Saturday, August 2, 2008
Obama, Yes to 3 Debates...Florida Pictures...
obama in orlando, fl, urban league conference
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Many have debated whether or not Obama should take McCain up for any of those "townhall/Lincoln-Douglass style debates", well the finality has hit, at least this is my interpretation.
Democratic candidate Barack Obama on Saturday backed further away from rival John McCain's challenge for a series of Lincoln-Douglas debates, agreeing only to the standard three face-offs in the fall proposed by the Commission on Presidential Debates.
Many still don't understand why McCain was crying for these type of debates back in June and still now. Let's put our strategy hats on for a few.
John McCain was only relevant this week by going negative, extremely negative. He started last week while Obama was on his Middle East/European Tour and revved up his engine this week.
These tv ads and some webads were primarily targeted to the main stream media. When you look at his ad purchase, especially the Paris/Britney ad, this ad has hardly played anywhere, with the exception for the loop-de-loop of the cable desk clerks.
Which brings me to this point. Why would Barack Obama want to share the stage with John McCain with the exception of the presidential debate commission sanctioned debates? Why give McCain any free media oxygen? You see what he had to do to get free media to pay attention to him. The McCain Campaign have produced over the top ads against Obama just to become relevant again. Hell, John even had a press conference, yesterday, his first in almost two weeks and the press actually showed up!
Obama will get nothing much out of having some town hall meetings/debates with McCain. Who is the draw here? Not McCain. And why should McCain be allowed to be on the same stage as Obama, getting free press and sizing Obama up. Forget it. Stick with the sanctioned debates in the fall, besides Friday the Olympics starts and that will suck up all the media attention. Too late for these type of debates. Lastly, after that ABC Debate in Pennsylvania with Hillary and the right wing talking points that good ol' Georgy used, why should we be bothered with more of the same from these media desk clerks?
The first debate planned by the commission is set for September 26 in Oxford, Mississippi, three weeks after the Republican National Convention concludes September 4. The other presidential debates are set for October 7 and October 15 and the vice presidential debate for October 2.
The Obama Campaign has officially said not no to the townhall requests, but look how they have played this. Do you think they will say yes, at this point?
titusville, fl
orlando, fl
orlando, fl, urban league
st. petersburg, fl
campaign florida slideshow
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Friday, August 1, 2008
Evening Wrap Up...Negativity Continues while Job Claims hit its highest mark....
town hall meeting in st. petersburg, florida, august 1, 2008
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This is what is going on
"The motor behind his operation now is Steve Schmidt, the shaven-headed strategist who earned his bones running Karl Rove's war room in 2004, Frenchifying and de-war-heroizing John Kerry. What Schmidt and his associates have apparently concluded is that McCain's weaknesses -- on the election's most salient issues and as a candidate -- are so pronounced and Obama's vulnerabilities so glaring that the low road is their guy's best, and maybe only, route to the White House. They've concluded, in other words, that even if McCain may not be able to win the election in any affirmative sense, he might still wind up behind the big desk if he and his people can strip the bark off Obama with sufficiently vicious force."
If the Obama Campaign does not respond, hard, factual and use the equation of McCain=Bush=Status Quo until November 4th. He won't win. Simple as that. This campaign, the McCain version, is about Barack Obama. Obama must make this campaign about McCain/Bush and the economy.
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Obama On Energy Rebates And The 'Race Card'
Listen to Obama on NPR, here.
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chuck todd on the battleground states
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Obama shifts on offshore oil drilling
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Friday he would be willing to support limited additional offshore oil drilling if that's what it takes to enact a comprehensive policy to foster fuel-efficient autos and develop alternate energy sources.
Shifting from his previous opposition to expanded offshore drilling, the Illinois senator told a Florida newspaper he could get behind a compromise with Republicans and oil companies to prevent gridlock over energy.
Republican rival John McCain, who earlier dropped his opposition to offshore drilling, has been criticizing Obama on the stump and in broadcast ads for clinging to his opposition as gasoline prices topped $4 a gallon. Polls indicate these attacks have helped McCain gain ground on Obama. continue
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Jobless rate climbs as 51,000 jobs vanish
Well, add my neighbor on this jobless roll.
For these politicians to be arguing over race is just mind blowing. The issues are too great to be down in the mud.
Stores, factories and other businesses large and small showed workers the door last month, sending unemployment to its highest rate in four years and adding to the evidence an economic recovery remains far off.
Employers clamped down on hiring and cut 51,000 jobs in July, the Labor Department said Friday. The economy has shed jobs each month this year — 463,000 in all.
The unemployment rate rose to 5.7 percent, up from 5.5 percent in June.
The jobs report contributed to another day of grim news for the economy. General Motors reported a staggering quarterly loss of more than $15 billion and said its sales fell by more than a quarter from last year. continue
and.......
Watch McCain's Press Conference, here.....
Two Negative Ads releases on the web about Obama, here and here......
McCain Website Scrubbed Article Calling Him "Political Celebrity", Campaign Forgets About Google......
Bad Press Week, Good $$ Week For Obama.........
McCain slams Obama in National Urban League speech.......
Morning Wrap Up, here........
and this sums up this week of nastiness.....
I hope you guys have a good weekend, 'This Week With Barack Obama' will be up on Sunday.
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Morning Break...McCain Driving a Wedge in this Campaign...Wal-Mart Against Obama...Economy Tanking....
obama in cedar rapids, iowa, july 31, 2008
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McCain Playing the Clinton Playbook, Only Times 100 Stronger
I keep stating this because it is true.
McCain bringing race in this campaign is just utterly ridiculous.
One good thing is this, the Olympics start soon as in next week and most media for politics will be shut down.
One reason many should be concerned is this, McCain now dictates the national media by making big noise on the race issue. He is attempting to drive Obama's negatives up and hope to change the dynamics of the race.
Will this work? I don't know. Obama's line of not looking like other president's on dollar bills is nothing new. Obama has been using this line since June and if you view the Springfield, Missouri speech, it is a laugh line.
McCain and the Republicans don't want the public to think about all the issues that face this country right now. The Republicans have nothing, repeat, nothing to offer this country but more of the same. It is John McCain that want oil drilling, he is tied HEAVILY to oil lobbyists, that is a fact. Issues on housing, gas prices, jobs, college tuition, etc., will not be talked about if the wedge issue is "race", day in and day out.
The Obama Campaign needs to find their voice for the issues and not go into the mud with McCain. Respond hard and factually, but don't get in the mud.
Right now it is McCain striving to get relevant, not the other way around.
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So Much for St. John
It's awfully early for John McCain to be running such a desperate, ugly campaign against Barack Obama. But I guess it's useful for Democrats to get a reminder that the Republican Party plays presidential politics by the same moral code that guided the bad-boy Oakland Raiders in their heyday: "Just win, baby."
The latest bit of snarling, mean-spirited nonsense to come out of the McCain camp was the accusation, leveled by campaign manager Rick Davis, that Obama had "played the race card." He did so, apparently, by being black.
On Wednesday, at a campaign stop in Missouri, Obama had predicted that Republicans would try to "make you scared of me. You know, 'He's not patriotic enough, he's got a funny name,' you know, 'he doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills.' " So what does Davis do? He promptly tries to make voters scared of Obama by feigning outrage over the presumptive Democratic nominee's "divisive, negative, shameful and wrong" remarks.
Of course the McCain campaign isn't really offended that the first black major-party candidate for president in American history might mention this distinction from time to time. The idea is to slow Obama down before he runs away with this thing, and the weapon of choice is handfuls of mud.
Remember St. John the Reformer, who promised a high-minded campaign and said he wouldn't question his opponent's patriotism? Clearly, he's been replaced by an evil twin. The switch seems to have taken place during his opponent's world tour, when Obama's prescriptions for Iraq and Afghanistan began to look prescient -- and McCain's began to look irrelevant. continue
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WalMart warning employees of a "Democratic Win" could mean "Union"
I have never been a WalMart fan.
Yes, I have shopped there in the past, but not for the past few years. They treat their employees shabbily, many know this but are scared to do anything about it, mainly because in their towns this is the "big cheese" for employment, at the minimum wage.
Well, they have, as in the past, dipped their big toe in presidential politics.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is mobilizing its store managers and department supervisors around the country to warn that if Democrats win power in November, they'll likely change federal law to make it easier for workers to unionize companies -- including Wal-Mart.
In recent weeks, thousands of Wal-Mart store managers and department heads have been summoned to mandatory meetings at which the retailer stresses the downside for workers if stores were to be unionized.
According to about a dozen Wal-Mart employees who attended such meetings in seven states, Wal-Mart executives claim that employees at unionized stores would have to pay hefty union dues while getting nothing in return, and may have to go on strike without compensation. Also, unionization could mean fewer jobs as labor costs rise. continue
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Obama Sticking with his Grassroots Plan, Which includes Local Media
Remember, Obama won the Democratic Primaries by being open to local media. One thing a friend of mine's reminded me last night is this, "Most people get their information from local media, not the national media."
But the local coverage wars are not so clearly tilted toward McCain's advantage. A review of reporting in local papers finds a slew of coverage of Obama's active field operation, mostly hooked on the dozens of Obama campaign offices opened in recent weeks.
This week in Montana, for example, the Helena Independent Record led its story on local organizing with a Obama staffer's line: "Republican presidential candidate John McCain is taking Montana for granted..." The paper noted that the Illinois Democrat currently has six state offices in action to McCain's zero. In a July 31 Bozeman Daily Chronicle story headlined "McCain campaign manager expects big victory," the paper pointed out that a Obama's advantage in paid field staff may be yielding dividends -- citing a Rasumussen poll that showed McCain down five points despite the fact that President George W. Bush carried the state handily over John Kerry in 2004. continue
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and....
WSJ asks: ‘Could Sen. Obama’s skinniness be a liability?’
GM is in the "doo-doo", 15.5B 2Q Loss.....
Unemployment rises to 4-year high at 5.7%.....
Obama slams McCain over oil company tax breaks.....one thing these executive are not hurting......
Minnesota GOP don't want to talk about that bridge collapse....or lack of money they did not give for infrastructure.....
and Evening Wrap Up, is here.....
chuck todd, first read, msnbc
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Thursday, July 31, 2008
Evening Wrap Up...McCain Cryin' "Obama Playin' the Race Card", LowRoadExpress.com and Al Rodgers....
obama in cedar rapids, iowa, july 31, 2008
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Now the McCain Campaign is whining, "Obama is Playing the Race Card"
Raising a politically-explosive issue for the first time this election, Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) campaign accused Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) this morning of invoking the specter of race in order to bolster his electoral prospects.
The charge came in reaction to comments the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee had made at three separate stops in Missouri Wednesday, where Obama suggested Republicans were trying to scare voters away from him.
"So nobody really thinks that Bush or McCain have a real answer for the challenges we face, so what they're going to try to do is make you scared of me," he told voters in Springfield. "You know, he's not patriotic enough. He's got a funny name. You know, he doesn't look like all those other Presidents on those dollar bills, you know. He's risky. That's essentially the argument they're making." continue
Watch the Hardball clip below. Michelle Bernard and Bob Shrum sums it up perfectly. This race question is the question that the McCain, Bush and Company wanted to open. Obama makes fun of how the Republicans and McCain want to make him scary to Americans, made fun that he is not like the other presidents on the one and five dollar bill.
The McCain Campaign pounced.
My take is this, by opening this door the dark path is what the Republicans will go down. Also, to open this particular door so early, means they are concerned about their chances in November and that McCain can not hold his own on the issues because he is tied, deeply to the Bush Brand.
What will happen is one of the two, the public will turn racism's ugly head and ignore it, or it will drive a wedge in this country for many decades to come.
I believe that this country is ready to turn the page for good. Racism is this nation's ugly head and it does need to be buried for good. Is electing Obama doing this? No, but it is a symbolism of change in this country. Change that any person or gender can become the next President of the United States. Change that the United States of America is ready to move forward and not backwards.
Lastly, John McCain is not calling the shots in own campaign and thus he has been relegated to going down a very dangerous path here, one I did not expect him to take. I don't believe he is very proud of these ads, or making race an issue. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) even said that McCain can not be proud of his ads or how his campaign is being run. She phoned into MSNBC and stated the following:
“Some Bush-Rove guys have gotten in the back room and hijacked his campaign,” McCaskill asserted on MSNBC. “And they think that they can actually win the White House right now in America by doing nothing but trying to put down Barack Obama? I think they are really underestimating the American people.”
What will John McCain do for this country? What are his plans? So, far he seems consumed with Barack Obama and what he will do. What kind of leadership is that? Is McCain even a leader? But more importantly, do we want this back in the White House?
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Yes, the LOW ROAD EXPRESS
The Obama Campaign launched a new website, aptly titled, "LowRoadExpress.com". A factchecker website for all the ridiculous B.S. that is being trashed around right now. When in doubt, find it out.
The Obama campaign already has a page on its Web site dedicated to debunking attacks from viral e-mails and other sources called, “Fight The Smears.” Plouffe clarified that this new site would be solely used to “correct mistruths” coming directly from the McCain campaign.
Aides also emphasized that even some Republicans are questioning McCain’s tone and tactics. Susan Eisenhower, president of the Eisenhower Group (and Ike’s granddaughter), added, “These kind of comments and innuendos have no place in a presidential campaign of this importance.”
On the ‘Celeb’ ad, Plouffe slammed the McCain campaign for its negative turn and called McCain’s latest ad “frivolous,” while claiming that he has abandoned issues for rhetoric.
"What he’s offering voters is increasingly harsh character attacks … I think voters did expect different from John McCain,” Plouffe said. He also suggested McCain’s negative strategy would harm his image among independents.
"The road he’s on right now, he’s going to quickly erode that political capital, which is very hard capital to build up,” Plouffe said. “He seems to sink to new lows everyday."
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Michelle Obama in Chicago, IL, July 28, 2008
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and......
Read, America, A Question: What Do You Want?
The Great White Hope by billmon
McCain Campaign Manager, Rick Davis, attempts to defend their, Low Road....
From Hero to Zero in 48 Hours.....
Yes!! Obama Slaps McCain, Populist-Style......
Love Pictures....Al Rodgers is Back!!!!!
Late Morning Break, read here......
and.....Senator Kerry (D-MA) knocks Senator Kyl (R-AZ) down, truly he did.....
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America, A Question: What Do You Want?
OK.
I had a home emergency and our able, reliable central air decided to demise. To join the "air conditioning sky".
Yes, we tried everything, but to no avail had to replace the unit.
So, the icebergslim household have been hot as hell, dog not happy, staying in the lower level with the fan blasting, until our replacement unit arrived today.
Damn, wish I was back in the UP in Michigan...anyway, now I got to pause and read what the McCain Camp has hoped and wished for.
Obama plays the race card. Jump, please.
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Look, I knew from the outset before the primary that the race would be about well, race. And now that McCain is tied to the Bush/Rove operators, they have no recourse but to divide this country down racial lines.
I know, folks are about to state, don't say it, but guess what? I am. That is what Hillary Clinton did to remain, relevant and beat Obama handily the second part of the primary. Let's be honest, she did. We all love Hillary, now, but hey that is what she did.
Now McCain is running the Hillary Clinton Campaign, Redeux.
Only, they are going to assimilate to no end. Their only weapon is Barack Obama. Make him unacceptable, vile, bile, straight up no good, for you to vote for. To do this is to inject race.
See running a campaign about issues, well, is to their detriment. The Republican Party is going down for congressional seats in November, their only sliver of hope is to destroy the "black guy, bi-racial guy" who is the Democratic Party's nominee.
The Republican Party have nothing to offer this country. McCain is in bed with Bush on every talking point. It is up to the Obama Campaign to do the following:
McCain = Bush = Status Quo
JedReport has been shouting this for months. Now it is up to the Obama Campaign to drive this home every freakin' day until November 4th. Forget being nice, be factual and hard hitting. That is the mission of the Obama Campaign.
Now, America it is up to you. What do you want? What are you feelin'?
America, it is up to you. Choose.
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MoveOn.org new ad "Gimmick" and Sierra Club new ad on "gas prices"
moveon.org "gimmick" ad
sierra club ad, airing in battleground states, on gas prices
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Late Morning Break....New State Polling Numbers...Defining Obama...
obama in lebanon, missouri, july 30, 2008
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New Quinnipiac Polls are out for Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania
The polls are as follows:
Florida: Obama 46, McCain 44
Ohio: Obama 46, McCain 44
Pennsylvania: Obama 49, McCain 40
Obama is holding his own in Florida. He has dipped a bit in Pennsylvania, but in Ohio, McCain has come back and the state is tight.
Folks, whether we like negative ads or not, it does work to a point.
Barack Obama's job from here to November 4th is this:
McCain = Bush = Status Quo
JedReport has been shouting this phrase for sometime now, and he is right.
When a prestigious candidate as "John McCain" goes negative in ads this early it means alot. That he is not exciting, he is perceive as "Bush", he has a problem getting his message out and for many that I have heard state this, young and old, he is just too old. And it is a shame because McCain has allowed his campaign to be hijacked by the Bush/Rove dudes and you get crap like Obama/Britney/Paris ad. Yeah, I am still trying to figure that one out.
He is getting trounced by a youngster in his eyes. All of his ads which are lies and have been denounced is proof. But again, don't think negative ads don't work. They target those voters that are uninformed, not paying attention, most high school grads and below, many who get information from 60 second soundbites. That is the target and that is most of America.
Lastly, the Obama Campaign can not rest on any laurels. Again, from here on out, it is his job to repeat: McCain = Bush = Status Quo. And it is our job to GOTV...Get Out The Vote....
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McCain Officials Deny Racism Allegations
Sen. John McCain never mentions Sen. Barack Obama's race except to acknowledge and salute the historic nature of his candidacy as the first African-American presumptive presidential nominee of a major party, and even that happens rarely. He just prefers not to go there.
McCain ad pokes fun at Obama, likening him to Brittany Spears and Paris Hilton.
So when Obama seemed to suggest Wednesday that the McCain campaign was preparing to make an issue of his Muslim middle name and race, some McCain insiders were livid.
Obama said: "Nobody thinks that Bush or McCain have a real answer for the challenges we face. So what they are going to try to do is make you scared of me. You know he's not patriotic enough. He's got a funny name. You know, he doesn't look like all of those other presidents on the dollar bills." continue
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Midnight Deadline for July Contribution
Donate to the Obama Campaign, here......
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The Commander In Chief Test
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McCain Tries to Define Obama as Out of Touch
This from a man who admits he does not know how to usa a computer, that his wife uses the internet for him?
This from a man who does not understand that the computer and internet is the greatest 20th century invention? One that is incorporated in everything we do on our jobs, right down to our cell phones?
The Republican National Committee began an anti-Obama Web site called “Audacity Watch,” a play on the title of Mr. Obama’s book “The Audacity of Hope.” And, in a concerted volley of television interviews, news releases and e-mail, campaign representatives attacked him on a wide range of issues, including tax policies and energy proposals.
The moves are the McCain campaign’s most full-throttled effort to define Mr. Obama negatively, on its own terms, by creating a narrative intended to turn the public off to an opponent.
Although Mr. Obama has been under an intense public spotlight for the last year, he is still relatively new on the national scene, and polls indicate that for all the enthusiasm he has generated among his supporters, many voters still have questions about him, providing Republicans an opening to shape his image in critical groups like white working-class voters between now and Election Day. continue
Remember, this is about the Republicans attempt to "define Obama as unacceptable" and for the electorate to march off to the good old shoe, the one you know, John McCain.
Folks, can I write, "Not This Time".
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Wall Street, Keeps on Paying Itself, Especially the "Oil Company"
Exxon Mobil Corp. reported second-quarter earnings of $11.68 billion Thursday, the biggest quarterly profit ever by any U.S. corporation, but the results were well short of Wall Street expectations and its shares fell.
The world's largest publicly traded oil company said net income for the April-June period came to $2.22 a share, up from $10.26 billion, or $1.83 a share, a year ago.
Revenue rose 40 percent to $138.1 billion from $98.4 billion in the year-earlier quarter.
Excluding an after-tax charge of $290 million related to an Exxon Valdez court settlement, earnings amounted to $11.97 billion, or $2.27 per share.
Analysts on average expected Exxon Mobil to earn $2.52 a share on revenue of $144 billion, according to a survey by Thomson Financial. The estimates typically exclude one-time items. continue
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and....
One Third of McCain's Ads are Negative Towards Obama.....
Filing for Unemployment Soured to the Highest Numbers.....
Economic rebound not as energetic as hoped for.....
Obama-Clinton Group VoteBoth Shuts Down.....
Federal Judge Side with Congress....Bush Aides Can Be Subpoenaed....Karl Rove We Are Waiting....
kos' take on Obama's Germany/Troop Visit/Non-Visit....
and missed Evening Wrap Up? Read it, here....
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Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Obama Missouri Pictures
obama serves hamburgers to supporters in union, missouri, july 30, 2008
obama in union, missouri
obama with senator claire mccaskill in rolla, missouri
obama in lebanon, missouri
obama in springfield, missouri
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Evening Wrap Up...Media Disfunctional, Low Road, Continual Attacks on Obama...
Obama in Rolla, Missouri Town Hall Meeting
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McCain Continues to Attack Obama
The new ad out by McCain called, "Celeb", attaches Barack Obama to the likes of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears?
The whole premise of the McCain Campaign is to go negative, hard on Barack Obama. Make Barack Obama unacceptable, not ready, put the doubt in your mind, and have voters fall back to the old comfy shoe, John McCain. This tactic is about running against Obama's popularity and making this the main issue, instead of McCain talking about his vision and his policy.
Can it work? Yes, but what makes me doubt this is the new CNN/Poll out today. Barack Obama cracked the 50% mark. Obama 51, McCain 44. The metrics are here.
The Obama Campaign came out with a new ad, called "Low Blow". This is a good ad and frankly, I expect more of this and harder. Fight McCain on his lies and his dismal record. That is winnable. The Britney/Paris ad above, useless in my view. Remember this, Obama will get a bump in the polls for his VP pick, after the convention and the debates. The debates he must nail McCain to the wall and he will. Lastly, when the debates come around, we will see a stark difference on that stage. Change vs. More of the Same. Future vs. The Past. Young vs. Old. New Direction vs. the Same Old Road. Obama will win this point, too.
Obama then turns this around to ask why is McCain so fixated on me?
“He’s spending an awful lot of time talking about me,” Obama told a crowd of 1,200. “I haven’t seen an ad yet where he talks about what he’s going to do. And the reason is because those folks know they don’t have any good answers. They know they’ve had their turn over the last eight years and made a mess of things... And so the only way they figure that they're going to win the election is if they make you scared of me. So what they’re saying is, 'Well we know we’re not very good, but you can’t risk electing Obama. You know, he’s new. He doesn’t look like the other presidents on the currency.'"
And the response ad below:
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Obama's convention crowd: Biggest phone bank ever
Those 75,000 Democrats who will pack a football stadium for Barack Obama's convention speech won't be there just to whoop and holler on television. They'll form the world's largest phone bank to boost voter registration — fired-up supporters using computer targeting the campaign has spent months putting together.
The move to the Invesco Field at Mile High stadium for the convention's final night next month — at an additional cost of $5 million — will capture a huge crowd the Obama campaign plans to put to work. They'll be armed with data gleaned through "microtargeting" unregistered voters the campaign believes are ripe to back Obama if pressed to get on board.
"This convention is going to look different and feel different and be different," says Steve Hildebrand, the Obama adviser overseeing the effort, during a recent visit to Denver. "We're here to win an election, not throw a party." continue
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Rachel Maddow gives her take on this presumptious chatter of the media
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Obama smacks down McCain at this Missouri TownHall meeting, this is worth watching, especially the "Wild Bill Hicok" reference
and......
Obama on Offense in Florida....good write-up by Nate over at 538...
Two Anti-Obama Books hitting the shelf near you......
We Are the "War Room" that We Have Been Waiting For...by Al G @ The Field, worth a read
Read, Morning Brew, here.
and Obama Missouri Pictures, here.
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New McCain Ad, "Celeb"...Ready to Laugh, Yet?
Obama Campaign, I hope the ads are ready to go against McCain....
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Morning Brew...Cable Desk Clerks, Arrogance, Over Confidence, VP Getting Hot...
meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister in Washington, D.C., July 29, 2008
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Morning Desk Clerks, Going After a Blind Item in Washington Post
The chirping of these cable desk clerks was hot and heavy this morning due to a blind item from the Washington Post.
This item is based on a second hand quote from someone at the Democratic Caucus Meeting held yesterday in Washington, D.C.
The problem is that it is not a direct quote, with the person's name attached and it is an assumption. Here is the quote under question:
"I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions," he said.
Well, the morning shows was chattering away, especially morning joe. The dissection of a quote that may or may not have been said is ridiculous. And now finding out that the pushback from Obama and the Democrats at the meeting is that what is being reported is false and the statement out of context.
But, a Democrat who was in the room tells The Page: “His entire point of that riff was that the campaign IS NOT about him. The Post left out the important first half of the sentence, which was something along the lines of: ‘It has become increasingly clear in my travel, the campaign, that the crowds, the enthusiasm, 200,000 people in Berlin, is not about me at all. It’s about America. I have just become a symbol … .”
In other words, folks, all this is bullsh*t. Period. And Chuck Todd said this was all taken out of context.
Democratic Caucus Pictures
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Oh, Holy, Veepness Continues...
They are hot and heavy on Governor Tim Kaine (D-VA). I wrote about it last night in the Evening Roundup. My bet is on Governor Kaine as the VP for Obama.
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Michelle on the Vanity Fair International Best Dressed List
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Indicted Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK)
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McCain Charge Against Obama Lacks Evidence
For four days, Sen. John McCain and his allies have accused Sen. Barack Obama of snubbing wounded soldiers by canceling a visit to a military hospital because he could not take reporters with him, despite no evidence that the charge is true.
The attacks are part of a newly aggressive McCain operation whose aim is to portray the Democratic presidential candidate as a craven politician more interested in his image than in ailing soldiers, a senior McCain adviser said. They come despite repeated pledges by the Republican that he will never question his rival's patriotism.
The essence of McCain's allegation is that Obama planned to take a media entourage, including television cameras, to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany during his week-long foreign trip, and that he canceled the visit when he learned he could not do so. "I know that, according to reports, that he wanted to bring media people and cameras and his campaign staffers," McCain said Monday night on CNN's "Larry King Live."
The Obama campaign has denied that was the reason he called off the visit. In fact, there is no evidence that he planned to take anyone to the American hospital other than a military adviser, whose status as a campaign staff member sparked last-minute concern among Pentagon officials that the visit would be an improper political event.
"Absolutely, unequivocally wrong," Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor said in an e-mail after McCain's comments to Larry King. continue
and stuff to look at...
The Slime Behind The Pentagon-Germany Visit....
The Morning Cable Desk Clerks Are Busy Chirping Away!!!
Battleground Missouri....Obama is there today....
Obama Needs to Know His Role (and shut his mouth)....
Record Spending on TeeVee Ads.....
Outreach to Hispanics the Dems will spend 20M.....
Missed Evening Wrap Up? Here.
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The Morning Cable Desk Clerks Are Busy Chirping Away!!!
obama at the democratic caucus meeting
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Got up this morning, sipping coffee, reading emails and have Morning Joe on in the background.
The whole premise of this show, today, is to make news folks, to examine every single word that is given out right from a candidate or even second hand.
Barack Obama had an amazing week last week, no one can say he did not, even if you don't like the guy the images told the story.
Now we have to listen to supported "character attacks" from the cable desk clerks.
I call alot of these folks this term, "cable desk clerks", primarily because many times they come across with a thinkingless pea for a brain, than actually using whatever "journalistic" qualities for the good of the show or hour in which they hold. In other words, robotic teleprompter readers.
Joe Scaroborough is a former Republican congressman from Pensacola, Florida. He now has this show to show off his "analytic qualities". Sometimes he is on the mark, sometimes ok, and sometimes just full of "cockiness shit".
He came off as the latter versus the former today.
This whole premise of Obama is coming off too confident, cocky, is just what Scaroborough is. He did not get to his position in life without believing in himself, sorry Joe, you did not.
All politicians are full of it. John McCain is so full of it I could write a hundred books on him. He is uninspiring; looks lifeless; can't even attack well (and we know what that looks like, Hillary, whether you liked her or not, could stand with the best of them in throwing a punch and taking it); can barely get folks out to listen to his boring position or rant; has a wife worth over 100M, who can not relate to the average American, sorry John you can't not when you have a wife that spends over 750K a month on her AMEX bill as that is the "norm" and state the only way to get around Arizona is via a plane; from the old boys network of "do as I say and do it now"; has lived in D.C. for over 25 years; has the beltway bought stamped on his "you know what; don't know how to use the greatest 20th century invention called the computer and the internet; and is just too old to take.
All that above is a shitload of cockiness, confidence and arrogance. A stamp of a politician, even the former congressman, called Joe Scarborough.
Barack Obama is a politician. He is a bi-racial politician whose every word is examined like a doctor is examining you bodily. For all these cable desk clerks to go ranting on a second-hand statement from a Democratic Caucus Meeting, which could be misquoted, is totally and utterly ridiculous. Next, whether the man was at a fundraiser or the Democratic Caucus Meeting is he supposed to say, "Gee, we are not doing well, I am behind in money, I don't think we can win?" Damn, now Chuck Todd states the statement was taken out of context. Who knew?
There must not be enough news going on to parse and examine every word of a second hand statement that Obama was supposed to say. So, it is just time to make shit up, whether it is true or not.
I am glad it is July and not October. Most people are not paying attention. We saw this show before it was called "pre-primaries", this time last year all these same desk clerks were chirping, "Why is Obama not doing better? Why can't he connect to the voter?" "Is race an issue?" Well, they all shut up after Iowa.
This election is going to be about Barack Obama. Will the voters vote for him, etc. John McCain is not going to do much. He will continue his dishonorable, weak attacks and just think the public will gravitate to the "good old and I mean old, shoe you feel comfortable with." The problem with this is that people are sick and tired of the GOP and had that "good old shoe" and it destroyed this country. We have seen this show, in fact, we have lived through this show and are still living through this show, it is called, "George W. Bush and the Republican Party." Don't need to write more on that one.
Finally, we are all on pins and needles. We know the wind is to the Democrats back in this election. We also know that we were courageous to pick Obama as our guy for our party. Each of us have a responsibility to get it right and not allow this misreporting of so-called "reporters" and "cable desk clerks".
Joe Scarborough need to shut up. If he is going to rant about a second-hand quote or blind item place in the Washington Post, which now is being reported as misquoted and way out of context, he is not doing his job on getting the story right, straight and accurate.
Nuff said.
Update [2008-7-30 9:48:11 by icebergslim]:
The Democrats at this meeting is reporting the Washington Post taking the whole statement or statements or his visit (Obama's) out of context, here.
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cross-posted @ Daily Kos
Pictures of the Democratic Caucus Meeting, here.
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Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Obama Democratic Caucus Meeting in Washington, DC Pictures
obama at democratic caucus meeting, washington, dc, july 29, 2008
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with house speaker, nancy pelosi and house majority leader, steny hoyer
with nancy pelosi, steny hoyer and house majority whip jim clyburn
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