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Friday, October 31, 2008
We lost our brother posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 8:25 AM
Last night, dubyaD40.com lost a brother and owner of this site. Clyde was involved in a fatal car accident that took his life. Most of you know him as Clyde who writes "Clyde's Corner" each week. We know him as Kenny. Clyde being his middle name. Outside of being an owner of this site, Kenny worked a full time job just like us. He was a blue-collared welding inspector that loved Nascar and politics.
Kenny recently turned 46. He is survived by 1 sister and 2 brothers.
I'm not good at writing things like this so I apologize. Your condolences are welcome but flowers are not. If he were here, he would say VOTE, don't send flowers.
R.I.P. Kenneth Clyde Bolles - Our best friend and brother:
She is a whack job posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:26 AM
McCain Advisor Eagleburger Blisters Palin: "Of Course" She's Not Ready
A former Republican Secretary of State and one of John McCain's most prominent supporters offered a stunningly frank and remarkably bleak assessment of Sarah Palin's capacity to handle the presidency should such a scenario arise.
Lawrence Eagleburger, who served as Secretary of State under George H.W. Bush and whose endorsement is often trumpeted by McCain, said on Thursday that the Alaska governor is not only unprepared to take over the job on a moment's notice but, even after some time in office, would only amount to an "adequate" commander in chief.
"And I devoutly hope that [she] would never be tested," he added for good measure -- referring both to Palin's policy dexterity and the idea of McCain not making it through his time in office.
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Eagleburger explained: "I don't think at the moment she is prepared to take over the reigns of the presidency. I can name for you any number of other vice presidents who were not particularly up to it either. So the question, I think, is can she learn and would she be tough enough under the circumstances if she were asked to become president, heaven forbid that that ever takes place?
Rasmussen: The Last Word--Almost posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:23 AM
These are our 2008 election projections as of Thursday, October 30. We will make final adjustments and tweaks on Monday afternoon, November 3, and post them to the website. At that point, we will attempt to call the few remaining toss-ups.
We wish everyone the best possible Election Day, with congratulations to the winners and condolences to the losers. Our sincere thanks to the thousands of readers who have offered tips, suggestions, and constructive criticism.
In January 2009 we'll start our focus on the new administration and Congress--and yes, the critical "Census/redistricting" midterm election cycle of 2010 (36 governors, thousands of state legislative seats, the entire U.S. House again, and the next third of the U.S. Senate seats on the ballot). The never-ending cycle of American politics will be played out here on Sabato's Crystal Ball.
The October Surprise: Like clockwork posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 1:42 PM
Qaeda wants Republicans, Bush "humiliated": Web video
An al Qaeda leader has called for President George W. Bush and the Republicans to be "humiliated," without endorsing any party in the upcoming U.S. presidential election, according to a video posted on the Internet.
"O God, humiliate Bush and his party, O Lord of the Worlds, degrade and defy him," Abu Yahya al-Libi said at the end of sermon marking the Muslim feast of Eid al-Fitr, in a video posted on the Internet.
Libi, one of the top al Qaeda commanders believed to be living in Afghanistan or Pakistan, called for God's wrath to be brought against Bush equating him with past tyrants in history.
The remarks were the first comments from a leading al Qaeda figure referring, albeit indirectly, to the U.S. elections. Muslim clerics often end sermons by calling on God to guide and support Muslims and help defeat their enemies.
In 2004 al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden issued his first video in more than a year just days before the elections to deride President Bush and warn of possible new September 11-style attacks.
The fat lady is warming up posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 12:59 PM
McCain Camp Buses In School Kids To Fill Crowd
The most cringe-worthy political moment of the day, so far, came when Sen. John McCain called out for his new buddy Joe the Plumber to stand up at a rally in Ohio, only to be greeted with confused silence. Joe the Plumber wasn't there.
But that rally featured another embarrassing moment, one that illustrates a far more troubling dynamic for the Republican ticket. The McCain campaign actually had to bus in school kids from the surrounding area in order to fill the event. As reported by MSNBC:
A local school district official confirmed after the event that of the 6,000 people estimated by the fire marshal to be in attendance this morning, more than 4,000 were bused in from schools in the area. The entire 2,500-student Defiance School District was in attendance, the official said, in addition to at least three other schools from neighboring districts, one of which sent 14 buses.
This happened -- as if a reminder were needed -- less than a week out from the election, when the heat of the campaign should be drawing record crowds.
Exxon will miss the Republicans posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 8:43 AM
Exxon Mobil: Biggest profit in U.S. history
Exxon Mobil Corp. set a quarterly profit record for a U.S. company Thursday, surging past analyst estimates.
Exxon Mobil (XOM, Fortune 500), the leading U.S. oil company, said its third-quarter net profit was $14.83 billion, or $2.86 per share, up from $9.41 billion, or $1.70, a year earlier. That profit included $1.45 billion in special items.
The company's prior record was $11.68 billion in the second quarter of 2008.
The latest quarter's net income equaled $1,865.69 per second, nearly $400 a second more than the prior mark.
Hello future Democratic majority! posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:12 AM
Palin suggests she's now GOP political fixture
Facing the unhappy prospect of defeat, Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin indicated Wednesday that she will not disappear from the national political scene if the GOP ticket loses on Tuesday.
"Absolutely not. I think that, if I were to give up and wave a white flag of surrender against some of the political shots that we've taken, that ... that would ... bring this whole ... I'm not doing this for naught," Palin said in an interview with ABC News, according to excerpts of a transcript released by the television network.
Palin was steadfast in saying Republican presidential nominee John McCain would defeat Democrat Barack Obama.
"I'm just ... thinking that it's gonna to go our way on Tuesday, Nov. 4. I truly believe that the wisdom of ... of the people will be revealed on that day. As they enter that voting booth, they will understand the stark contrast between the two tickets," the Alaska governor said.
Zogby: 50-43 posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:08 AM
Obama takes 7-point lead on McCain 50-43
Democrat Barack Obama has opened a 7-point lead over Republican rival John McCain with five days left in the race for the White House, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released on Thursday.
Obama leads McCain by 50 percent to 43 percent among likely voters in the three-day national tracking poll, building on his 5-point advantage on Wednesday. The telephone poll has a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.
It was the second consecutive day Obama's lead has grown as the two-year presidential battle draws to a close. McCain is struggling to overtake Obama's lead in every national opinion poll and in many battleground states.
"This is not good news for McCain. The race was tightening for a few days but now it is going back the other way," pollster John Zogby said.
You know you're doing bad when... posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:07 AM
McCain Now Running Robocalls Attacking Obama In Home State Of Arizona
John McCain and the Republican National Committee are now running robocalls attacking Obama as weak on terrorism -- in McCain's home state of Arizona, according to multiple readers from the state.
The call signals genuine worry about McCain's home state at a time when several polls show the race to be much closer than expected there.
McCain's robocall, which was played to us over the phone by Mary Joe Bartel, a retiree who lives south of Tucson, attacks Obama as unprepared to defend the country from terrorism, singling out Joe Biden's recent remarks about the likelihood of Obama being tested by an international crisis early in his first term.
Here's the script:
I'm calling for John McCain and the RNC because Barack Obama is so dangerously inexperienced, his running mate Joe Biden just said, he invites a major international crisis that he will be unprepared to handle alone.
If Democrats win full control of government, they will want to give civil rights to terrorists and talk unconditionally to dictators and state sponsors of terror. Barack Obama and his Democratic allies lack the experience and judgment to lead America. This call was paid for by the Republican National Committee and authorized by McCain-Palin 2008.
Two other Arizona readers -- David Lorti, a Phoenix realtor, and Jerry Mooers, a retiree from Sun Lakes -- confirm to us that they received the same call today.
It's about FRIGGIN' time! posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 11:58 AM
Sen. Lieberman likely to lose his gavel in massive reshuffle being discussed
Democratic leaders are discussing a major reshuffling of Senate committee chairmanships, according to multiple sources, and the proposed changes include ousting Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) from his coveted chairmanship.
Lieberman, a former Democrat who supports Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for president, is likely to lose his gavel on the Homeland Security Committee he has chaired since January 2007, say the sources who see him being replaced by Sen. Daniel Akaka (Hawaii), the committee's third-ranking Democrat.
Lieberman spokesman Marshall Witmann dismissed the speculation, saying Lieberman "is focused on doing all he can to elect John McCain as president rather than post-election Washington politics."
One Democratic source said Lieberman is not likely to lose his position in the Democratic caucus, even if the party picks up several seats in next week's election. While Democrats could approach or exceed the filibuster-proof threshold of 60 votes, they may still need Lieberman's vote often.
I thought the Democrats were going to bring about "socialism" posted by
Clyde 11:57 AM
Do these people have any clue as to what their friggin message is? Psst Caribou Barbie - you can't have both. Pick one to try and scare the 28 percenters with or just shut the F*ck Up!
Palin warns against one-party rule
Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin told supporters Wednesday that one-party Democratic rule in Washington would bring an "agenda of inaction."
"When you look over the energy plans of Barack Obama and his allies in Congress, it's just a long, labored agenda of inaction," Palin said during a speech on energy. "And it's the same agenda of inaction we could expect under the one-party rule of Obama, Pelosi, and Reid."
"They're always talking about things we can't do in America, energy we can't produce, refineries we can't build, plants we can't approve, coal we cannot use, technologies we cannot master. As John McCain has observed, for a guy whose slogan is 'yes, we can,' Barack Obama's energy plan sure has a whole lot of 'no, we can't.'"
Palin was following the lead of running mate John McCain, who on Monday called Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid a "dangerous threesome."
Hitting back even harder posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 10:29 AM
Obama, again, mocks 'socialist' claim
Obama, in Raleigh, N.C., returned to the claim by the McCain camp that he's sliding toward socialism.
McCain is "spending these last few days calling me every name in the book," Obama said.o
"I'm sorry to see my opponent sink so low. Lately, he's called me a socialist for wanting to roll back the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans so we can finally give tax relief to the middle class. By the end of the week, he'll be accusing me of being a secret communist because I shared my toys in Kindergarten," he said.
A sneak peak of the Obamercial posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 9:47 AM
Obama Infomercial, a Closing Argument to the Everyman
Senator Barack Obama will use his prime-time half-hour infomercial on Wednesday night to make what is effectively a closing argument to a national audience of millions. At times he will speak directly into the camera about his 20-month campaign, at others he will highlight everyday voters, their everyday troubles, and his plans to address them.
Mr. Obama's campaign agreed to provide The New York Times with a minute-long trailer for the 30-minute program, which is to run on four broadcast networks at 8 p.m. It will be the first time in 16 years that a presidential candidate has bought network time, in prime time, for a prolonged campaign commercial.
The trailer is heavy in strings, flags, presidential imagery and some Americana filmed by Davis Guggenheim, whose father was the campaign documentarian of Robert F. Kennedy. As the screen flashes scenes of suburban lawns, a freight train and Mr. Obama seated at a kitchen table with a group of white, apparently working-class voters, Mr. Obama says: "We've seen over the last eight years how decisions by a president can have a profound effect on the course of history and on American lives; much that's wrong with our country goes back even farther than that."
Then, while standing before a stately desk and an American flag, Mr. Obama, in a suit, says: "We've been talking about the same problems for decades and nothing is ever done to solve them. For the past 20 months, I've traveled the length of this country, and Michelle and I have met so many Americans who are looking for real and lasting change that makes a difference in their lives."
Will history repeats itself? posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 8:34 AM
Obama's ahead, polls say, but will the lead last?
With a week to go before Election Day, most recent national polls show Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama with an advantage. But how much are they to be believed?
The most recent national CNN poll of polls showed Obama with an 8-point lead over Republican presidential nominee John McCain, 51 percent to 43 percent. The polls were conducted October 21 through October 26.
Most other national polls show Obama with a lead ranging between 5 points and double digits.
A look at CNN polling during the same period before Election Day in 2000 and 2004 suggests that political observers and campaign supporters ought to be cautious in declaring the race over because of current polling numbers.
When a presidential race has a non-incumbent in the lead, like this year, the poll numbers tend to tighten as Election Day gets closer, CNN senior researcher Alan Silverleib said "Any time it looks like they are on the verge of voting somebody new into office, there is buyer's remorse," he said. "Based on that, and the fact that the country has been so polarized in recent elections, there's pretty good reason to think that the polls might tighten up a little bit."
.....
There have been a few examples of such "buyer's remorse" in recent history, Silverleib said.
"We saw that with Clinton in 1992, when the polls suddenly tightened up during the last week," he said. "It was almost like people saying, 'Do we really want this guy?' "
They did. Clinton soundly defeated President George H. W. Bush, 43 percent to 37 percent.
6 more days posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:15 AM
Electoral Math Bleak for McCain
Florida, Virginia, Ohio, North Carolina, Missouri - all states President Bush won in 2004. The only traditionally Democratic state where McCain is seriously campaigning is Pennsylvania, and polls show him trailing there by double digits.
Barack Obama's campaign long planned to use its vast fundraising network to target more Republican states than usual. With a big assist from the financial collapse, it has paid off. A week before Election Day, Obama has a host of possibilities for reaching the necessary 270 electoral votes, while McCain's options are dwindling fast.
The standard rule for the last few presidential campaigns has been that whoever wins two out of three between Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio, wins the White House. With so many states in play, that's no longer valid.
Obama could lose all three and still win the election if he picked up several states won by Bush in 2004, states where Obama leads in the polls. Or, just winning Florida or Ohio could put him in the White House.
"This is an unbelievable crowd for this kind of weather," said Obama, dressed in a dark rain jacket. "I just want all of you to know that if we see this kind of dedication on Election Day, there is no way that we're not going to bring change to America."
He continued, "Whether it's rain or sleet or snow, we are going to go out and we're going to vote, because there's too much at stake ... We're going to keep on going until we finish the job."
And the crowd -- under umbrellas, wearing trash bags, stuffed inside giant parkas -- chanted "We want change! We want change!"
Dear John: Fark you. Signed, Governor Crist posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 1:19 PM
Gov. Charlie Crist Extends Early Voting Hours
Gov. Charlie Crist signed an executive order today, extending the hours for early voting during the current general election.
"I have spoken with the Secretary of State and members of the Florida Legislature and have concluded that it is always the right thing to do to give voters every opportunity to cast a ballot," Crist said. "I have a responsibility to the voters of our state to ensure that the maximum number of citizens can participate in the electoral process, and that every person can exercise the right to vote."
Effective immediately, early voting sites will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., through Friday, Oct. 31, 2008, and for a total of 12 hours between 7:00 a.m. on Sat., Nov. 1, and 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 2, 2008.
Barack Obama leads John McCain by a 52% to 36% margin in Pew's latest nationwide survey of 1,325 registered voters. This is the fourth consecutive survey that has found support for the Republican candidate edging down. In contrast, since early October weekly Pew surveys have shown about the same number of respondents saying they back Obama. When the sample is narrowed to those most likely to vote, Obama leads by 53% to 38%.
A breakdown of voting intentions by demographic groups shows that since mid- September, McCain's support has declined significantly across most voting blocs. Currently, McCain holds a statistically significant advantage only among white evangelical Protestants (aside from Republicans). In addition, Obama runs nearly even with McCain in the so-called red states, all of which George W. Bush won in 2004.
Just as ominous for the Republican candidate, Obama holds a 53% to 34% lead among the sizable minority of voters (15%) who say they have already voted. Among those who plan to vote early but have not yet voted (16% of voters), 56% support Obama, while 37% support McCain.
Arizona goes Obama? It's possible posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:22 AM
Internal GOP Poll has McCain Only +3 in AZ
More disturbingly for Republicans, at least one internal Republican poll conducted toward the end of the week showed McCain clinging to a tiny 3-point lead. McCain is tied in Maricopa County, usually seen as a death knell for any statewide Republican candidate, but he makes up the difference with a strong performance in the northern part of the state.
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"This is shaping up to be the worst landslide for a Republican since (former Arizona Senator Barry) Goldwater. I realize the irony in that," said one distraught Arizona Republican operative who asked for anonymity to speak frankly. "If I were to place a bet today, I'd say McCain loses" his home state. .....
Still, other Republican strategists with ties to Arizona said, on condition that their names not be used, that there was reason for concern.
Internal Democratic polls in individual congressional districts in Arizona show McCain dramatically underperforming President Bush's 2004 numbers.
Standing up to hate. posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:07 AM
Dozens Of Call Center Workers Walk Off Job In Protest Rather Than Read Anti-Obama Script
Some three dozen workers at a telemarketing call center in Indiana walked off the job rather than read an incendiary McCain campaign script attacking Barack Obama, according to two workers at the center and one of their parents.
Nina Williams, a stay-at-home mom in Lake County, Indiana, tells us that her daughter recently called her from her job at the center, upset that she had been asked to read a script attacking Obama for being "dangerously weak on crime," "coddling criminals," and for voting against "protecting children from danger."
Williams' daughter told her that up to 40 of her co-workers had refused to read the script, and had left the call center after supervisors told them that they would have to either read the call or leave, Williams says. The call center is called Americall, and it's located in Hobart, IN.
<...>
The daughter, who wanted her name withheld fearing retribution from her employer, confirmed the story to us. "It was like at least 40 people," the daughter said. "People thought the script was nasty and they didn't wanna read it."
Who's the terrorist again? posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 2:26 PM
ATF says it disrupted skinhead plot in Tenn., Ark. to assassinate Obama
The ATF says it has broken up a plot to assassinate Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and shoot or decapitate 102 black people in a Tennessee murder spree.
In court records unsealed Monday, agents said they disrupted plans to rob a gun store and target an unnamed but predominantly African-American high school by two neo-Nazi skinheads.
It's a series of Guilty posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 2:12 PM
Sen. Stevens found guilty on corruption charges
Sen. Ted Stevens was found guilty on all counts at his corruption trial Monday.
Stevens was charged with lying on Senate financial forms about $250,000 in home renovations and other gifts he received from an oil contractor.
Stevens spent three days on the witness stand, vehemently denying that allegation. He said his wife, Catherine, paid every bill they received.
Stevens faces up to five years in prison on each count, but under federal sentencing guidelines, he would likely receive much less prison time, if any.
Stevens' trial hinged on the testimony of Bill Allen, the senator's longtime drinking and fishing buddy. Allen, the founder of VECO, testified that he never billed his friend for the extensive work on the house and that Stevens knew he was getting a deal.
The south goes Obama posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 12:59 PM
NASCAR'S Junior Johnson comes out for Obama
My family and I have given this election a lot of thought.
Our country is in a rough spot, and we're going to need some serious change. There's only one candidate ready to deliver it -- and that's Barack Obama....
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Every day I talk to someone else who's never voted for a Democrat, but now they're voting for Barack Obama. They realize that Barack understands what we're going through here in North Carolina. And they're ready for change.
So I've made up my mind, and I'm ready to get involved. I know that I could never have won a race without my pit crew, and I know Barack can't win this one without us.
Can you sign up to volunteer this last crucial week?
When I talk to folks about why I support Barack, I just tell it like I see it.
There's been a lot thrown at him this election, and he's stayed calm, positive, and focused. I know a little something about how important it is to stay cool under pressure.
And with all the dangers in our world today, that's the kind of rock-solid leadership our country needs.
These days, I run a small country ham and pork skins business. Barack Obama will fight for a fair economy where small businesses like mine have the freedom to grow, and he'll defend the Second Amendment to protect the hunter's way of life.
But the most important reasons I'm speaking out for Barack Obama are named Robert and Meredith, my two children. My wife Lisa and I talked it over, and honestly, we know in our gut that their future is more secure if Barack Obama is president.
At the end of the day, there's just nothing more important than that.
That's why I'm going to talk to my neighbors this week, and I'm asking you to do the same. This election in North Carolina is going to be one of the closest ever, and we all need to lend a hand.
I've been in a lot of races in my life. But this may be the most important one of all. So let's all get in gear and win it together.
Yours,
Junior Johnson
P.S. -- I know what it means to run an aggressive race, but I also know what it means to compete with integrity. Have you gotten one of these pre-recorded calls that are flooding our state smearing Barack Obama's character and questioning his patriotism? That's crossing the line, and North Carolinians deserve better. Help fight back by canvassing this week to tell your neighbors the truth about Barack.
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Junior Johnson is one of the founding fathers of NASCAR. Tom Wolfe's story, Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamlined Baby was about Junior. He was a convicted Moonshiner and when they talk about how NASCAR grew from the high speed cars of the moonshine era, Junior is one of those guys. He was also one of the biggest and best cheaters in NASCAR. Even late in his car owner career (early 90's) he got caught cheating with one of his cars and they suspended him for a month. His wife ran the team for him until he came back. As a car owner in the sport, guys Like Darrel Waltrip and Bill Eliott drove for him. As his legend has grown he has become rather beloved by the race fans. I never saw him race but I have watched him working the pits in Charlotte when he was still active in the sport.
His support for Obama could actually be a game changer in North Carolina. He is that well know down there. NASCAR is the most Republican leaning sport in America and Junior Johnson announcing that he is voting Democrat is pretty fucking amazing. I'm ready to go out and buy some fine Junior Johnson fine Pork Products...yes-sir-re-bub
All I want for Christmas.. posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 12:09 PM
Yes, Virginia, You Are Obama's Firewall
Suppose that instead of a relatively decisive win by Barack Obama on Election Day, we instead have a very close election.
Wish state might the McCain campaign really, really wish that they hadn't insulted?
I'll give you a hint. It's not technically a state, but rather, a commonwealth.
Five separate polls of Virginia have been released within the past 48 hours. Zogby has Obama ahead by 7 points there, the Washington Post by 8, SurveyUSA by 9, Public Policy Polling also by 9, and Virgnia Commonwealth University by 11.
Virginia, with 13 electoral votes, is a bit more electorally potent than Colorado; Obama could afford to lose either New Hampshire or New Mexico if he won there (though not both), which is not true about the Rocky Mountain state. We are currently projecting Obama to win every John Kerry state, except New Hampshire, but plus Iowa, by double digits. If Obama wins all of those states plus Virginia, he's at 268 electoral votes, meaning that any more electoral votes anywhere in the country would win him the election.
Tick tock, tick tock posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 12:06 PM
String of polls shows uphill climb for McCain
Barack Obama is hanging onto leads in several battleground states as well as a handful of traditionally red states won by President Bush in 2004, CNN's average of several recent state polls shows.
According to a string of new polls of polls from CNN, Obama holds narrow leads in Ohio, Missouri, Florida, Nevada, and Virginia. John McCain meanwhile is hanging onto his lead in Indiana and West Virginia. CNN's polls of polls are statistical averages of several recent surveys from each state. They do not carry margins of error.
In Ohio, the state no Republican has won the White House without, Obama is holding a 4 point lead, 50 percent to 46 percent. That's one point narrower than a CNN Ohio polls of polls last week.
In Missouri, the state that voted for President Bush twice, Obama holds a 1 point lead over McCain. A CNN average of recent polls last week showed the race tied in Missouri.
Obama is holding onto a 2 point lead in Florida meanwhile, 48 percent to 46 percent. That's one point narrower than the race was last week at this time.
In Nevada, Obama has a 4 point lead, 49 to 45 percent - a lead that hasn't changed over the last week.
In Virginia, a state that hasn't voted Democratic in over 4 decades, but one that has been increasingly trending Democratic, Obama holds a 5 point lead, 50 to 45 percent. That's 3 points narrower than Obama's lead there last week, according to a CNN poll of polls then.
McCain meanwhile has a 1 point lead in Indiana, 47 to 45 percent, another state that hasn't voted Democratic since the 1960's but one that the Obama campaign has heavily targeted.
The pimp slap... posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:10 AM
Anchorage Daily News Endorses Obama
Alaska's largest newspaper said Gov. Sarah Palin has brought to the state "attention and recognition" as the Republican vice presidential nominee but said that fact alone "does not overwhelm all other judgment."
"Many Alaskans are proud to see their governor, and their state, so prominent on the national stage," reads the endorsement. But "Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee, brings far more promise to the office."
Obama "displays thoughtful analysis, enlists wise counsel and operates with a cool, stead hand. The same cannot be said of Sen. McCain," the editors continue.
The paper notes that both Obama and John McCain oppose the opening of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, a policy position the Anchorage Daily News disagrees with. "We think both are wrong, and hope a President Obama can be convinced to support environmentally responsible development of that resource."
With a circulation of roughly 71,000 and two Pulitzer Prizes, the Anchorage Daily News is the state's most influential newspaper. It has been critical of Palin in the past, though the endorsement still comes as a surprise.
Republican's Hate Democracy posted by
Wally 2:45 AM
In anything resembling a fair and open democratic process, Republicans don't stand a chance. Out of one side of their face they talk about defending and protecting freedom and democracy, and out the other side they pull shit like this. In Georgia, they purged more than 50,000 voters off the voter lists, without giving them the opportunity to prove they are legitimate voters.
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- College senior Kyla Berry was looking forward to voting in her first presidential election, even carrying her voter registration card in her wallet. But about two weeks ago, Berry got disturbing news from local election officials.
"This office has received notification from the state of Georgia indicating that you are not a citizen of the United States and therefore, not eligible to vote," a letter from the Fulton County Department of Registration and Elections said.
But Berry is a U.S. citizen, born in Boston, Massachusetts. She has a passport and a birth certificate to prove it. Video Watch some of the concerns of voting experts »
The letter, which was dated October 2, gave her a week from the time it was dated to prove her citizenship. There was a problem, though -- the letter was postmarked October 9.
By the time the letter left the post office, it was too late for her to do a damn thing about it. This was not an accident. Remember, it happened to more than 50,000 others in Georgia too. Who's willing to bet against me that these letters were aimed primarily at college students and minorities?
Cheating worked for the Republicans in Ohio in '04. Cheating worked for them in Florida in 2000. In my lifetime, the GOP has never been above violating the very thing that makes America what it is, if it keeps them in power.
I'm sure we'll hear about a lot more of this over the next week. I hope Obama has his army of lawyers ready. I expect a lot more fight out of him than we saw out of Gore or Kerry if they try to steal this one.
This is why Obama keeps encouraging us to not get cocky or complacent. This is why we need to vote in numbers so large that it is too overwhelming for them to steal. Again.
McFailin campaign is off the reservation posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 8:42 PM
Palin's 'going rogue,' McCain aide says
With 10 days until Election Day, long-brewing tensions between GOP vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin and key aides to Sen. John McCain have become so intense, they are spilling out in public, sources say.
Several McCain advisers have suggested to CNN that they have become increasingly frustrated with what one aide described as Palin "going rogue."
A Palin associate, however, said the candidate is simply trying to "bust free" of what she believes was a damaging and mismanaged roll-out.
McCain sources say Palin has gone off-message several times, and they privately wonder whether the incidents were deliberate. They cited an instance in which she labeled robocalls -- recorded messages often used to attack a candidate's opponent -- "irritating" even as the campaign defended their use. Also, they pointed to her telling reporters she disagreed with the campaign's decision to pull out of Michigan.
A second McCain source says she appears to be looking out for herself more than the McCain campaign.
"She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone," said this McCain adviser. "She does not have any relationships of trust with any of us, her family or anyone else.
Palin stylist draws higher pay than policy adviser
An acclaimed celebrity makeup artist for Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin collected more money from John McCain's campaign than his foreign policy adviser. Amy Strozzi, who works on the reality show "So You Think You Can Dance" and has been Palin's traveling stylist, was paid $22,800, according to campaign finance reports for the first two weeks in October. In contrast, McCain's foreign policy adviser, Randy Scheunemann, was paid $12,500, the report showed.
McCain's campaign said the payment covered a portion of her work in September and a portion of October. An earlier campaign finance report showed Strozzi was paid $13,200 for a portion of September.
In recent days, McCain and his running mate have tried to douse a furor over how their side spent their money. The Republican National Committee came under scrutiny after the party committee reported earlier this week that it had spent about $150,000 in September on wardrobe and cosmetics after Palin joined the GOP ticket.
In an interview with the Chicago Tribune and Fox News on Thursday, Palin said the clothes bought for the Republican National Convention were not worth $150,000 and said most have not left her campaign plane. She also said the family shops frugally.
Social Conservatives Aim Fire at GOP Campaign Committee
The move by an arm of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) to scale back campaign support for embattled Reps. Michele Bachmann and Marilyn Musgrave drew a sharp rebuke from the leader of a prominent organization of social conservatives, who is vowing to tell his supporters not to donate to the GOP's House campaign unit unless the decision is reversed.
"It appears that the NRCC is abandoning social conservative candidates and the issues for which they stand, particularly if they are championed by some of the most promising female legislators in the Congress. This is no time to cut and run from a fight," Family Research Council (FRC) President Tony Perkins wrote in a letter to NRCC Chairman Tom Cole , who represents an Oklahoma district in the House. The letter was released to reporters late Thursday.
Referring to his organization's political action committee, Perkins warned, "I will urge supporters of the FRC Action to stop giving to the NRCC until it starts supporting and fighting for conservative candidates in close races."
Musgrave, who survived a very close 2006 contest in Colorado's 4th District, appears in even more political danger in her contest this year with Democratic businesswoman Betsy Markey, a former aide to Colorado Democratic Sen. Ken Salazar . Bachmann appeared a much stronger favorite in Minnesota's strongly conservative-leaning 6th District, but her race against Democratic former state official Elwyn Tinklenberg has tightened since last week, when she made controversial remarks on national television questioning whether Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has "anti-American views."
Reagan Appointee and (Recent) McCain Adviser Charles Fried Supports Obama
Charles Fried, a professor at Harvard Law School, has long been one of the most important conservative thinkers in the United States. Under President Reagan, he served, with great distinction, as Solicitor General of the United States. Since then, he has been prominently associated with several Republican leaders and candidates, most recently John McCain, for whom he expressed his enthusiastic support in January.
This week, Fried announced that he has voted for Obama-Biden by absentee ballot. In his letter to Trevor Potter, the General Counsel to the McCain-Palin campaign, he asked that his name be removed from the several campaign-related committees on which he serves. In that letter, he said that chief among the reasons for his decision "is the choice of Sarah Palin at a time of deep national crisis."
Fried is exceptionally thoughtful and principled; his vote for Obama is especially noteworthy.
Goodbye McCain posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 11:42 AM
Police: Campaign Worker Admits Making Up Story
Police sources tell KDKA that a campaign worker has now confessed to making up a story that a mugger attacked her and cut the letter "B" in her face after seeing her McCain bumper sticker.
Ashley Todd, 20, of Texas, initially told police that she was robbed at an ATM in Bloomfield and that the suspect became enraged and started beating her after seeing her GOP sticker on her car.
Police investigating the alleged attack, however, began to notice some inconsistencies in her story and administered a polygraph test.
Authorities, however, declined to release the results of that test.
From FOX News Executive Vice President John Moody:
Moment of Truth
It had to happen.
Less than two weeks before we vote for a new president, a white woman says a black man attacked her, then scarred her face, and says there was a political motive for it.
Ashley Todd, a 20-year-old white volunteer for John McCain's presidential campaign, says she was mugged at an ATM machine in Pittsburgh (my hometown) by a big black man. She further says he threw her down, then disfigured her by carving the letter "B" into her face with a sharp implement when he saw that she supported McCain, not Barack Obama.
Part of the appeal of, and the unspoken tension behind, Senator Obama's campaign is his transformational status as the first African-American to win a major party's presidential nomination.
That does not mean that he has erased the mutual distrust between black and white Americans, and this incident could become a watershed event in the 11 days before the election.
If Ms. Todd's allegations are proven accurate, some voters may revisit their support for Senator Obama, not because they are racists (with due respect to Rep. John Murtha), but because they suddenly feel they do not know enough about the Democratic nominee.
If the incident turns out to be a hoax, Senator McCain's quest for the presidency is over, forever linked to race-baiting.
For Pittsburgh, a city that has done so much to shape American history over the centuries, another moment of truth is at hand.
When all else fails - Deny Deny Deny! posted by
Clyde 10:36 AM
Palin denies accepting $150K in designer clothes
Sarah Palin is blaming gender bias for the controversy over $150,000 worth of designer clothes, hairstyling and accessories the Republican Party provided for her, a newspaper reported Thursday.
"I think Hillary Clinton was held to a different standard in her primary race," Palin said in an interview with the Chicago Tribune posted on the newspaper's Web site Thursday night. "Do you remember the conversations that took place about her, say superficial things that they don't talk about with men, her wardrobe and her hairstyles, all of that? That's a bit of that double standard."
Palin, who is John McCain's vice presidential running mate, said the clothes were not worth $150,000 and were bought for the Republican National Convention.
Most of the clothes have never left the campaign plane, she told the newspaper.
More record turnout posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 10:27 AM
Early Voting Update: Democrats Dominate in W. Va.
Based on an average of various polls, Real Clear Politics has Republican nominee John McCain up by 6.5 points in West Virginia. But early voters seem to be leaning the other way.
After more than a week of early voting, registered Democrats are outpacing their Republican counterparts more than 2 to 1. As of Tuesday, 21,726 had voted, compared with 10,678 Republicans. That suggests an early advantage for Democratic nominee Barack Obama.
Pretend we're 10% down posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:27 AM
CBS News/NY Times Poll: Obama Maintains Double-Digit Lead
With just twelve days left until Election Day, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama holds a 13-point lead over Republican rival John McCain, a new CBS News/New York Times poll shows.
Obama now leads McCain 52 percent to 39 percent among likely voters nationwide, roughly the same lead he held last week. Just five percent are undecided, and more than 9 in 10 of each candidate’s supporters say their mind is made up.
Obama’s lead among independent voters, who have swung back and forth between the candidates, has fallen 12 points since last week - though the Democratic nominee still holds a 45 percent to 39 percent edge among the group.
Obama has been more successful in evoking a positive response from voters: Sixty-two percent say they feel personally comfortable with the Illinois senator. Far fewer - 47 percent - feel comfortable with McCain. In fact, a slightly higher percentage - 49 percent - report feeling "uneasy" about the Republican nominee. Thirty-four percent feel uneasy about Obama.
Like an "ongoing endorsement?" posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:24 AM
McClellan Endorses Obama
Scott McClellan, President Bush's former press secretary, says he is backing Barack Obama for president.
McClellan made the endorsement during a taping of Comedian D.L. Hughley's new show that is premiering on CNN this weekend. The former Bush administration official said he wanted to support the candidate that has the best chance for changing the way Washington works and getting things done.
He's the second former Bush administration figure this week to publicly back Obama, following former Secretary of State Colin Powell. McClellan caused bitterness among his former co-workers with a tell-all book that criticized Bush.
I can think of a few Dems too posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 1:28 PM
Poll: Voters' think most of Congress should go, especially GOP
A new national poll suggests that a majority of Americans don't think most members of Congress deserve to be re-elected. But most of the anger appears to be directed at Republicans rather than Democrats, who have controlled both houses of Congress for the past two years.
Fifty-eight percent of registered voters questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released Wednesday said that most members of Congress do not deserve to be re-elected; 37 percent said most members should be returned to office.
"It's a "throw the bums out" sentiment similar to how the public felt in 1994, when Congress switched to GOP control, and 2006, when Congress switched back to Democratic control," said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.
2012: Another landslide? posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 12:13 PM
Republicans 'considering' Sarah Palin 2012 presidential campaign
Conservative Republicans are talking enthusiastically about Mrs Palin as a White house contender next time, acknowledging that if a week is a long time in politics then four years amounts to several lifetimes.
"Sarah's the one," said one leading conservative who is convinced Mr McCain will lose this election. "The party is broken and only she can fix it. We need someone who comes from outside Washington and relates to the aspirations of ordinary Americans."
Mrs Palin appears to be subtly distancing herself from Mr McCain and positioning herself for a presidential run in her own right, much as John Edwards did in 2004 as John Kerry's Democratic vice-presidential running mate.
She has repeatedly stated, often on conservative talk radio, that she would be more aggressive in making the case against Mr Obama while at the same time distancing herself from campaign tactics such as automated telephone calls.
GOP in BIG trouble posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 12:08 PM
No wonder they're pulling out from everywhere:
Poll: Obama edges ahead of McCain in Montana
A new poll shows that Democrat Barack Obama could be edging ahead of Republican John McCain in Montana.
Obama is at 44 percent and John McCain is at 40 percent in the Montana State University-Billings poll released Thursday. The poll reverses others from earlier in the fall that showed McCain with a lead in the state.
The poll of 403 Montanans was conducted from Thursday though Monday and has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.
Both Obama and McCain did a pretty good job in the poll of holding their party's base, but Obama held an advantage among self-described independents.
After trailing by 10 points in U.S. rural areas, Democrat Barack Obama is neck-and-neck with Republican John McCain among rural voters in 13 swing states, a potentially key group for winning the White House, according to a poll released on Thursday.
Obama was supported by 46 percent and McCain by 45 percent of 841 likely voters surveyed from October 5-21, as U.S. financial turmoil deepened, according to the poll commissioned by the nonpartisan Center for Rural Strategies in Whitesburg, Kentucky.
A month ago, the poll showed McCain led 51-41. This time, respondents said Obama would do better than McCain on the economy, taxes and "the financial crisis in the country."
Nearly 20 percent of Americans live in rural areas. They tend to be social and fiscal conservatives. President George W. Bush won rural districts nationwide by 19 points in 2004.
ABC/Wash Post Poll: Obama 54, McCain 43 posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:16 AM
Barack Obama has shored up his experience rating to the point where it now surpasses George W. Bush's in 2000 and matches Bill Clinton's in 1992, addressing what has been Obama's greatest vulnerability in the presidential election.
Obama, perhaps with help from his endorsement by Colin Powell, also appears to have stemmed some underlying advances by John McCain after their final debate last week. In the battle of who'd best help the middle class Obama holds a 2-1 lead. And he's moved closer to McCain on who'd be the better commander-in-chief, cutting a 43-point McCain lead to 19 points.
Fifty-six percent of likely voters now say Obama has the experience it takes to serve effectively as president, up from 48 percent after the Republican convention. That's now better than George W. Bush's rating just in advance of the 2000 election, when 52 percent said he was experienced enough. Obama's advance on experience resembles Bill Clinton's 16 years ago, from 49 percent in June 1992 to 57 percent that October.
Wish it were State polls posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:10 AM
Obama lead on McCain grows to 12 points
Democrat Barack Obama's lead over Republican rival John McCain has grown to 12 points in the U.S. presidential race, with crucial independent and women voters increasingly moving to his side, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released on Thursday.
With less than two weeks before the November 4 election, Obama leads McCain 52 percent to 40 percent among likely voters in the latest three-day tracking poll, which had a margin of error of 2.9 points.
Obama has made steady gains over the last four days and has tripled his lead on McCain in the past week of polling.
"Obama's expansion is really across the board," pollster John Zogby said. "It seems to be among almost every demographic group."
The Illinois senator saw his lead among women -- who are expected to play a decisive role in this election -- increase to 18 points from 16 points on Wednesday.
And independent voters, who have been the target of intense campaign efforts by both sides, have now swung behind Obama by a 30-point margin, 59 percent to 29 percent.
'Mo Money; 'Mo Problems posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 7:57 PM
A $150,000 Illegal Mistake...
Normally I could care less about the Palin wardrobe, but Ambinder confirms I a suspicion I had this morning when I heard that she'd used $150,000 in campaign dollars had been used to buy her clothes from Saks and Nieman Marcus.
Under prohibited uses of Chapter 14 of the U.S. Code for use of contributions for certain uses we see:
(b) Prohibited use (1) In general A contribution or donation described in subsection (a) of this section shall not be converted by any person to personal use. (2) Conversion For the purposes of paragraph (1), a contribution or donation shall be considered to be converted to personal use if the contribution or amount is used to fulfill any commitment, obligation, or expense of a person that would exist irrespective of the candidate's election campaign or individual's duties as a holder of Federal office, including- (A) a home mortgage, rent, or utility payment; (B) a clothing purchase; (C) a noncampaign-related automobile expense; (D) a country club membership; (E) a vacation or other noncampaign-related trip; (F) a household food item; (G) a tuition payment; (H) admission to a sporting event, concert, theater, or other form of entertainment not associated with an election campaign; and (I) dues, fees, and other payments to a health club or recreational facility.
emphasis mine.
I mean, that looks pretty black and white to me, though I'm sure a large number of campaign lawyers will be backing me up or explaining to me why I'm wrong shortly.
McCain started his campaign in Keating's living room posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 7:37 PM
Keating law firm donates $50,000 to McCain campaign
Those voting for the first time this year may not have even been alive during the Keating Five scandal, the political corruption case that threatened Charles Keating to end John McCain's political career back in 1989. Much to the chagrin of those Democrats gesticulating wildly at the very silent elephant in the room, the Obama campaign has largely refrained from touching upon the issue, perhaps preferring to leave past associations well alone, for understandable reasons.
But sometimes history throws little reminders into our present path, and this is one of those times. Campaign finance records have revealed that the law firm founded by Charles Keating - before he went to jail for fraud, racketeering, and conspiracy for his activities as chairman of Lincoln Savings and Loans - has made donations totalling over $50,000 to McCain's campaign.
The Center for Responsive Politics has done the maths, and says: "In amounts ranging from $200 to $2,300, about 30 partners and employees of the legal firm Keating, Muething and Klekamp, as well as their family members, have contributed $50,200 to McCain's 2008 campaign. All but two of the contributions came in July, and all but three of those July donations were logged on July 31, suggesting they were delivered at the same time. As with any bundle of campaign contributions, it's difficult to determine which donor was the "bundler," the person who solicited the contributions on the campaign's behalf. McCain's online roster of bundlers, which purports to name any individual bundling $50,000 or more for the campaign, does not associate any of McCain's major fundraisers with the Keating firm."
This is not improper in itself, and the only Keating included in the bundle is William J. Keating, Jr., Charles Keating's nephew, who is listed as a partner in the firm and contributed $1,000.
But it reminds us of McCain's role in "The Keating Five," a group of senators who received a total of $1.4 million in campaign contributions connected to Keating and personally intervened with government regulators to allow Lincoln Savings and Loans to make highly risky investments that defrauded thousands of investors and cost taxpayers $3.4 billion.
McCain campaign paid Republican operative accused of voter fraud
John McCain paid $175,000 of campaign money to a Republican operative accused of massive voter registration fraud in several states, it has emerged.
As the McCain camp attempts to tie Barack Obama to claims of registration irregularities by the activist group ACORN, campaign finance records detailing the payment to the firm of Nathan Sproul, investigated several times for fraud, threatens to derail that argument.
The documents show that a joint committee of the McCain-Palin campaign, the Republican National Committee and the California Republican Party, made the payment to Lincoln Strategy, of which Mr Sproul is the managing partner, for the purposes of "voter registration".
Mr Sproul has been investigated on numerous occasions for preventing Democrats from voting, destroying registration forms and leading efforts to get Ralph Nader on ballots to leach the Democratic vote.
A free beer for the headline writer posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 10:10 AM
Sarah Palin To Hold Rally In Beaver
Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin will bring her campaign to Beaver on Thursday.
The Alaska governor is scheduled to host a rally at Beaver Area High School's football stadium. It will be Palin's third campaign visit to western Pennsylvania.
Doors open at 4:15 p.m. Look for live coverage on WTAE Channel 4 Action News at 5 p.m. and on the pittsburghchannel.com.
Barack Obama's lead over John McCain has steadily increased since mid-September, when the race was essentially even. Shortly after the first presidential debate on Sept. 26, Obama moved to a 49% to 42% lead; that margin inched up to 50% to 40% in a poll taken just after the second debate. Currently, Obama enjoys his widest margin yet over McCain among registered voters, at 52% to 38%. When the sample of voters is narrowed to those most likely to vote, Obama leads by 53% to 39%.
CNN Poll: Obama leads by nine points
Sen. Barack Obama has his largest lead so far over rival Sen. John McCain, according to CNN's latest national poll of polls.
Obama leads McCain by nine points in the poll of polls released Tuesday - 51 percent to 42 percent. Seven percent of those surveyed are unsure about their choice for president.
Zogby: Obama takes 10-point lead on McCain
Democrat Barack Obama has expanded his national lead over Republican John McCain in the presidential race to 10 points, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released on Wednesday.
Obama leads McCain 52 percent to 42 percent among likely U.S. voters in the latest three-day tracking poll, up from an 8-point advantage for Obama on Tuesday. The telephone poll has a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.
NBC/WSJ Poll: Obama 52 McCain 42
Overall, the poll found 52% of voters favor Sen. Obama versus 42% for Sen. McCain. That 10-point lead is up from a six-point Obama edge two weeks ago. The survey of registered voters, conducted from Friday to Monday, has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.
....
The one candidate whose popularity has fallen is Gov. Palin, the Republican vice-presidential nominee. Voters are less likely to see her in a positive light, and much more likely to report negative feelings.
Fifty-five percent of voters say Gov. Palin isn't qualified to be president if the need arises, up from 50% two weeks ago. And when given a list of possible concerns about Sen. McCain, voters were by far most likely to say they worry about Gov. Palin's qualification to be president.
Gallup Daily: Obama 52, McCain 42
Obama Holds Lead in Various Scenarios
Barack Obama maintains a lead over John McCain in the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update from Saturday through Monday; the size of the lead varies between seven and 10 percentage points among likely voters, depending on turnout assumptions.
Palin finally gets a media endorsement posted by
Wally 12:53 AM
While Barack Obama is gaining endorsements from such liberal rags as the Wall Street Journal, Caribou Barbie has finally racked up a media endorsement of her own of sorts. From the type of publication that Caribou Barbie might actually read.
Sarah Palin gets comic book treatment in 'Tales From the Crypt'
Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin is the unlikely cover girl of the latest issue of horror comic book series, "Tales From the Crypt," in stores Wednesday.
The Alaska governor is pictured swinging a hockey stick at the comics' trio of ghoulish narrators and saying, "Didn't we get rid of you guys in the 50's?"
The cover is a jab at Palin's reported brush with banning books at the Wasilla public library during her time as mayor of the town, says Jim Salicrup, editor-in-chief of Papercutz, the publisher of the comic.
"Anything that touches on banning books and censorship we're very sensitive about at 'Tales of the Crypt,'" said Salicrup. "When there were reports that Gov. Palin - back when she was mayor of Wasilla - looked into banning books at the library, that's what caught our attention.
Oh Snap! On second read, it's not an endorsement. It's a bitchslap. She can't even get the support of the freaking comic book lobby. I wonder how she's holding up in "coloring book" circles. Probably not well, seeing as Obama beat McCain in the Nickelodeon children's poll.
On a related note, I'm surprised we haven't seen her and John on the cover of a Batman comic book, with a word balloon over their head saying "POW".
I'll see your Ayers and raise you and Al Qaeda posted by
Wally 12:01 AM
The next time John McCain considers bringing up the topic of "paling around with terrorists", maybe he should look in the mirror first.
Al-Qaeda backs 'impetuous' McCain
WASHINGTON - Al-Qaeda supporters suggested in a website message this week they would welcome a pre-election terror attack on the US as a way to usher in a McCain presidency.
The message, posted Monday on the password-protected al-Hesbah website, said if al-Qaeda wants to exhaust the United States militarily and economically, "impetuous" Republican presidential candidate John McCain is the better choice because he is more likely to continue the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"This requires presence of an impetuous American leader such as McCain, who pledged to continue the war till the last American soldier," the message said. "Then, al-Qaeda will have to support McCain in the coming elections so that he continues the failing march of his predecessor, Bush."
"If al-Qaeda carries out a big operation against American interests," the message said, "this act will be support of McCain because it will push the Americans deliberately to vote for McCain so that he takes revenge for them against al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda then will succeed in exhausting America till its last year in it."
Barbie and Todd are Alaska Independent Party supporters - promoting the secession of Alaska from the United States - with her even speaking at the AIP convention last year. Now John has his Al Qaeda. If they want to talk about Obama's relationship with Ayers, I have three words for them:
An example we big city elitists could learn from posted by
Wally 10:34 PM
The Daily Show's Jason Jones goes to Wasilla Alaska to get a sense of "the Real America"
"It can just be awfully confusing to figure out if you live in the "real" part of the country, or the crappy part. But there's one place we know for certain is really the real America, so we sent Jason Jones there."
Well, at least we know, after hearing from the current Wasilla mayor, how well Sarah is "unequivocally" prepared for her duties as a V.P.
The Apology - Non Apology posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:53 PM
Palin apologizes for patriotic 'pro-America areas' comment
Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin apologized Tuesday for any misunderstanding that resulted when she referred last week to the patriotic values of "the real America" and the "pro-America areas of this great nation."
Democrats and others immediately criticized Palin, alleging she was saying that some parts of the country are more patriotic than others.
Palin denied that was her intention in an interview with CNN on Tuesday.
"I don't want that misunderstood," Palin said. "If that's the way it came across, I apologize."
Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann says she regrets using the term "anti-American" while discussing Barack Obama's views.
Bachmann told the St. Cloud Times on Tuesday that she "made a big mistake" by going on MSNBC's "Hardball" on Friday.
Her statement that Obama "may have anti-American views" drew condemnation and helped her opponent, Democrat Elwyn Tinklenberg, raise more than $1 million in just a few days.
Bachmann says she walked into a trap and did not bring up the term "anti-American." She says she does not believe that Obama is anti-American or that members of Congress should be investigated for their views on America. She says, "I deeply regret it because that is not what I meant."
North...to Alaska posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:43 PM
AP Investigation: Palin children traveled on state
Gov. Sarah Palin charged the state for her children to travel with her, including to events where they were not invited, and later amended expense reports to specify that they were on official business.
The charges included costs for hotel and commercial flights for three daughters to join Palin to watch their father in a snowmobile race, and a trip to New York, where the governor attended a five-hour conference and stayed with 17-year-old Bristol for five days and four nights in a luxury hotel.
In all, Palin has charged the state $21,012 for her three daughters' 64 one-way and 12 round-trip commercial flights since she took office in December 2006. In some other cases, she has charged the state for hotel rooms for the girls.
........
In October 2007, Palin brought daughter Bristol along on a trip to New York for a women's leadership conference. Plane tickets from Anchorage to La Guardia Airport for $1,385.11 were billed to the state, records show, and mother and daughter shared a room for four nights at the $707.29-per-night Essex House hotel, which overlooks Central Park.
Are you smarter than a 3rd grader? posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:38 PM
Nope:
Q: Brandon Garcia wants to know, "What does the Vice President do?"
PALIN: Aw, that's something that Piper would ask me, as a second grader, also. That's a great question, Brandon, and a Vice President has a really great job, because no only are they there to support the President agenda, they're like a team member, the team mate to that President. But also, they're in charge of the United States Senate, so if they want to they can really get in there with the Senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom. And it's a great job and I look forward to having that job.
DailyKos: The Vice President may sit as the presiding officer of the Senate, but has no legislative role whatsoever, with the exception of casting tie-breaking votes if the Senate is deadlocked.
Spread the wealth? You betcha! posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 1:52 PM
Study: Gap growing between rich and poor
Economic inequality is growing in the world's richest countries, particularly in the United States, jeopardizing the American Dream of social mobility just as the world tilts toward recession, a 30-nation report said Tuesday.
The gap between rich and poor has widened over the last 20 years in nearly all the countries studied, even as trade and technological advances have spurred rapid growth in their economies.
With job losses and home foreclosures skyrocketing and many of these countries now facing recession, policy makers must act quickly to prevent a surge in populist and protectionist sentiment as was seen following the Great Depression, the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said.
.....
In a 20-year study of its member countries, the OECD found inequality had increased in 27 of its 30 members as top earners' incomes soared while others' stagnated.
The United States has the highest inequality and poverty rates in the OECD after Mexico and Turkey, and the gap has increased rapidly since 2000, the report said. France, meanwhile, has seen inequalities fall in the past 20 years as poorer workers are better paid.
Get well soon posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:16 AM
Obama Cancels Events to Visit Ailing Grandma in HI
Democrat Barack Obama is cancelling nearly all his campaign events Thursday and Friday to fly to Hawaii to visit his suddenly ill 86-year-old grandmother.
Campaign spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters Monday that Obama's grandmother, Madelyn Payne Dunham, who helped raise him, was released from the hospital late last week. But he says her health has deteriorated to the point where her situation is very serious.
Gibbs said Obama would return to the campaign trail on Saturday, though he was unsure where.
Obama events originally planned for Madison, Wis., and Des Moines, Iowa, on Thursday will be replaced with one in Indianapolis before he makes the long flight to Hawaii.
Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann spent months building her profile through appearances on "Larry King Live" and other TV talk shows. It took only a few minutes of airtime, and one disparaging remark about Barack Obama, to undo it.
After saying on MSNBC's "Hardball" that Obama "may have anti-American views," Bachmann found herself fending off criticism from former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a Republican, and Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Worse, Bachmann's comment uncorked a gusher of donations to her opponent, transforming a race she had been favored to win into one more worry spot for Republicans.
Democrat Elwyn Tinklenberg said his campaign brought in $810,000 in less than 72 hours, an amount he could only have imagined before Bachmann's remarks. It took the former state transportation commissioner a year to raise $1 million before that, and Bachmann started the campaign's critical final month with almost four times as much cash as he had.
I remember this dumb broad from the State of the Union a few years ago. She was the one who wouldn't leave Bush alone. She even tried to french kiss him. Credit to Bush, even HE didn't want anything to do with her:
And a not so special comment by Wally posted by
Wally 1:48 AM
After seeing Sarah and John talk about "real" America, as if the rest of the country didn't matter, and after seeing Olbermann's comment tonight, I can't contain my outrage or disgust at these racist sonsabitches anymore. When they say they're "scared" of Obama, or he "makes them nervous", what they are saying - all they are saying - is that they're racist cowards, afraid of the big scary black man, and they're counting on all their "real" American white supremacists to come protect them.
"Real America" my ass.
You want "real America"? How about El Dorado, Kansas? Is that real enough for you? Because that's where Barack Obama's grandparents - the people who pretty much raised him - grew up and met as high school sweethearts. That's where both he and his mother got their values - from rural Kansans. So all you racist sonsabitches out there accusing rural Kansas of being Muslim terrorist country can come and kiss all of our hairy white Kansas asses.
As for myself, I was raised in Chicago, surrounded by all kinds of people of all shades and cultures and religions and ethnicities. That means that this pasty white bald-headed Polack had way more of a colored upbringing than Obama ever did. The only thing that makes Barack blacker than me is the depth of his tan, and the quality of his basketball skills (I've never seen him play, but I've seen me play, so I know who I'd bet against).
You want an example of our idea of "real America"? Mrs Wally captured this image at the Obama rally in Kansas City on Saturday evening among the 75,000 people of all ages, colors, religions, sizes, and dispositions. We think this perfectly depicts the Democratic party and Obama's vision of America. This young girl, in her own way, understood the significance of what was happening in ways that I, as a white man, never will. She wanted to see so badly, but wasn't tall enough to see over the crowd. A complete stranger* offered her his shoulders. I think that is all you need to know about the way "we" see America. This is what Sarah and John mean when they say that we "don't see America the same way" that they do. For once I agree. They're damned right. We don't.
I'm so damn sick of the race card being thrown out in this, or any other campaign. This election is not about race. It's not about gender. It's not about age. It's about the future of America. Dammit people, close your freaking eyes and just listen. Listen to them speak. Listen to the way they think. Listen to the depth and breadth of their thoughts. Listen to their policies. Listen to their temperament. Consider that whoever wins this will have their finger on the button. Will have the keys to the kingdom. Will be guiding the economy, foreign policy, and perhaps most importantly, will be choosing Supreme Court justices that will make decisions affecting generations of Americans, including generations of hopeful young girls - your daughters - watching their futures being made before their eyes.
One of these men had the judgment to choose a running mate that can't even answer such tricky "gotcha" questions as "what newspapers and magazines do you read?" Come on, my 7 year old niece could answer that question. An interview with the press - even such weak press as Charlie Gibson or Katie Couric - is a job interview for the most important job in the world (assuming McCain croaks in office - a pretty safe bet). When was the last time you went into a job interview and answered a question by saying "I might not answer your questions the way you want me to" or "I'll find some answers and bring 'em to ya." If you ever do try it, please record it and send me the audio. I'm sure I'll find an excuse to use that laugh track some time in the future.
McCain is out there saying "I know how to do this. I know how to do that. And I'll do it!" Oh really? Just like you've done for the past 25 years in the Senate? Just like you did with things like campaign finance reform? (oh, never mind, that bill failed), or with environmental protection bills? (oh yeah, you caved to your BFF dubya on those).
You know how, and yet you haven't done these things? You know how to catch Osama bin Laden, but you haven't shared this information with Bush or the military leadership? Dude, that sounds like treason to me. You "know how to fix the economy" but you're not telling anybody? I'm sure the people on Wall Street would love to hear the plan. Is there a reason you haven't shared your brilliant plan? Do you want the economy to fail? Why, John? Why do you hate America so much?
Why, given all of this, do you think you deserve even a single vote for the highest office in the land. Do you really think we should give the most powerful office in the world to someone as weak, lame, stupid, and pathetic as you and your trophy running mate? Great, she won Miss Wasilla beauty queen. Yippee kiy yay! I bet my dog could take third in that contest if I shaved her face and taught her to walk on her hind legs. I bet Lola has more contact with the press than Barbie does too, since she at least fetches the newspaper for me every morning.
* in the interest of full disclosure, the bald stranger is Wally. This was not posed, it just happened, and Mrs. Wally had the camera at the time and caught us when we weren't looking. She insisted I post the picture. Frankly, aside from the fact that I'm in it, I think it's a good photo - well composed and representative of what we stand for as Democrats. The other guys might disagree and pull it down, and that's fine too. I have no idea who the girl is, her name, age, or anything about her. But this is her history too, and she deserved to see it in the making.
Vote, vote, and vote! posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 12:51 PM
New Poll Shows Ohioans Decided On President
The latest statewide poll shows most Ohioans have made up their minds in the race for president.
NewsChannel5 reported that the poll released after the final presidential debate reveals a more decisive electorate in Ohio.
Nearly 90 percent of the respondents said their mind is made up heading into the final two weeks of the campaign, and most said Sen. Barack Obama is their choice.
The poll shows Obama with a near double-digit lead over Sen. John McCain 51 percent to 42 percent.
The poll was conducted by Suffolk University in Boston and was taken the day after the final debate through Sunday night. It involved telephone interviews with 600 likely voters in Ohio, with a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
The economy remains the No. 1 issue for Ohio voters.
Results show most people trust Obama more than McCain.
Without Virginia, McCain loses posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 10:16 AM
Obama's Lead Jumps to Ten in Virginia
Barack Obama has opened his biggest lead yet over John McCain in Virginia. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state finds Obama now leading 54% to 44%. The Democrat leads 51% to 48% among men and 57% to 42% among women (see full demographic crosstabs).
Just one week ago, Obama held a three percentage point lead but Obama has been dramatically outspending McCain on television advertising in this critical state. The Democrat has now been ahead of McCain in five straight Virginia polls conducted by Rasmussen Reports.
Obama is viewed favorably by 59% of Virginia voters and unfavorably by 40%. McCain's numbers are 55% favorable, 44% unfavorable.
George W. Bush won Virginia by eight percentage points in both 2000 and 2004, but Democrats have focused on Virginia this year as a red state they hope to peel away from Republicans. No Democrat has won the state since Lyndon Johnson in 1964. But, with release of this poll, Virginia moves from "Toss-Up" to "Leans Democratic" in the Rasmussen Reports Balance of Power Calculator.
Early voting begins in Florida posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:14 AM
Obama to visit Florida to encourage early voting
Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama arrives in Florida on Monday to promote early voting with a significant advantage: 657,775 more registered Democrats than Republicans in a state that could catapult him to the White House.
The deeper pool of Democrats stems from the campaign's aggressive voter-registration drive, combined with the Republican administration's waning appeal. In the 2004 presidential election, Democrats outnumbered Republicans by 368,757 voters, but President Bush still won the state.
"Barack Obama has inspired droves of people to do their part by registering to vote this year, but that's only half the challenge," said Jackie Lee, who headed the campaign's voter-registration team in Florida. "We now need for all voters to get out to the polls, starting on Monday."
Republican Party officials said they are used to being outnumbered and would make up the difference with a stronger turnout operation on Nov. 4.
But as far as Obama is concerned, Monday is Election Day. The campaign is flooding the zone this week with high-profile events -- including rallies in Miami, Lake Worth, Tampa and Orlando headlined by the nominee -- to make its early voting pitch on local television in practically every Florida media market.
The people have spoken. And they're pissed posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:48 PM
Obama raises $150 million in September
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama reports raising more than $150 million in September in an unprecedented eruption of political giving.
The influx of money has helped the Illinois senator expand the field of competitive states and has widened his financial advantage over Republican rival John McCain.
The monthly figure pushed Obama's total fundraising to $605 million, unseen before in presidential politics. The campaign offered no details, but must submit a monthly report to the Federal Election Commission on Monday.
Obama's numbers are possible because he opted out of the fall campaign's public financing system. McCain chose to be in the system, which limits him to $84 million for the September-October stretch before the election.
"Liberal media" strikes again - Newspapers endorse Obama over McCain nearly 4-1 posted by
Wally 10:35 AM
The Obama-Biden ticket maintains its strong lead in the race for newspaper endorsements, now by a much better than 3-1 margin, picking up 40 or more papers in the past day, including (see separate stories), the Detroit Free Press, Buffalo News, Cleveland's Plain Dealer, New York's Daily News, Miami Herald, Philadelphia Inquirer, Portland's The Oregonian, Denver Post, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Salt Lake Tribune, Kansas City Star, and Chicago Sun-Times.
In a real shocker, two solid Bush papers in 2004, the Houston Chronicle and Austin American-Statesman, also came out for Obama today. So did the more traditionally Democratic the News & Obsever in Raleigh and the Orlando Sentinel, both in key battleground states.
This brings Obama's lead over McCain-Palin by this measure of daily papers to nearly 4-1, including most of the major papers that have decided so far. In contrast, John Kerry barely edged George W. Bush in endorsements in 2004, by about 213 to 205.
The readership of the newspapers backing Obama now stands at over 10 million vs. McCain's just under 2.5 million.
No wonder Palin's minders don't let her read "all of" the newspapers anymore. We wouldn't want her to get depressed, would we?
McCainomics -vs- Obamanomics. What do Economists think? posted by
Wally 10:13 AM
We at dubyaD40 pay close attention to what's going on in the world of politics (among other things). We analyze, in our own amateur fashion, how the various politicians and their policies and personalities will impact us and others. But none of us claim to be economists, or to truly understand the nuances and subtleties and complexities that drive the global economy. So we'll leave that to the "real" economists. 142 of them, to be exact.
As it turns out, our amateur analysis was right. Not that we're surprised - the differences between McCain and Obama's economic plans are not that hard to discern. After all, they're not economists either. The people at The Economist, on the other hand, are. In this special report, they analyze the two plans, and what professional economists think of them.
As the financial crisis pushes the economy back to the top of voters' concerns, Barack Obama is starting to open up a clear lead over John McCain in the opinion polls. But among those who study economics for a living, Mr Obama's lead is much more commanding. A survey of academic economists by The Economist finds the majority-at times by overwhelming margins-believe Mr Obama has the superior economic plan, a firmer grasp of economics and will appoint better economic advisers.
Regardless of party affiliation, our respondents generally agree the economy is in bad shape, that the election is important to the course of economic policy and that the housing and financial crisis is the most critical economic issue facing America.
The detailed responses are bad news for Mr McCain (the full data are available here). Eighty per cent of respondents and no fewer than 71% of those who do not cleave to either main party say Mr Obama has a better grasp of economics. Even among Republicans Mr Obama has the edge: 46% versus 23% say Mr Obama has the better grasp of the subject. "I take McCain's word on this one," comments James Harrigan at the University of Virginia, a reference to Mr McCain's infamous confession that he does not know as much about economics as he should.
Meanwhile for McFart posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 9:14 PM
McCain shores up support in Concord
McHenry estimated about 10,000 people in attendance, but Cabarrus Arena officials said the Events Center's capacity was 6,000 and half of the room wasn't filled. Secret Service officers handling security estimated a more conservative 2,000 supporters in attendance.
Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain plans a campaign stop Monday in Belton.
McCain's Belton rally will be held at the Bill Harmon Field at Heartland High School and Academy. Doors open at 2:45 p.m., with a preprogram starting at 3:45 p.m.
Obama passed us. And WAVED! posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 8:26 PM
Totally awesome. Wally, Mrs. Wally, and Dookie went to see Obama at his campaign stop in KC today. We were on a backroad next to Liberty Memorial and was stopped by a cop so Obama's motorcade could pass. I flipped on the camcorder and hit record as fast as possible and got 10 seconds or so of him. We screamed "OBAMA!" and he waved to us. Anyway, he's in the rear passenger seat of the suv. Pretty cool in our book. That's the closest we'll ever be from him. 8 feet. ~Dookie And a still shot. I leaned out the window with the camera and got ready to snap. First car that came by I took the shot, and there he was, smiling and waving. Click on the image for full size. ~Wally
"Show Me" some love! posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 8:09 PM
Huge crowds turn out at Obama rallies: 100,000 in St. Louis, 75,000 in Kansas City
Democrat Barack Obama turned out enormous crowds at his two stops in battleground Missouri on Saturday in what campaign aides said was a strategy of using his ability to command huge crowds as a way to build excitement heading into the final two weeks of the presidential campaign.
An estimated 100,000 people showed up in St. Louis Saturday morning to hear Obama speak at the Gateway Arch - the largest crowd ever to hear Obama in the United States.
Saturday evening, a crowd estimated at more than 75,000 thronged the Liberty Memorial near downtown Kansas City for an Obama rally.
With just 17 days to go before the election, campaign aides said they hope to turn out comparable crowds in other battleground states.
Palin's handlers don't let her read all the newspapers anymore posted by
Wally 11:43 AM
In fact, they don't let they're precious little snowflake read the news at all, because you wouldn't want someone striving to be the most powerful person on the planet to ever hear or read bad news.
To Avoid Being 'Depressed,' Palin Skimps on Campaign News
No wonder GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin harbors such hostility toward the mainstream media: her staff imposes limits on her access to it.
During a fundraiser here that raised $800,000 last night, Palin admitted that her aides often dissuade her from tuning into televised coverage of the presidential campaign.
"So North Carolina, I appreciate you all so much, who are here who already get it. You know, maybe I'm preaching to the choir a little bit here, but being here encourages me because I know that I'm not alone and I'll send this message back to John McCain also. At those times on the campaign trail when sometimes it's easy to get a little bit discouraged, when, you know, when you happen to turn on the news when your campaign staffers will let you turn on the news," she said, prompting laughter from the group. "Usually they're like 'Oh my gosh, don't watch. You're going to, you know, you're going to get depressed.'"
Going to get depressed?! Going to fucking get depressed? Bitch, you're running for Vice President - and then President when the old fart kicks it. And you're worried about fucking getting depressed? That leads to two major problems. 1) you can't handle anything that doesn't make you feel all warm and fuzzy. Maybe they can decorate the Oval Office with bunnies and unicorns and rainbows for you. On second thought, leave out the rainbows because that would make you think about homos, and then you might get depressed. 2) Do you expect us to vote for someone who gets "depressed" that easily? Do you think we want someone who is depressed to have their finger on the button?
"But yeah, sometimes you do get depressed watching what it is that they're reporting and the spin and some of the distortion of what our message is and what we stand for. Sometimes that, that gets draining," she continued. "But it's at events like these and our rallies that we are so energized and inspired and we know that we are not alone. We feel your strength and we feel the power of prayer, so many of you tell us that you are praying for us and praying for our country and that's why we so appreciate you being here."
Well thank the FSM for that. You just keep feeling the prayers, and staying away from the news media - both reading it and talking to it - and we'll let you quietly fade back onto obscurity, where you belong.
Careful at the polls - they're already stealing votes posted by
Wally 8:05 AM
We recommend voting early, to ensure that you can get in and actually vote (i.e. you don't have to wait in line for 4 hours, and just in case you find out that the Republicans somehow kicked you off the list, you can address the situation in time to try again). Also, if possible, get a paper ballot. After a cumulative 30 years doing computer work between us, we know how easy it is to make a computer say one thing and do another when you're not looking. For instance, while you're reading this, your computer might very well be rummaging through your undies drawer. Okay, maybe not, but it's easy enough to make the screen say one thing and the program in the background do the exact opposite. If you don't get a paper trail, you have no earthly idea what just happened to your vote.
It's starting already in West Virginia:
Some early W.Va. voters angry over switched votes Jackson County touch-screens switched votes, 3 residents say
At least three early voters in Jackson County had a hard time voting for candidates they want to win.
Virginia Matheney and Calvin Thomas said touch-screen machines in the county clerk's office in Ripley kept switching their votes from Democratic to Republican candidates.
"When I touched the screen for Barack Obama, the check mark moved from his box to the box indicating a vote for John McCain," said Matheney, who lives in Kenna.
When she reported the problem, she said, the poll worker in charge "responded that everything was all right. It was just that the screen was sensitive and I was touching the screen too hard. She instructed me to use only my fingernail."
Everything is alright... it's working just the way the republicans in charge of the election in WV want it to work.
(Jackson County Clerk Jeff ) Waybright blamed the problem on voters.
Right, it's the voters fault that the machines are trying to steal their votes. I couldn't find out for sure, but based on the fact that he's defending the way the machines keep failing (to the right - I wonder if he'd be so cavalier about it if McCain votes were switching to Obama), and based on the fact that the dude is a WV politician, I have to assume he's a republican.
Rep. Michele Bachmann says Obama 'may' be anti-American
In an interview on the MSNBC program "Hardball," host Chris Matthews asked Bachmann, currently running for reelection in Minnesota's 6th District, if she thinks Obama may have anti-American views. Her response: "Absolutely. I'm very concerned that he may have anti-American views."
Bachmann said she based her suspicions on Obama's past associations with his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, and 1960's-era radical Bill Ayers. In so doing, she echoed similar criticisms by Republican presidential candidate John McCain and his running mate, Sarah Palin - although they have stopped short of outright suggesting that Obama is anti-American.
Palin told CBS News on Friday, "I know Obama loves America."
Nick Kimball, Minnesota spokesman for the Obama campaign, called Bachmann's criticisms "scare tactics and false attacks" and said Republicans are using them in order to distract voters from discussions of the economy.
There was only one Democratic US Senator seeking reelection this year that Republicans seriously suggested they might be able to beat.
Elected in 1996 and reelected 2002 by the narrowest of margins, Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu was seen as being vulnerable because so many Democratic voters who had once lived in the city of New Orleans -- Landrieu's base -- had been relocated after the Hurricane Katrina debacle.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee recruited a top challenger, state Treasurer John Kennedy, a former Democrat, and pumped money into his campaign against the incumbent. They attacked Landrieu for "voting with Barack Obama 81 percent of the time." They called her "the most liberal senator in Louisiana history." They tried the social issues. And the war. And, er, they failed.
The NRSC has given up on the race, canceling all of its remaining television advertising buys scheduled from now through the election.
This time, it's WAR! posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 8:12 PM
Obama Demands Special Prosecutor Investigate GOP Voter Fraud Activities
Citing an "unholy alliance" between Republican operatives and potentially illegal conduct by law enforcement targeting voter fraud, the Obama campaign demanded Friday that the U.S. special prosecutor looking into the U.S. attorney scandal investigate the matter.
General counsel Bob Bauer sent a letter to Atty. Gen. Michael Mukasey charging that coordinated "misconduct" by McCain campaign representatives and GOP officials were relevant to the special prosecutor's work, because the activities may relate to the dismissal of seven U.S. attorneys in late 2006.
The letter requests that the special prosecutor's inquiry "include a review of any involvement by Justice Dept. and White House officials in supporting the McCain-Palin campaign {and RNC's} systematic development and dissemination of unsupported, spurious allegations of vote fraud."
To advance the effort, the Obama campaign convened a conference call with national reporters, though Friday afternoon is not a time that campaigns usually push priority messages.
More fake protesters posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 2:44 PM
CBS News outs the Plunger Brigade protesting at Obama event in Virginia
The Republican National Committee is sending around this Associated Press photo of overall-clad McCain supporters standing outside an Obama rally, clutching plungers and a sign proclaiming "I Am Joe The Plumber":
The only problem? At least two of the members aren't quite as similar to the newly famous Joe Wurzelbacher as they might like you to think. As CBS News' Maria Gavrilovic, who is traveling with the Obama campaign, reports, the man on the right does say he's an actual plumber - though he is from Melbourne, Australia, and will thus not be casting a vote this November.
And the man on the left, plunger thrust high in the air, is Charlie Smith - the National Chairman of the College Republicans.
Either FL, VA, NC, OH and it's over posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 1:49 PM
Nation could face short Election Night
Network news executives said they are preparing for an unusual Election Night challenge: How to be honest with the audience, and still keep them tuned in, if the race between John McCain and Barack Obama is effectively decided before most Americans have finished dinner.
After two elections in which the suspense went far into the evening (and, in the case of 2000, for 36 days afterward), the executives said they are contemplating how to manage their newscasts in the event of an Obama blowout - in which the Democrat's victory would be obvious while polls are still open in most of the country.
"Our policy is that we won't call individual states until all of the voting in those states is finished," said Jeffrey Schneider, ABC News senior vice president. "If enough of those states add up to 270 electoral votes, then the outcome is obvious."
The quandary is highlighted by Virginia, a state that has not voted Democratic for president since 1964 but where Obama is now leading in polls. There is no realistic McCain electoral college strategy that does not depend on winning the Old Dominion.
If it is clear on Nov. 4 that Obama has won in Virginia by the time polls there close at 7 p.m. - it will still be daylight west of the Mississippi - the obvious conclusion will be that Obama is headed to the White House.
Finally, a win for Ohio! posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 10:10 AM
High court rejects GOP bid in Ohio voting dispute
The Supreme Court is siding with Ohio's top elections official in a dispute with the state Republican Party over voter registrations. The justices on Friday overruled a federal appeals court that had ordered Ohio's top elections official to do more to help counties verify voter eligibility.
Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat, faced a deadline of Friday to set up a system to provide local officials with names of newly registered voters whose driver's license numbers or Social Security numbers on voter registration forms don't match records in other government databases.
Ohio Republicans contended the information for counties would help prevent fraud. Brunner said the GOP is trying to disenfranchise voters.
Check off Colorado posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 8:33 AM
NRSC Pulling Out Of Colorado
Republican sources in Colorado and Washington say that the National Republican Senatorial Committee plans to pull out of the state by next week, an acknowledgment that its independent expenditure resources would be better spent on defense elsewhere.
Earlier this week, the NRSC withdrew its advertising from the Louisiana Senate race.
The NRSC is still helping Roger Wicker in Mississippi and incumbents Norm Coleman in Minnesota, John Sununu in New Hampshire.
AN NRSC spokesperson said that advertising decisions are made on a week-to-week basis and declined to comment further.
A spokesperson for the state party said that the ads were running in the state on Friday.
Dookie's home state... posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:32 AM
Obama up 6% in Missouri
Barack Obama has expanded his lead over John McCain in Missouri to six percentage points.
The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state finds Obama with 52% of the vote while McCain is supported by 46%. Earlier this week, Obama was on top 50% to 47%.
Obama leads among voters who earn less than $60,000 a year while McCain has the advantage among those who earn $60,000 to $100,000 a year. Those with higher incomes are evenly divided (see full demographic crosstabs).
Overall, Obama is now viewed favorably by 57%, McCain by 56%.
Nationally, with the steady drumbeat of bad economic news, Obama has opened a stable lead over McCain in both the Rasmussen Daily Presidential Tracking Poll and the Electoral College projections.
Front-runner Obama cautions against overconfidence
Sen. Barack Obama cautioned supporters Thursday against becoming complacent during the final days leading up to the election, noting he lost the New Hampshire primary despite a lead in the polls.
"For those of you who are feeling giddy or cocky and think this is all set, I just have two words for you: New Hampshire," the Democratic presidential nominee said during a fundraiser breakfast in New York. "You know I've been in these positions before where we were favored and the press starts getting carried away and we end up getting spanked. And so that's another good lesson that Hillary Clinton taught me."
About 10 hours after debating Sen. John McCain, Obama urged top campaign contributors at the Metropolitan Club in Manhattan not to be overconfident, despite leading in a number of national polls.
A CNN Poll of Polls calculated Wednesday showed him leading 51 percent to 42 percent.
"We've got 19 days," Obama said. "We're going to have to work absolutely as hard as we've ever worked in our lives in order to just get to the start of what is going to be a very difficult and very challenging but ultimately a very fulfilling four years where we can get this country back on track."...
The candidates do stand-up comedy posted by
Wally 1:27 AM
Both John McCain and Barack Obama took time from their campaigns to speak at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Dinner in New York. They both gave speeches worth watching.
The occasion was the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, which has drawn the contenders in most presidential election years to the white-tie event in Manhattan. The evening was like dessert for the politically minded, filled with inside jokes from a campaign that has lasted nearly two years.
They were separated at the head table only by Cardinal Egan, the Archbishop of New York. The 63rd annual charity roast, which raised $3.9 million to help underprivileged children, is dedicated to the memory of Al Smith, the four-term governor of New York who was the first Catholic to win the presidential nomination of a major political party. (link)
McCain went first. Tonight, his speech was not only funny, but intentionally so, as opposed to the funny in a rambling like a blithering idiot sort of way that we've become accustomed to seeing. This is the John McCain I remember from the distant past, when we still respected the man. Remember the days when we talked about the Democrats trading Joe Lieberman for John McCain? This is that John McCain. Of course, this is not an endorsement in any way. Remember who steps in when the old fart kicks the bucket in a year. But for last night, he was worth watching.
Part I
Part II
Then it was Barack Obama's turn. While I wouldn't advise him to quit politics to go into comedy, he knocked 'em out. He had Mrs. Wally and I practically in tears.
Part I
Part II
A lot more Americans would pay more attention to politics, and maybe have a clue what's going on in the world, if it was done like this.
Today's forecast: Cloudy and cold in Hell; 20 degrees posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 7:52 PM
Washington Post: Barack Obama for President
THE NOMINATING process this year produced two unusually talented and qualified presidential candidates. There are few public figures we have respected more over the years than Sen. John McCain. Yet it is without ambivalence that we endorse Sen. Barack Obama for president.
The choice is made easy in part by Mr. McCain's disappointing campaign, above all his irresponsible selection of a running mate who is not ready to be president. It is made easy in larger part, though, because of our admiration for Mr. Obama and the impressive qualities he has shown during this long race. Yes, we have reservations and concerns, almost inevitably, given Mr. Obama's relatively brief experience in national politics. But we also have enormous hopes.
Mr. Obama is a man of supple intelligence, with a nuanced grasp of complex issues and evident skill at conciliation and consensus-building. At home, we believe, he would respond to the economic crisis with a healthy respect for markets tempered by justified dismay over rising inequality and an understanding of the need for focused regulation. Abroad, the best evidence suggests that he would seek to maintain U.S. leadership and engagement, continue the fight against terrorists, and wage vigorous diplomacy on behalf of U.S. values and interests. Mr. Obama has the potential to become a great president. Given the enormous problems he would confront from his first day in office, and the damage wrought over the past eight years, we would settle for very good.
The first question, in fact, might be why either man wants the job. Start with two ongoing wars, both far from being won; an unstable, nuclear-armed Pakistan; a resurgent Russia menacing its neighbors; a terrorist-supporting Iran racing toward nuclear status; a roiling Middle East; a rising China seeking its place in the world. Stir in the threat of nuclear or biological terrorism, the burdens of global poverty and disease, and accelerating climate change. Domestically, wages have stagnated while public education is failing a generation of urban, mostly minority children. Now add the possibility of the deepest economic trough since the Great Depression.
McCain aides privately call Palin a 'total disaster'
On Salon Radio this morning, Glenn Greenwald asked Harper's Scott Horton about his recent reporting on how Weekly Standard Editor Bill Kristol lobbied the McCain campaign to select Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) as the Republican vice presidential nominee. Horton explained that the McCain campaign is now regretting following Kristol's advice, calling the Palin pick a "total disaster":
HORTON: We've got a lot of finger-pointing going on within the camp, and I'd say there's a pretty broad agreement amongst a number of the senior-most advisors to McCain that the Palin pick is worse than disappointing. It's a total disaster, as one describes to me. And there is a sort of blame game going on there...
I would say the anger and irritation between a number of the senior people in the McCain camp and Bill Kristol is become really acute. ... They view this man as the guy who gave them this albatross, Sarah Palin. I think there's a lot of real anger about it. There's also recognition that it's too late to do anything.
Horton said neoconservatives are "now just proceeding to develop Palin as their candidate, as somebody they want to bring up in 2012, as the neo-con favored Republican." Last month, a former Republican White House official, who now works at the American Enterprise Institute, said, "She's bright and she's a blank page. She's going places and it's worth going there with her."
Chalk another one up for Obama posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 12:31 PM
McCain loses blinking contest to Obama
Chalk up another bad omen for Republican presidential candidate John McCain: He blinks more than rival Barack Obama.
Candidates who blink more than their opponents during debates tend to lose presidential elections, and McCain blinked much more rapidly than Obama during the their three debates this fall, according to Boston University psychology professor J.J. Tecce.
"People are picking up McCain's rapid blinking and saying, 'There's something about him that's awfully twitchy and nervous and I don't think I want to vote for that guy,'" said Tecce, who has presented a paper on blinking in debates.
....
Rapid blinking is an indicator of negative emotions such as fear, pain or stress, Tecce said. Most people blink 10 to 20 times per minute, a rate that increases to between 30 and 50 times per minute if they're in front of a television camera.
McCain blinked 109 times per minute during the first debate, while Obama blinked 73 times per minute and, according to Tecce, that gap persisted in the next two debates.
Obama's new ad: "90 Percent" posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 8:30 AM
Obama: "I'm Barack Obama and I approve this message."
McCain: "Senator Obama, I'm not President Bush."
Narrator: "No, but you did vote with Bush 90% of the time. Tax breaks for big corporations and the wealth but almost nothing for the middle class - same as Bush. Keep spending $10 billion a month in Iraq while our economy struggles - same as Bush. You may not be George Bush but..."
McCain: "I voted with the President over 90% of the time, even higher than a lot of my republican colleagues."
Joe "The Plummer" - McCain Plant posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 8:14 AM
Joe "The Plumber" Wurzelbacher related to Charles Keating
John McCain did great tonight in the debate. But every time John mentioned "Joe the Plumber," some of us in the campaign banged our heads against the wall. If Steve Schmidt had any hair left, I hear he would have been pulling it out tonight. He reportedly screamed at John's debate prep team tonight (out of earshot of reporters, of course). "You idiots - he's related to Charles Keating... of the Keating Five scandal!" They thought they had a real live Joe Six-Pack who's spurned Barack Obama's tax plan. But what they forgot to do was check on Joe Wurzelbacher's background.
Turns out that Joe Wurzelbacher from the Toledo event is a close relative of Robert Wurzelbacher of Milford, Ohio. Who's Robert Wurzelbacher? Only Charles Keating's son-in-law and the former senior vice president of American Continental, the parent company of the infamous Lincoln Savings and Loan. The now retired elder Wurzelbacher is also a major contributor to Republican causes giving well over $10,000 in the last few years.
Does any of this make Joe the Plumber a bad guy? Of course not. In fact, after that ill-fated night at the Watergate, he may finally be giving plumbers a good name. But at a debate where John goes full bore on Obama for guilt-by-association with William Ayers (and dodges a bullet by Obama not mentioning Keating Five), the press is going to bring it back front and center by midday tomorrow once they delve deeper into the most popular plumber in America.
According to Lucas County, Ohio court records, there is a Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher who has a state income tax lien of $1,182.98. According to the court record he lives on a street that is part of the Lincoln Green subdivision, which is where Joe the Plumber lives. Is it the same guy? I don't know. But I hope somebody ( like ABC News) checks it out before making a folk hero out of him. The county's website is http://www.co.lucas.oh.us/ . Maybe it's a different guy. Who knowss.
Joe "The Plummer" - Not registered to vote posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 7:40 AM
The Joe file
Two readers with access to the Ohio voter file say that Joe Wurzelbacher's inluence on this cycle will be limited in one way: He doesn't appear to be registered to vote.
(And yes, the freelance opposition research on Joe began before the debate ended.)
More polling posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:19 AM
Poll: Debate watchers say Obama wins
A majority of debate watchers think Sen. Barack Obama won the third and final presidential debate, according to a national poll conducted right afterward.
Fifty-eight percent of debate watchers questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll said Democratic candidate Obama did the best job in the debate, with 31 percent saying Republican Sen. John McCain performed best.
The poll also suggests that debate watchers' favorable opinion of Obama rose slightly during the debate, from 63 percent at the start to 66 percent at the end. The poll indicates that McCain's favorables dropped slightly, from 51 percent to 49 percent.
....
McCain won in two categories. Eighty percent of debate watchers polled said McCain spent more time attacking his opponent, with seven percent saying Obama was more on the attack. Fifty-four percent said McCain seemed more like a typical politician during the debate, with 35 percent saying Obama acted more like a typical politician.
....
During the debate, McCain demanded to know the full extent of Obama's relationship with William Ayers, a 1960s radical. But the poll suggests that line of attack may not resonate with Americans. Fifty-one percent of debate watchers said Obama's connection to Ayers didn't matter at all to them, with 23 percent saying it mattered a great deal.
The GOP is on life support. posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 1:23 PM
Voting for Obama anyway
I just got an astounding e-mail from a Republican consultant I know well. He's a guy who's always thought Obama had a "glass jaw," and was always among those agitating for hitting Obama harder.
Recently, he conducted a focus group in an upper-Midwestern state, showing them the kind of ad he thought would work: A no-holds-barred attack, cut for an independent group, which hasn't aired.
I'm just going to reprint his amazed e-mail about the focus group:
Reagan Dems and Independents. Call them blue-collar plus. Slightly more Target than Walmart.
Yes, the spot worked. Yes, they believed the charges against Obama. Yes, they actually think he's too liberal, consorts with bad people and WON'T BE A GOOD PRESIDENT...but they STILL don't give a f***. They said right out, "He won't do anything better than McCain" but they're STILL voting for Obama.
The two most unreal moments of my professional life of watching focus groups:
54 year-old white male, voted Kerry '04, Bush '00, Dole '96, hunter, NASCAR fan...hard for Obama said: "I'm gonna hate him the minute I vote for him. He's gonna be a bad president. But I won't ever vote for another god-damn Republican. I want the government to take over all of Wall Street and bankers and the car companies and Wal-Mart run this county like we used to when Reagan was President."
The next was a woman, late 50s, Democrat but strongly pro-life. Loved B. and H. Clinton, loved Bush in 2000. "Well, I don't know much about this terrorist group Barack used to be in with that Weather guy but I'm sick of paying for health insurance at work and that's why I'm supporting Barack."
I felt like I was taking crazy pills. I sat on the other side of the glass and realized...this really is the Apocalypse. The Seventh Seal is broken and its time for eight years of pure, delicious crazy....
Keep spending time/money in Iowa though! posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 12:13 PM
Polls: McCain forced to play defense in some red states
New polls out Wednesday in some crucial states that could decide the race for the White House suggest Sen. John McCain is having to defend himself in areas that once were reliably Republican.
A new CNN/Time Magazine/Opinion Research Corporation survey in Virginia released Wednesday indicates that Sen. Barack Obama holds a 10-point lead over McCain -- 53 percent to 43 percent among likely voters.
.....
"Obama is winning men and women in Virginia, and is doing well across the state east of the Blue Ridge Mountains," CNN polling director Keating Holland said.
It's a similar story in Colorado, a state that hasn't voted for a Democrat in the race for the White House in 16 years. The new poll indicates the Illinois senator holds a four-point edge over McCain, 51 percent to 47 percent. Watch more on if Colorado could go blue
And in Georgia, a state that Bush won by 17 points over Kerry four years ago and that hasn't voted for the Democrats in a presidential contest in 16 years, the poll suggests only a single-digit lead for McCain, 53 percent to 45 percent.
More Palin rally hate posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 11:50 AM
Secret Service investigating threat from Scranton Palin rally
The U.S. Secret Service is investigating a threatening remark directed at Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama during a political event in Scranton.
The agency followed up on a report in The Times-Tribune that a member of the crowd shouted, "Kill him!" after one mention of Mr. Obama's name during a rally Tuesday for Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.
The remark came while congressional candidate Chris Hackett was addressing the crowd at the Riverfront Sports Complex. There is no indication Mr. Hackett or Mrs. Palin, who took the stage a half-hour later, heard the remark.
The remark was reported almost immediately on the newspaper's Web site and today in the print edition.
Times-Tribune employees who covered the rally were interviewed today by the Secret Service.
Spokesman Darrin Blackford said the agency takes the threat seriously and will make an arrest if it can determine who shouted the remark.
Obama's winning the early voters posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:14 AM
Obama Dominating Among Early Voters in Five Swing States
SurveyUSA has a lot of good habits as a pollster, and one of them is breaking out the results of early and absentee voting in states where such things are allowed. So far, SurveyUSA has conducted polling in five states where some form of early voting was underway. In each one, Barack Obama is doing profoundly better among early voters than among the state's electorate as a whole.
We should caveat that these are not hard-and-fast numbers. Estimates of early voting results are subject to the same statistical vagaries as any other sort of subgroup analysis, such as response bias and small sample sizes.
Nevertheless, Obama is leading by an average of 23 points among early voters in these five states, states which went to George W. Bush by an average of 6.5 points in 2004.
Is this a typical pattern for a Democrat? Actually, it's not. According to a study by Kate Kenski at the University of Arizona, early voters leaned Republican in both 2000 and 2004; with Bush earning 62.2 percent of their votes against Al Gore, and 60.4 percent against John Kerry. In the past, early voters have also tended to be older than the voting population as a whole and more male than the population as a whole, factors which would seem to cut against Obama or most other Democrats.
Now certainly, early voters tend to be your stauncher partisans rather than your uncommitted voters -- just 1-2 percent of early voters in 2000 and 2004 reported that they would have voted differently if they'd waited until election day. So it's unlikely that John McCain is actually losing all that many persuadable voters to the early voter tallies.
What these results would seem to suggest, however, is that there are fairly massive advantages for the Democrats in enthusiasm and/or turnout operations. They imply that Obama is quite likely to turn out his base in large numbers; the question is whether the Republicans will be able to do the same.
O Brother, Where Art Thou? posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:11 AM
McCain's brother blasts campaign
Frustrations inside John McCain's camp boiled over on the eve of tonight's presidential debate as the candidate's brother unleashed an e-mail blasting the campaign's "counter-productive" strategy.
"Let John McCain be John McCain," wrote Joe McCain in a missive sent out shortly before midnight Monday. "Make ads that show John not as crank and curmudgeon but as a great leader for his time."
McCain's younger brother was sharply critical of unnamed top campaign officials who "so tightly 'control the message'" that they are preventing reporters from speaking with those, like himself, who know the candidate best. His complaint echoed those of other McCain intimates who have chafed for months at orders not to speak with the news mediawithout advance permission from the campaign.
The younger McCain called this news management strategy "counter-intuitive, counter-experiential, and counter-productive" because it conflicts with his brother's reputation for openness. The clampdown "has gradually bled away all the good will that this great man had from the press," he wrote.
Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is entering the third and final presidential debate Wednesday with a wide lead over Republican rival John McCain nationally, a new CBS News/New York Times poll shows.
The Obama-Biden ticket now leads the McCain-Palin ticket 53 percent to 39 percent among likely voters, a 14-point margin. One week ago, prior to the Town Hall debate that uncommitted voters saw as a win for Obama, that margin was just three points.
Among independents who are likely voters - a group that has swung back and forth between McCain and Obama over the course of the campaign - the Democratic ticket now leads by 18 points. McCain led among independents last week.
McCain's campaign strategy may be hurting hurt him: Twenty-one percent of voters say their opinion of the Republican has changed for the worse in the last few weeks. The top two reasons cited for the change of heart are McCain's attacks on Obama and his choice of Sarah Palin as running mate.
No more money for McFailin' posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 1:42 PM
RNC eyes $5M bailout for GOP senators
The Republican National Committee, growing nervous over the prospect of Democrats' winning a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, is considering tapping into a $5 million line of credit this week to aid an increasing number of vulnerable incumbents, top Republicans say.
With party strategists fearing a bloodbath at the polls, GOP officials are shifting to triage mode, determining who can be saved and where to best spend their money.
And with the House and Senate Republican campaign committees being drastically outspent by their Democratic counterparts, and outside groups such as Freedom's Watch offering far less help than was once anticipated, Republicans are turning to the national party committee as a lender of last resort.
.....
"They should pull the money from McCain like [former RNC Chairman] Haley Barbour did in '96, when Dole slid away, and funnel it to save some Senate and House seats as best they can," said one longtime GOP strategist who is working on congressional races.
Hussein!!?! posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 1:37 PM
McCain Transition Chief Aided Saddam In Lobbying Effort
William Timmons, the Washington lobbyist who John McCain has named to head his presidential transition team, aided an influence effort on behalf of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to ease international sanctions against his regime.
The two lobbyists who Timmons worked closely with over a five year period on the lobbying campaign later either pleaded guilty to or were convicted of federal criminal charges that they had acted as unregistered agents of Saddam Hussein's government.
During the same period beginning in 1992, Timmons worked closely with the two lobbyists, Samir Vincent and Tongsun Park, on a previously unreported prospective deal with the Iraqis in which they hoped to be awarded a contract to purchase and resell Iraqi oil. Timmons, Vincent, and Park stood to share at least $45 million if the business deal went through.
McAARP to keep attacking despite low polling posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 11:56 AM
McCain: At Wednesday's Debate I Plan To Bring Up Ayers
Taegan Goddard reports that John McCain confirmed this morning he would try to bring up William Ayers at Wednesday's debate. McCain appeared to blame Obama for the move:
In an interview on a St. Louis radio station, McCain said Obama's comments that "I didn't have the guts" to talk about William Ayers in the last presidential debate have "probably ensured" that the former 1960s radical will come up in Wednesday's debate.
The Huffington Post's Seth Colter Walls wrote Monday that Ayers was "expected" to come up at the debate.
When asked if McCain plans to "go after" Obama on these topics this Wednesday, Bounds added: "So much of a debate is determined by the moderator and the questions that are posed to the candidates. I expect it could come up and I expect John McCain will ask Barack Obama to speak truthfully about his relationship with friend and unrepentant terrorist Bill Ayers. I think that voters deserve to know, deserve to vet these candidates to the fullest extent... Certainly, Bill Ayers raises questions. Certainly, Tony Rezko raises questions."
If it is McCain's intention to raise the issue of Ayers -- with or without moderator Bob Schieffer's prompting -- it would serve as something of an answered prayer to many of the Arizonan's town hall attendees, one of whom even begged McCain to bring on the character attacks in the last presidential debate of the season.
McCan't speaks, no one shows up posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 11:51 AM
McCain keeping hopes high for Pa.
Bruce Castor was making small talk with a few Fraternal Order of Police officials yesterday as they waited for reporters to arrive for a McCain campaign news conference. By the scheduled hour, one television cameraman had shown up; no local reporters.
"There's a dead body in Juniata Park," a McCain staffer reported. "That's what some people are covering."
Deciding not to wait any longer, the Montgomery County commissioner, a former prosecutor, dutifully read a statement assailing Arizona Sen. John McCain's presidential rival, Illinois Democratic Sen. Barack Obama, as soft on crime, as a friend of "the unrepentant terrorist Bill Ayers."
Finishing second to a corpse for media attention was not quite the result the campaign might have hoped for on a day when polls depicted a double-digit deficit for the GOP ticket in a state they've heavily targeted.
Anchorage Daily News rips Palin a new one posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:22 AM
Palin vindicated? Governor offers Orwellian spin
Sarah Palin's reaction to the Legislature's Troopergate report is an embarrassment to Alaskans and the nation.
She claims the report "vindicates" her. She said that the investigation found "no unlawful or unethical activity on my part."
Her response is either astoundingly ignorant or downright Orwellian.
Page 8, Finding Number One of the report says: "I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act."
In plain English, she did something "unlawful." She broke the state ethics law.
Perhaps Gov. Palin has been too busy to actually read the Troopergate report. Perhaps she is relying on briefings from McCain campaign spinmeisters.
That's the charitable interpretation.
Because if she had actually read it, she couldn't claim "vindication" with a straight face.
.....
Bottom line: Gov. Palin, read the report. It says you violated the ethics law.
A blue America, coming soon posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:07 AM
Obama Widens Lead in Four Key States
Barack Obama widened his lead considerably over John McCain in four key battleground states during the past three weeks, providing further evidence that the economic crisis has greatly enhanced the Democrat's advantage with just 21 days left before Election Day.
Obama holds double-digit margins over McCain in Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin and carries a nine-point advantage over his Republican rival in Colorado, according to polling conducted by Quinnipiac University for washingtonpost.com and the Wall Street Journal.
.....
In Michigan, more than six in ten voters said the economy was the "single most important issue" in deciding their vote. Among likely voters, Obama increased his lead over McCain from a four-point edge in a late September Quinnipiac poll to a whopping 16-point lead in the most recent survey.
Obama's 54 percent to 38 percent lead in Michigan helps to explain why McCain decided to pull down his ads and pull out the majority of his campaign staff from the Wolverine State last week -- choosing to fight, instead, in Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Maine.
The data was similar in Wisconsin and Minnesota where Obama gained 10 points and nine points, respectively, in his margin over McCain since the September Quinnipiac poll; the Illinois senator led McCain in Wisconsin 54 percent to 37 percent, and held a 51 percent to 40 percent edge in Minnesota.
Failin' Palin posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 2:09 PM
Palin mistakes fans for protesters at Va. rally
Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin accidentally mistook some of her own fans for protesters Monday.
A massive crowd of at least 20,000 spread across the parking lot of Richmond International Raceway. Many on the outer periphery, more than 100 yards from the stage, couldn't hear.
They started chanting, "Louder! Louder!" Palin thought they were protesters, looked toward them and said, "I hope those protesters have the courage and honor to give veterans thanks for their right to protest."
Some in the crowd had stood in place for more than three hours on a sunny day without shade.
Irony strikes while hot posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 1:57 PM
Palin Says McCain Will End "Abuses Of Power" -- Despite Report Saying She "Abused Her Power"
Warming up the crowd for John McCain in Virginia Beach today, Sarah Palin said:
See, as a senator, John has confronted the corrupt ways of Washington and the wasteful spending and the abuses of power. As president, he's gonna end those once and for all.
Today of all days is an odd one for Palin to claim that McCain-Palin will end "abuses of power" in Washington, since the first line of the findings section of the Troopergate report released on Friday said...
For the reasons explained in section IV of this report, I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act.
Whoever didn't cut that line from her speech today is either incompetent or very, very brazen. Special thanks to TPM Reader BR for the catch.
Obama to propose new tax credits in economic speech
Barack Obama plans to propose a series of temporary tax credits and suspensions of tax penalties Monday afternoon as part of his new economic plan.
The Democratic nominee will propose a temporary tax credit for firms that create new jobs in the United States over the next two years, and penalty-free withdrawals from IRAs and 401Ks in 2008 and 2009. He will call for new legislation that would give families the option of withdrawing as much as 15 percent of their retirement savings –- up to a maximum of $10,000 –- without facing a tax penalty this year or next, and a temporary lifting of taxes on unemployment insurance benefits.
The Illinois senator will also call for a 90 day foreclosure moratorium for homeowners acting in good faith, and a new effort to address the growing credit crisis at the state and local level. Under the Obama plan, the Federal Reserve and the Treasury would provide much the same kind of backing to state and municipal governments as the recent federal bailout did to the commercial credit market.
"We can't wait to help workers and families and communities who are struggling right now - who don't know if their job or their retirement will be there tomorrow; who don't know if next week's paycheck will cover this month's bills," Obama will say. "We need to pass an economic rescue plan for the middle-class and we need to do it now."
In the end, I couldn't do it. My California ballot arrived in the mail today, and I opened it fully intending to vote for John McCain. I filled out the state propositions first - yes on 8, no on everything proposing a new bond or new spending - then the local offices, straight Republican excepting Kevin Johnson for (nonpartisan) Sacramento mayor. Finally, the vote for President of the United States: an academic exercise in California, where Barack Obama will surely win by a crushing margin. But good citizenship demands voting as if it matters. Do I believe in John McCain? Not as much as I used to. Do I believe in Sarah Palin? Despite my early enthusiasm for her, now not at all. Do I believe in the national Republican Party? Not in the slightest - even though I see no meaningful alternative to it. So, my choice for President in 2008, scrawled in my ballot as an act of futile protest, is Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. If nothing else, I am confident this is the first of several votes I will cast for him in years to come.
Let the infighting begin posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:21 AM
Republican leaders break ranks with McCain
Senior members of the Republican party are in open mutiny against John McCain's presidential campaign, after a disastrous period which has seen Barack Obama solidify his lead in the opinion polls.
....
From inside and outside his inner circle, Mr McCain is being told to settle on a coherent economic message and to tone down attacks on his rival which have sometimes whipped up a mob-like atmosphere at Republican rallies.
Two former rivals for the party nomination, Mitt Romney and Tommy Thompson, went on the record over the weekend about the disarray in the Republican camp. And a string of other senior party figures said Mr McCain's erratic performance risks taking the party down to heavy losses not just in the presidential race but also in contests for Congressional seats. Mr Thompson, a former governor of the swing state of Wisconsin, said he thought Mr McCain, on his present trajectory, would lose the state, and he told a New York Times reporter he was not happy with the campaign. "I don't know who is," he added.
Some Republicans seeking election to Congress have begun distancing themselves from Mr McCain. In Nebraska, a Republican representative, Lee Terry, ran a newspaper ad featuring support from a woman who called herself an "Obama-Terry voter".
Throwing him under the Straight Talk Bus posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:13 AM
McCain tussles with Palin over whipping up a mob mentality
With his electoral prospects fading by the day, Senator John McCain has fallen out with his vice-presidential running mate about the direction of his White House campaign.
McCain has become alarmed about the fury unleashed by Sarah Palin, the moose-hunting "pitbull in lipstick", against Senator Barack Obama. Cries of "terrorist" and "kill him" have accompanied the tirades by the governor of Alaska against the Democratic nominee at Republican rallies.
Mark Salter, McCain's long-serving chief of staff, is understood to have told campaign insiders that he would prefer his boss, a former Vietnam prisoner of war, to suffer an "honourable defeat" rather than conduct a campaign that would be out of character - and likely to lose him the election.
Palin, 44, has led the character attacks on Obama in the belief that McCain may be throwing away the election and her chance of becoming vice-president. Her supporters think that if the Republican ticket loses on November 4, she should run for president in 2012.
A leading Republican consultant said: "A lot of conservatives are grumbling about what a poor job McCain is doing. They are rolling their eyes and saying, 'Yes, a miracle could happen, but at this rate it is all over'."
"Sarah Palin is no fool. She sees the same thing and wants to salvage what she can. She is positioning herself for the future. Her best days could be in front of her. She wants to look as though she was the fighter, the person with the spunk who was out there taking it to the Democrats."
Who knew that hockey fans hate hockey moms? posted by
Wally 5:45 AM
Palin booed at NHL game in Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA (CNN) - Although many Philadelphia Flyers fans cheered and clapped as Sarah Palin took to the ice at the Wachovia Center on Saturday night to drop the ceremonial puck kicking off this town's NHL season, their warm reception was no match for the 90 seconds of sustained booing that rumbled through the arena, drowning out most of the cheers in support of the Republican vice presidential nominee.
As Palin stepped onto the ice before a capacity crowd to drop the puck, joined by her daughters Willow and Piper, the arena's jumbotron flashed a futile message to the thousands of notoriously harsh Philadelphia sports fans in attendance.
"Flyers fans, show Philadelphia's class and welcome America's #1 hockey mom, Sarah Palin," the massive electronic message board pleaded, to little effect. Booing quickly erupted when the smiling candidate emerged from a tunnel leading onto the ice, muffling the applause of any Palin supporters in the crowd.
Palin spent about a minute and a half on center ice, posing for pictures with Flyers captain Mike Richards and New York Rangers assistant captain Scotty Gomez, an Alaska native. The crowd commotion was sustained for her entire time in the rink.
As the 12 year old hockey-playing son of a hockey-mom friend of mine said "everybody knows that hockey moms don't wear lipstick".
Waaaah!!! Hero, or crybaby? posted by
Wally 4:57 AM
Reason 4,358 why McCain isn't qualified to be President (or adult): He can dish it out but he can't take it.
For weeks all we've heard from the Fart and Tart have been verbal attacks on Barack Obama. They've called him or implied that he's a terrorist, unpatriotic, unAmerican, accused him of "palling around with terrorists", and basically all but called him an "uppity ......". Now poor POW John McCain is crying like a French soccer player because it's been pointed out that his campaign rallies have become little more than angry mobs. Anyone who's seen footage of his recent rallies and seen the angry mobs has to wonder, why does John McCain hate the truth?
Here's what was said by Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia, who has been praised by McCain in the past:
"What I am seeing reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history. Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse," Lewis said in a statement.
"George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights. Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama," wrote the Democrat.
In other words, by creating and allowing the "angry mob" atmosphere, you raise the likelihood that members of that angry mob will commit acts of violence. McCain responded to Lewis's comment in a manner more fitting a three year old than a 70 year old - in other words, in typical Republican manner. He threw a temper tantrum.
"Congressman John Lewis' comments represent a character attack against Gov. Sarah Palin and me that is shocking and beyond the pale," he said in a Saturday afternoon statement released by his campaign.
But saying that Obama "pals around with terrorists" is perfectly acceptable, of course.
"The notion that legitimate criticism of Sen. Obama's record and positions could be compared to Gov. George Wallace, his segregationist policies and the violence he provoked is unacceptable and has no place in this campaign. I am saddened that John Lewis, a man I've always admired, would make such a brazen and baseless attack on my character and the character of the thousands of hardworking Americans who come to our events to cheer for the kind of reform that will put America on the right track.
Oh that's right, implying that Obama is a Muslim and a relative of Saddam and that he "pals around with terrorists" is "legitimate criticism of Obama's record and positions". Sorry John, I didn't realize that. As for cheering for the kind of reform that will put American on the right track, I'm not so sure that the angry mob calling for the assassination of your opponent is "the kind of reform" we need in this country. Whether you do it or not, when you allow your supporters to make such statements, you show off to the world just what kind of leadership you will provide, just like Wallace did.
"I call on Sen. Obama to immediately and personally repudiate these outrageous and divisive comments that are so clearly designed to shut down debate 24 days before the election. Our country must return to the important debate about the path forward for America."
Pot. Meet kettle.
Apparently, after 3 decades in the Senate and 5 1/2 years as a POW, John McCain still hasn't learned to deal with criticism. Nor has he figured out the meaning of the word hypocrisy.
Charlie and Sidney sitting in a tree... posted by
Clyde 5:15 AM
McCain and Keating: 'Till death do us part'
In 1986 John McCain wrote a political note - on official House of Representatives stationary - apologizing to Charles H. Keating Jr. for his campaign having listed his good friend and supporter as part of McCain's Senate campaign finance committee.
Keating responded with a handwritten note - addressed to "senator," seven months before McCain won his Senate seat - telling him not to sweat it, "I'm yours till death do us part."
The back-and-forth came when McCain was still in the House but seeking a Senate seat, and the year before he and a handful of other senators met with banking regulators on behalf of Keating.
McCain wrote: "As you know, I am deeply appreciative of your friendship and support over the years, and I would not want to do anything which would offend you. Please accept my apology, and be assured that there will be no future repetition of this kind."
Did you know you were supporting Republicans? posted by
Clyde 4:49 AM
How did Republicans get an $8 million bailout from failing Wachovia?
Wachovia Corp., a once-thriving financial giant now teetering on the brink of collapse, confirmed today that it was extending an $8 million loan to the cash-strapped National Republican Congressional Committee for last-minute activities to support GOP House candidates.
Wachovia's decision to lend money to the NRCC -- itself reeling from a damaging financial scandal earlier this year -- is sure to draw charges of favoritism, as Wachovia denies credit and freezes assets for thousands of other customers.
Allegations of favoritism are especially delicate for Wachovia, given the disproportionate support of Republican campaigns and organizations by the company's leadership.
What's more, Wachovia's loan to the NRCC comes as Wachovia awaits the outcome of precarious buyout negotiations which have relied on federal backing -- inviting questions over the political activities of companies whose survival depend on public support.
It's not working. Even on Fox posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 2:31 PM
Fox Poll: Nearly Two-Thirds Say Ayers Makes No Difference To Their Vote
These numbers, buried in the internals of a new Fox News poll out today, are the first time a national poll has tried to gauge the impact of Barack Obama's association with William Ayers. And the numbers are pretty bad for McCain:
There has been some discussion of Barack Obama's relationship with the former radical activist William Ayers. Because Ayers is linked to plots to bomb the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol in the 1970s, and because Ayres recently said he wished he had done more, some people say Obama's association with Ayers calls into question his judgment. Does Obama's connection with Ayers make you less likely to vote for him for president or does it not really make a difference to your vote?
SNL to be unfunny again posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 1:34 PM
I can see it now:
SNL: "What is your favorite sketch?" Palin: "Oh, I like all of them. Any of them I enjoy." SNL: "Which ones specifically? Can you name one?" Palin: "Oh, I like all of them. Any of them I enjoy." SNL: "Can you name one, though? Out of the countless sketches we have?" Palin: "Oh, I like all of them. Any of them I enjoy."
Palin to Appear on SNL
Cindy Adams: "Sarah Palin is doing Saturday Night Live. Not Tina Fey doing Sarah Palin doing Saturday Night Live. But the Sarah Herself. She has already OK'd it. She's booked. It's confirmed. Done deal. Sketches are being sketched as we speak. She -- eyeglasses, haircomb, designer jacket and trunkful of gosh-darns, golly-gees and gol-dangs -- will be on SNL Saturday night, Oct. 25. Sarah's rehearsal time has already been penciled in for Friday the 24th. And it's because she wants to do it. "
Update: Seth Meyers said there was "no truth" to the rumor that Sarah Palin would appear on SNL this week but said, "Our doors are always open." Lorne Michaels recently said "all in good time."
A campaign in shambles posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 1:05 PM
McCain Campaign Is at Odds Over Negative Attacks' Scope
Top McCain campaign officials are grappling with how far to go with negative attacks on Sen. Barack Obama in the final weeks of what is turning into a come-from-behind effort.
Sen. John McCain has allowed a series of increasingly harsh broadsides in new campaign ads and in speeches by his wife, Cindy, and his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin. But the Arizona Republican has rejected pleas from some advisers to launch attacks focusing on Sen. Obama's former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
Some McCain campaign officials are becoming concerned about the hostility that attacks against Sen. Obama are whipping up among Republican supporters. During an internal conference call Thursday, campaign officials discussed how the tenor of the crowds has turned on the media and on Sen. Obama.
Someone yelled "Off with his head" at a rally Wednesday for Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin in Pennsylvania. Later that day in Ohio, a man stood outside a rally holding a sign that said "Obama, Osama." At a rally in Jacksonville, Fla., on Tuesday, someone in the crowd wore a T-shirt depicting Sen. Obama wearing a devil mask.
Sorry about 2000....and 2004! Love, Florida posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 9:43 AM
Below are the poll results are based on telephone interviews with 1200 likely voters in Florida, aged 18+, and conducted October 6-8, 2008. The margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points.
1. If the election for President were held today would you support the Democratic ticket of Barack Obama and Joseph Biden or the Republican ticket of John McCain and Sarah Palin? Obama/Biden 52% McCain/Palin 44% Other 1% Undecided 3%
2. Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Barack Obama? Favorable 52% Unfavorable 37% Undecided 11%
4. Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of John McCain? Favorable 48% Unfavorable 41% Undecided 11%
6. Which presidential candidate do you believe would be best able to handle the economy, Barack Obama or John McCain? Barack Obama 56% John McCain 36% Undecided 8%
"I just have to rely on the good judgment of the voters not to buy into these negative attack ads. Sooner or later, people are going to figure out if all you run is negative attack ads you don't have much of a vision for the future or you're not ready to articulate it."
Like me, and you! posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 8:11 AM
McCain losing ground with working class whites
Since early September, growing numbers of whites who have not finished college have been expressing the view that Obama cares about people like them, even as fewer say so about McCain, according to AP-GfK polling.
In early September, McCain had a 26-point advantage among white voters without a college degree who were likely to vote, according to the poll. But by late September, the advantage had dropped to 7 points, with McCain leading 46 percent to 39 percent among this group.
For Obama, that's far better than Democrats have done in recent presidential elections. President Bush carried whites who haven't finished college by 23 points in 2004 and by 17 points in 2000.
In Pennsylvania, a recent Quinnipiac University poll showed Obama with a double-digit lead over McCain, compared with a close race after the political conventions. Clay Richards, a Quinnipiac pollster, said that's because support among working-class voters in the state is growing, and he suspects many former Clinton supporters are moving to Obama's camp.
Cheney part 2 posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 8:08 AM
Lawsuit over Palin's e-mails gets under way today
A lawsuit aimed at forcing Gov. Sarah Palin to preserve any private e-mails she wrote involving state business hits the courtroom today.
Former state employee Andree McLeod filed the suit a week ago. The goal, she said, is to make Palin retrieve e-mails from her private accounts that involve state business and make them part of the state's public records.
McLeod has filed a records request for the e-mails and other records. The lawsuit also calls on Palin to stop using private accounts for state business, she said.
Palin spokeswoman Sharon Leighow said Thursday she can't comment on pending litigation.
A hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. today in Anchorage Superior Court.
Remember THAT (other) ONE from the debate? posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 2:50 PM
Do you remember the young African-American who asked John McCain about the current bailout package? Here's his response to McPain:
Town hall whiplash
McCain's rough "town hall" debate just got a bit worse, as one questioner writes about the experience on his Facebook page:
How did I feel about Sen. McCain stating "You probably never heard of Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac before this"[?]
Well Senator, I actually did. I like to think of myself as a fairly intelligent person. I have a bachelor degree in Political Science from Tennessee State, so I try to keep myself up to date with current affairs. I have a Master degree in Legal Studies from Southern Illinois University, a few years in law school, and I am currently pursuing a Master in Public Administration from the University of Memphis. In defense of the Senator from Arizona I would say he is an older guy, and may have made an underestimation of my age. Honest mistake.
However, it could be because I am a young African-American male. Whatever the case may be it was somewhat condescending regardless of my age to make an assumption regarding whether I was knowledgeable about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
We can play that game too! posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 11:48 AM
McCain Supporter Had Own Ties to Radical Protesters
The McCain campaign, in a continuing effort to link Barack Obama to domestic terrorism, released a statement Wednesday from a New York supporter, recounting how his family home was firebombed by the radical 1960s group founded by Obama supporter William Ayers. But the McCain supporter, John M. Murtagh, has his own ties to radical protesters: He served as a lawyer for a Catholic priest who led protests at an abortion clinic that turned violent.
.....
From 1999 to 2001, Mr. Murtagh served as a pro-bono lawyer for the Rev. John T. Murphy, a leader of a group of antiabortion protesters who spent years picketing outside Long Island Gynecological Services in Garden City, N.Y. Rev. Murphy ran a charity called "Save the Babies," records show.
According to a 1995 Nassau County, N.Y., court decision involving the clinic, the Nassau County Police Department was called to the premises at least 17 times in 1994 and 1995 to investigate reports of physical assault, harassment, bomb threats and in four cases, the firing of bullets into windows.
A 72-year-old woman who worked for another business in the building told police that two protesters grabbed her from behind, dragged her down a hall, and slammed her into a wall before running off, leaving her with bruises and back pain. She told police she believed the protesters had mistaken her for a clinic employee because she had been wearing a white nurse's uniform.
John McCain is a piece of shit posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 9:26 AM
And a coward according to Clyde. He's no hero either. Just an idiot pilot who crashed his plane 5 times. Anyway, the desperate Repuke candidate launched the Ayers ad today while he hide's behind Failin's skirt. Hopefully Obama hits him back in his onion smelling old man balls:
McCain launches Ayers ad
John McCain's campaign released a new 90-second web ad Thursday on Barack Obama's relationship with 1960s radical William Ayers.
Ayers is referred to as a terrorist throughout the ad, as is his "friendship" with Obama.
"Barack Obama and domestic terrorist Bill Ayers. Friends. They've worked together for years. But Obama tries to hide it. Why?" the narrator says before running off a litany of Obama's links to Ayers and the former member of the Weather Underground's actions.
"Obama's friendship with terrorist Ayers isn't the issue," the narrator then claims.
"The issue is Barack Obama's judgment and candor. When Obama just says, 'This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood.' Americans say, 'Where's the truth, Barack?' Barack Obama. Too risky for America."
.....
"You know, the idea here that somehow these guys are, once again, injecting fear and loathing into this campaign I think is mildly dangerous," Biden said. "Look, this really is a case where when you don't have anything to talk about, attack. And it gets really over the edge."
The woodshed posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:18 AM
Obama to McCain: "Say It To My Face"
In an interview on ABC News, Sen. Barack Obama called Sen. John McCain's attempts to link him to 1960s anti-war radical Bill Ayers are an attempt to "score cheap political points."
Then he issued a challenge to his rival.
Said Obama: "I am surprised that, you know, we've been seeing some pretty over-the-top attacks coming out of the McCain campaign over the last several days, that he wasn't willing to say it to my face. But I guess we've got one last debate. So presumably, if he ends up feeling that he needs to, he will raise it during the debate."
Arrest her! posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:13 AM
'Troopergate' report set for Friday, despite Palin resistance
With his "troopergate" report due Friday, legislative investigator Steve Branchflower appears to have the makings of a fairly complete account, despite weeks of resistance from the Palin family and administration.
Branchflower has, or soon will have, answers from nearly all the people he'd hoped to question regarding Gov. Sarah Palin's firing in July of former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan.
Some of the final witnesses include seven state employees, including the governor's chief of staff, who lost a court fight to kill subpoenas Branchflower obtained through the Alaska Senate Judiciary Committee to compel their testimony.
The seven this week are answering a list of questions known as interrogatories. The answers are submitted under oath.
McCain Loses It: Calls Americans 'My Fellow Prisoners' posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 1:22 PM
This is the kind of mental mixup that really makes you wonder what is truly going on inside of John McCain's mind. Here he is, campaigning in Pennsylvania, accidentally calling Americans "my fellow prisoners":
They might as well use the "N" word posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 12:14 PM
Another McCain-Palin Introducer Declares "Barack Hussein Obama"
For the second time in three days, the speaker at a McCain campaign rally used Barack Obama's middle name "Hussein" in a demeaning fashion to ignite the crowd.
Speaking in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Bill Platt, the GOP chair of Lehigh County, twice referred to "Barack Hussein Obama" minutes before John McCain and Sarah Palin were set to take the stage.
On Monday, a local Florida sheriff preceded Palin's speech by declaring: "On Nov. 4, let's leave Barack Hussein Obama wondering what happened."
McCain has distanced itself from the deliberate and malicious use of Obama's middle name in the past. When a conservative radio talk show host first discussed Barack "Hussein" Obama in February, the campaign said it was inappropriate and not reflective of the race they are seeking to run.
How to piss off your base posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 10:49 AM
McCain mortgage plan shifts costs to taxpayers
Under a mortgage rescue plan announced at the debate Tuesday night by Senator John McCain, much of the burden of paying to keep troubled borrowers in their homes will shift to taxpayers.
McCain's original plan called for lenders to write down the value of these mortgages, and take those losses. McCain unveiled the new $300 billion plan in response to the first question of the debate.
He said, "I would order the Secretary of Treasury to immediately buy up the bad home loan mortgages in America and renegotiate at the new value of those homes, at the diminished values of those homes, and let people make those - be able to make those payments and stay in their homes."
The government would convert failing mortgages into low-interest, FHA-insured loans.
"Millions of borrowers" would be eligible for the program, dubbed the American Homeownership Resurgence Plan, according to McCain economic advisor, Doug Holtz-Eakin.
To qualify, homeowners would have to be delinquent in their payments already, or be likely to fall behind in the near future. They would have to live in the home in question - no investment properties would be eligible - and have had demonstrated their credit-worthiness when they purchased the property by putting down a substantial down payment and by providing documentation of their income and assets - no liar loans.
Coming soon: Something old, something new posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:56 AM
So the time has come and "W" will be leaving office soon. So will the name "dubyaD40" you've come to know and love. When Clyde, Wally, and I opened this site 4 years ago, our mission was to get "Dubya" out of office. Though we didn't get it done in 2004, we can all agree the pendulum has swung heavily in our favor. As a matter of fact, we should be thanking "W" for the current death of the Republican party. Thank you Georgie!
With that said, the dubyaD40.com brand will be going away soon. Are we quitting the fight? No, of course not! We're going to fight harder than ever before!
After countless hours of board meetings, aka Wally's Bar & Grill, we decided on a new brand that will allow us to move forward no matter what happens this November and beyond. While working tiresly over the past few months on a design and format, we decided to make the site 100% driven by you! That's right! You dictate what stories and information are displayed that's most important to you. Plus, it's as interactive as dollar drinks on ladies night.
So anyway, we hope you will share in our excitement moving forward to a new brand. We're positive you will enjoy the site as much as we do. Just check out a version of our new logo above! So stay tuned for more information and the unveiling of our new name and launch date.
A national poll of debate watchers suggests that Barack Obama won the second presidential debate.
Fifty-four percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey conducted after the debate ended said that Obama did the best job in the debate, with 30 percent saying John McCain performed better.
A majority, 54 percent, said Obama seemed to be the stronger leader during the debate, to 43 percent for McCain. By a greater than two to one margin - 65 percent to 28 percent - viewers thought Obama was more likeable during the debate.
"Obama had made some gains on the leadership issue even before the debate," said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "McCain's advantage on leadership shrunk from 19 points in September to just five points this weekend. If Obama can use this debate to convince Americans that he is a stronger leader than McCain, he may be difficult to defeat."
A majority of debate watchers polled thought Obama was more intelligent, by a 57 percent to 25 percent margin over McCain. Twice as many debate watchers also thought Obama more clearly expressed than McCain, with 60 percent giving the nod to the Democratic nominee and 30 percent to his GOP opponent.
The Federal Reserve, working in coordination with other central banks worldwide, enacted an emergency interest rate cut on Wednesday.
The Fed lowered its fed funds rate by half of a percentage point to 1.5%. The central bank's statement said the move was necessary because of the worsening crisis in global financial markets.
"The recent intensification of the financial crisis has augmented the downside risks to growth and thus has diminished further the upside risks to price stability," the Fed said.
The Fed on Wednesday also reduced its discount rate, the level at which it lends money directly to banks and Wall Street firms, by half of a percentage point to 1.75%.
My friends. posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:05 AM
My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends. My friends.
Does a maverick sh*t in the woods? posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 1:19 PM
Bear facts about John McCain
In his first presidential debate with Barack Obama, John McCain trotted out one of his favorite lines about wasteful federal spending. "You know, we spent $3 million to study the DNA of bears in Montana," he said. "I don't know if that was a criminal issue or a paternal issue, but the fact is that it was $3 million of our taxpayers' money. And it has got to be brought under control."
McCain has been using his bear laugh-line to attack earmarks since 2003, when he first spoke out against the grizzly bear study on the Senate floor. Since then, he's cited the bear study on the stump and in campaign ads, joking that the DNA evidence might be needed to establish a cub's paternity or to solve an ursine crime. Which hungry bear stole the hikers' food?
Attacking excessive federal spending has been a hallmark of the McCain-Palin ticket, as the Republican candidates pledge to shrink government. But in the race for the White House, the past apparently is a foreign country. Just as Palin claims to have killed the bridge to nowhere, when it was already dead, McCain voted to fund the bear study that he loves to mock.
Poll: Obama Gains in States That Went For Bush posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:16 AM
On the eve of the penultimate presidential debate, a new TIME/CNN poll shows John McCain still struggling in states won by George W. Bush in 2004, a sign that last week's vice presidential debate had little effect on voter opinion.
In North Carolina, which Bush won by more than 12 percentage points in both 2000 and 2004, McCain and Obama are locked in a dead heat, with each candidate garnering the support of 49% of likely voters. In Indiana, which Bush won by 21 points in 2004 and 16 points in 2000, McCain maintains a slight 5 point lead over Obama, with 51% of likely voters, compared to Obama's 46%.
In the crucial swing state of Ohio, which Bush won by slight margins in both 2000 and 2004, McCain trails Obama by 3 points, with the support of 47% of voters, compared to Obama's 50%. Obama also holds a statistically significant 8 point lead over McCain in New Hampshire and a 5 point lead in Wisconsin, two states that Democrat John Kerry was able to win in 2004.
As a result of the new survey, CNN now considers New Hampshire and Wisconsin to be Obama-leaning states, after previously being considered tossups. North Carolina is now considered a tossup, after previously being categorized as a McCain-leaning state.
The polls were conducted between October 3 and 6, after last Thursday's debate. They have a margin of error of +/- 3.5 to 4 percentage points.
Who's the terrorist? posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:14 AM
McCain link to private group in Iran-Contra case
John McCain's campaign is criticizing Barack Obama for his ties to a former radical who engaged in violent acts four decades ago, but McCain himself was closely connected to a private group that supplied aid to rebels trying to overthrow the leftist government of Nicaragua during the Iran-Contra affair.
The U.S. Council for World Freedom was part of an international organization linked to former Nazi collaborators and ultra-right-wing death squads in Central America. The group was dedicated to stamping out communism around the globe.
The council's founder, retired Army Maj. Gen. John Singlaub, said McCain became associated with the organization in the early 1980s as McCain was launching his political career in Arizona. Singlaub said McCain was a supporter but not an active member in the group.
.....
Elected to the House in 1982 and at a time when he was on the board of Singlaub's council, McCain was among Republicans on Capitol Hill expressing support for the Contras, a CIA-organized guerrilla force in Central America. In 1984, Congress cut off CIA funds for the Contras.
John "Crash" McPlane posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:05 AM
McCain prone to mishaps as Navy pilot: report
US presidential hopeful John McCain was prone to mistakes during his time as a Navy pilot, and if today's standards were applied, his career may have ended in a hard landing, according to a report Monday by The Los Angeles Times.
The newspaper said that when McCain was training in his AD-6 Skyraider in Texas in 1960, he slammed into Corpus Christi Bay and sheared the skin off his plane's wings. In his autobiography, McCain said the crash had occurred because "the engine quit," but an investigation board at the Naval Aviation Safety Center found no evidence of engine failure, the report said.
Instead investigators concluded that the 23-year-old junior lieutenant was not paying attention and erred in using "a power setting too low to maintain level flight in a turn."
The crash was one of three early in McCain's aviation career in which his flying skills and judgment were faulted or questioned by Navy officials, The Times said.
When all else fails Sidney throws his values under the Straight Talk Express posted by
Clyde 6:17 AM
McCain Plans Fiercer Strategy Against Obama
Sen. John McCain and his Republican allies are readying a newly aggressive assault on Sen. Barack Obama's character, believing that to win in November they must shift the conversation back to questions about the Democrat's judgment, honesty and personal associations, several top Republicans said.
With just a month to go until Election Day, McCain's team has decided that its emphasis on the senator's biography as a war hero, experienced lawmaker and straight-talking maverick is insufficient to close a growing gap with Obama. The Arizonan's campaign is also eager to move the conversation away from the economy, an issue that strongly favors Obama and has helped him to a lead in many recent polls.
"We're going to get a little tougher," a senior Republican operative said, indicating that a fresh batch of television ads is coming. "We've got to question this guy's associations. Very soon. There's no question that we have to change the subject here," said the operative, who was not authorized to discuss strategy and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Being so aggressive has risks for McCain if it angers swing voters, who often say they are looking for candidates who offer a positive message about what they will do. That could be especially true this year, when frustration with Washington politics is acute and a desire for specifics on how to fix the economy and fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is strong.
When Afghan security forces found an enormous cache of heroin hidden beneath concrete blocks in a tractor-trailer outside Kandahar in 2004, the local Afghan commander quickly impounded the truck and notified his boss.
Before long, the commander, Habibullah Jan, received a telephone call from Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of President Hamid Karzai, asking him to release the vehicle and the drugs, Mr. Jan later told American investigators, according to notes from the debriefing obtained by The New York Times. He said he complied after getting a phone call from an aide to President Karzai directing him to release the truck.
Two years later, American and Afghan counternarcotics forces stopped another truck, this time near Kabul, finding more than 110 pounds of heroin. Soon after the seizure, United States investigators told other American officials that they had discovered links between the drug shipment and a bodyguard believed to be an intermediary for Ahmed Wali Karzai, according to a participant in the briefing.
The assertions about the involvement of the president's brother in the incidents were never investigated, according to American and Afghan officials, even though allegations that he has benefited from narcotics trafficking have circulated widely in Afghanistan.
Want to make a quick $100,000? posted by
Wally 8:03 AM
Non-Profit Offers $100,000 Reward for Information Tying Karl Rove and Michael Connell to Election Rigging
Today, Velvet Revolution (VR), a non-profit dedicated to clean and accountable government, offered a $100,000 reward to whistleblowers for information tying Karl Rove and Michael Connell to illegal election manipulations. Other Republican whistleblowers, most notably world renowned computer expert Stephen Spoonamore, have stated recently that the Republican Party has been rigging elections for years through electronic computer manipulations. Mr. Spoonamore, a colleague of Mike Connell, gave a recent interview in which he stated that the upcoming election will be stolen and rigged by the GOP unless otherwise exposed. That interview is posted in full at www.rovecybergate.com.
Mr. Connell is the CEO of GovTech Solutions, a company that works with a "Who's Who" of Republican politicians. Mr. Connell refuses "to work for Democrats" and is "loyal to the Bush family." And it was Mr. Connell who ran the Florida Government computer network during the presidential election of 2000 and the Ohio Secretary of State election computers during the presidential election of 2004. He has been at the scene of every major national electoral scandal of the past decade and has been fingered as being involved in the destruction of White House emails.
Velvet Revolution wants other whistleblowers to come forward to provide additional information about Mr. Connell's involvement in election manipulations and his relationship to Karl Rove. Specifically, VR is looking for evidence of criminal activity and corroboration that Mr. Connell set up computer networks to change the vote tabulations in key states and helped destroy White House computer data. VR is also seeking evidence about GovTech's former president, Randy Cole, who left his post a month ago to run for the Ohio state congress in the 41st District.
Information provided to VR will be kept confidential and VR has set up a tip line to field the calls. 1-888-VOTETIP. Tips are also being accepted here: tips at velvetrevolution.us.
By the way, if you get that hundred grand, we wouldn't argue with a little beer money.
"I look forward to speaking to the media more and more every day and providing whatever access the media would want," Palin said in an interview with Fox News.
"Looking for a Sarah Palin look-alike," read the ad, "for an adult film to be shot in the next 10 days." The actress would be paid $3,000 for the part, said the ad.
Did Boehner cry? posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 11:50 AM
House, in second effort, passes bailout bill
The House passed a $700 billion bailout of the financial services industry Friday, reversing itself after members who voted to kill the measure earlier in the week came around to a Senate version that offered more protection for individual investors and small businesses.
Stocks were up sharply in anticipation that the measure could help thaw frozen credit markets.
After a week of reversals and intense lobbying, the measure ended up passing comfortably by a vote of 263-171. After seeing the bill go down to defeat Monday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., had said she would not let it come up for a vote Friday unless it was clear that it would pass.
I saw a lopsided debate. Anyone else? posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:13 AM
CBS Poll: More Uncommitted Voters Saw Biden As Winner
CBS News and Knowledge Networks have conducted a nationally representative poll of 473 uncommitted voters to get their immediate reaction to tonight's vice presidential debate.
After the first presidential debate, a similar survey showed that more uncommitted voters identified Barack Obama as the winner
Final numbers from tonight's poll have yet to come in, but we do have some early results. (These numbers may change as more respondents complete the survey.) They suggest that once again more voters have responded favorably to the Democratic candidate.
Forty-six percent of the uncommitted voters surveyed say Democrat Joe Biden won the debate, compared to 21 percent for Republican Sarah Palin. Thirty-three percent said it was a tie.
Eighteen percent of previously uncommitted percent say they are now committed to the Obama-Biden ticket. Ten percent say they are now committed to McCain-Palin. Seventy-one percent are still uncommitted.
Candidates will be cued to enter as the laser light show subsides, and should be on stage no later than the intro guitar riff to "Living After Midnight"
Questions can only be about Alaska
No reflecting light from watch into opponent's eyes
Each answer requires one piece of fluff or filler but cannot contain more than three
References to Jesus or "God's will" limited to answers to questions about the economy, health care, education, and urban crime
Candidates are forbidden from telling moving anecdotes about Marilyn Laybourn of Wichita, KS, who has three children and was laid off last May
Everybody goes home with a PBS National Debate Participation Certificate
Palin: Bush-for-brains expectations posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 11:31 AM
The Biden-Palin Debate Pre-Spin
I haven't even left for St. Louis yet and I already feel like I'm in the spin room at Washington University. To hear the spinners' spin, there is no chance that either Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware or Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska will utter a coherent sentence in the vice-presidential debate Thursday night.
The expectations aren't just low; they're in the Death Valley range. I'm not sure I remember such a vigorous race to the bottom, even when the world was coming to know a legally blond fellow named Quayle.
As Democrats in or near the Obama-Biden camp tell it, the concern is that the loquacious senator will talk too much, will be overbearing and condescending, too up-to-here with Beltway blather.
In the process, they say, he will make Palin's lack of knowledge look not only acceptable but also somehow preferable to the know-it-all at the next podium.
"I just am afraid that Joe is not going to be able to shut up," said one top Democratic fundraiser, who is close to the senator but who does not want to talk in public. "He keeps telling the debate prep people that he gets it, but I'm not sure he can control himself. He's certainly never been able to in the past, has he?"
The downdraft on Biden is nothing compared with the hurricane of badmouthing from Republicans aimed at Palin. Some of it is strategic; some not. Some of it is comical; some of it has an air of desperation.
Much of it seems designed to explain in advance why Palin can't do well-even though she got relatively good marks for her debate performance in the gubernatorial race in Alaska two years ago.
Barack Obama has surged to a seven-point lead over John McCain one month before the presidential election, lifted by voters who think the Democrat is better suited to lead the nation through its sudden financial crisis, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll that underscores the mounting concerns of some McCain backers.
Likely voters now back Obama 48-41 percent over McCain, a dramatic shift from an AP-GfK survey that gave the Republican a slight edge nearly three weeks ago, before Wall Street collapsed and sent ripples across worldwide markets. On top of that, unrelated surveys show Obama beating McCain in Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania -- three states critical in the state-by-state battle for the presidency.
Several GOP strategists close to McCain's campaign privately fret that his chances for victory are starting to slip away.
These Republicans, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid angering the campaign, point to several factors: Obama's gains nationally and in traditionally GOP states, no McCain gain from the first debate, McCain's struggles with economic issues as the financial crisis has unfolded and deepening public skepticism about his running mate, Sarah Palin.
They said McCain's options for shaking up the race are essentially limited to game-changing performances in the final presidential debates or in Palin's vice presidential debate with Joe Biden Thursday night. Short of that, they said, McCain can do little but hope Obama stumbles or an outside event breaks the GOP nominee's way....
Irrelevancy posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:05 AM
Oops: Newspapers around the world use SNL pic as official Palin one
As I was eating breakfast while flipping the pages of a French local newspaper this morning, my eyes caught the picture above, which accompanied an article about Sarah Palin. I couldn't put my finger on it right away, but I knew there was a problem with this picture. The caption under it says that during interviews, Palin is hesitant, troubled and clumsy but didn't offer more on where the picture was taken and who was on the right.
All day, I tried to discover what was wrong with the picture. Thanks to Quebec's news station 93,3, which I listen to in the afternoon, I learned what was wrong about it: it's a picture of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler in a recent Saturday Night Live sketch! Oops!
... Thing is, the snafu wasn't only made in my local newspaper. Actually, the article, with the picture attached, was written by Agence France-Presse, a company similar to the Associated Press; this means that the article and the SNL picture was published around the world!
Good 'ole election season posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 7:47 PM
Senate passes its own bank bailout package
The Senate passed its version of a mammoth plan to rescue the financial services industry Wednesday night, saying changes designed to protect individual investors and small business owners could be enough to persuade reluctant House members to go along with the plan.
Senators agreed to the plan 74-25 as an amendment to an unrelated bill, which was passed shortly thereafter.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who put together the original plan to bail out the banks after Lehman Bros. and other financial institutions collapsed on Wall Street earlier this month, welcomed the "strong bipartisan vote."
....
House Democrats were not happy with the turn of events, but Hoyer predicted in an interview on NBC's TODAY that the revised bill would make it through the House.
Not just for Palin, but for us being "cute" with her. America, this is the dumbest bitch, yes I said dumbest, in the history of politics. Why can't she answer a single fucking question? If Katie can make her look bad, Biden will make cry.
The 3 of us at dubyaD40.com are just Average Joe's in the heartland. Even WE can name Supreme court cases. Hell, how about "The People vs. Larry Flynt?" Maybe that hasn't reached the theaters in Alaska yet.
Anyway, here's why she's the most scariest VP candidate in recent history:
Funniest slide show ever posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 2:37 PM
Debate Training - Biden learns what makes girls cry (WITH HOT PICS!)
While most people will be watching Thursday's VP debate to find out whether Sarah Palin will start speaking in tongues, there's also the little matter of diarrhea-mouth hothead Joe Biden. The Obama camp is worried about the notoriously unpredictable Biden getting too aggressive (read: red-faced bellowing) while addressing Gov. Palin and losing the coveted "we hate people who aren't nice to the woefully underqualified" vote. To prepare, Joe has been rehearsing with MI Gov. Jennifer Granholme standing in for Sarah Palin. Watch our completely made up recreation of those rehearsals (with exclusive pics!) in the slideshow below:
Something just went wrong with McCain's face on national TV
UPDATE: There's now slow-motion video making it painfully clear that something is wrong.
In the post below, we showed a scene that just took place in which McCain was momentarily confused on stage, not knowing where to go. We posted the video because it was funny. But Joe just realized that literally seconds before McCain became confused on stage, his face twitched or convulsed twice. Look at the photos above and below. They're from around 5 seconds (above) and 11 second (below) into the video Joe posted below.
It happened twice. First in a rather major way at 5 seconds, then more minor at 10/11 seconds. You can see McCain's left eye twitch closed, and at the same time, the left corner of his lip twitched upwards - it's especially pronounced in the 4th photo above. What is going on with McCain's health? This isn't normal. And it happened right before he became confused and couldn't figure out how to get off the stage.
At some point, the corporate media needs to do its job and stop being a bunch of politically correct wimps. We just saw - AGAIN - something go physically wrong with McCain's face. It's not the first time it's happened, we documented it before. But the media refuses to ask McCain what is wrong with him because, well, it's not clear why. McCain is 72 years old, was tortured for five years (which couldn't have done wonders to his health), and then had 4 bouts of serious melanoma. His health is an issue, and he has never fully released his medical records in a way that permits anyone to actually peruse them correctly - he only permitted reports to look at each page of his medical records for about 10 seconds before switching to another page. And no one was permitted to copy or take with any of the records. They're now back under lock and key.
I've always suspected that National Geographic was a liberal publication. My suspicions were confirmed today when I saw your map of the Middle East. Venezuela is nowhere to be found. Obviously, you put up new maps to embarrass John McCain after he called out Venezuela as a Middle Eastern country.
I also noticed that your maps showing the shape and location of Pakistan, Alaska, Russia, and Spain do not match the descriptions given by Sen. McCain and Sarah Palin.
I'm enclosing new maps that conform to Palin-McCain specifications. Please use them.
Heterosexually yours in a chaste and biblically appropriate kind of way,
Don't let us down Ohio! posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 10:38 AM
Hundreds voted early; Democrats' efforts apparent
Just a day after three court decisions cleared a path, voters swarmed elections board offices Tuesday in Greater Cincinnati to start the state's new 36-day-long polling season.
A three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati ruled Tuesday against the Ohio Republican Party's appeal of a disputed early-voting window that allows voters to register and vote on the same day.
The panel denied the GOP request that ballots cast during a weeklong period be segregated from other ballots. Monday, the party lost a bid to stop same-day registration and voting.
....
Ohio has allowed limited absentee-voting for many years, but since 2005, voters have not had to give a reason to receive an absentee ballot and cast a vote either by mail or in person. The shift in law opened the floodgates for voters seeking to avoid long lines or other Election Day complications.
THE POLL: Quinnipiac University poll, presidential race in Florida among likely voters. (The state has 27 electoral votes.)
THE NUMBERS: Barack Obama 51 percent, John McCain 43 percent.
OF INTEREST: The post-debate poll was similar to the presidential preferences taken right before the debate. Just over half of voters responding after the debate said Obama has been more helpful than harmful in solving the economic crisis, compared with 45 percent who said so of McCain. Almost eight in 10 Floridians said they watched the presidential matchup. Almost half said Obama did better, compared with 34 percent who picked McCain.
DETAILS: Conducted one poll Sept. 22-26, telephone interviews with 1,161 likely voters in Florida. Margin of sampling error plus or minus 2.9 percentage points. Conducted second poll Sept. 27-29, telephone interviews with 836 likely voters in Florida. Margin of sampling error plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.
We know the feeling posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:17 AM
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright says chance of Palin presidency scares her
Madeleine Albright, who became the first female U.S. Secretary of State and highest ranking woman in government in 1997, is frightened by the possibility that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Republican John McCain's running mate, could assume the presidency.
Asked today in an interview with Plain Dealer editors and reporters if she is scared by the prospect of Palin being a heartbeat away, Albright, who has endorsed Democrat Barack Obama, responded without hesitating, "Yes. Yes."
"Having served two presidents, I think the job of the president is the most difficult job in the world," said Albright, who advised President Carter on national security and foreign policy and later President Clinton as secretary of state. "What you need in a vice president - and I've felt this for a long time because I've watched Mondale and Al Gore - is that you need a partner. The job is huge and needs somebody not only for the heartbeat part but in the day-to-day governance.
"Gore went a step further of being almost like a prime minister ... taking away the underbrush of issues to do with how two countries relate to each other. So you need somebody that actually knows what they are doing. I see that with the Obama-Joe Biden relationship. I certainly don't see it in the McCain-Palin relationship."...
You've got......jail! posted by
Dookie The Webmaster 6:11 AM
Report Implicates White House
In 18 months of searching, Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine and Office of Professional Responsibility chief H. Marshall Jarrett have uncovered new e-mail messages hinting at heightened involvement of White House lawyers and political aides in the firings of nine federal prosecutors two years ago.
But they could not probe much deeper because key officials declined to be interviewed and a critical timeline drafted by the White House was so heavily redacted that it was "virtually worthless as an investigative tool," the authorities said.
"We were unable to fully develop the facts regarding the removal of Iglesias and several other U.S. Attorneys because of the refusal by certain key witnesses to be interviewed by us, as well as the White House's decision not to provide . . . internal documents to us," the investigators concluded in their report.
The standoff is a central reason that Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey on Monday named a veteran public-corruption prosecutor, Nora R. Dannehy, to continue the investigation, directing her to give him a preliminary report on the status of the case in 60 days.
