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Sat Sep 20, 8:02 PM Pacific
The Bailout
Two thoughts occur to me:
- $700 billion is an awful lot of money to put in the hands of just one person. There needs to be checks and balances on how that money is used, and Obama should get out in front of the issue, even if it means preemptively relinquishing some of the power his administration would have.
- Given that there will always be a bailout in situations like this, we should never again allow markets to get so deregulated that the put us in a position like we're in today. The issue isn't just protecting people from unscrupolous leanders -- it's also protecting people who follow the rules from those who don't.
If this isn't the death of right-wing economic ideology, then it should be.
Sat Sep 20, 5:10 PM Pacific
Actually On The Air
It's always hard to tell what ads are actually on the air, but I thought you might want to know that just before the Georgia/ASU football broadcast began here in Las Vegas, Barack Obama's two minute "Plan for Change" ad aired on the local ABC affiliate. It's the second time I've seen it on Vegas TV.
Also, if you haven't seen it yet, check out the new "Blueprint for Change" campaign video detailing Obama's economic plans (also in the vodpod).
Sat Sep 20, 4:08 PM Pacific
Things That Make You Love Conservatives
Over at NRO's The Corner, Yuval Levin makes the (hilarious) case that on the economy, the past week has been better for McCain than Obama:
Both candidates started the week pretty poorly on the economic crisis, but McCain seemed to gain his footing by week's end while Obama didn't. Perhaps voters noticed, though we will need to see a few more days of data to know if there's a real trend here.
To make his case, Levin cherry picks two data points from the Diageo/Hotline tracking poll showing that on Tuesday, Obama held an 11 point advantage on the economy but by Friday Obama's advantage was just 3 points. Levin's numbers are accurate, but all he's doing is accurately measuring statistical noise.
The poll only asked this question of a subsample of respondents, so the margin of error is relatively high -- 4.6%. And if he'd picked Monday as the reference point, the change would have been a far less dramatic 4 point swing. Or if he picked September 10th, Obama would actually have gained ground, because back then, McCain actually had the advantage. The point is that these questions asked of subsamples tend to bounce around a bit.
Most importantly, Levin ignores the fact that virtually every poll shows Obama maintaining or expanding his lead over McCain. On Tuesday, Obama enjoyed a 1.5% average lead over McCain in the tracking polls. Today, it's 4%. I suppose there's a theoretical chance the economic debate has been good for McCain, but I wouldn't bet a dime on it.
Now, that all being said, the polls of today don't mean anything because the only poll that counts is the one taken on election day. But if Levin seriously thinks this debate advantages McCain, then that must mean he'd be willing to focus on the economy every single day for the rest of the election.
And something tells me he wouldn't accept such a proposition.
Sat Sep 20, 2:09 PM Pacific
McCain's Top Energy Expert In U.S. Babels Incoherently
Who is a bigger joke: John McCain or the person he's tapped as the leading energy expert in the United States?
hilzoy does her best to parse WTF the expert was trying to say.
Sat Sep 20, 1:33 PM Pacific
Must Be Totally Bonkers
The AP says the upcoming presidential debates offer Barack Obama "a chance to halt John McCain's momentum."
Huh? What McCain momentum would that be? The kind of momentum that takes you from a one point lead in the average of national tracking polls on September 10 to a four point deficit today?
If that's McCain Momomentum, then give me more of it. Please!
Sat Sep 20, 12:14 PM Pacific
Six Questions About The Debate
This is by no means an exhaustive list, but here are some questions that occur to me as I think about Friday's debate:
- Will Obama maintain his current lead through next Friday? If so, if McCain doesn't win the debate, then does he effectively lose it by missing an opportunity to bring the race back to a tie?
- Even though the topic of the first debate is foreign policy and national security, it's hard to imagine that the economy won't be a significant part of the discussion. This can't make McCain happy. Will he stick to his view that fighting terrorism is a higher priority than strengthening economy?
- Will voters watch? The debate is on a Friday night. Will more watch, or less? If less watch it live, will more watch it over the weekend on replay? Or will they just rely on pundit analysis, making the post-debate spin war even more important?
- What will expectations be? Most people agree that Obama appears more statesmanlike than McCain and is currently dominating the campaign narrative, but McCain had a stronger performance than Obama at the Saddleback Forum and does better than Obama in formats that demand pithy answers.
- Which McCain will show up? Respectful, earnest McCain, or angry, nasty McCain?
- Will Obama be able to combine his trademark poise with snappy yet thoughtful responses?
What're your thoughts?
Sat Sep 20, 11:56 AM Pacific
The Debate Schedule
It's hard to believe that we're less than a week away from the first presidential debate. Here's the schedule:
- Friday 9/26: Foreign policy debate, Jim Lehrer moderator
- Thursday 10/2: Vice presidential debate, Gwen Ifill moderator
- Tuesday 10/7: Town hall meeting, Tom Brokaw moderator
- Wednesday 10/15: Domestic policy, Bob Schieffer moderator
The format for the three debates (not the town hall meeting) is as follows:
During the first and third presidential debates, and the vice presidential debate, the time will be divided into eight, ten-minute segments. The moderator will introduce each segment with an issue on which each candidate will comment, after which the moderator will facilitate further discussion of the issue, including direct exchange between the candidates for the balance of that segment.
The town hall meeting format is:
The participants in the town meeting will pose their questions to the candidates after reviewing their questions with the moderator for the sole purpose of avoiding duplication. The participants will be chosen by the Gallup Organization and will be undecided voters from the Nashville, Tenn. standard metropolitan statistical area. During the town meeting, the moderator has discretion to use questions submitted by Internet.
I don't know much about undecided voters in Nashville, but I wonder how reflective they are of undecided voters nationally.
Sat Sep 20, 11:03 AM Pacific
Seattle Times Endorses Obama; Paper Supported Bush 2000
Sat Sep 20, 10:03 AM Pacific
Obama: McCain Wants To Run Health Care Like Wall Street
Update (10:21AM): Here's video from Daytona (thanks to commenter WithFeeling), including a number of other riffs on McCain's deregulation and dishonesty problems, and his Social Security privatization plan.
::: :::
Original post: Earlier today, Barack Obama picked up on John McCain's article proposing Wall Street-style deregulation for the health care industry and tied it around his neck:
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Barack Obama unloaded on John McCain this morning at a rally in Daytona Beach.
The Democratic presidential nominee used McCain's own words to attack him as an opponent of federal regulation of the banking industry, said his rival's support for partial privatization of Social Security could jeopardize retirement security for many Americans and fought back on the question of which candidate has closer ties to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
I haven't seen video of the speech yet, but this line looks like it will play well:
"So let me get this straight -- he wants to run health care like they've been running Wall Street," Obama told the audience. "Well, Senator, I know some folks on Main Street who aren't going to think that's such a good idea."
The great thing is that McCain has nobody to blame but himself. I wonder when he is going to throw himself under the bus?
Sat Sep 20, 1:24 AM Pacific
McCain Praised Banking Deregulation Earlier This Month
In a magazine article published earlier this month, John McCain not only claimed credit for the banking deregulation, but he hailed it as a model for what should be done with health care (emphasis added):
Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation.
(h/t: Paul Krugman)
Of course now that things have imploded at Lehman and AIG, John McCain claims to be the world's most sincere champion of tougher regulation. But his new position has all the credibility of his campaign's attacks, which is to say none at all.
Meanwhile, in stark contrast to McCain, one year ago Barack Obama proposed new regulations that would have prevented the mortgage crisis that led to the situation we find ourselves in today.
Specifically, Obama proposed a three step-solution: (1) more disclosure and accountability in housing market; (2) more oversight on ratings agencies; and (3) increase transparency across the board.
And in March, Obama spoke at Cooper Union in New York, delivering a critique of the push for deregulation championed by John McCain.
The evolution of industries often warrants regulatory reform to foster competition, lower prices or replace outdated oversight structures. Old institutions cannot adequately oversee new practices. Old rules may not fit the roads where our economy is leading. So there were good arguments for changing the rules of the road in the 1990s. Our economy was undergoing a fundamental shift, carried along by the swift currents of technological change and globalization. For the sake of our common prosperity, we needed to adapt to keep markets competitive and fair. Unfortunately, instead of establishing a 21st century regulatory framework, we simply dismantled the old one, aided by a legal but corrupt bargain in which campaign money all too often shaped policy and watered down oversight.
Here's the bottom-line: up until this week, John McCain had a very different message on regulatory reform. Barack Obama on the other hand has been consistent throughout the campaign. And more importantly, while John McCain has been wrong, Barack Obama has been right.
Fri Sep 19, 10:30 PM Pacific
Rachel Maddow Reviews John McCain's Bad Week
The first few minutes of this clip were pretty funny:
Fri Sep 19, 7:15 PM Pacific
Ari Melber With Another Strong Performance
Full disclaimer: Ari is a friend of mine (he went to high school with my sisters and worked for Sen. Maria Cantwell when I was her communications director). But I do think he's one of the strongest voices in the Democratic Party.
Last week, Ari Melber destroyed GOP spinner Brad Blakeman, and this week he turns in another strong performance against Joe Watkins. Ari's strength is that he has no fear. He is ferocious and refuses to back down. We need more Democrats like him on TV.
Fri Sep 19, 6:30 PM Pacific
Keith O. Has Some Fun With Bob Dole's Bad Day
Fri Sep 19, 5:31 PM Pacific
The Yapper And The Statesman
As Chuck Todd says in this segment from NBC Nightly News, what a difference one week makes:
Fri Sep 19, 4:30 PM Pacific
Buchanan: Obama Handled Economic Crisis 'Exceedingly Well'
Even Pat B. has to tip his cap, saying Obama's acted like a statesman.
Fri Sep 19, 1:50 PM Pacific
The Contrast: Barack Obama vs. John McCain
The responses of Barack Obama and John McCain to the economic crisis today tells you all you need to know about the choice in this election.
One the one hand, in Barack Obama we've got a statesman who wants to work together to get things done for all Americans. On the other hand, in John McCain we've got a yipping little dog (apologies to canine lovers everywhere) who will tear anything down to get ahead.
Here's a short video I put together to illustrate the contrast:
Fri Sep 19, 1:29 PM Pacific
The Reversal
Ben Smith notes (a) some Floridians, including lifelong GOPers, are flipping their support from McCain to Obama because Palin is too culturally conservative and divisive and (b) the Iran rally only asked Palin to attend after Coleman and Lieberman refused, so spare us the crocodile tears already. And kos tracks the Palin popularity plummet.
Fri Sep 19, 10:13 AM Pacific
Barack Obama Fires Back Against McCain's 'Sad' Attacks
Here's video of Barack Obama responding to McCain's attacks from earlier this morning. Obama says it's clear that McCain is "a little panicked right now" and that instead of offering real solutions, McCain "seems to be willing to say anything or do anything or change any position or violate any principle to try and win this election."
Here's a transcript of this clip:
This morning Senator McCain gave a speech in which his big solution to this worldwide economic crisis was to blame me for it.
This is a guy who's spent nearly three decades in Washington, and after spending the entire campaign saying I haven't been in Washington long enough, he apparently now is willing to assign me responsibility for all of Washington's failures.
Now, I think it's a pretty clear that Senator McCain is a little panicked right now. At this point he seems to be willing to say anything or do anything or change any position or violate any principal to try and win this election, and I've got to say it's kind of sad to see. That's not the politics we need.
It's also been disappointing to see my opponent's reaction to this economic crisis. His first reaction on Monday was to stand up and repeat the line he's said over and over again throughout this campaign -- 'the fundamentals of the economy are strong' -- the comment was so out of touch that even George Bush's White House couldn't agree with it.
Fri Sep 19, 9:58 AM Pacific
Barack Obama Addresses Economic Crisis
Here's the video of Obama's speech. You can read the full text of his prepared remarks here.
The speech, which struck a constructive, bipartisan tone, was a quite a contrast to McCain's nasty attacks earlier in the morning. Also, the fact that Barack took questions from reporters after the speech set him apart from McCain. (The Q&A actually lasted longer than the speech itself and since I'm limited to 10 minutes clips on YouTube, I couldn't upload the whole thing.)
Fri Sep 19, 9:19 AM Pacific
Herky jerky
A day after saying Chris Cox had "betrayed the public trust" and should be fired as chairman of the SEC, John McCain called him a "good man."
Update: The Washington Post says McCain is "exaggerating wildly" in his newest lying ad.
Fri Sep 19, 8:04 AM Pacific
Obama To Speak On Economy
The CNN ticker is reporting that Obama is about to speak on the economy, if you happen to be near a TV. I'm not sure exactly when it is scheduled for, but the ticker says "moments away." Update: According to a campaign schedule sent out earlier today, it looks like the speech won't be until 11:45AM Eastern time. Update 2: Obama released a statement earlier today on the emerging Federal Reserve-Treasury plan. Update 3: I just read through Obama's statement. The gulf between him and John McCain is truly remarkable. While McCain bludgeons the truth with made up attacks, Obama has the confidence to offer an honest appraisal of what he thinks needs to be done. This is a preview of what each man would be like as president, and it couldn't be clearer that Obama is the superior choice. Update 4: It's starting now (11:34AM Eastern). CNN.com is broadcasting it live.
Fri Sep 19, 7:56 AM Pacific
McCain Cries Uncle
How desperate is McCain to change the subject from the economy?
He's so desperate that using the sorriest line yet of his hollow, pathetic campaign, saying that this election is about "Country first or Obama first?"
He's so desperate that he's running a TV ad claiming that someone who Barack Obama has only met once is an adviser.
And he's so desperate that he's actually claiming that Barack Obama is trying to fan the flames of this crisis to gain personal advantage.
McCain obviously hopes to generate an outraged response. But his gambit is so blatant that it is destined to fail. He's read from the same script before, trying save his own hide above all else. It has worked before, but now it's too late.
At this point, McCain is basically crying uncle. He's had enough of this economy stuff. He's finished with it. And the country will soon be finished with him.
Fri Sep 19, 12:48 AM Pacific
Sarah Palin's John Birch Society Moment
In the wake of the revelation that in 1995 Sarah Palin's reading materials included a copy of the John Birch Society Magazine, it seems to me that the media and intellectually honest conservatives should take another look at her ties with the pro-secessionist and Bircher sympathetic Alaskan Independence Party (AIP).
Even though Sarah Palin was not an AIP member, her husband Todd was a registered member from 1995-2002. Moreover, in 2000 Sarah Palin attended an AIP convention, and in 2006 and 2008 Palin recorded a video greeting for the AIP convention. Until it became a major campaign issue, members of the AIP said they had seen both Palins at party meetings in the mid-1990s.
This campaign isn't about Sarah Palin, but given the likelihood that she will become president if John McCain were to win this election, the media, the conservative establishment, and the McCain campaign must each come to grips with the mounting evidence pointing towards Sarah Palin's support for Alaskan secession.
If, as seems likely to be the case, Sarah Palin was ever a secessionist or was sympathetic to secessionists then John McCain, who has spent nearly his entire life working for the Federal government, must dump her from his ticket.
Thu Sep 18, 11:07 PM Pacific
McCain's Economic Advisers
If I told you that someobody was being advised on the economy by Carly Fiorina, Phil Gramm, and George Bush, would you even think about voting for them? I didn't think so, and neither does the Obama campaign which tonight released this new ad:
Although this ad could stand on its own as an effective attack, it's also a reponse to John McCain's totally false ad linking Barack Obama with Franklin Raines.
The subtext of McCain's ad is obvious, but taking the bait would be totally counterproductive. He's willing to do anything to get the subject off of the economic policy, and we can't afford to do anything to enable that.
Thu Sep 18, 10:54 PM Pacific
Connecting On The Economy
Obama is sharpening his message; every day his speech is getting a bit better. He was at the top of his game earlier today in Espanola, New Mexico, making the case for change, and calling bull on John McCain's desperate attempt to reinvent himself as an agent of change.
Another hopeful note: my friend Rikki, the one who attended the rally in Las Vegas with me yesterday, told me tonight that she is now 100% committed to voting for Obama. (Recall that she voted for Bush in 2000 but Kerry in 2004.)
She said that as she's reflected on his speech, and thought more about the election, that he's just too impressive and too special a candidate to not support. After she told me that, we were watching some TV and Obama's "real change" thirty-second ad came on TV. She gave it high marks, once again affirming the proposition that nobody makes the case for Barack Obama better than Barack Obama.
Thu Sep 18, 5:08 PM Pacific
Open Thread -- "Plan For Change"
I'm heading out for awhile. I'd hoped to put up the video of Barack Obama in New Mexico earlier today, but I haven't seen it on YouTube yet. (I'll probably post portions of it myself later tonight.)
So instead I'll put up Obama's "Plan for Change" ad. (And yes, it's actually airing -- I saw it broadcast on cable TV this afternoon.) It's a great reminder that despite all the punches that are being thrown at this point in the campaign, Barack Obama is a deeply substantive candidate who has a plan to get things done, and isn't afraid to share it.
Thu Sep 18, 4:56 PM Pacific
Another Lie: Despite Claims, Palin Did NOT Cut Her Pay
Greg Sargent of TPM reports the details of pathological lie #235,239.
Note: There was a problem with the original digg submission for Greg's article, so I've set up a new one. I've also affiliated the digg link on this post with that digg, so if you digg this post you'll actually be digging Greg's article at TPM (since he did the reporting, he deserves the traffic).
Thu Sep 18, 4:12 PM Pacific
Playing for November
Markos, on Obama's polling surge:
This race will turn on a dime. It's a good week for Obama, but nothing guarantees it will stay that way. So keep an even keel and don't lose sight of the big picture. It does no one any good to run around like chicken littles every time a bad poll shows up. And it's no good to prance around like this thing has been won this week, either.
We've got what, six weeks to go? Remember that. Things will look good some days, less good others. But one day or one week won't make or break us. We're playing for November. Don't forget that.
Thu Sep 18, 3:58 PM Pacific
Pathological Liar Watch, Cont'd.
Last night Sarah Palin told Sean Hannity that she'd asked her daughters whether or not she ought to accept McCain's VP offer before she decided to join the ticket. But according to her husband, that's not true.
Thu Sep 18, 3:45 PM Pacific
The Alarming Response To McSpain's Gaffe
If you listen to the whole interview, it's blatantly obvious that John McCain wasn't aware he was talking about Spain. (In fact, when the reporter pointed out to him that they were discussing Spain, he seemeed to get quite irritated.)
This isn't to say John McCain had a senior moment. It's possible that he just spaced out, and it might even be understandable. After all, the interviewer spoke very quickly, had a thick accent, and the topic seemed to come out of nowhere. (Update: Jonathan Martin makes a very good case for how anyone could have had trouble following the interviewer.)
But whether or not this was a senior moment, the McCain campaign's defiant and defensive reaction illustrates the fact that they have not yet come to grips with their candidate's age. Instead of simply admitting that McCain hadn't heard the question correctly, they decided to defend his answer, even though it completely contradicted McCain's previously stated views.
Obviously, the reason why they have decided to take this path is that admitting McCain didn't hear the question correctly risks raising his age as a campaign issue. So instead of taking that risk, they decided to take a policy position that he did not previously hold -- in the process, putting politics first.
And this really points to the real problem with John McCain's age. Even if his mistake was entirely innocent, his campaign's failure to come to grips with his age froced them to take a stupid policy position in order to defend him against the mere potential of seeming too old.
If this foreshadows a McCain presidency -- and I think it does -- then his staff has signalled that any time McCain makes an apparent mental error, they will go to the matresses to defend him, instead of admitting that he screwed up and moving on. And that is in many ways just as dangerous as if McCain actually were mentally incapicated, and it is certainly as unpredictable.
Thu Sep 18, 3:15 PM Pacific
Taking Plagiarism To A New Level
Over the past few days, John McCain has been trying to steal Barack Obama's lines ("change we need", "enough is enough", etc.).
But now Sarah Palin is taking the plagiarism thing to a whole new level. She's promising that if she and McCain are elected, they will do something that Barack Obama has already done: put the federal checkbook online.
Thu Sep 18, 2:47 PM Pacific
I've never been happier to retract a statement
After the rally yesterday, I relayed some of the feedback from my friend Rikki, a Bush 2000 and Kerry 2004 voter who attended with me.
I said a couple of things that need clarification.
First, I said there was still a small chance Rikki would vote for McCain. She informs me that I was wrong, and I've never been happier to correct the record. She will note vote for McCain -- period.
Second, I mentioned that I thought if Obama had made a reference to abortion that I thought it would have connected with Rikki, who is socially liberal. (I also said it's possible he did mention it but that I just missed it.) This was my own view on how she would have reacted -- she never mentioned the issue.
Bottom-line: Rikki left the event with a better view of Obama than when she arrived, and there is now no chance McCain will win her vote. On balance, that's not too bad.
Thu Sep 18, 2:24 PM Pacific
'Poll' Position
A reader wrote in a bit earlier to point out how amazing it is that Barack Obama has gotten back on top of the campaign so quickly after the GOP convention, and what a bad position it puts McCain in:
Hey -- you need to update your polling post to reflect today's Hotline tracker -- you have yesterday's number. [Note from Jed: Now fixed.] Also, I think its worth to take a step back and contemplate how remarkable the shift back to Obama is. Gallup noted after the GOP convention as follows (emphasis mine):
"While the increased vote share a candidate receives following his convention usually diminishes, candidates who lead after the second convention usually remain the leader a month after the convention. This is based on a review of historical Gallup data since 1964 -- the first year for which Gallup could reliably measure convention bounces. The only possible exception to this general pattern occurred in 1980, when Jimmy Carter had a slim one-point advantage after the Democratic National Convention but he and Ronald Reagan were exactly tied one month after Carter was nominated for a second term.
"Thus, if Obama regains the lead over the next month, he will be bucking the historical trend. Admittedly, most of the elections since 1964 were not as competitive as this year's election has been, but even in closely contested election years of 1988 (George H.W. Bush led by just four points after the GOP convention that year), 2000, and 2004 the post-conventions leader usually held that position one month later. However, for the most part past conventions were completed much earlier than this year's late August and early September conventions, and this year the first debate between the presidential candidates will take place just three weeks after the last convention. That could give Obama an opportunity to change the race in his favor if he hasn't done so before then."
I don't want to get ahead of things, but Obama's apparently successful wresting of momentum away from McCain is remarkable. Not sure if it's a natural fading of McCain's convention bounce, Palin-fatigue, the re-emergence of the economy as the central issue, Obama's success in getting the press to focus on the falsehoods being propogated by McCain or Obama's successful messaging on the economy (or some combination thereof), but the current state of play puts McCain in a desparate position -- sort of like Kerry's position in early September.
Thu Sep 18, 12:41 PM Pacific
Gramm Asks Ron Paul To Endorse McCain, But Paul Says No
So Phil Gramm, John McCain's supposedly banished economic guru and campaign chairman, has been seeking Ron Paul's endorsement. Paul's answer? Not in a million years.
Here Ron Paul is just a few minutes ago on MSNBC:
Transcript:
I can't endorse somebody that disagrees with me on all the major issues -- on the federal reserve system, on spending and taxes, and No Child Left Behind, and McCain-Feingold, and foreign policy especially. I mean I could never support somebody who thinks that its funny to say "bomb, bomb, bomb Iran." That to me is not somebody I could endorse ever.
Paul's strident non-endorsement is the biggest deal here, but there's another issue: what in the world is Phil Gramm doing politicking on John McCain's behalf? Hadn't he been banished to Belarus? Does this mean that John McCain now endorses Gramm's "whiner" comments?
Thu Sep 18, 11:24 AM Pacific
Attacking McCain's Social Security Privatization Plan
This ad (posted by Ben Smith) echoes a portion of Obama's stump speech that I heard yesterday, explicitly going after McCain's plan to privatize Social Security. I suspect that as the campaign goes on, we're going to see more of this line of attack on McCain, as it is one of the most effective way to win over older voters who may be wavering.
Thu Sep 18, 11:01 AM Pacific
Vice President McCain
O. Kay Henderson, the news director for Radio Iowa reports on McCain's speech today (emphasis added):
McCain starts speaking 18 minutes into the rally. He begins by reminiscing about the State Fair. "I'm very grateful to be here. We intend to campaign hard across the state of Iowa again...I think we're going to be up late on Election Night, my friends, and we're going to need your help."
I look up, about five minutes into McCain's address and see a steady stream of people walking out of the rally. They just came to see Palin apparently.
Update: Apparently Sarah Palin is thinking along the same lines, referring to a Palin and McCain administration.
Thu Sep 18, 10:46 AM Pacific
Palin Ally Loses Congressional Primary
Another part of the McPalin myth crumbles: Don Young wins the GOP primary for Alaska's Congressional seat.
Thu Sep 18, 10:38 AM Pacific
McCain, The Original Plagiarist
After running an ad saying that he offered the "change we need," John McCain is now running an ad in which he proclaims that "enough is enough."
Just who the hell does he think he's kidding?
Thu Sep 18, 10:22 AM Pacific
Back On Top
John McCain has got to be so mad. His soulmate bounce isn't sticking:
Today's national tracking polls:
- Rasmussen: Tied (was McCain +1)
- Diageo/Hotline: Obama +4 (was Obama +3) [Note -- my original post had those numbers transposed]
- Gallup: Obama +4 (was Obama +2)
- DKos/R2000: Obama +6 (was Obama +4)
Other national polls released yesterday or today:
- Economist/Yougov: McCain +2 (was Obama +1)
- Quinnipiac: Obama +4 (was Obama +5)
- CBS/NYTimes: Obama +5 (was tiedObama +3)
Thu Sep 18, 9:54 AM Pacific
McSpain In The Membrane
I don't understand why there's any debate about what happened to John McCain during the "Zapatero" interview. It seems obvious that he just got totally lost and decided to compensate for that fact by winging it. Why else would he have reacted with such irritation towards the end of the interview when the interviewer basically told him that he'd been winging it wrong?
It reminds me of this moment a McCain press conference in early August. (By the way, McCain has had only one other press conference since this episode.)
Thu Sep 18, 4:15 AM Pacific
The Change We Need In Las Vegas: Local TV Coverage
Barack Obama's September 17 visit to southern Nevada focused on the economic change we need, and as you can see in this compilation video of local TV coverage his message is playing very well at the local level:
Thu Sep 18, 4:11 AM Pacific
McSpain
This whole thing with McCain not knowing who the leader of Spain was (and possibly not knowing where Spain was) is remarkable and actually somewhat frightening. Listen to the interview -- the stuff about the Spanish PM comes up towards the end.
Eventually we'll get the entirely English language audio, but it already seems pretty obvious that (a) McCain was drawing a complete blank on Spain; and (b) he sounds horrible -- tired, worn out, and just not up to the physical challenge of finishing the campaign, let alone being president. Maybe they should stop giving him Ambien before they put him out for these interviews?
Thu Sep 18, 1:07 AM Pacific
Those wandering eyes again...
Wed Sep 17, 10:07 PM Pacific
Which Party Is Pro-Business And Pro-Growth?
Here's a chart of the Dow under Clinton and under Bush:
Isn't it obvious that it's the Democratic Party that's pro-business?
Wed Sep 17, 9:23 PM Pacific
Back From The Rally!
So I guess this is a historic day because it's the first time Barack Obama has ever addressed a crowd that included yours truly. Unfazed by the history unfolding before his very eyes, Barack fired up a a crowd that I'm guessing was somewhere close to 10,000, if not more. (I haven't seen any official estimates, but I saw from a commenter that 9,000 folks fit inside the stadium, and all but the about a half section of the grand stands were filled, plus there was standing room only in the infield area. (Update: Jake Tapper puts the crowd at 14,000 which sounds plausible.)
The speech itself was the basic stump speech, with some new lines that we'd already heard earlier in the day. The crowd was boistrous and pro-Obama as you'd expect. (Update: Tapper also notes a couple of the better new lines, including my favorite one on McCain who "bragged about how, as chairman of the Commerce Committee in the Senate, he had oversight of every part of the economy. Well, all I can say to Sen. McCain is nice job.")
On thing that I haven't heard much of but was glad to hear in his speech today was a discussion of McCain's plan to privatize Social Security, which will probably be key in winning support from undecided older voters. Unless I missed it, I didn't hear any talk about being pro-choice, which I think was a missed opportunity, at least as far as sealing the deal with my friend Rikki who I brought along. Rikki, as I mentioned, voted for Bush in 2000 and after today is leaning towards Obama, but still is considering voting for someone else (probably not McCain). So today's event pushed her in the right direction, but not all the way across the line. She thought his focus on jobs was the strongest part of the speech.
I took some photos at the rally, some of which turned out to be relatively decent. I've posted them below, and later tonight (probably around midnight) I'm going to post some of the local news coverage.
:::
The View From Centerfield (Pre-Rally)
Another View From Centerfield (Pre-Rally)
:::
View From First Base Grandstands (Pre-Rally)
:::
Walking Around The Infield (Pre-Rally)
:::
Robert Gibbs, Jake Tapper, and another scribe chat(Pre-Rally)
:::
Barack Takes The Stage
:::
Rally Photo #1
:::
Rally Photo #2
:::
Rally Photo #3
Wed Sep 17, 2:08 PM Pacific
Open Thread -- Going To My First Obama Rally
Well, I'm about to head out the door to pick up my friend Rikki to go to our first Barack Obama rally. Rikki will probably kill me for saying this, but she voted for Bush in 2000 (not in 2004) so assuming she leaves the rally supporting Barack Obama we'll have another Obamacan on our hands.
I can't do mobile blog posts, but I can do comments, so I'll try to chime in to this open thread from my BlackBerry (a miracle made possible by John McCain). The event doesn't start until 5pm, but doors open at 2:30pm, so I figure we need to arrive by 3:00 or so.
Wed Sep 17, 1:37 PM Pacific
Obama: Old Boys Network = McCain Campaign Staff Meeting
Update & bump (1:37PM): As great as the "staff meeting" line was, it wasn't the only good one, so I've now updated this post with a video including some of the other material:
Original post (12:16PM): Barack Obama on the trail in Elko, Nevada about twenty minutes ago:
Yesterday, John McCain actually said that if he's president that he'll take on, and I quote, 'the old boys network in Washington.'
Now I'm not making this up. This is somebody who's been in Congress for twenty-six years, who put seven of the most powerful Washington lobbyists in charge of his campaign.
And now he tells us that he's the one who's gonna' to take on the old boys network. The old boys network? In the McCain campaign that's called a staff meeting. Come, on!
Wed Sep 17, 1:00 PM Pacific
A tough one-two punch
First, Barack Obama nails John McCain with what could be the best line of the campaign ("old boys network" = "McCain staff meeting"). And then a new ad from the Obama campaign going after McCain's track record of outsourcing American jobs:
Wed Sep 17, 10:41 AM Pacific
What's the difference between Carly Fiorina and Phil Gramm?
Phil Gramm attacked Americans, and despite a public rebuke, remains close to the candidate and the campaign.
Carly Fiorina attacked John McCain, and has now been quietly banished from the campaign by a furious John McCain.
Moral of the story: Country FirstMcCain First.
Wed Sep 17, 10:21 AM Pacific
We're Back To A 'Dead Heat'
Barack Obama is now leading by 2 points in the Gallup tracker, by 3 points in the Hotline/Diageo tracker, by 4 points in the DKos/R2000 tracker, and trailing by 1 point in Rasmussen.
So given that the tracking polls now show an average 2 point lead for Barack Obama, I think that means it's a dead heat now, a major reversal from John McCain's big 2 point lead last week. (Isn't that the way the cable TV math works?)
Also -- I've temporarily disabled comments because the comment provider seems to be hosed which was slowing down the site. As soon as they are back online, I'll reenable comments. Update: Comments reenabled.
Wed Sep 17, 9:27 AM Pacific
New Obama Ad: 'Plan for Change'
In a new two minute ad, Barack Obama details his plans for change, direct-to-camera, focusing on economic issues. It will begin airing today.
Also today, I'm going to see Obama in person for the first time. He's speaking at Cashman Field in Las Vegas. Because of that, I'll be gone for a good chunk of the afternoon, so I'll be setting up an open thread and dropping in some comments from the scene of the action.
SCRIPT:
In the past few weeks, Wall Street's been rocked as banks closed and markets tumbled. But for many of you - the people I've met in town halls, backyards and diners across America - our troubled economy isn't news. 600,000 Americans have lost their jobs since January.
Paychecks are flat and home values are falling. It's hard to pay for gas and groceries and if you put it on a credit card they've probably raised your rates. You're paying more than ever for health insurance that covers less and less. This isn't just a string of bad luck.
The truth is that while you've been living up to your responsibilities Washington has not. That's why we need change. Real change.
This is no ordinary time and it shouldn't be an ordinary election. But much of this campaign has been consumed by petty attacks and distractions that have nothing to do with you or how we get America back on track.
Here's what I believe we need to do.
- Reform our tax system to give a $1,000 tax break to the middle class instead of showering more on oil companies and corporations that outsource our jobs.
- End the "anything goes" culture on Wall Street with real regulation that protects your investments and pensions. Fast track a plan for energy 'made-in-America' that will free us from our dependence on mid-east oil in 10 years and put millions of Americans to work.
- Crack down on lobbyists - once and for all -- so their back-room deal-making no longer drowns out the voices of the middle class and undermines our common interests as Americans.
- And yes, bring a responsible end to this war in Iraq so we stop spending billions each month rebuilding their country when we should be rebuilding ours.
Doing these things won't be easy. But we're Americans. We've met tough challenges before. And we can again.
I'm Barack Obama. I hope you'll read my economic plan. I approved this message because bitter, partisan fights and outworn ideas of the left and the right won't solve the problems we face today. But a new spirit of unity and shared responsibility will.
Wed Sep 17, 1:01 AM Pacific
Lipstick, Pigs, And The Meta Narrative
When the Republicans hemorrhaged outrage over Barack Obama's "lipstick" comment it really didn't have anything to do with the comment itself. Rather, it was an effort designed to extract an apology from Barack Obama, an apology that would have made him look weak and would have fueled the typical Republican attack strategy that has worked so often in the past.
Of course, the GOP gambit failed miserably -- indeed, their core accusation was so silly, it touched off a firestorm of bad press about McCain's dishonesty that is only now being replaced by yet another round of bad press about McCain's economic cluelessness.
In the end, the most important thing isn't just that Barack Obama had the strength to stand his ground in the face of the Republican attack machine, it's that John McCain himself has now backed down, conceding that his campaign's line of attack was wrong.
McCain's concession wasn't an apology, but none was demanded or requested. It was, however, an admission by McCain that he and his campaign were wrong. He did what he had promised never to do: he surrendered.
Because of that, the next time McCain tries to rev up an outrage, people will probably be a bit more skeptical, and even his own supporters will wonder if McCain will stick with the attack all the way through.
On the other hand, Obama supporters will have more confidence that their candidate will stand up for himself and, more importantly, that he'll stand up for them.
Just like there's nothing more deflating in a campaign than to have your candidate cave in and abandon a position that you've been supporting them on, there's nothing more energizing than having a candidate who is fired up and standing right there along side you. And in this episode, it was Barack Obama who stood his ground, and it was John McCain who flinched.
Tue Sep 16, 10:57 PM Pacific
Another Reason We Will Win
You know that effort by Michigan Republicans to suppress voter turnout by challenging voters registered at homes in the midst of foreclosure? Well even though the GOP is now backing off their public commitment to the plan, the Dems aren't taking anything for granted. Along with the Obama campaign, they've filed suit, seeking filed an injunction to block the Republican plan.
It's this kind of swift, coordinated effort that makes me confident we will win. We keep on hearing about executive experience, but the fact of the matter is that the biggest, most complicated organizational enterprise that either McCain or Obama have run is their 2008 presidential campaigns.
Purely on an organizational level, Obama's management approach has been far more effective than McCain's. Think about the umpteen million staff shakeups in McCain-land and all the talk about disharmony among aides. Compare that to Team Obama which has had the same basic organization throughout the entire campaign. We've still got seven weeks to go, but I can't remember another presidential campaign to survive an entire election without a major shakeup since Bill Clinton in 1992 -- and I think even he had a shakeup in his media team (between Greer and Grunwald).
Tue Sep 16, 10:46 PM Pacific
Where's Joe Lieberman and Lindsay Graham these days?
Have they gotten divorced from John McCain now that he's got a new sidekick? Actually, come to think of it, isn't John McCain the sidekick?
Tue Sep 16, 8:28 PM Pacific
Your BlackBerry Signature
TO: Everybody
FROM: Jed Lewison
SUBJECT: Suggested new BlackBerry/PDA signatureMESSAGE:
John Aravosis has a really good idea. To honor John McCain's invention of the BlackBerry and other wireless communications devices, people who use PDAs ought to recognize his his historic achievement in their signatures -- just like mine below.
--------
Sent from my BlackBerry, a miracle made possible by John McCain
Tue Sep 16, 5:02 PM Pacific
CNN Fact Checks McCain: Verdict He's Not Telling Truth
This is a fairly brutal appraisal of McCain's pathological campaign:
As the campaign moves towards a focus on the economy, it's worth keeping in mind that McCain's lies are relevant because the demonstrate the fundamental emptiness of his campaign. He is devoid of ideas and solutions; lies are the only thing McCain has left.
We saw that today when Barack Obama gave a thorough speech on his economic vision -- and John McCain proposed a 9/11 commission.
So while McCain is busy chasing the economy to the gates of hell, Obama is talking about ways to put things rightside up again.
McCain won't get us out of the ditch we're in -- Obama will. And that's what this election will come down to, in the end.
Housekeeping note: I'm stepping out for awhile (rumor has it that I'll be getting a chili dog at a farmer's market among other things). So I guess that makes this an open thread (not that every other thread isn't open!).
Tue Sep 16, 4:04 PM Pacific
Scary Question
Who do you think knows more about fixing the economy, John McCain or Sarah Palin?
Tue Sep 16, 3:42 PM Pacific
There Must Be A Commandment
USA Today: A new poll reveals 57% of southern Evangelicals are pro-torture, compared to 48% of the public at large.
Tue Sep 16, 3:01 PM Pacific
Heading In The Right Direction
At this point, I don't think we can say for sure who is in the lead, but it is pretty clear that things are heading in the right direction, and that's what matters.
Each of the four daily national tracking polls -- DKos/Research 2000 (Obama +4), Hotline/Diageo (Obama +4), Gallup (McCain +1), and Rasmussen (McCain +1) -- show movement towards Obama from McCain.
Also, it appears that the principal reason for McCain's polling surge is that he rallied his extreme right-wing base by selecting Palin, mostly in states that he was already going to win. As Sam Wang puts it: "Red gets redder."
Update: John Cole highly recommends Barack Obama's speech on the economy today, which I'm just sitting down to watch. He's posted thoughts on it and the full transcript is here. Here's the video:
Tue Sep 16, 2:39 PM Pacific
It's About John McCain
David Brooks has a reasonably decent article weighing the pros and cons of Palin, ultimately siding with those who say she's not ready to be President.
The problem is that in his article, Brooks makes a significant omission: he doesn't mention John McCain, not one single time. Especially at this point in the debate, now that we've established that she should not be president, the real issue is what her selection says about John McCain and the kind of president he would be.
I'm all for talking about Palin when the facts warrant, but it makes no sense to debate the merits of her candidacy without considering what it says about the man who chose her.
Tue Sep 16, 2:11 PM Pacific
Food for thought
Today alone, Mitt Romney (at least 1) and Tim Pawlenty (2) have given more national tv interviews than Sarah Palin has in in two and a half weeks.
Tue Sep 16, 1:10 PM Pacific
Obama: McCain's 9/11 Commission Idea Is An Old DC Trick
It's pretty awesome when the crowd laughs and all you've done is told them -- with a straight face -- what your opponent plans on doing:
I'm sticking with my view that the McCain's 9/11 commission idea shows that he's planning on chasing the economy to the gates of hell.
Tue Sep 16, 12:40 PM Pacific
McCain Surrogate Repeats False Claim About Alaskan Oil
This lie -- that Alaska provides 20% of oil supplied to the U.S. -- must be an official GOP talking point because you keep on hearing it over and over. The thing is, it's totally false. The real number is a bit under 5%. But as Rep. Roy Blount demonstrates, the truth isn't slowing down their lying ways:
They are just pathological. All of 'em.
Tue Sep 16, 12:15 PM Pacific
My Conditions Have Been Met
I decided I would go on a posting strike until a polling outfit showed Barack Obama with a 4-point national lead AND until at least two people posted that poll in the previous comment thread.
Now that both of those conditions have been met, I will resume my normal posting duties. Starting with a link to that poll, showing Barack Obama with 46% and John W. McSame with 42%. The poll in question is the Diageo/Hotline tracker. Here's a link.
Update: I should have said until a second polling outfit showed Barack Obama witha 4-point lead. The DKos tracking poll already shows Obama up 48-44.
Tue Sep 16, 6:21 AM Pacific
McCain: 'Many Americans Are Not Paying Taxes At All'
Talk about out of touch...what the hell does he consider sales taxes or FICA taxes or gas taxes to be? Just because it's peanuts to him doesn't mean they aren't real.
I'm stepping away for a while, so feel free to use this as an open thread. I'll be back sometime later in the morning.
Update: This was from McCain's interview on CNN earlier this morning.
Update 2: This feels like it should be a major gaffe. Make McCain explain it.
Tue Sep 16, 6:06 AM Pacific
re: McCain's 9/11 commission on the economy
I think John McCain is planning on chasing the economy to the gates of hell.
Also: Joe Sudbay heartily mocks McCain's silly idea.
Tue Sep 16, 5:42 AM Pacific
McCain Acts Like A Jerk To Mika Brzezinksi
St. John accuses Mika of supporting Obama...she denies, and Joe Scarborough says McCain was a bit out of line.
Tue Sep 16, 5:12 AM Pacific
McCain Wants 9/11 Commission To Solve Economy (No Joke)
When I saw John McCain on CNN earlier, he said a 9/11 commission was part of his economic plan. I figured that he had just gotten mixed up and didn't mean what he had said, but it turns out that he said it on ABC and FOX and perhaps other networks as well. Believe it or not, a 9/11 comission is now actually part of his economic strategy.
Tue Sep 16, 4:33 AM Pacific
New Ad Nails McCain's 'Strong Economy' Statement
Here's the ad:
I'm also watching McCain's first interview of the day -- on CNN -- and he seems half-asleep. They need to give him some coffee. He's made two unusual comments:
- He randomly talked about having a 9/11 commission in the context of the economy. Where did that come from? Is there some 9/11 commission for the economy? (That's a serious question -- perhaps it's some banking thing?)
- McCain also said that manymost Americans don't pay any taxes. I have a feeling that is going to be a bit of a gaffe to put it mildly. (Edit: I had intially thought he said most which would have been a big gaffe, but he said many, which is still pretty stupid in the context that it came.)
- He also repeated the Bridge to Nowhere lie.
Biden is now being interviewed after McCain as a rebuttal. He's doing a great job, not falling for any of John Roberts traps, and sticking to a strong populist line.
Tue Sep 16, 12:51 AM Pacific
McCain Tasked With Damage Control Duty
Apparently Steve Schmidt and Rick Davis are worried about the crummy day the McCain campaign had on Monday, because they are serving up their candidate to all six morning shows -- the three networks and the three cable shows.
That's a whole lot of McCain. Unless I have a bad night of sleep, it'll all probably be over by the time I wake up (though I'm recording it, so I'll eventually be subjected to it...).
Here's to hoping that he does as lousy this morning as his spokespeople did on Monday. Case in point -- Nancy Pfotenhauer on Hardball.
And dare I dream about something like this happening?
Mon Sep 15, 9:32 PM Pacific
Pathological Liar Watch: False Tales Of TelePrompter Bravery
Almost immediately after Sarah Palin's acceptance speech, McCain supporters began to spread a false story that due to a TelePrompter malfunction, she had ad libbed significant portions of her speech.
As it turns out, the story of TelePrompter bravery was false (a fact confirmed by the video in this post), but that hasn't stopped the McCain campaign from continuing to spread the strange myth. Here's Sarah Palin earlier tonight, telling a group of Ohioans her false TelePrompter fable:
"In the convention I had you to thank afterwards, because there Ohio was right out in front, in front of me," she said. "And you know, I walked out there on stage and we started the teleprompter going in front of me. Teleprompter got messed up, and I wasn't able to follow it. So, I decided, I'm just going to talk to the people in front me. And it was Ohio."
The WSJ says Palin's story has been "largely debunked," adding that independent observers noted "that any teleprompter issue was minor at most."
Jake Tapper also calls bull, and gets a bizarre statement from the McCain campaign denying that Palin was claiming to have ad libbed her speech.
And after looking through video of her speech, I found five instances where I could read what was on the prompter -- and in all five cases, the prompter was working perfectly. Here's that video:
This isn't about beating up on Sarah Palin. Even though she happened to be the one to tell this particular lie, the point here is that John McCain and his campaign have nothing left to offer but lies.
They are totally out of gas when it comes to real solutions to our economic problems, so instead they spin up false tales both big and small, about issues both silly and serious.
The bottom-line is that you cannot believe a word they say.
If elected, this is how they would govern, with the same lies and deceit of the past eight years creating big new problems for our country without taking care of the problems we already have.
Mon Sep 15, 7:12 PM Pacific
In Which Mickey Kaus Doesn't Get It
KF has an utterly predictable critique of the "McCain is a dishonorable liar" message. "Outrage at McCain's 'lies' is a total loser strategy," he says. He's either not paying attention, or he's misunderstanding the strategy. The Obama campaign isn't getting "outraged" and neither are Obama supporters.
We're not weakly pleading with McCain to stop -- in fact, the more he lies the better because it will help cement the argument that we are making about him: that he is so out of touch on the economy, so wrong on the key policy questions facing the country that the only thing he has left is lies.
Mon Sep 15, 5:46 PM Pacific
Obama: McCain Offers More Of A Failed Economic Theory
Barack Obama fired back today at McCain's attempt to redefine his "strong economy" comment as some sort of statement of solidarity with American workers. Here Obama is in Pueblo, CO:
Mon Sep 15, 4:54 PM Pacific
McCain Flak Defends 'Strong Economy' Comment, Lies
Tucker Bounds' full "Saved by the glitch" interview (just when he really starts flailing, his connection to the MSNBC studio mysteriously disappeared).
Mon Sep 15, 3:11 PM Pacific
Sarah Palin's Thousand Dollar Tan
Ben Smith confirms Al Giordano's report that Sarah Palin had a private tanning bed -- purchased with her own money -- installed at the governor's mansion.
The cheapest tanning bed I could find was selling for $1,499...which would seem to make this Sarah Palin's thousand dollar tan, right?
Talk about out of touch...have you ever heard of someone with a private indoor tanning salon?
Mon Sep 15, 2:17 PM Pacific
McCain:Economics = Palin:Bush Doctrine
Joe Klein with a great line: John McCain knows as much about economics as Sarah Palin does about the Bush Doctrine.
Mon Sep 15, 1:43 PM Pacific
Obama: McCain Doesn't Get It
Obama in Grand Junction, CO earlier today:
I posted another clip in the vodpod in which Obama dings McCain for posing as an agent of change.
Mon Sep 15, 1:14 PM Pacific
Saved By A Glitch
Tucker Bounds was getting grilled by Norah O'Donnell on McCain's lies, and then...a blank screen.
Mon Sep 15, 11:42 AM Pacific
Vice President McCain?
It's a very sad thing to see John McCain on the trail without his soulmate. Nobody shows up. Nobody cares.
Mon Sep 15, 11:15 AM Pacific
Playing Politics
Anybody else notice that Treasury Sec'y Paulson didn't start his White House briefing until the very moment that Barack Obama took the stage at his rally? I guess that means that what Paulson was saying wasn't very important -- or that it was more important for him to step on Obama's message.
Mon Sep 15, 9:43 AM Pacific
McCain Furiously Backpedals On 'Strong Economy'
Update 2 (5:30PM): Obama responds to McCain's backpedal.
Original post: Just now in Florida McCain offered the most contorted retraction ever of his oft-repeated "strong economy" line -- he changed it to be a reference about workers (!).
So now he says the economy is in crisis and in grave danger, but that he still has confidence in the workers of America. It says something about how out of touch he is that he feels the need to reassure American workers that he believes in them.
Another interesting thing to note: McCain stole Obama's "Enough is enough line." There's something hilarious about seeing that guy say "enough is enough" without any apparent sense of irony.
Update: Remember this video of McCain trashing American workers? (credit for making the connection to commenter eclecticbrotha)
Mon Sep 15, 9:19 AM Pacific
Biden On McCain's 'Strong Economy' Comment
Mon Sep 15, 3:24 AM Pacific
New Ad: Deception Is All McCain Has Left
You want tough? You got tough:
I think ad meets the "McCain cannot ignore this ad" test -- just like Obama needed to mobilize a defense against many of McCain's attack ads, McCain needs to mobilize a defense against this one. It's not just going to disappear.
Mon Sep 15, 3:00 AM Pacific
Biden On Bush-McCain: 'The Sequel Is Always Worse'
Update (5:03PM): Here's full video of Biden's speech.
Original post: Joe Biden is going to offer a tough indictment of John McCain later this morning in Michigan. You can watch the event starting at around 11AM Eastern. In the meantime, here's excerpts from the prepared remarks:
Excerpts of the Remarks of Senator Joe Biden
St. Clair Shores, MI - Monday, September 15, 2008
As prepared for delivery
We've seen this movie before, folks. But as everyone knows, the sequel is always worse than the original.
If we forget this history, we're going to be doomed to repeat it -- with four more just like the last eight, or worse.
If you're ready for four more years of George Bush, John McCain is your man. Just as George Herbert Walker Bush was nicknamed "Bush 41" and his son is known as "Bush 43," John McCain could easily become known as "Bush 44."
The campaign a person runs says everything about the way they'll govern. John McCain has decided to bet the house on the politics perfected by Karl Rove.
Those tactics may be good at squeaking by in an election but they are bad if you want to lead one nation, indivisible.
--------------------------------------------------
America needs more than a great solider, America needs a wise leader.
Take a hard look at the positions John has taken for the past 26 years, on the economy, on health care, on foreign policy... and you'll see why I say that John McCain is just four more years of George Bush.
On the issues that you talk about around the kitchen table, Mary's tuition, the cost of the MRI, heating the home this winter -- John McCain is profoundly out of touch.
-------------------------------------------
John McCain stands with George Bush firmly in the corner of the wealthy and well-connected.
He stands with the oil company CEOs who swore to me, under penalty of perjury, that they didn't need tax breaks to explore for oil.
John McCain is so firmly in their corner he'd hand the Exxon-Mobils of the world another $4 billion dollars a year.
He stands in the corner of the wealthiest Americans by extending tax cuts for people making over a quarter million dollars a year, and then adding more than $300 billion on top of that for corporations and the wealthy.
There is simply no daylight - at least none I can see -- between John McCain and George Bush. On every major challenge we face, from the economy, to health care, to education and Iraq, you can barely tell them apart.
----------------------------------------
Whatever happened to the guy, who once denounced tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans in a time of war, as "immoral."
Whatever happened to the guy who wanted to do something about climate change. Not anymore. Senator McCain says he'd vote against a bill he helped to write.
When someone running for election changes his views to satisfy the base of the party, that's not change, that's just more of the same Washington game.
-----------------------------------------
When Senator McCain was subjected to unconscionable, scurrilous attacks in his 2000 campaign, I called him on the phone to ask what I could do.
And now, some of the very same people and the tactics he once deplored his campaign now employs.
The same campaign that once called for a town hall a week is now launching a low blow a day.
###
Mon Sep 15, 2:08 AM Pacific
McCain: Bush Deserves Our Support And Admiration
This would be a great anti-McCain attack ad, but it's actually just an ad from George W. Bush's 2004 re-election campaign.
I found the video at the Museum of the Moving Image's online archive.
Mon Sep 15, 12:17 AM Pacific
The Governor And Her Private Tanning Bed
Let's say you're the newly elected Governor of Alaska. Do you:
- Sell the state's private plane on eBay;
- Cancel the Bridge to Nowhere;
- Have a tanning bed installed in the Governor's mansion for your own private use
If your answer was #3, then you're just like Sarah Palin.
Al Giordano and Bill Conroy, take it away:
"The governor did have a tanning bed put in the Governor's Mansion," Roger Wetherell, chief communications officer of Alaska's Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, confirmed to this newspaper. "It was done shortly after she took office [in early 2007] and moved into the mansion."
Sun Sep 14, 5:15 PM Pacific
Making The Case For Barack Obama
So Barack Obama is coming to Las Vegas on Wednesday -- it'll be just your typical mid-September rally with afternoon temps in the low-nineties, or high-eighties if we get lucky. There's a chance I will be out of town, but if not, I'm definitely going. Believe it or not, it'll be my first time seeing him in person -- that's an exciting prospect.
It's actually very interesting timing, because it connects with a discussion that I had with a friend earlier today, and something that I've heard from folks on other sites and on comments here.
For the most part, the discussion has centered around whether or not Obama should attack McCain, and if so, how aggressively. But I think that might not be the right frame. The question really is what comination of tactics and strategy will best allow Barack Obama to make the case for his election as president of the United States.
In talking with my friend, we both agreed that the most effective critiques of McCain -- and arguments for Obama -- have come directly from the candidate, whether in high profile speeches, everyday rallies, or town halls. That's unusual in campaigns today -- typically, the staff has to make up for the candidate's weaknesses.
But without taking anything away from the Obama campaign staff, who I think are among the most talented staffers I have ever seen operate, the most talented person in their operation really is the candidate.
And that's a good thing. That's the way it should be.
Think back to every major moment in this campaign -- the closing days in Iowa (when I was supporting Edwards), or the high flying days in February after Super Tuesday, or the lows after the Jeremiah Wright controversy. Think about the way he ended the primary, or that magnificent convention speech.
The best moments in this campaign have all revolved around Barack Obama, not in a cultish kind of way, but by the power of his words and his message. He has proven himself to be a fundamentally good man. He is capable of the rough and tumble of politics no doubt, but he still manages to do it with a decency and grace that we need in a president.
Above all else, Barack Obama is able to convey his empathy. Even when he disagrees with you, or with someone else, there is a fundamental respect on his part. The fact that he is able to express such disagreement with empathy is one of the things that defines Barack Obama, at least in my mind.
All of this is a long way of saying: who better to make the case for Barack Obama than Barack Obama. If there are v0ters aren't comfortable with him being president, what better way to assure them than to put him in front of them, so they can see for themselves that he is the real deal.
What I'm getting at here is that perhaps the best type of advertising campaign is one that actually features Barack Obama himself. The ads can be tough. He can make the case against repeating the mistakes of the last eight years, and he can talk about the flaws of McCain. But he can do so in a way that also strengthens himself.
It'd be a different kind of ad campaign, but this is a different kind of political campaign. And perhaps because it is unusual, people might pay more attention.
I'm not sure that every single ad from here on out should feature Barack Obama, but my gut tells me that alot, perhaps most, should. He's the campaign's best asset -- why not use him?
Anyway, I'll end with a housekeeping note: I'm about to head out for the evening, but I'm looking forward to hearing what you have to say about this idea. What are your thoughts? What would you do? I'm not fully wedded to my thoughts here -- this was a totally off-the-cuff post. But I am interested in figuring out the answer, because getting it right will determine the outcome of this election.
Sun Sep 14, 3:16 PM Pacific
All Tied Up49ers Up By 7
It's a nailbiter in Seattle. The 'Hawks were on the verge of scoring a touchdown to put them up by 14...and then a penalty, and then an interception returned for a touchdown. Now the 49ers have tied the game at 20-20. And their receiving core just totally decimated.
And now another big argh. Another interception. Are we looking a the first 0-2 start in ages for the 'Hawks? Update: 49ers leading by 7. Update 2: All tied up again.
Sun Sep 14, 1:10 PM Pacific
Another Lie Exposed: Palin DID Single Out Library Book
Ben Smith catches the most interesting episode in the New York Times profile of Sarah Palin: it turns out that Palin did in fact single out a specific book during her censorship inquires to the Wasilla librarian back in 19956.
Her inquiries about the book, which dealt with the issues involved in homosexual parenting, not only illustrate her radical and divisive social agenda, but also expose another flat-out lie by McCain-land.
On September 8, the McCain campaign categorically denied that Palin had ever mentioned a specific book. According to a memo distributed by campaign spokesman Brian Rogers (emphasis added):
When first elected, Mayor Palin asked a rhetorical question of the Wasilla Library Director about the library's book-challenge policy. It was a rhetorical question -- nothing more...
Mayor Palin NEVER mentioned any specific books...
Palin Had No Particular Books Or Other Material In Mind When She Asked The Questions Of The Librarian.
Now each of those statements are directly contradicted by the New York Times account.
Witnesses and contemporary news accounts say Ms. Palin asked the librarian about removing books from the shelves. The McCain-Palin presidential campaign says Ms. Palin never advocated censorship.
But in 1995, Ms. Palin, then a city councilwoman, told colleagues that she had noticed the book "Daddy's Roommate" on the shelves and that it did not belong there, according to Ms. Chase and Mr. Stein. Ms. Chase read the book, which helps children understand homosexuality, and said it was inoffensive; she suggested that Ms. Palin read it.
"Sarah said she didn't need to read that stuff," Ms. Chase said. "It was disturbing that someone would be willing to remove a book from the library and she didn't even read it."
"I'm still proud of Sarah," she added, "but she scares the bejeebers out of me."
So the McCain campaign is not only a bunch of pathological liars, but they are also social extremists hell bent on achieving their divisive agenda for America.
It's hard to say which is worse.
Sun Sep 14, 12:16 PM Pacific
Rove: McCain Can't E-mail Because He Was A POW
Even as Karl Rove calls McCain's ads lies, he lies himself, claiming that the ad knocking McCain's e-mail illiteracy was a smear:
But they then say he doesn't even know how to use a -- you know, doesn't send e-mail. Well, this is because his war injuries keep him from being able to use a keyboard. He can't type. You know, it's like saying he can't do jumping jacks.
Well, there's a reason why he can't raise his arms above his head. There's a reason why he doesn't have the nimbleness in his fingers.
First of all, McCain now says he's learning how to use e-mail, and his campaign now claims he travels with a laptop. So unless Rove is (again) calling McCain a liar, then Rove's claim is false.
Second, there's plenty of photographic evidence that McCain does indeed have the dexterity to handle cell phones and BlackBerries, which are more difficult than keyboards.
Third, after returning from Vietnam, McCain regained his flight status. To his supporters, this is one of his most inspiring achievements. Surely if McCain can safely fly an airplane, he can click a mouse.
The whole thing is just mind boggling. There's nothing they won't lie about.
Sun Sep 14, 11:21 AM Pacific
Pathological Liar Watch #7
Alaska's Lt. Governor defends his boss on FOX News Sunday:
She's the governor of a state that supplies 20% of America's oil.
Um. Let's let FactCheck.org debunk:
Alaskan production accounts for only 4.8 percent of all the crude oil and petroleum products supplied to the U.S. in 2007.
Sun Sep 14, 11:05 AM Pacific
Karl Rove: McCain Ads Fail '100% Truth Test'
But he still says it's okay to lie...
Sun Sep 14, 10:01 AM Pacific
Sarah Palin's SNL Debut
Classic:
Sun Sep 14, 9:47 AM Pacific
A Debate Question?
For Sarah Palin: If elected vice president, will you flip-flop and oppose the $197.8 million in earmarks you've requested this year alone for Alaska?
Follow-up: If you aren't elected, will you withdraw your requests, and if so, why did you make them in the first place?
(By the way, $197.8 million in earmarks is about $300 per Alaskan.)
Sun Sep 14, 9:15 AM Pacific
Pathological Liar Watch #6
I wish more campaign observers would use the "L"-word to describe McCain's lies. I imagine they feel dirty using such a strong term, but the thing to remember is that McCain is the one who is in the mud -- pointing that fact out is just being accurate.
That being said, the "L"-word and its synonyms are appearing with increasing frequency to describe McCain's campaign. Here's a look back at articles from the past week as compiled by the Obama campaign.
::: ::: :::
St. Petersburg Times (Editorial) "Campaign of lies disgraces McCain" McCain's straight talk has become a toxic mix of lies and double-speak. It is leaving a permanent stain on his reputation for integrity, and it is a short-term strategy that eventually will backfire with the very types of independent-thinking voters that were so attracted to him. LINK
Atlanta Journal Constitution (Jay Bookman) The volume and audacity of lies pouring from the McCain campaign is startling and even historic...That's really something, lying straight out about a FactCheck group, knowing that you're going to get caught but not giving a damn about it. With stuff like this, the McCain camp has cut any remaining tethers to reality and integrity and is now floating wherever the winds of illusion and whimsy may take them. It's quite remarkable, and quite insulting to the intelligence of the American people. LINK
Pittsburgh Post Gazette (Tony Norman) Where have you gone, John McCain? You once said you'd rather lose an election than lose a war. Is it worth winning an election if it means forfeiting your soul on the altar of political expediency?...Where is the honor in reciting lies for something as transient as political advantage? What are we as voters supposed to make of political ads that accuse Barack Obama of advocating sex education for kindergartners?... Despite the intellectually dishonest maneuvering of your campaign, many Americans admire you, John McCain. Before you embraced the darkness, I was among those who disagreed with your politics, but considered you honorable. Now it's hard to look at you without seeing the scoundrels who made you what you are today. LINK
Kansas City Star (Barb Shelly) McCain stoops to deception, distortion: Maybe you've seen it. The campaign ad cites the authoritative journal Education Week to claim that Democrat Barack Obama has been missing in action on education reform...Shamelessly misleading the public?...These are old tricks we've been seeing in local elections for years. Distort. Twist. Deceive. Damage. And the winning candidate drags a load of public contempt into office. I had hoped for better from McCain...John McCain may win the presidency this way, but he will lose the respect he has acquired over the years. LINK
Boston Globe (Scot Lehigh) Pretzel logic from the McCain campaign: Here's the question voters should be asking themselves this week: Just how stupid does the McCain-Palin campaign think I am? The answer: Dumb enough to hoodwink with charges so contrived and cynical they make your teeth ache...As the nonpartisan campaign watchdog FactCheck.org has made clear, this is a thoroughly dishonest ad [Kindergarten]. No matter. The McCain campaign has shown it's ready and willing to say preposterous things to win. LINK
Washington Post (David Ignatius) Stopping at nothing to win: Thinking about the Palin choice, you begin to ponder other moves McCain has made on the road to winning the Republican nomination. McCain was right a few years ago to warn that Bush's tax cuts would have potentially ruinous fiscal consequences; now he favors extending the cuts that have produced a crisis of debt and deficit. Why did he switch his position, other than political opportunism?...In May 2006, after McCain had courted the Rev. Jerry Falwell in an effort to win conservative support, I asked him if he was bending his principles for the sake of winning. "I don't want it that badly," McCain answered. "I will continue to do what is right...If that means I can't get the Republican nomination, fine. I've had a happy life. The worst thing I can do is sell my soul to the devil." He was right. LINK
Washington Post (Eugene Robinson) The Scream Machine: There was a time when Republicans campaigned on their ideas, programs and values. This year -- lacking ideas, programs or values -- John McCain and Sarah Palin are running for the White House on an elaborate fictional narrative of victimhood...Creating the false impression that Democrats and journalists are unfairly attacking Palin serves another purpose as well: It helps create the impression that legitimate and necessary questions about her record -- such as her one-time support for the Bridge to Nowhere or her history of seeking the congressional earmarks she now claims to reject -- are somehow out of bounds. LINK
Chicago Tribune (Steve Chapman) To McCain the truth is expandable: McCain has concluded that a fact-based case about Obama isn't enough to prevail in November. So he has chosen to smear his opponent with ridiculous claims that he thinks the American people are gullible enough to believe. He has charged repeatedly that his opponent is willing to lose a war to win an election. What's McCain willing to lose to become president? Nothing so consequential as a war. Just his soul. LINK
Chicago Tribune (Frank James) "McCain plays dirty on Obama & sex-ed" So the McCain ad, in the way it contorts the truth, is pretty shocking from a candidate who has promised to bring change and reform to Washington, a man who's urging Americans to live for a cause larger than themselves. This is an old-fashioned, unreconstructed politics whose goal, first and foremost, is to get the candidate elected, the truth be damned. McCain has said he'd rather lose a campaign than lose a war. But it appears from this ad he'd rather lose any purchase he has on straight-talk than lose this presidential election. LINK
Chicago Tribune (Eric Zorn) `Sex ed' ad educates us on the character of John McCain: The surprise came at the end: I'm John McCain and I approved this message. With that infamous admission, McCain surrendered his integrity and signaled a willingness to say or do anything to get elected... We used to expect better from John McCain. No longer. LINK
TIME (Joe Klein): A new rule here: Rather than do the McCain campaign's bidding by wasting space on Senator Honor's daily lies and bilge--his constant attempts to divert attention from substantive issues--I'm going to assume that others will spend more than enough time on the sewage that Steve Schmidt is shoveling and, from now on, try to stick to the issues. LINK
TIME (Joe Klein) Apology Not Accepted: he is responsible for one of the sleaziest ads I've ever seen in presidential politics, so sleazy that I won't abet its spread by linking to it, but here's the McClatchy fact check.. I just can't wait for the moment when John McCain--contrite and suddenly honorable again in victory or defeat--talks about how things got a little out of control in the passion of the moment. Talk about putting lipstick on a pig. LINK
TIME (Joe Klein) Another McCain Flip Flop: Army Times, which is not--last time I checked--a radical left wing publication, takes John McCain to task for changing his position on the Future Combat Systems program. This is yet another example of how running for President has driven McCain off the deep end. In the past, he was one of the more consistent voices against foolish Pentagon weapon systems. Here's a program that McCain previously wanted to end. Then Obama says he wants to slow-walk it...and McCain--reflexively, it appears, and unable to recall that he previously opposed it--decides to support it. LINK
New York Times (Paul Krugman) Blizzard of Lies: I'm talking, instead, about the relationship between the character of a campaign and that of the administration that follows. Thus, the deceptive and dishonest 2000 Bush-Cheney campaign provided an all-too-revealing preview of things to come...And now the team that hopes to form the next administration is running a campaign that makes Bush-Cheney 2000 look like something out of a civics class. What does that say about how that team would run the country? What it says, I'd argue, is that the Obama campaign is wrong to suggest that a McCain-Palin administration would just be a continuation of Bush-Cheney. If the way John McCain and Sarah Palin are campaigning is any indication, it would be much, much worse. LINK
New York Times (Editorial): The most disheartening aspect of a scurrilous Republican ad falsely accusing Barack Obama of promoting sex education for kindergarten children is its closing line: "I'm John McCain, and I approved this message." This from that straight-talker of yore, who fervidly denounced the 2004 Bush campaign's Swift Boat character attacks on John Kerry's military record. What a difference four years makes, especially after Mr. McCain secured the nomination by hiring some of the same low-blow artists from the Bush campaign. LINK
New York Times (Larry Rohter): The advertisement ["Disrespectful"] is the latest in a number that resort to a dubious disregard for the facts. The nonpartisan political analysis group Factcheck.org has already criticized "Disrespectful" as "particularly egregious," saying that it "goes down new paths of deception," and is "peddling false quotes." LINK
New York Times (Michael Cooper and Jim Rutenberg) McCain Barbs Stirring Outcry as Distortions: Mr. McCain came into the race promoting himself as a truth teller and has long publicly deplored the kinds of negative tactics that helped sink his candidacy in the Republican primaries in 2000. But his strategy now reflects a calculation advisers made this summer - over the strenuous objections of some longtime hands who helped him build his "Straight Talk" image - to shift the campaign more toward disqualifying Mr. Obama in the eyes of voters LINK
ABC News-Political Punch (Jake Tapper): One can only imagine what the John McCain of 2004 - who called the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ads "dishonest and dishonorable" - would say about this ad... I suppose one could twist this stuff any way you want if your only point is to make an inflammatory charge. And win an election... The New York Times' "Checkpoint" ("Ad on Sex Education Distorts Obama Policy "), Factcheck.org ("Obama, contrary to the ad's insinuation, does not support explicit sex education for kindergarteners") and the Washington Post's Fact Checker ("McCain's 'Education' Spot Is Dishonest, Deceptive") say the ad is a gross distortion. I agree -- in both senses of the word "gross." LINK
AP (Charles Babington): The "Straight Talk Express" has detoured into doublespeak. Republican presidential nominee John McCain, a self-proclaimed tell-it-like-it-is maverick, keeps saying his running mate, Sarah Palin, killed the federally funded Bridge to Nowhere when, in fact, she pulled her support only after the project became a political embarrassment. He said Friday that Palin never asked for money for lawmakers' pet projects as Alaska governor, even though she has sought nearly $200 million in earmarks this year. He says Obama would raise nearly everyone's taxes, when independent groups say 80 percent of families would get tax cuts instead. LINK
Huffington Post (Sam Stein): When does being a governor or mayor for a short period of time not disqualify your credentials on national security? When you are John McCain and your task is to defend your vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. When does being a governor or mayor for a short period of time ABSOLUTELY disqualify your credentials on national security? When you are John McCain and your task is to defeat primary opponents Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani . . . Fast-forward nearly a year, and the argument McCain made back then is being used against his vice presidential pick today. Only Sarah Palin held the post of mayor of Wasilla for less time than Rudy Giuliani headed New York City. And her gubernatorial stint in Alaska is shorter than that of Mitt Romney's in Massachusetts. McCain, not surprisingly, has changed his tune. LINK
Sun Sep 14, 8:49 AM Pacific
Strong In Iowa
I'm not a huge fan of obsessing about polls, but a commenter from Iowa pointed this one out: according to The Iowa Poll conducted by Selzer & Co., Barack Obama leads John McCain by 12 points in Iowa -- 52-40.
I thought this was significant not just because Obama has a big lead in what has historically been battleground state, but also because Selzer & Co. is a highly respected pollster. In fact, if I recall correctly, 538 ranks it as the most accurate pollster of this election cycle.
Sun Sep 14, 8:42 AM Pacific
$66 million
You've probably already seen this, but just for the record, Obama's $66 million raised in August is a staggering sum. The campaign's 500,000 new donors serve as a reminder that whatever "surge" in enthusiasm post-Palin McCain may now be experiencing, the net effect is more about approaching parity with Obama than actually surpassing him.
Sun Sep 14, 8:20 AM Pacific
The GOP's Greatest Giggler Is Back
Rudy Giuliani just can't help himself. Whenever he gets nervous on Meet The Press, he starts giggling. Very unattractive. On today's broadcast, he even giggled after a question about 9/11 and Iraq (!). What's worse is that he just lies and lies and lies. Which tells me he'd be in McCain's cabinet.
Here's a look back at his most gigglicious appearance from last December:
Sun Sep 14, 1:39 AM Pacific
Nothing But The Truth
I spent much of Saturday setting up TJR's newest server, which you've now reached if you're reading this message. (On Friday, the previous server got overloaded by this blog's first day with more than 100K visitors.)
Anyway, here's some of what I've been reading, and I'm looking forward to getting back to actually blogging (as opposed server provisioning) on Sunday morning.
- We're getting closer to someone actually using the 'L'-word -- NBC's First Read asks: "Wheels Come Off Straight Talk Express?"
- Still, much of the press is adopting a he-said/he-said frame.
- McCain-land is waging a war against that very same media.
- Frank Rich, as always a lonely voice of sanity, thinks the real ticket is Palin-McCain, and the real issue is that they would be worse than George W. Bush.
- How can you tell when John McCain and Sarah Palin are lying?
- The NYT and WaPo profile Palin's professional background.
- Palin still need a teleprompter to give the same old speech
- She's a bigger draw than McCain ever was, attracting 3,500 to a rally in Nevada, and she's still telling the Bridge to Nowhere lie.
- Bob Herbert can't understand how John McCain could have selected someone so unqualified.
- Neither can the NYT editorial board. "As we watched Sarah Palin on TV the last couple of days, we kept wondering what on earth John McCain was thinking."
- The Swift Boat Liars are ready to come after us.
