FLOTUS, Michelle Obama talks childhood obesity (Video and Transcript)

First Lady Michelle Obama kicks off a campaign to confront the problem of childhood obesity at a YMCA in Alexandria, VA. She is joined by Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and Dr. Judith Palfrey, President of the American Academy of Pediatrics.


Transcript

Home Page

Let's talk about the cable desk clerks and why they are WRONG.

Yes, the ones who are on CNN, FOX, MSNBC, etc., who are continuing to try to dumb down the electorate, a.k.a., you and I, into thinking that what happened in 2 governor races is a referendum on Barack Obama, when every indication is that it is not.

But as Oliver Willis stated, "....FACTS BE DAMNED...."

I wrote a diary on the dismal campaign of Creigh Deeds. You know, the Democrat that ran for Governor of Virginia but was easily swept away? I questioned why he did not follow the Obama roadmap to winning Virginia? Why he did not come across as personable and make the issues about Virginians? If Mr. Deeds had any questions as to how to win, shit, all he had to do was get in his car and knock on the White House door, I am sure they would have been more than willing to answer his questions and help him. Deeds chose not to do that, thus we witnessed tonight, DEFEAT and roundly so. No one is to blame but Deeds himself. He chose not to embrace Obama, was tepid to any advice from the Obama camp and ran a very negative campaign. Thus his obituary has already been written:

In trying to figure out where Deeds went wrong, it’s a mistake not to look at Deeds himself. Even in a state lightly tinted blue and with several photo-ops with a still-popular president, Deeds slipped in recent weeks. For one, Deeds overplayed his hand on a misogynistic-sounding master’s thesis that McDonnell wrote almost 30 years ago, making it one of the central messages of his campaign, and a fairly hollow one at that. He also had several public slips, including a flip-flop on a question about taxes and an embarrassing performance at one of his big debates with McDonnell in Fairfax, Virginia. As election day drew closer, he waffled on how much help he wanted from Obama, wary of associating with a president who he figured undecided voters might be turning off to. When he realized he needed the help, his change of heart looked desperate, and by then the White House wasn’t exactly tripping over itself to help.

Touche.

Next, Governor Jon Corzine. And he lost. Why? One word, "economy". A word that will have the Democrats scared shitless into 2010 Midterm Elections if things out here do not turn around. But, the cable desks clerks who are chatting away will say, referendum on Obama. Again, wrong.

Corzine was in an uphill battle moreso than Deeds. His state, New Jersey pays the highest property taxes in the country, the unemployment rate is up there and people DID NOT LIKE CORZINE. This is a man whose favorability was in the 30s, so did we really expect him to win? For me, the only thing I could see is that New Jersey was a blue state and he would squeak it out, but not to be.

Republican Chris Christie has defeated Democratic incumbent Jon Corzine in New Jersey's gubernatorial race, NBC News projected.

With 71 percent of precincts reporting Tuesday night, Christie had 50 percent of the vote to Corzine's 44 percent.

Christie, a 47-year-old former federal prosecutor, became the first member of his party in a dozen years to win a statewide contest in heavily Democratic New Jersey.

The cable desk clerks are getting it wrong and I don't care if the Republicans THINK this is a referendum on Obama, let them, they have been wrong about the tea leaves for the longest. But the cable desk clerks are wrong in ginning this up to be a referendum. How the hell can it be when Obama is hugely popular, across the board, even if people don't agree with him on everything? Including ME. That was Corzine and Deeds problem. Their electorate did not like them, listen to them nor trust them, thus that independent voter told them ADIOS. While the polling from Virginia and New Jersey states that the electorate has sent a clear message, this is not a referendum on Barack Obama.

It is cable desk clerks, like the ones we are listening to tonight, or have turned the television off from, that makes many of us just not trust shit that comes out of their mouths. And they call themselves journalists? Please, drama queens are more appropriate for this lot.

OK, my rant is over.

Home Page

Creigh Deeds slaughtered, NEXT....

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell, left, hugs Black Entertainment Television co-founder Sheila Johnson in his hotel suite as he waits for election returns in Richmond, Va. , Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009.

No surprise, I wrote about it all here.

Republicans wrested political control of Virginia from the Democrats on Tuesday and New Jersey's unpopular Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine was fighting for his political life as independent voters swung behind the GOP in both states. It was a troubling sign for President Barack Obama and his party heading into an important midterm election year.

Republican Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell's victory in Virginia over Democrat R. Creigh Deeds was a triumph for a GOP looking to rebuild after being booted from power in national elections in 2006 and 2008. It also was a setback for the White House in a swing state that was a crucial part of Obama's electoral landslide just a year ago. read more here...

Home Page

Polls show no referendum on Obama

The Republicans would LOVE it to be a referendum on Obama, but the gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey are all about state, local issues, not Barack Obama. Ah, but the spin will continue to crank....

Per CNN, voters in Virginia did not see their state's gubernatorial race as an opportunity to voice opposition to Barack Obama. A 55 percent majority of voters said that the President was not a factor in their vote, and an additional 18 percent indicated their vote in Virginia was one of support in the President. Just 24 percent of voters indicated that their vote was one of opposition to President Obama. The numbers out of New Jersey are not terribly different, with 60 percent saying that Barack Obama played no role in their gubernatorial vote, 19 percent saying that their vote was one in support of the President, and 20 percent saying that their vote was in opposition to President Obama.

h/t Daily Kos
Oliver Willis

Home Page

Throw under the bus time for Creigh Deeds

Creigh Deeds

••

Barack Obama won the elusive State of Virginia for the Democrats, the first time in 44 years on November 4, 2008. I guess Creigh Deeds did not get that memo, thus the cluster fuck that is called his campaign has spiraled out of control.

Yes, cluster fuck.

The Obama Campaign had a road map to win Virginia, remember the Republicans laughed that he could actually win it, but he did. So, common sense would be that whatever road map was used should be the road map that Deeds take, but he did not.

The mandate, populist themes, change that this country embraced is what Deeds should have ran on, but his campaign is like a Democrat running as a Republican-lite from 1996. Again, some of these politicians in the D.C. area don't understand the mood of this country and what people want outside of the beltway. And Deeds disastrous statement of opting Virginia out of the public option was the nail on a coffin already dropping 6 ft under.

There will be a lot of questions about this race, lack of intensity, no enthusiam and why the Deeds Campaign shunned the White House and Barack Obama for that matter. I am sure now, they wished they had not done so, but it appears too late.

So, as we prepare to write Virginia off the map for the Democrats next month and move on, the Obama White House is warranted to throw this campaign under the bus.

Senior administration officials have expressed frustration with how Democrat R. Creigh Deeds has handled his campaign for governor, refusing early offers of strategic advice and failing to reach out to several key constituencies that helped Obama win Virginia in 2008, they say.

Democratic strategists said that over the summer, Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) offered Deeds advice on winning a statewide election. Among other things, Kaine, who is also chairman of the Democratic National Committee, told Deeds that he should lay out more of his own vision and stop attacking Republican Robert F. McDonnell so ferociously. But Deeds did not embrace the advice, according to a national Democratic strategist.

A senior administration official said Deeds badly erred on several fronts, including not doing a better job of coordinating with the White House. "I understood in the beginning why there was some reluctance to run all around the state with Barack Obama," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to speak candidly about the race. "You don't do that in Virginia. But when you consider the African American turnout that they need, and then when you consider as well they've got a huge problem with surge voters, younger voters, we were just a natural for them."

A second administration official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said: "Obama, Kaine and others had drawn a road map to victory in Virginia. Deeds chose another path."

Oh and Mudcat Saunders is pissed.

Washington Post

Home Page

President Obama on Highways and Recovery (Video)

President Obama speaks about the Recovery Act at the Fairfax County Parkway Extension, an example of people being put to work rebuilding our country. October 14, 2009.



Home Page

The typical Republican Response on lack of health care, "Get ‘An Existing Government Program’ Or Find Charity" (Video)

Read it all here.

And we want this party to be in control again?

Home Page

Video of President Obama's Back to School speech to students

MSNBC Video | Transcript | Vimeo Video

Home Page

Crazy Azzed Right Wingers at Town Hall with Rep. Moran (D-VA) and Governor Howard Dean (Video)

I saw this LIVE on C-Span yesterday and just shook my head. You will too....especially with the crazy azz right winger, Randall Terry, just classic....



Home Page

In case you missed it: President Obama's town hall meeting on health care reform in Bristol, VA (Video)

President Obama holds a town hall on health reform and business at a Kroger in Bristol, Virginia. He takes questions from Kroger employees and explains why we need health insurance reform. July 29, 2009.



Home Page

Obama/Biden hitting the campaign trail (Video)

Obama for embattled Governor Jon Corzine (D-NJ) and Biden for Craig Deeds the Democratic Nominee for Governor in Virginia.

Home Page

Full Video and Transcript of President Obama's Town Hall Meeting on Health Care, July 1, 2009 in Virginia

download .mp4 (737.8 MB) | read the transcript

Home Page

Video of President Obama's Health Care Town Hall in Virginia

At an emotional forum in Virginia, President Barack Obama hugged a cancer patient Wednesday and vowed to bring greater efficiency and accessibility to the nation's health care system.

Debby Smith, 53, of Appalachia, Va., a volunteer for Obama's political operation, fought tears as she told Obama of her kidney cancer and her inability to obtain health insurance or hold a job. The president embraced her and called her "exhibit A" in an unsustainable system that is too expensive and complex for millions of Americans.

"We are going to try to find ways to help you immediately," he told Smith as hundreds watched at a community college forum — and countless others on television. But the nation's long-term needs require a greater emphasis on preventive care and "cost-effective care," he said. read more here...

Home Page

Is this why Terry McAuliffe lost the Democratic Primary in Virginia?

Well, I said if McAuliffe wins it would be GOTV, but obviously the Democrats of Virginia have just said, "ENOUGH of Terry McAuliffe!!!"

I don't know, maybe if he was more in tune with Virginians, than performing antics like below on morning joe during the primary season, he would have been taken more seriously. YES, that is alcohol in that picture.



Anyway, congratulations Creigh Deeds. He has a lot of work to do from now until the general.

Longtime Clinton ally and former Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe has conceded to state senator Creigh Deeds in the party's gubernatorial primary, calling on his supporters to back Deeds in his general election battle against Republican Bob McDonnell.

CNN

Home Page

Terry McAuliffe looks like he is headed for defeat, ON PAPER

Al Rodgers had a diary up on Daily Kos last night about the eminent defeat of Terry McAuliffe's run for Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Man, I wish I could believe that, but I am skeptical. Highly skeptical.

The PPP poll for the Virginia Governor's race was released yesterday with Creigh Deeds leading in double digits. Now, we have the SUSA poll released today confirming Deeds double digit lead.

I am not a Terry McAuliffe fan. I think the man is a fair weathered friend, a bullsh*tter to the max, changes his course depending on the wind and highly suspect. But, he is a known entity to millions of Democrats due to his relationship to the Clintons. Do I want McAuliffe to win? NO.

The reality though is this, Deeds has the momentum, got a huge endorsement from Washington Post and is riding high now. The thing is that he let most of his staff go to wage an air war, at the time, which has helped him.

Winning elections is more about poll numbers, but a combination of things. Deeds has little or no ground support or ground game. GOTV (get out the vote) is critical for low turnout primaries/elections as the one tomorrow in Virginia. Deeds non-existent GOTV is the unanswered question here for any victory.

If Terry McAuliffe wins, it is because of GOTV and money. Simple as that.

Home Page

This is why I never cared for Terry McAuliffe (Video)

Terry McAuliffe a staunch supporter of the Clintons, former DNC Chairman is now running for Governor of Virginia. I just can not shake the image and view I have of McAuliffe, the proverbial, snake-oiled salesman. The one with that same smile, with the same shits and giggles, the one who will shaft you if it is for the better of him. I hope the folks of Virginia or the Democrats who are voting in the primary sees through this salesman and back someone else. Just because someone has the most money, does not mean he/she is the right man or woman for the job. McAuliffe is the prime example of this.



Home Page

Obama's Speech to the House Democrats in Williamsburg, Virginia (Video and Transcript)

President Obama tellin' them what the deal is.......

Part One


Part Two

Full Video on C-Span Junkie

Transcript

Al Rodgers Pictures

h/t NWTerriD

Home Page

Obama Afternoon Break. Transition Time.

••

Transition Time

Obama is not wasting any time on getting his transition team on the ground and running.

The "Obama-Biden Transition Project" will be overseen by former White House chief of staff John D. Podesta; Obama friend and senior campaign adviser Valerie Jarrett; and Pete Rouse, Obama's former Senate chief of staff and top campaign aide, officials said today. It will occupy offices in Washington and in a federal building in Chicago.

The transition co-chairs will work with an advisory board stacked with Clinton veterans and Obama and Joe Biden allies and confidants. On the list: former Environmental Protection Agency administrator Carol Browner; Obama friend and former Commerce Secretary William Daley, University of California-Berkeley law school dean Christopher Edley; Obama law school friends and advisers Michael Froman and Julius Genachowski; former Gore domestic policy adviser Donald Gips; Governor Janet Napolitano; former transportation secretary Federico Peña; Obama national security adviser Susan Rice and Sonal Shah of Google.org.

Mark Gitenstein and Ted Kaufman, old friends to Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., will serve as co-chairs of his transition team.

Obama will hold a press conference tomorrow focused solely on the economy after his meet with his economy staff; and Obama starts to get his first intelligence briefing, just as President Bush, today.

Caroline Kennedy is rumored for either UN Ambassador or Ambassador of the UK post. Robert Kennedy, Jr. is rumored to head the EPA, which I think is an excellent choice, solely by his work on the environment.

Rahm Emanuel, Congressman from Chicago, gave notice to Speaker Nancy Pelosi that he will leave his post to become Obama's White House Chief of Staff. There has been much flap by the Republicans for this pick, stating he is strictly partisan, but I view this differently. Emanuel worked in the Clinton White House, so he is familiar with how the House runs. Emanuel is familiar with the workings of congress, he was the main wizard who flipped 30 seats in 2006 for the Democrats to retain the house. Yes, he is abrasive, abrupt, an a**hole to many, just being real here, but I think he can be an effective Chief of Staff. Remember, it is Barack Obama who will set the tone in Washington. Obama is a no-drama man and as we have witnessed throughout this campaign, if you are bring "drama" with you, the door will be opened for you to leave.

Robert Gibbs, the Obama Campaign Communications Director is rumored to become the White House Press Secretary and David Axelrod to be Obama's Senior Adviser.

President-Elect Obama will meet President Bush on Monday at the White House, Michelle Obama will accompany the President-Elect to meet with First Lady Laura Bush and tour the private residence of the White House.

Barack Obama has a lot of work to do, this is just a beginning.



••

Striking a Balance While Becoming a First Family

When Verna Williams called to congratulate Michelle Obama on Wednesday morning, she half-jokingly offered to stop calling her old law school buddy “Meesh” and start calling her something more dignified.

Mrs. Obama dissolved into giggles, and the two traded title ideas, one sillier than the next, all of them too ridiculous to repeat to a newspaper reporter, Ms. Williams said.

One day after the presidential election, the Obama family of Chicago’s Hyde Park is only beginning to figure out how to become the first family of the United States.

As the first African-Americans in the role, they will be a living tableau of racial progress, and friends say they are acutely aware that everything they say and do — the way they dress, where Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7 , go to school, even what kind of puppy they adopt — will brim with symbolic value.

“Here’s an intact black family, a happy family, with beautiful kids and a loving extended family,” Ms. Williams said, “and they happen to live in the executive mansion.”

For President-elect Barack Obama and his family, leaving Chicago means dismantling the protective cocoon they have built around them. continue

••

Palin Fallout Continues

Two things strike me that I will remember about the McCain Campaign. First, the words after the collapse of Lehman Brothers on Wall Street, "...the fundamentals of our economy are strong..." That statement alone mired McCain in not understanding the economy and being totally out of touch with the average American. And the pick of Sarah Palin.

This sums up the Palin pick by one strategist I overheard state, "she was great for August but a disaster for November." So true.

As in all losing campaigns, the big guns always come out to point the barrel at those who dragged a campaign down, well enter Palin.

Palin did energize the base, a base that was not excited about McCain. I give her credit for that. She was a good attack dog. But the race was always for the middle and it was here that she helped McCain lose. McCain Campaign thought putting her on the ticket would help with the disenfranchised women who were Hillary voters, but they ceased to remember that many of these women are issued voters. Just because Palin was a woman did not mean that women would flock to McCain and vote for him. As the voters became familiar with Palin's rigid, hard right views, many women said adios to McCain and hello to Obama.

She became a favorite among some social conservatives, but her cringe-worthy performances in TV interviews raised questions about her competence and provided fodder for late-night comedians. Her charisma attracted tens of thousands to Republican rallies, but voter surveys found her presence tilted a majority of independents and moderates to Barack Obama.

It was the Katie Couric interviews that turned many women, moderates and independents off, not only to Palin but to John McCain and his judgment to put a complete novice, uninformed of national issues on the ticket. The combination of the Katie interviews, Palin's apparent lie of the 150K in clothing, not just for herself but her family and the disatrous prank call of a fake President Nicholas Sarkozy has pointed the guns at her.

The disputes between the campaigns centered in large part on the Republican National Committee’s $150,000 wardrobe for Ms. Palin and her family, but also on what McCain advisers considered Ms. Palin’s lack of preparation for her disastrous interview with Katie Couric of CBS News and her refusal to take advice from Mr. McCain’s campaign.

But behind those episodes may be a greater subtext: anger within the McCain camp that Ms. Palin harbored political ambitions beyond 2008.

As late as Tuesday night, a McCain adviser said, Ms. Palin was pushing to deliver her own speech just before Mr. McCain’s concession speech, even though vice-presidential nominees do not traditionally speak on election night. But Ms. Palin met up with Mr. McCain with text in hand. She was told no by Mark Salter, one of Mr. McCain’s closest advisers, and Steve Schmidt, Mr. McCain’s top strategist.

On Wednesday, two top McCain campaign advisers said that the clothing purchases for Ms. Palin and her family were a particular source of outrage for them. As they portrayed it, Ms. Palin had been advised by Nicolle Wallace, a senior McCain aide, that she should buy three new suits for the Republican National Convention in St. Paul in September and three additional suits for the fall campaign. The budget for the clothes was anticipated to be from $20,000 to $25,000, the officials said. continue

There is much out there about Palin and it does not smell like roses. Instead of McCain picking a Vice-Presidential choice that is competent, ready to step in for any reason to the presidency, he picked an inexperience boob. And I am being nice here, while her dirty laundry is being talked about all over the teevee.



••

and.................

It was women who put Obama in the White House

Obama wins North Carolina

Nevada’s Change of Color

World leaders congratulate Obama

When red states, go blue, Doug Wilder

President-Elect Obama and Vice-President Elect Biden Pictures of Election Night



••

Chuck Todd, First Read



Home Page

Obama in Norfolk, Virginia, "Closing Argument", October 28, 2008

Home Page

Joe Biden Speech in Danville, VA (Video)

Home Page