Campaign Updates for 7/13/08
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PUMAs Pounce On Clinton’s Campaign Debt (by grlpatriot at Alegre’s Corner)
The netroots July 4th fundraiser to help Hillary Clinton retire campaign debt has been a huge success. Just Say No Deal coalition spokesperson, Will [Bower], announced in an interview [Thursday] on FOX News that fund raising estimates ranged from a conservative $6 million to as much as $10 million within one week. Will also stated that the coalition has grown to 2.5 million members with over 230 blogs and websites. That’s impressive for a coalition that formed just 23 days ago.
Click through to watch the video.
CALL TO ALL HILLARY SUPPORTERS…TAKE ACTION ON SATURDAY, JULY 19th
Saturday, July 19th, 2008 is the 160th Anniversary of the Seneca Falls Convention (The first Women’s Rights Convention), during which the Declaration of Sentiments was adopted. On Saturday July 19th, 2008, Senator Clinton’s Supporters will gather together nationwide to celebrate this historic anniversary at house parties, cocktail parties, and public gathering places, where they will adopt their own “Declaration of Resolutions” at “Resolution Day” parties nationwide. Please visit: http://july19action.blogspot.com/ For all the details of how to get involved.
Will Bower of PUMA/Just Say No Deal told WorldNetDaily (I know, I know) that “Eight super-delegates left Obama this week.” Bower has confirmed to me via email that calls by his groups to superdelegates have resulted in eight superdelegates changing their minds. It made my week.
PUMA=Bull Moose? (by garychapelhill at The Confluence)
Something tells me that Bill Clinton is a die hard PUMA. In a speech to the Governor’s Association meeting, Bill extolled the virtues of the original progressive, Teddy Roosevelt… John McCain seemed to be channeling Bill as well when he made a similar observaton… Could this be a coded message to PUMAS, from both Bill Clinton and McCain? As I’m sure Clinton knows, Teddy knew a thing or two about being run out of his party. In fact, TR and Hillary have a lot in common.
Click through for a very interesting history lesson, including the reminder that Roosevelt didn’t sit still for rejection by the Republican party bosses. He started a third party.
The Creature From the Chicago Lagoon (by John: south of Melrose at Liberal Rapture)
Barry and Donna are attempting to keep Hillary off the ballot at the convention. Hardly a surprise. Barry shit canned Alice Palmer off the ballot. Barry loves being “unopposed”. Never mind that she earned all those delegates and won the most votes. It’s not like Ted Kennedy’s name was put in nomination in 1980, or McGovern’s was in 1984, Or Jackson’s was in 1988… NO! WAIT! Check that! They all were put into nomination. See the DEMS were a big tent back in the day. Teddy was not only put to a vote, President Carter gave him a whole night!
Dear Super Delegates: Find an excuse, ANY excuse (by riverdaughter at The Confluence)
[T]he biggest insult this year in a year of insults has to be the deliberate attempts to exclude half of the Democratic party from full participation at the convention… Forget what the power brokers tell you … about how uncomfortable and destructive a floor fight will be. At this point it is the only thing that will save you. If Obama can win it legitimately in a fair, open and transparent convention, the party will emerge more unified after the convention. If the party feels that Hillary is the better candidate, well, Obama either takes VP or an old, cold tater and waits for his turn, as he *should* have done before his ego was inflated to go for it this year… How do you go against the perception that Barack Obama is the party’s nominee without looking like complete suckers? Hey, I don’t care what you guys choose as the excuse to knock Obama down and level the playing field between him and Hillary… And get rid of Donna Brazile while you’re at it. Did I mention how PUMAs are sick of losing?
Ich bin ein Flip Flopper: Barack Obama to be granted JFK moment with Brandenburg Gate speech (The Telegraph, U.K.)
Only US presidents have been given the honour of speaking in front of the 18th Century gate, whose chariot of victory overlooked the Berlin Wall and the ecstatic party that followed its destruction in 1989. But Mr Obama could prove the exception on a whistle-stop tour to London, Paris and Berlin in three weeks time… [S]uch is the location’s significance that the German government is wary of appearing partisan and interfering in the US presidential race by approving the speech… But the decision to approve the Brandenburg Gate speech lies with local Berlin authorities, and yesterday the city’s leftwing mayor Klaus Wowereit dropped all diplomatic pretence.
The left-wing mayor of Berlin doesn’t realize what a right winger Obama is, either.
Just in case you had any doubts… (by Truth Partisan at Corrente)
“The surveillance program is actually one that I believe is necessary for our national security,” Obama told the questioner (about FISA.)
Obama’s Disgruntled Liberal Supporters (by Jeralyn at TalkLeft)
Progressives can accept a centrist candidate. After all, Hillary is a centrist. Before 2008, Edwards was a centrist. Millions of us were fine with Hillary. It’s the bait and switch we hate and it makes Obama a tougher sell now. He wasn’t honest with us. He promised reform and a new kind of politics and is relying on the same old Washington play book that’s been in use for decades. I’m not surprised. It’s why I didn’t support him before the primaries. It’s why I wrote dozens of posts debunking his generic change theme. It has always been just campaign rhetoric… What’s sad is we had a centrist candidate who spoke her mind on issues so you knew exactly where she stood. You knew just what you were going to get with a Hillary presidency. You could practically take it to the bank. I, for one, appreciated the honesty. But, she lost.
Except that she didn’t lose, Jeralyn. Obama was carried over the finish line by the RBC, and Clinton was shoved out.
Barack W. Bush? (by Victor Davis Hanson, a classicist and historian at the Hoover Institution)
For all his prior talk of the loss of civil liberties, a President Obama, like a President Bush, would give telecommunication companies exemption from lawsuits over tapping private phone calls at government request. Obama wants to continue Bush’s successful multilateral efforts to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan, and now praises the Bush-inspired six-party talks with North Korea that led to the apparent dismantling of Pyongyang’s nuclear program. Like Bush, he advocated expanding the military after the Clinton-era troop cuts. Obama once advocated lifting the embargo against Cuba — but no longer. Like Bush, he thinks that it is wise to leave it be. There is suddenly not much difference when it comes to the Middle East, either.
Yes, the author is probably a conservative, but truth is truth, no matter where it comes from.
Hagel Will Visit Iraq With Obama (Political Wire )
Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) “is planning to join Sen. Barack Obama on an up-coming visit to Iraq is correct,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “Adding to the intrigue is the fact that Sen. Hagel has not yet endorsed a candidate in the race, and he has offered kind words for both Obama and Republican rival Sen. John McCain, although the two Republicans differ greatly on the war. Hagel’s name has also been mentioned in the chatter over Obama’s running mate… although he conceded such an offer is unlikely. Hagel has also been discussed as a speculative candidate for a Cabinet post if Obama is elected in November.”
Cynthia McKinney looks better everyday (by DCblogger at Corrente)
Hagel voted for the war crimes commission act in addition to all of his pro-war votes. The moral distinction between Hagel and Lyndie England is that she had her picture taken.
Obama states backing for Indo-U.S. nuclear deal
MUMBAI (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama supports a civilian nuclear trade deal between India and the United States and would not push for changes to it, an Indian news magazine quoted him as saying.
Drilling Obama (by Pagan Power at No Quarter)
Democratic senators are quietly moving away from Obama’s energy stance. Illinois senior senator Dick Durbin now supports offshore drilling. As does Harry Reid and Sherrod Brown… Brown is joining with George Voinovich in supporting offshore drilling. This spontaneous bipartisanship may soon become common practice. Most Americans support drilling for more oil… “Voinovich … predicted that Congress will pass a comprehensive bill this year to clear the way for drilling off U.S. coasts while providing more money to develop cleaner energy sources.” That’s quite a prediction. And I would lay odds he is right. It only emphasizes how completely out of touch Obama is.
Schwarzenegger: I’d be Obama energy czar (Politico)
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in an interview aired Sunday that he would be open to the idea of serving as energy czar in a Barack Obama administration.
Obama, McCain and their awkward Hispanic outreach (AP)
ORLANDO, Fla. - Like eager but awkward suitors, Barack Obama and John McCain are working hard and sometimes fumbling in their efforts to court Hispanic voters who could swing November’s presidential election.
Obama campaign to sponsor NASCAR race car.. (by FlaDemFem at Alegre’s Corner)
The Obama campaign is looking at sponsoring a NASCAR race car for the Sprint Cup. “According to sources, Barack Obama’s campaign is in talks to become the primary sponsor of BAM Racing’s No. 49 Sprint Cup car for the Pocono race on August 3. Details of the agreement are expected to be worked out over the coming days.” Can you say “pandering”??
But it’s not happening after all. Anyway, how is all this pandering helping The Greatest Candidate Evah? See below.
Newsweek Poll: FISA Fallout for Obama (by campskunk at Alegre’s Corner)
Well, even Matt Stoller’s having a hard time not getting nervous about the latest Newsweek poll. Although it’s obvious that a lot of the swing is statistical noise, going from a 15 point lead down to a 3 point lead in two weeks is… cause for concern, shall we say… [T]he bottom fell out in two groups- independents and younger voters. The voters identifying as Democrats, having gotten used to this drill with Kerry four years ago, are hanging in there, but the swing voters swung to McCain. It turns out hard core activists still support Obama (though they perhaps aren’t giving anymore), it’s the independents that don’t. Matt [Stoller] says he still thinks Obama will win, but… “Progressives, as the primary showed, are cheap dates, though we’re getting more expensive as we keep getting lied to.” Too late for that, Matt. They’re talking about you all over town ;-)
And your phone numbers are all over the bathroom walls.
Why progressives should keep organizing on MyBarackObama.com (by Mike Stark, Salon)
Some Obama supporters say we should disband our FISA group now that the vote is past. I disagree. If progressives are silent, the campaign will take us for granted.
Obama is ALREADY TAKING PROGRESSIVES FOR GRANTED, Mike! How dense do you have to be not to realize that?
$300 Million by Mid-October? (by Alegre)
[Friday’s] Wall Street Journal reports that BHO’s camp wants to raise $300 million in general election funds by mid-October… After mentioning that BHO pulled in $30 million in June (so much for that $100 million they were aiming for) the WSJ goes on to say “While this isn’t a poor showing, it is an underwhelming haul for a campaign that has ballooned in recent months, has promised a true, 50-state electioneering effort and has told its biggest fund-raisers that it wants to collect $300 million in general-election cash by mid-October.” I think we all know that money’s not going to come from folks like us… Hat tip to Campskunk for finding this nifty graph of BHO’s declining fundraising…
Obama Sings the Money Blues and Blames Hillary (by Larry Johnson at No Quarter)
Apparently no one told Mr. “I Went to Harvard Cuz I Am So Smart” that the next phase of fundraising for the Presidential campaign would depend on attracting Hillary supporters… It stands to reason then that Obama must reach out to these folks. He needs to make nice. So what is he doing? Not too good. He fell far short of his fundraising goals for the second quarter. He’s down according to some sources by more than 70%. So who is responsible for this brewing debacle? Hillary of course. Obama and his posse are blaiming Hillary for his fundraising woes and–surprise, surprise–scapegoating Hillary for his own failings.
Obama shows signs of being trail-weary (by Peter Nicholas, Los Angeles Times)
Being Barack Obama would seem an ego-enlarging thrill, with ecstatic crowds at every stop and — if the polls are right — a better than 50-50 shot at becoming president. Watching him on the trail in recent days, though, it often appears as if the unrelenting attention and prolonged campaigning are getting wearisome. He told a customer at an Indiana diner two months ago that he had lost 7 or 8 pounds. He said he was learning to get by on four-to-five hours’ sleep.
The presidency of the United States is the most demanding job in the world. Is he up to it?
A Look at a Chicago-Style Fundraiser for Obama–”Hoes” on the Agenda (by GRL at InsightAnalytical)
[Lynn Sweet:] …”At Chicago fund-raiser for Obama, a cussing Bernie Mac jokes about ‘hoes’… [Obama:] “‘Everybody is concerned about whether the Democratic Party will be unified in time,’ he said. ‘We don’t have an option but to make sure that we are united and make sure that we succeed…we can’t afford to be divided by race. We can’t afford to be divided by religion, or by region or class. Or by gender,’ he said, pausing for effect. ‘That means, by the way, Bernie you got to clean up your act. This is a family affair… I’m just messing with you,’ he said.”
Yes, soften the blow when you’re talking to an individual, Senator Obama. On the other hand, you seem to feel comfortable telling huge groups of people what you think they’re doing wrong.
Michelle Contradicts Barack’s Biography (by Texas Darlin at No Quarter)
Michelle Obama contradicted the embedded story-line of her husband’s biography Thursday, as reported by The Huffington Post: “His own mother, she said at the beginning of her remarks, was ‘very young and very single when she had him.’” Oops, Michelle forgot the script. But she confirmed my suspicions that Barack’s parents were NOT married when he was born, and were not even together.
In 1961, having a baby without being married was a very big deal. Today, though, it’s nothing. There’s no reason for Obama to have lied about it. It joins a very long list of lies he has told.
Let Them Buy $600 Earrings (by Pat Racimora at No Quarter)
“Let them eat cake!” is the response attributed to Marie-Antoinette, queen consort of Louis XVI, when informed that the poor had no bread. It seems Michelle Obama has her own twist regarding those whose income is low enough to qualify for the $600 government’s so-called stimulus tax relief package. Criticizing the short term advantage to an audience of mostly African-American women in Michigan she stated, “What can you do with that? Not to be ungrateful or anything. But maybe it pays down a bill, but it doesn’t pay down every bill every month.” It would have been wise for her to have stopped right there. But she added, “And it may even feel good that first month when you get that check. And then you go out and you buy a pair of earrings.”… The Obamas seem to be out of touch with the rest of us struggling “bitter people,” especially female people.
How news orgs handled Jackson’s “cut his nuts off” remark (Poynter)
Liz Cox Barrett reports the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune present readers with a fuller description of Rev. Jesse Jackson’s “coarse language” than many news organizations. Greg Mitchell says the New York Times was coy, while “CNN.com let it all hang out, so to speak.”
Mythbuster: A Hugely Important Little Known Fact about Universal Health Care (by Richard H. Serlin, personal finance expert, thanks to Economist’s View)
There’s a crucial little known fact that Paul Krugman and everyone else for universal healthcare needs to know: The bill for it can be structured so it’s not filibusterable… New Republic Senior Editor Jonathan Chait describes this in his 2007 book, “The Big Con: The True Story of How Washington Got Hoodwinked and Hijacked by Crackpot Economics” On page 204: “…Passage [of the 1993 Clinton health care bill] would have been all but guaranteed if the senate had included health care as part of a ‘reconciliation bill’…” As I’ve written before, enacting universal health care would create such enormous political capital, it would be well worth making any enemies in the Senate.
Great idea, but as we have seen the Democrats don’t give a damn about gaining political capital. If they did, they’d have been fighting George Bush and his usurpations for the last seven and a half years. Democrats continue to believe that being 2% better than the Republicans is enough for voters to give them ever more power.
How About It, Barack? (by Arthur Silber at the Power of Narrative)
[A]s even a brief survey of leading “progressive” blogs reveals, most Democratic partisans are incapable of grasping the glaringly obvious: the Democrats act as they do because they want to. If these self-blinded Democratic supporters ever wish to regain a tenuous foothold in reality, they would be well advised to give up their desperate grasping at straws and face the truth. It doesn’t hurt all that badly, and only for a few years. Of course, they may have to question some of their most deeply held and comforting beliefs and give up many of their allegiances — but then, those don’t seem to be working out so well for them, do they?
Mythbuster: Tax Cuts For The Rich — Not Even Good For The Rich (Wonk Room, Think Progress)
Warning: Habits May Be Good for You (by Charles Duhigg, writing in the New York Times, thanks to Economist’s View)
“We could talk about germs until we were blue in the face, and it didn’t change behaviors,” Dr. Curtis said… [S]tudies … revealed … hand-washing … was prompted by feelings of disgust. And surveys also showed that parents felt deep concerns about exposing their children to anything disgusting. So the trick, Dr. Curtis and her colleagues realized, was to create a habit wherein people felt a sense of disgust that was cued by the toilet. That queasiness, in turn, could become a cue for soap. … Their solution was ads showing mothers and children walking out of bathrooms with a glowing purple pigment on their hands that contaminated everything they touched. The commercials, which began running in 2003, didn’t really sell soap use. Rather, they sold disgust. Soap was almost an afterthought… The ads had their intended effect.
Call me crazy, but I see a similarity with the political persuasion process that has developed over the last 50 years. Conservatives realized many years ago that talking about issues isn’t what makes people vote for you. Therefore, they’ve developed marketing techniques that bypass the issues and instead reach deep down into voters’ guts. Liberals have yet to learn that lesson, as they still seem to believe all they have to do is tell the truth. Liberals like Steve Benen, for example. See below.
Are we still on the Muslim thing? (by Steve Benen at Crooks and Liars)
Obama frequently emphasizes his Christian faith, and there are even ads on Christian radio stations about Obama’s Christian witness. So, given these efforts, public confusion is bound to dissipate, right? Wrong. It’s actually getting worse. From the latest national survey… The number who mistakenly identified Obama as a Muslim was 12%. The number who made the same mistake in March was 10%. That’s obviously a very small increase, but isn’t it about time that number started going down?
House Democrats set to spend $35 million on TV ads
WASHINGTON - House Democrats have reserved millions of dollars worth of television advertising in 31 congressional races in all corners of the country, according to documentation that provides an early roadmap of the party’s drive to strengthen its majority in the fall elections.
I’ll bet that not one dime will go to progressive blogs. Instead, the money will further enrich the very media moguls who pay their employees so well to say nothing but bad things about Democrats and nothing but good things about Republicans.
What Bill Moyers said (by lambert at Corrente)
“Wherever the Internet flows — on PCs, cell phones, mobile devices and, very soon, new digital television sets — we must ensure that it remains an open and nondiscriminatory medium of expression. By 2011, the market analysts tell us, the Internet will surpass newspapers in advertising revenues. With MySpace and Dow Jones controlled by News Corporation’s Rupert Murdoch, Microsoft determined to acquire Yahoo!, and with advertisers already telling some bloggers, “Your content is unacceptable,” we could potentially lose what’s now considered an unstoppable long tail of content offering abundant, new, credible and sustainable sources of news and information. So, what will happen to news in the future, as the already tattered boundaries between journalism and advertising is dispensed with entirely and as content programming, commerce and online communities are rolled into one profitably attractive package?”
Why isn’t Bill Moyers helping us build a business model for sustainable independent media?
This Really Says It All (by John Cole at Balloon Juice)
Despite the dozens of slip-ups, gaffes, flip-flops, and other pretty glaring mistakes made by the McCain campaign, an overall disastrous performance, Time’s Mark Halperin declares the week a win for… McCain and Republicans … Not only that, but McCain won every metric Halperin used to judge, save one, the economy. On that, even with Gramm’s “whiner” comments and the tanking market and skyrocketing costs of fuel (now at $147 a barrel) and McCain’s calling Social Security a disgrace, Halperin did not see fit to score that a win for the Democrats. He called it a tie.
We TRIED and TRIED to tell you it would happen. We REALLY tried.
Road still bumpy for McCain’s retooled bandwagon
HUDSON, Wis. - Every presidential campaign has its hitches. For John McCain, they felt more like full-blown lurches this week, with nearly every step forward quickly offset by a misstatement or wisecrack that seemed to blow his message off course.
McCain official dismissive of campaign surrogates
AP - A top economic surrogate for Republican presidential candidate John McCain doesn’t think people are paying much attention to what people like her have to say.
Holtz-Eakin: Phil Gramm Is No Longer ‘Giving Advice To Senator McCain’ (Think Progress)
Since Thursday, Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) presidential campaign has been in damage control mode, attempting to distance itself from top economic adviser Phil Gramm’s belief that America is “a nation of whiners” that is only going through a “mental recession.” “Sen. Graham and I, as I said, we have a total disagreement on whether Americans are whiners or not,” McCain told reporters [Friday]. Appearing on PBS’s Nightly Business Report [Friday] night, McCain’s senior policy adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, claimed that because of the comments, Gramm would no longer be giving McCain advice.
Lots more really good stuff at MakeThemAccountable.com.
MakeThemAccountable.com
