Ingraham Factors Veeps, Censorship, Abortion

Laura Ingraham hosted "The Factor" for Bill O'Reilly on August 20.  Her "Talking Points Memo" concerned the surge in the presidential polls of John McCain and the stalling and drops by Barack Obama. She credited McCain's clarity on issues such as values, offshore drilling and strong national security credentials as well as a positive view of America's future.Democratic strategist Howard Wolfson disagreed with Ingraham on her assessment of Obama as to the scope of the decline in his ratings.

University of Virginia political science Professor Larry Sabato evaluated the vice-presidential candidates for Barack Obama and said that Virginia Governor Tim Kaine would be doubling down on Obama's weaknesses in relative inexperience - especially in areas of national security where Senators Joe Biden and Evan Bayh could buoy him more.  Sabato said that Senator John McCain could see his boost with conservatives ebb if he took a pro-choice candidate for his running mate.

Adul Hakim Shabazz spoke with Ingraham about the Southport, Indiana mayor who decided to ban prayers at city council meetings, opting for a moment of silence instead which has caused an uproar.  Ingraham said this was a foolish move on the maoyor's part while Shabazz said that while he didn't care about the prayer issue as much, that it could potentially cause lawsuits to ensue.

Irshad Manji and Ingraham discussed the canceling of the novel "Jewel of Medina" about the youngest wife of the Prophet due to political correctness.  Manji said that this infantilizes Muslims and that they shouldn't be treated differently from other groups in matters of censorship.   

Susan Muskett, National Right to Life and Mathew Littman, Democratic strategist discussed Barack Obama's shifting positions on abortion, particularly with the Born Alive InfantProtection Act in Illinois where he seemed to hold an extreme position and that he is now backpedaling on, calling his critics liars.  Muskett said that he should apologize for calling his critics liars while Littman said that this wasn't quite the case. 

The show touched on the issues of the day in a lively, instructive manner.