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October 31, 2008
Evening Open Thread
We're heading into the final weekend of the campaign. Crunch time. Talk to your neighbors. Make phone calls. We're almost there. Get involved.
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Bush's Support in Texas Eroded Significantly
McClatchy reports:
President Bush's political resiliency in his home state has eroded significantly over his nearly eight years in the White House, with Texans joining the rest of the nation in registering sharp disapproval of his job performance as the nation's chief executive, according to a newly released statewide poll.
Only 34 percent of Texans polled in a University of Texas survey approved of Bush's handling of the presidency, with just under 10 percent approving "strongly.’’ By contrast, 55 percent disapproved, with 38.7 percent strongly disapproving.
While the approval ratings are somewhat higher than national polls, the Texas findings reflect a significant downturn in popularity for a native son and former Texas governor who drew 61 percent of the Texas vote in his re-election victory over Democratic Sen. John Kerry four years ago. Throughout much of his two-term presidency, Texas has generally provided Bush with a safety net of robust support while he was losing favor elsewhere.
Stevens Disputes Conviction, Claims ''No Black Mark'' on Name
Stunning news out of Alaska last night as Ted Stevens disputed the fact that he was convicted on all seven felony charges relating to gifts he received while serving as the state's senior senator.
Stevens, a lawyer who once served in the Justice Department, argued an interesting legal theory: it is not a conviction until the appeals process is over.
"I've not been convicted yet," Stevens said Thursday in a meeting with the editorial board of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. "There's not a black mark by my name yet, until the appeal is over and I am finally convicted, if that happens. If that happens, of course I'll do what's right for Alaska and for the Senate. ... I don't anticipate it happening, and until it happens I do not have a black mark."
Call it the "Black Mark Theory" -- one he reiterated in his debate last night with Democratic candidate for Senate, Mark Begich:
Stevens reiterated that position during a televised debate late Thursday night, declaring early in the give-and-take with Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, "I have not been convicted of anything."
To top it off, Stevens essentially called John McCain and Sarah Palin political opportunists who were insincere in their calls for him to resign.
The senator said Gov. Sarah Palin and the other Republicans who have called on him to resign are only doing so for political gain, not because they are sincere. "I wouldn't hold it against them, I understand what they're doing, trying to get elected."
Afternoon Open Thread
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Robots Attack!
John McCain is blanketing the nation with negative robocalls to distract from the economy and distort Senator Barack Obama's record.
Fight back! Knock on doors in your neighborhood. Make calls to voters. Visit your local Obama campaign office. Find out how.
We're only days away...
Morning Open Thread
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October 30, 2008
Evening Open Thread
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''Something''
Something's happening in America...
Make History
Election Day is fast approaching -- only five days away. This Tuesday, make history. Visit www.VoteForChange.com to get all the info you need to vote.
''Rearview Mirror''
Wonder where John McCain will take the economy? Look behind you. We can't afford more of the same.
Morning Open Thread
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October 29, 2008
American Stories, American Solutions
Watch the full 30-minute program that aired tonight in which Senator Barack Obama laid out his plans to the very real problems experienced by Americans across the country.
Evening Open Thread
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A Preview for Tonight
Catch Senator Barack Obama's 30-minute ad airing on FOX, NBC and CBS tonight at 8pm. Check out a preview released by the campaign below:
GOP Rep.: McCain Didn't Live Up to Clean Campaign Pledge
Republican Chris Shays (CT) called out John McCain on his campaign of sleaze:
"He has lost his brand as a maverick," Rep. Chris Shays, a Connecticut Republican and co-chairman of the McCain campaign in that state, told the Yale Daily News in the latest criticism. "He did not live up to his pledge to fight a clean campaign."
On the Air
Check out the latest television ad put out by the Obama campaign:
Arizona, the Battleground State
Things are looking tight in Arizona, John McCain's home state. Arizona Republic reports:
Sen. John McCain's once-comfortable lead in Arizona has all but evaporated, according to a new poll that has the underdog Republican presidential candidate struggling in his own backyard.
With less than a week until Election Day, McCain is leading his Democratic rival, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, by 2 points, 46 to 44, down from a 7-point lead a month ago and a double-digit lead this summer, according to a poll from Arizona State University.
Factor in the 3-percentage point margin of error, and a race that was once a nearly sure thing for McCain is now a toss-up, pollsters say.
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October 28, 2008
Evening Open Thread
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Thousands Come to See Obama in Freezing PA Rain
Freezing rain couldn't stop 9,000 supporters of Senator Barack Obama in Philadelphia.
The World Series got suspended. Obama politics never stop.
Democrat Barack Obama carried on Tuesday with an outdoor rally at Widener University, outside Philadelphia, despite a cold, steady rain that made the temperature feel freezing.
About 9,000 people came out to hear the presidential contender. They stood in mud.
"I just want all of you to know that if we see this kind of dedication on Election Day, there is no way that we're not going to bring change to America," Obama told the shivering crowd.
Stunning Admission by McCain Camp on Healthcare Plan
John McCain's healthcare plan will "blow up" the employer-based system and healthcare experts are not so hot on that idea.
Experts, however, fear that eliminating the tax advantage of employer-based coverage would prompt younger, healthier workers to leave their office plans. If that happened, costs for the remaining workers could skyrocket. Companies may drop coverage altogether.
But the McCain campaign fought back that idea with an even stranger defense:
Younger, healthier workers likely wouldn't abandon their company-sponsored plans, said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, McCain's senior economic policy adviser.
"Why would they leave?" said Holtz-Eakin. "What they are getting from their employer is way better than what they could get with the credit."
Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton on this stunning admission:
“This morning, the McCain campaign’s top economic policy advisor unleashed an October Surprise of straight talk when he finally admitted that the health insurance people currently get from their employer is ‘way better’ than the health care they would get if John McCain becomes President. Independent studies have shown that under John McCain’s health care plan, at least 20 million Americans will lose the insurance they rely on and be forced to buy health care coverage on the individual market that costs more than $12,000 with a tax credit of just $5,000. Senator McCain has been trying to cover this up for months, but his advisor’s brutal honesty today is certainly better late than never, and it should give every American pause about electing a candidate who has proposed such radical and dangerous changes to our health care system,” said Obama-Biden Spokesman Bill Burton.
Afternoon Open Thread
Seven days. Let's finish strong and win this thing.
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Another Former Republican Senator for Obama
In an op-ed entitled, "My Choice: Obama," printed in the Washington Post this morning, former Maryland Senator Charles Mathias (R) endorsed Senator Barack Obama.
I believe that Obama's inspirational leadership, contemplative nature and well-reasoned, forward-looking policies offer our troubled nation a real opportunity to face and overcome its many challenges at home and abroad.
On an array of domestic issues, including health care, education, tax policy, the environment and alternative energy sources, Obama promises a clean break from the recent past and tangible hope for a return to fiscal responsibility, economic security and true environmental stewardship, all of which are essential to restoring our greatness. Now, Obama must be aware of the hopes that he has raised through his discussion of these issues. Many people will rightly take his words as his commitment and will judge him accordingly.
On the international front, his thoughtful and responsible approach to extricating our troops from Iraq, reallocating our finite resources elsewhere in the war on terrorism, and reviving effective use of our diplomatic corps all warrant our support. To be successful in these endeavors, Obama must be an active student of history. In attempting to bring peace to the Middle East, for example, he should recognize that the United States has played a role in the region since Franklin Roosevelt went to Saudi Arabia to meet with King Abdul-Aziz. Obama must appreciate that he is not writing on an empty page and will need to be sensitive to that which has come before him.
Obama represents the better choice to successfully address the issues that dramatically affect the health and well-being of our nation today. The fact that he is also a black American adds special significance for me as someone who was witness to and participated in at least a part of the past century's discourse on civil rights.
Mathias served in the House of Representatives from 1961 until 1969 when he was elected to the U.S. Senate and served until 1987.
Senator Barack Obama's Closing Argument
Watch the full remarks of Senator Barack Obama's "closing argument" speech in Canton Ohio, making the choice in this election starkly clear.
McCain Pushed Regulators on Land Swap
McClatchy reports that John McCain pushed regulators to support a land swap deal despite a pledge to never again intervene with regulators after his brush with corruption in the Savings & Loan scandal. The deal would have benefited owners of the Spur Cross Ranch, including a company ran by a former associate of Charles Keating, the S&L head at the center of the scandal.
Years after he resurrected his political fortunes from the Keating Five savings and loan investigation, John McCain promoted an Arizona land swap that would've benefited a former mentor and partner of the scandal's central figure.
The owners of the Spur Cross Ranch, a dramatic 2,154-acre tract of Sonoran desert just north of Phoenix, in the late 1990s sought to sell it to a developer who planned to build a premier golf course surrounded by 390 luxury homes.
Nearby residents and environmentalists, however, wanted to preserve the area's unusual cacti, stone formations and hundreds of Hopi Indian tribal artifacts.
After opposition surfaced, the developer sought McCain's help in forging a land swap with the U.S. Forest Service — a deal that also would benefit the owners of the ranch, including a company controlled by billionaire Carl H. Lindner Jr., an associate of S&L chief Charles H. Keating.
McCain and an aide pushed for the exchange in more than a half dozen sometimes-testy letters and phone calls up and down the Forest Service's hierarchy, according to former agency officials and correspondence. McCain's office even circulated draft legislation that would have overridden the agency's objection to surrendering national forest land. Ultimately, the deal fell apart.
McCain's behind-the-scenes maneuvering on Spur Cross contrasts with his image as a congressional ethics champion and his pledge — made after the Keating scandal in 1991 sullied his reputation — never to intervene with regulators again.
John McCain's broken promise on intervention with regulators should not come as any surprise. McCain's lawyer during the scandal, John Dowd, claimed that McCain didn't do anything wrong in the Keating Five -- reversing nearly 20 years of self-recriminations and repentance.
Just more evidence that John McCain is more of the same last eight years.
A Panel of Economic Advisers Minus Two
John McCain held an economic panel with two former high-profile advisers nowhere to be found.
Notable for their absence were two people who were close advisers in the early phases of Mr. McCain’s campaign: former Senator Phil Gramm and Carly Fiorina, the former chief executive of Hewlett-Packard. Both have been shunted off to Siberia, not because of policy disagreements but as the result of gaffes that reflected badly on the Republican candidate.
Mr. Gramm, now a banker, was the co-chairman of Mr. McCain’s campaign and an early favorite to be Secretary of the Treasury in a McCain Administration until July, when he told The Washington Times that Americans are “a nation of whiners” and the country was experiencing a recession that was “mental” rather than real.
Ms. Fiorina got herself into hot water in September, after saying that none of the four candidates on the two national tickets have the experience required to run a large company like hers.
If a recent poll of economists conducted by the British magazine The Economist is to be believed, many more professionals in the field favor Senator Barack Obama and his team than Mr. McCain. Of the participants in Monday morning’s event, only one can be described as a heavyweight economist: John B. Taylor, a professor at Stanford University who was Under Secretary of the Treasury for international affairs during the first administration of George W. Bush and has also worked for the Council of Economic Advisers and the Congressional Budget Office.
Morning Open Thread
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October 27, 2008
Evening Open Thread
We're just hours away from one week out. What are you doing to enact change in your neighborhood?
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Ted Stevens Found Guilty on All Seven Charges
A jury in Alaska found Senator Ted Stevens (R) guilty of all seven felony charges of making false statements about gifts he received from close friend, Bill Allen, CEO of VECO Corp.
Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Senate Republican in history and patriarch of Alaska politics, was found guilty of felony charges for making false statements.
The verdict could spell the end of a 40-year Senate career for a man who rose to be one of the most dominant figures in the upper chamber and who helped transform Alaska in its 50 years of statehood. The verdict was reached after the jury deliberated since Wednesday and found the 84-year-old senator guilty of failing to report more than $250,000 in gifts from Bill Allen, the former head of Veco Corp., and other friends.
The jury did not seem to buy the explanation from Stevens that Allen showered him with gifts he didn't want and was unaware of, and that he believed the $160,000 he gave to another contractor covered all costs for the home renovations.
Barack Obama Speaks to 100,000 in Denver
In Denver, Colorado yesterday, Senator Barack Obama spoke to more than 100,000 people who packed Civic Center Park and spilled over to the steps of the capitol building.
Watch a clip of Senator Obama's remarks:
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Former GOP Senator Votes Absentee for Obama
Senator Barack Obama earned the support of former South Dakota Senator Larry Pressler (R), Politico reported this weekend. Pressler was the first Vietnam veteran to serve in the United States Senate.
Pressler, who said that in addition to casting an absentee ballot for Obama he'd donated $500 to the Illinois senator's campaign, cited the Democrat's response to the financial crisis as the primary reason for his decision.
"I just got the feeling that Obama will be able to handle this financial crisis better, and I like his financial team of [former Treasury Secretary Robert] Rubin and [former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul] Volcker better," he said. By contrast, John McCain's "handling of the financial crisis made me feel nervous."
The former senator added that he hoped the next president would help place restraints on executive pay, and said: "I don't think [McCain] will take action in that area, or he's as likely to."
Pressler joins a continuously growing and long list of Republicans to support Senator Barack Obama.
Morning Open Thread
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October 26, 2008
More of the Same
Check out our latest video on John McCain's ''more of the same'' campaign:
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October 25, 2008
''Defining Moment''
Check out the latest ad from Senator Barack Obama:
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October 24, 2008
Evening Open Thread
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McCain 2000 Defended ''Progressive Taxation''
In 2000, John McCain appeared on the Hardball with Chris Matthews College Tour at the stop on the Michigan State campus. Back then, he defended the progressive tax system from charges of "socialism," saying there was "nothing wrong" with paying "somewhat more" when "you reach a certain level of comfort" -- read: rich.
STUDENT: I still don't see how that's fair...aren't we getting closer and closer to Socialism and stuff...?
MCCAIN: Look, here's what I really believe: That when you are, when you reach a certain level of comfort, there's nothing wrong with paying somewhat more. But at the same time it shouldn't be totally out of proportion.
Watch the full clip:
Middle-class tax cuts -- exactly what Senator Barack Obama is proposing and John McCain continues to distort. Get the facts and find out what kind of tax cut you would get under the Obama plan.
Bush Casts Early Vote for Third Term
George W. Bush cast an early vote for his third term by absentee, reports the Associated Press.
President Bush, who has been rarely seen on the campaign trail, cast his ballot for GOP presidential nominee John McCain.
In past elections, the president and first lady Laura Bush have traveled to Texas to vote, but the White House said Friday they cast their ballots in the early voting process. Their votes are being sent back to Texas.
The countdown continues. Less than eleven days to change! Get involved!
Afternoon Open Thread
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How Much Would You Save?
It is no surprise that John McCain continues to lie and distort Senator Barack Obama's record on taxes, and his plans for middle-class tax relief -- the Washington Post reported this morning that taxes are a winning issue for Senator Obama.
In recent weeks, Senator Obama has stressed his targeted tax cuts for 95 percent of hard-working Americans, and independent studies continue to show that the middle class would benefit more from Obama's plan. The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, says Senator Obama's plan is better for the middle-class. Not convinced yet? Try this.
Another GOP Governor Endorses Barack Obama
Senator Barack Obama received the endorsement of William Weld, former Republican governor of Massachusetts, who cited the Democratic nominee's sound judgment and steady leadership.
Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld, a Republican, is endorsing Democrat Barack Obama for president, citing the senator's steady leadership, good judgment and ability to unify Democrats, Republicans and independents.
"Senator Obama is a once-in-a-lifetime candidate who will transform our politics and restore America's standing in the world," Weld said in a statement released Friday. "We need a president who will lead based on our common values and Senator Obama demonstrates an ability to unite and inspire.
"Throughout this campaign I've watched his steady leadership through trying times and I'm confident he is the best candidate to move our country forward," Weld said.
Morning Open Thread
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October 23, 2008
Evening Open Thread
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Former GOP MN Governor Backs Barack Obama
Senator Barack Obama is gaining support from folks on both sides of the isle. Earlier this week, he received the backing of four-star general and former Secretary of State Colin Powell, and news out of Minnesota this morning was that former Republican Governor Arne Carlson is supporting Barack Obama for president.
"Regardless of our party, regardless of our partisan inclinations, there is no interest more compelling than the interest in the well-being of the United States," Carlson said at a gathering of Obama supporters at the state Capitol.
Carlson added, "He has laid out for this nation a vision for a national purpose."
Carlson joins a growing list of a "Obamicans," as the Democratic presidential nominee likes to call them. Learn more about Republicans for Obama here.
Afternoon Open Thread
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McCain Claims He Hasn't Flipped on Anything from 2000
John McCain told the local CBS affiliate in Washington, D.C. that "I'm the same guy" from 2000, claiming that he hasn't flipped on any issue since his last run for the presidency.
MCCAIN: You’ll have to tell me what’s changed. I love it when they say, “Oh McCain has changed.” And I say, “What have I changed on?” They can’t name a single issue or they’ll name an issue and its false. I’m the same guy. I’m proud of our campaign.
It is not exactly a winning message but the interview presented itself with a rather easy challenge: name McCain's flip-flops.
Think Progress identified 44 of them.
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October 22, 2008
Evening Open Thread
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''Change Never Comes Without a Fight''
Senator Barack Obama spoke to nearly 13,000 people in Richmond, Virginia this morning as we move inside two weeks until Election Day. Barack warned attendees that these final thirteen days will be filled with distortions and distractions from the forces of the status quo because "change never comes without a fight."
Watch the video, and head over to the Obama campaign blog for the full text of remarks.
Senator Obama on the Latest McCain Attacks
Senator Barack Obama spoke to reporters today and addressed the latest nonsense from the McCain campaign on taxes, noting John McCain's flip-flop on the Bush tax cuts.
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Mitch McConnell Creating Jobs ... Overseas
Our friends at the DSCC launched this new television advertisement in Kentucky on Mitch McConnell's efforts at creating jobs ... overseas.
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October 21, 2008
Evening Open Thread
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CNN: McCain a Drag on Down-Ticket Republicans
Senator Barack Obama strong position in the polls may be helping down-ticket Democrats send entrenched Republicans packing this November. CNN takes a look at Chris Shays in Connecticut.
Shays is just one of many GOP candidates trying to win by outperforming Sen. John McCain's underwhelming performance in congressional districts nationwide.
McCain, R-Arizona, trailed Illinois Sen. Barack Obama by 21 points in Connecticut's 4th District, according to an October 13-14 SurveyUSA poll for Roll Call newspaper. A just-released University of Connecticut poll and a mid-September survey by the Democratic Feldman Group also had Obama winning by at least 20 points. By comparison, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry won the district by just 6 points four years ago.
Recent public and private polling shows Shays either tied with or trailing his Democratic opponent Jim Himes. In 2004, Shays got 6 more points than President Bush, but the congressman will need a significantly larger number of Obama voters to cross over this year.
Afternoon Open Thread
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Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton Draw 50,000 in Florida
Early voting has started in Florida, and to kick off the GOTV efforts in the state, Senator Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton joined together for a rally in Orlando that reportedly drew 50,000 people.
Check out the Obama campaign blog for photos from Barack Obama's swing through the Sunshine state.
GOP Operative Allegedly Tricked Voters into Registering as Republicans
A Republican operative was arrested yesterday on charges of voter registration fraud, reports the Los Angeles Times. Voters allege that Mark Jacoby duped them into registering as Republicans.
The owner of a firm that the California Republican Party hired to register tens of thousands of voters this year was arrested in Ontario over the weekend on suspicion of voter registration fraud.
State and local investigators allege that Mark Jacoby fraudulently registered himself to vote at a childhood California address where he no longer lives so he would appear to meet the legal requirement that all signature gatherers be eligible to vote in California. His firm, Young Political Majors, or YPM, collects petition signatures and registers voters in California and other states.
Jacoby's arrest by state investigators and the Ontario Police Department late Saturday came after dozens of voters said they were duped into registering as Republicans by people employed by YPM. The voters said YPM workers tricked them by saying they were signing a petition to toughen penalties against child molesters.
The firm was paid $7 to $12 for every Californian it registered as a member of the GOP.
Morning Open Thread
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October 20, 2008
Evening Open Thread
- Sarah Palin criticized John McCain's robo-calls yesterday as an "old conventional way" of reaching out to voters. TPM Election Central notes today that the Alaska governor is now starring in them.
- According to the latest CNN poll, American voters believe John McCain attacked Barack Obama unfairly this campaign. Sounds like Operation Sleaze is not working.
- Off message: Approaching two weeks out tomorrow, McCain's campaign is getting increasingly desperate and flailing all over the place. Count 'em: ten different themes today from the McCain campaign.
- Neoconservatives for Obama!?
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McCain Employing GOP Operative Accused of Voter Registration Fraud
John McCain's hyperbolic claims about "the fabric of democracy" ring incredibly hollow when, at the same time, he pays dirty tricksters like Nathan Sproul almost $200,000 to "register voters."
John McCain's campaign has directed $175,000 to the firm of a Republican operative accused of massive voter registration fraud in several states.
According to campaign finance records, a joint committee of the McCain-Palin campaign, the RNC and the the California Republican Party, made a $175,000 payment to the group Lincoln Strategy in June for purposes of "registering voters." The managing partner of that firm is Nathan Sproul, a renowned GOP operative who has been investigated on multiple occasions for suppressing Democratic voter turnout, throwing away registration forms and even, once, spearheading efforts to get Ralph Nader on ballots so as to hinder the Democratic ticket.
More from the Sproul file:
Indeed, Sproul's history is filled with allegations of political misdeeds. During the 2004 election, Sproul & Associates (the former name of Lincoln Strategy) was accused of attempting to destroy forms collected by Democratic voters in Nevada. That same year in Oregon, Sproul & Associates allegedly instructed canvassers to only accept Republican registration forms in addition to destroying those turned in by Democrats.
In Minnesota, meanwhile, Sproul's firm was accused of actually firing workers who brought back Democratic registration forms, while other canvassers were allegedly paid "$13 an hour, with the $3 bonus for every Bush, undecided or Ralph Nader voter registration." Similar problems related to Sproul & Associates popped up in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Obama Draws Thousands in St. Louis and Kansas City
This weekend, Senator Barack Obama drew thousands while campaigning through the hotly contested swing state of Missouri.
At the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, 100,000 came to see the Democratic presidential nominee.
In Kansas City: 75,000.
Senator Obama also took time out to visit a campaign office and phone banked with other volunteers.
McCain Hits Up Russian Envoy for Donation
According to a letter released by the Russian envoy to the United Nations, John McCain contacted Vitaly Churkin seeking a campaign donation.
Ben Smith picked up the story from Russian news agency, RIA-Novosti:
Russia's permanent mission to the UN has received a letter from U.S. Republican presidential candidate John McCain asking for financial support of his election campaign, the mission said in a statement on Monday.
"We have received a letter from Senator John McCain with a request for a financial donation to his presidential election campaign. In this respect we have to reiterate that neither Russia's permanent mission to the UN nor the Russian government or its officials finance political activities in foreign countries," the statement said.
According to Ruslan Bakhtin, press secretary of the Russian mission, the letter dated September 29 and signed by McCain, was addressed to Vitaly Churkin, Russia's envoy to the UN, and arrived on October 16.
It is illegal to accept money from foreign nationals.
The story had impeccable timing as the McCain campaign attacks Senator Barack Obama's massive small-dollar donor base that helped the Democratic presidential nominee shatter the single-month fundraising total with more than $150 million in September.
Interestingly enough, McCain's campaign manager Rick Davis has several ties to Russia. Last January, the Washington Post reported that Davis set up a meeting between McCain and a controversial Russian billionaire with some unsavory ties back in 2006:
A top political adviser in Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign helped arrange an introduction in 2006 between McCain and a Russian billionaire whose suspected links to anti-democratic and organized-crime figures are so controversial that the U.S. government revoked his visa.
Rick Davis, who is now McCain's campaign manager, helped set up the encounter between McCain and Russian aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska in Switzerland during an international economic conference. At the time, Davis was working for a lobbying firm and seeking to do business with the billionaire.
Earlier this month, Ari Berman and Mark Ames wrote about Davis' ties in Russia for The Nation.
Gen. Colin Powell Endorses Senator Barack Obama for President
Gen. Colin Powell, a former four-star general and secretary of state, endorsed Senator Barack Obama on Meet the Press yesterday.
Gen. Powell slammed the McCain campaign's robo-sleaze and the various smear attacks lobbed at Senator Obama, as well as a defense of Muslim-Americans and the story of Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, a young American Muslim who was 14 on September 11 and was killed in Iraq last year.
Freddie Mac Paid GOP Firm to Kill Regulatory Bill
In the New York Post, Freddie Mac paid a Republican consulting firm, DCI, whose chief executive was Doug Goodyear, the lobbyist that was tapped to run the Republican National Convention but later resigned when his connections to the brutal regime in Myanmar were unearthed.
Freddie Mac secretly paid a Republican consulting firm $2 million in a bid to kill legislation three years ago that would have regulated and trimmed the mortgage finance giant and its sister company, Fannie Mae.
Freddie - which along with Fannie this year has required a taxpayer-back rescue plan to avoid collapse - hired the Washington consulting firm DCI to target a regulatory overhaul bill sponsored by Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb. In a yearlong effort, the firm lobbied 17 Republican senators in 13 states, according to documents obtained by the Associated Press. The bill died January 2007.
DCI's chief executive is Doug Goodyear, whom John McCain's campaign hired to manage the GOP convention in September.
Morning Open Thread
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October 19, 2008
Sunday Open Thread
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October 18, 2008
Saturday Open Thread
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October 17, 2008
Senator Barack Obama Receives Major Endorsements
Both the Washington Post and Los Angeles Times endorsed the Obama/Biden ticket.
Washington Post:
Mr. Obama is a man of supple intelligence, with a nuanced grasp of complex issues and evident skill at conciliation and consensus-building. At home, we believe, he would respond to the economic crisis with a healthy respect for markets tempered by justified dismay over rising inequality and an understanding of the need for focused regulation. Abroad, the best evidence suggests that he would seek to maintain U.S. leadership and engagement, continue the fight against terrorists, and wage vigorous diplomacy on behalf of U.S. values and interests. Mr. Obama has the potential to become a great president. Given the enormous problems he would confront from his first day in office, and the damage wrought over the past eight years, we would settle for very good.
Los Angeles Times:
We need a leader who demonstrates thoughtful calm and grace under pressure, one not prone to volatile gesture or capricious pronouncement. We need a leader well-grounded in the intellectual and legal foundations of American freedom. Yet we ask that the same person also possess the spark and passion to inspire the best within us: creativity, generosity and a fierce defense of justice and liberty.
The Times without hesitation endorses Barack Obama for president.
Update: Breaking news: the Chicago Tribune endorsed the Democratic presidential nominee for president -- the first time that publication has ever done so.
We have tremendous confidence in his intellectual rigor, his moral compass and his ability to make sound, thoughtful, careful decisions. He is ready.
The change that Obama talks about so much is not simply a change in this policy or that one. It is not fundamentally about lobbyists or Washington insiders. Obama envisions a change in the way we deal with one another in politics and government. His opponents may say this is empty, abstract rhetoric. In fact, it is hard to imagine how we are going to deal with the grave domestic and foreign crises we face without an end to the savagery and a return to civility in politics.
This endorsement makes some history for the Chicago Tribune. This is the first time the newspaper has endorsed the Democratic Party's nominee for president.
Afternoon Open Thread
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We Can't Afford John McCain
Morning Open Thread
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October 16, 2008
McCain on Bush: ''I Did Everything I Could to Get Him Elected''
Last night, John McCain tried to distance himself for the last eight years of the failed Bush agenda -- unfortunately for him, he has voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time and even boasted about doing "everything I could" to get him elected.
Now he's doing everything he can to get a third Bush term.
Afternoon Open Thread
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90 Percent
Check out the latest ad from the Obama campaign after last night's final presidential debate. John McCain says he's not George Bush, but he's voted with him over 90 percent of the time -- he even boasted about it himself. The truth is that John McCain offers more of the same and he can't run from his record.
Can You Hear Me Now?
John McCain received free-of-charge portable cell towers from Verizon and AT&T, two companies that, as the ranking minority member on the Commerce committee, McCain oversees in the Senate.
Instead, Verizon delivered a portable tower known as a "cell site on wheels" -- free of charge -- to the McCain property in June, after the Secret Service began inquiring about improving coverage in the area. Such devices are used for providing temporary capacity where coverage is lacking or has been knocked out, in circumstances ranging from the Super Bowl to hurricanes.
In July, AT&T followed suit, wheeling in a portable tower for free to match Verizon's offer. "This is an unusual situation," AT&T spokeswoman Claudia B. Jones said. "You can't have a presidential nominee in an area where there is not cell coverage."
What makes this particularly of interest are McCain's own deep ties to both companies through current campaign and Senate staff.
McCain and his campaign have close ties to Verizon and AT&T. Five campaign officials, including manager Rick Davis, have worked as lobbyists for Verizon. Former McCain staff member Robert Fisher is an in-house lobbyist for Verizon and is volunteering for the campaign. Fisher, Verizon chief executive Ivan G. Seidenberg and company lobbyists have raised more than $1.3 million for McCain's presidential effort, and Verizon employees are among the top 20 corporate donors over McCain's political career, giving his campaigns more than $155,000.
McCain's Senate chief of staff Mark Buse, senior strategist Charles R. Black Jr. and several other campaign staff members have registered as AT&T lobbyists in the past. AT&T Executive Vice President Timothy McKone and AT&T lobbyists have raised more than $2.3 million for McCain. AT&T employees have donated more than $325,000 to the Republican's campaigns, putting the company in the No. 3 spot for career donations to McCain, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.
Morning Open Thread
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October 15, 2008
Watch the Presidential Debate Live!
The debate will air from 9-10:30PM tonight. You can watch it streaming live online here.
Evening Open Thread
Just a reminder -- the final presidential debate is tonight at 9pm Eastern!
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Obama-Biden Tax Calculator
John McCain repeats the same tax lies about Senator Barack Obama time, after time, after time, after time, after time, after time and so on...
Check out the Obama-Biden Tax Calculator and find out how much you will save their tax plan.
Spread the word, and put this widget on your site or blog.
Independent sources have consistently shown that hard-working Americans would benefit more under Senator Obama's plan than under John McCain, who would actually tax healthcare benefits for the first time ever.
Senator Obama offers a fair shake for hard-working Americans.
John McCain plans to cut more taxes for the wealthy, hand over billions in giveaways to oil companies, and leave 101 million households with nothing.
That's not the change we need. That's more of the same failed economic agenda we've experienced for the last eight years, and we've seen where that has led us.
Get the facts.
Read more about the Obama-Biden plan on taxes here.
Get the code to embed this widget here.
And send this to your friends and family here.
Afternoon Open Thread
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White House Endorsed CIA Tactics in Memos
The Bush administration issued a pair of secret memos to the CIA in 2003 and 2004 that explicitly endorsed the agency's use of interrogation techniques such as waterboarding against al-Qaeda suspects -- documents prompted by worries among intelligence officials about a possible backlash if details of the program became public.
The classified memos, which have not been previously disclosed, were requested by then-CIA Director George J. Tenet more than a year after the start of the secret interrogations, according to four administration and intelligence officials familiar with the documents. Although Justice Department lawyers, beginning in 2002, had signed off on the agency's interrogation methods, senior CIA officials were troubled that White House policymakers had never endorsed the program in writing.
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October 14, 2008
Evening Open Thread
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Fun Fact: Saddam's Lobbyist? Also McCain's Transition Chief
There are some unanswered questions about John McCain's judgment in tapping a former lobbyist for Saddam Hussein as his transition chief.
William Timmons, the Washington lobbyist who John McCain has named to head his presidential transition team, aided an influence effort on behalf of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to ease international sanctions against his regime.
The two lobbyists who Timmons worked closely with over a five year period on the lobbying campaign later either pleaded guilty to or were convicted of federal criminal charges that they had acted as unregistered agents of Saddam Hussein's government.
During the same period beginning in 1992, Timmons worked closely with the two lobbyists, Samir Vincent and Tongsun Park, on a previously unreported prospective deal with the Iraqis in which they hoped to be awarded a contract to purchase and resell Iraqi oil. Timmons, Vincent, and Park stood to share at least $45 million if the business deal went through.
Timmons' activities occurred in the years following the first Gulf War, when Washington considered Iraq to be a rogue enemy state and a sponsor of terrorism. His dealings on behalf of the deceased Iraqi leader stand in stark contrast to the views his current employer held at the time.
We know why John McCain would pick a lobbyist. He's surrounded by them all day so that's not really the question here.
The real question is: Why would John McCain pick Saddam Hussein's lobbyist?
Afternoon Open Thread
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Republicans Worried About Democratic Gains in the Senate
Democrats are poised to make gains in the Senate and that has our friends around the corner a wee bit worried as the RNC mulls a $5 million bailout to vulnerable Senate incumbents.
The Republican National Committee, growing nervous over the prospect of Democrats’ winning a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, is considering tapping into a $5 million line of credit this week to aid an increasing number of vulnerable incumbents, top Republicans say.
With party strategists fearing a bloodbath at the polls, GOP officials are shifting to triage mode, determining who can be saved and where to best spend their money.
Morning Open Thread
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October 13, 2008
McCain Dusts Off an Old Speech
John McCain is out of ideas and in the latest reboot of his campaign, he dusted off an old speech for the same ends: pushing Bush/McCain economics. Watch our latest web video:
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Way to Not Combat the ''Erratic Behavior'' Narrative
Christopher Orr at The New Republic nailed it:
Over the weekend, the McCain campaign signaled that it would unveil a series of new economic proposals to deal with the financial crisis, and trotted surrogate Lindsey Graham out to preview the "very comprehensive approach to jump-start the economy."
But sometime late yesterday, they evidently changed their minds, telling the Times, "the Republican presidential nominee would not have any more proposals this week unless developments call for some," and basically pretending they had no idea what Graham was talking about.
Now, less than 24 hours later, Marc Ambinder reports that the campaign plans to address the economy tomorrow and will, contrary to the latest reports (but in keeping with the ones immediately preceding them), be unveiling new proposals.
Be sure to check back though. Plenty of time for them to change their minds again before dinner.
Epic fail.
Senator Clinton in PA: ''Jobs, Baby, Jobs''
Senator Hillary Clinton, on the stump in Pennsylvania for Senator Barack Obama:
Campaigning for Obama, Sen. Clinton tells Philly Jewish Community Center crowd that “the middle class is invisible to this president.” She adds: “we are in a financial crisis born and bred in the last eight years of failed policies of George Bush and John McCain.”
Later on, at historic farm in Horsham, she offers Democrats’ response to Republicans’ “Drill, baby, drill”: “Jobs, baby, jobs.”
Afternoon Open Thread
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90% Believe U.S. on Wrong Track
According to the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll, 90 percent of Americans believe the country is on the wrong track -- the highest ever recorded since the question was first asked 35 years ago.
Given the global economic crisis, a record 90 percent of registered voters say the country is seriously off on the wrong track, the most since this question first was asked in 1973. At 23 percent, Bush's job approval rating has fallen below Nixon's lowest; it's a point away from the lowest in 70 years of polling, set by Harry Truman in early 1952. Bush's disapproval, meanwhile, is at an all-time record -- 73 percent.
To much of the dismay of the McCain team, this was not the year to be running the "more of the same" campaign.
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October 12, 2008
Sunday Open Thread
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October 11, 2008
Saturday Open Thread
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October 10, 2008
Evening Open Thread
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Shorter John McCain: Dow Jones? Who?
This week alone, the Dow Jones dropped nearly 1,100 points, and while Senator Barack Obama has issued statements on the matter reiterating many points about what he would do as president, John McCain is rather mum on the issue.
As countless thousands, perhaps millions, of Americans are losing their retirement savings, the McCain campaign is operating on radio silence. Must be part of McCain's "if we keep talking about the economy, we lose" so let's "turn the page on the financial crisis" strategy.
Local Republicans Frustrated with McCain in Indiana
And the hits just keep coming as Republicans are frustrated with John McCain's campaign (or lack thereof) in an uncharacteristically competitive Indiana:
Even if McCain does visit, there’s also this problem for his campaign: It hasn’t come close to matching other aspects of the Obama effort, such as TV ads, campaign offices, staff and energy, in Indiana.
It’s too late to catch up when it comes to organizing, so a campaign appearance is likely the best step McCain could take. Although such an appearance isn’t likely to decide this race, it would send a message to the GOP volunteers and die-hards the campaign needs to energize.
If you are in Indiana, or anywhere else for that matter, get involved. Only three and a half weeks to go.
McCain's Nevada Operation Mocked by Activists as ''A Joke''
Things aren't going so well for John McCain in Nevada. Local Republican activists fear the GOP nominee "lacks the ground operation and commitment to win Nevada" and one GOP operative called their campaign "a joke."
Conservative activists, operatives and officeholders are anxious about John McCain’s Nevada campaign, fearing the Arizona senator lacks the ground operation and commitment to win Nevada.
Concern grew last week after McCain canceled a Nevada visit. A new Reno Gazette-Journal poll showed McCain trailing by 7 percentage points, with Democratic challenger Sen. Barack Obama competing in traditional Republican strongholds here.
“People I talk to wonder where the campaign is,” said Chuck Muth, a conservative activist who regularly speaks to dozens of other conservatives — north and south — through his newsletter. [...]
A few Republican operatives, who declined to be named, offered blunt criticism.
The McCain campaign is “a joke,” one said. “There’s not a campaign in Nevada. A couple of guys, running around, being incompetent. Or even worse, arrogantly incompetent.”
The consultant said there was no discernible McCain ground game, which is political jargon for the massive effort needed to find likely supporters and get them to the polls.
Don't they wish they had a 50-State Strategy right about now?
Afternoon Open Thread
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Senator Obama Draws 15,000 in Cincinnati
Senator Barack Obama is taking his message of turning the page on the last eight years of failed Bush/McCain policies to southern Ohio this week.
"I can take four more weeks of attacks from John McCain," Obama told 15,000 gathered in resplendent sunshine under deep-blue skies Thursday afternoon at Ault Park.
"But this nation can't take four more years of the economic policies of George W. Bush and John McCain."
Obama began his two-day tour of southern Ohio on a day when the stock market continued to plummet and the attention of voters is divided, with one eye on the campaign and one eye on the economy.
"It's tough times for Cincinnati, it's tough times for Ohio, it's tough times for America," he said. "I believe in all of you. I believe in this country. In this great nation of ours, there's nothing we can't do when we put our minds to it.
"This is the United States of America."
Meanwhile, the McCain campaign continues their dishonest and dishonorable dive into gutter politics in a desperate attempt "turn the page on the financial crisis" strategy while the Dow Jones crashes at historic rates and taking the savings of thousands of Americans with it.
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October 9, 2008
Evening Open Thread
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Dow Drops Below 8,600
Stocks fell sharply in late afternoon trading in New York on Thursday as concerns about the global financial system mounted and investors priced in a deep recession.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index was down nearly 7.6 percent and the Dow Jones industrial average was down 678.91 points, or about 7.3 percent, both posting one of their worst days in post-war history. The Nasdaq composite was down 5.4 percent.
Afternoon Open Thread
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National Debt Clock Runs Out of Digits
George Bush has nearly doubled the national debt of all previous 42 U.S. presidents combined in just 7 1/2 years, and now, the debt clock has run out of digits.
As a short-term fix, the digital dollar sign on the billboard-style clock near Times Square has been switched to a figure -- the "1" in $10 trillion.
It's marking the federal government's current debt at about $10.2 trillion.
The Durst Organization says it plans to update the sign next year by adding two digits.
That will make it capable of tracking debt up to a quadrillion dollars.
''Tested''
John McCain’s new mortgage plan would reward lenders for their irresponsibility and uses taxpayer dollars to do it. That's not change, that's more of the same.
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October 8, 2008
Evening Open Thread
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DNC on the TV
Communications Director Karen Finney appeared on MSNBC to talk about John McCain's sleazy, dishonest and dishonorable campaign.
Afternoon Open Thread
Senator Joe Biden is back on the campaign trail and fired up the audience in Tampa, Florida.
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''Taketh''
Watch the latest ad after Senator Barack Obama handily won last night's second presidential debate.
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October 7, 2008
Debate Open Thread
Catch he second presidential debate from Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee at 9PM Eastern tonight!
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$2 Trillion in Retirement Accounts Lost
This afternoon, the Associated Press reported that retirement accounts have lost $2 trillion in the last 15 months.
Americans' retirement plans have lost as much as $2 trillion in the past 15 months, Congress' top budget analyst estimated Tuesday. [...]
As Congress investigates the causes and effects of the financial meltdown, the House Education and Labor Committee was hearing from retirement savings and budget analysts on how the housing, credit and other financial troubles have battered pensions and other retirement funds, which are among the most common forms of savings in the United States.
"Unlike Wall Street executives, America's families don't have a golden parachute to fall back on," said Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., the panel chairman. "It's clear that their retirement security may be one of the greatest casualties of this financial crisis."
Yet, John McCain stlil wants to privatize Social Security.
And while Sarah Palin is in Florida promising that John McCain will "protect' entitlement programs, his economic advisers are telling the press that there will be massive cuts into Medicare and Medicaid. Perhaps she hadn't read in the newspapers her what her campaign wants to do just yet.
''The Subject''
We know what kind of game John McCain is going to play tonight at the town hall debate in Tennessee. A top aide recently admitted to the New York Daily News that "If we keep talking about the economic crisis, we’re going to lose."
But Americans are already losing -- their jobs, their homes and their life savings -- and John McCain doesn't want to talk about that. He would rather lose his integrity than lose an election, and will launch more dishonest attack ads about Senator Barack Obama.
In his convention speech last August, Senator Obama said, "this isn't about me. It's about you."
That's what this election is all about -- you -- and John McCain, who is out of ideas, out of touch and running out of time, is desperately trying to change the subject.
It will not work.
Afternoon Open Thread
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N.H. Slowly Trending Blue in Voter Registration
Andy Smith, the Director of the Survey Center at the University of New Hampshire, is reporting a gradual increase in Democratic voters within the state.
The slide from red to blue is slow, and Smith anticipates New Hampshire still will be a battleground state in the 2012 presidential election. But come 2016, the state likely will be voting Democratic, Smith predicted.
"The kind of shift we are seeing is less than 1 percent a year," he said. But in 10 years, we could be a "pretty solid Democratic state."
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October 6, 2008
Evening Open Thread
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Rewriting History on Keating
John McCain's campaign is trying to rewrite the events of the Savings & Loan scandal nearly twenty years later. In his 2002 autobiography, McCain called the scandal "the worst mistake of my life," but now McCain's campaign is claiming he did nothing wrong.
Additionally, McCain's team is changing their story on what McCain knew. Washington Post:
Sometimes in politics, memories fail.
In a conference call with reporters, attorney John Dowd was asked about a specific part of the Keating Five inquiry, the fact that Cindy McCain and her father had invested in a Keating strip mall.
"It was part of the inquiry, but it did not -- John was unconnected to that and unaware of it at the time, and did not participate in it," Dowd said.
As the Post reported, McCain did know about the investments, in fact, there's video and guess who asked him the question? His lawyer, John Dowd.
Afternoon Open Thread
Some headlines:
- John McCain's campaign is rapidly trying to turn the campaign focus away from the economy -- since John McCain knows nothing about it and seeks advice from guys like this.
- Fighting back: Recently retired admiral John Natham, on behalf of the Obama campaign, is pushing back against the latest lying attack ad from John McCain on the military.
"As a recently retired Admiral, I know who has the strongest record of supporting the men and women currently serving in our military. Senator Obama has consistently voted to fund our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq and, just as importantly, a proven record of support when they return home. That's why independent veterans organizations give Senator Obama higher marks than Senator McCain. Despite consistent distortions of his record, thousands of veterans like myself support Senator Obama because he has the judgment, character and integrity to be a great president. We will need a great president to lead us in these very challenging times."
- Medicare cuts: A top economic adviser to John McCain, Doulgas Holtz-Eakin, says that in a McCain administration, there would be big cuts to Medicare.
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Keating Economics
Find out more -- visit www.KeatingEconomics.com.
Dow Plummets to Lowest Point Since 2004
This weekend, campaign advisers to John McCain say they want to "turn the page" on the economic crisis and explore new depths of dishonorable and sleazy campaigning. This morning, the Dow Jones sank below 10,000 points for the first time in four years.
Wall Street joined a “selloff around the world” today, with the Dow Jones dropping more than 400 points and falling to below 10,000 for the first time in four years. As the AP reports, the “markets have come to the sobering realization that the Bush administration’s $700 billion rescue plan won’t work quickly to unfreeze the credit markets, and that many banks are still having difficulty gaining access to cash.”
Think about it -- while untold thousands of Americans lose their life savings or retirement funds because of the greed of Wall Street, John McCain wants to "turn the page" on the financial crisis.
Then again, we've seen this before from John McCain. He knows a thing or two about thousands of Americans losing their life savings.
Hoosiers Fired Up and Ready to Go
Check out this FiveThirtyEight.com field report from Indiana. Hoosiers are ready for change, and the bustling Obama field offices there are a testament to that energy.
Here in Lafayette, in Mia Lewis' "alternate universe," the volunteers have begun to run out of turf -- because it's already been canvassed. Although John McCain has only one field office open in the state, Barack Obama has two on the same block. One is a large phone bank office, and a few doors down on the corner is the canvass staging area. We heard stories from volunteers who sometimes canvass because the phone bank is so frequently packed to capacity that if they want to volunteer, knocking on doors is the only option. [emphasis added]
And one of Senator Barack Obama's strongest voices in the Hoosier state is former senator and civil rights champion, Birch Bayh.
Retired Senator Birch Bayh has been on a surrogate tour of Indiana, and spoke to approximately 40 volunteers here in the Lafayette office a short while ago. Bayh, legendary for his support of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and 1965 Voting Rights Act, and the primary architect of both the 25th and 26th Amendments (not since the founders can one man claim that distinction), gave a moving speech to the assembled group. Bayh was the principal sponsor of the Equal Rights Amendment and highly influential in getting Title IX passed. He is also the guy who pulled a seriously injured Ted Kennedy from the wreckage of a small engine plane crash in 1964. The guy has been around.
He talked about his own grassroots campaign that first elected him to the US Senate in 1962. What he's seen with Barack Obama's operation in the state of Indiana this time around reminds him of that grassroots surge that won him the Senate seat in this traditionally red state. After speaking about the value of an engaged citizenry, and the consequences of detaching from the public policy arena (the previous eight years being his primary example), Bayh made a prediction.
On the night of November 4, at that early six o' clock hour that is almost always an immediate blot of red in a largely empty map (Indiana reports early), America is going to see something different this time.
A dot of blue.
Morning Open Thread
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October 5, 2008
Sunday Open Thread
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October 4, 2008
Saturday Open Thread
Watch this powerful new video on the mounting job losses.
We cannot afford more of the same.
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October 3, 2008
Evening Open Thread
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Gov. Howard Dean on MSNBC
Watch Democratic National Committee chairman Gov. Howard Dean on MSNBC this afternoon:
Twice as Many Jobs Cut in September
And John McCain wants four more years of this?
Employers cut 159,000 jobs in September, more than twice as many as in August or July, the Labor Department reported. It was the biggest monthly decline since 2003, when the economy was still losing jobs in the wake of the 2001 recession.
Forecasters had been expecting a loss of about 100,000 jobs in September.
Afternoon Open Thread
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Former Freddie Mac Lobbyist Now McCain's Senate Aide
Washington Post reports that Mark Buse, the former staff director for McCain's Senate Commerce Committee in 2001 and 2002, lobbied for Freddie Mac and is now back on the McCain payroll in his Senate office.
When mortgage giant Freddie Mac feared several years ago that Sen. John McCain was too outspoken on the issue of executive pay, it pinpointed a lobbyist known for his closeness to McCain and hired him to work with the senator.
Mark Buse, a longtime McCain adviser who had been staff director of the Senate commerce committee, signed on as a Freddie Mac lobbyist, and his firm, ML Strategies, earned $460,000 in lobbying fees in late 2003 and 2004, according to lobbying disclosures. Buse is now chief of staff at McCain's Senate office.
While McCain made noise about executive pay, as chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, he did not hold any hearings on the matter due to "lack of jurisdiction," his campaign says.
McCain continued to talk about the compensation issue. But inside Freddie Mac, Buse's effort was viewed as "hugely successful," a former Freddie Mac lobbyist said. "The statements didn't go away completely, but in terms of Senator McCain doing anything about it, it just never materialized. As far as I know, Buse was the only person working that issue for Fannie or Freddie, so he got a lot of credit internally for the results." [emphasis added]
And McCain's relationship to Buse?
Buse was nicknamed "The Ferret" because he helped his boss, McCain, find pork-barrel provisions buried in legislation. McCain has said he considered Buse to be like a son.
Buse left the commerce committee staff to lobby, signing on clients as diverse as oil giant Exxon Mobil, Wall Street firm Goldman Sachs and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, according to the government records. He also represented telecommunications clients affected by the committee.
Buse returned to McCain's office this year as chief of staff.
Wasn't it John McCain who said that "access is influence"?
''Can't Explain''
Last night at the vice presidential debate, Senator Joe Biden informed the American public on what John McCain plans to do with healthcare -- deregulate it like he deregulated the financial industry and then tax health benefits to pay for a $5,000 tax credit per family that will not even cover half of the healthcare costs of the average American family.
Watch the latest national television ad entitled, "Can't Explain."
Morning Open Thread
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October 2, 2008
Evening Open Thread
Don't forget -- Vice Presidential Debate tonight at 9PM Eastern. Until then, chat away...
Notice a Pattern?
John McCain meeting with the Des Moines Register:
In an interview with the editorial board of The Des Moines Register earlier this week, McCain was asked about Palin's apparent lack of experience and why he picked the Alaska governor.
McCain, who appeared irritable and at times sarcastic, told the newspaper that he disagrees with "your fundamental principle that she doesn't have the experience," and he's "so happy" the American people seem to be siding with him.
And last night on the floor of the United States Senate --
Let the record reflect that Barack Obama made the approach to John McCain tonight.
As the two shared the Senate floor tonight for the first time since they won their party nominations, Obama stood chatting with Democrats on his side of the aisle, and McCain stood on the Republican side of the aisle.
So Obama crossed over into enemy territory.
He walked over to where McCain was chatting with Republican Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida and Independent Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut. And he stretched out his arm and offered his hand to McCain.
McCain shook it, but with a “go away” look that no one could miss. He tried his best not to even look at Obama.
Finally, with a tight smile, McCain managed a greeting: “Good to see you.”
And to the Politico last night after the Senate vote on the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act --
We just followed McCain down the steps following the vote to ask him about the reaction of House Republicans to the vote.
He didn't appreciate the company.
McCain: "Excuse me, you're bothering me."
Politico: "I'm bothering you?"
McCain: "Excuse me, I have to go."
Anybody else noticing a pattern here?
McCain's 100 Percent Absolute Truth?
John McCain tells a lie to cover up all his other lies.
John McCain told the Des Moines Register this week that he always tells "100 percent absolute truth," even in campaign ads. There's one big problem with that bold statement: it's just not true.
We have a list of at least 80 fact checks calling out the lies pushed by John McCain since February. 80!
Update: Spoke too soon -- we've updated it to 81!
Afternoon Open Thread
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Editorial Rips John McCain's Plan for Healthcare
The latest Concord Monitor (NH) editorial ripped John McCain's 'plans' to "blow up" the current healthcare system that would leave far fewer Americans with insurance.
McCain would blow up the current system and ensure that fewer Americans are covered. He wants to eliminate the tax deduction employers get for providing health insurance. Instead, he would give tax credits to individuals and families to make it easier for them to purchase insurance on what he believes will be a new, bigger open market that will compete to lower health care costs. The credits would be $2,500 per individual and $5,000 per family.
There are more components to the McCain plan - portability of insurance from state to state, for example - but none would offset the enormous damage his on-your-own in a wide-open market approach would do.
McCain's "risky" plan would leave the average American family on the hook for thousands of dollars to cover their basic healthcare needs each year.
While the decades-old system of employer-sponsored health insurance has its shortcomings — many small businesses can’t afford to offer it — killing the tax exemption will lead to a stampede of large employers discontinuing their more affordable, group health plans. Those comprehensive plans cost more than $12,000 a year for the average family; with a tax credit of just $5,000, they’d be left to find $7,000 a year to buy comparable coverage. Put simply, the tax-credit scheme won’t work.
And since McCain likes to lie about taxes on the stump and in his attack ads, it is worth noting that McCain recently admitted that his healthcare plan would actually raise taxes on Americans to pay for it.
Morning Open Thread
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October 1, 2008
Evening Open Thread
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Fmr. U.S. Amb. to Pakistan Disputes McCain's ''Failed State'' Claim
At the first Presidential debate last Friday, John McCain claimed Pakistan was a "failed state" at the time of the coup that swept General Pervez Musharraf into power. William Milan, the former U.S. ambassador to Pakistan at the time of the coup disputed that claim in an e-mail to Matthew Yglesias.
There are a number of interesting books, including a forthcoming one by me, that cover the 1999 coup by the Musharraf-led army. You might want to look at those already published by Steve Cohen, Hasan Abbas, Hussain Haqqani (long before he became the present Pakistani Ambassador), and especially Ian Talbot’s updated history of Pakistan.
I think that all of them would agree that, while there were a lot of things wrong in Pakistan during the years leading up to the 1999 military takeover, Pakistan was not a failed state as we normally define such states. I am on record as stating publicly that, having come to Pakistan from Liberia a year before the takeover, I had a pretty good idea of what failed states look like, and it was not one. [emphasis added]
More Jobs Lost in September
CNN reported on new figures that showed increased job cuts with the tech and auto industries hit the hardest.
The number of job cuts announced in September rose as the economy slowed, according to a report released Wednesday.
Positions on the cutting board rose 7.2% to 95,094 from 88,736 the previous month, and were 33% higher than the same month last year, when 71,739 cuts were announced, according to outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
September brought the announced layoff total for the third quarter to 287,142 - the largest number since 2005, according to the report.
We cannot afford four more years of the same.
Afternoon Open Thread
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McCain Repeating Keating Mistakes
A former regulator from the Savings & Loan scandal twenty-years ago says John McCain is repeating the same mistakes that embroiled him in the Keating Five scandal.
William Black -- a deputy director of the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation during the "Keating Five" scandal that nearly ended McCain's political career -- says the Arizona Republican's chief errors at the time were underestimating the importance of regulation and relying too heavily on slanted advice from captains of industry.
"In the S&L crisis, he took his advice from the worst [kind of] criminal. Charles Keating is the person he went to for his policy advice," Black said. "Now, he certainly is getting advice from Phil Gramm, Carly Fiorina, Rick Davis -- the whole group of economic and top political advisers are lobbyist types. He just doesn't seem to get it, ever, that the advice is going to favor their clients. Even if they just stop being lobbyists, you can't just turn that off instantly. It's their mind state that develops. ... The biggest lesson is that, when you deregulate and de-supervise, you create an environment where control fraud emerges. You hyper-inflate bubbles; you get criminalization." [emphasis added]
Morning Open Thread
Ho-hum, another lie from John McCain.
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