*** Official Barack Obama FBG campaign headquarters *** (5 Viewers)

[Jethro Q. Walrustitty]

BTW, is there an easy way to find Obama/Biden's campaign schedule? For instance, the wife and I were thinking of buzzing down to PA or over to OH sometime between now and then if they're going to be somewhere relatively close. Looking around their website (albeit briefly), I wasn't having much luck. TIA

 

[Bamboo Bill]

You have to give credit to McCain for upsetting the apple cart with the Palin pick. I doubt Obama / Biden have any idea how to handle this.

After today, it seems like they continue to focus on McCain and the issues at hand.

 

[Jethro Q. Walrustitty]

BTW, is there an easy way to find Obama/Biden's campaign schedule? For instance, the wife and I were thinking of buzzing down to PA or over to OH sometime between now and then if they're going to be somewhere relatively close. Looking around their website (albeit briefly), I wasn't having much luck. TIA

Trying to answer my own question, this is kind of cool: http://maps.google.com/help/maps/elections...ampaign%20stopsDoesn't reveal any upcoming stops for Obama though.

 

[Jethro Q. Walrustitty]

You have to give credit to McCain for upsetting the apple cart with the Palin pick. I doubt Obama / Biden have any idea how to handle this.

After today, it seems like they continue to focus on McCain and the issues at hand.

I'd like to think the Palin star will fade quickly, but I don't see that happening as long as the press keeps digging up stories. Obama/Biden can make her star shine a little less brightly by avoiding that nonsense and sticking to the issues, as you say.

 

[Bamboo Bill]

You have to give credit to McCain for upsetting the apple cart with the Palin pick. I doubt Obama / Biden have any idea how to handle this.

After today, it seems like they continue to focus on McCain and the issues at hand.

I'd like to think the Palin star will fade quickly, but I don't see that happening as long as the press keeps digging up stories. Obama/Biden can make her star shine a little less brightly by avoiding that nonsense and sticking to the issues, as you say.

Don't disagree. It's the same situation that McCain went through with pastorgate and all of the other low-lying issues thrown at Obama. McCain never had to say a word.

 

[Bamboo Bill]

GB Rachel Maddow. She is absolutely smacking down the repub talking points (what little there was) from the convention.

 

[Homer J Simpson]

GB Rachel Maddow. She is absolutely smacking down the repub talking points (what little there was) from the convention.

Only caught a few minutes of it, but she was doing some serious work.

 

[Bamboo Bill]

TERRE HAUTE, Ind.--Barack Obama turned up the heat on John McCain and Sarah Palin at a rally here Saturday afternoon, accusing McCain of being surrounded by lobbyists and engaging in "Karl Rove-style" politics and charging that Palin, as governor of Alaska, accepted federal pork "when convenient."

At an event held in a barn on Wabash Valley Fairgrounds, Obama employed the strongest language he's used since McCain and Palin formally accepted the GOP nomination for president and vice-president. He also accused them of hijacking his message of change.

"SInce the beginning of this campaign, we've talking about change," Obama said. "That's been the theme of this campaign. We must be onto something because I've noticed everybody's talking about change now. Everybody's talking about change."

"John McCain has said that, "change is coming." Now think about this. This is from the party that been in charge for eight years. They've been running the show." Obama said. "And suddenly, he's the change agent."

Then Obama opened a fresh line of attack, one he hasn't used recently on the trail.

"He says I'm going to tell those lobbyists that their days of running Washington are over. Who's he going to tell?" Obama said. "Is he going to tell his campaign chairman (Charlie Black), who's one of the biggest corporate lobbyists in Washington? Is he going to tell his campaign manager (Rick Davis), who was one of the biggest corporate lobbyists in Washington. Is he going to tell all the folks running his campaign who are the biggest corporate lobbyists in Washington?

"Who is he going to tell that change is coming?," he said. "I mean, come on, they must think you're stupid."

Both Black and Davis had lucrative careers as lobbyists before signing on with the McCain campaign. The Republican candidate has said that their background doesn't undercut his message of lobbying reform because both men have left the business.

"What are these guys talking about?" Obama said. "You think we haven't been paying attention for the last eight years?'

In Palin's case, Saturday marked the first time Obama has gone after her record directly. He cast her, like McCain, as a reformer only "when convenient," saying she had embraced earmarks earlier in her political career as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska and governor of that state.

"She's a skillful politician," Obama said of Palin, "but when you've been taking all these earmarks when it's convenient, and then suddenly, you're the champion anti-earmark person, that's not change. Come on. Words mean something. You can't just make stuff up."

Records have shown that Palin secured millions of earmarks for Wasilla as mayor. As governor, she just this year sent Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) a request for 31 earmarks totalling $197 million.

Last year, however, Palin stepped up her criticism of earmarks as the furor over the so-called "Bridge to Nowhere" in Alaska raged.

Obama also accused the McCain campaign of engaging in "Karl Rove-style" politics, which he defined as "about dividing people instead of bringing them together."

 

[Chunky Soup]

Why would the Republicans spend a whole night of their convention attacking ordinary people?

With the nation watching, the Republicans mocked, dismissed, and actually laughed out loud at Americans who engage in community service and organizing.

Our convention was different. We gave the stage to everyday Americans who hunger for change and stepped up to make phone calls, knock on doors, and raise money in small amounts in their communities.

You may have missed it, but we also showed the country a video with the faces and voices of those organizers, volunteers, and donors from every corner of the country.

Watch the video and make a donation of $25 or more now to show that in this election, ordinary people will make their voices heard.

Watch the video now

https://donate.barackobama.com/changevideo

What you didn't hear from the Republicans at their convention is a single new idea about how to make the healthcare system work, get our economy moving for the middle class, or improve education.

Just attacks -- on me, and on you.

But what the McCain attack squad doesn't understand is that people like you -- who devote part of their busy lives to organizing and building their communities -- have the power to change this country.

With your help, that's exactly what we're going to do.

Thank you,

Barack

Well done calling out the dismissive attitude toward community organization.

Can they do one email without asking for money?

No. And I can tell you the McCain campaign can not as well.

McCain emails? I thought he was passing around a hat asking people for money.

 

[Arsenal of Doom]

I thought this Gallup poll was really interesting:

Religion Remains Major Dividing Factor Among White Voters

Basically, if you are white and go to church regularly you are much more likely to vote for McCain. If you are white and don't attend church regularly you are much more likely to vote for Obama. Obama does appear to be doing slightly better with the "at least once a month" group than Kerry did in '04.

 

[Homer J Simpson]

I thought this Gallup poll was really interesting:

Religion Remains Major Dividing Factor Among White Voters

Basically, if you are white and go to church regularly you are much more likely to vote for McCain. If you are white and don't attend church regularly you are much more likely to vote for Obama. Obama does appear to be doing slightly better with the "at least once a month" group than Kerry did in '04.

*sigh*

 

[kaa]

It looks like John McCain will move ahead of Obama in the newest polls that will be coming out. Sigh. I have a bad feeling that McCain will never trail again.

 

[snitwitch]

I thought this Gallup poll was really interesting:

Religion Remains Major Dividing Factor Among White Voters

Basically, if you are white and go to church regularly you are much more likely to vote for McCain. If you are white and don't attend church regularly you are much more likely to vote for Obama. Obama does appear to be doing slightly better with the "at least once a month" group than Kerry did in '04.

*sigh*

Have faith, BHO and his minions have registered millions of new Democrats, and the GOTV operation will be the best in history. regardless of what the polls say.

 

[SHIZNITTTT]

It looks like McCain has pulled even.

 

[NCCommish]

Still a long way to go folks.

 

[Jethro Q. Walrustitty]

Apparently, Mr. Obama is a pedophile now.

Sex Ed for kindergartners? tsk tsk

 

[Fennis]

I heard this guy on NPR tonight and I couldn't agree more. The Obama campaign needs to start hitting back and hitting back hard or they will lose the election

Too Cool to Fight?

By Richard Cohen

Tuesday, September 9, 2008; A23

Thank God for Sarah Palin. Without her jibes, her sarcasm, her exaggerations, her smug provincialism, her hypocrisy about family and government, her exploitation of mommyhood, and her personal attacks on Barack Obama, the Democratic base might never be consolidated. This much is certain: Obama could never do it.

Not, anyway, the Obama who appeared Sunday on ABC's "This Week" with George Stephanopoulos. That Obama was cool, diffident, above it all -- unflustered, unflappable, unexcitable and downright unexciting. These "uns" ran on, a torrent of cool that frosted my flat-panel TV and had me wondering if, as a kid, Obama ever got a shot in the mouth on the playground, he'd glare at the bully -- and convene a meeting.

Stephanopoulos vainly tried for some genuine reaction. In choosing Palin, did John McCain get someone who met the minimum test of being "capable of being president"? Everyone in America knows the answer to that. They know McCain picked someone so unqualified she has been hiding from the media because a question to her is like kryptonite to what's-his-name. But did Obama say anything like that? Here are his exact words: "Well, you know, I'll let you ask John McCain when he's on ABC." Boy, Palin will never get over that.

And how about this silly business that she's qualified for the presidency because she's commander in chief of the Alaska National Guard? Another softball. Another slow one, right down the middle. Obama reared back . . . and told Stephanopoulos that those questions should come from the media: "It's going to be your job and. . . ." Pathetic.

What Obama does not understand is that he is being Swift-boated. The term does not apply to a mere smear. It is bolder, more outrageous than that. It means going straight at your opponent's strength and maligning it. This is what was done in 2004 to John Kerry, who had commanded a Swift boat in Vietnam. Kerry had won three Purple Hearts, a Silver Star and a Bronze Star and emerged from the war a certified hero. It was that record that his opponents attacked, a tactic Kerry thought so ludicrous that he at first ignored it. The record shows that he lost the election.Now Obama's opponents are going straight for his strength. At least twice at the GOP convention, speakers mocked Obama's service as a community organizer. "He worked as a community organizer," Rudy Giuliani said. "He immersed himself in Chicago machine politics."

And then Palin herself followed up with one of her aw-shucks low blows: "I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities."

In the biographies of both presidential candidates are episodes of pure wonderment. No man can read about McCain's time as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam and not wonder, "Could I do that?" For most of us, the answer -- the truthful answer -- is no.

For Obama, that episode has nothing to do with physical courage but much to do with moral commitment. At age 22 -- a graduate of Columbia University and already making good money as a financial researcher, he walked away to work with the unemployed and alienated in Chicago. Obama, who later went to Harvard Law School, knew precisely what a valuable commodity he was and how much money he could have made. He turned away from all that -- or, at least, postponed it, and not because community organizing was the route to political success. (Just name one.) Once again, ask yourself if you would have done it.

So, Stephanopoulos asked, what was Obama thinking when Giuliani mocked him for doing something Giuliani -- the most ambitious of men -- would never have done?

"It's a real puzzling thing," Obama said matter-of-factly. And then he went on to recount his experience as a community organizer, ending with the observation that "I would think that that's an area where Democrats and Republicans would agree."

Oy!

It is true that on the stump, Obama goes on the attack. But those are fragments -- maybe 15 seconds on the evening news. It is with extended interviews, such as the Sunday shows, that we get to visit with the man -- and that man, for all his splendid virtues, seems to lack fight. Maybe he's worried about how America would receive an angry black man or maybe he's just too cool to ever get hot, but the result is that we have little insight into his passions: What, above all, does he care about? The answer, at least to the Sunday TV viewer, was nothing much.

 

[SHIZNITTTT]

Apparently, Mr. Obama is a pedophile now.

Sex Ed for kindergartners? tsk tsk

not remotely funny

seriously bad taste

McCain would punch you in the face for that comment about Obama if he could raise his arm high enough.

 

[SHIZNITTTT]

I heard this guy on NPR tonight and I couldn't agree more. The Obama campaign needs to start hitting back and hitting back hard or they will lose the election

Too Cool to Fight?

By Richard Cohen

Tuesday, September 9, 2008; A23

Thank God for Sarah Palin. Without her jibes, her sarcasm, her exaggerations, her smug provincialism, her hypocrisy about family and government, her exploitation of mommyhood, and her personal attacks on Barack Obama, the Democratic base might never be consolidated. This much is certain: Obama could never do it.

Not, anyway, the Obama who appeared Sunday on ABC's "This Week" with George Stephanopoulos. That Obama was cool, diffident, above it all -- unflustered, unflappable, unexcitable and downright unexciting. These "uns" ran on, a torrent of cool that frosted my flat-panel TV and had me wondering if, as a kid, Obama ever got a shot in the mouth on the playground, he'd glare at the bully -- and convene a meeting.

Stephanopoulos vainly tried for some genuine reaction. In choosing Palin, did John McCain get someone who met the minimum test of being "capable of being president"? Everyone in America knows the answer to that. They know McCain picked someone so unqualified she has been hiding from the media because a question to her is like kryptonite to what's-his-name. But did Obama say anything like that? Here are his exact words: "Well, you know, I'll let you ask John McCain when he's on ABC." Boy, Palin will never get over that.

And how about this silly business that she's qualified for the presidency because she's commander in chief of the Alaska National Guard? Another softball. Another slow one, right down the middle. Obama reared back . . . and told Stephanopoulos that those questions should come from the media: "It's going to be your job and. . . ." Pathetic.

What Obama does not understand is that he is being Swift-boated. The term does not apply to a mere smear. It is bolder, more outrageous than that. It means going straight at your opponent's strength and maligning it. This is what was done in 2004 to John Kerry, who had commanded a Swift boat in Vietnam. Kerry had won three Purple Hearts, a Silver Star and a Bronze Star and emerged from the war a certified hero. It was that record that his opponents attacked, a tactic Kerry thought so ludicrous that he at first ignored it. The record shows that he lost the election.Now Obama's opponents are going straight for his strength. At least twice at the GOP convention, speakers mocked Obama's service as a community organizer. "He worked as a community organizer," Rudy Giuliani said. "He immersed himself in Chicago machine politics."

And then Palin herself followed up with one of her aw-shucks low blows: "I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities."

In the biographies of both presidential candidates are episodes of pure wonderment. No man can read about McCain's time as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam and not wonder, "Could I do that?" For most of us, the answer -- the truthful answer -- is no.

For Obama, that episode has nothing to do with physical courage but much to do with moral commitment. At age 22 -- a graduate of Columbia University and already making good money as a financial researcher, he walked away to work with the unemployed and alienated in Chicago. Obama, who later went to Harvard Law School, knew precisely what a valuable commodity he was and how much money he could have made. He turned away from all that -- or, at least, postponed it, and not because community organizing was the route to political success. (Just name one.) Once again, ask yourself if you would have done it.

So, Stephanopoulos asked, what was Obama thinking when Giuliani mocked him for doing something Giuliani -- the most ambitious of men -- would never have done?

"It's a real puzzling thing," Obama said matter-of-factly. And then he went on to recount his experience as a community organizer, ending with the observation that "I would think that that's an area where Democrats and Republicans would agree."

Oy!

It is true that on the stump, Obama goes on the attack. But those are fragments -- maybe 15 seconds on the evening news. It is with extended interviews, such as the Sunday shows, that we get to visit with the man -- and that man, for all his splendid virtues, seems to lack fight. Maybe he's worried about how America would receive an angry black man or maybe he's just too cool to ever get hot, but the result is that we have little insight into his passions: What, above all, does he care about? The answer, at least to the Sunday TV viewer, was nothing much.

Is the party so divided that Carville, Clinton and Clinton, and Biden cannot attack the RNC? I don't get it, and at this point I am hoping for something to come out of the DNC quickly to counter this attack from the RNC.It is still a long way to go, and maybe the DNC knows that it is better to let the McCain camp run out of steam early, and catch them closer to the finish line?

Damn you Karl Rove for being so good! lol

 

[Fennis]

Apparently, Mr. Obama is a pedophile now.

Sex Ed for kindergartners? tsk tsk

not remotely funny

seriously bad taste

McCain would punch you in the face for that comment about Obama if he could raise his arm high enough.

Thats the type of thing that Jethro posted that I mean. You take the record, greatly distort and and then attack with it. Until Dems learn to do they will continue to lose presidential elections. WHile this response is fine, IMO they should go on the offensive with everything and anything. Not a defenisve response below:

Obama spokesman Bill Burton said Tuesday of McCain's ad: "It is shameful and downright perverse for the McCain campaign to use a bill that was written to protect young children from sexual predators as a recycled and discredited political attack against a father of two young girls."

 

[shining path]

Apparently, Mr. Obama is a pedophile now.

Sex Ed for kindergartners? tsk tsk

not remotely funny

seriously bad taste

McCain would punch you in the face for that comment about Obama if he could raise his arm high enough.

Jethro's post wasn't an attack on Obama. It was an attack on the people attacking Obama.

 

[Jethro Q. Walrustitty]

Is the party so divided that Carville, Clinton and Clinton, and Biden cannot attack the RNC? I don't get it, and at this point I am hoping for something to come out of the DNC quickly to counter this attack from the RNC.

It is still a long way to go, and maybe the DNC knows that it is better to let the McCain camp run out of steam early, and catch them closer to the finish line?

Damn you Karl Rove for being so good! lol

I think this has been the plan all along, and I still think it's a good one. As we see from the "pig" comment tonight, the Republicans are waiting to pounce on anything that might be remotely sexist or demeaning to poor lil' Sarah. There's really no avoiding those tactics, and if it gets them to the White House, there's not really a lot you can do about it. I figure anyone who is affected by a comment like that is someone who was going to vote against Obama in the first place.America got a little tired of Obama through the Democratic primary, and then was presented with a new superstar in Palin. I suspect that sheen will wear off in the next month or so as well, and we might finally get down to the issues. Everyone seems to be panicking, except Obama and those close to him, and I think - at this point at least - that's the way to go.

With Obama still running tied or in the lead in states like Virginia, Colorado, and Ohio - even after McCain's post-convention bounce - you've got to figure, barring a disaster, he's set up pretty well going into the final 2 months. If he really starts slipping in those states and democratic "leaners" like Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, etc., he'll have no choice but to go on the offensive.

 

[Fennis]

Apparently, Mr. Obama is a pedophile now.

Sex Ed for kindergartners? tsk tsk

not remotely funny

seriously bad taste

McCain would punch you in the face for that comment about Obama if he could raise his arm high enough.

Jethro's post wasn't an attack on Obama. It was an attack on the people attacking Obama.

Are you attacking the guy who was attacking the guy who was attacking the people attacking Obama?

 

[shining path]

Apparently, Mr. Obama is a pedophile now.

Sex Ed for kindergartners? tsk tsk

not remotely funny

seriously bad taste

McCain would punch you in the face for that comment about Obama if he could raise his arm high enough.

Jethro's post wasn't an attack on Obama. It was an attack on the people attacking Obama.

Are you attacking the guy who was attacking the guy who was attacking the people attacking Obama?

What do you mean, 'you people'?

 

[Fennis]

Apparently, Mr. Obama is a pedophile now.

Sex Ed for kindergartners? tsk tsk

not remotely funny

seriously bad taste

McCain would punch you in the face for that comment about Obama if he could raise his arm high enough.

Jethro's post wasn't an attack on Obama. It was an attack on the people attacking Obama.

Are you attacking the guy who was attacking the guy who was attacking the people attacking Obama?

What do you mean, 'you people'?

What do you mean 'pig with lipstick'?

 

[Jethro Q. Walrustitty]

Apparently, Mr. Obama is a pedophile now.

Sex Ed for kindergartners? tsk tsk

not remotely funny

seriously bad taste

McCain would punch you in the face for that comment about Obama if he could raise his arm high enough.

Jethro's post wasn't an attack on Obama. It was an attack on the people attacking Obama.

Are you attacking the guy who was attacking the guy who was attacking the people attacking Obama?

What do you mean, 'you people'?

What do you mean 'pig with lipstick'?

Wait, did you just call me the "C" word?

 

[shining path]

Apparently, Mr. Obama is a pedophile now.

Sex Ed for kindergartners? tsk tsk

not remotely funny

seriously bad taste

McCain would punch you in the face for that comment about Obama if he could raise his arm high enough.

Jethro's post wasn't an attack on Obama. It was an attack on the people attacking Obama.

Are you attacking the guy who was attacking the guy who was attacking the people attacking Obama?

What do you mean, 'you people'?

What do you mean 'pig with lipstick'?

Wait, did you just call me the "C" word?

Talking about my mom, huh?:getsinJethro'sface:

 

[Jethro Q. Walrustitty]

Apparently, Mr. Obama is a pedophile now.

Sex Ed for kindergartners? tsk tsk

not remotely funny

seriously bad taste

McCain would punch you in the face for that comment about Obama if he could raise his arm high enough.

Jethro's post wasn't an attack on Obama. It was an attack on the people attacking Obama.

Are you attacking the guy who was attacking the guy who was attacking the people attacking Obama?

What do you mean, 'you people'?

What do you mean 'pig with lipstick'?

Wait, did you just call me the "C" word?

Talking about my mom, huh?:getsinJethro'sface:

Wait. What?

 

[tommyGunZ]

Is the party so divided that Carville, Clinton and Clinton, and Biden cannot attack the RNC? I don't get it, and at this point I am hoping for something to come out of the DNC quickly to counter this attack from the RNC.

It is still a long way to go, and maybe the DNC knows that it is better to let the McCain camp run out of steam early, and catch them closer to the finish line?

Damn you Karl Rove for being so good! lol

I think this has been the plan all along, and I still think it's a good one. As we see from the "pig" comment tonight, the Republicans are waiting to pounce on anything that might be remotely sexist or demeaning to poor lil' Sarah. There's really no avoiding those tactics, and if it gets them to the White House, there's not really a lot you can do about it. I figure anyone who is affected by a comment like that is someone who was going to vote against Obama in the first place.America got a little tired of Obama through the Democratic primary, and then was presented with a new superstar in Palin. I suspect that sheen will wear off in the next month or so as well, and we might finally get down to the issues. Everyone seems to be panicking, except Obama and those close to him, and I think - at this point at least - that's the way to go.

With Obama still running tied or in the lead in states like Virginia, Colorado, and Ohio - even after McCain's post-convention bounce - you've got to figure, barring a disaster, he's set up pretty well going into the final 2 months. If he really starts slipping in those states and democratic "leaners" like Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, etc., he'll have no choice but to go on the offensive.

I think this is spot on. I think the Obama camp is quietly confident that they're taking the best punch McCain has, and the momentum will change one Palin is exposed. Let Palin have a few interviews and attempt to explain away her record which is very much at odds with her campaign rhetoric. Then let Biden pounce on her for talking out of both sides of her mouth.Seriously, how does anyone with half a brain fall for the crap the GOP is selling? The transformation from Experience to Change is ridiculously transparent. I expect some of the slow folks on the right to fall for it, but I'm surprised that some of the guys I consider more thoughtful from the right aren't nauseated by this crap.

 

[Jethro Q. Walrustitty]

Is the party so divided that Carville, Clinton and Clinton, and Biden cannot attack the RNC? I don't get it, and at this point I am hoping for something to come out of the DNC quickly to counter this attack from the RNC.

It is still a long way to go, and maybe the DNC knows that it is better to let the McCain camp run out of steam early, and catch them closer to the finish line?

Damn you Karl Rove for being so good! lol

I think this has been the plan all along, and I still think it's a good one. As we see from the "pig" comment tonight, the Republicans are waiting to pounce on anything that might be remotely sexist or demeaning to poor lil' Sarah. There's really no avoiding those tactics, and if it gets them to the White House, there's not really a lot you can do about it. I figure anyone who is affected by a comment like that is someone who was going to vote against Obama in the first place.America got a little tired of Obama through the Democratic primary, and then was presented with a new superstar in Palin. I suspect that sheen will wear off in the next month or so as well, and we might finally get down to the issues. Everyone seems to be panicking, except Obama and those close to him, and I think - at this point at least - that's the way to go.

With Obama still running tied or in the lead in states like Virginia, Colorado, and Ohio - even after McCain's post-convention bounce - you've got to figure, barring a disaster, he's set up pretty well going into the final 2 months. If he really starts slipping in those states and democratic "leaners" like Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, etc., he'll have no choice but to go on the offensive.

I think this is spot on. I think the Obama camp is quietly confident that they're taking the best punch McCain has, and the momentum will change one Palin is exposed. Let Palin have a few interviews and attempt to explain away her record which is very much at odds with her campaign rhetoric. Then let Biden pounce on her for talking out of both sides of her mouth.Seriously, how does anyone with half a brain fall for the crap the GOP is selling? The transformation from Experience to Change is ridiculously transparent. I expect some of the slow folks on the right to fall for it, but I'm surprised that some of the guys I consider more thoughtful from the right aren't nauseated by this crap.

In the end, the real difference maker will be the mantra we Dems like to recite every election: THIS election, the uncounted droves of young people and minorities will get out there and vote like never before. Gore hoped for it, Kerry relied on it. In both cases, they were let down for the most part. At the risk of deluding myself again, I think Obama has an appeal that neither Kerry nor Gore had. In addition to being a black man, he's a truly inspirational and motivational person. If he can avoid being pulled down into the muck, I think he could truly draw these normally unreliable voters out en masse. If that happens, it won't be close.

 

[shining path]

Apparently, Mr. Obama is a pedophile now.

Sex Ed for kindergartners? tsk tsk

not remotely funny

seriously bad taste

McCain would punch you in the face for that comment about Obama if he could raise his arm high enough.

Jethro's post wasn't an attack on Obama. It was an attack on the people attacking Obama.

Are you attacking the guy who was attacking the guy who was attacking the people attacking Obama?

What do you mean, 'you people'?

What do you mean 'pig with lipstick'?

Wait, did you just call me the "C" word?

Talking about my mom, huh?:getsinJethro'sface:

Wait. What?

Just kidding around.

 

[tommyGunZ]

Apparently, Mr. Obama is a pedophile now.

Sex Ed for kindergartners? tsk tsk

not remotely funny

seriously bad taste

McCain would punch you in the face for that comment about Obama if he could raise his arm high enough.

Jethro's post wasn't an attack on Obama. It was an attack on the people attacking Obama.

Are you attacking the guy who was attacking the guy who was attacking the people attacking Obama?

What do you mean, 'you people'?

What do you mean 'pig with lipstick'?

Wait, did you just call me the "C" word?

Talking about my mom, huh?:getsinJethro'sface:

Wait. What?

Just kidding around.

stop ####### around SP - this is SERIOUS BIDNESSSS!

 

[Fennis]

Apparently, Mr. Obama is a pedophile now.

Sex Ed for kindergartners? tsk tsk

not remotely funny

seriously bad taste

McCain would punch you in the face for that comment about Obama if he could raise his arm high enough.

Jethro's post wasn't an attack on Obama. It was an attack on the people attacking Obama.

Are you attacking the guy who was attacking the guy who was attacking the people attacking Obama?

What do you mean, 'you people'?

What do you mean 'pig with lipstick'?

Wait, did you just call me the "C" word?

Talking about my mom, huh?:getsinJethro'sface:

Wait. What?

Just kidding around.

What a trallop.

 

[Jethro Q. Walrustitty]

Can someone explain to me why Biden would say something like this:

Hillary might've been a better VP pick, so says Obama's VP pick

 

[Statorama]

Obama is going to be on David Letterman tonight. From the small clip they showed on Larry King, he seemed very engaging

 

[jojometal]

I don't see things going very well for the Obama campaign at the moment. I hope they can get their stuff together and make a fight of this... it's really boring with all the nitpicky fake outrage. I'll likely be voting McCain come November, but the way they're running this campaign with the sexist and "poor Palin" routine... it's frustrating.

I'd rather they just schedule some debates and get this show on the road already.

 

[Jethro Q. Walrustitty]

Wow, I haven't watched Letterman in years, but he's really not funny anymore.

 

[Homer J Simpson]

Barack's been saying the same things about race for the last 14 years. Interesting interview from 1994 regarding The Bell Curve.

NPR

October 28, 1994

SHOW: All Things Considered (NPR 4:30 pm ET)

Charles Murray's Political Expediency Denounced

BYLINE: BARACK OBAMA

SECTION: News; Domestic

LENGTH: 635 words

HIGHLIGHT: Commentator Barack Obama finds that Charles Murray, author of the controversial "The Bell Curve," demonstrates not scientific expertise but spurious political motivation in his conclusions about race and IQ.

BARACK OBAMA, Commentator: Charles Murray is inviting American down a dangerous path.

NOAH ADAMS, Host: Civil rights lawyer, Barack Obama.

Mr. OBAMA: The idea that inferior genes account for the problems of the poor in general, and blacks in particular, isn't new, of course. Racial supremacists have been using IQ tests to support their theories since the turn of the century. The arguments against such dubious science aren't new either. Scientists have repeatedly told us that genes don't vary much from one race to another, and psychologists have pointed out the role that language and other cultural barriers can play in depressing minority test scores, and no one disputes that children whose mothers smoke crack when they're pregnant are going to have developmental problems.

Now, it shouldn't take a genius to figure out that with early intervention such problems can be prevented. But Mr. Murray isn't interested in prevention. He's interested in pushing a very particular policy agenda, specifically, the elimination of affirmative action and welfare programs aimed at the poor. With one finger out to the political wind, Mr. Murray has apparently decided that white America is ready for a return to good old-fashioned racism so long as it's artfully packaged and can admit for exceptions like Colin Powell. It's easy to see the basis for Mr. Murray's calculations. After watching their income stagnate or decline over the past decade, the majority of Americans are in an ugly mood and deeply resent any advantages, realor perceived, that minorities may enjoy.

I happen to think Mr. Murray's wrong, not just in his estimation of black people, but in his estimation of the broader American public. But I do think Mr. Murray's right about the growing distance between the races. The violence and despair of the inner city are real. So's the problem of street crime. The longer we allow these problems to fester, the easier it becomes for white America to see all blacks as menacing and for black America to see all whites as racist. To close that gap, we're going to have to do more than denounce Mr. Murray's book. We're going to have to take concrete and deliberate action. For blacks, that means taking greater responsibility for the state of our own communities. Too many of us use white racism as an excuse for self-defeating behavior. Too many of our young people think education is a white thing and that the values of hard work and discipline andself-respect are somehow outdated.

That being said, it's time for all of us, and now I'm talking about the larger American community, to acknowledge that we've never even come close to providing equal opportunity to the majority of black children. Real opportunity would mean quality prenatal care for all women and well-funded and innovative public schools for all children. Real opportunity would mean a job at a living wage for everyone who was willing to work, jobs that can return some structure and dignity to people's lives and give inner-city children something more than a basketball rim to shoot for. In the short run, such ladders of opportunity are going to cost more, not less, than either welfare or affirmative action. But, in the long run, our investment should payoff handsomely. That we fail to make this investment is just plain stupid. It's not the result of an intellectual deficit. It's theresult of a moral deficit.

ADAMS: Barack Obama is a civil rights lawyer and writer. He lives in Chicago.

 

[Fennis]

Barack's been saying the same things about race for the last 14 years. Interesting interview from 1994 regarding The Bell Curve.

NPR

October 28, 1994

SHOW: All Things Considered (NPR 4:30 pm ET)

Charles Murray's Political Expediency Denounced

BYLINE: BARACK OBAMA

SECTION: News; Domestic

LENGTH: 635 words

HIGHLIGHT: Commentator Barack Obama finds that Charles Murray, author of the controversial "The Bell Curve," demonstrates not scientific expertise but spurious political motivation in his conclusions about race and IQ.

BARACK OBAMA, Commentator: Charles Murray is inviting American down a dangerous path.

NOAH ADAMS, Host: Civil rights lawyer, Barack Obama.

Mr. OBAMA: The idea that inferior genes account for the problems of the poor in general, and blacks in particular, isn't new, of course. Racial supremacists have been using IQ tests to support their theories since the turn of the century. The arguments against such dubious science aren't new either. Scientists have repeatedly told us that genes don't vary much from one race to another, and psychologists have pointed out the role that language and other cultural barriers can play in depressing minority test scores, and no one disputes that children whose mothers smoke crack when they're pregnant are going to have developmental problems.

Now, it shouldn't take a genius to figure out that with early intervention such problems can be prevented. But Mr. Murray isn't interested in prevention. He's interested in pushing a very particular policy agenda, specifically, the elimination of affirmative action and welfare programs aimed at the poor. With one finger out to the political wind, Mr. Murray has apparently decided that white America is ready for a return to good old-fashioned racism so long as it's artfully packaged and can admit for exceptions like Colin Powell. It's easy to see the basis for Mr. Murray's calculations. After watching their income stagnate or decline over the past decade, the majority of Americans are in an ugly mood and deeply resent any advantages, realor perceived, that minorities may enjoy.

I happen to think Mr. Murray's wrong, not just in his estimation of black people, but in his estimation of the broader American public. But I do think Mr. Murray's right about the growing distance between the races. The violence and despair of the inner city are real. So's the problem of street crime. The longer we allow these problems to fester, the easier it becomes for white America to see all blacks as menacing and for black America to see all whites as racist. To close that gap, we're going to have to do more than denounce Mr. Murray's book. We're going to have to take concrete and deliberate action. For blacks, that means taking greater responsibility for the state of our own communities. Too many of us use white racism as an excuse for self-defeating behavior. Too many of our young people think education is a white thing and that the values of hard work and discipline andself-respect are somehow outdated.

That being said, it's time for all of us, and now I'm talking about the larger American community, to acknowledge that we've never even come close to providing equal opportunity to the majority of black children. Real opportunity would mean quality prenatal care for all women and well-funded and innovative public schools for all children. Real opportunity would mean a job at a living wage for everyone who was willing to work, jobs that can return some structure and dignity to people's lives and give inner-city children something more than a basketball rim to shoot for. In the short run, such ladders of opportunity are going to cost more, not less, than either welfare or affirmative action. But, in the long run, our investment should payoff handsomely. That we fail to make this investment is just plain stupid. It's not the result of an intellectual deficit. It's theresult of a moral deficit.

ADAMS: Barack Obama is a civil rights lawyer and writer. He lives in Chicago.

Good stuff, thanks for posting it.

 

[Kumerica]

For those that missed it, Senator Obama on Letterman, Wednesday night. It's pretty solid.

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

 

[Fennis]

Obama is no Kerry! Glad to see this article.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/12/us/polit...amp;oref=slogin

Obama Plans Sharper Tone as Party Frets

By ADAM NAGOURNEY and JEFF ZELENY

Published: September 11, 2008

Senator Barack Obama will intensify his assault against Senator John McCain, with new television advertisements and more forceful attacks by the candidate and surrogates beginning Friday morning, as he confronts an invigorated Republican presidential ticket and increasing nervousness in the Democratic ranks.

Mr. McCain’s choice of Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska as his running mate and the resulting jolt of energy among Republican voters appear to have caught Mr. Obama and his advisers by surprise and added to concern among some Democrats that the Obama campaign was not pushing back hard enough against Republican attacks in a critical phase of the race.

Some Democrats said Mr. Obama needed to move to seize control of the campaign and to block Mr. McCain from snatching away from him the message that he was the best hope to bring change to Washington.

After back-to-back attack ads by Mr. McCain, including one that misleadingly accused Mr. Obama of endorsing sex education for kindergarten students, the Obama campaign is planning to sharpen attacks on Mr. McCain and Ms. Palin in an effort to counter Mr. McCain’s attempt to present himself as the candidate of change with his choice of Ms. Palin.

The new tone is to be presented in a speech by Mr. Obama in New Hampshire and in television interviews with local stations in five swing states, backed up by new advertisements and appearances across the country by supporters.

In addition, advertising themes will be pay equity for women, an issue that has particular resonance as the campaigns battle for female voters, and a more pointed linking of Mr. McCain to President Bush and Republicans in Washington.

But Mr. Obama’s aides said they were confident with the course of the campaign. They said that, other than making some shifts around the edges, particularly in response to Mr. McCain’s effort to seize the change issue from Mr. Obama, they were not planning any major deviation from a strategy that called for a steady escalation of attacks on Mr. McCain as the race heads toward the debates.

That response is characteristic for a campaign that has presented itself as disciplined and unflappable and is reminiscent of the way Mr. Obama’s campaign reacted a year ago when it came under fire from allies who said it was not being tough enough in going after Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

“We’re sensitive to the fluid dynamics of the campaign, but we have a game plan and a strategy,” said Mr. Obama’s campaign manager, David Plouffe. “We’re familiar with this. And I’m sure between now and Nov. 4 there will be another period of hand-wringing and bed-wetting. It comes with the territory.”

Still, Democrats outside the campaign suggested Mr. Obama should be urgently working to regain control of the message.

“The Obama message has been disrupted in the last week,” said Representative Artur Davis, Democrat of Alabama. “It’s a time for Democrats to focus on what the fundamentals are in this election.”

Phil Singer, who was a press secretary for Mrs. Clinton in her primary campaign against Mr. Obama, said, “The Obama people need to reboot and figure out ways to make the McCain-Bush argument newsworthy again.”

The uneasiness among Democrats is the result of a confluence of factors in the week since Mr. McCain accepted his party’s nomination in St. Paul. The selection of Ms. Palin became the defining event of Mr. McCain’s convention, revving up the conservative base and drawing the spotlight away from Mr. Obama.

Mr. McCain’s increasingly aggressive campaign has sought to put Mr. Obama on the defensive in each news cycle, using any development at hand, like Mr. Obama’s colloquial comment this week about putting “lipstick on a pig,” to keep attention away from Democratic messages about the economy and the similarities between Mr. McCain and Mr. Bush.

And a series of quick polls taken after the Republican convention have suggested that Mr. Obama has lost support among white women and independent voters. Polls taken so close to major political events are notoriously unreliable, but Democrats remember what happened in 2004, when Republicans used the period right after Senator John Kerry’s nomination to undercut him with a series of attacks.

By every indication, Mr. Obama’s aides underestimated the impact that Mr. McCain’s choice of Ms. Palin would have on the race. Mr. Obama and his campaign have seemed flummoxed in trying to figure out how to deal with her. His aides said they were looking to the news media to debunk the image of her as a blue-collar reformer, even as they argued that her power to help Mr. McCain was overstated.

“Everyone was astonished that she drew 9,000 people to Lancaster the other night,” said Mr. Obama’s senior strategist, David Axelrod. “But we drew 10,000 people there last week.”

“They got a transient boost from the sort of imagery surrounding her selection,” Mr. Axelrod said. “But I think things will settle in. She will be a candidate and not just a symbol.”

Beyond that, Mr. Obama’s aides said they had been taken aback by the newfound aggressiveness of the McCain campaign under Steve Schmidt, who has played an increasingly powerful role since last summer. Even as the aides have denounced the tactics as unsavory, they acknowledge that Mr. McCain is running a more effective campaign than he was a month ago.

“They had big problems in their campaign, and they made adjustments,” Mr. Axelrod said.

To a large extent, the perception that Mr. Obama is struggling is based on national polls taken in the days after the convention. But Mr. Obama’s campaign views such measures as irrelevant and focuses on what is going on in the 18 or so swing states.

Mr. Plouffe argued that the attention being paid by national news media outlets to events like Mr. Obama’s lipstick comment was not mirrored in local news coverage. What is more, the Obama campaign has filled the airwaves in some states with advertisements that link Mr. McCain and Mr. Bush.

And for all the concern voiced by Democrats to Mr. Obama’s aides that the candidate has not hit Mr. McCain hard enough, he has increasingly assailed Mr. McCain in recent days, mocking his attempt to present himself as an agent of change and denouncing his campaign style as a break from the promise he had made to practice a new kind of politics. Yet, at least on television, Mr. Obama’s critique did not break through the lipstick debate.

Inside the campaign headquarters in Chicago, aides said, there have been no emergency conference calls or special strategy sessions to deal with the new dynamic in the race.

Still, interviews with advisers and supporters suggested a concern not seen in the Obama campaign since its most competitive days in the long primary fight with Mrs. Clinton.

“You can’t be so stubborn that you don’t react or adjust to events,” Mr. Plouffe said. “We have been given up for dead any number of times in this process, so it does stiffen your spine a little bit.”

One adjustment for the Obama campaign comes as Mr. McCain is seeking to claim the Democrats’ theme of change by pointing to Ms. Palin. For months, advisers to Mr. Obama had assumed that Mr. McCain would play up his experience; Mr. Plouffe said he welcomed what he argued would be a campaign fought out on the issue of change.

“This is a very major development,” Mr. Plouffe said. “John McCain jettisoned his message and his strategy. It is now about change. We’re going to lean into that very, very hard.”

In the midst of all this, Mr. Obama had a private lunch on Thursday with someone he battled with for much of the year but who knows how to put the Republicans on the defensive: former President Bill Clinton. Discussion topics, aides said, included how Mr. Obama might handle Ms. Palin in the days ahead.

 

[Kumerica]

Obama is no Kerry! Glad to see this article.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/12/us/polit...amp;oref=slogin

Obama Plans Sharper Tone as Party Frets

By ADAM NAGOURNEY and JEFF ZELENY

Published: September 11, 2008

Senator Barack Obama will intensify his assault against Senator John McCain, with new television advertisements and more forceful attacks by the candidate and surrogates beginning Friday morning, as he confronts an invigorated Republican presidential ticket and increasing nervousness in the Democratic ranks.

I honestly wish he'd just attack and not announce his plans to the press.

 

[Smeagol]

I don't know where to post this, so I'll do it here. Might be a honda but still a pretty good ownage.

Link

 

[Clayton Gray]

For those that missed it, Senator Obama on Letterman, Wednesday night. It's pretty solid.

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

Going to Disneyworld and taking his kid to school...so elitist.

 

[Clayton Gray]

The No Talk Express

John McCain: In the past 29 days, 1 hours, 59 minutes, and 42 seconds:

Total town halls: 1

Total press conferences: 0

Palin: Selected 13 days, 23 hours, 13 minutes, and 14 seconds ago:

Total interviews: 1

Total press conferences: 0

 

[Chunky Soup]

Seriously, how does anyone with half a brain fall for the crap the GOP is selling? The transformation from Experience to Change is ridiculously transparent. I expect some of the slow folks on the right to fall for it, but I'm surprised that some of the guys I consider more thoughtful from the right aren't nauseated by this crap.

You're really underestimating America here.

 

[adonis]

The No Talk ExpressJohn McCain: In the past 29 days, 1 hours, 59 minutes, and 42 seconds:Total town halls: 1Total press conferences: 0Palin: Selected 13 days, 23 hours, 13 minutes, and 14 seconds ago:Total interviews: 1Total press conferences: 0

That's what you call, media shutdown. They're scrambling for talking points, to prep McCain and Palin on the issues, to figure out how to respond to criticisms. They don't have answers. They simply don't.Repeating the inane comments about how close Alaska is to Russia, with regards to foreign policy understanding, just goes to show you how clueless they are to deal with the questions they know they'll be bombarded with.

 

[NorvilleBarnes]

The newest ad showcasing their hard line includes unflattering footage of McCain at a hearing in the early '80s, wearing giant glasses and an out-of-style suit, interspersed with shots of a disco ball, a clunky phone, an outdated computer and a Rubik's Cube.

"1982, John McCain goes to Washington," an announcer says over chirpy elevator music. "Things have changed in the last 26 years, but McCain hasn't.

"He admits he still doesn't know how to use a computer, can't send an e-mail, still doesn't understand the economy, and favors two hundred billion in new tax cuts for corporations, but almost nothing for the middle class," it says. It shows video of McCain getting out of a golf cart with former President George H.W. Bush and closes with a photo of him standing with the current President Bush at the White House. "After one president who was out of touch, we just can't afford more of the same."

 

[Third]

"Still" ad

"Enough is enough!"



McCain not being able to e-mail . . . not using a computer . . . I thought Obama was fed up with all the pettiness of the campaign?

CHANGE

 

[Jethro Q. Walrustitty]

I don't know where to post this, so I'll do it here. Might be a honda but still a pretty good ownage.

Link

So awesome. Whatsherface Buchanon was getting oVVned on CNN the other night with her "There's nothing factually incorrect about the sex ed ad." Not a shred of guilt from the fact they know they're purposefully misleading the American public.