Orlando gives "Thumbs-up" to McCain

The Republican presidential candidate paid a visit to this little corner of heaven yesterday.

Actually, it's his third visit in as many weeks.

I guess the pundits are correct. The I-4 Corridor will once again play a pivotal role in picking the new White House tenants. Those on the short list have certainly been courting us lately.

This time, Senator McCain was the guest of La Asociacion Borinquena de Florida Central, a Puerto Rican social club east of downtown Orlando.

You can tell from this picture that he was in good company. That's former governor Jeb Bush applauding in the background, far left. The current governor Charlie Christ is back there, too. He's the one sans jacket with shirt sleeves rolled-up. The man in mid-applause second from the right is my dad's old high school classmate and current Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty. Hidden behind McCain in this shot were a pair of Martinezes: Senator Mel and former governor Bob.

Love him or not, McCain was in his element in this small townhall sized event. Now I know why the junior senator from Illinois is afraid to engage him one on one in this sort of arena--despite the standing offer of free airfare.

The speechifying was, thankfully, kept to a minimum. The nominee touched on only 3 main themes:

1. The mess in the financial markets. He blasted those who have "treated Wall Street like a casino." A bit populist, but it resonated.

2. His plan to have 45 nuclear plants up and running by 2030, a goal that will not only move us toward energy independence but also toward a greener environment.

3. The success of the surge in Iraq. He always seems to go there, doesn't he? Well, I guess it's working for him . . .

Latest polls show all this courting of Sunshine State voters is paying off for the GOP. If he'd just send Sarah Palin down this way for a visit or two, he could seal the deal . . .

Tina Fey could have a new career!

I had no Gator game to watch this weekend. So, restless as that left me on this fine Saturday, I was able to stay up late enough to catch the season premiere of SNL.

I must confess that the show has lost its shine for me in recent years.

Of course, that probably has something to do with being out of college and a near elimination of beer consumption.

Most of the show still comes off as sophomoric to me. But, tonight's opening skit really had me laughing.

It featured Tina Fey as VP nominee Sarah Palin, and Amy Poehler as the woman who should have been the Democratic presidential nominee.

Now, Poehler is leaving at the end of the season. Apparently, there won't be much need for her impersonation of the junior senator from New York in the near term.

However, if things go well for the Republican ticket this Fall, I believe Fey will have at least four good years of impersonating Palin.

I'd been saying for weeks that there was a physical resemblance between these two very attractive women.

But, Fey deserves a lot of credit for picking up a pretty good Palin-esque accent along with some of the Alaska governor's podium mannerisms. I can only imagine how good both the comedienne and her muse will get with practice.

That alone should be enough to get you undecided voters off the fence and behind the GOP bandwagon!

Like nails on a chalkboard

After seeing Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, Rudy Giuliani, and other stellar speakers at the GOP convention earlier this week, last night's presidential nomination acceptance speech by John McCain was something of a letdown.

Fortunately, what he lacks in charisma is more than made up by his integrity and leadership abilities.

Nevertheless, there was one point in his speech that really grated on the nerves of this genealogist:

"We believe everyone has something to contribute and deserves the opportunity to reach their God-given potential, from the boy whose DESCENDANTS arrived on the 'Mayflower' to the Latina daughter of migrant workers."

With all the money I'm sure the McCain campaign pays their speech writers, editors, vetters, media consultants, and handlers, I find it hard to believe that no one over there knows the definition of "descendants." For their edification:

descendants - (n) one's posterity, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc.

Any boy who had descendants on the Mayflower would have to be tremendously old, even older than John McCain's 96-year-old mother Roberta, and could hardly be described as a boy in the first place.

I'm 99% certain the word they were looking for (or, should have been) is

ancestors - (n) one's forebears, parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, etc.

Maybe, the McCain campaign would like to hire a certain genealogical consultant to vet any future speeches.

Know your genealogy, ye socks!

Huck rallies the troops

Wow, I can't believe I stayed up so late last night watching the GOP convention coverage.

Most folks, I'm sure, were hanging in there to see how the new VP nominee Sarah Palin would do.

Yours truly was never in doubt that she would deliver a stellar speech.

No, what got me to tune in last night was the opportunity to see Mike Huckabee, the fellow I had supported during the primaries.

It was almost bittersweet to see him addressing a convention so many of us had hoped would be nominating him instead of John McCain. But, he quickly reminded us that now is the time to look forward, and we must be united in the fall to defeat the evils the junior senator from Illinois and his ilk would perpetrate if given the opportunity.

As usual, Huck had a couple of great quips. Here's my two favorite:

* The reporting of the past few days [referring to the "mainstream" media's coverage of Gov. Palin's family life] has proven tackier than a costume change at a Madonna concert.

* I'm not a Republican because I grew up rich. I'm a Republican because I don't want to spend the rest of my life poor, waiting for the government to rescue me.

I was also pleased to see that the Huckabee family was given a place of honor in the gallery. They were seated directly behind the McCains and Palins.

I think I'm finally ready to do what 96-year-old Roberta McCain suggested, hold my nose and vote for her son . . .

Governor Palin's roots

I love it when I can combine interests like genealogy and politics.

So, today, I wanted to let ye socks know what I've found about the roots of Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska, who will hopefully be the next Vice President of the United States.

She has several easily-traceable lines in this country (as well as others in Ireland and Germany). I will give you some of the surnames I found in case they may appear in your own family trees:

Abrams, Aires, ASTON
Bascom, Bassett, Beaumont, Blackwell, BRERETON, Brown, Burke
Caverley, Charde, Chipman, Claghorn, Clark, Cobb, Coleman, Collins, CORBET, Curtiss
Davis, Deane, DELVES, Durant
Everhart
Ford
Gibbs, Godfrey, Gorham, Gower, Grimm
Hammond, Hawes, Heath, Hedge, Henry, Hereson, Hinckley, HOWLAND, Huckins, Hurst, Hyllier
Ingersoll
Lothrop, Lovell
Mather, Mayhew, McKness, Mueller
Norton
Payne, Pease
Rainsford, Ring, Rowelles
Salte, Schmolz, Sheeran, Skiffe, Smith, Snow, Soule, Stephenson, Strong
Tanner, Taylor, TILLEY, Tyson
Warren, Whelden, Woodward
Yost

Note: Capitalized surnames are where I was able to make a direct link to my own family tree. So, it turns out the governor is my distant cousin several times over. (Now, there's as good a reason as any to run out and vote for her, isn't it?!)

Gustav: The storm that wasn't

I suppose if Gustav had received a more appropriate level of preparation, the hand-wringing crowd and their "mainstream" media cohorts would have accused President Bush of being an uncaring cad like they did back in 2005.

And, they would have tried to link all Republicans to that aspersion.

Fortunately, they failed.

But, all the evacuations, etc., proved to be a gross overreaction.

I suppose we should feel relieved about it, but I'm more peeved than anything else.

It got me thinking about that old Shakespeare comedy "Much Ado About Nothing."

What parallels may be drawn there? I knew ye socks would ask that question, so here's my feeble attempt.

I would cast John McCain and Sarah Palin in the roles of Benedick and Beatrice, who are kept apart by a bunch of foolishness until the very end of the play. Finally, though, they come together in an impromptu celebration. News reaches them of the capture of the dastardly Don Juan (played, of course, by the junior senator from Illinois). But, they don't let it ruin their day, choosing instead to continue enjoying themselves as planned and put off the villain's prosecution
for a more opportune moment.

Not sure what roles should be assigned to Joe Biden, Cindy McCain, or the Clintons. I'll leave that up to you!

It's Palin!

Well, it's official.

John McCain has picked Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his runningmate.

What a great choice!

Disclaimer: Yours truly was 95% sure he was going to pick Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota.

Putting a woman on the ticket not only stole the thunder away from all the yayhoo's out in Denver this week. I believe it will negate any post-convention bounce the junior senator from Illinois might have enjoyed.

The timing was perfect!

Most importantly, I think the choice will encourage more women (particularly some of the disaffected Hillary voters) to vote Republican in November.

A media blitz is sure to ensue this Labor Day weekend. So, pop some popcorn, grab a soda, and stake out a good spot on the couch! (Like you wouldn't be doing that anyway, right?!?)