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How do I cancel my account?

BatonRougeDem — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 04:11:37 EDT

I no longer want to be here.

Whether you disagree with John McCain

BatonRougeDem — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 05:02:13 EDT

for whatever reason...don't you think Jill Greenberg's Atlantic photographic stunt was pretty much in bad form? Yes or no.

GOP bounce: McCain overtakes Obama

BatonRougeDem — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 04:33:55 EDT

POLITICO -
By DAVID PAUL KUHN - 9/7/08 2:52 PM EST

John McCain has overtaken Barack Obama in the Gallup daily tracking poll and has his highest level of support in that poll since early May.

McCain leads Obama 48 percent to 45 percent among registered voters, by Gallup’s measure. McCain has so far earned the same convention bounce as Obama, though at a more rapid pace.

Obama peaked at a 5-point convention bounce in polling published last Tuesday. He was ahead 49 percent to 43 percent in the Gallup poll conducted before the Republican convention. He then soared to 50 percent for the first time of the election, by Gallup’s measure, while McCain fell to 42 percent.

McCain’s 5-point to 6-point bounce so far, like Obama’s, remains at par with historical expectations. In the 22 major-party conventions since 1964, the nominee walked away with, on average in most years, a 5-point to 6-point uptick in Gallup’s polls. The presidential polling will likely remain in flux until the middle of next week.

Today's Gallup report continues to include some polling conducted prior to McCain's acceptance speech. Tomorrow's report will be the first to include interviews solely conducted following the close of the GOP convention.

Rasmussen’s daily tracking poll also reported today that when "leaners” are included, Obama and McCain are now tied at 48 percent. That means that, by Rasmussen’s measure, Obama’s 6-point bounce has been erased. CBS News polling had shown the same outcome midway through the GOP convention.

McCain’s resurgence in the polls comes as Nielsen Media Research reported that the Republican convention earned more television viewers than the Democratic convention. Republicans earned an average audience of 34.5 million, while Democrats earned an average viewership of 30.2 million.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13228.html

Well, congrats all

BatonRougeDem — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 23:07:12 EDT

I'm forwarding my address to Dems for McCain's site. See you there.

Liz - You still didn't answer my question on...

BatonRougeDem — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 23:45:52 EDT

how long you've been a Democrat. Simple question really.

Finally, a voice of reason

BatonRougeDem — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:56:49 EDT

http://clintondems.com/2008/08/new-mccain-ad-debra-bartoshevich/

Biden, Anita Hill Revisited

BatonRougeDem — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:31:44 EDT

The article is interesting. A bit longish so I won’t post it all:

Special note*

One of Mr. Biden’s key aides at the time, who reviewed the allegations and dealt with Ms. Hill, was Harriet Grant, who is now married to I. Lewis Libby, otherwise known as “Scooter.”

New York Times - The Caucus, Convention Center

By Kate Phillips

When Senator Barack Obama mentioned last week at the Saddleback Church faith forum that he wouldn’t have appointed Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court bench, perhaps he had already been reviewing the presiding role that his now running mate, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., played in the judge’s confirmation hearings long ago.

Mr. Biden at the time was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. And while the Delaware Democrat ultimately voted against confirming Mr. Thomas, he was widely criticized by liberal legal advocates and women’s groups as having mismanaged the allegations of sexual harassment made by Ms. Hill against her former employer, Mr. Thomas, at the Department of Education and at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, at those hearings.

It was another time and another place, but the issues of race, gender and politics intersected in a volatile way that still may hold resonance today, especially given the interplay of those themes (granted in entirely different ways) during the epic primary battle between Mr. Obama and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/23/biden-and-anita-hill-revisited/

Biden's Son, Brother Named in Two Suits

BatonRougeDem — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 05:33:38 EDT

By Kimberly Kindy and Joe StephensWashington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, August 24, 2008; Page A09

A son and a brother of Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) are accused in two lawsuits of defrauding a former business partner and an investor of millions of dollars in a hedge fund deal that went sour, court records show.

The Democratic vice presidential candidate's son Hunter, 38, and brother James, 59, assert instead that their former partner defrauded them by misrepresenting his experience in the hedge fund industry and recommending that they hire a lawyer with felony convictions.

The legal actions have been playing out in New York State Supreme Court since 2007, and they focus on Hunter and James Biden's involvement in Paradigm Companies LLC, a hedge fund group. Hunter Biden, a Washington lobbyist, briefly served as president of the firm.

A lawsuit filed by their former partner Anthony Lotito Jr. asserts in court papers that the deal was crafted to get Hunter Biden out of lobbying because his father was concerned about the impact it would have on his bid for the White House. Biden was running for the Democratic nomination at the time the suit was filed.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/23/AR2008082302200.html

Obama Identifies Eau Claire Wis. as 58th state: on YouTube

BatonRougeDem — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 05:20:18 EDT

Obama Identified Eau Claire as the 58th state…

“Eau Claire’s a big important state” – Barack Obama

http://www.notready08.com/

Looks like plenty of comedic material for Leno and Letterman is at hand.

Obama Chooses Biden: Shows Lack Of Confidence

BatonRougeDem — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 19:14:00 EDT

AP - Aug 23, 2008

Analysis: Biden Pick Shows Lack Of Confidence

In picking Senator Joe Biden to be his running mate, Barack Obama sought to shore up his weakness — inexperience in office and on foreign policy — rather than underscore his strength as a new-generation candidate defying political conventions.

He picked a 35-year veteran of the Senate — the ultimate insider — rather than a candidate from outside Washington, such as Govs. Tim Kaine of Virginia or Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas; or from outside his party, such as Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska; or from outside the mostly white male club of vice presidential candidates. Hillary Rodham Clinton didn't even make his short list.

The picks say something profound about Obama: For all his self-confidence, the 47-year-old Illinois senator worried that he couldn't beat Republican John McCain without help from a seasoned politician willing to attack. The Biden selection is the next logistical step in an Obama campaign that has become more negative — a strategic decision that may be necessary but threatens to run counter to his image.

Well, this makes me feel good about the presumptive Democratic nominee.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/veepstakes_analysis;_ylt=Aho1zR4tzjzgXsoJhQAZp7Bh24cA

Thank you Howard Dean!

BatonRougeDem — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 18:41:49 EDT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvuMDmqwwbI

First the good news...

BatonRougeDem — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 20:38:19 EDT

Joe Biden is the VP choice. Bad news, he's not on the top of the ticket.

Obama Replaces Six FL Hillary Delegates With His Supporters

BatonRougeDem — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 22:20:49 EDT

Google news links on this now "unaccessible". But try this link:

http://www.vot3r.com/stories/509030

KY Hillary Delegate Replaced With Obama Supporter. KY Dem Party Angry, Files Suit

BatonRougeDem — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 22:14:30 EDT

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) -- Fighting between Clinton and Obama supporters continues in Kentucky, as WHAS11 News has learned that Hillary Clinton supporters in Kentucky have filed an official protest with the national Democratic Party.

http://www.whas11.com/news/local/stories/WHAS11_POLITICS_080814_CLINTONOBAMA.486a4d97.html

LATimes - Barack Obama campaign soliciting 'soft money' for convention

BatonRougeDem — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 17:48:07 EDT

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee has decried the practice and vowed to reform convention funding, but the Denver Host Committee was facing a budget shortfall.http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-demfunds16-2008aug16,0,3706902.story

Tyra Banks portrays Michelle Obama in Sept. Harper's Baazar

BatonRougeDem — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 19:39:24 EDT

I don't know whether to laugh or cry at this:

Aug 7, 2008 - Supermodel Tyra Banks appears as the First Lady of fashion in the September issue of Harper's Bazaar magazine, posing as Michelle Obama.

The photo shoot captures Banks beside a Barack Obama look-alike model in an Oval Office scene. In another, Banks gives him a fist bump while confetti flies.

"So what gives me tears is if Barack Obama wins, kids are going to say that a black man can be president, too," Banks tells the magazine. "I think it will give so many people -- black, Latin, Asian, even white people that feel forgotten -- hope. I did not think I would see it in my lifetime, and I'm only 34."

"With Barack Obama, his becoming president is them becoming president because Michelle was there from the beginning," Banks continued. "Without Michelle, he wouldn't be there."

That photo shoot is one example of new Michelle Obama magazine coverage. Michelle Obama will also appear solo on the cover of Ebony and Ladies' Home Journal with her husband.

(Read the full interview with Michelle and Barack Obama at www.lhj.com and more on Michelle Obama's covers at Top of the Ticket.)

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/08/tyra_banks_michelle_obama_cele.html

Obama Flip Flops On Off-Shore Drilling

BatonRougeDem — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 23:38:49 EDT

Maura Kelley - The Guardian, Aug 5, 2008

On Friday, saying it was time for a compromise on the energy issue, presidential hopeful Barack Obama voiced his tentative support for a bipartisan proposal calling for the expansion of offshore oil drilling, along with the development of alternative fuels and more efficient motor vehicles. Soon after, Obama implied that his willingness to allow the drilling in Florida "wasn't really a new position". But, of course, it is.

As recently as late June, he said that, in order to protect the US coastline, he would enforce a drilling moratorium that has been in place since 1981. (Democratic leaders and environmentalists have supported that ban for years.) What's not new: Obama's interest in working with Republicans to move the country toward greater energy independence, and his eagerness to appease voters. That's why he made a gesture that many of them believe would lower prices at the pump.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/05/oil.barackobama

JibJab: "Time For Some Campaignin'"

BatonRougeDem — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 12:00:25 EDT

No holds barred. Funny as heck.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0Cwm_Rw8X0&feature=bz303

My view on The New Yorker for what it's worth

BatonRougeDem — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 18:57:54 EDT

Regardless of the cover's intent the result will undoubtedly help the Obama campaign at the expense of Hillary supporters trying to further their PUMA cause and McCain's own presidential run. This, I think this is the real purpose for the magazine's cover.

Fear and smear are bread and butter of politics however much it's said it's not. Fact and fiction are distorted.

In a polarizing presidential campaign season where many "firsts" are being made, first viable woman, first viable bi-racial, and first oldest candidate at first inauguration, fact, fiction, emotion and pride bleed and blind intensely and blame and shame run rampant. No candidate or campaign wins with this cover issue.

Tony Snow 1955-2008

BatonRougeDem — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 22:31:59 EDT

Tony Snow died of complications from colon cancer Saturday. Although he was a Republican, we ought to put our party differences aside and honor an American who truly loved his country. He is survived by his wife, Jill Ellen and three children. He was 52.

He was born in Berea, KY and raised in Cincinnati. He worked his way up as a columnist, radio, show host, and political analyst, both for Fox News and CNN.

In his late 20's he wrote speeches for Bush the Elder. He later accepted GW Bush's offer to become White House press secretary and served until he could no longer perform his duties because of his illness.

He was a conservative Republican but he did not tow the party line. He disagreed with conservatives on many issues, critcized GW Bush's administration on various issues, including the Iraq War.

He was an likeable man, a consciences man, and a good friend to members of both parties. I bet not many here knew he loved and played jazz. He can be seen on YouTube playing the flute.