By GottaLaff
Saturday, October 4, 2008
ObamAlaskan Rally
Democratic Party Electronic Billboard at California IWRC* Palin Rally
By GottaLaff
A California Democratic Party electronic billboard allowed voters outside of the IWRC* Palin rally to submit questions:
Live Videos by Ustream
Gramm-pa McCain campaign manager flip flops on smears
By GottaLaff
And as McCain campaign manager Rick Davis once said:The premise of any smear campaign rests on a central truth of politics: Most of us will vote for a candidate we like and respect, even if we don't agree with him on every issue. But if you can cripple a voter's basic trust in a candidate, you can probably turn his vote. The idea is to find some piece of personal information that is tawdry enough to raise doubts, repelling a candidate's natural supporters. [...]
It's not necessary, however, for a smear to be true to be effective. The most effective smears are based on a kernel of truth and applied in a way that exploits a candidate's political weakness.
Davis wrote that in 2000, decrying George Bush's smear campaign against John McCain during the South Carolina primary, saying that:
Rebutting tawdry attacks focuses public attention on them, and prevents the campaign from talking issues.
Nope. They're not hypocrites. Not at all. They're all about the issues.
John Sidney who?
By GottaLaff
Here's a screen shot of what you see when you go to the Palin/McCain web site. Who's missing? (The image of IWRC* Palin is from their video)
Dallas Morning News blog:H/t: AMERICABlogWhere's John McCain?
Have you visited the McCain campaign's website lately? You'd think it was Sarah Palin running for president. John McCain appears as a tiny dot on the video screen. The rest is Sarah-this, Sarah-that. It's like McCain doesn't exist anymore.
What does this say about the state of the McCain campain, that it's afraid to showcase its most important person -- the presidential candidate.
*"In What Respect, Charlie?"
Finally: Obama camp raises Todd Palin's secessionist ties
By GottaLaff
Marc Ambinder:
In response to Gov. Sarah Palin's invocation of Barack Obama's "terrorist" "pal" William Ayers, Democrats have settled on a rhetorical response that inquires, innocently enough, whether Todd Palin's association with anti-American secessionists is fair game, especially in light of Palin's charge that Obama "is not a man who sees America as you and I do."Yes. Yes. Yes. Via TPM Election Central:
Todd Palin, a former member of the Alaska Independence Party, might well have seen America unlike his wife did -- that is, an America that one can secede from. He was comfortable belonging to and being associated with a political party whose founder seemed to delight in denouncing the principles that hold our union together. [...]
Conservative groups have spent more than ten million dollars on ads tying Obama to Ayers, and so far, Americans don't seem to give a heck. (This tells us what about how we're going to make that mortgage payment?)
Maybe Palin's willingness to go there changes all that.
As Ambinder says in his piece, Obama wasn't influenced by Ayers, someone he barely knew, but IWRC* eats, drinks, and sleeps with Todd. He influences her daily, in ways that I don't even want to think about. I hope there's more where this came from, Team Obama.McCain apologists will argue that Sarah Palin was not a member of this group. But Obama wasn't a member of any Ayers anti-American group, either. And again, Palin repeatedly courted the AIP, and her husband was a member for years.
The main takeaway from today's Times story is that Obama's ties to Ayers are, if anything, less substantial than commonly alleged. So if the Ayers association means Obama "palled around" with "terrorists," as Palin put it today, surely Palin can be said to have "palled around" with a secessionist party whose founder openly professed hatred of America.
If Palin is going to directly question Obama's patriotism over his association Ayers, surely all these facts are now fair game and freshly relevant.
*"In What Respect, Charlie?"
SIDEBAR, UPDATE:
Gov. Sarah Palin's going to visit Omaha tomorrow night, the local paper reports.UPDATE #2:
Remember, Obama's campaign wants -- and thinks it can get -- the electoral vote that NE allocates.
Gov. Sarah Palin's husband is planning to speak to an investigator looking into abuse-of-power allegations against the governor, Todd Palin's lawyer said Saturday. He previously refused to testify under subpoena in a separate probe. Attorney Thomas Van Flein said he asked the investigator, Anchorage attorney Timothy Petumenos, to reserve the third week of October to interview Todd Palin, but a date has not been set because he is waiting to hear back from Petumenos. [...]
The two investigators could interview Todd Palin together or Branchflower could use Petumenos' interview in his own investigation, Van Flein said, though Branchflower is scheduled to end his probe at least a week before the planned interview.
VIDEO-- David Letterman, Brian Williams: The debate was "a vice presidential play date"
By GottaLaff
Here's Part 2, the (obvious) sequel to Part 1:
Brian Williams excuses IWRC* Palin's ignorance of foreign affairs because "she had no idea" she'd be on the ticket. She was only at this for 5 weeks, he says (as did IWRC). One: She knew a lot earlier than that. She, herself, said that months earlier. Two: If we're to believe Brian and IWRC, then she's unprepared and not ready to get anywhere near the White House.
*"In What Respect, Charlie?"
Gramm-pa McCain's POW Friend: Obama = "A Demagogue," Warns of Holocaust
By GottaLaff
A former POW companion of John McCain's, campaigning for him yesterday in Pennsylvania, invoked the holocaust in warning about Barack Obama. Colonel Tom Moe, who occupied the adjacent cell to McCain at the Hanoi Hilton, called Barack Obama a dangerous demagogue whose rhetoric could cause a new holocaust while speaking in Harrisburg at the Republican Party headquarters.So now we have two former POWs who apparently share PTSD symptoms.
The story was reported by David Spett of Capitaolwire (subscription only) yesterday following the controversial event:
"All we have to do is open up the history books and look at what the fruits of demagoguery are," Moe said. "When any individual or group tries to pick up a target of opportunity to blame social problems on ... the results can be catastrophic. And you can choose any point in history that you want."Asked whether Obama's statements could cause an event like the Holocaust, Moe responded: "If you like."
Abe Amoros, communications director for the Pennsylvania Democratic Party:
"Using the Holocaust as a political tool is absolutely reprehensible and, at best, tasteless, disrespectful and insulting," Amoros said. "McCain is no doubt a war hero. But in terms of character, Sen. Obama has demonstrated his character over and over again. He was raised by a single mother, put himself through school, and went to Harvard Law. Here's a guy who knows what it's like to struggle."
Be afraid. Be very afraid. One of the Three Stooges is smearing Obama. What next, a pie in the face and an eye-poke?
VIDEOS-- Obama speaks in Virginia about health care: "This isn't politics for me. This is personal."
By GottaLaff
Barack Obama spoke to Virginians today. Part 1:
Part 2:
Obama On Healthcare 10/04 - Newport News VA. Healthcare will be the topic of the second presidential debate october 7th, 2008.
GOP dread: Dems could hit 60 Senate seats
By GottaLaff
Ohpleaseohpleaseohplease:
The possibility that Democrats will build a muscular, 60-seat Senate majority is looking increasing plausible, with new polls showing a powerful surge for the party’s candidates in Minnesota, Kentucky and other states.It's the economy, Gramm-pa (interchangeable with "stupid").
A poll out Friday shows Sen. Norm Coleman could now easily lose his Minnesota seat to comedian-turned-candidate Al Franken. A Colorado race that initially looked like a nail-biter has now broken decisively for the Democrats. A top official in the McCain camp told us Sen. Elizabeth Dole is virtually certain to lose in conservative North Carolina.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has seen his race tighten dangerously close over the past week — and Democrats are considering moving more money into the state very soon. And there is even talk that Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss is beatable in conservative Georgia after backing the economic bailout package opposed by many voters.
With Republicans fearing the loss of 17 to 21 House seats, January 2009 could bring Democrats a dominance over Washington that neither party has experienced since the Reagan years. [...]Where? Where is this discontent they speak of?
GOP Senate candidates are getting pounded by the same waves of public discontent over the economy and Bush that could sink McCain, and it shows in polls from coast to coast.
Republicans fully expect to lose Virginia and New Mexico. They think there is a pretty strong chance that they also lose Colorado, Alaska, New Hampshire, Oregon and North Carolina.Silver lining for the beleaguered Republicans? See last sentence:
This means everyone should keep their eyes on Minnesota, Kentucky, Mississippi and Georgia over the final month of this campaign to see if a wave is coming.
Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) will certainly lose if he is convicted in a corruption trial now under way in Washington but will probably win if he is acquitted, the strategists said.Not if we can help it. But our Idiot in Chief has done his level best to create a horrific state of affairs for the next president and Congress. He's teed them up to take the fall for every despicable pile of dung he squeezed out in the enormous mine field of waste that is now the America that he created over the past 8 years.
Top Republicans say they have no hope for Dole in North Carolina. “There’s no point in even counting the votes,” said a top McCain official.
Republicans said they hope to make up for one loss by persuading Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) to caucus with them. He has campaigned vigorously for McCain, and Democratic Party leaders have vowed to punish him.
One indication of the Republicans’ mood: They’re already looking past this grim election season.
“2010 looks pretty good for us to pick up three or four or five seats pretty easily,” the McCain official said.
When Obama wins, he and Congress face one of the most daunting set of challenges in modern history.
Poll-itcs: Guess who's ahead. Hint: It ain't Gramm-pa McCain
By GottaLaff
GObama!
And:Rasmussen: Obama Ahead in Nevada
A new Rasmussen survey in Nevada shows Sen. Barack Obama leading Sen. John McCain, 51% to 47%.
Last month, McCain led by three points in the state.
Uh-huh. This is what we're talkin' 'bout.Morning Call Poll: Obama Opens Wide Lead in Pennsylvania
The latest Morning Call/Muhlenberg College tracking poll in Pennsylvania shows Sen. Barack Obama leading Sen. John McCain, 51% to 39%.
Obama's overall lead in the poll has increased from 4 points to 12 points in the last nine days.
Obama team responds to IWRC* Palin's smears
By GottaLaff
Swift response to Swiftboat tactics:
The Obama campaign responded swiftly to Palin’s comments. “Governor Palin’s comments, while offensive, are not surprising, given the McCain campaign’s statement this morning that they would be launching Swiftboat-like attacks in hopes of deflecting attention from the nation’s economic ills.” Obama-Biden spokesman Hari Sevugan said in a statement released by Obama’s campaign. “In fact, the very newspaper story Governor Palin cited in hurling her shameless attack made clear that Senator Obama is not close to Bill Ayers, much less ‘pals,’ and that he has strongly condemned the despicable acts Ayers committed 40 years ago, when Obama was eight. What’s clear is that John McCain and Sarah Palin would rather spend their time tearing down Barack Obama than laying out a plan to build up our economy,” Sevugan added.Gramm-pa McCain and IWRC are dying to change the subject and redirect the limited attention span of the media to a simplistic war of words. The economy is too complicated and painful. This is easily understood and can be reduced to sub-human, sewer-level entertainment.
*"In What Respect, Charlie?"
2006 back story: Revelations on Gramm-pa McCain v. Barack Obama
By GottaLaff
At the time Obama's star was definitely rising and I remember thinking this old guy is mad as hell that he is being shown-up by this "young upstart". Perhaps it was even more calculated than that. Certainly in 2006 McCain already had this election in mind and the word presidential was being applied to Senator Obama. I felt at the time it was a preemptive smear, trying to knock Obama down a few pegs before he became too much of a threat. [...]And Josh Marshall responds to the above e-mail from one of his readers:I didn't remember Obama's reply but upon reading it all I could think was how consistent it was with the sort of campaign he has run. Unfortunately it would seem McCain has been consistent as well.
Check out the link and relive the early days, when the bile was just beginning to rise.
You can really see the kernel of this campaign's psychodrama (in more than one sense of the word) in this first exchange.In order: Obama's February 2006 letter: Link. Grammps' response: Link. Josh Marshall's 2006 analysis: Link.
IWRC* Palin = Bush III: Vendettas, power plays, cronyism, lies, corruption
By GottaLaff
Via TPM, some good analysis of the TrooperGate scandal and what it says about IWRC* Palin:
But this is an opportunity to refocus our attention on something that has been lost in the nonstop coverage of Palin's campaign trail lies and botched interviews: her record in Alaska strongly suggests she lacks the character to be trusted with high office. Though the troopergate scandal is tied narrowly to Palin's firing of Alaska's top cop, Walt Monegan, the heart of the story is about a private vendetta that Palin tried to settle using her new powers as the chief executive of the state of Alaska. Thwarted in doing so, all evidence suggests she fired the public official who refused to execute her plan.
Nor is it the only example. Both as mayor and governor, Palin has shown the tell-tale signs of a politician who hires cronies and fires or blackballs critics. This part of Palin's record gets deep in the weeds. So it's not as flashy as the boffo interviews or and irresistible as the straight-up lies she's been caught in. But we need no closer example than the Bush administration to know that people like this are dangerous and corrosive to our public institutions.
To repeat, Bush III, Cheney II.
*"In What Respect, Charlie?"
IWRC* Palin's big California speech
By GottaLaff
IWRC* is expected to "take the gloves off" in this speech. Ed Henry on CNN says this is because Gramm-pa McCain knows he's losing, especially on the economy. The Obama camp says the personal attacks are a distraction, and it's the issues that matter.
If IWRC says anything worth mentioning, I'll post it here later.
*"In What Respect, Charlie?"
Obama controls the message, for now
By GottaLaff
Obama's campaign is zeroing in on health care:
After days of focusing on the financial crisis facing the country, Barack Obama gave a fresh speech for the first time in a week, trying to open up a new front against John McCain on the issue of health care. [...]Gramm-pa's kneejerk, cowardly response would be laughable if it weren't so reminiscent of outright Swiftboating.The new timing of the speech gives Obama a chance to dictate part of the narrative heading into the second presidential debate on Tuesday. And, it puts Obama on the attack at the very time that the McCain campaign says it is about to take a more aggressive tone.
Today, it was the McCain campaign on defense, via e-mail at least. In the campaign's third email response to Obama's speech today, Bounds alluded to Obama's ties to William Ayres, a former member of the radical group, The Weather Underground. Ayres, who is now a professor at the University of Illinois, served on a board with Obama and donated to his campaign.
"On a day when new reports have surfaced about Barack Obama's long association with a domestic terrorist, our Democratic opponent had the audacity to call John McCain's health care plan 'radical.' The American people know radical when they hear it, and John McCain is not the candidate in this election they should be concerned about," Bounds said.
CNN allows Gramm-pa McCain's lies to continue unchallenged
By GottaLaff
We suspended our campaign, we stopped advertising.The clip from the speech was just now aired. Both of these are outright lies that have already been completely refuted. Nobody called him on it.
Obama has voted to raise taxes 94 times.
IWRC* Palin is now saying, in a clip from a speech from Columbus, Ohio (paraphrased):
Joe Biden is against clean coal.However, in the debate, Joe Biden listed clean coal as one of the components of their alternative energy plan. I even remember commenting on it in the open thread. But TBPNTOTV!!!'s** Bill Schneider said nothing to correct the record.
"CNN: The Most Trusted Name in News."
*"In What Respect, Charlie?"
**THE BEST POLITICAL NEWS TEAM ON TELEVISION!!!
Paulson to Hire Private Contractors to Handle Bailout Billions
By GottaLaff
Via CLG:
Paulson to Hire Private Contractors to Handle Bailout Billions --U.S. Treasury to Hire Asset Management Firms to Handle Bailout 03 Oct 2008 The U.S. plans to hire five to 10 asset-management firms as Secretary Henry Paulson establishes the government's new office for handling the financial bailout, a Treasury official said. The department will also add about two dozen new employees, a mix of bankers, lawyers, accountants and others, the official said today on condition of anonymity. Some of the Treasury's new employees will be on the government payroll, while others will be contractors, the official said.
Joe Biden cancels events
By GottaLaff
He is needed and is on a roll after the debate, per CNN, so it's bad timing, unfortunately.
Our thoughts are with you, Joe.
CNN UPDATE: In response to the latest attacks from Gramm-pa McCain and IWRC* Palin, the Obama campaign says, for now, it will focus on the issues (economy, for one).
*"In What Respect, Charlie?"
IWRC* Palin says Obama 'palling around' with terrorists
By GottaLaff
Here's why:
Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is accusing Democrat Barack Obama of "palling around with terrorists" for his association with a former 1960s radical.
Here's who she is referring to. And here is what IWRC* Palin, that paragon of honesty, is saying:
"[H]e's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country."
That is what the next month will look like. Smears, lies, and desperation.
Obama served on a charity board with Ayers in Chicago and has denounced his past activities.From my earlier post:
What "radical" ideas did Obama and Bill Ayres come up with to foist on the Chicago school system?Fasten your seat belts.
What specific projects -- "radical" projects -- did Obama work on with Ayres? Is there evidence that they collaborated and schemed to ... do anything "radical" together? Ever?
Or just that they served on a board of a fairly well-respected liberal charity at the same time? And that left-leaning charities tend to give money to left-leaning organizations, a la ACORN?
Is the real story here that Obama once served on the board of a liberal education charity?
*"In What Respect, Charlie?"
Poll-itics: Obama maintains significant lead edition
By GottaLaff
PRINCETON, NJ -- Gallup Poll Daily tracking from Oct. 1-3 finds 50% of registered voters supporting Barack Obama, and 42% John McCain, for president.
(click on image to enlarge)
Gallup Daily: Obama Maintains Significant Margin
Obama has now held a statistically significant lead over McCain for the last eight days, one shy of his campaign-best streak of nine days with a lead around the time of the Democratic National Convention. (To view the complete trend since March 7, 2008, click here.)GObama!
Voter preferences appear somewhat stable at the moment, as Obama has held similar advantages over McCain in each of the last three individual nights' polling. That includes Friday polling, the first interviews conducted following Thursday's widely viewed vice presidential debate, the passage of the economic rescue bill supported by both Obama and McCain, and Friday's bleak jobs report.
Losing Your Right to Vote 101
By GottaLaff
Class, settle down! This is important. Bucky, David G., cell phones off, please. Eve? Will you please stop whispering to Chris and Margali? Ady, Molix, leave Paddy's coffee alone! Jon, how many times have I told you not to crack jokes in the middle of a lecture on voter suppression? Ellen and TheKingFiphtin, rolling your eyes at me will not win Obama this election! Pay attention, kiddies. Our country's at stake. Class is in session:
In Pennsylvania, two Pittsburgh-area elections officials are suing to permit a dress code at polling places, after a Pennsylvania Department of State memo advised counties last month that voters' attire doesn't matter.Okay, class, it's time for a pop quiz on the following methods to disenfranchise voters. This is an open-book test. You may go here to find the details you need:
In Virginia, where backers of both Barack Obama and John McCain are pushing for registration of college students in this battleground state, many students were wrongly advised by officials that registering could adversely affect their parents' taxes.
In Michigan, campaign officials are suing to prevent lists of foreclosed homes being used to prevent voters from voting at their local precinct.
And in Ohio, a legal skirmish over same-day registration and voting has not prevented hundreds from casting absentee ballots a month before Election Day, even though they do not plan on bring out of state come November 4.
Across the country, voter registration leading up to a highly-anticipated presidential election has been up, but so are concerns that bureaucracy, misreadings of election law, or just plain stupid mistakes may cost many Americans their right to exercise their vote.
- No Shirt, No Shoes, No Vote?
- Sorry, You've Been De-Registered
- Lost Your House, Lost Your Vote?
- Old Enough To Vote, But Not Here?
Class dismissed.
Kirsten, Mainy, Fernando! Once and for all.... Put the margaritas away!
OMG!! Al Franken Hates Puppies!!
The DSCC has come up with some good ones lately. Via John Cole.
ADDED- Franken pulls ahead in new Minn. poll
Fox News: Palin Won VP Debate Because She Had A Bigger Flag Pin
Just when you think they can't fall deeper into cartoonishness, voila!!! Via Think Progress.
New Obama Ad: 'One Word'
Ben says it's scheduled to run in the swing states, so that must mean that Indiana is a swing state since it's been on here for a couple days? Nice.
McCain Could Be Forced Out Of Pennsylvania Too, Union Chief Says
Everyone, and I mean everyone is saying the smear machine will be going into overdrive very soon, and from the looks of Pennsylvania, I'd say it's going to be this week. Checking out this reaction to McCain pulling out of Michigan you see what the McCain camp is up against.
Many speculated that McCain would now turn his focus to Pennsylvania. But United Steelworkers International president Leo Gerard tells the Huffington Post that the state could soon go the way of Michigan.
"We're seeing -- from the several hundred of our people working every day, hand-billing at the plants -- the last two weeks have really been breaking Senator Obama's way," Gerard said over the phone from his office in Pittsburgh. "In particular, I think folks are sort of not taking John McCain as serious as they were, when they see his vacillation last week. 'I'm not going to debate. I'm going to whip House Republicans into shape. Not."
Gerard also said that the bailout bill is hurting McCain disproportionately. "There's lot of anger at this bailout bill, even though people recognize we have to do something. But our people think it's directly tied to Bush, and they tie bush to McCain. That's the sense of what I've heard back from our people, that the race is breaking out."
The Opposite Of BFCE?
Ta da!!! Via 538- go read the whole thing.
Only for the first time the other day did we see a McCain organizer make a single phone call. So we've now seen that once. The McCain organizers seem to operate as maître Ds. Let me escort you to your phone, sir. Pick any one of this sea of empty chairs. I'll be sitting over here if you need any assistance.
Given a choice between taking embarrassing photos of empty phone banks, we give McCain’s people the chance to pose for photos to show us the action for what they continually claim we “just missed.” No more. We stop into offices at all open hours of the day, but generally more in the afternoon and evening. “Call time,” for both campaigns, is all day, but the time when folks over 65 are generally targeted begins in late afternoon and goes til 8 or 9pm. Universally, McCain’s people stop earlier. Even when we show up at 6:15pm, we’re told we just missed the big phone bank, or to come back in 30 minutes. If we show up an hour later, we “just missed it” again.
(snip)
Up to this point, we’ve been giving McCain's ground campaign a lot of benefit of the doubt. We can’t stop convincing ourselves that there must – must – be a warehouse full of 1,000 McCain volunteers somewhere in a national, central location just dialing away. This can’t be all they’re doing. Because even in a place like Colorado Springs, McCain’s ground campaign is getting blown away by the Obama efforts. It doesn't mean Obama will win Colorado Springs, but it means Obama's campaign will not look itself in the mirror afterward and ask, "what more could we have done?"
Friday, October 3, 2008
VIDEO: Keith Olbermann's worst Rich Lowry "soft porn" in the woooorld!
By GottaLaff
Well, that was fast. As promised:
VIDEOS: Sexism, lies, and videotape
By GottaLaff
Keith Olbermann apparently reported on this tonight. I'm sure Paddy or I will come up with the video:
Last month, the McCain campaign accused Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) of being “disrespectful” and sexist for calling Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) “attractive.” Will it similarly slam National Review’s Rich Lowry, who praised Palin’s sex appeal to male viewers?Couple those remarks up with the following "conservative" ones. Hypocritical much?
"I’m sure I’m not the only male in America who, when Palin dropped her first wink, sat up a little straighter on the couch and said, “Hey, I think she just winked at me.” And her smile. By the end, when she clearly knew she was doing well, it was so sparkling it was almost mesmerizing. It sent little starbursts through the screen and ricocheting around the living rooms of America."
This isn't too sexy, though. IWRC* Palin expounds on the vice presidency... and by "expounds", I mean rambles:
*"In What Respect, Charlie?"
AUDIO: Gramm-pa McCain "doesn't understand how serious" the state of the economy is
By GottaLaff
In an interview with the Denver Post yesterday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) attempted to explain why he voted for the Wall Street bailout, despite previously saying that a bill that included earmarks would be “unacceptable.” McCain remarked, “I talk to…economists that have said, ‘Look, you don’t understand how serious — ’” before cutting himself off. Seeming to realize that he was once again admitting he doesn’t understand the economy, McCain corrected himself saying, “I mean, ‘We have to understand how serious this is.’”Oops. Gramm-pa's losing it more and more every day now.
VIDEOS-- IWRC* Palin On Fox News: Couric Annoyed Me
By GottaLaff
First the post. Now the video.
UPDATE:
As TPM points out, regarding this do-over of the Katie Couric Q & A:
UPDATE #2, in which she talks about Gramm-pa's camp pulling out of Michigan:
*"In What Respect, Charlie?"
Appearing on a friendlier news outlet, Gov. Sarah Palin said she was "annoyed" with the way Katie Couric handled their interview and complained that the CBS Evening News host failed to give her the opportunity to take a proverbial axe to Barack Obama.After last night, her phony baloney Alaskanese has worn completely thin. In a very short time, she has become a rather grotesque caricature of herself. That didn't take long.
UPDATE:
As TPM points out, regarding this do-over of the Katie Couric Q & A:
You get sense that if Cameron had interrupted her at any point there, she would have had to start her answer all over again from the top.
UPDATE #2, in which she talks about Gramm-pa's camp pulling out of Michigan:
*"In What Respect, Charlie?"
Happy anniversary, Barack and Michelle!
By GottaLaff
Senator Barack Obama “suspended” his campaign and returned home to Chicago on Friday night for personal reasons: to celebrate the 16th anniversary of his marriage to Michelle.I posted about this yesterday, and there were no further details except for one: He bought her the flowers you see above. Sigh. What a guy.
VIDEO: "Everybody Run, the Ex-Beauty Queen's Got a Gun"
By GottaLaff
Julie Brown has come up with a new song, and she debuted it on the Stephanie Miller Show.
Hint: IWRC* Palin spoofy, snarky, raunchy fun.
*"In What Respect, Charlie?"
VIDEO: Alaksan focus group reacts to VP debate
By GottaLaff
Laughter, boos, it's got it all. There would be nothing sweeter than an Alaskan win. Highly improbable, but a Laffy can dream, can't she?
UPDATE: Oh, this is priceless... (from another Alaskan blogger, Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis):
Suh-nap!Tina Fey does the Palin act masterfully; it is nothing to an educated and skilled actress of Fey's caliber. I suspect the Wasilla schools did teach diction when Sarah was a child. Sarah's parents do not speak in her affected manner, so it did not come from her home. Frankly, I have never heard a middle class Alaskan speak in the vernacular Palin affects. If she claims to be imitating Alaskans, then I find her act to be false and insulting.
If you watch carefully, Sarah Palin puts on her strange vernacular precisely when she cannot handle the question, as if to imply that the some mystical shared knowledge of nothing overcomes all (wink-nod). The problem is, Sarah Palin is not that good an actress. Especially when you know to look for it, and we Alaskans know when to look for it now, the put-on comes across as flat and affected. For Sarah Palin the act is all about twinkles, winks, flutters, and fake smiles.
Alaskan Republicans are getting rattled
By GottaLaff
As you know, I keep track of Alaskan doin's via a few Alaskan bloggers. You're also well aware of the two, count 'em two, anti-IWRC* Palin rallies there. The second one, by the way, drew a crowd of about 1,800 and was the largest in Alaska history. And don't forget the recent court victory.
Now let me share excerpts from a post over at Mudflats:
The second rally was dismissed by McCain-Palin as being a “pro Obama rally and nothing more,” or so said Meg Stapleton. Stapleton, Palin’s mouthpiece, and member of the “Truth Squad” was the subject of several of the scathing signs present at last week’s rally. She is now reviled by many Alaskans for slandering respected public figures who have dared to speak truth to power regarding Palin’s ethics investigation. [...] Well guess what landed in my inbox last night? A plea from the Alaska Republican party! Please enjoy the email in its entirety:Dee-lish.Alaskans Call to Action
3 Ways to Show Your Support for Governor Palin!
Thank you for supporting the McCain-Palin ticket. Right now, we are calling upon all Alaskans to help in three simple ways.
- 1. Sign our petition in support of Governor Palin. Barack Obama’s operatives have attempted to smear and politically damage our Governor. Please print, sign and fax in the petition below to show your support. We need as many signatures as possible to put a stop to this politically motivated injustice.
- 2. Join us for a McCain-Palin Victory 2008 vice presidential “debate watching” party at our Alaska Headquarters tonight, October 2nd, as Governor Palin and Senator Biden debate in St. Louis! The debate starts at 5:00 PM, so the party will start at 4:30 PM at our Anchorage Headquarters (307 East Northern Lights Blvd.). Don’t miss this important and historic opportunity to show your support for our Governor!
- 3. Join us for a McCain-Palin Victory 2008 rally to “Support Governor Palin” this Saturday, October 4th! It will take place at the Anchorage Christian School Gymnasium (6401 E. Northern Lights Blvd, at the corner of Northern Lights and Baxter Rd) at 1:00 PM. All are encouraged to attend.
This is your call to action, and please forward it to friends. Please help us show Alaska’s support for Governor Palin to the nation and world. Thank you.
Petition in Support of Governor Palin:
Please print, sign, and fax to the Alaska Republican Party at (907)276-0425.
We the undersigned voters of Alaska, herby [sic] call for an immediate end to the Obama operative led inquiry in the Alaska Legislature, whose sole purpose has been to smear and politically damage Governor Sarah Palin. The Legislative Council’s Walt Monegan investigation has been hijacked by Obama supporters and as a result no longer has the support of its own committee. We urge our elected officials to stand up and put an immediate end to this political circus that is wasting countless taxpayer dollars and tarnishing the fair reputation of the great state of Alaska.
Print Name: ______________________
Signed:__________________________
No fax machine? You can also drop off your signed petition at one of the following places:
McCain-Palin/Victory 2008 Alaska Headquarters
307 East Northern Lights Blvd.
Anchorage, AK 99503Alaska Republican Party Headquarters
1001 West Fireweed Lane
Anchorage, Alaska 99503************************************************************************
[...] I’m not sure how many people will show up at the Anchorage Christian School Gymnasium for the Pro-Palin rally, or why they have scheduled it at exactly the same time and day as the Alaska statewide Obama rally, which may break a record again. I also don’t know where these petitions are going to end up, or what they are actuallly asking for. But I am proud of them for providing the high-tech “fax it in” option for those who can’t drive to the Republican Party headquarters to submit them in person. Soon they will have mastered the spell check on their email, and it surely can’t be much longer after that before they master the free online petition.
And as for “tarnishing the reputation of the great state of Alaska”? I think Alaska politicians are doing a fine job of that without the help of “Obama operatives”. I wonder what conservative Republican Wasilla resident and State Senate President Lyda Green will think when she finds out she is an Obama operative? How about right wing radio pundit and columnist Dan Fagan? I wouldn’t want to be in THAT room!
*"In What Respect, Charlie?"
Iraq war 'absolutely an error': Canada PM
By GottaLaff
Iraq war a mistake, Harper admitsAt least he can admit when he's wrong, unlike BushCheney, Gramm-pa McCain/IWRC* Palin.
Stephen Harper admitted Thursday that the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq was a mistake - one that Canadian troops would have been plunged into had he been prime minister in 2003. The grudging admission came during the second televised leaders debate as the five leaders discussed the Canadian mission in Afghanistan.
*"In What Respect, Charlie?"
So IWRC* Palin didn't bring notes, but did make some
By GottaLaff
Fair is fair.ThinkProgress and other liberal entities analyzed the tape from last night's vice presidential debate and seem to believe that Gov. Sarah Palin brought a sheaf of talking points to her lectern and simply read them.
That's not what happened.
Debate rules prohibited candidates from bringing any pre-prepared material with them.
Only blank paper and writing utensils were provided.
So to the extent that Palin seemed to be reading, it was because she had, during the course of the debate or during Joe Biden's answers, written down some notes. Clearly, she had memorized talking points and wrote them down when she got to the podium. But that's not what's being alleged.
Biden did the same thing -- you can see him jotting down some notes and then referring to them before speaking.
No conspiracy here.
BTW: the debate organizers placed the paper on the lecturns, not the campaigns.
Unless Steve Schmidt and Mark Wallace schooled Palin in some David Blaine-esque slight-of-hand tricks, she couldn't have hidden notes on her body either.
*"In What Respect, Charlie?"
“Don’t Wink at Me EVER”
By GottaLaff
Palin spent her day mostly fundraising, including at a 200-person luncheon in Dallas. Palin was greeted by protesters with some clever signs including “Don’t Wink at Me EVER” and “I can see Mexico from here…can I be vice president?”
She also met with privately with oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens.
Doggone those pesky protesters.
And we all remember T. Boone Pickens, right? He's the one who's trying to create a boon for Pickens here in California. Oh, and then there was this.
Palin Tax Returns Released
Dum de dum dum. Looky here.
Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign released Gov. Sarah Palin's tax returns for the previous two years, 2006 and 2008.
The information was expected on Monday, so a Friday afternoon drop is interesting.
Tax law experts are particularly interested in how she handled the per diem payments that she received as governor for staying in her own home.
Update: Paul Caron notes the per diem payments are not reported, which is "a potential problem."
Congresswomen Sanchez' brother and girlfriend missing in boating accident
Good thoughts go out.
U.S. Reps. Loretta and Linda Sanchez of California say their brother Henry and his girlfriend are the two boaters the U.S. Coast Guard is searching for today off the coast of San Pedro.
The sisters said in a statement that a debris field found off the coast contained fragments from the boat their brother was aboard with his girlfriend, Penny Avila.
"Our family is thankful of the search and rescue efforts by the U.S. Coast Guard and other local agencies," the congresswomen said in a statement. "We pray and hope that Henry and Penny are found alive and well."
The Coast Guard says Sanchez, 51, and Avila, 48, both of Santa Ana, left Alamitos Bay near Long Beach at midnight Wednesday en route to Santa Catalina Island and never arrived, said Ensign Stephanie Young of the Coast Guard station in San Pedro.
Gramm-pa McCain Shifts to Nearly All Negative Ads
By GottaLaff
What else does he have left?
TPM finds Sen. John McCain's campaign "has now shifted virtually 100% of his national ad spending into negative ads" attacking Sen. Barack Obama.Desperate measures for desperate times, eh Grammps?
Analysis shows that as of October 1, McCain's $1.3 million weekly is being broken down as follows:This is a dramatic shift from the period before he suspended his campaign when he spent approximately half his ad money on the positive "Original Mavericks" ad, and around half on the negative "Dome" spot.
- Nearly half a million on "Dome," which attacks "Obama and his liberal allies" in Congress for favoring "massive government."
- A little more than half a million on "Mum," which attacks "Obama and his liberal allies" as "mum on the market crisis."
- Much of the remaining money on "Overseas," which says that "Barack Obama and his liberal allies are to blame" for jobs going overseas.
- The small remainder is going to a positive spot, the "Original Mavericks" ad.
What a team
Vote-scam fliers in black Philly neighborhoods threaten arrests
By GottaLaff
(click on image to enlarge)
With just weeks to go before the presidential election, voter intimidation has reared its ugly head.An anonymous flier circulating in African-American neighborhoods in North and West Philadelphia states that voters who are facing outstanding arrest warrants or who have unpaid traffic tickets may be arrested at the polls on Election Day.
Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Everett Gillison, who learned of the flier last week, said that the message is completely false. [...]
He plans to put up statements on the city and police Web sites to let citizens know that the handouts are false. He said that he also will record a public-service announcement for broadcast.
Gillison referred the matter to the U.S. Attorney's Office and the district attorney.
"We are not going to stand for any intimidation of voters," Gillison said. "Not in this city."
He said that he did not know who was behind the fliers, which appear to be targeted at supporters of Democratic candidate Barack Obama. [...]
"It seems to be clearly aimed at lower-income voters that might have had some problems in the past and clearly aimed at discouraging people from voting," said Zack Stalberg, who heads the political-watchdog group Committee of Seventy.
Stalberg said that he feared that there could be more fliers to come.
"I'm a little surprised it appeared this far before Election Day," he said. "It's another indication of how dirty this election might become."
Local NAACP President Jerry Mondesire:
"We probably will do something closer to the election," he said. "People tend not to pay attention until two weeks out."
Mondesire said that he didn't know who was circulating the fliers, but added, "I do know one thing for sure: They're not Democrats."
So, yes, here we go again. Over and over and over and over and over again.
Obama not qualified to be president. IWRC* Palin says so.
By GottaLaff
Sarah Palin said Friday several of Barack Obama's comments about the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have been "reckless" and disqualify the Illinois senator for consideration as the next commander-in-chief. [...]"Some of his comments that he has made about the war…I think, in my world, disqualifies someone from consideration as the next commander-in-chief," Palin told Fox News Friday. "Some of the comments he's made about Afghanistan, what we are doing there, supposedly just air-raiding villages and killing civilians — that's reckless."
"In my world". "In my world"? IWRC World, or should I say "IRWC planet", is the only place in the universe in which that would even begin to make sense. This is one of a multitude of reasons this Winky Twinkie Downhome Hockey Mommin' Folksy-Talkin' TrooperGatin' note-reader shouldn't be anywhere near the White House.
Palin was referring to an answer Barack Obama gave at a August 2007 town hall meeting with New Hampshire voters, during which the Illinois senator was asked whether he had plans to shift U.S. troops out of Iraq to other terrorist hotspots like Afghanistan.
"We've got to get the job done there and that requires us to have enough troops so that we're not just air-raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous pressure over there," Obama said of the U.S.'s mission in Afghanistan.
Those comments were immediately seized by GOP critics. The Republican National Committee sent out a press release shortly after calling them "offensive," and demanding he apologize. The McCain campaign has also highlighted the comments several times this campaign season. An AP Fact Check later reported Western forces had been killing civilians at a higher rate than insurgents.
So Gramm-pa McCain and his granddaughter IWRC were wrong. Again. Surprise!
Nielsen Schmielsen: V.P. Debate edition
By GottaLaff
Let's hope these huge numbers continue to work against Gramm-pa's dwindling campaign, what with IWRC* Palin's embarrassing crib-notey performance (emphasis on "performance") and all:
Nielsen found the overall rating for last night's vice presidential debate was 45.0 -- much higher than the first presidential debate, which had a rating of 31.6*"In What Respect, Charlie?"
National ratings will be available later today, and if these numbers hold up, this could be one of the most-watched debates ever.
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