Barbadian diaspora blogger Doan Mind Me uses humour (and a touch of local parlance) to downplay his concerns:

The potential vice-president of the United States of America did not just get up in a televised debate and give a “shout out” to somebody. Ya lie! I mean I already knew she was sorta ghetto, what given the chile names and the pregnant teenager but still she like she was trying to prove her bona fides last night.

Look there is a time and place for everything. A live nationally televised debate was not the place to give shout outs. It tells me your vocabulary is limited or you don't have the sense to know when to use certain types of language. Leave that sorta talk to the fellas on ESPN and Sportsnet and people like me dat duz blog.

The glaring double standard is also not lost on him:

How it would look if Obama was giving a presentation and say yea I wanta thank my boy O-G Joe Biden for hooking me up with these figures and Michelle for the slamming PowerPoint slides. Everybody would be looking at the man like he gone off or something. Plus you would hear how he inarticulate and he ghetto and he sound like a rapper and all sort of stuff so. But let Palin do that and suddenly she folksy and cute and represent the everyday Joe sixpack.

Get the bleep outta here!

Living in Barbados has a similar take on the situation:

It was a fascinating contrast on display. In the past weeks we had been led to believe that Governor Palin was “gaffable”; an almost total “ditz”–not too smart; more than a bit folksy in her spoken manner (saying “Darnit” a lot); trying to sound ordinary by talking about “Joe Six Pack”, and hockey moms; out of her depth on any of the serious issues that we expect to hear top politicians talk on about. But, she had shown that she could learn a script, though unfortunately could not do more than recite the words (”She's a nauseating puppet”, my wife said in her text message from St. Kitts last night), and sometimes not in the right order. What was she saying by the repetition of the “all of the above” approach? Was this something on the brief that she needed to read to find out that there were some substantive arguments to make? Did she under that she asked for widening the constitutional role of the vice president? Maybe her wink at the camera was an ominous warning.

Ah, the wink. A ploy that did not sit well with Jdid:

Oh and what was with the winking? Looka me an she ain't nuh friends, we ain't share no inside joke, so either she got an involuntary tick in she eye or she was trying to get fresh wid me pun tv. And she coulda at least wink at muh when the wife wasn't sitting next to me.

Tongue in cheek, Living in Barbados says “you have to admire the single-mindedness of Gov. Palin”…

No matter what the question, she turned it back to her answers, and the two pillars of almost all her replies were “energy” and “tax reductions”. Ms. Ifill asked about a bankruptcy bill; Gov. Palin gave a cursory reply then came back with “I think that this is important to come back to, with that energy policy plan…” She spoke with energy, on energy issues, on energy plans, on renewable energy, about energy-producing states, about energy independence, and on and on. But there was very little substance to the answers.

…but he seems genuinely impressed by how Senator Biden handled the debate:

I admired Sen. Biden for not blinking doe-like in the same fashion as Katie Couric, but it was a hard thing not to do. Staying with the reported strategy, he did not focus much on Gov. Palin, but on the Bush-McCain nexus, including a nicely aimed kick at Vice President Cheney, whom he said “has been the most dangerous vice president we've had probably in American history”.

He surmises:

What I saw also were clear attempts to connect to ordinary people. These two candidates are really reluctant heroes in not choosing to run for the highest offices, but were plucked onto the wagon to give each side something that was missing and would hopefully seal enough votes for the presidential candidates. Sen. Palin has her simple family story and told it often. Gov. Biden too has a simple family story, even though he now has a better life than with which he began.

For Living in Barbados, there was one defining moment of the entire debate:

When he (Biden) choked on recalling these difficulties of his own life, it was notable that Gov. Palin did not offer a word of common sympathy or acknowledgment, but came back with: “People aren't looking for more of the same. They are looking for change. And John McCain has been the consummate maverick in the Senate over all these years.” That for me was more telling than the rest of the debate. Gov. Palin had been too coached to respond to anything that was being said to her and her pat answer says volumes about what is really at work.

Jdid chimes in:

Oh and just because.
maverick, maverick maverick maverick, maverick.
Sorry just had to get that out my system.

As if the debate itself weren't enough fodder for bloggers, Sarah Palin went and attacked Barack Obama over William Ayers. Trinidad and Tobago diaspora blogger Mocha Soul Child has this to say:

After her stunning victory of a mediocre performance at the debates, Palin launched another attack at the Obama camp. It was clear from the debate that Palin does not support negotiations with “terrorist states” without preconditions.

If, she had followed that line of reason, I would be inclined to say she had a real debatable question in her hot little hands.

But instead of taking the high road, she lays it in the gutter, casting doubt on his patriotism, instead of debating the issues. The fundamental statement the McCain-Palin ticket seem to be making is “He's not one of us.” Why else would you attack Obama's patriotism and his Americanness, when there are plenty of real issues they could address such as the value of meeting with enemy nations without preconditions?

Why attack Obama on his patriotism, when it would be so much more salient to question him on foreign policy? It tinges on the the verge of something far nastier, something no one who supports senator Obama can even acknowledge for fear of alienating white voters, but is there, just as the blatant sexism in this race to the white house.

England for Obama lauds the manner in which the Democratic candidate handled McCain's hesitation:

Nicely handled, Barack. You stuck to your guns, you expressed equal concern about what’s good for the country - can’t let McCain have the upper hand on that one, now, can we? - and you’ve come out of this smelling of roses. That’s our boy. Not that we expected any less of you, of course…

Jotman draws our attention to the Economist's Global Electoral College, where Obama is ahead in the the international polls - not that they can vote, but never mind.

Check out this interactive map at the Economist called the “Global Electoral College”. Almost every country on the map is “strong Obama.” Thailand — which I blog a lot about — is 97% for Obama. Several other countries, such as France (90% Obama) and Canada (87% Obama) are not far behind. At this hour, only Slovakia (52% Obama) remains hotly contested.

And how far are Obama's international supporters willing to reach out? Sky is the limit for Gisèle, from France, who has even started a Pray for Obama blog. Her reasoning?

“The next President of the United States of America will make decisions that will affect the lives of billions of people worldwide. We citizens of the world cannot vote but we can support and pray for the man we believe will best serve not only the American people, but also the rest of the world.

Les décisions du prochain président des Etats-Unis d'Amérique auront un impact non seulement sur la vie des américains mais aussi sur le reste du monde. En tant que citoyens du monde nous ne pouvons pas voter à ces éléctions mais nous pouvons apporter notre soutien à l'homme que nous considérons plus à même de servir non seulement les intérêts du peuple américain mais qui pourra aussi dialoguer avec le reste du monde.

“

From the United Kingdom, writing for OpenUSA, Kanishk Tharoor describes how Obama's race is once again rearing its ugly head into the campaign - not that it ever went away.

Earlier this week, conservative radio pundit Rush Limbaugh played a terrifying game of racial semantics. He insisted that Barack Obama  was not, in fact, African-American, but rather “Arab”. Limbaugh mused: “Do you know he has not one shred of African-American blood? He's Arab. You know, he's from Africa. He's from Arab parts of Africa. … [H]e's not African-American. The last thing that he is is African-American.” Nevermind that Kenya - Obama's fatherland - is hardly an “Arab” part of Africa. Nevermind the implied assertion that it's unacceptable to be Arab.

Tharoor continues:

Of course, America's tormented relationship with race has never lurked too far from the surface of the election campaign. The irony is that Obama himself must continue to row through the waters as if there was very little roiling below. Obama's opponents flippantly and indelicately invoke race; Obama must steer clear.

Speaking of Obama's race, The Haitian Blogger writes:

Race is the “elephant” in the election and a subject that Barack Obama has been avoiding whenever possible, but which he has addressed masterfully when necessary. Race is also why John McCain is running so close in the polls to Barack Obama, in spite of his blunders, ineptitude, temperament and incoherence. It's true that Obama has eked a small lead, but not what you would expect.

Finally, from Trinidad and Tobago, Notes from Port of Spain observes:

It looks to me as if Obama peaked too early, and that America is reassessing him, and rather fancying McCain. Of course a lot can happen in six weeks. And maybe Obama has a plan. Maybe even a good plan.

But events are running against him. Pundits say the present financial crisis won't make much difference. But I think it makes people nervous and afraid, and that's when they want to play safe, not take risks.

I have been steering clear of politics lately, just because I notice a clear correlation with my high blood pressure and paying close attention to every detail of this election race. You already know what my hopes for the future are. But what do I know? Back in January, I actually thought an Obama/Edwards ticket was the thing to beat. Imagine how disappointed I was to see a shameful dalliance with a Tom Petty lookalike derail that dream. (Sorry to be so uncharacteristically snarky, but I’m still mad about that. Talk about a news story that raised my blood pressure).

Last night when I put on my Ojamas and dreamed up my ideal Democratic ticket (just kidding - I don’t actually own a pair of Ojamas. But aren’t they adorable?), I imagined a wild card candidate and kept Joe Biden on the back burner. I definitely think he’s a great debater and talk show guest because of his straight shooting nature, but his history of gaffes and misstatements makes me unsure that he’d be a wise choice — Jack and Jill Politics also pointed all of that out recently, which gave me even more pause. Still, I definitely admire his foreign policy skills.

This is a veep with issues — he speaks his mind and has said stupid things in the past — he really, really needs to self-edit a whole lot better. But still, I like him. I really like him. And I think he makes this the change and experience ticket, which I believe would be hard to beat. I am cautiously optimistic. But enough about what I think — I don’t claim to be extremely politically knowledgeable, by any means. Just passionate and engaged. Feel free to step in and school me on your thoughts on the ticket.

What do you all think?

As the speech begins, African Twitter users are having fun translating Obama's trademark phrase, “Yes We Can” into different African languages. From Kenya, afromusing starts the trend with Swahili:

dnashong, originally from Ghana, shares more ways to say we can:

kaysha remarks upon Africa's need for a figure like Obama:

dnashong responds:

He then corrects himself to say “you know I should've said Africa's new leaders. I mean US!”

Malagasy lrakoto admits his excitement for Obama's reactions:

Although it goes without saying that non-U.S. citizens have a number of reasons for their interest in the U.S. elections, Trinidadian nplaughlin puts it best when he says:

Bahraini amiraalhussaini quips:

Finally, Nigerian kuikihoro seems disappointed that Obama's speech ended so quickly:

The first hot topic of the evening was former Vice President and Nobel prize winner Al Gore's speech. Much of the conversation surrounded the odd choice of “Let the Sunshine In” as Gore's entrance and exit music. From Trinidad, georgiap quipped:

Brazilian danielduende was also amused by the choice:

Kenyan afromusing, live-tweeting the DNC, says:

Canadian doshdosh remarks upon Obama's campaign strategies during the DNC:

As the clock nears 10:00 EST, Danish-Puerto Rican solanasaurus sends word from the DNC:

Just prior to Obama's entrance, Trinidadian nplaughlin queries:

Driving the message home that the U.S. election has truly become global, Taiwanese tweeter leonardchien remarks:

Afrobella says that although Hillary Clinton is working hard to rally support for Obama, some of her supporters are still sceptical about voting for Barack Obama. She notes:

But for every one of her remaining supporters who plans to do what Hillary’s encouraging them to do — no way, no how, no McCain — there are those who apparently can’t get behind that sentiment. As revealed in this Washington Post article, there are holdouts who simply refuse to cast their vote for Obama, even though his policies are so similar to their would-be candidate.

According to Afrobella, such strong resistance means that they:

would rather see victory go to someone who directly opposes many of their candidate’s policies, rather than someone who supports them.

Her post has so far attracted 44 comments at the time of doing this round up.

Shones agrees and adds:

Hillary gave a rousing speech full of promise for the road ahead. She was truly amazing in her delivery. Hillary supported Obama over, and over, and over again throughout the speech, and yet still some staunch HRC supporters refuse to support her EVEN AFTER she said, “I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me? Or was it for the marine, etc.” I guess their answer is “yes… well, not really, I was in it for ME, Hill.” After her speech last night, IMHO, their refusal to back the candidate she supports is a slap in HER face.

Plus, I anticipate Obama giving Hillary a position in his cabinet if he wins… so it would be a win-win for everyone if they could just pull it together. Sheesh.

Mom and Dad said:

Hilary is a class act and America is America. We really hope that Democrats look at the bigger picture and the common good and rally behind their chosen candidate, as eloquently and passionately pleaded by Mrs.Clinton. The whole world is watching.

edessedesigns is also touched by Hillary's gesture:

I agree with Shones. I have always liked Hillary. Say what you will about her but I really like her. The media and Obama supporters were/still are very unkind to her and some the remarks I read after she made her speech last night just reminded me that she is damned if she does or does not.

Gisele hopes the media would expose the Democratic Party's deserters and says:

I would like CNN or some other major news outlet to do an in depth story on these Hillary supporters who hate Obama so much; and present them for who they really are. A group of hateful women who do not want to admit their sense of entitlement for Hillary’s candidacy is based on nothing other than privilege, charading as victims of sexism.

Obama has done nothing but remain agentleman throughout Hill and Bill’s venomous attacks against him. I mean, to imply that she should be prez because Obama might even get shot?! Yet for someone to say they “hate Obama so much” says so much about this particular demographic that needs to be addressed. Basically, ain’t nobody trying to drive Miss Daisy no more and many of them are beside themselves with bitterness, and I will personally be mad as hell if this arrogance causes Obama the presidency. But I don’t think it will.

And for Z'maji of HauteBlogXOXO the reason why some would not back Obama is racial:

I hate to be the one that goes full force upon the COLOR train, but the only reason anyone would vote for someone that totally and completely opposes what you believe in this case would have to do with the color of his skin. I know some people will say that “some of the opposers are black” THAT DOESN’T CHANGE A THING. There are white people and black people that will not stand to have a black president.

Another blogger from Trinidad and Tobago, W Lotus says when compared to Obama, Hillary doesn't go back on her word:

I didn't watch Senator Clinton's speech last night; I knew she would say whatever she would have to say in order to keep her word to support Senator Obama's presidential bid. Unlike Obama in the very recent past, she hasn't struck me as one to go back on her word. I also know she is playing the game, doing whatever she feels she must do in order to semi-protect her career within the party. That may or may not be wise.

An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.
~ Winston Churchill

PUMAs are well-represented in Denver, and they've discovered the DNC is pressuring delegates to do a secret hotel vote for the nomination, which would make the roll call vote a mere formality which means nothing. Someone is running scared, and it is not Senator Clinton. I'm not surprised by the back-door politics; it's yet another thing to add to my growing list titled, “I saw this coming from a mile away.”

I stopped feeding the crocodile and will not go back. I hope Senator Clinton doesn't get eaten by the crocodile she is feeding.

But for every one of her remaining supporters who plans to do what Hillary’s encouraging them to do — no way, no how, no McCain — there are those who apparently can’t get behind that sentiment. As revealed in this Washington Post article, there are holdouts who simply refuse to cast their vote for Obama, even though his policies are so similar to their would-be candidate.

The end of the article really got me in the gut: ““I hate Obama so much that I’m going to devote as much time to McCain as I did to Hillary,” said Adita Blanco, a Democrat from Edward, Okla., who has never voted for a Republican. “Obama has nothing. He has no experience. The Democratic Party doesn’t care about us. You couldn’t treat [Clinton] any worse.”

Perhaps the best example of the persistent divide in the Democratic Party came after Clinton’s speech Tuesday night. The lights went down in the Pepsi Center, and some influential Democrats left downtown for good. They planned to head for the airport and fly home, long before Obama accepts the nomination in a speech at Invesco Field on Thursday night.

Clinton will hold a private meeting with her top financial advisers Wednesday, and many donors plan to leave immediately afterward. Terence R. McAuliffe, Clinton’s campaign chairman and the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, also plans to leave before Obama’s speech. Many of the women from 18 Million Voices, Fiechter’s pro-Clinton group, booked tickets for Wednesday and Thursday because “we really are taking a position of being indifferent to Obama,” Fiechter said.”

To me, that indicates that Adita from Oklahoma and the others who feel like she does — would rather see victory go to someone who directly opposes many of their candidate’s policies, rather than someone who supports them.

Hillary’s whole speech is already online, so click here to watch if you haven’t seen it yet. I’ll be watching after my deadline today, and I’ll post my two cents in the comments later.
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Did you watch Hillary’s speech last night, bellas and fellas? How did she do? And is there any hope for convincing those who were apparently unmoved by even their own candidate’s exhortations, or women like this, who are moved to tears at the prospect of voting for Barack?

In case you missed the speech, Yahoo and CNN both have recaps. She shared her family background and her father’s struggles through illness, she explained her attraction and admiration for Barack, commemorated the historic significance of the timing of the Democratic National Convention — the 88th anniversary of women winning the right to vote, and the 45th anniversary of Dr. King’s “I have a dream” speech — and payed tribute to Hillary Clinton to thunderous applause. She said all of the right things to directly address those who would still question her patriotism and pride in America.
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NPR has a transcript here. I just want to know — did you watch Michelle’s speech tonight? Did she nail it, or am I just hopelessly biased? What did you think?

For even more politics, check out Jack and Jill Politics, Pam’s House Blend, and Michelle Obama Watch for coverage live from the convention!