McCain-Palin

Author: JohnMcCaindotcom
Keywords: sarah palin convention speech vice president john mccain rnc
Added: September 4, 2008

As the newly minted Republican ticket gets set to tour key campaign states immediately following the end of the party’s convention, Sarah Palin's husband Todd is staying behind in Minneapolis for what's reputed to be the largest snowmobile event in the word.

Palin, a world renowned championship snowmobiler known as the "first dude" in Alaska, is set to attend "Hay Days" in lieu of hitting the campaign trail, senior McCain campaign aides told CNN. "Hay Days" is a snowmobile grass drag racing event that is billed as the unofficial kick-off of the snowmobile season.

"I’ve been struck by how many beautiful places there are in the country that you don’t necessarily think of as beautiful. Pittsburgh, for example, is a really handsome town with the rivers and the hills.”

]]> Wed, 03 Sep 2008 12:08:18 CDT

www.johnmccain.com

Author: JohnMcCaindotcom
Keywords: sarah palin john mccain maverick ad tv barack obama experience clinton
Added: September 3, 2008

]]> Wed, 03 Sep 2008 01:00:00 CDT New York Times ran a front-page story by Elisabeth Bumiller that was riddled with factual errors. Among them was the assertion by Bumiller that Governor Palin "was a member for two years in the 1990s of the Alaska Independence Party." There was no evidence offered to support this statement, and as this campaign pointed out, it is untrue. Now the Times reports:

The information in the Times article was based on a statement issued Monday night by Lynette Clark, the party’s chairwoman, who said that Ms. Palin joined the party in 1994 and in 1996 changed her registration to Republican.

On Tuesday night, Ms. Clark said that her initial statement was incorrect and had been based on erroneous information provided by another member of the party whom she declined to identify.

Just to be clear, Bumiller asserted as fact what turns out to have been an "incorrect" statement by a single, unidentified source. Given that the story appeared on the front-page of this country's 'paper of record,' we might be forgiven for expecting a slightly more rigorous standard of reporting, yet Bumiller makes no apologies. Howard Kurtz reports in today's Washington Post:

Elisabeth Bumiller, the lead author of the Times report, said she is "completely confident about the story." As for the campaign's criticism, she said: "This is what they do. It's part of their operation."

She is completely confident in the word of a single source who has since retracted her claims? What kind of operation are the editors at the Times running?


]]> Wed, 03 Sep 2008 01:00:00 CDT reports on an Obama campaign conference call:

[Obama senior adviser Robert Gibbs] also attacked the Alaska governor for her one-time support for the so-called "bridge to nowhere," for employing a lobbying firm to get earmarks for the town of Wasilla, Alaska, and for receiving a vice presidential endorsement from indicted Republican Sen. Ted Stevens.

Governor Palin pulled the plug on the "bridge to nowhere," no one disputes this. What is less well known is that Barack Obama voted in support of the "bridge to nowhere." Still, when Governor Palin joined John McCain on the Republican ticket, before the press resolved to belittle her every achievement and tear apart her family, the Washington Post praised her role in fighting earmarks, battling the abuses of her state's Congressional indignation, and killing the bridge to nowhere:

"But she has angered two of Alaska's leading Republicans -- Sen. Ted Stevens and Rep. Don Young -- by refusing to support their decades-long practice of securing federal money for the state, including Young's effort to obtain $233 million for a structure dubbed the 'Bridge to Nowhere' by critics because it would have connected a small town with an island populated with 50 people."

As far as the charge that Governor Palin received the endorsement of Senator Stevens. It's stunning that Gibbs would make an issue out of this, given that Senator Obama's political career was launched at the home of unrepentant terrorist William Ayers. Nor has Senator Obama distanced himself from the endorsement of indicted Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. And then there's Rep. William Jefferson, who endorsed Obama while facing 16-counts of corruption in federal court--though perhaps Senator Obama would have distanced himself from that endorsement if he hadn't been busy with the conviction of Tony Rezko on the very same day.

And who could ever forget Dale Leo Bishop. Bishop bludgeoned his friend to death with a claw hammer, and, moments before he was executed for the crime, endorsed Senator Obama for President. Don't throw stones if your candidate has been endorsed by a claw hammer murderer, Mr. Gibbs.

Update: McCain Report readers would have us note the Phil Spector endorsement as well.]]> Tue, 02 Sep 2008 12:52:40 CDT

John McCain 2008

Author: JohnMcCaindotcom
Keywords: john mccain service reform prosperity peace freedom
Added: September 2, 2008

]]> Tue, 02 Sep 2008 01:00:00 CDT New York Times reporter Elisabeth Bumiller has opted instead to make up her own version of events. As the AP reports, "Sarah Palin voluntarily told John McCain's campaign about her pregnant teenage daughter and her husband's 2-decade-old DUI arrest during questioning as part of the Republican's vice presidential search, the lawyer who conducted the background review said." Yet according to Bumiller, yesterday's disclosures "called into question" how thoroughly Governor Palin had been vetted. Why the discrepancy? It seems one reporter actually reported the story, while Bumiller made up her own.

The AP quotes Steve Schmidt saying the campaign was prepared to send a "jump team" to the home state of whoever was selected for the second spot. But Bumiller has her own version: "A Republican with ties to the campaign said the team assigned to vet Ms. Palin in Alaska had not arrived there until Thursday, a day before Mr. McCain stunned the political world with his vice-presidential choice." A Republican with ties to the campaign? How about a Republican on the campaign? It's not as though the leadership of this campaign was unwilling or unable to talk to the New York Times, in fact, they were already on the record answering these questions.

And Bumiller writes that Governor Palin "was a member for two years in the 1990s of the Alaska Independence Party." Not true, and unsourced. Governor Palin has been a registered Republican since 1982.

Ms. Bumiller, if you'd like to try reporting instead of writing fiction, here's a link to our press line.


]]> Tue, 02 Sep 2008 01:00:00 CDT running an item yesterday alleging that Governor Palin was once a member of the Alaska Independence Party, Jake Tapper doesn't even bother to write a new item today to report that she is, in fact, a lifelong Republican. Instead, he simply updates the old post, and notes that this campaign has provided "some voter registration documentation."

We have provided ALL voter registration documentation, and the facts are clear. If the Alaska Independence Party at some point taught Governor Palin their secret handshake, there is no record of it. Otherwise, the only relevant criterion for membership in a party is registration--and Palin has never been a member of the AIP.

The Governor did appear at the AIP convention in 2000, when the convention was held in Wasilla. This would seem to be the only decent thing to do, given her responsibilities as Mayor of Wasilla, but apparently Tapper believes the press is owed further explanation.

Finally, Tapper notes that a spokesman for this campaign "would not comment as to why AIP officials are so convinced Palin was a member of their party." Apparently Tapper would not comment on how he managed to print a story that had absolutely no basis in fact.

See the Governor's voter registration document here.]]> Tue, 02 Sep 2008 01:00:00 CDT his judgment of Governor Palin:

“There’s no reason not to respect her and I believe she’s qualified to be the vice president.”

]]> Tue, 02 Sep 2008 01:00:00 CDT Nation, but it was at MSNBC that the story really took off--not that the network every produced a shred of evidence to back up their claims. In light of the smearing of Governor Palin by Obama surrogate Robert Wexler and Obama spokesman Mark Bubriski, both of whom alleged Palin was a supporter of Patrick Buchanan and therefore a "Nazi sympathizer," this statement from Buchanan today seems noteworthy:

Let me say about Israel here. My position on Israel is frankly awful. It is like Mika [Brzezinski]'s father's, it's a lot closer to Barack Obama's than it is John McCain. I think Barack is right, we ought to talk to the Iranians, he's right to oppose the war and, frankly, he's right to say the Palestinian people have got a terrible deal over there and their suffering ought to be recognized. That's Obama's position. It's my position. I don't think it is a Nazi position.

Governor Palin never supported Pat Buchanan, having supported Steve Forbes in both 1996 and 2000. Still, it must give great comfort to Wexler and Bubriski that Pat Buchanan does support Obama's position on Israel.


]]> Mon, 01 Sep 2008 13:56:04 CDT

www.JohnMcCain.com

Author: JohnMcCaindotcom
Keywords: sarah palin governor alaska vice president john mccain
Added: September 1, 2008

]]> Mon, 01 Sep 2008 01:00:00 CDT

The first attack came from Obama surrogate Rep. Robert Wexler, the co-chair of Obama's campaign in Florida. Wexler, badly mangling his facts, accused Governor Palin of supporting Pat Buchanan in the 2000 Alaska primary. Based on this he asserted that Governor Palin had "aligned herself with a leading anti-Israel voice in American politics," while finding space to invoke the name of Adolph Hitler and the phrase "Nazi sympathizer." Only it wasn't true--Palin was an official on the Forbes campaign in 2000. Wexler never apologized or retracted his statement.

Then an official Obama spokesman picked up the charge in a statement to the Miami Herald:

"Palin was a supporter of [MSNBC analyst] Pat Buchanan, a right-winger or as many Jews call him: a Nazi sympathizer,'' Obama spokesman Mark Bubriski wrote in an email.

Governor Palin has never supported Pat Buchanan and every responsible magazine or blog that made the charge has since corrected the record, leaving only the Obama campaign peddling this smear. How is it that the media, so committed to fighting the smears against the Obama campaign, is more than happy to allow this one to fester?]]> Sun, 31 Aug 2008 01:00:00 CDT Politico reports:

Democrats have come up with a new line of attack line against John McCain's running mate Sarah Palin, saying she's another Dick Cheney. Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) described Palin as a member of the "flat-earth caucus," who McCain picked purely to please the conservative base.

"With the choice of Gov. Palin, it’s the third term of Dick Cheney," Kerry said on ABC News' "This Week."

It's worth noting that the Democratic party set up a website earlier this month called "The Next Cheney." The site featured nine potential running mates for Senator McCain--all of whom were labeled "the next Cheney." Governor Palin appeared nowhere on that list.

It seems fair to say that the Democrats would have labeled anyone Senator McCain selected as the next Cheney, but in this case not only is the comparison absurd, but it directly conflicts with the Obama campaign's other criticism of Governor Palin--that she is too inexperienced to be Vice President. Still, being on both sides of the same issue never bothered John Kerry before.


]]> Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:07:56 CDT Fri, 29 Aug 2008 01:00:00 CDT pool report:

At a stop in Monaca, Pa., Barack Obama seemed to distance himself from his campaign's first, harshly critical response to the Palin pick.

"I think that, uh, you know campaigns start getting these uh, hair triggers and, uh, the statement that Joe and I put out reflects our sentiments," he said, according to the pool report, apparently criticizing his staff for going overboard, as he did occasionally in the primary.

Obama says he's not running a negative campaign, but apparently his campaign is on a hair-trigger to go negative, viciously springing to action at the selection of Governor Palin as the VP nominee. Yet Senator Obama does not walk away from the attack either, much like he refused to walk back his statements about small town Americans clinging to their guns, like he's refused to walk away from his misguided opposition to the surge, like he still refuses to acknowledge his terrible judgment in associating with an unrepentant terrorist in William Ayers. And if Senator Obama can't control his own staff during a campaign, perhaps he shouldn't be so quick to belittle Governor Palin's executive experience.]]> Fri, 29 Aug 2008 01:00:00 CDT

Governor Palin is a tough executive who has demonstrated during her time in office that she is ready to be president. She has brought Republicans and Democrats together within her Administration and has a record of delivering on the change and reform that we need in Washington.

Governor Palin has challenged the influence of the big oil companies while fighting for the development of new energy resources. She leads a state that matters to every one of us -- Alaska has significant energy resources and she has been a leader in the fight to make America energy independent.

In Alaska, Governor Palin challenged a corrupt system and passed a landmark ethics reform bill. She has actually used her veto and cut budgetary spending. She put a stop to the "bridge to nowhere" that would have cost taxpayers $400 million dollars.

As the head of Alaska's National Guard and as the mother of a soldier herself, Governor Palin understands what it takes to lead our nation and she understands the importance of supporting our troops.

Governor Palin has the record of reform and bipartisanship that others can only speak of. Her experience in shaking up the status quo is exactly what is needed in Washington today.


]]> Fri, 29 Aug 2008 01:00:00 CDT "Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency. Governor Palin shares John McCain's commitment to overturning Roe v. Wade, the agenda of Big Oil and continuing George Bush's failed economic policies -- that's not the change we need, it's just more of the same," said Bill Burton, Obama Campaign Spokesman. She's the Governor of Alaska and was the mayor of a small town, meaning she has more executive experience than Barack Obama and Joe Biden put together. But more than that, given Barack Obama's comments earlier this year that small-town Americans "cling" to guns, religion, and xenophobia out of economic anxiety, it's troubling that Obama's campaign has now attacked Governor Palin for having been the mayor of a small-town, as if that wouldn't qualify her to carry Senator Obama's bags.

Before Palin could even make it on stage the Obama campaign put out a petty partisan statement. While the press may find the current tone of the Obama campaign rousing, we suspect that the American people will judge harshly this kind of attack on Governor Palin, her record, and small town America.]]> Fri, 29 Aug 2008 01:00:00 CDT John McCain today announced that he has selected Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate and to serve as his vice president.

Governor Palin is a tough executive who has demonstrated during her time in office that she is ready to be president. She has brought Republicans and Democrats together within her Administration and has a record of delivering on the change and reform that we need in Washington.

Governor Palin has challenged the influence of the big oil companies while fighting for the development of new energy resources. She leads a state that matters to every one of us -- Alaska has significant energy resources and she has been a leader in the fight to make America energy independent.

In Alaska, Governor Palin challenged a corrupt system and passed a landmark ethics reform bill. She has actually used her veto and cut budgetary spending. She put a stop to the "bridge to nowhere" that would have cost taxpayers $400 million dollars.

As the head of Alaska's National Guard and as the mother of a soldier herself, Governor Palin understands what it takes to lead our nation and she understands the importance of supporting our troops.

Governor Palin has the record of reform and bipartisanship that others can only speak of. Her experience in shaking up the status quo is exactly what is needed in Washington today.]]> Thu, 28 Aug 2008 12:33:27 CDT

John McCain 2008

Author: JohnMcCaindotcom
Keywords: John McCain convention night barack obama
Added: August 28, 2008

But the set is designed to evoke the White House and the Lincoln Memorial, not the Acropolis, said staging supervisor Bobby Allen, a Spears set vet.

"We've done Britney's sets and a whole bunch of rock shows, but this was far more elaborate and complicated and we had to do it in far less time," said Allen, of RDA Entertainment.

Former president Jimmy Carter called Republican presidential candidate John McCain a "distinguished Naval officer," but said the Arizona senator has been "milking every possible drop of advantage" from his time served as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

www.johnmccain.com

Author: JohnMcCaindotcom
Keywords: john mccain remote control obama biden dodd clinton iraq
Added: August 27, 2008

It was forty years ago today that Barack Obama friend and political ally, and unrepentant terrorists, William Ayers was arrested while protesting the DNC proceedings. William Ayers set no bombs that day, but he was only working his way up from petty criminal to domestic terrorist. And of course this was long before Barack Obama and he struck up the friendship that would lead Ayers to launch Obama's political career at his house.

Still, the McCain campaign would take this opportunity to remind voters that those responsible for the violence in 1968 have since been incorporated into the party they once protested, and have been revered even by the likes of Barack Obama, and this despite the failure, in the case of Ayers, to ever apologize for the violence he committed against the American people.]]> Wed, 27 Aug 2008 01:00:00 CDT To: Interested Parties
From: Brian Rogers, Deputy Communications Director
Date: August 27, 2008
Re: Proper Attire For The Temple Of Obama (“The Barackopolis”)

Today, workers at Invesco Field are putting the final touches on the newest wonder of the modern political world -- The Temple of Obama (“The Barackopolis”). It is upon this pulpit that Barack Obama will tomorrow night address thousands of screaming, adoring fans.

There may be some confusion among the press about the venue and appropriate dress code for Barack Obama's big speech. To help out, we wanted to provide the following tips on appropriate attire. The toga may have gone out of style centuries ago, but after Obama's temple speech tomorrow night, they’re sure to be flying off the racks.

Suggested Toga Styles:

The Nobleman -- This toga is recommended for men. For celebrities and lobbyists, please add the red over toga. One should expect to see such stars as Ben Affleck dress in red robes, along with the lobbyists who fill Invesco Field's skyboxes.

Read the whole memo here.


]]> Wed, 27 Aug 2008 01:00:00 CDT Wall Street Journal reports:

Democratic operatives on Wednesday released details of their plans for a “war room” to counter the Republican message as the GOP gathers to nominate Sen. John McCain. Their press release is full of taunting one-upmanship.

For instance: The Republican war room in Denver is a mile away from the convention hall. In the Twin Cities, Democrats have secured space for their operation just across the street.

Republicans have been staging daily news conferences with big-name GOP politicians. Democrats plan a similar offensive — only their news conferences will include free breakfast.

SCARBOROUGH:...Let's go right now to Susan Rice, she is the grand poobah of the Obama campaign when it comes to foreign policy. Let's go over some of the criticisms of Barack Obama and start with the criticism that the fact that he picked Joe Biden means that he is insecure...

MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Compensating, compensating...

SCARBOROUGH: He’s compensating, he’s insecure because he doesn't have foreign policy experience.

SUSAN RICE: The fact that he picked Joe Biden shows that Barack Obama is going to surround himself with capable, strong partners who will compliment his strengths but who will also not be afraid to offer just any views. This is going to be a White House, Joe and Mika, where the best and the brightest comes together and tackle the toughest challenges we face. And it's going to be a place where we have strong and sometimes competing views and that's what this country needs. We have had eight years of group think that has led us into some very dangerous and ill conceived policies. We have got to change that.

Joe Biden voted against the First Gulf War.

Joe Biden voted against the surge.]]> Wed, 27 Aug 2008 01:00:00 CDT

We're sure it wasn't easy for President Clinton to compare his 12 years as the Governor of Arkansas with Senator Obama's one year in the Senate, but what a difference eight months can make:

I mean when is the last time we elected a president based on one year of service in the Senate before he started running? He would have been a senator longer by the time he's inaugurated, but essentially once you start running for president full-time you don't have time to do much else."

John McCain 2008

Author: JohnMcCaindotcom
Keywords: john mccain barack obama tiny iran ad
Added: August 26, 2008

Supporters of Hillary Rodham Clinton furiously circulated petitions on the floor of the Democratic National Convention last night, hoping to stave off a plan to hold the convention's roll call at breakfast Wednesday — out of the public eye — sources inside the delegations said.

In Barack Obama’s Administration, we will open up the doors of democracy. We will use technology to make government more transparent, accountable, and inclusive.

Still, in the following days, Susan Rice would emerge on MSNBC to say that McCain had "shot from the hip, [with a] very aggressive, very belligerent statement. He may or may not have complicated the situation." Just as he may or may not have complicated the situation in Iraq with his judgment that the surge strategy was our last best chance for a real victory there.

John McCain has repeatedly been proven correct by events, but the Obama campaign can never seem to muster anything more than a warning that things could have worked out differently--in some alternate universe Barack Obama was correct about the surge, and Georgia!

Of course, Obama's poor judgment is not even the most troubling element of this story. Instead, it is Senator Obama's compulsion to blame America for Russia's aggression that grates worst. Obama said "We've got to send a clear message to Russia and unify our allies. They can't charge into other countries. Of course it helps if we are leading by example on that point." John McCain responded to that today at the American Legion Convention in Phoenix:

If I catch Senator Obama's drift, then, our failure to "lead by example" was the liberation of Iraq. And if he really thinks that, by liberating Iraq from a dangerous tyrant, America somehow set a bad example that invited Russia to invade a small, peaceful, and democratic nation, then he should state it outright -- because that is a debate I welcome.

In the end, confusion about such questions only invites more trouble, violence, and aggression. To promote stability and peace, America must stand firmly on the side of freedom and justice. The next president must bring to office a clear-eyed view of our nation's role in the world, as the defender of the oppressed and a force for peace.

"I have never seen Barack Obama lose his temper. I have never seen him lose his balance," said Danzig, whose comments were later seconded by former Defense Secretary William Perry. "I think John McCain is well-known for losing it in a variety of circumstances."

What about on policy? Senator Obama released a cool and even-handed statement when Russia invaded Georgia, while John McCain was outraged at the attack on a democratic American ally. Nor has Obama gotten angry about Iran's threats against Israel, or its role in the murder of U.S. troops in Iraq, preferring instead to hold a presidential summit with Iran's leaders.

Perhaps Barack Obama could do with a little more fire in the belly, not to mention some additional experience and better judgment. What he shouldn't do is take advice from a man who recently said that ”Winnie the Pooh seems to me to be a fundamental text on national security.” We can't afford a foreign policy that takes its cues from Disney, and as Joe Biden would say, "it can't be on the job training."


]]> Tue, 26 Aug 2008 01:00:00 CDT

It seems clear that Senator Obama was comparing our liberation of Iraq from Saddam Hussien's tyranny to Russia's invasion of a democratic, American ally. And that comparison should be enough to prompt every American to question Senator Obama's view of American power and it's place in the world. Yet Obama spokesman Hari Sevugan offered only this hysterical response:

"The 'confusion' here is between John McCain rhetoric that no one's love of country should be questioned and the reality of his campaign's daily, false, personal and detestable attacks on Senator Obama," spokesman Hari Sevugan said. "But it's not a surprising tactic from John McCain, who is offering four more years of Karl Rove's playbook to distract from his plan for four more years of George Bush's failed policies, which have left America far less secure and shredded our alliances in the world."

[Senator Obama] suggested that the end of the Cold War proved that there was, quote, “no challenge too great for a world that stands as one.” Now I missed a few years of the Cold War, as the guest of one of our adversaries, but as I recall the world was deeply divided during the Cold War – between the side of freedom and the side of tyranny. The Cold War ended not because the world stood “as one,” but because the great democracies came together, bound together by sustained and decisive American leadership.

JOHN ROBERTS: It sounds like, according to terry, she's going to say all of the right things tonight.

DANA BASH: I don't think she has a choice. You know why? Because she has more lives to go, you know. I mean, she realizes that this is not it for her and she doesn't want it to be it for her. Regardless of what happens at the end of this election, that if she wants to continue to be a player that is respected and admired in the party, she's got to say the right things and do the right things. But, you know, don't expect her to say things like Barack Obama will be a great commander in chief or Barack Obama has a great healthcare plan. She can’t do that with a straight face.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's big speech on Thursday night will be delivered from an elaborate columned stage resembling a miniature Greek temple.

"Why are they clapping? Is he finished?"

More to follow...

Responding to a question about recent poll numbers that have the race a dead heat, Durbin said, "Over the last week, John McCain has had a 12-0 run in this basketball game."

Reports that Clinton was planning to ask her delegates to support Obama were greeted by some there with angry disbelief. "Have you heard it from her mouth? Have you? Have you? Did her campaign say it on the record?" demanded a woman in a black pro-Hillary t-shirt. "Yeah, I didn't think so," she said, and walked away.

Sen. Hillary Clinton, whose final argument to superdelegates in the last throes of her campaign was that she had won the popular vote, subtlety reminded reporters of that fact again on Monday.

"Remember: 18 million people voted for me - 18 million people, give or take, voted for Barack," Clinton said.

“His policies and ideas don’t deserve respect.”

Not surprisingly, the person who most often credits Barack Obama with taking political risks in order to pass important legislation is...Barack Obama.

Jonathan Martin: "He's pretty much a conventional liberal on the issues and has few examples of breaking with his own party, so how does Obama try to pull off being 'post-partisan?'"

Rep. Dan Boren (D-OK): "Boren, the lone Democrat in Oklahoma's congressional delegate, said that while Obama has talked about working with Republicans, 'unfortunately, his record does not reflect working in a bipartisan fashion.'"

Richard Cohen: "Obama might have a similar bottom line, core principles for which, in some sense, he is willing to die. If so, we don't know what they are."

There is, however, a candidate in this race with a long record of reaching across the aisle and taking on both parties in order to pass important legislation....

SEAN HANNITY: Would you consider voting for McCain?

LANNY DAVIS: You know I would consider voting for McCain on character and on the kind of human being he is because you know I know him and have a great admiration for him, I would sleep well at night.

The ad comes in response to an issue ad put up in Ohio and Michigan by an independent group unaffiliated with this campaign, though they apparently share our concern about Senator Obama's long association with a man whose only regret about setting bombs at U.S. military bases was that he wished he "would've done more." Contrary to Obama's attempts to tie this campaign to the ad, we had nothing to do with it, but we do welcome a discussion about how a candidate for president can find himself defending his relationship with an unrepentant terrorist in the middle of a general election campaign.]]> Mon, 25 Aug 2008 01:00:00 CDT "I respect his candidacy and I will always have admiration for what he has been able to achieve." Barack Obama on John McCain this morning at an event in Davenport, Iowa:

“His policies and ideas don’t deserve respect.”

He told a crowd today that Republicans will "try to scare the heck out of you about the Democratic nominee," and that he hopes to provide a better "sense of who I am" at this week's Democratic National Convention.

"I think you'll conclude that he's sort of like us: he comes form a middle class background. He went to school on scholarships. He had to pay off student loans," Obama added.

Beyond that, the rest of the states on the lower level are presumably the top-tier target states for Obama: IN, NM, FL, NV, IA and some smaller delegations. But they are also joined by some traditionally Democratic states like PA and MI. Given the extent to which the Obama campaign played up Biden’s Pennsylvania roots during the VP roll out, it’s not hard to imagine some real concern within the Obama campaign about their position there.

Conspicuously absent from the first level is Ohio. During the March 4 Ohio primary, Senator Obama managed to win only five of the state’s 88 counties. One would think that the Obama campaign would be doing whatever it can to bolster support in such a critical state, or maybe their priority is keeping a delegation of Hillary supporters as far from the stage as possible.

Also of note is the decision to relegate Missouri and North Carolina to the nose bleeds along with states like Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Tennessee, and Maryland--states Obama has no chance of winning or no chance of losing. And the worst seats in the house go to West Virginia, not that Obama is holding a grudge.]]> Sun, 24 Aug 2008 01:00:00 CDT ]]> Sun, 24 Aug 2008 01:00:00 CDT asks:

I wonder how much longer Obama gets to keep saying with a straight face that he is rejecting "the same old politics."

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell was supposed to give “closing remarks” during this afternoon’s Shorenstein Center-sponsored panel discussion with all three Sunday show moderators — NBC’s Tom Brokaw, ABC’s George Stephanopoulous and CBS’s Bob Schieffer — but instead, he opened up a can of worms about bias in 2008 election coverage.

"Ladies and gentleman, the coverage of Barack Obama was embarrassing," said Rendell, in the ballroom at Denver's Brown Palace Hotel. "It was embarrassing."...

“MSNBC was the official network of the Obama campaign," Rendell said.

People keep asking me if we're really going to announce Barack's VP directly to our supporters.

The answer is yes.

By all accounts, Hillary Clinton was not vetted for the second spot, nor was she consulted by the Obama campaign on who should be taken--not even as a courtesy. If she had been the pick, the 3 a.m. text message might have had some real resonance--a signal that the two had put a tough campaign behind them in order to work together on the serious issues the next administration will have to deal with.

But what's with holding the text message until 3 a.m. for Joe Biden? The only explanation that makes any sense is that Team Obama just couldn't resist one last dig at Hillary.

Why was Hillary Clinton passed over?

Author: JohnMcCaindotcom
Keywords: barack obama vice president announcement evan bayh chet edwards hillary clinton tim kaine joe biden john mccain presidential election campaign 2008 denver colorado johnmccaindotcom barackobamadotcom rezko scandal primary nomination ticket truth democrat democratic gop republican
Added: August 22, 2008

John McCain 08

Author: JohnMcCaindotcom
Keywords: debra hillary clinton supporter barack obama celeb celebrity painful taxes john mccain president presidential election campaign 2008 colorado johnmccaindotcom barackobamadotcom democrat democratic gop republican experience judgement delegate
Added: August 22, 2008

McCain 2008

Author: JohnMcCaindotcom
Keywords: barack obama three am hillary clinton phone call national security john mccain experience speech vice president announcement evan bayh chet edwards tim kaine joe biden presidential election campaign 2008 denver colorado johnmccaindotcom barackobamadotcom nomination ticket democrat democratic gop republican
Added: August 22, 2008

Go to http://www.youtube.com/johnmccaindotcom to watch more John McCain YouTube videos. You can receive the latest official YouTube videos from the McCain campaign by watching this video or going to http://www.youtube.com/johnmccaindotcom, logging on to your YouTube account, and clicking "Subscribe" just above the box where this message is displayed on the page. Subscribe today, and tell 10 of your friends to join you in subscribing. John McCain for President: http://www.JohnMcCain.com

Author: JohnMcCaindotcom
Keywords: barack obama vice president running mate announcement evan bayh chet edwards hillary clinton tim kaine joe biden john mccain presidential election campaign 2008 denver colorado johnmccaindotcom barackobamadotcom ready to lead leader george stephanopoulos debate on the job training primary nomination ticket democrat democratic gop republican experience leadership news new politics
Added: August 22, 2008

Joe Biden on Barack Obama.

Author: JohnMcCaindotcom
Keywords: barack obama vice president running mate announcement evan bayh chet edwards hillary clinton tim kaine joe biden john mccain presidential election campaign 2008 denver colorado johnmccaindotcom barackobamadotcom ready to lead leader george stephanopoulos debate on the job training primary nomination ticket democrat democratic gop republican
Added: August 22, 2008

Go to http://www.youtube.com/johnmccaindotcom to watch more John McCain YouTube videos. You can receive the latest official YouTube videos from the McCain campaign by watching this video or going to http://www.youtube.com/johnmccaindotcom, logging on to your YouTube account, and clicking "Subscribe" just above the box where this message is displayed on the page. Subscribe today, and tell 10 of your friends to join you in subscribing! John McCain for President: http://www.JohnMcCain.com

Author: JohnMcCaindotcom
Keywords: john mccain barack obama celeb celebrity taxes
Added: August 22, 2008

“If you talk to Warren [Buffet], he’ll tell you his preference is not to meddle in the economy at all — let the market work, however way it’s going to work, and then just tax the heck out of people at the end and just redistribute it,” Obama said. “That way you’re not impeding efficiency, and you’re achieving equity on the back end.”

• Does this represent an overall shift in strategy; do they have to find a new path to 270 electoral votes.

• Does this represent a sign of things to come in other states?

• Is the Obama campaign planning to close down offices in states they have initially targeted.

“For Barack Obama to compare Russia's aggression against our democratic allies in Georgia to the liberation of Iraq by U.S. and Coalition forces shows a lack of judgment and experience that is unacceptable in a potential commander in chief. Unfortunately, this is not the first time Barack Obama has implied that U.S. forces are operating in violation of international law--he accused American troops in Afghanistan of ‘just air-raiding villages and killing civilians'--but it does provide further proof that he does not have the judgment to be president.”

A few years ago, executives at the prestigious University of Chicago Medical Center were concerned that an increasing number of patients were arriving at their emergency room with what the executives considered to be non-urgent complaints. The visits were costly to the hospital, and many of the patients, coming from the surrounding South Side neighborhood, were poor and uninsured.

Michelle Obama, an executive at the medical center, launched an innovative program to steer the patients to existing neighborhood clinics to deal with their health needs.

That effort, in time, inspired a broader program the hospital now calls its Urban Health Initiative. To ensure community support, Michelle Obama and others in late 2006 recommended that the hospital hire the firm of David Axelrod, who a few months later became the chief strategist for Barack Obama's presidential campaign.

Axelrod's firm recommended an aggressive promotional effort modeled on a political campaign -- appoint a campaign manager, conduct focus groups, target messages to specific constituencies, then recruit religious leaders and other third-party "validators." They, in turn, would write and submit opinion pieces to Chicago publications.

Go to http://www.youtube.com/johnmccaindotcom to watch more John McCain YouTube videos. You can receive the latest official YouTube videos from the McCain campaign by watching this video or going to http://www.youtube.com/johnmccaindotcom, logging on to your YouTube account, and clicking "Subscribe" just above the box where this message is displayed on the page. Subscribe today, and tell 10 of your friends to join you in subscribing. John McCain for President: http://www.JohnMcCain.com

Author: JohnMcCaindotcom
Keywords: barack obama john mccain ad advertisement commercial fundraiser the one democrat