2008 elections
- Answering That ‘Forwarded’ E-Mail: “The Democrats Didn’t Bring Change”- You know how it goes. A friend who 'forwards' lots of e-mails sends you this one: "HERE IS THE CHANGE!," which dumps all over the Democrats, saying they've done nothing since the won the majority in '06. Don't groan and delete it. Copy all those who've been sent the 'forwarded forward' and start your answer this way: Think about it.
- ACORN Fraud Story FAKE GOP Scam- UPDATE: Now John McCain's campaign is attacking Obama for being associated with ACORN All day the mainstream news has been reporting the so-called Voter Fraud on the part of ACORN that has registered over 1.2 million people to vote in low income areas of the country. THE FACTS: - all people who do voter registration are REQUIRED BY LAW to turn in the forms that they receive, whether they are valid or not. What ACORN does when they register someone to vote is then turn around and verify that the person is who they say they are. When the person can't be found ACORN then flags them as suspicious. When they turn them into boards of elections (which again they are require to do) those suspicious ones are flagged so BOE's can deal with them accordingly.
- Some of the Early Takes on the Debate- Here are some of the early reviews of the performances of the two candidates last night: Halperin gives Obama an A- and McCain a B-. He said of Obama, "Polished, confident, focused. Fully prepared, and able to convey a real depth of knowledge on nearly every issue." About McCain, he observed, "Cluttered, jumpy, and often muddled. Keenly aware of the grand, grave occasion, McCain wavered between respectful and domineering, and ended up awkward and edgy." Chuck Todd observed, "I suspect that only the most partisan McCain supporters wouldn't say Obama looked as presidential as McCain . . . . There are some who believe a "draw" is better for the candidate perceived to be ahead. If that's the case, then the polls will continue their Obama drift. But I wouldn't be surprised if the polls don't move much in either direction because neither candidate gave a reason why voters ought to stop listening and make their decision now."
- Festival the Debate-
Nothing says Debate like a good old fashion catfish fry and festival. Rock the Vote, today, organized a two stage hoedown in Oxford, Mississippi on the Ole Miss campus in preparation for the debate extravaganza to unfold.
Word on the street was the free t-shirts and swag was the best. Who doesn't love a free shirt?
- McCain to Black America: You Don’t Matter- Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing
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- Letterman on McCain- Letterman discusses McCain's campaign suspension and other things as only he can.
- On Political Robots, Again, Or, Let's Visit Uncanny Valley- So the second debate is in the books, my friends, and it seems that McCain is not getting out the message as well as he might wish. I have no doubt that some of the problem is related to McCain’s policies as he presents them...but to be completely honest, there may be an additional factor. To put it as bluntly as possible: McCain looks a little...creepy. And it’s not just me: The Girlfriend was mentioning how creepy he looked in the debate as we talked about it this morning. Ask around, and someone might describe him that way to you. Why is that so, how is this observation going to affect McCain going forward; and most important of all...how does this connect to the Burger King and the design of video game characters? To help answer the question, let me introduce you to Dr. Masahiro Mori.
- Debate: Foreign Policy & Security {Or No Debate} Video's - Everyone knows that the first Presidential Debate is supposed to take place tonight, but once again we have a member of the GOP trying to put the skids on Democracy, read the 2000 election and the supreme's, by refusing to show because, admitted himself he understands little about economics, he's going to save Wall Street Bankers and the Country from Collapse. Now he's coming to the rescue some 10 or so days after all the bad economic news started surfacing, but for Our Savior "Better late than never, Not!".
- Bring on Voter Suppression- The last day to register to vote in most states is tomorrow and you know what that means, time for the disenfranchisement to begin!! I am very excited about this! Every election I look forward to poor people having their votes stolen. Let's be honest, they really have no right to vote anyway. Poor people often talk funny and well... they're poor. Who wants to be friends with poor people? They can't do anything because its all too expensive for them. Wanna go to the bar with your poor friend? Too bad! Movies? Forget it. And going over to their place to play XBox - HA! Never going to happen. Therefore, the more disenfranchisement the better! We don't need those kinds of people in our society.
- Now we know what was in Palin’s email account.- Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing
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- Misunderestimated Republicans- The Reprobatelican ticket is being mocked for propagating seemingly daffy ideas. That foreign policy expertise accrues from living in a state that borders Canada, or from exchanging small talk at the UN That provincialism, ignorance, superstition, incuriosity, and viciousness are strengths. That lies are truths, cantankerous xenophobia is statesmanlike, crashing airplanes is presidential job training, and the press is pretty much responsible for everything that ails us. But guess what? The Reprobates are right and all the mockery is misplaced.
- McCain "Turns a Page" From What?-
Senator McCain at a March 1990 hearing of the Senate Ethics Committee investigating the relationship between a group of senators and banker Charles Keating Jr.
Greg Strimple, one of McCain’s top advisers, said
"We are looking forward to turning a page on this financial crisis..."
In the vice-presidential candidates debate Sarah Palin chided Joe Biden for talking about how we got to where we are now.
- Huge Day for Voters from Congress-
"Today was a huge victory for us," Matt Segal the Executive Director of the Student Association of Student Empowerment (SAVE) said Thursday evening in an interview after testifying before the House Administration Committee on voting rights for young people.
This was the culmination of 5 months of SAVE members and volunteers working the Hill in efforts to educate Congress on the difficulties young voters face each election year.
These stories are not unique to us. Recently, even, we've heard about voter disenfranchisement affecting students. In Colorado and New Mexico as well as Virgina Tech students who are "being told that they risk losing their scholarship and tax dependency status if they register to vote in their college, as opposed to home, state."
- Generation We-
Writer Eric Greenberg pulled together the results of over eighteen months of research, polls and focus groups to prove one thing: the Millennial Generation is a force to be reckoned with. Through his new book, and a website, Greenberg is harnessing the thoughts and energy of a younger generation.
GenWe was Greenberg's project to help the Millennial Generation empower itself against much scrutiny. Speaking with US News, he said:
"They are not a 'me' generation; they are the 'we' generation," he says. "They are about the greater good," he adds, noting that they're really jazzed up about the environment and the energy crisis. Armed with his huge study, he's urging both presidential campaigns to focus on one mega-idea the kids endorsed; an Apollo-style approach to the energy crisis."
- Interview with Youngest in Congress- One of the youngest Congressman serving is Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio. His office has been one leading the pack in youth and technology outreach for the past few years, and his urgency to listen to young voters has given a unique perspective many members lack. With a connectivity to the future and an eagerness to bring more young people to policy and government, it isn't difficult to understand why he is one of the most outspoken members of the 30 Something Caucus.
- On McCain's Negative Campaign, Or, Oh No You Didn't- Apparently feeling there’s no other way to win, the McCain campaign is now trying to “go negative” in an effort to make Obama unelectable. Obama has tried to stay above that sort of thing...and while Obama may be a better human being than that...I’m not. We will divert away from the usual high minded conversation about issues today—and we will instead lay out a few unpleasant facts John McCain would rather you forget about. Some of today’s discussion reveals McCain’s financial corruption...then there’s McCain giving “aid and comfort to the enemy” back in his Vietnam days...and for those who may have forgotten, a few words about ugly divorces and near-bigamy and the ending of McCain’s friendship with Ronald Reagan.
- Average Projections of Electoral College on September 22-
(Cross-posted at Clintonistas for Obama)
I thought it might be interesting to get a sense of the basic current view of Internet prognosticators of the Electoral College outcomes. Three Blue Dudes provides an overview to 84 sites on the web that use various methods to project trends in the Electoral College. Twenty-one of those web sites updated their projections yesterday, September 22. Of those 21 sites, 17 gave Obama the advantage in the Electoral College, two gave the advantage to McCain, and two projected a tie. Neither of the sites that saw an advantage for McCain projected he had enough electoral votes to claim the presidency: just that he had an advantage among the states they felt they could project. The average Electoral College projections for the 21 sites that updated their projections yesterday were these: - Interview with Education Chairman- On a recent trip to Washington DC I decided to see if I could talk to a few of our notable Representatives in Congress. Rep. George Miller was not only available but eager to talk with me about the outreach the Committee had done in the first 100 days of the New Congress in 2007 to work with students on how we can make higher education easier and more manageable for students. Some friends who work on the Hill told me that he was a great guy, and very forward thinking when it comes to technology and outreach, but I had no idea he would be as engaging and eager to talk about the needs of students and ways in which we can continue our work after Election Day. It was a true honor, and I certainly look forward to seeing what is possible in the 2009 Legislative Session.
- On Distractions, Or, If You Hide In A Smoke Screen, Make Sure It's Not Toxic- It has been an extraordinarily bad week for John McCain, what with his interest in Sarah Palin’s boobs apparently keeping him from being sufficiently aware of the “fundamental soundness” of the economy...but luckily for McCain, the news cycle turns; and a hotel bombing in Pakistan might be the opening his campaign thinks it needs. With that in mind, expect the next week leading up to Friday’s Presidential debate to be full of references to McCain’s favorite subject...“the transcendent challenge of our time—Islamofascism”...or something eerily similar.
- It Must Gall Them- (Cross-posted at Clintonistas for Obama)
Ten days ago, conservative columnist George Will took a cool hard look at the two candidates and came to the conclusion that what he perceived Barack Obama lacked could be corrected, but that what he perceived John McCain possessed could not be:
It is arguable that, because of his inexperience, Obama is not ready for the presidency. It is arguable that McCain, because of his boiling moralism and bottomless reservoir of certitudes, is not suited to the presidency. Unreadiness can be corrected . . . by experience. Can a dismaying temperament be fixed?
There seems to be a growing chorus among the conservative chatting class that Obama's temperament, that is, his cool and unflappable style when he is under pressure, trumps McCain's experience. Today's Washington Post contains a piece that Charles Krauthammer wrote that compares the presidential candidates to one another and finds McCain coming up short: - Obama Interview on "60 Minutes"- Thursday night the presidential candidates talked about their views on service.
Obama: "America is the greatest country on earth, but it didn't just happen on its own. It is not a gift only.... it is a responsibility."
This has been a key component of the Obama campaign from the very beginning. If you remember his acceptance speech during the Democratic Convention his line "We are the ones we've been waiting for" is key in his belief that Americans can solve the difficult challenges we face with millions of hands working together. - Friends' Concerns about Sarah Palin-
The first comes from a friend with many years in Alaska:
The following links are available to you to explore. There's a good explanation of the difference between intratextual religious fundamentalist systems and intertextual religious communities.
When I saw the signs "Palin Power" and "Country First" at the Republican convention, the grand old flag suddenly (metaphorically) became a red one. Every single totalitarian government on the face of the earth has monopolized the mind of it's constituents by demanding unilateral commitment to a country or a personality. What happened to the once conservative Christian values of "God first, family, and community service?"
- There is more going on than "Lipstick on a Pig"- I stayed away from all the hand wringing and teeth gnashing over this past weekend. I was busy working my family schedule to volunteer my weekend time to the Obama Campaign. Many believe that he must hit back immediately. I thought so at one point, but don't look at it that way now. Why should Barack soil up his image when McCain/Palin are destroying theirs? I mean, isn't McCain/Palin doing a good enough job right now to themselves? ::
- Martians and Election Day- It's only fitting that a truly memorable demonstration of human gullibility will mark its 70th anniversary just before Election Day. On the night of October 30, 1938, thousands of radio listeners concluded that Orson Welles' adaptation of The War of the Worlds was the real thing: a live account of Martian invaders landing in Grover's Mill, New Jersey. Those fooled by the show's air of authenticity exhibited signs of panic and hysteria. Some called the police for guidance on how they could protect themselves. Some fled their homes for greater safety farther from the invasion site. And some listeners fainted beside their radios. Within hours the hoax was fully revealed, and public outrage swiftly followed. Today, Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin seem intent on creating similar mass confusion for their own purposes.
- Stealing Elections 101- Appearing at The Jaundiced Eye, the Independent Bloggers' Alliance, and My Left Wing.
- The GOP wants another 9/11 to boost John McCain- Abstract. The “war on terror” appears to be a fraud, which was motivated by oil, Israel, and ideology. Bush knows that torture does not produce truth, but he still needs it to extract false confessions to support a phony war. The GOP wants another 9/11 to cement its power and either suspend the Constitution or propel John McCain into the White House. When it comes to Saddam Hussein, al Qaeda, and Osama bin Laden, McCain doesn’t have a clue. He is still nurturing misconceptions that even Bush has admitted are untrue. Madison, WI (diatribune) September 9, 2008 – Perhaps nothing underscores his absence of intellect in matters of consequence than does John McCain’s authorship of the “Foreword” to Debunking 9/11 Myths (2006), which is devoted to defending the official account of 9/11 from its critics. McCain still believes that 19 Islamic fundamentalists hijacked four commercial aircraft and performed these atrocities under the control of a man in a cave in Afghanistan and that Saddam Hussein was involved, that Iraq was in cahoots with al Qaeda, and that Osama bin Laden was the mastermind.
- This Week With "The Democratic Nominee", Barack Obama, September 2-6, 2008-
columbia, pennsylvania
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- Fighting Against the Bounce- It came as no surprise to me that McCain's convention bounce equaled Obama's. Polling in every other Presidential election followed a similar pattern. Neither was I particularly shocked that the selection of Palin as Vice-President, despite substantial leftist backlash, went over well with the American electorate. Voters are suckers for a gimmick and even more susceptible to novelty. McCain's Vice Presidential selection was a little bit of both.
- Why are Democrats Afraid to Speak the Truth?- The Democratic campaign enjoyed a spectacular and spirited convention climaxed by a phenomenal speech by Senator Obama. The McCain campaign followed with a phenom of its own with the addition of Governor Sarah Palin to the ticket. Prior to that spontaneous decision, John McCain was experiencing difficulty attracting an audience. In fact, with the prearranged agenda including Bush and Cheney, they would likely had difficulty filling the convention hall. This situation was remedied by the creation of the John McCain traveling burlesque show. Hopefully, the same people who support Sarah Palin are those who supported Sanjaya right up until it was time to declare him an American Idol. While the Republican propaganda machine is frantically fabricating a history for Palin, scrambling like canaries in a cage startled by the appearance of a cat, Barack Obama himself appears tired, bored, deflated, and even defeated. It's time for the Democratic Party to employ a novel strategy in the political arena. It's time to tell the truth.
- Wrong for 12 Hours-
Directly after Obama’s speech at the Democratic Convention I wrote a column saying that Obama would be the “fourth man”; the significant figure in a historical sequence that opens the last post-war generation and the figure which the country consolidates around. It is that figure who makes history. It is that figure who is remembered when the culture turns. Everyone else who came before is forgotten.
12 hours later John McCain nominated Sarah Palin for Vice President. History could well show that I have never been so wrong in my prognosis. But I have been wrong about things before and held on to the wrong for years, even decades. This time I was wrong for only 12 hours.
- John McCain: Morally, Mentally, and Emotionally Unfit- Abstract. John McCain’s 5 ½ years of torture have to have left him emotionally and mentally scarred. Over his entire life, he has repeatedly shown he is out of touch with reality, impulsive and reckless in his judgment, and intellectually lazy and lacking in curiosity. His choice of a completely unqualified “trophy” running mate clearly demonstrates McCain at his worst, incapable of making rational decisions.
- Handicapping The Debates- The Democrats have spoken. The Republicans have spoken. From now on out, expect a daily dose of attack-style politics and increasingly personal attacks. Nothing will be off limits, except of course, families. (And maybe not even then) When the total impact of the RNC shows up in polls at the first of next week, Obama's bounce will subside and I predict the race will again be effectively tied for quite a while.
- Young Republicans Tackle Age and Race-
Today I met with many of the Young Republicans in the party who can't help but notice that the stereotypes of old, white, men are more valid than they would like. Leaders from the popular youth blog HipHopRepublican.com sat down with me to talk about opportunities that their party could harness if they were only willing to do the kind of outreach that Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama's campaign does.
The young people all have ambitions to achieve goals or run for office, but they are fighting an uphill battle in a tough establishment world. Their optimism reigns supreme, however, and the push mountains in efforts to move their party to something a little more mainstream.
- Obama for Skeptics-
This piece is for the skeptics. Not for skeptical Republicans (I imagine you have your minds made up already), but for all the undecideds and independents, for all the middle-of-the-roadsters, for the person who is right now saying "I would be happy with either candidate as President" or, I suppose, for the one who is saying "I can't stand either of these guys". I’ve been listening to you, reading your editorials. I know what you’re saying. Dare I say, I know what you’re not saying too. Obama skeptics: This piece is for you.
- VIDEO: Shut Down by Cops, Rage Against the Machine goes a capella @ RNC-
They aren't afraid of four musicians from LA - they are afraid of YOU!
Rolling Stone report says RATM was to play a "secret" concert near the RNC but was shut down by the police. Video courtesy of the fine folks @ Above the Fold - The Year of the Woman- Having consulted a variety of polls (and yes, I recognize that polls are often hardly authoritative sources) it appears that Obama's post-convention bounce has continued largely undiminished until today. The most interesting aspect of the race I've found, numerically speaking, is the observation that both the Senator from Illinois and the Senator from Arizona actually lost ground after they announced their picks for Vice-President. While Obama's reverse bounce was widely attributed to his refusal to put Hillary Clinton on the ticket. McCain's reverse bounce may well be a mild backlash against his choice of a total dark horse for the second on the ticket, scorning a more conventional pick.
- Election Toolkit 2008- Upfront: I'm not attached to nor have anything to do with the group below, except as an Old Voting Adult.
Yesterday I received a little booklet in the mail, I'm sure many others have as well. In case you hadn't I thought I'd pass on who sent it and how you can get one.
If you can't make it out this booklet comes from Black Box Voting.org who have been, along with others these last few years, been doing a stellar job on getting information and passing it along about this Countries Broken and Breaking Election Process.
- Northern Exposure- The Republican Party has once again employed a brilliant strategy with the selection of Governor Sarah Palin as their 2008 vice-presidential candidate. On the last night of the Democratic Convention, Barack Obama delivered a sensational acceptance speech, which stunned even the “liberal media” covering it. Furthermore, it stunned the Republican National Committee who could not provide a meaningful response. The Republicans needed a sensational candidate of their own and they found one. Thursday evening, there was one flaw in Obama’s speech: he addressed the topics of Gay Rights and abortion and followed them by stating that the Republicans want to make this election about “small issues.” In response to that, the Republicans had to inflate the abortion issue and make it the number one issue of the campaign much the way they used the gay marriage issue to attract Evangelicals to the polls in 2000 and 2004.
- Massive Protests First Day of RNC- The first day of the Republican Convention may have been stifled by the hurricane in the gulf, but protesters refused to let it stop their message. Whether anti-war, pro-universal health care, pro-choice, anti-choice, or anti-government in general, protesters packed the streets of St. Paul, Minnesota hoping to impact convention goers.
- 2008 Republican National Convention Roundup: Day 1-
An austere, abbreviated and less political RNC kicked off yesterday in Minnesota, as Hurricane Gustav bore down on the Gulf Coast and stole the show.
What remained? A business meeting, writes the Washington Post. The American Spectator kicks off its coverage in "Bye Bye Bush:"
As thousands protested in the streets, the Palins announced the latest addition to their family, and the GOP turned its national convention into a Jerry Lewis-style telethon for the victims of Hurricane Gustav, John McCain's party began its transition into the post-Bush era.
President Bush’s appearance was canceled, along with Dick Cheney’s. (Here's the list of what was to have been the RNC line-up.)
Meanwhile, top GOP climate leader Gov. Schwarzenegger announced he will skip the full convention on account of California’s budget impasse.
- Human Rights Campaign Rock to Win- One event I was able to attend while at the Democratic National Convention was the HRC Concert Rock to Win featuring many performers including Kansas's own Melissa Etheridge, Cindy Lauper, frequent Kansas visitor Rufus Wainwright, Thelma Houston, and Margaret Cho. The concert began with a short press conference where all agreed that young voters were essential to the election in November. Cindy Lauper said it was important for all people to vote, and that was a key component for her concert with the HRC as well as her national True Colors tour.
- Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, and an Alaskan Trooper-Gate- If you want to see what Sarah Palin brings to the Republican ticket, her appearance on the miserable Glenn Beck show is a good place to start.
- A Fake Consultant News Flash: Sarah Palin...What's The Dirt?- The Media will be abuzz today with the surprise of John McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin as his Vice Cheney candidate. But there’s some dirt hiding under the rug... What is the history...who does she support...and when she talks about “open and transparent” government, what does that mean? Put your snow boots on, people...and let’s have a look...
- A Calculated Risk for McCain- In being willing to sacrifice his strongest argument, experience, McCain has taken a gamble selecting his Vice-Presidential choice. Attempting to reach out to disaffected Hillary Clinton Democrats by putting a woman alongside him on the ticket, such a strategy might have worked if McCain had picked an ideological moderate. Instead, he picked a solid conservative. It's a curious selection because few Clinton supporters will be swayed by the presence of a woman who is conspicuously pro-life. The entire McCain/Palin ticket will be officially against abortion rights and rooted solidly in the tradition of fiscal conservatism.
- Barack Obama's Acceptance Speech- Barack Obama's acceptance speech August 28, 2008
- Time for Un Cambio!-
Seventy-five year old Inocencia Coto in South Florida who has always supported Republican candidates in a district of predominantly Cuban Americans who usually vote 90% Republican in national elections won’t be supporting the Republican in her district this year. She’s actively working for the Democratic challenger, Raul Martinez, who is within four percentage points of eight term Republican incumbent, Mario Diaz-Balart.
Coto and many of her friends say the same thing. - Hard Facts vs. Easy Money- I have been a passionate civil libertarian and an independent voter my entire life. At one point I entertained the possibility of voting for John McCain in the upcoming presidential election. Politics is a filthy business and Barack Obama is nowhere near dirty enough for the task. I envisioned McCain as the candidate who could clean up the Republican Party and restore its credibility endowed by leaders such as Abraham Lincoln. McCain often described Washington as a, "culture of corruption," and I believed that his experience would allow him to rally the few remaining public servants in the government and, along with Democrats, achieve compromises which would represent the will of the people. I had great hope right up until Dick Cheney took McCain aside and graphically introduced him to the astronomical amount of money with which McCain could line his pockets by towing the corporate line. After being offered membership in the self-proclaimed illuminate, McCain went, overnight, from a reformer to a conformist.
- Democratic Convention Highlights- The big "dis-unity" fest that the TV Commentators were promising us was a lot of horse shit. NEVER happened. What does that tell you about them? Olberman got one good bitchslap in to Joe Scarborough when he interrupted Joe's rant with:" Jesus Christ Joe, get a shovel!" The home runs just kept coming!!
- New Obama Hip Hop Vid- A new group Eklectyk Creative Media with Napalm Clique has produced an Obama hiphop video/mashup posted on youtube this week. The video begins with an excerpt from Obama's "A More Perfect Union" speech, and launches into a multimedia collection of the political candidate. It has strong video-editing and lots of creativity behind it. video have truly raised the bar for independent Hip Hop artists. In this production, real Hip Hop is used as a vehicle to inspire youth to vote and become involved in national politics.
- CBS on Sarah- CBS shares six and a half minutes of fact on Sarah Palin.
- "Wake Up America"- The speech no one is talking about. Woulda, coulda, shoulda?
- Scarborough reacts to Palin news- Scarborough and friends discuss the possibility of Sarah Palin being chosen as McCain's running mate.
- Here's the story that wins Obama Ohio and the election-
The Toledo Blade (that's Battleground Ohio) has done a truly remarkable eight month investigation of the health insurance industry. This is one of the most damning, if not the most damning series on healthcare in America I've seen to date.
Thanks go to devtob for bringing this series to my attention.
Every last voter in Ohio should hear over and over and over, day after day after day, that a vote for McSame is a vote for Murder By Spreadsheet. It is a vote to condemn yourself and your loved ones to death by insurance.
This is what the Toledo Blade investigation concluded.
- A Few Thoughts on the Eve of the Democratic National Convention- Before writing this article, I took a look at fifty years of conventions prior to this one. The advent of television has given the American people a chance to know almost every imaginable facet of the person who would be their Commander in Chief. The nature of the nominating convention has changed drastically in fifty years time. The hard paternalism of the past, which disregarded the will of the people, believing that party insiders knew best, has been set aside. Indeed, if that were still the case, Barack Obama would likely have never become the presumptive nominee of his party. Hillary Clinton would have become the de facto head of the ticket we all assumed would be the case as recently as a year ago. For all the talk of how the political process disregards popular sentiment, in the not-so-recent past one can see plain evidence to the contrary.
- Just who is Chet Edwards?- The Obama Democratic Veepstakes is approaching a frenetic and feverish pitch. Is it Joe Biden, Evan Bayh, or even Hillary Clinton? Surprisingly, and perhaps to the dismay of many progressives, liberals, and democratic voters, the answer may be a resounding, “No.” :: :: The name Chet Edwards outside of Texas, the halls of Congress, or the inside of Nancy Pelosi’s rolodex, is a name unfamiliar to most Americans. So, just who is Chet Edwards? Quietly, yet not completely unnoticed by many politicos and pundits, he is widely considered to be one of Obama’s finalists on his list of candidates for the coveted VP slot.
- No doughnut holes for McCain Family-
The next time McSame smears Medicare, would someone ask him about the prescription drugs his 96 year-old mother is taking? You might ask McSame whether his mother has to break her pills in half, and does she fear the doughnut hole like so many in her age bracket?
There is a new alarming report from the Kaiser Family Foundation which describe a veritable epidemic of senior citizens falling through the infamous Medicare D doughnut hole.
- Pat Buchanan Reacts to Obama's Acceptance Speech- Pat Buchanan offers his thoughts on Obama's acceptance speech
- Obama/Dems Smell Blood: Two Gaffes = Major Problem for McCain-
McCain's two gaffes in the last week--his inability to remember how many homes he owns and his expressed belief that people worth 4.9 million are middle class--are an enormous gift to Obama. And Dems, for a change, seem to smell blood.
First, at Rick Warren's gathering, he said people making $5 million and up are rich. Attempting to explain his remark, he said:
- On Washington's Primary, Or, It Might Be Time For Republicans To Worry- I’m supposed to be finishing another story tonight, but I’ve just come from Darcy Burner’s primary night party...and I have in front of me the results of the important races tonight in Washington’s newfangled “top two” primary. It is unfair to extrapolate the results of elections in the “People’s Republic of Washington” directly onto a national map, but as I look as these results it seems fair to say that if any Republican strategists aren’t sweating bullets this morning it’s because they’ll be hustling for votes in towns like Maggie Valley, North Carolina (don’t forget to stop by Saratoga’s for the Wednesday night jazz...)...or, perhaps, Bessemer Bend, Wyoming. For the rest of the Republican community, tonight’s events are not good news. We have a fair amount to cover, so let’s get to it.
- McCain is a secret Romulan- Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing
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- Bill Clinton said what?-
The headline: "Bill Clinton Praises McCain on Energy Policy"
The actual story: - The Extremely Important Presidential Candidate Forum That Wasn't- We have two theaters of occupations of others in destroyed countries, destroyed by us, one in continuing destruction from others before to us now and our broken promises of helping to rebuild as that theater grows more dangerous, the other totally destroyed on the trumped up lies of a twisted ideology of a few, tens of thousands dead and maimed, millions living as refugee's, billions of dollars wasted, stolen, lost in the machine of war profiteering, soldiers serving multiple tours in both, families of same sacrificing as a nation that is not moves along, most not caring what is happening In Their Names.
- The Least Incomprehensible Candidate- For everybody I know, including me, insofar as I know myself, McCain has turned into such a freakishly terrible candidate that it's hard to imagine how he could be statistically dead-even in a whole series of recent polls against Barack Obama. Why would anyone vote for a crumbling psycho like McCain? I don't know. As an antidote to the incomprehensibility of the current campaign, I've been reading a little about the 1952 election, when Adlai Stevenson ran against Dwight Eisenhower, and it sounds like it all played out on a much better planet. Instead of a broken-down junior officer whose only claim to fame is getting shot out of the sky, the Republicans nominated a general who managed to land 1,000,000 soldiers on beaches guarded by a huge, well-organized, and well-equipped army, and it wasn't a disaster!
- The Fulfillment of the American Dream, Alaska Style-
I may get some hits for this diary, but it is heartfelt and sincere, and since it shares a heartfelt and sincere position with Jon Soltz of VoteVets.org, I feel good about it. I want to urge my fellow progressives to pull all stops out for Diane Benson, running for Congress in Alaska. Of all the candidates I have ever met, she is quite possibly the best. But precisely because she is from a working class, Native American background and has not been a part of the political game, she is the longshot, grassroots candidate. But from the point of view of the working class, our soldiers and veterans, she is one of the best candidates to come around in a very, very long time. If Diane Benson is the next Representative from Alaska, America will have a great deal to be proud of.
- Preposterous Polls and Corrupt Campaigns- Abstract. Discrepancies between events on the ground and reports in the polls demand our attention, if we want to understand what’s going on. Maybe the pollsters are ignoring those who use cell phones. Maybe Hillary has asked her followers to express support for McCain to make her candidacy more compelling. Maybe the polls are suppressing actual voter preferences to set up the theft of the election without our bothering to notice.
- Young Candidate in New York: Jon Powers- Thirty year old Jon Powers never anticipated running for office, but after his military service in Iraq he knew that he needed to do something more. So, he started a non-profit that aimed to help keep kids from turning to extremist groups.
"War Kids Relief worked with Iraqi ministers to develop programs for the Iraqis to implement. It provided needed research on the state of Iraqi youth. It brought Iraqi youth to the attention of a Washington devoted solely to military tactics. War Kids Relief worked to prevent a future generation of terrorists from growing in Iraq. It briefed Marine commanders on counterterrorism and the importance of engaging Iraqi youth." According to the site.
- "Offshore" Obama Slides Down the Polls- The last four polls by Rasmussen and Gallup put Obama and McCain statistically dead even, and this is at the same time in the cycle when Dukakis was 17 points ahead of George H.W. Bush, and Mondale was 18 points ahead of Reagan. The Democrats could actually lose to the party of the most unpopular President in the history of polling and a crumbling old man with no ideas except more of the same!
- Obama and the Demons of Racial and Religious Bigotry-
On January 2, 1960, John F. Kennedy announced his candidacy for the presidency of the United States. A month later—on February 1st, 1960—four African American college students asked to be served in an all-white restaurant at Woolworth’s in Greensboro, North Carolina, an act that gave birth to the Sit-In movement. Those two events had a great impact on me at the time and have since then, but there is no way I could have imagined how they would cast forty-eight year old shadows across the presidential election of 2008.
In my first year of graduate school in a Methodist seminary in Dallas, Texas, the 1960 presidential election was my first opportunity to vote. My social ethics professor, the one who a year later would take me to hear Dr. Martin Luther King at a voter registration rally, was also instrumental in getting me involved in JFK’s campaign in Dallas. When I volunteered to help, I was given a car full of JFK/LBJ signs to give to friends who would put them up in their yards. I didn’t know anybody but students in Dallas and so didn’t do a very good job. But I was committed to the JFK candidacy and embarrassed by the anti-Catholic bigotry all around me. - Robin Carnahan: Voter Protection & Young Voters-
Carnahan's are a pretty big name in Missouri politics as public servants who have gone above and beyond to lead and serve with distinction. The first (possibly only) campaign my cousin (who is 10 years older than me and have always looked up to) was a Carnahan campaign. I haven't stopped hearing about them since.
But as a next generation voter and politico in my family, I've discovered my favorite Carnahan in Robin for her relentless pursuit of fair and accurate voting laws.
Give the post I did yesterday about the Durbin/Schakowsky/SAVE Student Voter Bill extravaganza, I wanted to also highlight some of the dangers Missouri faced in had the new voter ID bill passed. These laws and other "policies" enacted by renegade county clerks can result in the disenfranchisement of hundreds if not thousands.
The bill presented yesterday seeks to help with some of those stumbling blocks, but the states can do so much more. Look to Robin Carnahan as a guide. As her site says - Afflicting the Comfortable-
So was born, lived a little space, and died the Progressive party. At its birth it caused the nomination, by the Democrats, and the election, by the people, of Woodrow Wilson. At its death it brought about the nomination of Charles E. Hughes by the Republicans. It forced the writing into the platforms of the more conservative parties of principles and programmes of popular rights and social regeneration. The Progressive party never attained to power, but it wielded a potent power.
The two party system in America is remarkably durable. Just the phrase "third party" conjures up images of John Anderson, Ralph Nader, Ross Perot and George Wallace. These are all people who exited or were never inside the system. It implies actors at the margins engaged in Quixotic (though see here and here) attempts to fundamentally alter conventional politics. It also postulates two parties as though they are fixed poles on the political map. Nearly everything about the way we talk and think about American politics assumes the context of two major parties fighting for majority control.
- Recap Netroots Nation With Video- So... finally I have video uploaded to YouTube from Netroots Nation. My post for Rock the Vote is here and includes this video. But below I want to share interviews in their entirety that include everything they have to say. To see all the videos I'm uploading here's the YouTube channel. There were a lot of things to talk about. Notably the myth that bloggers are young. I knew that, but had never quite seen that in action. There were many of us that were certainly under 30 and more under 40, but such a huge number of them that were older, x-hippies maybe... I think there is an assumption that we are all young and the reality was odd.
- Tuning in to the election's racial frequency-
by Mikhail Lyubansky
“When it comes to African-American audiences, some have called Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential bid a ‘dual-track’ candidacy, one that seeks to prove he is in tune with the needs of the black community while also not alienating whites.”
This was the opening sentence of the John McCormick and Rick Pearson’s Chicago Tribune’s cover story July 15th and the typical way the mainstream media is covering the 2008 election. The unanswered (and typically not even asked) questions are what does he need to do in order to appeal to both of these groups, and is simultaneously appealing to both groups even possible. The purpose of this article is to provide a brief examination of these two questions.
Reporters and pundits alike often frame this issue racially – as in the example above. Nothing wrong with that. There are legitimate racial issues in this and other elections that deserve and are worthy of media scrutiny and citizen discussion. And certainly, Obama’s ability to simultaneously appeal to both White and Black voters (not to mention to other racial and ethnic minority groups) may both determine who wins the election and provide some much-needed racial unity (see my previous post on the racial implications of this election). That said, a purely racial framing of this question is much too simplistic. In the interest of space, I’ll focus on just one example: the intersection between race and social class:
- On Imperfect Choices, Or, Jesus Ain't Running- A question has come across my inbox today, and as I am wont to do I began to answer my email friend (who I’ve known, by the way, since we both posted on the John Edwards blog). More or less 100 words into the reply it occurred to me that this was a question best answered in front of a larger audience. The question? My friend is having trouble committing to Obama. Why? I’m paraphrasing, but it would be fair to say that the sudden emergence of Obama’s “handlers” was a factor...and although it’s not in the note, I suspect the fact that Obama has “tacked to the center” recently on various issues is part of the problem as well. It’s a great question...and in an effort to provide a great answer I’m going to offer a few words of my own—and then I thought we might reach back a bit into history and see if there might be something we can learn. Having come to the metaphorical tee and taken the first shot, let’s head down the fairway and see where that ball might be...and where we can get it to go.
- Fort Hood Town Hall Presidential Forum -
This is a nobrainer for the Obama Campaign, especially as to recent remarks by Senator McCain, and he isn't as great as he and others think as to Town Halls or other formats. The Obama camp have many like Wesley Clark and other knowledgeable Veterans of our Military who have more than just his back, as well as the many running on the same ticket for federal offices.
The country's wartime status has riddled this Presidential election year with added questions.
That's why several non-profit military groups have come together to try to hold a Presidential town hall meeting at Fort Hood.
Sen. Barack Obama is the missing ingredient for a town hall meeting at Fort Hood. - Imagine if Michelle Obama said this:-
"In Arizona the only way to get around the state is by small private plane"
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Wow, Cindy actually said that.
- The Racial Implications of a Barack Obama Presidency- by Mikhail Lyubansky This is heresy I know, since most of the white majority likes to pretend that it’s colorblind, but race needs to be part of the calculus in the November election for all voters. Of course, it was never not going to be part of the equation. And race is certainly part of the explicit discourse for Black voters, as it always is. My point is that it's high time white folks join in the discussion and acknowledge that it matters. Because it does.
- "We've been there once. We're not going back."- Watch this awesome clip from Obama's speech in Raleigh, NC yesterday, in which he ties Bush and McCain together and destroys johnny on the economy all at the same time.
There are some great quotes in this,
The centerpiece of John McCain's economic plan amounts to a full-throated endorsement of George W. Bush's policies.
It is brilliant how Obama begins this section of the speech. He acknowledges McCain's so called "maverick" image by acknowledging his stances on earmarks and the environment and then he just brushes it aside. The effect is to say he may be a "maverick" on those things but on the things that really matter, like the economy, he is McBush. This is all great but IMO the most effective part of the speech is the line. "We've been there once. We're not going back." It evokes images of a McCain presidency moving in lockstep with Bush policies. Read more to move forward with me. - The Enthusiasm Gap- Despite Obama's recent jog to the center, enthusiasm for the candidate remains high. Though the halo has slipped a bit in the past couple weeks or so, Obama's rock star status remains largely undiminished. This is particularly in evidence here in Alabama, a state McCain will likely win handily. The GOP margin of victory may be less then ten percent, the closest it has been since 1976, which was the last time this state went blue and handed its electoral college votes to Jimmy Carter.
- A Just Foreign Policy-
YES Magazine, Summer '08 Edition, has a number of really good articles, and an interview, that should be read and obsorbed as to some of what we should be putting into public discussion as we try to turn this ship of state around and head in a direction that should already have been. These articles touch on a number of important issues, Very Important, not only for us, as a country, but our place in the world and for the world as a whole. They are also a matter of our Security and the Security of the planetThis one with Shultz might sound abit familiar for any who heard him talking when they returned from this conferance, but this is an Extremely Important subject and not only for us, and our National Security but the Security of everyone.
George Shultz: No Nuclear Weapons Nuclear weapons abolition is not only possible, but necessary for our security and perhaps even our survival.
It starts of thus:
- Obama's Modified Positions Make Sense-
Barack Obama has received considerable criticism for changing his positions on public financing (will now not use it in his campaign), and on FISA (supports the bill passed by the House). A few disappointed supporters have said he's therefore no different from John McCain, who changed his position on Bush's tax cuts (McCain now supports them), etc.
I think this misses the point, which is: what counts most is not whether a candidate changes positions, but whether the change is for the better or the worse. Let's look at the candidates and the issues: - The Greater Good- When we look at political compromise (a dirty word in today’s politics), the democratic primary was a wonderful case in point. So, instead of honorably conceding defeat earlier and getting on with helping a Democrat win the presidency, Senator Clinton pretended that she could still be victorious to the bitter end, and in the process, amplified racism through innuendo as well as providing Republicans talking points to be used in the Presidential race such as he is not ready to be President, he is too inexperienced, when that midnight call comes through, who do you want on the other end of the line? Or, Senator McCain and I have the experience… It did not stop there. This was a time for hardball politics. The fall campaign season will go even further will hatred and lies. They are the best of friends today especially after Senator Obama agreed to pay 10 million of her campaign debt. Where is the greater good?
- Obama Willing to Do What It Takes to Get Elected- Roger Simon's recent article on Politico, entitled "Obama Not Running as Movement", takes a pointed swipe at many of us here in the liberal base of the Democratic Party. Those of us who have bristled at Obama's recent jog to the center would do well to remember that whether we like it or not, this country is still center-right in political orientation. Double standards do exist, particularly in the realm of religious expression, morality, and foreign policy. The Republican party can be excused far more easily than the Democratic party when it comes to perceived inconsistencies on this issues. So a certain degree of political compromise is necessary to win in November.
- A Candidate's Military Pedigree - You know, this whole thing is interesting, from just a simple statement, of Truth.
For McCain Hasn't Always Mattered
For the third straight day, Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign has raised a ruckus over comments suggesting that his military service may not, in and of itself, qualify the Senator to be commander-in-chief.
I'm not going to make this long and drawn out, it already has been, especially on the wires from folks who just plain don't get it, and including some who should: - Hope as a Corrective Measure- I read an article yesterday talking about how, for all the lip service this election from both campaign in favor of change and a radical shift from polarizing policies and politics, this election has quickly become a grudge match along the same lines as the last several. While the Democratic primary was a reasonably sedate affair, Obama v. McCain went nasty almost immediately after the Illinois senator secured the Democratic nomination and is likely to become notably even more mudslinging by the time it draws to an end in a little more than four months. For those of us who love a good political fight and are incapable of seeing politics in any other manifestation, this kind of back-and-forth bickering is much in line with our desires and expectations.
- On Politics And The Internet, Or, Who Are We Missing?- It is by now an accepted fact of life that the Internet is having some sort of impact upon the political process…after all, if it wasn’t, would we even be here? But we’ve all wondered exactly how much impact; and now the good folks at the Pew Research Center have taken the time and trouble to do some survey work that seeks to answer that very question The logical approach would be to “walk through” the data (which is, frankly, good news for Obama) and see what they have to say about it…but let’s take a different approach today. Let’s instead look at the data and ask ourselves: who aren’t we reaching, why, and what implications might those answers have going forward—and downticket?
- The Democrats' Risky Strategy- No Associated Press content was harmed in the writing of this post
Thinking back, it is hard to believe Ross Perot nearly upturned the two party system in 1992. He received almost 19% of the vote, which was more than an independent had received since 1912 - when a former President ran. Perot had a staggering array of disadvantages: The absence of even a bare bones third party infrastructure, no political experience whatsoever, an untelegenic face and somewhat high pitched (and grating) voice, a running mate who seemed simultaneously authentic and buffoonish, and a continually prickly reaction to the prying and publicity that comes with any serious bid for the White House. And then of course there was the epic freakout. Ahead in the polls, he abruptly dropped out of the race, then dropped back in several weeks later and accused the Republicans of trying to sabotage his daughter's wedding. He seemed, literally, to be having a nervous breakdown in full public view. And after all that he still captured nearly a fifth of the electorate!
- Reunited and It Feels So Good....-
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Aw, yes.
Remember the Peaches and Herb smash hit from the 70s? Reunited and it feels so good...
- Barack Obama - Patriotism- Obama speaking on patriotism from Independence MO., June 30, 2008.
- Putting Politicians On Notice (Again)!- Address by Mayor Ross C. "Rocky"- Anderson on October 27, 2007 By Rocky Anderson Salt Lake City, Utah -- Today, as we come together once again in this great city, we raise our voices in unison to say to President Bush, to Vice President Cheney, to other members of the Bush Administration (past and present), to a majority of Congress, including Utah’s entire congressional delegation, and to much of the mainstream media: “You have failed us miserably and we won’t take it any more.”"
