obama in colorado springs, colorado
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Well, the RNC is showing its armpits. Yes, expect them to stink up the joint for the 4th of July weekend, by going negative on Barack Obama.
If anyone does not understand why Obama has forgone public financing, this is the reason.
You do not want your opponent to have the opportunity to define you, period. Obama has exercised his money roll by putting up ads in 18 states across this country, meaning almost half of the country.
A good move. Why? Because many don't know Barack Obama and many are not even engaged in this campaign, and won't be until after Labor Day. In the meantime, you don't want the GOP defining you and define him they will try.
What is coming is the creation of a facade that Obama is scary, unfit, a boogey man, untested, and basically short of calling him a "black-so-and-so".
While many Dems are angry about Obama's run to the middle, remember this, he is our candidate and the funding of this campaign must not stop.
The ads will run in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Ohio, and if you are not aware this is an expenditure or arm of the RNC, in other words a 527. Like that matters?
Lastly, my thought on running to the middle, I am still processing this. I don't like Obama's flip on FISA, my husband don't like Obama's flip on the gun issue, I am not crazy about his change on NAFTA, and I still have not embraced his religious policy. In stating this, Barack Obama is a politician, always has been. It has been the netroots who have put him on a pedestal and now are going through a shock withdrawal. Politicians, no matter who they are or what party, in the end want to win. So, watch John McCain change from "I am not running a negative campaign" to "I will say anything to destroy, discredit Barack Obama to win". Folks, it is coming.
UPDATE: McCain Campaign buying Ad Time in Virginia. Ummm, can we say, "worried".
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obama's speech in colorado springs, call to service
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This diary should shut the McCain Campaign up about who is really an elistist? Expect that word to vanish from the campaign and its surrogates mouths. Thanks, Cindy!!!
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Obama not running as movement
Barack Obama is a different kind of Democrat. He is one who actually intends to win.
I don’t know if he will or not, but I do know that he has made a key decision: He has decided to run as a candidate for president and not as the leader of a movement.
Movement candidates often fail when the demands of the movement come in conflict with the demands of politics.
The most recent example was Howard Dean’s (short-lived) campaign for president in 2004.
Dean was supposed to be leading a movement designed to “empower” citizens who felt locked out of the process. His slogan, and the title of one of his books, was “You Have the Power.”
Some in Dean’s own campaign were worried, however, that he was too conventional a politician for the task. Dean had been a six-term governor and former chairman of the Democratic Governors Association (and would go on to become chairman of the Democratic National Committee). The fights within the campaign were endless, and the “empowerment” side won, with Dean running a TV ad right before the Iowa caucuses featuring the candidate facing the camera and saying, “This election is about power. About who runs the country and who owns it.”
The empowerment movement loved the ad, but the Democratic voters of Iowa hated it and Dean came in a bad third, effectively ending his campaign. continue
Yes, this is why many are going through shock withdrawal. Obama is a politician.
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obama's speech on his faith based proposal
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If there is one common thread about John McCain it is his notorious temper.
Yes, he has a big one.
So right now he is pissed that anyone would have the utter gall or nerve to question his military record.
McCain is demanding that Obama terminate Wes Clark:
"I think it’s up to Sen. Obama now not only to repudiate him but to cut him loose," McCain said.
Obama is not going there. Why should he? We played this game with Hillary since January, why would Obama cow-tow down to McCain?
McCain's service record is fair game. Why? Because he is running on being a POW, War Hero, that gives him gravitas to having experience with national security. Only Clark, along with Webb cut him down. They respected his service to the country, but that was about it. Again, McCain has as much executive experience on national security as Barack Obama and that is none.
Back to that temper, McCain almost lost it in front of the press corp:
McCain became visibly angry when I asked him to explain how his Vietnam experience prepared him for the Presidency.
"Please," he said, recoiling back in his seat in distaste at the very question.
McCain allies Sen. Lindsey Graham stepped in to rescue him. Graham expressed admiration for McCain’s stance on the treatment of detainees in US custody.
"That to me is a classic example of how his military experience helped him shape public policy in a way no other senator could have done,’’ Graham said.
Lastly, there is a diary on Daily Kos by Geekesque, which is appropriately titled: Unfit for duty: McCain physically assaulted foreign official in 1987
Yes, it is all true and the story was put out by McCain's own Republican colleague, Mississippi Republican Senator Thad Cochran. Ain't love grand!!!
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Ball of Confusion
Again, John McCain can not remember that he stated that he is not knowledgeable on the economy. Of course, he shoveled his typical "you know what" on GMA:
but here, is the actual McCain that said he did not understand the economy:
h/t SusanG
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The Washington Post is taking heat on a veiled, thin piece about the Obamas home loan. It attempts to try to weave Countrywide Financial in this, but it was not Countrywide that secured the loan.
Also, the piece hypes up the Obamas discount on the interest rate of 5.625 percent on a 30 yr fixed rate.
Read the piece, it is totally bogus. But it was poblano/nate over at 538 that busted the article down as follows:
So Obama's rate was 30 basis points better than the average. However, the amount of the loan and the nature of the property are not the only factors that determine a mortgage rate. Another major consideration is the creditworthiness of the borrower. According to current rate quotes from myFICO.com, a borrower with very good credit can expect a mortgage rate about 30 basis points better than someone with pretty good credit, and a borrower with excellent credit can expect about a 50 basis point discount.
Unless the Washington Post has access to Obama's FICO score -- and unless it has rented an apartment to him, it probably doesn't -- it is missing a pretty important piece of information on what Obama's mortgage rate ought to have been. What was Obama's FICO score? I don't know, but considering that...
* Obama had just gotten a $2.27 million book deal from Random House -- about $1 million more than the value of the mortgage.
* The Obamas each had exceptionally secure jobs that paid them a combined annual salary of about $500,000 per year.
* The Obamas had just sold their condo, on which they had realized a $137,500 profit.
* The Obamas were prominent public figures whose political futures depended in part on maintaining a reputation for responsibility and trustworthiness.
* The Obamas are known to be relatively thrifty and have no credit card debt but substantial savings.
...I would think that the Obamas were exceptionally creditworthy. So indeed, Obama received a "discount" -- the same discount that any borrower in his position would have received.
The Washington Post need to get it together. Unless they have PROOF that the Obamas got preferential treatment or an "on the low DEAL", the piece reeks of utter bullshit.
UPDATE: CNN DEBUNKS THE WASHINGTON POST STORY
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Dan Qualye for Obama!!! Well, sorta...
"I have a lot of grudging respect for what he did because he beat the Clintons, something we couldn't do in 1992. The Clintons were very convincing in the campaign they ran. So I thought she would be the candidate,” said Quayle, who lost his bid for a second vice presidential term to the Democratic ticket of Bill Clinton and Al Gore in 1992.
"I think she made obviously some very tactical mistakes. One, underestimating Obama. And, two, the whole inevitability that `I am entitled to the nomination' ended up hurting her quite dramatically,” he said while acknowledging that "I don't think anyone saw, including myself, the Barack Obama movement."
As a Republican who lost to a Democratic ticket touting “change,” Quayle had some advice for this year’s presumptive GOP nominee: lay out a “clear vision” of what he’ll do when he reaches the White House.
"When 80 percent of the people think we are on the wrong track, you need to do that. It needs to be strategic,” said Quayle. “That's not been done yet. They may be waiting for the convention, but that needs to be done."
Read it all, here.
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Bookmark this diary, for any GOP talking points
I ran across this laundry list of the GOP. Seriously, you will have to sit back and read it all. Also, don't be surprised to see one of your favorite GOP congresscritter on this list.
Swing State Project
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The McCain Campaign is shaking itself up. Demoting some, adding some, bringing some from the Bush White House, all in defeating Barack Obama.
Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign has gone through its second shake-up in a year as Mr. McCain, responding to Republican concerns that his candidacy was faltering, put Steve Schmidt in charge of day-to-day operations and abandoned an effort to have the campaign run by 11 regional managers, the senator’s aides said Wednesday.
...The shift was approved by Mr. McCain after several aides, including Mr. Schmidt, warned him about 10 days ago that he was in danger of losing the presidential election unless he revamped his campaign operation, according to two officials close to the campaign. continue
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Watch this story and see how it unfolds
Three military contractors, along with Ingrid Betancourt were released in Columbia today by Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
Why pay attention? Who is in Columbia right now? McCain. Will the freed hostages come back home with McCain? I would bet my paycheck on it. Why does this matter? Photo-op time for McCain, looking presidential. Why would McCain do this? Obama is about to go on a European tour and expect massive crowds, with blow-by-blow coverage. Oh, by the way, McCain has been to Europe and guess what? It was a snooze....
and finally the Obama Family will be in Butte, Montana for the 4th of July, tickets are available here.
So how was your day??
This Week With Barack Obama
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