It's been a rough few days for Obama according to some polls and the hourly diaries that I've seen here. Why isn't he attacking? Why isn't he fighting back more? Calls for firing of all his press people are starting to pop up. And I admit, I've been frustrated as well. It seems as if we are seeing another repeat of Kerry in 04. And while I still think he needs to get more surrogates out in front doing some of the dirty work, this article in the NYT gives me some hope.
The details are still coming in about the shooting at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, but it's becoming clear that the gunman holds a grudge against "liberals" and "gays". We have no idea whether or not the gunman listened to right wing hate radio, but the daily barrage of hate based on a person's race, sexual orientation or political affiliation, can and HAS resulted in mass murder on an unimaginable scale. I'm talking about the Rwandan Genocide.
It's been the conventional wisdom among the beltway types and the media that the Republicans "own" the foreign policy issue. George W Bush and John McCain have based their campaigns on their supposed strong foreign policy credentials. But in 3 days this week, Obama has turned the issue of foreign policy into a weakness for McCain and strength for him. He has shifted the debate from Iraq to Afghanistan and in the process, has caused McCain to reveal his complete lack of understanding of what's really going on in the Middle East.
Greg Mitchell had a great diary up yesterday highlighting the fact that Maliki does not credit the surge with the reduction in violence in Iraq, but rather a combination of factors. From Spiegel Online:
So, John McCain has decided to make up with Phil Gramm and once again list him as an adviser to his campaign. Well, folks, Gramm is the gift that will continue to give.
The story has been brewing for several months now, but has come to a head this week ending with a Senate Hearing by Senator Carl Levin. It starts off with a disgruntled computer tech in Liechtenstein who came forward with the names of several super rich citizens, US Citizens included, who had secretly set up bank accounts there with the purpose of avoiding paying taxes on the money. Join me below as I connect the dots to John McCain.
In a must read article in the New York Times today, the president of MSNBC had this to say of Rachel Maddow
"At some point, I don’t know when, she should have a show," said Phil Griffin, hours before he was promoted on Wednesday to president of MSNBC. "She’s on the short list. It’s a very short list. She’s at the top."
There's a new Washington Post/ABC poll out that focuses in Iraq and military. One of the poll results seems to be generating a lot of buzz. Here's how Mark Halperin's The Page reports it:
Let me get this off my chest. Jonah Goldberg is Tool. And big, pasty, WATB tool. In an Op Ed in today's LA Times, Goldberg equates Obama's call to service as, I shit you not "Forced Servitude". He even bandies about the "slavery" word, but denies making the comparison. I can't wait for the good folk over at Sadly, No! to get a hold of this.
This will be short and details will be filled in later, but Real Clear Politics is reporting that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will be campaigning together.
John McCain's "Maverick" label is fading fast. First there was this article
John McCain once had the most powerful brand in American politics.
He was often called the country's most popular politician and widely admired for his independent streak. It wasn't too many years ago that "maverick" was the cliche of choice in describing him.
But that term didn't even make the list this year when voters were asked by the Pew Research Center to sum up McCain in a single word. "Old" got the most mentions, followed by "honest," "experienced," "patriot," "conservative" and a dozen more. The words "independent," "change" or "reformer" weren't among them.
Matt Taibbi, journalist at Rolling Stone and sometimes guest on Real Time with Bill Maher, has a new MUST READ article called Full Metal McCain that does a superb job of calling out McCain as just another Republican "liberal-bashing fearmonger", despite McCain trying to push his image as a "maverick" or "reformer". The article is biting and sarcastic as only Taibbi can make it.
A new MoveOn.org and AFSCME anti-McCain ad is scheduled to start airing in Ohio and Michigan and on CNN and MSNBC nationally this Wednesday. And it's already causing some controversy.
The media's love affair with the recurring narrative that female Clinton supporters are backing McCain is about to come to a crashing halt. With columns by Frank Rich and poll results like these
In the head-to-head matchup, Obama leads McCain among African Americans (83-7 percent), Hispanics (62-28), women (52-33), Catholics (47-40), independents (41-36) and even blue-collar workers (47-42). Obama is also ahead among those who said they voted for Clinton in the Democratic primaries (61-19).
In a major shakeup at the Democratic National Committee -- and a departure from tradition -- large parts of the committee's operations are relocating to Chicago to be fully integrated with the Obama campaign.
The federal legislation encourages states to establish catastrophic funds to prepare for natural disasters. States' catastrophic funds would then be backed up by a federal fund named the Consumer Hurricane and Earthquake Protection Fund. The fund, administered by the U.S. Treasury, would share the cost of catastrophic losses after states' catastrophe funds had been exhausted.
I think the questions were asked. I respectfully disagree with the gentle lady from the Columbia Broadcasting System [group giggles]. I think the questions were asked. . . . I can remember getting in trouble with administration officials for asking questions they didn't feel comfortable with.
It was just a drumbeat of support from the administration. And it is not our job to debate them; it's our job to ask the questions.
