I know one thing, I am not interested in going through this again. This election has been like the retailers who start Christmas October 1st. The worse part has been our attention being diverted from issues.
Posted by Judith at October 11, 2008 02:58 AMTime to Ask McCain: "Have You No Sense of Decency Left?" (good article)
The reality is that in a country facing two wars and a mounting economic crisis, these desparate and despicable appeals aren't working. Obama's lead is mounting nationally and in the battleground states. But there is a threat here too that is all too real. When I heard someone in a Palin crowd yell out "traitor" as the candidate lashed out at the Democratic nominee, I thought of the full-page ad that appeared in a Dallas newspaper on the morning of Nov. 22, 1963. The headline--"Wanted for Treason"-- was sprawled across a poster-sized photo of President John F. Kennedy.
http://a.tribalfusion.com/p.media/a0myQ8pdIo5AYU5s78TGJdVGfeSAZbyWdvSTFb15bEoUE3nVEJ9QTMZdRc7ARr6oStMlWVb35UXsnW6nYEPp4tYZdPsrD4PMHotXqUH3b0bnbYFF90TqsPbUZbTFv0VWB4mr3nPb7N1HYH7TwDtx/1382336/pop.html
Posted by Judith at October 11, 2008 03:21 AMSorry, here's the correct link.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-shrum/time-to-ask-mccain-have-y_b_133814.html
Posted by Judith at October 11, 2008 03:27 AMSo much for not feeding the fringe element, hey John. McCain is going down and he evidently has decided to take everyone and anyone with him. What a bitter old man.
Somewhere in the pits of hell there is a contract with John McCain's name on it.
The McCain campaign is now broadening their attack on Obama's past association with William Ayers to include Michelle Obama, even though McCain has repeatedly said spouses should be off limits during the campaign.
The attack? Bernardine Dohrn, Ayers' wife and fellow former Weatherman, went to work in 1984 for the major Chicago-based national law firm of Sidley & Austin, and three years later, Michelle joined the mega-firm as well.
That's the entire attack. We wish we were joking. But we aren't.
In launching this latest, McCain is ditching yet another formerly-claimed principle as he faces the growing likelihood of defeat. In a statement back in June, the McCain campaign said: "Senator McCain agrees with Senator Obama that spouses should not be an issue in this campaign, and he has stated that position frequently."
The attack on Michelle came on a McCain conference call with reporters yesterday (October 10th) featuring John Murtagh, who has been hitting Obama over the Weather Underground's attack on his family's home back in 1970. Murtagh noted that Dohrn and Michelle Obama had both worked at the firm starting in the late 1980s.
Murtagh didn't even bother alleging that the two even knew each other, instead suggesting that they might have. If so, he said, the Obamas have known the two longer than suspected.
"If it is true" that the two women knew each other, Murtagh said, "the relationship is almost a decade older than Senator Obama has acknowledged. And that can very easily be resolved by Senator Obama, by Mrs. Obama, by Mr. Ayers and by Ms. Dohrn."
"And incidentally, I would emphasize that we've all been focusing on Senator Obama," said Murtagh. "I think we need to speak to his wife."
Keep in mind that this wasn't any surrogate speaking off the cuff. He was on a call organized by the McCain campaign, and he was apparently reading from a prepared statement, which would of course have been vetted by McCain aides. And so another once-cherished McCain principle gets junked in the service of self-parody.
http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/10/mccain_campaign_goes_after_mic.php
judith, "McCainism" is the new "McCarthyism".
You work at the same firm as a hated leftist, and you are equated with the leftist and need to explain yourself to the American people, apparently via Congressional testimony. It even works for spouses!
What is it with these "McC" names?
Posted by euzoius at October 11, 2008 03:59 AM"McCainism", perfect euzoius.
What we are seeing at the McCain rallies, fueled by the hate of Palin and McCain, are those who would have served the Brown Shirts well in Nazi Germany. These types are definitely to be feared, as they do not operate out of rationale or reason, but hate.
Posted by Judith at October 11, 2008 05:30 AMIf McCain wins this election, then in 2012 I'm voting for whatever democrat promises to run the sleaziest, dirties, most underhanded campaign in history.
For the next debate, how should Obama respond to questions/accusations regarding Ayers and ACORN. Saying they're "distractions" that the American people don't want to hear about won't do it. Part of me wants to see him say "if you want to go there, I've got a list of associations of McCain and Palin" and sort of wave a piece of paper around and run down the list. Part of me knows that won't work.
Posted by CG at October 11, 2008 06:03 AMCG, well, how would those flag waving, gun toting, indy loving, right-wing wackos who love America so much like to see a little video from a certain little meeting in Alaska? What about it McCain?
Posted by Judith at October 11, 2008 07:22 AMWhat I would like to see is Obama face McCain and say:
"You have something to say about me John, why don't you say it to my face and let me clear the air now?"
Posted by Judith at October 11, 2008 07:26 AMJudith -- I like that last comment a lot.
Obama is clearly SO ready to address the Ayers crap in the next debate. He and his surrogates are clearly taunting McCain -- Biden even said something about "in my neighborhood if you have a problem with someone you say it to his face".
I'm not sure about McCain and his campaign right now. Clearly at a crossroads. He has a history of going overboard and apologizing -- Keating 5, 2000 with the Confederate Flag in South Carolina, etc. He's losing Republican endorsements and getting advice from Republicans to take the high road the rest of the way. But, despite his sudden reversal to respect late Friday his campaign staff, running mate, and advertisements are still slinging shit.
It will be interesting to watch. Whichever path he takes he loses. The low road is worse for the country, and probably also worse for his party in the long run, but the people advocating the low road argue that it is their only chance of winning.
I honestly have no idea which path he'll take. My guess is that he'll start talking "respect" in person and in interviews and deny that the rest of his campaign is contradicting him.
Posted by Anonny at October 11, 2008 07:52 AMMy husband took my son to the chiropractor today. She likes McCain and is "scared" of Obama between the "terrorism" ties, the "naievete" (sorry, can't speall), and the tax hikes since they're a small business. I see her too, so I'm going to make an appt for myself before election day and take some info to her. Of course, my husband egged her on. He thinks it's funny, but I'm starting to get seriously pissed at him. My chiro is in VA, so this matters.
Posted by CG at October 11, 2008 08:01 AMPolling trends continue. Rasmussen, as predicted, is again a lagging indicator and now has Obama back up to +7 from +5 yesterday. I'm going to hazard that they get back to +8 over the weekend. R2000 leveling off at +12. The erratic Diago/Hotline is back to their 47-41 split.
The recent introduction of Zogby/Reuters and Battleground have caused the aggregate polls to drop slightly below 50%. Both weight Dem/Rep to be nearly equaly, which may or may not be true. But the real problem with both is the massive undercounting of youth (18-34) vote -- 17% for Zogby, which is actually below the 24% estimated for the 2004 election. This is probably not intentional, but simply a product of their sampling method. Yet, since 18-34 is skewing to Obama by over 20 points in all polls this means that those polls are probably significantly understating the Obama lead.
All in all you can understand why the RNC leadership is planning as though the presidential election is decided.
Posted by Anonny at October 11, 2008 08:02 AMObama is clearly SO ready to address the Ayers crap in the next debate.
Is he? Will he do it effectively? Again, saying it's a distraction doesn't work. Going into a long explanation about the nature of the relationship, and why should Obama quit a board that is doing good things, just because this guy is on it, blah blah blah, doesn't work either.
Judith, Anonny, I think McCain's going back and forth now on whether he's going to start the "Obama is a terrorist" at the debate. For one thing, it would give Obama a chance to tell his side of the story, and when you're telling a fookin' lie, you prefer only your side to be heard. For another thing, the tenor of crowd sentiment at his rallies has become the story, not Obama's Ayers connections, so the strategy is backfiring badly. McCain's not going to want to bring up his big fail to a national audience so close to the election. And with Palin's Troopergate Troubles, he's prolly not gonna wanta focus on scandals at all, doggone it.
The thing is, McCain was forced by popular sentiment, and by just plain decency, to address his crowds' horrifically misinformed rage and it fell like a lead balloon. The attempt was too feeble, too obvious, and too late. And it pissed off the knuckledraggers who demanded he "take it to Obama." IIRC, McCain promised he would.
As Ana Marie Cox said to Rachel Maddow last night, McCain is down to the base of the base, the ultrafarright - those are the only people he's got left to support him and who are always so fired up, they attend every rally. Ana concluded, "When you've lost the pitchfork-wavers, who do you have left?"
Posted by iamcoyote at October 11, 2008 08:04 AMMy husband took my son to the chiropractor today. She likes McCain and is "scared" of Obama between the "terrorism" ties, the "naievete" (sorry, can't speall), and the tax hikes since they're a small business.
Well, there are two possibilities. One is that she's going to vote for McCain no matter what new facts she learns, and the other is that she's persuadable.
In your discussion lead with the tax story. Obama just announced big cuts to stimulate small business, and of course you know all about his tax plans. If that gains traction them you have a chance. OTOH, my experience is that anyone talking about "experience" and voting for McCain/Palin is really deciding based on other reasons. "Experience" was an acceptable excuse before Palin, but now it's just silly.
I know a few people who gave the "Experience" reason back in the Spring. Some are now disgusted with McCain/Palin and, being open minded, are impressed with how Obama is managing his campaign. Those are crossover voters. Two others, however, have retreated into "Rev Wright" and "America is not ready for a black president". Exploring further I find that although they hated Bush they have internalized a huge number of Republican talking points -- "Tax-and-Spend liberals", "Republicans fiscally responsible", etc.
Forget trying to convert those people for this election, but this is a population segment that needs to be targeted with a long-term counter-brain-washing campaign following the election.
Posted by Anonny at October 11, 2008 08:10 AMIs he?
Yes. He's said several times he was expecting it to be brought up at the second debate. Obama is nothing if not prepared.
Will he do it effectively?
Good question. He's certainly got a strong track record from the last two debates.
Again, saying it's a distraction doesn't work.
Actually, it does -- to a point. Poll numbers are showing very positive effects from his advertising with that theme.
But, as you point out, it's hard to explain the relationship in a soundbite. What you can say is "50 newspapers and fact checking orgs have looked into this and found nothing", which does have impact, but it's not the complete answer.
But this is exactly why Obama wants this to be mentioned at the debate, so he has 90 seconds in front of a huge audience in which to give a full response (which will probably similar to the radio interviews he's done this week). But then he can use that as a platform to reinforce the major themes of this campaign -- getting past old politics, focusing on issues voters care about, etc.
Posted by at October 11, 2008 08:18 AMThe attempt was too feeble, too obvious, and too late. And it pissed off the knuckledraggers who demanded he "take it to Obama." IIRC, McCain promised he would.
Noticed that.
You know, there was an art to keeping the dittoheads in line while appealing to the mainstream. Bush/Rove pulled it off, as did Reagan. McCain hasn't been able to do it.
McCain and Lieberman are going to be the two loneliest Senators come next year. Both absolutely hated by their own party's base.
Posted by Anonny at October 11, 2008 08:28 AMMissouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan released a statement this morning on the voter registration issues reported this week in Jackson County.
Here's what she said:
"I want to commend the efforts of the Jackson County Board of Election in identifying questionable voter registration applications. Due to the diligent efforts of the staff in Jackson County, these applications were identified before they were placed on the voter rolls."
Carnahan, hmmm, oh yeah, that Carnahan, daughter of former Democratic Senator Carnahan, whose husband and son were killed in a plane crash while running against Senator Ashcroft.
"State authorities on Tuesday raided an organization that registers low-income people to vote, alleging that its canvassers falsified forms with bogus names, fake addresses or famous personalities.
The secretary of state's office launched an investigation after noticing that names did not match addresses and that most members of the Dallas Cowboys appeared to be registering in Nevada to vote in November's general election."LVRJ.com
SoS Ross Miller is a Nevada native, who was born in Las Vegas and grew up in Carson City. He is the son of two second-generation Nevadans, Governor Bob Miller and Sandy Miller. Another Democrat doing their duty.
Two Democrats doing their duty to the best of their abilities. Shame Sos Jennifer Brunner in Ohio doesn't have the same commitment.
Just like all those state District Judges in Florida deciding against Gore, the majority of them Democrats. They knew the law and performed their duty admirably. The Florida Supremes didn't follow the written law.
Posted by peter at October 11, 2008 08:34 AMWell, there are two possibilities. One is that she's going to vote for McCain no matter what new facts she learns, and the other is that she's persuadable.
True. She's leaned McCain the whole way. She hated Hillary, but her husband (who I think leans republican)liked Hillary. I think her husband watches Faux, so that could be part of the problem. (We've been talking politics for the past year at least.) But I'm guessing their first worry is taxes on their business. I don't know if they make more or less than $250,000. I don't know if they provide health coverage for their employees. It is possible that they would do better under McCain's tax plan. I think I'd have to go with the "erratic" theme after that and point out all the stuff about Palin that she probably doesn't know.
Posted by CG at October 11, 2008 08:43 AMMcCain and Lieberman are going to be the two loneliest Senators come next year. Both absolutely hated by their own party's base.
They deserve it, too. And I agree with Josh Marshall that McCain tried the "let's be respectful" thing, not because he thinks what he's done is a bad thing, but because he knows he's going to have to apologize later on for the shit he's flung if he hopes to rehabilitate his diminishing image. I think he did it to get a video bite for the gasbags to wave around and say "see, it's the audience, not him" while at the same time cranking on anyone who criticized the mob-like behavior as "picking on regular folks."
Posted by iamcoyote at October 11, 2008 08:49 AMNot responding to the troll.
Posted by Anonny at October 11, 2008 10:40 AMI think we should cut John some slack on his love for out of control mobs. This from his unauthorized bio by a fellow silver spoon cousin:
"One of John Sydney McCain III's earliest and fondest memories occurred at the age of 4 when on a trip to Transylvania he witnessed an angry mob of "regular folks" storm a local castle and rid the village of someone who was "not like them"."
In his book "3rd Admiral? I don't think so!", "Biffy" McCain IV also reveals that from puberty until John met "THAT woman" (Marie the flame of Florida), he and "Johnny" were incestuous lovers.
Posted by TIKI AL at October 11, 2008 10:53 AMIt's crunch time right now people. Instead of spending all day reading and blogging, we each need to take a few minutes of our computer time and write letters to the editor.
The McCain campaign had attempted to reach out to that "underlying feeling" that Obama is "not one of us." Exotic. Out of the mainstream. Blah, blah, blah.
They were attempting to get to the "I just can't put my finger on it, but Obama scares me..." theme that has been propagated by the slur emails that have been floating around for the last couple of years. McCain overshot the mark and they can't stop what they've done.
There are some people, however, who are reachable. The ones who are not extremists and not racist but have that lingering feeling of discomfort are the ones who we need to reach with LTEs.
We need to write focusing on how much that we "trust" Obama and our overall general good feelings. Also we need to focus on how well organized that he is and even keeled and how well that he has handled his campaign. This will combat that feeling of unease.
I think that the Obama campaign knew that this was coming, a very long time ago, when they encouraged their supporters to focus on Obama's character and that they felt good about him. Searing this feeling into the psyche of his supporters was important because it pre-empted this crap that the McCain campaign is throwing. He knew that he had to make the people comfortable with him not just his policies and solutions. It was a smart decision even though he was criticized for it because people said that it was too "cult-like." It was not cult like, it was pre-empting the character assassinations that he knew were coming (and were also being emailed around at that time.)
Here are
some
excellent
resources for sending letters to the editor.
It is important to send them to papers in swing states as well as local ones. LTEs usually require a phone number so that they can contact you and confirm that you actually wrote it.
If we each send out several letters a day, between now and the election, we can swing some opinions.
PS: The McCain campaign is giving supporters LTEs, prewritten, for them to send out and sign their names to. Idiots.
Posted by Anjha at October 11, 2008 11:06 AMMccain at a rally: "We're going to fool them. We're going to fool them one more time."
Bush 2000
Bush 2004
McCain 2008???
Just how difficult is it to fool the Murkan public?
Posted by TIKI AL at October 11, 2008 11:45 AMThe NE has an "Obama Gay Link Czar Link". You gave it credibility when you bought that story about Palin, gay porn paying for Obama's campaign.
Man, how many elected Democrats are getting involved prosecuting ACORN and it's criminality? Obama's paid them $800k for GOTV, he also paid 'another' $838k for the primaries. Hillbuzz thinks RICO's may be forthcoming.
Posted by peter at October 11, 2008 01:11 PMPants pissin pete...consistently an ignorant; fascist asswipe..some things never change...
Posted by headxray at October 11, 2008 03:12 PM