DOAKS

Good evening folks. My friends, this will be a maverick blog post.

Long time no blog. I’ve been preoccupied with the Jewish Holiday’s and praying for atonement. During this intense repentance process, I’ve managed to extend my waist size by several cubic inches.

Today, Senator John McCain attended a rally in Downington Pennsylvania. At some point in middle of the festivities, the Republican candidate was presented with a Cindy McCippah. McCain was so impressed by the pink McCippah that he called over his wife Cindy to show her the maverick Yarmulke.

McCain also asked my friend Judy Davidson if “Joe” had seen the Kippah yet. Joe Lieberman. Not Joe plumber. Judy told him that Lieberman has the blue McCippah! Hopefully, Hadassah gave Joe the blue McCippah!

Here’s two pics of the McCain duo striking a pose with the Cindy McCippah.

OMG. Did you watch the speech last night? Just a few days ago, I blogged that the Republicans again lost the positive limelight. Last night, the tide shifted again. Big time.

Palin was incredible. Beautiful. Gracious. Connected with the crowd, including those watching on TV.

Even the international media is in love. Check out these quotes from the Sun:

Full of self-assurance and aggression, she popped Barack’s balloon big-time.

What will have scared the enemy camp most is the devastating series of prime-time punches she landed on the jutting Obama jaw.

And when McCain joined the Palin gang – babies and boyfriends and all – on stage after her speech there was a sense of cheeky fun absent from last week’s solemn Obama coronation.

As predicted, John McCain’s selection as Palin for VP is getting the main media stories. I have never seen Republicans so jazzed up.

Check out Google Trends for today:
#4 Sarah Palin Speech Video
#26 Sarah Palin T Shirts

Not sure what the Democrats have been thinking. The more criticism leveled at Palin, the more charged up the Republicans will get.

Here’s the Sarah Palin Speech Video:

P.S. Is that an Israeli flag pinned to her lapel???

Since the inception of the famed Kippah Polls, the McCippah as retained a consistent lead over the Obamica. Until last week. Yippers.

Yesterday, a writer asked me if the Obama Kippahs gained traction thanks to the DNC. I checked the numbers. Indeed, the convention put the Obamica ahead last week.

These numbers are not a total tally. It’s based on Kippah orders since the start of last week. When the history books are written about the politcal kippahs, this convention momentum will be referred to as the great convention kippah bounce.

Since last week, 60% of orders are for the Obamica; 40% for the McCippah.

The graphic depicts the changing tide; Hurricane Gustav, Gracious Hillary and Obama taking control in Denver.

In general, people were always surprised that the McCippah was outselling the Obamica, since Jews typically vote Democract.

Three possible explanations I keep hearing as to why this occured

1 - Democratic Jews have less money to spend after donating so much of their savings to the Obama campaign
2 - Republican Jews tend to be more religious; hence the Kippah
3 - Democratic Jews, while the majority, are akin to the girl with the natural beauty that doesn’t even need makeup. Makeup = Obamica Kippah Whereas the Republican Jew, the minority, has a tougher battle and needs the reinforcement…

Will the McCippah reclaim the title after the RNC this week?

Roll Call mentioned the McCippahs in a Heard of the Hill Column. Flattering!

“Some of HOH’s favorite bits of political swag floating around the Twin Cities are those classy blue suede yarmulkes apparently designed for the discriminating Jewish Republican. The head-coverings are emblazoned with the word “McCippah” (a cippah, or kippah, is another name for a yarmulke) and the phrase “John McCain is Zayer Shain” (translated: John McCain is great). We spotted them on some conventioneers, and one generous convention-goer even offered one to the Rev. Al Sharpton (see above item) at an event he headlined…..”

This is actually true. Someone handed a McCain Kippah to Al Sharpton. And there’s a photo to prove it.

The best part about all this is that amidst the high tension during the Crown Heights Riots, Sharpton was quoted saying: “If the Jews want to get it on, tell them to pin their yarmulkes back and come over to my house”.

It’s 2008 and now Al Sharpton has his very own Kippah!

Side note; I am considering updating the tagline for VanityKippah.com to “If the Jews want to get it on, tell them to pin their yarmulkes back and come over to my house“.

What do you think?

You think the title of this post is complicated? Wait til you meet me in person….

The Palin and Obama drama reminds me of the latest browser wars. Here’s how: for the past few years, Firefox has been the darling of the browser world. Mozilla has about 20% of market share. Forget about the fact that IE has more than 70% of internet users. It’s more about the “who”. Firefox is often preferred by the tech savvy/the younger generation/the influencers. Microsoft is aware of this. And they’re not standing still…in a Microsoft sort of way. Which means, to the naked eye, they aren’t doing much.

Even to the fully-clothed eye, the question remains; can Microsoft ever be cool again.

Last week, out of nowhere, Internet Explorer was cool again. Version 8 of IE offered a neat feature, dubbed the porn mode. More here. Basically, a feature that allows you to customize the history of your browsing. Not only was this a good idea, it’s also sort of counter-Google, since Google wants to know everything about your web browsing habits. Especially after acquiring Double Click.

It was working. Microsoft was cool again. For a few days. I changed my Facebook status to “How Microsoft got its groove back”.

The honeymoon was short lived. Over the weekend, word “leaked” that Google was launching their own browser called Chrome. Google hopes to challenge IE and Microsoft. End of the IE 8 story. Everyone jumped on the Google browser. Google products get people excited. Microsoft products do not.

And this my friends reminded me of the Palin/Obama saga. Last week, the Obama team got a ton of press. The DNC wasn’t a failure of disunity, which means that it was a success for the Democrats. Then on Friday, team McCain announced that Sarah Palin would be VP. The media charged. McCain/Palin ruled the discussion for a few days.

That honeymoon was also cut short. News of Palin’s daughter has once again put a damper on the McCain PR party. And the Republicans are pining for the days when press was a scarcity.

P.S. For fun, I created a browser war website, IE versus Firefox. It needs updating ASAP!.

A belated Happy Labor day. I napped for a lot of the day. Did some touch up work on my never ending short story. And sponsored a bowling party at Lucky Strike. More on “how not to host a bowling party” in a future post.

Today, September 1st, Neiman Marcus & the Republican Jewish Coalition National Women’s Committee, the RJC women, hosted a fundraiser/fashion show/silent auction that benefited the Susan G. Koman foundation. Link to the invite I did not receive. The affair took place at Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis.

The media was NOT allowed in.

The guest of honor was Hadassah Lieberman. Hadassah told reporters she is backing McCain but not officially endorsing him. To translate into vernacular terms: she is voting for John McCain but probably does not have a McCain yard sign or a bumper sticker on the windshield.

Also in attendance at the gala…the McCippah! Yes; there was a McCippah sighting. Here’s a photo of Hadassah Lieberman striking a pose with the McCain Kippah. Don’t they look great together?! I hope Hadassah let’s Joe wear the McCippah to his pilates class.

Scott Feigelstein of the RJC is on the left. The beautiful Haddasah is on the right.

Good weekend. This past Shabbos, I stayed by a friend in Mercer Island. Good fun. I did not wear my McCain or Obama Kippah to shul. It was my first time there was no reason for me to alienate anyone. Instead, I played it say and wore my Hot Kippah.

As you can imagine, the synagogue was abuzz with the Palin nomination. In a surprising turn of events, every Jew I met had an opinion about McCain’s VP selection. And, they were more than willing to share it with be. Big surprise. (Sarcasm level at full throttle.)

Here’s the biggest shocker of all; the Democrats told me that it was a stupid decision. And the Republicans opined that it was a brilliant move orchestrated my McCain. Crazy! Truth be told, during the Friday night dinner, a democrat who had a lot of wine to drink told me that after she watched Palin and McCain on stage, she started to worry for her party.

OK; bottom line, Is Sarah good for the Jews? Ira Norman, head of the National Jewish Democratic Council issued a statement saying that Palin was a bad choice. Matt Brooks, head of the Republican National Jewish Council issued a statement in support of the decision. Again, tremendous shock! You can read more here. And here.

Now, the fact is, had Lieberman been chosen as McCain’s VP, the Jewish community really would have been torn asunder on the matter. Especially since Lieberman was almost a Democratic VP. At least Sarah Palin isn’t Jewish. I can only imagine the debates that would have taken place amongst the Jews.

Rabbi Yossi Greenberg of Chabad in Alaska, yes, of course Chabad is in Alaska, had very nice things to say about Sarah Palin. “She’s established a great relationship with the Jewish community over recent years, and has attended several of our Jewish cultural gala events,” and that “We all feel that the Governor is a remarkable, energetic, and good person.”

Greenberg was unequivocal in stating that Chabad representatives do NOT endorse political candidates.

Sarah Palin with Rabbi Greenberg

Just finished reading today’s WSJ. Of course, like everyone else, they were dead wrong about the McCain’s VP choice, suggesting Romney, Pawlenty & LieberJew.

I didn’t post on Obama choosing Biden for a few reasons:

1) My Bubby was wrong and I didn’t want to dwell on that

2) Biden was a predictable choice; bringing to the table the experience that Obama lacks

Sarah Palin is different. IMO, she is a safer choice than the three former VP candidates:
- Romney was too Mormon for some
- Pawlenty was too bland for the party that needs a star injection
- Lieberman was too Democrat for many

Moreover, agree or disagree with McCain’s choice, Sarah Palin will get a ton of media exposure, which the McCain camp desperately needs. Why?

1- She is female
2- She is gorgeous
3- She is an unknown which makes it all the more compelling of a story

McCain also lacks “youth”, which Palin will more than compensate for.

The criticism coming out from Obama camp about Palin is a regurgitation of the stuff that was being aimed at Obama; the lack of experience, relying on the race card (gender in Palin’s case) and good looks (what a moronic insult!).

The difference is; Obama is running for President. Palin is running as VP. Big difference. People don’t vote for VP’s. They vote for Presidents.

Here’s the dealio; the Obama camp is in a serious catch 22; their attempts to belittle Palin will only reflect negatively on them. Remember, the Democrats are known as the progressive party. Yet, Hillary was not chosen as Obama’s VP, even though that would have made an unbeatable ticket. It was the Republican party that chose a female VP candidate!

Furthermore, to chastise Palin for lack of experience is to define the word “hypocrisy”! Personally, the Democratic party would be much better off NOT bringing up the experience card. Remeber, even Democratic VP Joe Biden said that Obama doesn’t have the necessary experience…

FYI, there is an ongoing investigation into Palin which the Democrats will be quick to point out. Fair enough. But again, Sarah Palin is a VP candidate. Not a presidential candidate. And it will not hurt her or McCain more than the Reverend Wright mess or the Rezko allegation.

Good Tuesday. Last week, on Wednesday morning at the Radnor Hotel in Philadelphia, there was a breakfast honoring Eric Cantor. Cantor as you may have heard, is a potential VP candidate for John McCain. At some point during the breakfast, Eric Cantor endorsed the McCippah. No speech was necessary. He wore it on his head and that trumps any speech.

This Kippah-Kodak Moment was reported on in the Seattle Times, the Seattle PI and uber-political blog Politico.

Cantor is wearing the Kippah, though it is hard to spot due to his great head of potential VP hair!

Here are the pics from the party, thanks to Judy Davidson!

Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Myles Tannenbaum, leader of the Republican Jewish Chapter in PA

US Congressman Jim Gerlach on the right, Candidate Craig Williams on the left

Craig Williams and Scott Feigelstein, leader of Republican Jewish Chapter in PA

P.S. If you know of other political events taking place, especially Democratic, please let me know (info at vanitykippah dot com). I’d be happy to sponsor Obama Kippahs!

The results for the Kippah Polls are in. I worked them myself on a spread sheet. McCippah has increased the lead to 58%. The Obamica is at 42%.

Why has the McCain Kippah taken a substantial lead? A few possible reasons:

1. An article on the Jewish Week site informed the Jewish world about McCain winning in the Kippah Wars. And people have a natural tendency to root for a “winner”. Then again, others, myself included, enjoy cheering for the underdog.

2. I strongly believe that the political pendulum swung in favor of McCain during the past week. The Georgia/Russia thing is a foreign policy issue, a strong advantage for McCain as it has nothing to do with Iraq and more to do with experience. It also helps that Obama has been on vacation all week, while McCain is writing “We Are All Georgians” op-eds for the Journal.

3. The John Edwards scandal is taking its toll on the polls.