Category: Politics & Elections

Republicans win

A Republican friend (I have more than one) writes of a symbolic victory — symbolic being all Republicans are likely to have this year.

But, I just found out I have to go to Denver on 26th-28th of August. Went to book my hotel only to find that every single Marriott within 60 miles of Denver is sold out due to the stupid Democratic convention. No problem though, I was able to use my status to kick some poor unsuspecting Democrat to the curb. We may not win the election, but I at least will have the satisfaction of kicking some poor slob out for two nights. How dare they go where I need to go? Higher taxes??? Sleep on the curb, beeyatch!!!

Dangerous and Unstable

It’s sort of funny when he’s just an unhinged senator. But think for a moment where we’d be if this man were president right now, as he may well be in six months. This man takes the counsel of the people who got us into the Iraq War. On foreign policy, he is in league with the people who were so extreme they’ve now largely been kicked out of the Bush administration. People like John Bolton and others like him.

It’s beyond Obama or political strategy or dinging McCain on this or that policy.

This man is simply too dangerous and unstable to be president. People need to wake up and get a look of the preview he’s giving us of a McCain presidency.

Joshua Marshall

NewMexiKen agrees with Marshall. Keep your eye on the ball people. War, and war especially with a powerful foe, trumps all other issues — except, of course, who’s wearing a flag lapel pin.

You’re In Danger

And John McCain would ramp up all the worst traits of the current administration. His instincts are always toward force and the people advising him come squarely from the Cheney wing of the current administration. In comparison to Bush he’s not just more of the same. There’s every reason to believe he’d be much worse.

The current situation in Georgia and his response should make clear to everyone how dangerous a president John McCain would be.

Josh Marshall

Whatever you think of Obama and the Democratic Party, John McCain would be an unmitigated disaster as President of the United States.

If you’re against Obama, at least demand the Republicans chose someone capable of handling the job. Haven’t we had enough incompetence and wrong-headedness?

This and that

School starts this week in Albuquerque — Wednesday is the first full day. NewMexiKen never started school before Labor Day and none of my kids did either. What’s with this August-to-May school year anyway?

I bought regular gasoline yesterday for $3.58 (I’m rounding off the tenth of a cent from now on). I was thinking I shouldn’t fill up (that is, I should buy short), because the price will continue to drop at least until election day.

What percentage of time during the Olympic coverage on NBC is actually spent watching athletes do athlete stuff? 10 percent? 15 percent?

There are rumors that McCain will pledge just one term to offset the age issue. I know an even better way — no terms. The Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch tells us Why McCain would be a mediocre president. “A careful look at McCain’s biography shows that he isn’t prepared for the job. His resume is much thinner than most people think.” Amazingly, McCain is even more of a dilettante than W.

Remember my rant about Comcast and the comment from a representative of Comcast? Well, it seems the outreach is real:

From a sparse desk dominated by two computer screens in the new Comcast Center here, Mr. Eliason uses readily available online tools to monitor public comments on blogs, message boards and social networks for any mention of Comcast, the nation’s largest cable company. When he sees a complaint like Mr. Dilbeck’s, he contacts the source to try to defuse the problem.

“When you’re having a two-way conversation, you really get to clear the air,” Mr. Eliason said.

The New York Times has more — Complaining Bloggers Have a Cable Company’s Ear.

The iPhone is great except for battery life, which is OK at best.

GOP won’t let go of its new tire-gauge toy

Consider a counter-example. McCain was talking about skin cancer the other day.

McCain emphasized that skin cancer is preventable, and implored Americans to wear sunscreen, especially over the summer. What’s wrong with this advice? Not a thing. It’s a smart, sensible thing to say.

But imagine if Obama and his surrogates said the entirety of McCain’s healthcare policy is sunscreen application. McCain doesn’t really care about cancer, they could argue, he just wants everyone to run out at get some SPF 30. Those vying to be Obama’s running mate started holding up bottles of Coppertone during their speeches, saying things like, “We want you to wear sunscreen, you know, it will very mildly improve your chances of not getting sick. But wearing sunscreen is not a healthcare policy for the United States of America.”

The Carpetbagger Report

Civil discourse, what is this country coming to?

Obama eventually stopped speaking, turned around, and said, “Excuse me, young men. This is going to be a question-and-answer session, so you can ask a question later. Let me make my statement. Why don’t you all sit down? Then you can ask your question. That’s why we’re having a town hall meeting. Sit down. You’ll have a chance to answer your question. But you don’t want to disrupt the whole meeting. Just be courteous. That’s all. All you got to do is be courteous. That’s all. Just be courteous and you’ll have a chance to make your statement.”

MSNBC

And they got the chance and he responded.

Your assignment, contrast and compare with this and this.

Most asinine line of the day

“Barack Obama has played the race card, and he played it from the bottom of the deck.’’

Rick Davis, McCain’s campaign manager, as reported at The Caucus.

At this rate, McCain’s crew will be using the “N’ word by September. When McCain lost Iraq as an issue, he had no issues, so now it’s all anti-Obama, all the time.

But then I have to acknowledge, the only reason to vote for McCain is to not vote for Obama.

Because we sure as hell don’t want a president who is popular around the world

Britney Spears, Paris Hilton … Barack Obama?

All three make cameo appearances in Senator John McCain’s newest television ad that refers to Mr. Obama as “the biggest celebrity in the world” and uses footage from his speech in Berlin, with sound bites of the throngs cheering “Obama, Obama.”

(The McCain campaign likes to call them Mr. Obama’s “adoring fans.”)

The Caucus

Stupidest line of the day, so far

“The Obama campaign has a woman problem. How big? How small? It’s not clear, but in a close election, small can be big.”

That’s Chicago Sun-Times columnist Carol Marin as reported at Daily Kos.

Except Ms. Marin is wrong. As kos reports, “Kerry won the female vote 51-48. … Obama leads that demographic by 22.”

So, umm, Ms. Marin, wouldn’t it have been more factually correct to say that the McCain campaign has a woman problem, being down 56 to 34 among women in a poll taken three days ago.

Elsewhere it’s been reported that Obama has a Latino problem, too. Except that he’s up 66-33 among Latinos according to Pew.

I’d say it’s the media that has a problem. But you knew that.

What else is new line of the day

“For four days, Sen. John McCain and his allies have accused Sen. Barack Obama of snubbing wounded soldiers by canceling a visit to a military hospital because he could not take reporters with him, despite no evidence that the charge is true.”

The Washington Post

NBC’s Andrea Mitchell (Mrs. Alan Greenspan), who was with Obama, put it this way:

There was never an intention to make this political. But by tacking it on to the tail end of a political-the political leg of the trip, they opened themselves up they feared to the criticism, and if they’d gone, they’d be criticized and not going, they were criticized and the McCain commercial on this subject is completely wrong! Factually wrong.

The Myth of a Toss-Up Election

While no election outcome is guaranteed and McCain’s prospects could improve over the next three and a half months, virtually all of the evidence that we have reviewed–historical patterns, structural features of this election cycle, and national and state polls conducted over the last several months–point to a comfortable Obama/Democratic party victory in November. Trumpeting this race as a toss-up, almost certain to produce another nail-biter finish, distorts the evidence and does a disservice to readers and viewers who rely upon such punditry. Again, maybe conditions will change in McCain’s favor, and if they do, they should also be accurately described by the media. But current data do not justify calling this election a toss-up.

From a longer piece at Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball ’08.