Hillary's Convention Speech

Since our travel to Denver prevented me from blogging on the DNC convention during the middle portion of the event, I'll need to go back and hit on the high points as I find the time in the coming days. Regarding day two of the convention, I thought that Hillary Clinton gave what may have been the best speech of her political career. She was funny and personable and looked relaxed and comfortable. What is more, she seemed to resist the temptation to yell, which is so often what I think is her downfall as a public speaker. If this had been the Hillary Clinton that was present on the campaign trail for the past year-plus, she'd have done much better in her primary race against Obama.

Regarding Obama, she hit all the right notes to put to rest the idea that she didn't back him for the presidency. Sure, it may -- or may not -- all just have been talk. Regardless, it was words that helped bring her convention folks in line, especially after Michelle Obama's speech from the night before. And to those who said that she was just going through the motions, I'll recount a snippet from the Charlie Rose program that I saw the evening of Hillary's speech. A woman on Rose's panel, whose name I can't recall, said something to the effect of "only in politics do we castigate people for doing what we try to teach our childen... to act like adults and play nice even when they don't always want to." Exactly.

31 August 2008

Gustav: McCain in Mississippi

Ahead of the landing of Hurricane Gustav, John McCain has announed that he and his running mate will campaign in Mississippi this week. (It is called a "briefing," but really, come on.) This strikes me as not just being in bad taste, but also exhibits poor judgment. It smacks of opportunism, but more importantly, it may actually hinder those who must do their jobs to help protect people and property in the face of the storm. As Will Thomas noted on TPM:

That being said, I find it disturbing that McCain and Palin have decided to go down to Mississippi this week. A trip like this is worse than opportunism. Let us not forget that McCain doesn't travel alone; he brings along staff and Secret Service agents, all of whom require the time and attention of local officials. The situation is reminiscent of Rumsfeld's infamous 9/11 response to rush outside the Pentagon and give orders: the images on TV inspire confidence, at least until one remembers that our leaders are neglecting the responsibilities that are truly meant to keep us safe.

Neither McCain nor Palin offer any unique advantage to New Orleans with their presence -- they are not Southern politicians, they don't have any particularly useful contacts in the area and they aren't emergency responders. (Meanwhile, Obama will not travel to the region but has said he will use his fundraiser lists to coordinate volunteers once damage is assessed.) However, McCain could be particularly helpful from his Senate position, if he so chose.

And if visiting a possible emergency site to "check on preparations" (as the campaign refers to it) doesn't bother you particularly, consider this line from Politico yesterday:

McCain was scheduled to deliver his acceptance speech Thursday but now may do so from the devastation zone if the storm hits the U.S. coast with the ferocity feared by forecasters.

It can be hard sometimes not to drift towards the spotlight. But that is precisely why we seek leaders with sound judgement, however they come across it.

Interestingly, President Bush has said that he will not travel to the regions most likely to be affected by the hurricane specifically because his very presence would hinder preparations for the storm. It is stunning indeed with Bush is out ahead of anyone on any subject.

Carl Rove already indicated that it was the perception of Republican leaders that they just can catch a break with hurricanes. First, Katrina makes them look bad. Now, Gustav will disrupt their convention. Only Rove could be so crass... at least out loud. Maybe McCain is doing more than hiring Rove's men to run his campaign. Now, he may be channeling him.

31 August 2008

Palin's Trooper-Gate Scandal

I was as shocked as anyone that John McCain tapped Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. There is the potential for some upside with the pick and, although I think that the chances for it are remote indeed, possibly a big upside. However, the chances for the pick backfiring on McCain in a big way are much more likely. This is a large topic and one I'll probably want to handle here soon. Today, however, I want to get some information out about the investigation in Alaska of Palin's possible abuse of power in her role as governor. While this may not make or break her ability to campaign effectively, it is the starting point from which most will learn of her.

Talking Points Memo actually began following this story months ago, long before Palin herself was even a blip on the national radar. Thus, it is to TPM that I'll turn to offer background on the story.

What is Trooper-Gate -- as many are calling it -- and how did it start? Good background on the scandal can be found here and here. The latter article makes it clear why it should be relevant to Palin's fitness for the position of VP, but also how his choice of Palin speaks to McCain's own judgment. That second point, expanded upon to highlight McCain's decision-making skills generally, is the focus of this article. A timeline for the events surrounding the scandal can be found here.

Interestingly -- and quite shockingly -- it would appear that the key players in Trooper-Gate -- both in terms of public officials who are conducting the investigation into possible ethics violations by Governor Palin, as well those with direct involvement in the scandal itself -- were not contacted by the McCain campaign during the vetting process of Palin. This makes no sense to me at all, especially when McCain and Palin don't know each other on a personal basis. The entire world will now be picking through this woman's background with a fine-tooth comb, so I'd have done so myself prior to making my selection.

Again, there is much to say about McCain's choice and about Governor Palin herself. No doubt, more information will emerge in the days as weeks ahead that will guide that discussion. Still, this investigation is the best starting place to learn about just how Palin has reacted to having executive power. The scandal may leave her untouched. It could also doom her from the start.

31 August 2008

1 September 2008 Addition: Two new pieces of information have surfaced that I wanted to mention in conjunction with this post. First, it is being reported that Palin will be testifying -- likely under oath -- in the next few weeks regarding Trooper-Gate and that she has hired a private attorney to represent her in the matter. Second, new information is coming to light regarding Palin's judgment relevant to the scandal. This post from TPM's Kate Klonick outlines the situation, quoted below.

It looks like there's even more muck than meets the eye in Trooper-Gate.

After the allegedly improper firing of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) appointed former Kenai Police Chief Chuck Kopp to the post.

Kopp served just two weeks this summer as the head of law enforcement in Alaska, resigning on July 25, after a past complaint of sexual harassment and a subsequent letter of reprimand surfaced in news reports.

But Palin made sure he had a soft fall from grace, giving him a $10,000 severance package for just two weeks served.

While Palin has conceded she was aware of the past complaint against Kopp, she claims that she thought the complaint had been unsubstantiated and was unaware of the letter of reprimand.

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Obama Convention Speech

Note: Where appropriate, links below are to events at the convention itself.

We have returned home after seeing Barack Obama formally accept the Democratic nomination in Denver on Thursday night. It was worth the trip!

We picked up our credentials -- a cool hard-to-counterfeit holographic card (with bar code and seating info) that was hung around one's neck -- Thursday morning at a downtown hotel and it went most smoothly. We next found parking that would suffice for our relatively long stay in the area and caught Denver's light rail train to the stadium... except that we didn't. The Secret Service had the Mile High stop off limits, so we exited where we could and got in line. Ours was one of two lines that I saw and it was probably two miles long. Fortunately, the heat was bearable and the people-watching was fun. Obama brings out all kinds! :-)

The line finally got moving and we made our way to the stadium. Coke was handing out bottles of their water, which was as good a marketing campaign as they could have orchestrated! LOL We had actual convention delegates in line with us, which was a nice, egalitarian move on the part of the DNC, not to mention good PR for the party. Our seats ended up being great. While we were high up in the stands, we were directly in front of where Obama spoke. What you saw on TV was our actual sight-line. I'd much rather have been where we were than at eye level to the side or behind the podium. Also, the sun went down to our back, so we were in the shade much earlier than were many. Nice.

The early lines probably filled about 1/3 of the stadium. These were the die-hards, who had come for the entire day. There were political videos, live music, and speeches all day long. Sheryl Crow, will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas, and -- coolest of all -- Stevie Wonder all played. Big speeches during the day included those of Vice President Al Gore, Congressman John Lewis (GA), and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. I'm not a fan of Richardson, but I thought his performance was one of the better of the day. Lewis was most special to me because this man was one of those who stood with, marched with, and suffered with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the 1960s. When this man is speaking on the same day that an African-American man will accept the Democratic Party's nomination for president -- on the 45th anniversary of MLK's I Have a Dream speech no less -- that is momentous by any measure. A group of retired military generals and admirals stood up in support of Obama, with Air Force Major General J. Scott Gration speaking for them all. Republican, and granddaughter of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Susan Eisenhower also put forward her reasons for supporting Obama.

We also saw lots and lots of political anchors, reporters, and pundits. On that list are Brian Williams, Chuck Todd, Andrea Mitchell, Tom Brokaw, Joe Scarborough, Katie Couric, Bob Shieffer, Charles Gibson, Gloria Borger, and Wolf Blitzer. There were others, but their names escape me at the moment. Interestingly, of the anchors, only Blitzer watched Obama speak. The rest were reading, presumably copies of the speech itself.

The stadium was basically full an hour before Obama spoke. American flags were given out to everyone, with huge flags and placards going to some. (We got a placard.) The entire stadium -- which appears to be a pretty good place to see a football game, btw -- was a red, white, and blue extravaganza! After Obama spoke, great fireworks went off above the crowd for about five minutes and streamers and confetti were shot out over the floor itself.

As for the speech itself, it was a home run. While not as high-minded in its rhetoric as is Obama's usual fair, it served its purpose well. Targeted at independant voters and anti-Bush Republicans, it hit McCain hard -- directly -- and used enough specifics to make his case without becoming pedestrian. It left the McCain campaign speechless and even Republican die-hards such as political strategist Alex Castellanos were in awe. The live crowd, as you might expect, went bananas at the end. My wife and I were cheering for all we were worth. (Josh Marshall of TPM gave his initial reactions to the speech here.)

Win or lose come November for Obama, this was a most historic night. I'm thankful -- and proud -- that we could be there. There just might be hope for America yet.

30 August 2008

Endangered Species Act Endangered

The Bush Administration is set to put into effect new regulations that would gut the Endangered Species Act, a give-away to corporations that will further errode environmental protections that are already stressed to the point of breaking. You can make your voice heard in opposition to this change via a letter found here. Fill it out and it will be delivered to your Senators and Member of Congress. Thank you.

26 August 2008

Michelle & Ted: Convention '08

The headliners for day one of the DNC convention were Ted Kennedy and Michelle Obama. Both delivered for Obama and the party in different ways.

Kennedy was praised by his niece, Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, and her speech (text and video) introduced a tribute video to the Senator created by documentary maker Ken Burns. The Senator, in a somewhat expected surprise, then showed up himself to make a pitch for Barack Obama for president. His hair is thinner and his voice weaker than the last time that I saw him speak, but this is to be expected as he battles cancer. On the whole, this was an effective package. Both Kennedys spoke well, energizing the base, and Burns' movie was at his usual well-honed level of perfection.

The Michelle Obama portion of the evening started with a video biography that was nicely done. (A special mention of her mother should be made, who narated the piece with style and great inflection.) She was then introduced to the crowd by her brother, Craig Robinson, coach of the Oregon State men's basketball team. He acquited himself nicely in daunting circumstances. A sharp family that one is! Michelle then spoke... and was electrofying. Seriously, anyone who thinks that Barack Obama doesn't respect women and take them very seriously hasn't seen his wife in action. This woman is something else. We need her almost as much as we need him.

Neither Ted Kennedy nor Michelle Obama went after McCain and the Republicans head-on. Many were critical of them -- or rather of the tactic -- for this. This, I think, misses the point. The country dislikes where we are as a nation and the course on which we find ourselves. The "Republican Brand" is at a post-Watergate low. McCain himself doesn't float the boat for many. So why then is McCain in a statistical tie nationally with Barack Obama when all this is true? It is simply that folks need to be reassured that he is up to the challenge of being president. Do that and this is a walk in the park. Part of this is reassuring Americans that he is patriotic enough to be president. (And yes, that is most infuriating to write.) Part of it is demonstrating that he's a normal family guy, a guy who puts his pants on one leg at a time. Michelle's speech humanized her and thereby humanized him.

This is not to say that the political attacks won't -- and shouldn't -- come. It is just that last night was not the night for them.

Rachel Maddow, the Air America radio host who I positively adore, said something interesting last night as her role as a commentator on MSNBC. After Michelle spoke, she indicated that it was in 1992 that she first took real notice of a presidential election. She was 19 and mostly apolitical, which is comical if you follow her now! She supported Bill Clinton after the convention largely on the basis of perception... that if they met her, the Clintons would like her... that they wouldn't condemn her for who she was. (Maddow is a lesbian, although I have no idea if she was out at that time.) She didn't feel that way after the 1992 Republican convention of the Bush family.

Maddow's reflection is interesting in that it accurately describes how much of America votes. They don't really look at policy or problems or anything else that I wish was taken most seriously. Rather, they are looking for the candidate -- and his or her family -- that will be most welcome in their home for the next four years. It is to this reality that Michelle Obama spoke.

She also spoke as a woman, a powerful, charismatic, accomplished woman. Seeing her in action went a long way, I think, to softening any lingering anti-Obama feelings on the part of all but the most rabid pro-Hillary Clinton supporters.

Ted Kennedy, in a different context, did the same thing. He has been the lion of the Democratic party for four decades and comes from its most famous family, one that is larger than life in American lore. Whether you agree with his political views or not, he is known and this in its own way is comforting. As the "godfather" of the current Democratic party he can help bridge the gap between the Obama and Clinton camps and, in the larger sense, make Obama more assessable to independant voters and -- especially -- elderly voters, both of whom have known Kennedy for ages.

What is interesting is that last night the fictional Huxtable family was mentioned again and again. For eight years America was captivated by an African-American family that lived the American dream, one that now is reflected in the Obama story. Barack and Michelle Obama have done everything that their critics on the political right have wanted them to do -- have charged them to do -- as citizens. They studied hard as children, working to get into the best schools that they could. This they did and on their own merits. (Barack Obama didn't even tell Harvard that he was black when applying to law school.) They achieved accolades in school -- Barack especially being chosen by those who knew him best to preside over the Harvard Law Review -- such that lavishly-paying jobs awaited them. Instead of remaining in such positions, they returned to the poor, mostly black communities of Chicago to be role models for a new generation of children and to help those in need. Personal excellence. Personal sacrifice. Community service. Family values. Seriously, why isn't the world lining up for this? Perhaps they will once the truth is known, once it overcomes the slander of modern politics.

A final note or two before I end this post. First, I urge you to watch all of the speeches and videos to which I linked above if you missed them last night. You'll thank yourself. Second, the media coverage, as you might expect, is pretty poor for the convention. The main networks are a joke and the cable networks are little better. MSNBC is probably the best of that lot, but only because it broadcasts more of the floor speeches that the other networks ignore in favor of their talking heads. CSPAN or PBS are probably the way to go.

My wife and I, remember, will be leaving for Denver in the morning to see Obama accept the nomination on Thursday. Thus, I doubt that I will be blogging much if at all until my return. If you have thoughts on the convention, don't hesitate to append my posts with comments. I welcome them.

26 August 2008

Republicans for Obama

I watched much of the first day of the DNC convention yesterday. Prior to the headliners of Ted Kennedy and Michelle Obama, a former Republican Member of Congress, Jim Leach of Iowa, spoke to the floor. It was carried on CSPAN, but the political pundits sadly talked over it on the cable news channels. I made a point of finding it on YouTube and it was worth my time. It comes in at about 8.5 minutes and lays out too-the-point reasons as to why Barack Obama is the right man for the Presidency at this point in our history, a point where we must finally come back to moving forward as Americans and not as Republicans or Democrats.

TPM also had a post on the speech from a reader of the site, "KW," who is from the district that Leach served in Congress.

I think most people missed it if they weren't watching on line or on CSpan, but Jim Leach deilvered a masterful speech about why, as a Republican, he has endorsed Barack Obama. If you didn't see it, check it out on YouTube:

I know he sounds like Kermit The Frog and looks like a College Professor (which he is ;-)) -- but this is the sort of speech that inspires me -- careful, factual, and comprehensive, without being dry.

Full disclosure -- until he lost in 2006 to Dave Lobesack, Leach was the congressman for my district here in Iowa. He was well-liked in his district, and did a sterling job at the sort of direct constituent relations that never make headlines. But people in our district wanted his seat to move across the aisle for numerical reasons. In fact, one heavily played Dave Lobesack advert stated "Jim Leach is a good man, but he's part of a Republican Majority." (not the exact wording, but the closest I remember).

The YouTube video of the speech is found there as well.

26 August 2008

"Right Listening" & Campaign 2008

Every so often -- and I honestly wish that it was more frequent than it is -- I get a bug up my bum to study a religion. This latest fixation has been on Buddhism. I've previously read books about Buddhism, but it's been from the tangential angle of Jews who have begun following Buddhism. This intersection often brings the strong cultural identity of a Jewish person to his or her following of the eightfold path, which adds its own twist to their "take" on Buddhism. While that was fascinating, on both religious and cultural levels, my current study is on Buddhism "proper."

I recently read a wonderful, bare-bones book titled Buddhism Plain & Simple: The Practice of Being Aware, Right Now, Every Day by Steve Hagen (ISBN 0-7679-0332-3). Its focus was not on the religious aspects of any Buddhist followings or sects. Rather, it is on the actual teachings of the Buddha, stripped of any ritual or ceremony that has since sprung up. While I intend to continue studying some of these more ritualistic forms of Buddhism, this straightforward approach to the eightfold path is most appealing to me.

Anywho, a passage from this book caught my eye as it might apply to the current political environment in the United States. (Of course, many would argue that it applies to all interactions everyday.) In summary, we hear talk and talk and talk about the candidates, but rarely do we do our own homework -- or apply our own reasoning -- to the race. Indeed, some of you may be reading this blog day-to-day and simply be taking my word for things. And, of course, I bring an agenda to my writing... one of which I may not always be aware myself. This is just as true for the folks that I quote or the writings that I read that form the foundation for many of these blog posts. The passage from Hagen's Buddhism Plain & Simple that I think speaks to all of this can be found on pages 79-80 and concerns the concept -- and practice -- of "right listening."

When you become a listener, the concern remains the same: to be awake. But how do you do this as a listener? Let's consider this statement from the Buddha about right speech again:

What they have heard here, they do not repeat there, so as to cause dissension there.... Thus they unite those that are divided, and those that are united they encourage. Concord gladdens them, they delight and rejoice in concord; and it is concord that they spread by their words.

Now imagine that you are the listener. Pat tells you something about Jolene. What do you just hear as a listener? What are you actually aware of, as opposed to what you think or believe or decide? What information have you actually received?

You've received information about Pat -- not about Jolene.

We tend not to notice this, however. We may walk away believing we have solid information about Jolene. But we don't. All we have are Pat's words about her.

On the other hand, we've received very direct information about Pat, because we've heard his words and intonations, we've seen his gestures, posture, and expressions.

We have to pay attention to our actual circumstance -- the situation we're actually in. And what we've actually been presented with is Pat.

A buddha recognizes that anything put into speech is never completely reliable. Whatever someone says to you about another person is skewed from the start. It comes through their filter, their likes and dislikes, their education, their ambition, and the leanings of their own mind.

Perhaps you haven't even met Jolene. If you're wise, you'll withhold judgements [sic] about her because, at best, all you really know about Jolene is what Pat thinks of her. If you're not wise, however, you'll accept Pat's words as reality and adopt his view, and his leanings of mind, as your own. Then, when you finally do meet Jolene, you'll bring to the encounter a prejudiced view -- one that isn't even your own.

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25 August 2008

Obama - Biden 2008

Yesterday, of course, Senator Obama chose Senator Joe Biden of Delaware as his running mate. There will be lots to say about this duo over the coming weeks, but I think that I'll start off by just letting these men speak for themselves.

Here is video of Obama's introduction of Biden. You can find the text of Obama's speech, outtakes from Biden's, and the full video of both men's speeches here.

I think that he'll prove to be a good running mate. If nothing else, he can land a punch. I've already dubbed him "Hope with a Right Hook!"

24 August 2008

A Noun, a Verb, & P.O.W.

The McCain campaign positively lives to go to the P.O.W. well and Maureen Dowd calls him on it perfectly.

24 August 2008

Addition: Frank Rich also wrote a commanding column on the current state of the campaign and where Obama should go from here. I highly recommend it. He lays out the problems that we face today and hits McCain hard for his lack of ability to handle them. To wit:

Is a man who is just discovering the Internet qualified to lead a restoration of America’s economic and educational infrastructures? Is the leader of a virtually all-white political party America’s best salesman and moral avatar in the age of globalization? Does a bellicose Vietnam veteran who rushed to hitch his star to the self-immolating overreaches of Ahmad Chalabi, Pervez Musharraf and Mikheil Saakashvili have the judgment to keep America safe?

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Blood in the Water

Obama's new ad. This one was a national buy. Blood in the water indeed.

22 August 2008

McCain: Let Them Eat Cake

I touched on the recent flap over how many luxury homes John and Cindy McCain own in my earlier post titled "W/D from Iraq & the Presidential Race." For background on that, see the links I noted in that post. However, another bit of info has come to light that is the icing on the cake for the story. From the Politico:

The McCains increased their budget for household employees from $184,000 in 2006 to $273,000 in 2007, according to John McCain's tax returns.

The additional cash supports an "increase in the number of employees," the McCain aide told Politico. The aide did not answer a question about whether the growing staff stemmed from addition of new properties to the family's real estate portfolio.

That's roughly a 50% increase in a year. Were I Obama, I'd be going after this hard. I think it's fair game when McCain is trying his best to make himself out to be just a regular Joe to highlight the facts:

• When the typical family of four in the US has an annual (median) household income of about $48,000.00 (latest 2006 Census Bureau), the McCain's budget 5.7 times that just for servants.

• When gas is a huge national issue and hovers around $4.00 a gallon, the McCains -- when not campaigning mind you -- tool around in a private jet. Cindy McCain also has her pilots license so that she can fly her own smaller, second plane. Of course, she also told reporters that the only way to get around her home state of Arizona is by private plane. I've spent a lot of time in The Grand Canyon State. The roads are fine.
  

The blood is in the water. I would feed the sharks.

21 August 2008

Denver or Bust

My wife and I were able to obtain passes to see Senator Obama speak next week at Mile High Stadium -- no self-respecting Broncos fan can call it Investco Field! -- as he formally accepts the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. Boy are we excited!

21 August 2008

W/D from Iraq & the Presidential Race

Here is a quote from Josh Marshall over at TPM on the Bush Administration's agreement with the government of Iraq on a timetable for the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq.

The McCain memory/housing glut story is a lot of fun. And I suspect it will do McCain a lot of damage. But let's not forget that there's an even bigger story today in the presidential race -- at least in terms of substance and possibly politically too, at least over time. John McCain has staked his whole campaign on opposing Barack Obama's call for a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq. His very support of the notion, to McCain, illustrates his naivete and unfitness for the job of commander-in-chief. And yet today, the US and Iraq have agreed on a "timetable", using that very word, for leaving Iraq. Reality, the Bush administration and the Iraqi government have jointly endorsed Obama's position and left McCain a relic. Once the fun of the house story settles down from a boil to a simmer, the Obama camp must pivot off this development.

Information on the "memory/housing glut" noted above can be found in the following press reports -- in order -- here, here, here (with photos from Architectural Digest no less), here, here, here, here, and finally -- at least for now -- here.

21 August 2008

McCain's Type of Honor

This pretty much says it all. McCain is a sad, small man.

17 August 2008

McCain: Head in the Sand

John McCain has labeled the invasion of Georgia by Russia as "the first probably serious crisis internationally since the end of the Cold War." Has he lost his freaking mind? First, what does "probably serious" mean? Second, where has McCain been for the past twenty years? As Josh Marshall at TPM notes:

Let's run-down the list. Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, followed by the US expulsion of Iraq from Kuwait. Collapse of Yugoslavia and subsequent wars of aggression between successor states. US invasion of Afghanistan. US invasion of Iraq. There are a slew of other examples of serious international crises over last 16-18 years.

One of the great threats we face is the personal sense of grandiosity of the lead foreign hands who shape the course of our role in the world. Not national grandiosity, but personal grandiosity. Because if you're a foreign policy hand or political leader your own quest for greatness is constrained by whether or not you live in times of grand historical events.

There's a lot of this nonsense floating around today by pampered commentators who want to find a new world historical conflict to write bracing commentary about before we're done with the one from last week. But John McCain might be president in six months. And whether it's his own shaky judgment, temperament or just the desire to find a campaign issue, this loose cannon is a real threat to this country.

16 August 2008

McCain: Uppity Much?

When Barack Obama flies overseas and holds talks with foreign leaders, he's called "uppity" by the masses. When John McCain starts directly intervening in the Georgian crisis, no one calls him out. Don't we already have a president? Granted, it was Bush policies, lobbied for by McCain's own foreign policy wonk, that helped get Georgia into this mess, but still. What is more, McCain is pretty much just saber rattling, drumming for more war. What an idiot!

13 August 2008

Media's McCain Coddling

I've written before regarding the overwhelming tendency of the mainstream press to write favorably about John McCain, even on subjects on which there is direct, open, and immediate contradictory evidence. TPM's Greg Sargent outlines the latest examples here, with commentary by Newsweek's Howard Fineman mentioned here as being of special note. Wake up, folks!

13 August 2008

McCain: Wikigeorgia

John McCain's speech today on the Russian military incursion into George was cribbed from Wikipedia. I kid you not. It would be funny if it wasn't so sad.

11 August 2008

McCain: Dazed and Confused

TPMTV

8 August 2008

Pride in Ignorance

From Eric Kleefeld at TPM:

It looks like John McCain won't be backing down from his campaign's attack on Barack Obama over tire pressure and energy conservation. At an appearance in Ohio just now, McCain mocked Obama for suggesting that people do such a thing as easily save money and energy by maintaining their cars.

"He's claiming putting air in your tires is the equivalent of new offshore drilling," McCain said. "That's not an energy plan, my friends -- that's a public service announcement."

The problem is that keeping your tires well-inflated is at least the equivalent of new offshore drilling in terms of how much money you'll spend on gas. In fact, as Time reported the other day, it could potentially be better than new drilling -- if everyone did it we'd consume three percent less gasoline, while drilling would only meet one percent of our overall oil needs.

"In other words," Time said, "Obama is right."

Hmm. Could we be catching another glimpse of that GOP "pride in being ignorant" that Obama noted the other day?

7 August 2008

McCain, Hess, & Lobbyists

More on the growing story of McCain being bought and paid for by Big Oil from Greg Sargent at TPM:

Okay, here's some more on the ties between the McCain campaign and the Hess Corporation, the company whose senior executives all dumped $28,500 apiece into the RNC-McCain fundraising committee at around the same time as McCain reversed his previous opposition to offshore drilling.

It turns out that two high-ranking McCain campaign officials, one of whom is also one of McCain's more prolific bundlers, were both were paid lobbyists for Hess for roughly three years, according to disclosure forms.

The two lobbyists are Wayne Berman, McCain's national finance co-chairman, and John Green, who's been the McCain campaign's chief Congressional liaison since March. Both men worked for a firm called Ogilvy Government Relations. The firm has been paid $800,000 by Hess from 2005 up to the present, including $720,000 during the period that both of the two lobbied for the company, the forms say.

Berman, a prolific fundraiser and bundler for McCain, appears to still be lobbying for Hess. The most recently filed form shows that he was lobbying for the company as late as mid-July. Green took a leave of absence from Ogilvy to join the campaign, but was still on the Hess account up through the first quarter of 2008, the forms show.

7 August 2008

McCain as Celebrity

On a day when John Mccain releases yet another childish ad deriding Obama's oft-mentioned celebrity, TPM's Greg Sargent notes the following:

Andrew Sullivan makes a good point. For the 'celebrity' in the campaign, how many sitcoms has Barack Obama done guest spots on? How many movies has he done cameos in? How many times has he hosted Saturday Night Live. As John McCain's IMDB bio shows, he's done a lot. 24, Wedding Crashers, The Tony Danza show, numerous appearances on Saturday Night Live. It's another example of the curve that John McCain gets graded on. Of these two, there's no question who the more preening candidate or the bigger 'celebrity' is.

Late Update: Jake Tapper has more.

This is the fodder of a recent op-ed from Maureen Dowd of the New York Times. I'm very often not in agreement with her, but here Dowd is spot on as she dissects McCain's flight from honor. Dowd covers not only McCain's jealousy towards Obama, but also that of Jesse Jackson, Bill Clinton, and even John Edwards. It is a short read and very much worth your time. I also learned something about Obama's days at Harvard, which was icing on the cake.

McCain could dismiss W. as a lightweight, but he knows Obama’s smart. Obama wrote his own books, while McCain’s were written by Salter. McCain knows he’s the affirmative action scion of admirals who might not have gotten through Annapolis without being a legacy. Obama didn’t even tell Harvard Law School that he was black on his application.

6 August 2008

Current Electoral Map

NBC Political Director Chuck Todd breaks down the electoral map for this year's presidential race here. It's worth a look.

6 August 2008

McCain's Gone Wild!

If you thought that John McCain wouldn't go so far as to offer up his wife as a contestant in a topless beauty pageant to win the presidency, think again. This story made my day!

5 August 2008

Presidential Debate Schedule

The Commission on Presidential Debates has announced its intended schedule of debates for the 2008 presidential contest. The first debate between Obama and McCain will take place on September 26th and be moderated by PBS newsman Jim Lehrer. The second will be on October 7th and be moderated by NBC newsman Tom Brokaw. The final presidential debate will be on October 15th and be moderated by CBS newsman Bob Schieffer. The lone vice presidential debate will be on October 2nd and will be moderated by PBS newswoman Gwen Ifil.

Lehrer is a great choice. He is as even-handed and respected a journalist as currently exists on television.

Brokaw has demonstrated very little inclination to hit McCain with anything but softballs. However, while Brokaw has been charged by some with being directly unfair to Obama in his questioning, I thus far haven't seen it.

Schieffer, on the other hand, is an entirely different animal. He has made his strong leanings toward McCain quite clear. He was a poor choice if fairness was the goal.

All in all, I think that the McCain campaign -- which has yet to agree to this schedule, but likely will do so -- should be feeling quite good about all of this.

5 August 2008

A Special Form of Stupidity

I'm originally from Colorado. This makes me embarrassed to admit that. Of course, GOP Senate candidate Bob Schaffer is an embarrassment in his own right, so the apple has not fallen far from the tree.

5 August 2008

Coverage of Campaign 2008

It would appear that the amount of media coverage for Obama and McCain is equaling out. This is not, of course, in terms of content, but of quantity. See this TPM story by Greg Sargent.

It looks like McCain's recent attacks on Obama are working, in the sense that the McCain campaign is now getting as much media coverage as Obama, according to a new study from the Project for Excellence in Journalism:

For the first time since this general election campaign began in early June, Republican John McCain attracted virtually as much media attention as his Democratic rival last week.

Barack Obama was a significant or dominant factor in 81% of the campaign stories compared with 78% for McCain, according to PEJ's Campaign Coverage Index for July 28-Aug. 3. Not only was that a high water mark for McCain in the general election season (his previous best was 62% from June 30-July 6). The virtual dead heat in the race for exposure between the two candidates also marked the first time his weekly coverage had even been within 10 percentage points of Obama's total.

Via Jonathan Martin. There's little doubt that new McCain adviser Steve Schmidt's more aggressive approach is working, at least in the sense that it has resulted in McCain being perceived as the driver of the news.

For weeks and weeks the McCain campaign struggled in vain to be seen as the campaign on offense. With the "celeb" ad and the allegation that Obama played the "race card," it seems like the McCain camp is now gaining some traction in that regard. Indeed, the "race card" charge was the most covered story of the week, according to the study; the second most covered was "campaign ads" -- i.e., the "celeb" spot. Both were McCain-driven stories.

Now, I think that this can cut two ways. First, it can hurt Obama since the McCain campaign will stay negative and negative often works in American politics. (That we managed to elect our current president twice -- not to mention his father once -- proves that nicely.) However, it may also help the Illinois Senator because McCain is a walking time bomb on the campaign trail. More coverage generally means more coverage specifically of his temper, his continuing changes on policy, and his relative lack of knowledge on policy issues both domestic and foreign. If the the press will finaly do its job and tell America just how much of an empty suit McCain really is, this thing is over.

5 August 2008

McCain: Big Oil Redux

More information is now appearing regarding McCain's flip flop on his stance on off-shore oil drilling and sizable campaign contributions from the Hess Oil Company's executives, employees, and the Hess family itself. Yesterday, it was reported that the huge sums of money received by McCain came after his change of mind. Now, TPM is reporting that the transfers took place before the Republican Senator's policy shift.

The Los Angeles Times digs up some more detail on the Hess Corporation-McCain story, reporting that the big fundraiser where all the Hess execs chipped in huge sums took place just before McCain reversed his previous opposition to offshore drilling[.]

This probably does not directly indicate that McCain's change of heart was any more bought-and-paid-for than anyone previously thought. It is after all hard to prove bribery unless caught in the act. Still, it is additional food for thought regarding this so-called maverick, no?

5 August 2008

McCain: Owned by Big Oil

From Greg Sargent at TPM:

Ten senior Hess Corporation executives and/or members of the Hess family each gave $28,500 to the joint RNC-McCain fundraising committee, just days after McCain reversed himself to favor offshore drilling, according to Federal Election Commission reports.

Nine of these contributions, seven from Hess executives and two from members of the Hess family, came on the same day, June 24th, the records show. The total collected in the wake of McCain's reversal for the fund, called McCain Victory 2008, from Hess execs and family is $285,000.

...

The Washington Post reported last week that campaign contributions from oil industry execs rose in a big way in the last half of June, after McCain drew a huge amount of attention by reversing his opposition on June 16th to the federal ban on offshore drilling.

Also from Sargent on the same story:

It looks like generosity towards McCain's presidential efforts extends into the lower ranks of Hess Corporation personnel.

A Hess "office manager" and her husband, an Amtrak worker, both chipped in $28,500 apiece on the same day that all those Hess execs did.

Now this sounds like an actual illegal contribution story in the making.

4 August 2008

McCain's "Code Word" Racism

This TPM reader noted the following:

Disquieting Rasmussen numbers this morning--McCain's crying racism worked. 53% of Americans, including the same % of whites and half of all Democrats, thing that Obama's "dollar bill" remark was "racist." Only 22% think the Paris Hilton ad was racist--most of those being black people, of course (only 18% of white people took this view).

The good news this morning? God Bless David Gergen! Really--he was on This Week and said (check the video or transcript for exact wording), "When McCain's camp calls Obama "The Messiah" and "The One", he's really calling him "upitty." I'm from the South, and we understand what that means. That's code." Jake Tapper looked like he had been pole axed. Donna Brazille knew what he was talking about, of course. But GS, George Will, and Tapper had to be bluntly told the the way the world works by Mr. Blandly Bi-partisan....

The video of the exchange can also be found here.

3 August 2008

Addition: The code word racism continues, this time from McCain attack dog Sen. Joe Lieberman.

McCain: "The Low-Road Warrior"

If you only look at one thing that I write this week, make this it and follow my advice. John Heilemann at New York Magazine has a wonderful opinion piece out on the state of the presidential campaign. It is spot-on and only two pages in length. Do yourself a favor and read it.

2 August 2008

3 August 2008 Addition: More on this from Jonathan Alter of Newsweek can be found here. I agree with his take on where the McCain campaign has decided to go. However, I disagree that it is a split from the McCain of the past, in so far that he has at any time had honor in the political realm. The idea of McCain as maverick is a myth. McCain has always been a man who believes what he believes most strongly. It is simply that what he believes changes as do his needs. You (McCain) can't have honor when you hire in 2008 the man (Steve Schmidt) who helped Carl Rove savage you in 2000.

Listen Up, Obama

A TPM reader noted the following in response to the recent McCain ad and the dust-up surrounding it.

I think the whole "McCain's going negative" snit is a really defensive and weak position for the Obama camp. Sure- mention that McCain went negative, contrary to all his stated values- "All it take is a little dip in the polls for John McCain to cast aside his values." But it seems to me there is very simple way to turn this around on McCain, and be on the offensive: "How bad does John McCain want to avoid talking about real issues? He's running ads with Britney and Paris. Is that what American's are concerned about? Britney and Paris? Do you want to know how we are going to right the ship of our economy? Or do you want to hear about Britney and Paris? Want to talk about how we are going to extract our troops from Iraq? Or do you want to hear about Britney and Paris?" Just pound away at this. This is what John McCain wants to talk about. Point out how frivolous it is to even spend any time developing this ad when there are so many important issues to address. Bitching about it being unfair or over some imaginary line that Karl Rove can't even see is going to get them nowhere.

I think that it is solid advice.

31 July 2008