McCain's Love of Lobbyists

(Proudly cross-posted at MyDD and ComputerQueen.Net)

Let's watch the video first:


This is one of the new Obama ads, and I think they have it right on the money. This ad really highlights just who McSame has working for him. You can see more on this at McLOBBYI$T.Com

With him lying about the issues, lying about who is working for him, lying about his running mate's record, lying about his voting record, lying about his opponent's voting record ... what WON'T McCain lie about?

The last thing America needs is another Lying President.

Listen to that heartbeat

Palin Still Wants to Build the Bridge to Nowhere with Federal Earmarks

Ah, yes, this story is an immense fount for all of us who are amazed that McCain actually chose the most suspect candidate for vice president since Dan Quayle darkened American history.

Get this, Sarah "Thanks but No Thanks" Palin is still trying to build the bridge to nowhere, and she wants to use $73 million dollars in federal funds to do it.

Ah, yes. Sarah "Lying Sack of Shit" Palin

has portrayed herself as a foe of pork-barrel spending, pointing in particular to her role in killing the $398 million "Bridge to Nowhere” between Ketchikan (pop. 7,400) and its airport on Gravina Island (pop. 50). I "told the Congress, 'Thanks, but no thanks,'" she said in her speech accepting the Republican vice presidential nomination. "If our state wanted to build a bridge, we were going to build it ourselves."

Even so, her administration fesses up that it's still trying to build that Bridge to Nowhere "with the help of as much as $73 million in federal funds earmarked by Congress for the original project."

Golly, gee. I guess she was for it after she was against it after she was for it.

The Wannabe American Idols

Roger Ebert has written a new critique on the two aspiring celebrities hoping to become stars in a different way. They're willing to lie, cheat, and steal to make it to the top. And the worst part? They have no talent.

Make this video go viral

The makers of this video on the distortions in John McCain's ads suggest that we each send it to 10 people and let the truth go viral. I already have taken them up on their offer despite my aversion to such things. I think we have a tool in the Internet to overcome John McCain's lies, and I urge you to overcome your aversion to sending things like this to your friends and contacts. We need to make the truth go viral the same way that the right wing sends out lies about Obama's faith and positions.

Bloodthirsty Sarah

Another perspective on Sarah the Barbarian:

I wasn't a mayor for a short period of time. I wasn't governor for a short period of time.

John McCain articulates in a Republican debate many of his qualifications to be president that distinguished him from his opponents in the primaries, and funny, as it turns out, distinguishes him from his vice presidential pick, who based on his criteria is not qualified to be president.

We may ask why John McCain failed to choose as his running mate someone who did not meet his articulated criteria for readiness to serve as president:

1. A strong and long relationship on national security;

2. Involvement in every national crisis that this nation has faced since Beirut;

3. Understanding of the issues;

4. Understanding and appreciation of the enormity of the challenge we face from radical Islamic extremism;

5. Preparation;

6. No need for on-the-job training;

7. Only being a mayor and a governor for a short period of time.

McBush's Klassy Operation

Oh, jeez! As if the Interior Department sex for oil scandal were bad enough, it gets worse. Guess which Presidential Campaign has hired two lobbyists who work for two of the companies that have become enbroiled in this scandal? Oh yes, Mr. "I'm Not With Lobbyists" McMaverick McBush has employed two lobbyists who've worked for two companies that have traded sex for oil contracts.

Oh yes, McBush-Failin'... Bulls**t we can't believe in! ;-)

McBush Would Rather Lose His Integrity Than Lose an Election

Priceless quote from the Obama campaign:

Today on "The View," John McCain defended his campaign's latest ad campaign, which has been debunked repeatedly as both false and sleazy. In running the sleaziest campaign since South Carolina in 2000 and standing by completely debunked lies on national television, it's clear that John McCain would rather lose his integrity than lose an election.

I hope this isn't the end. Here's a suggestion for Obama: Use this in a TV ad!

Are You a Constitution Voter?

I am. Protecting our civil liberties and the U.S. Constitution are the most important political issues to me. That's why I've joined ACLU supporters from all across the country by ordering a free "I'm a Constitution Voter" bumper sticker.

This is a way to make sure people understand that, as America elects new leaders, there's nothing more important than protecting the Constitution. If you cherish the Constitution and the fundamental freedoms it protects, declare in public your personal commitment to constitutional rights.

Sign the ACLU's "I'm a Constitution Voter" pledge and get your free "I'm a Constitution Voter" bumper sticker now. The ACLU will deliver the pledge to candidates by October 15th to show just how many people want our elected leaders to stand up for the Constitution.

The Patriot Act. Assaults on religious liberty. Bush's repeated assaults on reproductive freedom. Warrantless wiretapping of innocent Americans. Massive invasions of privacy in the name of the war on terror. Guantánamo Bay. Abu Ghraib. Reckless assertions that the President is above the law. None of these could have happened if our government respected the Constitution and the rule of law. And none of them would have lasted this long if Congress had the political courage to defend the Constitution. That's why we've got to make our commitment to the Constitution absolutely clear to those who want to lead America into the future.

Sign the "I'm a Constitution Voter" pledge and get your free bumper sticker now.

Today's Polls: The Race Is Close

POLL ALERT!! The tracking polls are in, and here's what's happening:

Gallup Daily-
McCain 48%
Obama 45%

Rasmussen Tracking-
McCain 49%
Obama 46%

Diageo/Hotline-
Obama 45%
McCain 44%

Research 2000-
Obama 47%
McCain 46%

Overall, it looks painfully close to a tie right now. While McCain gained 1% in Research 2000 and 3% in Rasmussen, Obama gained 1% in Gallup and 2% in Diageo/Hotline. And in all four cases, the race is just too close to call. Thankfully, we still have seven more weeks to see what happens... And work our asses off to help Obama win! :-)

Can I Haz More Panic?

Maybe not. The American Prospect suggests now may be a good time to calm down.

[...] It certainly doesn't help to have Democrats wringing their hands and complaining about problems Obama doesn't have. Enthusiasm is the big indicator in an election that will ride on turnout, and Democrats have every reason to be enthusiastic.

Howard Wolfson, Hillary Clinton's spokesperson during the primary campaign, has made this point on his new blog. During the primary race, many counted Obama out, didn't understand his campaign's strategy, didn't think he could keep himself in the race. Clinton adopted Obama's change rhetoric and attacked him the same way McCain has -- on experience and for his eloquence. But Obama and his team hewed to their strategy and pulled out the win. The senator from Illinois is known as a closer, and there is plenty of time left. Keep the faith.

Perhaps they're right. This, too, shall pass. Work hard. Knock doors. Make calls. Donate $$$$.

Keep up the good work, and we can win. It's really that simple. ;-)

Why McCain & Palin Scare Me

What Sarah Palin revealed is that she has not been interested enough in world affairs to become minimally conversant with the issues. Many people in our great land might have difficulty defining the "Bush Doctrine" exactly. But not to recognize the name, as obviously was the case for Palin, indicates not a failure of last-minute cramming but a lack of attention to any foreign-policy discussion whatsoever in the last seven years.

James Fallows gets it right. That's what disturbs me about McCain's Palin pick. Not the personal drama, not the "Caribou Barbie" mystique, not any of the nonsense the GOP throws out as to "why the angry left hates her".

No, it's none of that. Rather, it's McCain's lack of judgment in choosing Palin that frightens me. It's their right-wing extremism that horrifies me. It's Palin's cluelessness on all things outside Alaska that scare me to death. It's their blatant dismissal of their own "Country First" slogan, as their actions show they'll put Republican politicking ahead of the best interest of this nation.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way. That's why we can't throw in the towel now. I know the polls look depressing now, and it looks like the GOP may be getting away with murder. This is just more reason why we can't let them get away with it now. The stakes are too high, and we can't allow yet another bunch of "Me First, Screw All of You!" Republicans to destroy our republic.

"The Issue Is John McCain"

Well said, Gov. Tim Kaine! Enough with "The Sarah Palin Reality Freak Show". It's time we focus on what matters.

Sarah Palin is a cocky whacko. Period.

Sarah Palin has caught the fancy of many people, and I confess there is something very engaging about her. But there is something even more frightening about her that outstrips the measure in which she is engaging.

I have been reading opinion on the Internet about her interview on ABC News, and I would like to offer some reflections. No one seems to contest that Sarah Palin didn't know what the Bush Doctrine is. Some have countered, "Well, why should she? I don't know what the Bush Doctrine is, so there is no reason to expect her to know what the Bush doctrine is." Huh? To these people I would like to ask, are you running to be vice president of the United States, and if you are elected, will you have an inordinate chance to become the president of the United States, given that you serve an elderly man with a history of cancer? I have no doubt that these people and Sarah have knowledge that qualifies them to do certain things and characteristics that serve them well in their respective spheres, but Barack Obama knows what the Bush doctrine is; John McCain knows what the Bush doctrine is; and Joe Biden knows what the Bush doctrine is. Moreover, so does Hillary Clinton, Charlie Gibson, and frankly, so does DCDemocrat. Hillary Clinton, Charlie Gibson, and DCDemocrat are not running to be president or vice president; Sarah Palin is.

Do we have no expectations that a vice president of the United States must understand fundamentals in our national life and policy?

I mean, really.

C'mon.

I can see another line of defense. Some people want to confuse the storyline and suggest the problem of us Sarah-Doubters is that Sarah Palin endorses the Bush Doctrine. Oh, give me a break. The story here is not that Sarah Palin endorses the Bush Doctrine. The story here is that she does not understand the Bush Doctrine. Now that's fine for you, me, Cindy Lou Who, and all the Whos down in Whoville, but it isn't fine for a prospective vice president of the United States, particularly one who serves an aged man with a history of cancer.

Now given Sarah Plain's demonstrated lack of a grasp on a key element of our foreign policy, I wonder how it is that she imagines she is competent to assess whether or not it is in our national interest to place Georgia in NATO with all the risks that such a move would entail? I am not venturing an opinion about whether or not Georgia should be NATO; I am simply asking what in her background makes her so cocksure we should allow Georgia in NATO?

I will turn 50 in November. When I was a boy, the United States and Russia had a lot of nuclear weapons pointed toward one another. Every school boy knew that if one of those missiles was fired, we had reached game over, the end of human history, because both sides had enough firepower to destroy the world over and over and over. For decades, we were content to live in a stalemate, because war with Russia was simply unthinkable.

Ms. Sarah Palin not only thought it, she spoke the unspeakable. Whether or not her analysis of the duties of NATO members to one another is correct (and it certainly is correct), there is a contemptible foolishness in a politician who utters the words, "war with Russia." The question is to be avoided, because the answer itself is anathema. So let me ask some questions:

Really, is the national media going to sit back and watch this farce without comment?

Is it going to let this dangerous "cocky whacko," as Lincoln Chafee aptly has styled her, do a Dan Quayle-sidestep into the vice presidency?

Haven't we had enough of the Republicans' little reindeer games?

Isn't the world going to hell in a hand basket?

Can we really afford this cynical manipulation of the American people this year?

Have we all become so inured to the Republican narrative that we will not stand up for something like reason even in a moment of national crisis such as the one which we face in this moment?

Listen carefully: Palin clearly doesn't know what the Bush Doctrine is

Gibson: Do you agree with the Bush Doctrine?

Palin: In what respect, Charlie?

Gibson: What do you interpret it to be?

Palin: His worldview? (N.B., This is a question and not, as I have seen in other transcripts, a statement.)

Gibson: No, the Bush Doctrine, enunciated September 2002, before the Iraq War.

Palin: I believe that what President Bush has attempted to do is rid this world of Islamic extremism, terrorists who are hellbent on destroying our nation. There have been blunders along the way, though. There have been mistakes made. And with new leadership--and that's the beauty of American elections, of course, and democracy--is with new leadership comes opportunity to do things better.

Gibson: The Bush Doctrine, as I understand it, is that we have the right of anticipatory self-defense. We have the right of preemptive strike against any other country that we believe is going to attack us.

Notice the question in her voice when she seeks to interpret Gibson's question. "His worldview?" she asks as her voice lilts upward. She just doesn't know; she's probing for the answer.

Embarrassing.

McCain & Palin Want World War III... Scared Yet??!!

When asked by Gibson if under the NATO treaty, the U.S. would have to go to war if Russia again invaded Georgia, Palin responded: "Perhaps so. I mean, that is the agreement when you are a NATO ally, is if another country is attacked, you're going to be expected to be called upon and help."

War on Russia??!! Seriously??!! What the hell? Are we back in The Cold War? Oh wait, that's right... THESE NEOCONS WANT ANOTHER HOT WAR!

This is frightening. While there's plenty we need to do on the diplomatic front to prevent another Russia-Georgia crisis, the last thing we should do now is threaten war. McCain & Palin clearly aren't ready for the White House, especially if they want to become Bush & Cheney on steroids.

Research 2000 Sez: McSurge Losing Steam

I know, I know, this poll has been commissioned by Daily Kos. HOWEVER, this poll has NOT been skewed or fudged one way or another. Research 2000 is a respected polling outfit, so these numbers have credibility.

President:

Obama (D) 47%
McCain (R) 45%

Congress:

Democrats 47%
Republicans 40%

Overall, good news on both fronts. We stand to strengthen our hand some in Congress while Obama has a slight lead in the Presidential Race. But hold on, the news gets better. Because a bunch of bloggers commissioned this poll, we get to see all the internals. This one especially caught my eye.

Sep. 8 Results:
McCain 47%
Obama 46%

Sep. 9 Results:
Obama 47%
McCain 46%

Sep. 10 Results:
Obama 48%
McCain 45%

Clearly, the "McSurge" that developed after the GOP Convention has helped McCain take this race into a virtual tie this week. But as other tracking polls have shown and what Research 2000 demonstrates here, the "McSurge" is slowly but surely deflating over the course of this week.

Why? Where do we start? "Lipstick-gate", new Bush scandals, new Palin scandals... Oh yes, and let's not forget the real issues like the economy & Iraq. As McCain & his GOP have started to lose the media narrative, the focus of the race is returning to the poor state of this union and what we need to do to CHANGE that. When this election is about issues, Democrats win. These results prove that.

So what can we do? Keep hammering away on McCain = Bush. Keep the focus on the issues. When voters vote on what matters, we win. :-)

Bear and Seal DNA

Josh Marshall at TPM has this excellent find up on his web site:

Bill Clinton Predicts Obama Will Win Handily

Bill Clinton met with Barack Obama today at the President's office in Harlem. CNN reports, "Former President Bill Clinton predicted Barack Obama will 'win' this fall's election and 'will win pretty handily.'” Our nominee, in turn, smiled broadly and observed, "There you go, you can take it from the President of the United States. He knows a little something about politics." Clinton and Obama are having lunch together. CNN noted, "The two men were said to be dining on a mix of sandwiches, salads and pizza from the lunch chain Cosi." The President has agreed to do whatever the campaign asks him to do. "According to aides, the former president will appear at a mix of fundraisers and campaign events on behalf of the Democratic ticket throughout the fall." So, I think it's fair to say that Hillary and Bill Clinton, like the writers on this site, are Clintonistas for Obama.

Obama Should Hire This Guy

Former Clinton aide Phil Singer: "It's tough to make the McSame attack stick because John McCain rose to national prominence by being a thorn in George W. Bush's side. McCain might have voted for 90 percent of the Bush agenda but the public got to know him as a pain in Bush's behind... the Obama campaign needs to focus its energies on generating some real time examples of McCain hugging Bush."

"Democrats need to test McCain's maverick claims by creating news stories that force the Republican to choose between opposing the Bush Administration OR adopting the Bush position on an issue playing out in the headlines. If we can get McCain to embrace a Bush position in real time, we can breathe new life into the McSame narrative and put McCain back on the defensive."

Good advice. Enough with us hand-wringing over the GOP's dirty maneuvers. It's time to beat the s**t out of them! ;-)

States of the Race: The "Oh!" in Ohio

Can Ohio once again be the final determinant in who becomes our next President? The new round of state polls suggest so. Here, take a look.

Quinnpiac University:

Florida-
McCain 50%
Obama 43%

Pennsylvania-
Obama 48%
McCain 45%

Ohio-
Obama 49%
McCain 44%

Public Policy Polling:

Colorado-
Obama 47%
McCain 46%

Well, Colorado also still looks to be in a position to swing the election Obama's way. At this point, Obama has five main roads to victory:

1. Win all the Kerry states + the 3 Western Swing States of Colorado + New Mexico + Nevada.

2. Win all the Kerry states + Iowa + at least 2 of the 3 Western Swing States of Colorado + New Mexico + Nevada.

3. Win all the Kerry states + Iowa + Virginia + at least one of the Western Swing States of Colorado + New Mexico + Nevada.

4. Win all the Kerry states + Florida.

5. Win all the Kerry states + Ohio.

So do you see how Ohio can be a complete game-changer? If McCain loses Ohio, he loses the White House. It's really that plain & simple. And if Florida & Virginia go to McCain on 11/04, we'll all be focusing once again on Ohio. As long as we win Ohio & win the Western battlegrounds, we win the White House. :-)

9/11: Where I Was Seven Years Ago

I was at school. It seemed like a normal day... Until first period began, and the teacher turned on the radio and told us all what had happened in New York and Arlington, VA. Later on, we found out about the plane crash in Pennsylvania. And from then on, there was shock & panic dominating over all of us at school all day. Even though we were over 3,000 miles away in Orange County, CA, some of us had family in these areas... So everyone was on edge.
Oddly enough, 9/11 began my political awakening. Before then, I was taught by my parents & my church (the high school I was at was religious, and part of this church) to be a good far-right Republican. But in the days after 9/11 when everyone was calling for "REVENGE!!", I remember the Afghan feminists urging us NOT to bomb their country just so one group of tyrants (Taliban) could be replaced with another (the northern rebels). I remember Barbara Lee being the ONLY voice of reason in Congress, asking her colleagues and our nation not to rush to war & forsake the values we were supposed to be fighting for. I remember seeing a group of victims in New York gather for a peace vigil & beg us not to kill innocent people in their name.

At first, I thought I was crazy for not seeking revenge the way so many others seemed to want. Then, I was perplexed when we all forgot Afghanistan as the drumbeats for war in Iraq began. And later on, I became angry when I found out about the July & August 2001 memos warning about al-Qaeda's plans to attack, President Clinton's outgoing national security team BEGGING Bush's incoming team in late 2000 to take al-Qaeda's threat seriously, and the EPA not warning New Yorkers about the health hazards of the pollution caused by the debris shortly after 9/11. When it occurred to me that the GOP was using 9/11 to scare Americans into submission, I turned away... And in 2005 became the first member of my family to register to vote as a DEMOCRAT.

OK, now you know my 9/11 story. What's yours?

The Washington Post asks, "What's the Pig Deal?

An editorial in today's Washington Post takes to task John McCain's campaign for it "cynical use of the gender card" and calls the lipstick on a pig controvery, "unusually silly." It points out the many grave crises that face the nation:

1. "looming deficits and a grim economic outlook";
2. a faltering stock market after the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; and
3. Bush's refusal to budge on our future in Afghanistan and Iraq.

But, on what, The Post editorial asks, does the campaign of Sen. John McCain spend its energy?

A conference call to denounce Sen. Barack Obama for using the phrase "lipstick on a pig" and a new television ad accusing the Democrat of wanting to teach kindergartners about sex before they learn to read.

Clearly, The Post along with other referees in the media, do not seem eager to see the Republicans cheapen yet another national election with their meaningless, petty, negative emotion-inducing blather and fiddle-playing while Rome is burning. Says the editorial board of The Washington Post:

John McCain is a serious man who promised to wage a serious campaign. Win or lose, will he be able to look back on this one with pride? Right now, it's hard to see how.

Indeed, John McCain, one wonders how the word, "honor," crosses your lips without your choking on it.

Matt Damon certainly is saying what's on my mind

As far as the body politic goes, Matt Damon is no more an expert on our national life than the average blogger, but I certainly subscribe to what he has to say about the possibility of a Palin presidency. And I am sure he is speaking what's on the minds of many Americans.

Right Now...

Cross-posted at Mydd and Motley Moose

This election is more of choice than Barack Obama, John McCain, Joe Biden, Sarah Palin, the Democratic Party or the Republican Party. It's more of choice than pro-lifers vs. pro-choicers, the evangelicals vs the agnostics and the NRA vs gun control.

This election, under the direction of the American people, is the opportunity to send a strong, direct and clear message to future congresspersons, senators, governors and other officials. To let them know in no uncertain terms that we will not stand for Rovian-Style campaigns no longer.

It would make clear to Karl Rove and other aspiring figures such as himself, that years of turning National and State Elections into cultural divisions and smearing proud Americans who run for office are over.

Make no mistake Karl Rove is running the show now in the John McCain campaign. This after McCain felt the full jolt of being the opponent of Rove during the 2000 Republican Primary.

Anonymous opponents used "push polling" to suggest that McCain's Bangladeshi born daughter was his own, illegitimate black child. In push polling, a voter gets a call, ostensibly from a polling company, asking which candidate the voter supports. In this case, if the "pollster" determined that the person was a McCain supporter, he made statements designed to create doubt about the senator.

Thus, the "pollsters" asked McCain supporters if they would be more or less likely to vote for McCain if they knew he had fathered an illegitimate child who was black. In the conservative, race-conscious South, that's not a minor charge. We had no idea who made the phone calls, who paid for them, or how many calls were made. Effective and anonymous: the perfect smear campaign.

The architect behind the "push-poll"? Karl Rove

Karl Rove also made his presence and ugly campaign style a winner in 2004 for George W. Bush's second term. This time using his professional ties to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth to produce television ads that "criticized Kerry's Vietnam-era military service and public testimony against American soldiers."

Now in 2008, with the GOP in shambles after the last eight disastrous years and with McCain polling poorly against Obama in the summer, Karl Rove has been summoned again to smear his way to another Presidential victory.

First a word from the Republican nominee on March 11, 2008.

John McCain is now the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party. It is critical, as we prepare to face off with whomever the Democrats select as their nominee, that we all follow John's lead and run a respectful campaign focused on the issues and values that are important to the American people.

Throughout the primary election we saw John McCain reject the type of politics that degrade our civics, and this will not change as he prepares to run head-to-head against the Democratic nominee.

John McCain will continue to run on his principles and will focus on the future of our country. The stakes could not be higher in this election, and John will contrast his vision for America with that of Senators Clinton and Obama.

Overheated rhetoric and personal attacks on our opponents distract from the big differences between John McCain's vision for the future of our nation and the Democrats'.

Throughout his life John McCain has held himself to the highest standards and he will continue to run a respectful campaign based on the issues. We expect that all supporters, surrogates and staff will hold themselves to similarly high standards when they are representing the campaign.

McCain broke that promise to the American people early in the campaign.

That's when we saw McCain state that Hamas wants Obama to be President, that Obama did a a disservice by not visiting wounded troops in Germany, revisit the flag pin, and insinuate that Michelle Obama was not patriotic.

But see that wasn't moving the polls much, so enter Karl Rove and his dirty box of "real" smears. John McCain has to have a vivid memory of what this man did to him and his family in 2000, and yet he befriended him and took him on as an advisor.

Bill Ayers, kindergarten sex-education and pigs with lipstick have dominated the McCain "talking points" sent to surrogates...and, trust me, it will get worse.

Just like the last two elections, the GOP cannot win on the issues. They instead will attack the character of our nominee, they will exaggerate, take out of context and blatantly make shit up. They will prey on dividing the country and on the undereducated voter...This is what they do, and it has been successful in the past.

Right now...is our time, as Americans, to insist different type of elections, campaigns and candidates. Voters are tuned in this year, like no other election in our history. It is up to us to educate the voters on issues, this means making phone calls, knocking on doors and being a leader in your community.

This is the year we show Karl Rove, the smear merchant, the door.

Link

Link

How Is This Not The Story Of The Year?

(Cross-posted at MyDD)

Some stories just speak for themselves:

The chairman of the Republican Party in Macomb County Michigan, a key swing county in a key swing state, is planning to use a list of foreclosed homes to block people from voting in the upcoming election as part of the state GOP's effort to challenge some voters on Election Day.

"We will have a list of foreclosed homes and will make sure people aren't voting from those addresses," party chairman James Carabelli told Michigan Messenger in a telephone interview earlier this week. He said the local party wanted to make sure that proper electoral procedures were followed.

State election rules allow parties to assign "election challengers" to polls to monitor the election. In addition to observing the poll workers, these volunteers can challenge the eligibility of any voter provided they "have a good reason to believe" that the person is not eligible to vote. One allowable reason is that the person is not a "true resident of the city or township."

The Michigan Republicans' planned use of foreclosure lists is apparently an attempt to challenge ineligible voters as not being "true residents."

Let's step back and take a look at this.  The GOP, the same party that did nothing to prevent the current housing crisis and has done nothing to help people affected by it, is going to use actual foreclosure lists in an attempt to keep people from voting them out of office.

Not only does this heartless plan have to be stopped, but it would be political malpractice to ignore it.  Find me one voter who wouldn't see this as completely outrageous.

Michigan, of course, has been one of the states hit hardest by the current downturn in the economy.  The article suggests that in Macomb County, the suburban county where the GOP plans to put this practice into effect, 1 out of every 285 homes received a foreclosure notice in the month of July alone.  That's a LOT of foreclosures.

But it's not limited to Michigan.  In fact, there are signs that this might be a national plan for the GOP:

Carabelli is not the only Republican Party official to suggest the targeting of foreclosed voters. In Ohio, Doug Preisse, director of elections in Franklin County (around the city of Columbus) and the chair of the local GOP, told The Columbus Dispatch that he has not ruled out challenging voters before the election due to foreclosure-related address issues.

Hebert, the voting-rights lawyer, sees a connection between Priesse's remarks and Carabelli's plans.

"At a minimum what you are seeing is a fairly comprehensive effort by the Republican Party, a systematic broad-based effort to put up obstacles for people to vote," he said. "Nobody is contending that these people are not legally registered to vote.

"When you are comprehensively challenging people to vote," Hebert went on, "your goals are two-fold: One is you are trying to knock people out from casting ballots; the other is to create a slowdown that will discourage others," who see a long line and realize they can't afford to stay and wait.

If I'm Barack Obama, I tear up the stump speech tomorrow and talk about nothing but this outrage, over and over again.  Let's make the national topic of discussion something that actually matters, for once.  For my money, it's a great way to get back on offense in this campaign.

McBush the "Feminist"

"Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno."

So you still think McCain's some "feminist icon" who's advancing women's rights? Think again. Next time he whines about "lipstick", remember this. Remember what McBush & his GOP really think about women.

Sarah Palin: Lying Sack of Shit

WEST VIRGINIA??!! Why Not?

Hmmm... Interesting.

West Virginia:

McCain 44%
Obama 39%

Uh oh. Another supposedly "Solid McCain" state softens. Is the GOP taking West Virginia for granted? ;-)

Palin goes to Alaska, and McCain bombs

Well, here is a little algebra lesson: (McCain + Palin) - Palin = McCain. Guess what. The answer to that equation doesn't do McCain much good at all.

McCain winged his first outing without his sidekick, and it ended in disaster. As Sarah flew back to Alaska, McCain couldn't finish his event in Philadelphia as his own supporters cried, "McCain, McCain," and Obama supporters cried, "Obama, Obama." The cacophony of the competition drowned McCain out altogether; clearly, Mr. McCain wasn't able to lead in a partisan dispute. He had to cut and run. The event ended early, and Mr. McCain retired from the campaign trail. We all thought that Sarah was sticking close to McCain because McCain couldn't trust Sarah to go out on her own. Maybe the real reason that Sarah isn't leaving McCain's side is that McCain by himself can't be trusted; I mean, it's like algebra:

(McCain + Palin) - Palin = McCain.

It's Up to You!

Cross-posted at Motley Moose.

What would you rather do? Kiss a pig with lipstick...



...or kiss John McCain?

CNN Sez: The States of the Race Look OK

Yippee! More poll madness from CNN (courtesy TPM)!

Missouri
McCain 50%
Obama 45%

Virginia
McCain 50%
Obama 46%

Michigan
Obama 49%
McCain 45%

New Hampshire
Obama 51%
McCain 45%

Overall, this is good news. After all the hoopla of the GOP Convention, McBush STILL can't make any inroads in any blue states. While the Virginia poll is a little frustrating, let's keep in perspective that Bush carried Virginia by about 8% TWICE! If the best McCain can do in his "afterglow" from last week is pull off a 4% lead here, he's in trouble.

Otherwise, Missouri is GREAT NEWS. For a while, "The Show Me State" seemed to be showing its backside to Obama. For Obama to narrow the gap to 5 when the pre-conventions polls had the race there as McCain +7-10, that helps. And to do that while solidifying leads in what were likely our two most vulnerable blue states, Michigan & New Hampshire, we can breathe a little more easily now.

Still, we're not out of the woods yet. We can do plenty to support Obama now & make sure he has the necessary resources to win. :-)

ENOUGH!

FINALLY!! Someone else gets it. These swift boat attacks on Obama must stop.

Let's do our part to fight back.

Enough With the Racial Attacks

How disgusting! Just two years after the GOP unleashed some of the ugliest racist attacks against Democrats, they're at it again. Now, they've put out a new ad depicting Barack Obama unleashing a "pack of wolves" at Sarah Palin. Hmmm, now doesn't this sound familiar?

"Harold, call me."

"Willie Horton"

"law & order"

"Southern Strategy"

The Republicans have used coded racial attacks to scare white voters ever since Richard Nixon brought forth the "Southern Strategy" in 1968. They used "law & order" to conjure up images of rioting African Americans in the big cities. They used Willie Horton in 1988 to scare white voters with images of a black man sexually exploiting a white woman. In 2006, they resorted to the same message when they used the "Playboy" ad (with the images of a black man having sex with white women) against US Senate candidate Harold Ford.

And today, they're trying to do the same thing to Barack Obama.

As Obama said himself, "ENOUGH!" We must put an end to these racial attacks. Help truth fight back. If you know anyone who's undecided, talk to them about what Barack Obama wants to do for us.

This election isn't about John McCain's history or Sarah Palin's personal life or the many myths being spread about Barack Obama. No, this election is about us taking back our country. Let's remember that, and let's fight back when the GOP tries to distract.

The Ground Game

There's a good report on Obama's & McCain's respective field operations in this week's TIME. Guess whose operation is running nonstop, 24/7? Guess whose operation has a field team in all of the swing states?

The Rethuglicans really don't know who they're up against. ;-)

Lipstick on a Pig

People are all atwitter about this Obama statement yesterday:



Seems that those famous warriors for women's rights, the Republicans, think Obama was talking about their own Sarah Palin:



You can see how upset they are:



Obama's reference to lipstick on a pig wasn't a reference to the Pit Bull of Alaska; it was really just an homage to John McCain:



Err, I mean, actually I think he was paying his undying respect to Darth Cheney:



Or maybe the McCain campaign is just seizing on an innocent remark as catnip for the media:

Yes, North Carolina IS a Swing State!

Whoops! The GOP may have celebrated too soon. Just when they thought they had the state locked down, Public Policy Polling releases a new poll showing otherwise.

North Carolina:

President-
McCain 48%
Obama 44%

Senate-
Hagan (D) 43%
Dole (R-inc) 42%

Uh-oh. Not only is McCain underperforming past GOP candidates, but the GOP stands to possibly lose a Senate seat here as well. If we support our Democrats here, we can win. :-)

George Bush's Third Term

Bye, Bye, McSurge!

Wow! Rasmussen has just released its new daily poll, and it ain't pretty for John McBush.

Obama 48%
McCain 47%

No, you're not seeing it wrongly! Obama has retaken the lead in Rasmussen. Oh yes, and let's remember that it's only been a week since Sarah Palin's lie-filled, vitriolic "charmer" of a speech at the RNC... And it's been less than a week since John McCain himself gave his RNC acceptance speech. And already, their "bounce" is dying.

If this keeps up through the rest of the week (and I don't see why not, as the media are FINALLY turning up some heat on the GOP), we'll probably see the rest of that "McSurge" recede as the state of the race returns to equilibrium. :-)

Sarah Palin was given judicial notice about her abusive behavior

It seems like we learn a little more everyday about Sarah Palin's outrageous behavior, knowledge that paints an ever more unflattering portrait of Alaska's governor and America's would-be vice president. This morning's revelation comes from Newsweek.

Newsweek probed court documents related to the divorce of Palin's sister from Alaska State Trooper Michael Wooten. A judge in written court documents warned Palin on more than one occasion that she was to stop disparaging the reputation of her former brother-in-law. More and more, it appears that Palin had an unhealthy obsessive interest in injuring her former brother-in-law. I am not going to attempt to decipher her psychological state, but I will hazard a guess that it was not healthy.



So what record have we accumulated from Sarah's introduction to the nation till today? I am sure I've missed something, but I have noted the following:

1. Abused an in-law to the point it required judicial notice.
2. Used her office to pursue a personal vendetta.
3. Illegally accessed trooper's personnel records.
4. Billed taxpayers to live at home.
5. Lied repeatedly about her actions and attitudes toward the Bridge to Nowhere.
6. Hired a D.C. lobbyist to increase pork-barrel spending for her community.
7. Charged women for their own rape kits.
8. Indicated that a pipeline in Alaska for oil in addition to the Iraq War were, "God's will."
9. After she left office as mayor of Wasilla, left her town in major debt and struggling to recover from a botched land deal for an unnecessary sports complex.

Sarah, you really are the gift that keeps on giving. Golly, it's only the 13th day of your appearance on the national scene.

Sarah Palin, Quit Lying about the Bridge to Nowhere

Sarah, The Washington Post has done a fact check on your claims that you just said, "No," to the Bridge to Nowhere. You're lying, and you've been caught. Just stop it and move on; as The Post observes, in your answers to a written questionnaire from The Anchorage Daily News, you said the time had come to build the bridge. And even when you bowed to the political reality that the bridge to nowhere had become a national joke and really was going nowhere, you still took the money from that project and used it for other transportation projects in Alaska; in fact, you never said, "Thanks, but no thanks," as you repeatedly have lied over the past couple of weeks. Indeed, as The Post reports, you:

requested $750 million in federal subsidies during her two years as governor, the largest per-capita request in the nation.

You simply are lying, and the activity of lying is what defines a liar.

So, Sarah Palin, you lying sack of shit, just stop it.

One of the most important issues. Obama will not raise your taxes.

Have you come across those that insist that Barack Obama wants to raise their taxes? Do you just want to scream and shout when you hear McCain/Palin talk about how Obama just can't wait to raise taxes on those making less than $50,000?

Well, it's just not true and I want to share with you a nifty little calculator that you can use when speaking to those skeptics (Blackberry friendly I hear).

So, 95% of families will get a tax break from Obama although more than half of those polled think he is going to raise their taxes. We cannot go down this road again! We must stop the "tax and spend" meme of the Republicans with hard numbers and evidence.

Here are some scenarios in case people don't want to divulge their personal income.

Elderly, single with an income of $35,000?

Your Obama Tax Cut is: $2,937.93
John McCain would tax you $2,663.24 MORE than Barack Obama.

Married, single income of $50,000 with two children.

Your Obama Tax Cut is: $468.76

Married, two incomes of $100,000 with two children.
Your Obama Tax Cut is: $2,945.73
John McCain would tax you $71.59 MORE than Barack Obama.

That's right, two scenarios out of three would mean HIGHER taxes under McCain!

Democrats must fight the same old tactics and show how not only does John McCain not understand the everyday American, he has no interest in helping them.

1. Rich is what, Five Million?
2. How many houses does he have? Not sure!
3. Cindy McCain wears $300,000 in jewelry and clothing to the opening night of the non-political Republican convention after her husband's campaign has attempted to paint the Obama's as "elitist".
4. Oh, McCain said this in 2001:

"I cannot in good conscience support a tax cut in which so many of the benefits go to the most fortunate among us, at the expense of middle class Americans who most need tax relief."

All you have to do is look at the Washington Post comparison of their tax plans and see that McCain has flipped to the point where he is just more of the same. More borrow and spend Republicans. This most certainly is not the Maverick McCain but McBush claiming to be his own man (Oh yes, Palin? Not his choice, that was Rove's idea, the "higher ups" told him he couldn't have little Joe Lieberman as his Veep choice).

Obama is the one who is going to help working families the most and we have to spread this truth far and wide!

What "Compassionate Conservatism" Really Means

How precious. Bush refuses to help hurricane victims in Cuba. I wonder if McCain & Palin gave him the "thumbs-up" on that.

Ah, the GOP's "muscular foreign policy"... I guess they never made any room for thoughtfulness or understanding, or even basic humanity.

Today's Polls

I reviewed all the polls released yesterday in a post here on Clintonistas for Obama. More polls have come out today.

First, we have The Wall Street Journal/NBC News Poll which suggests that Senator McCain's post-convention bounce isn't going any higher:

Obama 47
McCain 46

The pollsters interviewed 860 registered voters from September 6 to 8; the poll has a margin of error of +/- 3.3%. Though various findings in the poll might encourage Mr. McCain's supporters, the senator from Arizona still carries one immense burden:

Seventy-four percent believe McCain would closely follow Bush’s programs and policies. That's virtually unchanged from August, when 77 percent believed that about the GOP nominee.

Rasmussen yesterday had McCain up a point over Obama, but today, it finds the race dead even:

Obama 48
McCain 48

Today's Diageo/Hotline shows McCain up one point over the Obama:

McCain 45
Obama 44

Suggestive, I believe, that McCain had a very good weekend among the voters Gallup called, Gallup Daily Tracking finds McCain over Obama the same margin today as it found him yesterday:

McCain 49
Obama 44

I suspect that as Saturday and Sunday roll out of Gallup's sample, we also will see this poll tighten.

Investor's Business Daily released a poll today that showed Obama up by five points nationally:

Obama 45
McCain 40

The poll, however, included interviews between September 2 and September 7, that is, a portion of the interviews occurred before Palin's and McCain's acceptance speeches at the Republican National Convention, speeches which admittedly lifted the boats of the candidates of the Republican Party for president and vice president.

Joe Biden in Missouri Today

What a treat! :-)

Obama in Ohio Today

Yummy! Policy talk makes me happy, especially when we're talking good policy. :-)

Barack Obama Talks Economy

Yes! It's about time the truth come out.

On Winning the West

(Proudly cross-posted at Swing State Project and MyDD)

I know you've heard this. I have, too. "The battleground has moved West." To a large extent, this is true. And while we probably will may plenty of attention to traditional swing states like Florida & Ohio this fall, we probably also will be spending much more time analyzing developments in places like Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, and Montana.

But you know what? The Presidential Race isn't the only interesting race out west. Let's take a look at some extra goodies that we can look forward to.

Nevada is a critical state for Democrats this fall. First off, this state is a top target for Barack Obama to make the goal of at least 270 electoral votes. But in addition, we have two important Congressional races that can earn us two much needed seats as we expand our majority.

The 3rd Congressional District is one of the hottest races out West, if not the hottest. Dina Titus is running strong in a district where Democrats now outnumber Republicans. Both the Nevada Democratic Party and the Obama campaign are working hard here, and the key for them will be turning out all the newly registered Democrats while also winning over the swing voters that decide both Presidential elections and Congressional elections here in suburban Las Vegas. The Bush-McCain GOP incumbent Jon Porter is running scared, and we can tell. Dina Titus even has new ads on the air, and with our support she'll have everything she needs to win.

The 2nd Congressional District may have been tradionally a Republican stronghold, but Jill Derby is changing that. The race is competitive, and the Bush-McCain GOP footsoldier Dean Heller is already throwing everything but the kitchen sink to maintain his edge. We have the power to hold Heller's feet to the fire, and ultimately help Derby give Heller the boot.





Although Arizona may be John McCain's home state, that isn't stopping Democrats from competing hard here. And in addition to the Presidential race, we have a great candidate in Ann Kirkpatrick who looks to replace the corrupt (and retiring) GOPer Rick Renzi. Ann Kirkpatrick has worked hard for her community, has real Arizona values, and is running to bring about real change. This is one of our best chances at picking up a seat out west, so let's take it!





We all know New Mexico is one of our top swing states that we can turn blue. But in addition to Obama's victory, we can also send another Democrat to Congress! Martin Heinrich is running strong in this Albuquerque district... In fact, so strong that he's now taken the lead in the latest independent poll! The voters now see that Republican Darren White is just another Bush-Cheney sycophant, and they're ready for real change.





OK, so I know these aren't all of the great races that we're discovering out West. However, I hope that this gives you an idea of what's really at stake. If we play our cards right, we may not only wind up with a President Obama next January, but also with more and better Democrats in Congress. But if we don't stand up for our Democrats now, we can't win.

So please, stand with us. If you live in any of these areas, help out with the campaign. And no matter where you are, support your party, your values, and your candidates. Are you ready to win? I am! :-)

Sarah "I was for Earmarks before I was against Them" Palin

Democrat for Bush No More

"Protecting and defending the US means more than defending us from foreign attacks. [...]

"[Sarah Palin] scares the hell out of me. [...] If the Vice President were ever called upon to lead the country, there is no question in my mind that the experience and demonstrated judgment of Joe Biden is superior to that of Sarah Palin."

Now who do you think said that? I bet you didn't expect former New York City Mayor & former "Democrat for Bush" Ed Koch". But yes, it's true. Ed Koch has come back into the fold.

Democrats from all over are coming home to Obama. If anything, the Palin pick just proves even more that McCain = Bush. And now that we know how much FAIL we've gotten out of Bush, we all realize we can't afford four more years of the same with McBush & Failin'.

ARG Sez: Democrats Aren't Hopeless

Oh, yummy! Just when we needed new data, ARG has released its new national poll. The bad news is that McCain got his bump out of the RNC last week. However, the good news is that he still can't quite translate that into a clear win.

Obama 47%
McCain 46%

If this is McCain at his best, then maybe the GOP should be more worried than we are. If the best they can do is pull into a tie, then we're in a good position to undo the damage & regain our footing. :-)

Rasmussen Sez: The States of the Race Look Good!

Phew! After the cacophony of national tracking polls, we're now starting to get a better look off what the ground game looks like. We now have new state polls from Rasmussen (via TPM), and we overall have good news. While Ohio looks difficult, Virginia & Pennsylvania haven't moved while Obama's trending up in Florida & Colorado.

So without further adieu...

Ohio-

McCain 51%
Obama 44%

Virginia-

McCain 49%
Obama 47%

Florida-

Obama 48%
McCain 48%

Pennsylvania-

Obama 47%
McCain 45%

Colorado-

Obama 49%
McCain 46%

If these kinds of numbers hold up, we can breathe a sigh of relief. I'm starting to get the feeling that as Florida and/or Colorado goes, so does the White House. :-)

UPDATE: For everyone freaking out over the daily tracking polls, Rasmussen just released today's new numbers:

Obama 48%
McCain 48%

Hmmm... It looks to me like the "McSurge" has just ended. ;-)

New Palin Scandal: Corruption We Can Believe In

The Washington Post is breaking news about personal financial corruption by Sarah Palin:

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has billed taxpayers for 312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months in office, charging a "per diem" allowance intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business.

Palin's staff claims that since the Governor's official workstation is in Juneau, it's perfectly reasonable that she receive a per diem while she is at home in Wasilla. The Post observes, "Palin, who earns $125,000 a year, claimed and received $16,951 as her allowance." In other words, Palin received a substantial portion of her personal income from her entirely creative, shall we say maverick, interpretations of the per diem rules.

Stealing from the people seems to me a lot like more of the same old kind of politics. So if Obama offers us change we can believe in, does McSame-Failin offer us corruption we can acknowledge?

Hillary Comes to Tampa!

Last night, Hillary Clinton came to Tampa. And boy did she kick some ass! I arrived dressed in my Hillary gear and stood roughly 20 feet from the stage. I could not find good video of her visit on Youtube. This is coverage of her visit from a local news outlet.

It was obvious that the Obama campaign is using Hillary to reach out to women. The invocation was given by a Unitarian minister, a female.  The pledge of allegiance was led by a female.  The first speaker was a state representative, an African-American female.  And former Tampa mayor Sandy Freeman warmed up the crowd before Hillary's appearance.

Sandy Freeman is a strong supporter of Hillary Clinton who at one point was reluctant to endorse Senator Obama. Last night, she gave him her strong endorsement and provided the crowd with a stinging indictment of the McCain-Palin ticket.

And the woman of the hour...

She talked about how important the election was and reminded voters that her generation risked being the first to pass on a country that was worse off than when they inherited it.

She also reminded us that this election is bigger than any one person. Bigger than her and bigger than Barack. And speaking directly to the Clintonistas, she asked us if we did it for her or if we did it for the future.

At the end of the speech she repeated a line from her concession speech where she said that although she and Barack had started out on separate paths, they are now on the same journey. She asked the Clintonistas who worked hard for her to work just as hard for Senator Obama.

My favorite line:

This election is about the differences between us and the Republican party. And you know, anybody, anybody who uh believes that the Republicans, whoever they are, can fix the mess they created probably thinks that the iceberg could have saved the Titanic.

And my other favorite line:

No way! No how! No McCain! No Palin!

Once again, Hillary made me laugh, she made me cry, and she reminded me that this election is not about Psychodrew's feelings. It's about the future of our country. She did more than re-affirm my support for the nominee. Her speech, listening to her speak in person, gave me some much-needed closure. Going forward, I think that I'll be a little less angry and a little less sarcastic, but probably no more enthusiastic about the ticket.

But most importantly, I'm going to vote for Barack Obama!

Obama responds to Republican lies

Here are McCain-Palin's big bold lies:



Obama-Biden, in their turn, respond with the truth:



As the Obama ad points out, how is a John McCain campaign run by and for lobbyists about being a maverick and changing Washington? And how can we believe anything that comes out of the flip-flopping mouth of Sarah "I was for the Bridge to Nowhere before I was against it" Palin?

Late Nite Open Thread

I'm tired. I'm going to the bedroom. In the mean time, enjoy the open thread. Chat away.

The Truth About the Mavericks

The Obama campaign hits back against he so-called mavericks. I just got this email from the Obama campaign with a link to their new ad!

[Psychodrew] --

The McCain campaign is lying about their candidates' records.

Today, they're out with a new ad that pushes blatant lies to dress up these party-line politicians as agents of change.

Let's set the record straight:

Palin was a supporter of the infamous Bridge to Nowhere -- the symbol of the Republican culture of corruption -- only turning her back on it after the project's bloated pork-barrel waste was exposed.

In just six years, John McCain has voted for nearly $150 billion in earmarks -- just like the Bridge to Nowhere.

Watch our hard-hitting response ad and share it with everyone you know.



The McCain campaign will say or do anything to sound like "mavericks" or reformers -- but the record shows that their ticket is in lockstep with George Bush and his dead-end policies.

But a little straight talk cuts easily through these lies.

While the ad trumps up the pair's reformer credentials, McCain and Palin are defending the very things they claim to fight against. How can they be trusted to change the same system they've exploited?

Barack Obama and Joe Biden understand the change we need in Washington.

Watch the ad and spread the truth to stop the McCain campaign's lies right now:

http://my.barackobama.com/nomavericks

Keep fighting the good fight,

Obama Action Wire

Author's note: I attended a Hillary Clinton event here in Tampa this evening and it was amazing! Pictures and details first thing in the morning.

Do They Really Think We're That Stupid??!!

I guess the GOP does. Pathetic. H/T to Taylor Marsh.

Lots of polls out.

They all say roughly the same thing; after all of the Republicans' efforts in St. Paul, the race is either dead even to perhaps a couple of points for McCain:

The Washington Post (Registered Voters with Leaners):

Obama 47%
McCain 46%

Rasmussen (Likely Voters with Leaners):

McCain 48%
Obama 47%

CNN/Opinion Research:

Obama 48%
McCain 48%

(Their poll of polls suggests McCain has a one point advantage in the race: 47-46.)

CBS News Poll

McCain 46%
Obama 44%

Diageo/Hotline Poll:

Obama-Biden 44%
McCain-Palin 44%
Undecided 10%

So it would seem that the Gallup Daily Tracking Poll is a bit of an outlier, but it generally tracks with the other polls in that it depicts in a rough sense a very narrow race:

McCain 49%
Obama 44%

One thing that the Gallup Poll from yesterday, however, found was that:

The Republican's ties to President Bush remains a vulnerability. In the poll, 63% say they are concerned he would pursue policies too similar to those of the current president. Bush's approval rating is 33%.

I am hoping that is as ominous for the Republicans as it sounds.

McBush & Failin': Would They Even Pass Econ 101?

Many thanks to BTD at TalkLeft for finding this:

'[T]he Republican vice presidential nominee claimed that lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had "gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers." The companies, as McClatchy reported, "aren't taxpayer funded but operate as private companies. The takeover may result in a taxpayer bailout during reorganization."'

(Emphasis supplied.) Palin issued standard issue Republican nonsensical cant (See Curve, Laffer) on matters economic - which, as usual, is utter nonsense. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will NOW become "too expensive for taxpayers" because the government is going to bail them out. That said, the bailout plan is probably a good idea, as Krugman explains.

Is this the great gaffe of the century? Not really. To me it is standard issue GOP BS. Which seems the stronger political point to me. McCain-Palin = Bush's Third Term.

This is what we need to hit on. McCain-Palin = Bush-Cheney. None of them know how to fix the economy they broke.

CNN Sez: It's a Dead Heat

OK, OK, the worst news may now be over...

CNN/Opinion Research National:

Obama 48%
McCain 48%

It's a tie! This means McCain is up 1% from last week, and they have the state of the race back to where it was before the Democratic Convention. The bad news is that the race is now a tie. However the good news is that when leaners are taken into account (as CNN does), the "McSurge" isn't all that meaningful.

Let's hope this is a sign of better news to come.

Dumped!

It could not have happened to two more serving sexist, arrogant hypocritical windbags. Chris "Tweety" Matthews and Keith "I wanna be Edward R. Murrow" Olbermann have been dumped!

Source

From The New York Times, under the headline MSNBC Takes Incendiary Hosts From Anchor Seat:

MSNBC tried a bold experiment this year by putting two politically incendiary hosts, Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews, in the anchor chair to lead the cable news channel’s coverage of the election.

That experiment appears to be over.

After months of accusations of political bias and simmering animosity between MSNBC and its parent network NBC, the channel decided over the weekend that the NBC News correspondent and MSNBC host David Gregory would anchor news coverage of the coming debates and election night. Mr. Olbermann and Mr. Matthews will remain as analysts during the coverage.

Taylor Marsh, one of the few on our side of the blogosphere to cover the sexism and anti-Hillary bias displayed by both of these bozos, thinks that this is a victory for the GOP.

Chalk this one up as a win for the GOP, who knows how to work the refs and has a huge team behind them to help, including right-wing and Christian broadcasting. This is going to raise the media bias issue, the "liberal media" canard even higher for the public. It's called blowback, which plays into Palin's candidacy and further helps John McCain.

This certainly gives the GOP some talking points for a few days, but all will be forgotten when the next big campaign story comes (perhaps Sarah Palin will give us something to talk about after her first major interview with ABC this week). In the long run, it is better for everyone to keep these two jerks from being promoted as legitimate journalists. We are on the right side of history. We don't a biased journalist like Keith Olbermann to help us. We can win on our merits.

While others on our side of the blogosphere are in despair over this news, this Clintonistas for Obama is wearing a big goofy grin!

Scary Story

What were to happen if our entire financial system were to collapse? Well, it's not just a silly thought. It may really happen. Scared yet?

The Sky Isn't Falling

On Saturday, when the daily tracking polls first saw a decline in Barack Obama's post-convention lead (which at one point was high as nine points), Nate at 538.com warned readers that this would happen. And it did.

Yesterday, Gallup had McCain up by 3 and Rasmussen had them tied. And those numbers included data collected on Thursday, before his speech. Thursday's numbers should be better for Obama than the data collected on Sunday. In today's tracking polls, Thursday will cycle out and be replaced by Sunday. So we should expect McCain's lead to grow. In that context, a USA Today/Gallup poll that puts McCain ahead 50-46 (registered voters; 54-44 if looking at likely voters) should not be much of a surprise.

What's happened is that the Republicans had a great convention. The base is excited and Sarah Palin has become the new hot topic in the media. Unfortunately, rather than focusing on her love of book-banning and disdain for science, the media has been consumed with itself (?), wondering over the last few days how they didn't know in advance, whether or not they are being sexist, and when she is finally going to talk to the them.

How long will this convention bounce last? Because the conventions were so close together, the McCain's bounce should last a bit longer than Obama's bounce. From 538.com:

That is, the Republicans would still be getting some residual benefit from having had the last convention for perhaps as many as two or three weeks from today.

Intuitively, that feels somewhat wrong to me. Most conventions are held over the summer, when the news cycle is much slower, and the convention gets to linger for longer as the last thing on voters' minds. This does, however, raise an important point: political time is relative rather than absolute. If it feels like the Democratic Convention was a month ago -- well, in political time, it might as well have been a month ago, since Sarah Palin and the Republican Convention displaced it as the first thing that voters will recall when they think about the election.

What I am saying, then, is that we should evaluate the robustness of the Republican bounce by how well it holds up to the currents of political time, rather than any specific date on the calendar. Specifically, I would want to see how the bounce holds up to the next major development of the campaign, particularly if it is a pro-Obama development. For example, let's say that Colin Powell endorses Obama tomorrow morning. I might expect a fairly strong reaction to this in the polls, not because the endorsement is all that important unto itself (most endorsements aren't), but because it displaces the GOP Convention as the most recent event of the campaign -- it pushes political time forward. And if the polls didn't move in reaction to such an endorsement, I'd think Democrats would have reason to worry.

So panic not. In 1996, after the Republican National Convention, Bob Dole got big bounce. In one poll he went from trailing by 20 points to trailing by only two, a difference within the margin of error. And this was the result on election day, a 379-159 electoral vote landslide for President Bill Clinton.

Lazy Sunday Open Thread

Wazzup? I'm done making my Nevada calls for today. Overall, it was OK. I got a few Obama people and a handful of McBushies.

So how's your weekend been? Chat away. ;-)

The Vanishing GOP Economic Base

While I don't necessarily agree with all of David Frum's observations in today's New York Times Magazine, I do think they're worth a look. While he goes too far in talking about how Democrats have become the party of the "wealthy elite" (hint: look at income cross-tabs instead of just zip codes), he does have good points about the GOP losing its edge with middle-class voters. And no matter how much McBush & Failin' cry "TAX & SPEND!!", they simply can't put lipstick on their dirty pig of a "steal from the working class to bestow upon the oligarchs" economic policies.

So We Have a Bad Day...

McBush gets his bounce...

Gallup Daily:
McCain 48%
Obama 45%

Rasmussen Tracking:
Obama 48%
McCain 48%

Well, this was to be expected. We need to see if Obama & Biden can hit back, hit hard, and undo the damage from last week. The economy is clearly tanking, so they need to hit hard on the pocketbook issues.

We're off to a good start this weekend, so let's see how quickly we can change these ugly numbers.

The Obama Strategy

We are now in the home stretch, and this long campaign is revving up to draw to its close. Our fingers and toes are all crossed for Democratic victory in the fall. How do we get to the end we desire? Where do we go from here?



Yesterday, I watched CNN's analysis of the electoral map, and it seemed that the commentators, usually fairly staunch, "the race is so close," folks seemed inclined to give the benefit of their doubt to Obama, describing McCain's challenges in the electoral college as the more daunting. As for Obama, his campaign's strategy is this:

Obama's campaign intends to focus heavily on the economy, especially in light of the mounting job losses, and to keep up the effort to tie the McCain-Palin ticket to the policies of President George W. Bush. It is banking on holding all the states Senator John Kerry won in 2004 and picking up the additional electoral votes it needs by flipping some combination of Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio and Virginia into the Democratic column.

Some combination of those states seems to be reasonable pickups, and I certainly am pleased that the famously organized Obama campaign is meeting its goals for new voter registrations in Virginia. My heart is racing fast, but I normally would say that Obama's persistent lead in the polls, small but consistently evident from poll to poll from week to week, is a very good omen for our side.

Small Town Values