John McCain Wants to Cut Health Care for Seniors!

Don't believe me? See for yourself! In order to pay for his horribly flawed health care scheme that would have us the working-class people pay more to get less coverage, John McCain wants to cut Medicare!

Now how the hell is that "fiscally responsible"??!!

My dad is on Medicare. He was injured on the job, and he's now disabled. He relies on Medicare to see his doctors and obtain his prescription drugs. Why does John McCain want to hurt my dad so I'll have an even shittier "health" scare plan than I do now??!!

John McCain obviously doesn't have to worry about his health care. His Congressional plan is the best in the nation. But what about us working people? Why doesn't he give damn about us?

Well, John McCain can kiss the "senior vote" and the "health care vote" goodbye!

IsJohn McCain Really "Strong on National Security"?

Well, is he? Especially when he was wrong on what may have been the biggest security blunder of our time? Read what he had to say in 1998 (H/T Open Left).

Question: You not only have had combat experience in Vietnam, but you were also a prisoner of war. When you look at terrorism right now, with people like Osama bin Laden, do you have any reservations about watching strikes like that?

Answer: You could say, Look, is this guy, Laden, really the bad guy that's depicted? Most of us have never heard of him before. And where there is a parallel with Vietnam is: What's plan B? What do we do next? We sent our troops into Vietnam to protect the bases. Lyndon Johnson said, Only to protect the bases. Next thing you know.... Well, we've declared to the terrorists that we're going to strike them wherever they live. That's fine. But what's next? That's where there might be some comparison.

(Emphasis added by me.)

Now yes, this was 1998. However, President Clinton and his National Security team knew Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda were a serious security threat in 1998. In fact, John McCain & his fellow Republicans accused President Clinton of "wagging the dog" to "distract" from the Monica Lewinsky bullsh*t when he tried to take out al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. Senator Joe Biden also knew in 1998 that al-Qaeda was a serious security threat, and he was trying to convince his Senate colleagues to see what he was seeing as well. And only four years later, then Illinois State Senator Barack Obama warned us all of what would happen if we were to turn away from fighting al-Qaeda to invade Iraq.

And what did John McCain do this whole time? He joined George W. Bush and the rest of the GOP in dropping the ball on our real fight against real terrorists. No wonder why he still doesn't understand al-Qaeda.

And the GOP really wants us to entrust our security with John McCain?

McCain's Erratic Judgment

It is possible that some media outlets will eschew the story of John McCain's erraticism because they fear accusations of ageism. Evidence, however, exist that John McCain's erratic behavior does not reflect his advanced age but, rather, his character.

The Los Angeles Times this morning tells the story of how John McCain's erratic behavior as a young pilot led to a pattern of dangerous mishaps, including three crashes in his early career. The Los Angeles Times indicates that McCain might have avoided his vaunted stint as a POW if he had not flown recklessly in the skies over North Vietnam:

Three months later, McCain was on his 23rd bombing mission over North Vietnam when a surface-to-air missile struck his A-4 attack jet. He was flying 3,000 feet above Hanoi.

A then-secret report issued in 1967 by McCain's squadron said the aviators had learned to stay at an altitude of 4,000 to 10,000 feet in heavy surface-to-air missile environments and look for approaching missiles.

John McCain is incautious. He makes snap judgments that often end in disaster. Even in this campaign, we have seen him select a completely unqualified and morally-compromised vice presidential pick and then precipitously insert himself into the resolution of the financial crisis.

John McCain is erratic. His judgment is suspect. There is a trail of evidence that stretches back across decade that suggests his temperament makes him unfit to serve as president.

Rasmussen and R2K This Morning: Obama at 52%

Wowzer. For the first time, Rasmussen pegs Obama's support at 52% and now matches what Research 2000/Daily Kos has been saying now for a few days:

Obama 52
McCain 44

Perhaps even better is Rasmussen's comment:

This is the highest level of support ever recorded for Obama and is his largest lead of the year. It also continues a remarkable twenty-five days in a row where the Democrat’s support has never declined by even a single point.

Meanwhile, Research 2000/Daily Kos reports the race looks like this:

Obama 52
McCain 40

Comments dkos poll guru DemFromCT:

This is not a good year to be a Republican.

We at C4O concur.

On the road with Sarah "Lying Sack of Shit" Palin

On Saturday night, there were reports not just that Obama was making a major play for the one electoral vote that comes with a victory in Nebraska's second congressional district, but that this move sufficiently concerned the McCain campaign that they decided to send Sarah "Lying Sack of Shit" (LSS) Palin to Omaha to do a rally there. Well, guess what? Sarah LSS denies that she went to Omaha to shore up flagging support.

Sarah was in Omaha last evening, and she gave a little speech there, you betcha. Here is what Sarah LSS had to say:

The pundits today on TV—one of them was saying, check out the vice president’s schedule, check out where she’s going — she’s going to Nebraska. But the pundit was saying the only reason she’d be going there is ‘cause they’re scared, so they gotta go there and shore up votes. And I so wanted to reach into that TV and say no, I’m going to Nebraska because I want to go to Nebraska.

Well, let's deconstruct this passage just a little. Never mind that to date a majority of electors have not chosen her to be vice president, and that even if they had, she would be vice president-elect, Sarah apparently already fancies herself to the the Vice President, doggoneit. I mean, she actually calls herself, "the vice president." Beyond that stunning plummet into the depths of hubris, she denies she was in Omaha for strategic purposes; rather, she was there because of her deep desire to take in the sights. Now given that she wasted a day campaigning in Dark Blue California, and given her wildly heralded desire to save Michigan for McCain after McCain threw in the towel there, maybe Sarah LSS actually was telling the truth, maybe the inchoate McCain campaign just sends Palin to whatever travel destination suits her fancy. Who am I to try and decipher the McCain campaign's strategy, if there is one?

Remember the Keating Five?

You should. We all should. Why?

John McCain seems to have a history of hanging out with the wrong crowd. Think about it. His chief economic adviser, Phil "Don't Have a Mental Recession About My Deregulation Screwing You Over, You Nation of Whiners!" Gramm. His campaign manager, Rick "The Corporate Lobbyist" Davis. In fact, his entire campaign run by corporate lobbyists! And how can we forget his running mate, Sarah Palin, and her cynically hypocritical "clean state house" in Alaska full of corruption and secrecy?

So really, we need to ask the question. Has McCain learned the lessons from The Keating Five? Well, has he?

Our economy is in peril. We need a President who will be ready & able to do what's necessary to make our economy work for working people again. We can't afford another President who puts the wants of his corporate buddies above the needs of working families.

So why should we take a serious risk with John McCain?

Sarah Palin threatens women who don't support her with hell

She says she got the quote from Clinton Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on a Starbucks coffee cup. But as we have come to expect from Sarah, she lied about the quote on the coffee cup.

For your Sunday afternoon viewing pleasure

Karl Rove joins the chorus saying Obama is winning the Electoral College

Karl Rove has published an updated map of the Electoral College which shows Obama over McCain in the Electoral College 273 to 163. His map shows 102 electoral votes in toss-up states. Of course, it take 270 electoral votes to become president.

Rove simply has joined the chorus. 3 Blue Dudes daily updates its list of prognostications from 84 web sites across the Internet; currently 81 sites see an Obama lead; two show a tie; and none predict a McCain lead. The eleven sites that updated their data yesterday show Obama with an average of 308 electoral votes. Those same eleven sites see McCain with an average of 196 electoral votes. Five web sites among those eleven include toss-up states; there was an average of 74 electoral votes among the toss-up states yesterday.

Obama Ad: McCain is erratic and out of touch

Sunday's States of the Race

Brought to you today by Political Wire!

Denver Post-Mason Dixon of Colorado:
Obama (D) 44%
McCain (R) 44%

Columbus Dispatch of Ohio:
Obama (D) 49%
McCain (R) 42%

Minneapolis Star-Tribune of Minnesota:
Obama (D) 55%
McCain (R) 37%

The bad news: Colorado. We can't sugar-coat this too much. This is the third consecutive poll showing Colorado at a tie or near-tie. So obviously, we have more work to do in The Centennial State. But on the other hand Mason-Dixon has consistently shown better numbers for McCain in the Western States than other pollsters, so we may have to wait & see before we decide just how close the race in Colorado is.

The good news: Ohio & Minnesota... Whoa!! Less than a month ago, McCain was growing his lead in Ohio while Obama's lead in Minnesota was shrinking to a near-tie. But now, Obama has strong leads in both states! With the economy becoming Issue #1 in so many of these Midwestern States, voters looking for real help are turning to Barack Obama.

Conclusion: Obama now looks to hold all the Kerry 2004/Gore 2000 states, meaning all the Blue States from both years + Iowa + New Mexico + New Hampshire. That makes 264 electoral votes (EVs). All we need now are 6 more EVs.

And now, I see 5 plausible paths for Obama to take to get to 270+ EVs:

1. Gore-Kerry Blue States + Iowa + New Mexico + New Hampshire + Florida (291 EVs)

2. Gore-Kerry + Iowa + New Mexico + New Hampshire + Colorado + Nevada (278 EVs)

3. Gore-Kerry + Iowa + New Mexico + New Hampshire + Ohio (284 EVs)

4. Gore-Kerry + Iowa + New Mexico + New Hampshire + Virginia (277 EVs)

5. Gore-Kerry + Iowa + New Mexico + New Hampshire + North Carolina (279 EVs)

At this point, Obama has many roads to 270 while McCain's one path continues to narrow... This is right where we want to be just one month before the election! :-)

First Three Daily Trackers Out

Rasmussen has Obama up one point further over McCain than this poll showed him yesterday:

Obama 51
McCain 44

That's a seven-point spread. Rasmussen had this interesting and pithy analysis based upon his analysis of persuadable voters:

One way of understanding the difficult challenge now facing McCain is to consider the relatively small group of persuadable voters who could still change their mind. The Republican hopeful would have to win nearly 80% of those votes to pull ahead in the race. That’s especially challenging because most of those voters are currently leaning towards Obama. In other words, while the race is not over, McCain needs a significant--game-changing—event to win the White House. Simply doing what he’s been doing a little better will not be enough.

Moreover, as I posted in the immediately prior post, there is no way to guarantee that a major event will work in McCain's favor; game-changing events have tended in this race to work in Obama's favor.

Diageo Hotline views the race essentially even with where it stood yesterday:

Obama 48
McCain 41

That's a seven point spread.

Research 2000/Daily Kos see the race even with where it was yesterday:

Obama 52
McCain 40

DemFromCT observes about the interals:

On successive days in the R2K poll, Obama was up +12 Thurs, +13 Fri and +13 Sat (MoE +/- 5.1 for individual days.)

One more +13 days, and either Obama will rise to 53% in this poll, or McCain will fall below 40.

How this Clintonista for Obama views the race one month before Election Day

I was completely in the bag for Hillary Clinton in the primaries, but I also am the yellowest of yellow dog Democrats: my party wanted to be with Barack Obama, and I wanted to be where my party was. In the months since I signed on to Obama's campaign, I have become convinced of his many gifts that particularly suit him to be president in these times. Naturally, I have a lot of Clintonista friends who now support Obama for president.

I have a particular Clintonista friend who intends to vote for Barack Obama, but he is lukewarm and harbors some disdain for Obama because, I think, of a lingering feeling that Obama robbed Hillary of the nomination. There is a part of him that seems to want Obama to lose, so he can say, "I told you so." It's sort of like having his cake and eating it, too. If Obama wins, he can say he was for him, which will be true. If Obama loses, he can say, "See," which also will be true. He argues to me that anything can happen, and John McCain can still win.

Of course, he's right. The universe is full of unexpected events, and something can happen that will change this race, and for this reason, we need to play the thing like we're 10 points behind. But that something totally unexpected may occur that will shift the dynamics of the race is McCain's biggest problem. It presents him with two dilemmas: (1) First, he needs an explosive situation, and (2) second, given the history of the race, there is absolutely no surety that an explosive situation would serve McCain better than it would serve Obama. The financial meltdown in the markets was a totally unexpected situation, and McCain tried to capitalize on it, and not only did he not succeed, his erratic behavior actually appears to have turned the race further in Obama's favor as people recognized Obama's cool and steady demeanor in a crisis.

Indeed, given the growing sense that McCain is constitutionally erratic and Obama is constitutionally calm, McCain's next series of Hail Mary passes might begin to look more and more, well, erratic, playing into the theme that McCain is erratic in a crisis. And let's not doubt this in the least, for a man who wants to be president so badly that he is willing to compromise his every virtue, the state of the race has become a crisis. Yesterday, Rasmussen had the race at six; Diageo Hotline, seven; Gallup Daily, eight; and Research 2000/Daily Kos, 12. Adding these polls together and weighting them by sample sizes, Obama is ahead by almost eight points. The point about Obama's lead is not just a matter of Obama being ahead by this margin, it is that except for about 10 days after the Republican convention, Obama has been ahead consistently since early June. The race is a crisis for McCain, and once again, he is responding to it by being erratic, flailing about, calling Obama a terrorist sympathizer unfit to lead. Expect John McCain to grow ever more erratic as the crisis of his failing bid for the presidency continues to mount. More and more erraticism from a guy who really just needs some Prozac as he gets a well-deserved vacation at Heaven's Gate Rest Home.

Moreover, though the final judgment is out until we have three days of polling in the tracking polls and all pre-debate data wash out of them, mounting evidence now suggests that the Biden-Palin debate persuaded a sizable number of undecideds to eschew McCain-Palin to vote for Obama-Biden, you betcha. After eight years of disastrously inexperienced leadership, Governor Palin appears to send cold chills down the spines of many Americans, doggoneit.

It is true that it is not over until it's over, and it is true that we need to work like we're 10 points down in the polls, but when an avalanche starts, there is a single snow flake that falls on just one other snow flake, and the weight of the thing begins to move greater and greater masses of snow down the mountain. We're way past the start of that one snow flake falling on another snow flake. There is an avalanche underway, and only a major event we cannot foresee is going to keep the weight of all that snow, built up after eight long and heavy years, from falling down the mountain.

Will unexpected events occur? Maybe. Perhaps I ought to say, they probably will occur. Do we have to be afraid they will work to McCain's advantage? Not so much if we do the leg work to make sure anything unexpected works to Obama's advantage. We need to work hard to make sure that everything unforeseen serves our cause and not the cause of four more years of the same disastrous policies that have created this historic opportunity for Democrats.

You see, my friend is right: anything can happen. And because anything can happen, we need to make sure that that anything works to make Barack Obama president.

P.S., dear friends, any sentence we write that uses the name, "John McCain," in it, but does not include the word, "erratic," is a missed opportunity. You betcha.

We Need a Huge Operation in Battleground States. Volunteer!

The work being done in battleground states is more important than ever. Go to Barack Obama's Web Site to sign up to help the campaign make Barack Obama president of the United States.

You knew they were going to do it,

and you knew it was going to be both funny and devastating: