don't have a strong answer, rephrase the question to show you've taken it in, find a talking point that has some general connection with the theme (er, health care...need for it in this economy...tax cuts will...

Posted on 10/02/08 at 01:31 pm in response to Here's what to watch for in tonight's showdown

I hope Ifill concentrates on questions for which answers won't already be prepared. It may have been true in the past that veep debates don't matter, but it should never be true again. Eight presidents have died in office. We need to hear from both candidates what they would do on day one after their president dies or is incapacitated.

Lehrer concentrated on the war as the focus of foreign policy, which was too limiting. We need to know how candidates feel about the UN and our...

Posted on 09/10/08 at 01:12 pm in response to 'Dull' primary night produced no surprises, no suspense

A different take on the Faris vote is that it represents sincere and angry rejection of the party convention. The move to nominate by acclamation, with no opportunity for committed delegates to change their votes in further balloting and no energetic discussion of concerns and questions, was abrupt and ham-handed. Why have a convention? The DFL needs to rethink its nominating process. Still, have no doubt that all the Faris voters will vote for Franken in November.

And yes, Mr....

Posted on 09/02/08 at 02:21 pm in response to One pregnancy, multiple debates

I, too, wonder about all the syrupy support for this young couple and the Palins as a typical American family. Gov. Palin has made it clear that government owes nothing to people in distress. The NYPost carried a copy of youg dad Levi's MySpace page which will make you despair of any hope for these kids and their baby.
The likelihood of a successful and self-supporting young family is practically nil.

Why not adoption, indeed? The Catholic in particular ought to be taking a...

Posted on 08/31/08 at 07:58 pm in response to Coleman: 'I would have picked Pawlenty'

Coleman wisely didn't get pulled into praising Palin. Now that the convention has been abbreviated, we may not be subjected to the fulsome praise we've heard from too many conservatives. Still there's a lot more he could have said.

Other Republican women could have been tapped who wouldn't have drawn nearly so much shock and disbelief. Olympia Snowe, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Susan Collins. The Governors of Hawaii and Connecticut both have longer records. Not that Dems would have...

Posted on 08/29/08 at 02:35 pm in response to Why McCain might have (and maybe should have) picked Pawlenty

The notion that management experience is a critical criterion for the Presidency has been puzzling me since Romney started touting his own. We have never looked for management skills in our Chief Executive. A great leader has the ability to assemble a crack team and provide vision for them to execute. Our country is not WalMart or even Microsoft.

Yesterday Pawlenty dragged out what will be an endlessly repeated Republican refrain, that the candidate should be judged by "what he's...