And that was one of the things that I found so irritating. It’s a first year speech student tactic that stalls for time, like repeating the question. It also sounded disingenuous.

Phyllis, that’s a big part of why I gave up on the Friday night interview after 15 minutes. As you said, Palin called him “Charlie” a lot. And she *touched* him a lot. Ick. And smiled into the camera, and fluffed out her hair. The response that got me to switch channels was when he asked her which three things she’d do to improve the economy. She said, “Well, let me tell you about what I did in Wasilla.”

Phyllis my friend- I noticed that and my sweet one eyed dog gave me quite a look when I yelled “well, Charlie”…at the TV last night. LOL Poor Scoutie is ready for the politics to end!

Hi Phyllis. You’re right about that tactic being an old trick, used the way Ms. Palin did. Did you notice that Palin used a similar trick during her acceptance speech at the RNC? Never once did she have the courtesy to refer to Barack Obama by name…she continually called him “opponent” in a dismissive tone. This gives the “air” of being “to good to be bothered” or “above it all”, but these are often the manuevers of people who know themselves to be “fish out of water” on a given subject or with a specific crowd. And yet, as I’ve said before and will again…there’ll be many that this interview appealed to!

Phyllis, I thought Charlie held his ground. In fact when it wasn’t working he let there be a long enough pause to make her look slightly embarassed.

I disagree with him on just about everything. In fact I can’t remember anything he has said in the last couple of years that I could agree with. Except maybe that he believed in Global Warming, but he hasn’t come up with anything to prove he’s going to do anything about it, certainly choosing a VP who does not believe humans are responsible for global warming doesn’t say much for how important that subject is to him.

Wildlife Defense Funds Announcement of Support for Obama calling Palin “Anti-Environment” WASHINGTON - Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund today endorsed Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) for President and Vice President of the United States. Below is a statement from the organization’s president, Rodger Schlickeisen. “John McCain’s choice of Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate confirmed that the only candidates we can truly count on to protect our air, land and water are Senators Obama and Biden, and we are proud to today offer our endorsement of the Obama-Biden ticket,” said Schlickeisen. “John McCain’s record on the environment has been extremely mediocre at best, often erratic, and clearly inferior to that of either Obama or Biden. Now, his selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate provides a very clear warning that - as difficult as it may have been to contemplate earlier - a McCain-Palin administration would likely be just as bad as the Bush-Cheney one on many major environmental issues. So when it comes to sound environmental policy, to conserving wilderness areas and wildlife, to standing up to the special interests, there really is now no contest between the two tickets. While the McCain-Palin campaign studiously avoids most environmental issues and offers energy proposals based largely on Big Oil’s wish list, the Obama-Biden campaign is offering solid positions in nearly every environmental area, including forward-looking energy solutions. Continued Schlickeisen, “When McCain picked the notoriously anti-environmental Palin, he surrendered any reasonable argument that his administration would make finding real solutions to our nation’s serious energy, conservation and environmental problems a priority. The McCain-Palin ticket is now the overwhelming preference of big oil companies that have made billions in profits, while average Americans struggle to fill their tanks. That should tell voters who care about the environment and our children’s future all they need to know.” Defenders Action Fund underscored its endorsement by launching a new TV ad about Palin’s environmental record, focusing on her support for the aerial hunting of wolves, a cruel practice she actively champions in Alaska. The program licenses private citizens to fly airplanes and shoot wolves from the air or chase them to exhaustion before landing and shooting them point blank. The gunners then sell the pelts of the animals they kill for profit. The program also targets grizzly and black bears. The ad, which will air in presidential swing states, shows a new and extreme side to the Governor, which has yet to be fully explored in the media. “Sarah Palin not only condones the aerial hunting of wolves and bears, she actively promotes it,” continued Schlickeisen. “She has even gone so far as to propose a bounty of $150 for every severed left foreleg of a wolf the hunters can produce. Her promotion of this ghastly and unscientific program - which she pursues while simultaneously suing the federal government to eliminate protections for the imperiled polar bear - offers voters a glimpse of her values and character that is quite different from the picture carefully crafted by the McCain-Palin campaign’s professional speechwriters. It should also provide voters with a good idea of what a McCain-Palin administration’s approach to stewardship of our nation’s natural resources would be like. Americans deserve to know about this real side of Sarah Palin before they make up their minds about her. “Put simply, if voters care at all about the environment, about protecting our air, land, water and wildlife for future generations, then they should look past the misleading rhetoric of the McCain-Palin campaign and support Obama-Biden,” concluded Schlickeisen.