Mr. Young, who has since renounced that statement, has told publishers in a book proposal that Mr. Edwards knew all along that he was the child’s father. He said Mr. Edwards pleaded with him to accept responsibility falsely, saying that would reduce the story to one of a political aide’s infidelity.
In the proposal, which The New York Times examined, Mr. Young asserts that he assisted the affair by setting up private meetings between Mr. Edwards and Ms. Hunter. He wrote that Mr. Edwards once calmed an anxious Ms. Hunter by promising her that after his wife died, he would marry her in a rooftop ceremony in New York with an appearance by the Dave Matthews Band.
Damn, had to drag Dave and his band through his DRAMA.
I guess that Edwards is about to announce that he is Rielle Hunter's baby daddy. Big Whoop, we already knew this when the affair story started flourishing about. But this from the NY Times is just straight up wrong.
The notion that Mr. Edwards is the father has been reinforced by the account of Andrew Young, once a close aide to Mr. Edwards, who had signed an affidavit asserting that he was the father of Ms. Hunter’s child.
Mr. Young, who has since renounced that statement, has told publishers in a book proposal that Mr. Edwards knew all along that he was the child’s father. He said Mr. Edwards pleaded with him to accept responsibility falsely, saying that would reduce the story to one of a political aide’s infidelity.
In the proposal, which The New York Times examined, Mr. Young asserts that he assisted the affair by setting up private meetings between Mr. Edwards and Ms. Hunter. He wrote that Mr. Edwards once calmed an anxious Ms. Hunter by promising her that after his wife died, he would marry her in a rooftop ceremony in New York with an appearance by the Dave Matthews Band.
Is that low down or what? Again, glad the Democrats dodged this bullet.
Yes, sigh of relief at dodging a bullet with Edwards.
The former mistress of John Edwards has arrived at a federal courthouse in Raleigh where a grand jury is meeting - an appearance that comes as federal investigators examine the two-time presidential candidate's finances.
Rielle Hunter walked into the building Thursday morning. Edwards said last year that he and Hunter had an affair in 2006 while he plotted his second bid for the White House. The former North Carolina senator's political action committee paid Hunter's video production firm $100,000 for work that year.
Edwards has acknowledged a federal investigation into how he handled campaign funds. Grand jury proceedings are secret, and the U.S. attorney's office in Raleigh has declined to confirm or deny an investigation.
ALSO: AP notes in a later write-thru that she entered the building carrying a young child.
When will Edwards fess up that he is that baby's daddy? Pathetic.
Miller will only meet with constituents ONE at a time, by one-on-one meetings, and Congressman make sure you have a metal detector. The "certifiables" are running rampant right now.
Rep. Brad Miller (D-NC) will not be hosting any town hall events this August — instead, he’s making himself available to constituents for one-on-one meetings about health care reform — and at least part of the reason is this: His offices have received threatening phone calls, including at least one direct threat against his life.
‘We had no town hall events scheduled for the August recess anyway, but in light of everything that’s happened — we have received a threatening phone call in the D.C. office, there have been calls to the Raleigh office,’ said Miller communications director LuAnn Canipe, in an interview with TPM. The threatening call in question happened earlier this week.
President Obama holds a town hall in Raleigh, North Carolina, focused on health insurance reform and small business. He discusses the economy and the need for health care reform, as well as the eight health insurance consumer protections, which are core principles that demonstrate how health insurance reform will affect you and your family. July 29, 2009.
The pressure was put on her and when she went home, well, she was initially cheered at the opening, but by the closing her constituents were telling her to, "Do the right thing."
She is not the only one, here. Many of these weak knee senators who are going home are going to get an EARFUL from their constituents. People are tired and voted for change. If we wanted what we had, I would be typing President John McCain, OK?
One of the real camels to break Hagan's back was the ad planned by moveon.org to target her resistance to the public option. In the end, she got the message.
For days, even weeks, the North Carolina Democrat had been pinpointed as a possible roadblock towards getting a strong public option out of the HELP committee. Progressive groups were running advertisements in her state to compel her to support the provision. Local pressure on the Senator was intense as well as it was widely believed that she was trying to water down the public option during the committee's drafting process.
In the end, Democrats say, Hagan was much more solid on the idea than media reports were letting on.
"The Left is wrong about Sen. Hagan on this," said a Senior Democratic staffer. "For others to attack her as standing in the way of progress on public choice just isn't right. She worked right up to the wire with other Democrats on the Committee. In the end, it will be plan they created together that will pass the Senate, guarantee access to affordable coverage for those who don't have it and preserve the options of those who do." read it all here...
The North Carolina State Board of Elections is reporting that over 100,000 voters cast ballots yesterday, the first day of early voting in the state.
In that one day, Democrats had the clear advantage:
State Board of Elections data showed that 64 percent of voters who went to the polls Thursday were registered Democrats, while 21 percent of voters were registered Republicans. Another 15 percent were unaffiliated.
The record turnout, especially among Democrats, is being fueled by the sense that, for the first time in decades, North Carolina is in play. Both presidential campaigns are investing heavily in NC, although Obama is outspending McCain 2-1 in advertising.
This is what I am talking about. Vote your economic and future welfare, Vote Obama.
Mel Watt had a pretty simple message as he marched in the North Carolina A&T University homecoming parade last weekend. "Morning! Vote early! Avoid the rush!" the seven-term member of Congress called out. Watt didn't even bother saying whom to vote for; the crowd at the parade, many of them his constituents, were all pretty excited about the whole Democratic ticket in North Carolina, from Barack Obama on down. Watt's only goal was to get them to bank their votes well before Nov. 4. "Avoid the rush! Vote early!"
Early voting in North Carolina started Thursday; it's one of 31 states (plus the District of Columbia) that allow voters to cast ballots in person ahead of time without providing election officials with a reason they can't be there on Election Day. Which means that as both presidential campaigns shift from registering voters to getting out the vote, the election has actually already started. As much as 30 percent of the votes cast this fall will probably come in before Nov. 4, according to the National Association of Secretaries of State. continue
Hundreds are voting the lines are long in North Carolina. The folks are fired up and voting NOW. Don't know where to go in North Carolina, click here.
••
The Boss, the Piano Man and the Candidate
Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel were well into their act – playing at the same time, the same stage – when Senator Barack Obama arrived late Thursday night at the Hammerstein Ballroom.
Mr. Obama waited in the wings for nearly an hour before taking the stage.
And not a soul seemed to mind – why would they? – as Billy Joel weighed in with a long reprise of “New York State of Mind.”
After hearing the song at countless rallies, “The Rising,” was played live for Obama fans who filled all tiers of the giant ballroom on West 34th Street in Manhattan. For a moment, Mr. Springsteen jumped onto the grand piano as Mr. Joel played “Allentown.” And later, Mr. Joel grabbed a guitar and joined The Boss for “Glory Days.”
John Legend and India Arie joined the two on stage in an upbeat rendition of “People Get Ready.”
The fund-raising concert benefited the Obama Victory Fund. No total estimate was provided, but tickets ranged from a balcony seat ($500, which sold out quickly) to a lounge ticket for $25,000. The ballroom’s event manager said 1,959 people were on hand.
Except for that monetary detail, it would have been easy to forget that this was an Obama event at all. Until, of course, Mr. Springsteen took his microphone and, surrounded by the other singers said, “Ladies and Gentlemen, you want to bring on the next president of the United States, Barack Obama!” continue
•• Joe on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
••
Rise in Voting by Mail Transforms Race in Colorado
The presidential debate had barely ended Wednesday night when Kristin Marshall had her ballot on her lap, pen in hand, ready to vote. Three friends, all supporters of Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee, had their ballots, too.
“Obama’s the second one down — don’t accidentally pick the first,” said Ms. Marshall, 27, a reference to the ballot placement of Senator John McCain, Mr. Obama’s Republican opponent, as her living room of Obama supporters erupted in laughter.
The traditional American vote — a solitary moment behind a black curtain in a booth, civics in secret — was never thus.
With Election Day less than three weeks away, the number of people voting by mail has exploded in Colorado, a closely divided state up for grabs in November. Nearly half of the state’s registered voters have requested ballots by mail, compelling the Obama and McCain campaigns to kick-start their get-out-the-vote efforts — and devise new and imaginative ones. continue
When I was growing up, at times my mother sounded like a broken record. Well, I am writing like a broken record on speed. REGISTER FOLKS TO VOTE!!!
There I capped it. Just register folks to vote.
Tomorrow, Monday, October 6th, for many states across this nation the voter registration deadline is close of business. If you know someone who is not registered point them to the Obama Website, click on states at the top and go to the nearest Obama Office and register to vote. If you don't see an office, go here, print out your state's registration form and take it your county registrar's office.
Florida, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, the swing states registration ends close of business tomorrow, October 6, 2006. It is critical and mandatory that we get as many folks to register in order to flip these states and WIN IN NOVEMBER.
Every vote count. We win the states with the VOTES, then we win the electoral college. If you don't vote, you have no right to gripe, bitch, moan or have a hissy fit. We have less than 24 hours. Get busy.
Photo Blogs
Let's Roll: Polls are open in Ohio by jmknapp; Bruce Springsteen PROVES he is truly,"The Boss" in Philadelphia for Obama by icebergslim; Obama the populist captivates 15,000+ in Reno by LaughingPlanet; Obama Campaign Blog, LaCrosse, Wisconsin; WIPEOUT!! - Biden TROUNCES Palin By 2 to 1 Margin by Al Rodgers; Obama Campaign Blog, Joe Biden Debate Day; Me, my Dad, Obama, and 18,000 others in Newport News by CK7; Anti-Palin Rally in OC by Kif Kroker; No Bruce Springsteen for me! by casperr; Gen. Clark PWNS in Florida for Obama! by jordans11; "McCain Lost My Vote" by bRan; VOLUNTEERS - Change for Colorado w/Pictures by aurabass; The Obamas and The Bidens in Detroit, Michigan, September 28, 2008
Bruce Springsteen, Vote for Change Rally, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Shoutouts, stuff you should read....
McCain Campaign Claimed Credit for Passage of Bailout Bill . . . Right Before It Collapsed! by Reggid; WSJ: "Palin Flubbed Mock Debates In NYC & PHILA", Infighting, Leaks & Poll" by Excelscior1; Tom Brokaw Will Try To Sink Obama in Debate by dthom71; The Worst Sarah Palin Clip Yet by Cenk Uygur; McCain's Non-Support for Troops and Veterans: The Master List by Brandon Friedman; McCain just broke his BIGGEST campaign pledge by butchcjg; David Plouffe Rolls on Tom Brokaw After McCain's Gwen Ifill Complaint by Steven R; OMG!!! Just found out I CAN VOTE!!! by UneasyOne; ABC News: Palin flub on bankruptcy has McCain camp flailing by awkward007; Obama Campaign Phonebanks The Deaf Community!!! by slinkerwink; Obama Going For Jugular!! McCain's "Radical" Health Care Plan by Steven R; We’ve Now Registered 12,814 Voters! by kath25; ABC News Exposes Palin Lie by OHDem; Sunday Morning Reaction: Obama +7 in Ohio by Kula2316; Could Obama win Appalachia? by Underground in Ohio; John McCain's Angry Interview with the Des Moines Editorial Board by Bryan Lefwitz; C.H.A.N.G.E. — Come Help A (N-word) Get Elected. WTF? by The Christian Progressive Liberal ; TV spending, week ending 9/30 by kos
Virginia Republicans are warning that John McCain's prospects for winning a state that has been in the GOP column in every presidential election since 1964 could be in jeopardy. With Barack Obama treating the Old Dominion like a battleground state and reliable polls showing a margin-of-error race there, some are cautioning that McCain is making a critical mistake by allowing the Democratic nominee to outpace him in terms of visits and resources committed.
The two best indicators of which states the campaigns are serious about – time and money – tell the story.
Since wrapping up the Democratic nomination in June, Obama, his wife, Michelle, and his running mate Joe Biden have visited the commonwealth a combined 12 times. The candidate himself was in the Tidewater city of Newport News Saturday.
Obama is also plowing millions into Virginia, blanketing the airwaves with TV and radio ads, filling up mailboxes with leaflets and, along with the state party, operating 49 campaign offices.
Together, McCain and his running mate, Sarah Palin, have held just one campaign event in Virginia. And the campaign has taken its ads off the pricey Washington, D.C. network affiliates that reach into the entire swath of the Northern Virginia, the commonwealth’s most populous region. continue
At Fort McNair, an army base located along the Potomac River in the nation's capital, a chance reunion takes place one day between two former POWs. It's the spring of 1974, and Navy commander John Sidney McCain III has returned home from the experience in Hanoi that, according to legend, transformed him from a callow and reckless youth into a serious man of patriotism and purpose. Walking along the grounds at Fort McNair, McCain runs into John Dramesi, an Air Force lieutenant colonel who was also imprisoned and tortured in Vietnam.
McCain is studying at the National War College, a prestigious graduate program he had to pull strings with the Secretary of the Navy to get into. Dramesi is enrolled, on his own merit, at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in the building next door.
There's a distance between the two men that belies their shared experience in North Vietnam — call it an honor gap. Like many American POWs, McCain broke down under torture and offered a "confession" to his North Vietnamese captors. Dramesi, in contrast, attempted two daring escapes. For the second he was brutalized for a month with daily torture sessions that nearly killed him. His partner in the escape, Lt. Col. Ed Atterberry, didn't survive the mistreatment. But Dramesi never said a disloyal word, and for his heroism was awarded two Air Force Crosses, one of the service's highest distinctions. McCain would later hail him as "one of the toughest guys I've ever met." continue
Joe at Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, Vice Presidential Debate
••
icebergslim’s last word: hail mary = negative train to november 4th
I watched Sarah Palin through all these interviews and the debate. It is obvious that the woman is not qualified for the Vice Presidency and I give her props for her good debate performance. She can read off her cue cards, well.
When Palin was plucked from obscurity the question for me was not WTF? The question was, “Why her?” Well, we have seen that she has somewhat solidified the conservative base. I state somewhat because the fundamentalists love her, would follow her over a cliff, but the fiscal, non-conservatives still are not totally sold on her.
Palin’s job was to shore up that base. This is the base that GOTV’d for Bush in 2004 with fervor. To bring women to McCain’s fold, especially any disenfranchised Hillary voters and independents. Well, I am proud to state, it ain’t happenin’. After her disastrous interviews, being caricatured to death by SNL’s Tina Fey, and her teenaged student council performance at the Vice Presidential debate in St. Louis, Palin has shown she is just not ready at all.
But let’s back up a minute. John McCain was the ‘presump’ since February, late February. He has campaigned during this time, on leisure. He has raised money, dismally. His campaign was on the down low. They watched and followed the Hillary Clinton strategy. He hired the ex-Rove attack dogs, turned negative all summer, paid off temporarily, still could not totally get Obama. McCain then stopped using his brain and allowed the Rove strategists to pluck Palin from nowhere. Totally stepped on Obama’s post convention bounce, she became a star, temporarily. Then something really important happened during the Palin demise, the economy. Real issues to Americans.
McCain must come out Tuesday night, cohesive, understanding, sympathetic, and knowledgeable on the ills of the economy. And I mean, not just the Wall Street/Main Street mortgage mess, but jobs, college tuition, the cost of gas, the cost of food, and the health care crisis in this country. He has to go beyond a tax cut, because people need more than that. He must have solid plans and policies to argue Obama on Tuesday night in Nashville. If he comes off abrasive, condescending, angry and erratic, he will sink even further in the polls.
We know and understand the last leg of this campaign, for the McCain Campaign is the hail mary to the extreme negative. Infantile Palin started already with the ridiculous Ayers comment. The campaign desperately want this off the economy, but the campaign don’t get to make that call, the public does. As, long as we hear about jobs being lost and for September it was 159,000, people will worry. For the record, these numbers are the ninth straight month of job loss in this country. Folks are worried about their security, their pension/retirement funds, about holding onto their job, paying for college, etc. The list of worry is endless. Right now the mood is not on, “Who Obama may or may not have associated with?” The mood is which candidate will help me FINANCIALLY and ECONOMICALLY.
And the McCain Campaign, just don’t seem to have an answer.
••
Campaign Appearances times and reservations can be found at barackobama.com
Yes, a song by the late, great Minnie Riperton, but a real issue for John McCain.
Remember when John McCain was asked about the birth control question? It was a question about his vote AGAINST birth control for the insurance industries, but FOR Viagra for the insurance industries.
Remember?
Well, Carly Fiorina, a surrogate for McCain specifically said that women should have a CHOICE for birth control. Obviously, she was unaware of McCain's position. McCain was asked about this on his bus travels and could not remember if he voted for or against it. Video below.
Gee, when you are filthy rich, you cannot remember how many different pillows you lay your head on? You must refer answering a simple question of "where you live" to your staff?
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said in an interview Wednesday that he was uncertain how many houses he and his wife, Cindy, own.
"I think — I'll have my staff get to you," McCain told Politico in Las Cruces, N.M. "It's condominiums where — I'll have them get to you."
The correct answer is at least four, located in Arizona, California and Virginia, according to his staff. Newsweek estimated this summer that the couple owns at least seven properties.
See, this is where the elitist argument breaks down. And I wrote about this earlier, here. Just as McCain was flippant to answering the question of threshold of what rich is and his response was, "5 million dollars". An answer so out of touch it is impossible for the average person to relate to an individual who has been on the dole of the government his whole life.
Being unable to remember what you vote for, where you live, how many houses you own is a question of age, stability and memory. Sorry it is. And if McCain has issues with it, it needs to be questioned.
Yes, Hillary Clinton is assembling a whip team to defuse any problems at the convention with her supporters for Barack Obama.
In an unusual move, Hillary Clinton's staff is creating a 40-member "whip team" at the Denver Democratic convention to ensure that her supporters don't engage in embarrassing anti-Obama demonstrations during the floor vote on her nomination, according to people familiar with the planning.
The team, which is being organized by longtime Clinton staffer Craig Smith, is working in conjunction with Obama's floor organizers to help foster the image of a unified front during a roll-call process Clinton herself has described as an emotional "catharsis" for her disappointed supporters.
"If people get down there on the floor and want to start blowing kazoos and making a scene we want to make sure we've got people who stand in front of them with Obama signs," said a person involved in the planning. continue
Wander up a gravel road and ask George Timko about Barack Obama and John McCain and he wrinkles his nose. Neither of those guys strikes him as a prize.
Mr. Timko is a burly fellow, with close-cropped white hair and a Fu Manchu mustache, and a gold necklace that rests on his bare chest. “Barack Obama makes me nervous,” said Mr. Timko, a 65-year-old retiree with a garden hose in hand. “Who is he? Where’d he come from? ”
As for Senator McCain? He shook his head. “He keeps talking about being a prisoner of war back in Vietnam. Great. The economy stinks; tell me his plan.”
To roam the rural reaches of western Pennsylvania, through largely white working-class counties, is to understand the breadth of the challenge facing the two presidential candidates. But this economically ravaged region, once so solidly Democratic, poses a particular hurdle for Senator Obama. continue, NYT
::
and.........................
Judgment? McCain Says He'd Have Picked Cheney, Rumsfeld.....................
Bad news should wake up Obama, experts say................................
Have you signed up for THE TEXT MESSAGE, that everyone is waiting for?
The Obama VP announcement will be made to supporters via text message and email. No wonder you see the cable news desk clerks, chirping away. They are clueless and don't know who it will be. They are trying process of elimination via who is speaking at the convention.
At any rate, want to know who will be the VP? By either text or email? Sign up here.
::
This is why we don't need to be bothered with the Clintons
A brother of New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and local Democrats who backed her unsuccessful presidential campaign socialized privately Monday with a top surrogate of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Arizona Sen. John McCain.
The private gathering featured Carly Fiorina, Mr. McCain’s top economic adviser, and took place at the Dunmore home of political consultant Jamie Brazil, a longtime friend of Mrs. Clinton’s family who has signed on as paid national director of Mr. McCain’s Citizens for McCain Coalition.
The attendees included Tony Rodham, Mrs. Clinton’s youngest sibling, his wife, Megan, and their two children; attorney Kathleen Granahan Kane, who coordinated Mrs. Clinton’s presidential campaign in Northeast Pennsylvania during the primary election; and Virginia McGregor, sister of Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty.
With the Democratic National Convention less than a week away, the gathering raises questions about the support Illinois Sen. Barack Obama can expect from former local supporters of Mrs. Clinton, who dominated at the polls in the Northeast in the April primary election. Mrs. Clinton won 74 percent of Lackawanna County Democrats to Mr. Obama’s 26 percent. continue
This stuff about kiss-kiss, make-up is all a smoke screen.
The Clintons are pissed, angry and in retaliatory angst over not winning this nomination. Sure the Obama Camp can say, "We are all together", but we all know they are not. You don't have stuff like this leak, unless you WANTED IT OUT.
That is the Clinton way and why she and her boatload of drama should not be on the ticket, period. And if you think they want Obama to win in November, think again, it is all about 2012, for them.
::
Negative Ads, Working
Time to take off the blinders and see it for what it is.
I hate the horserace, don't like polling, but the polling has not been on our side lately.
I wrote about this last night, read it here. We have a lot of work to do.
The new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll is out, and it finds that McCain's barrage of "celeb" ads and smears on Obama's alleged lack of patriotism has worked to produce a dead-heat.
As much as we laughed or did roll-eyes to the "celebrity ads", Obama took a character hit, along with Republicans coming home to McCain, which has now made this race tight.
Obama is leading McCain 45%-43%, within the poll's margin of error. In June, an LA Times poll found Obama up by 12, though other polls found a tighter race.
The poll also finds a noticeable erosion in Obama's favorability ratings:
Obama's favorable rating has sunk to 48% from 59% since the last Times/Bloomberg poll in June. At the same time, his negative rating has risen to 35% from 27%.
This is all about negative advertising. I expect hand wringing in the Obama Camp, they must be, because you can not continue on this course.
I expect, after the Olympics and prior, during and after the convention all assault on John McCain. We don't have to attack character, his record will do nicely. And it is a record lock step with George W. Bush.
I also expect all Democratic hands on deck to go after the GOP and McCain. I expect effective surrogates on television, radio, townhall meetings across this country, etc.
Senator Barack Obama has started a sustained and hard-hitting advertising campaign against Senator John McCain in states that will be vital this fall, painting Mr. McCain in a series of commercials as disconnected from the economic struggles of the middle class.
Mr. Obama has begun the drive with little fanfare, often eschewing the modern campaign technique of unveiling new spots for the news media before they run in an effort to win added (free) attention. Mr. Obama, whose candidacy has been built in part on a promise to transcend traditional politics, is running the negative commercials on local stations even as he runs generally positive spots nationally, during prime-time coverage of the Olympics.
The negative spots reflect the sharper tone Mr. Obama has struck in recent days on the stump as he heads into his party’s nominating convention in Denver next week, and seem to address the anxiety among some Democrats that Mr. Obama has not answered a volley of attacks by Mr. McCain with enough force.
“If you can go quietly negative, that’s what he’s done; I think the perception is that he’s still running the positive campaign,” said Evan Tracey, president of the Campaign Media Analysis Group of TNS Media Intelligence, which monitors political advertising. “It’s a pretty smart, high-low, good cop/bad cop strategy.” continue
::
and......................
Why Evan Bayh should not get the nod......................
Why I say the "Lady Claire" is a dark horse............
obama at a townhall meeting in raleigh, north carolina
::
The VP Frenzy is off the HOOK!!!
Man, I have never heard so many folks with a "VP" Pick and what Obama should do, including moi. So, far Obama has shown good judgment, meaning he was against the Iraq War, he has run a campaign OUTSIDE OF THE D.C. CW (conventional wisdom), he has steered a tight, disciplined ship, he has loyal supporters and workers, and he is his own man.
For me, this means he will pick someone probably not being talked about by the cable news desk clerks.
At this point, who knows? But I hope it is not Joe Biden, though the Washington Press would love it. He represents NOTHING of change and would not be the one to carry Obama's legacy. He is TOO OLD. Sorry, he is. Evan Bayh is problematic on several levels. His wife works closely with K Street and she is a high priced attorney in D.C. Bayh is more strident to the Republican leaning view than any of the possible picks, just look at his voting record. Hillary Clinton, well too much baggage, we know the true feeling that the Clintons have for Obama, which is not much and if you still have Bill Clinton out there praising John McCain, why be bothered? Kathleen Sebelius and Tim Kaine do represent the CHANGE that has driven the Obama Campaign, but lacks experience per the cable news desk clerks. But who cares what the desk clerks have to say, many said that Obama would not win, don't have experience, and look where HE is!!!
At the end of all this frenzy is this, Barack Obama must close the deal to the public. A VP pick will help only so far, this means in a bump in the polls, this means bringing a state (maybe), even being an attack dog. The VP pick will only help so far. In the end, Barack Obama must close the deal with the public. If he does not, he will not win. Simple as that.
John McCain spoke yesterday to the VFW’s national convention, and delivered an ugly, insulting speech. He took credit for the passage of bills he opposed, he papered over his own humiliating record of misjudgments on national security issues, and McCain once again attacked Barack Obama’s patriotism, effectively accusing him of treason by insisting that Obama wants the U.S. to fail in Iraq because of his personal “ambition.”
Today, it was Obama’s turn. He didn’t hold back.
“[W]e do have differences in this election. But one of the things that we have to change in this country is the idea that people can’t disagree without challenging each other’s character and patriotism. I have never suggested that Senator McCain picks his positions on national security based on politics or personal ambition. I have not suggested it because I believe that he genuinely wants to serve America’s national interest. Now, it’s time for him to acknowledge that I want to do the same.
“Let me be clear: I will let no one question my love of this country. I love America, so do you, and so does John McCain. When I look out at this audience, I see people of different political views. You are Democrats and Republicans and Independents. But you all served together, and fought together, and bled together under the same proud flag. You did not serve a Red America or a Blue America — you served the United States of America.
“So let’s have a serious debate, and let’s debate our disagreements on the merits of policy — not personal attacks. And no matter how heated it gets or what kind of campaign he chooses to run, I will honor Senator McCain’s service, just like I honor the service of every veteran in this room, and every American who has worn the uniform of the United States.”
::
obama's speech at vfw conference in orlando, florida
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