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syracus

23.04.2008, 18:17

Last Night Clinton Won the Pennsylvania Primary, but Lost the War for the Nomination

April 23, 2008
Robert Creamer

The Pennsylvania Primary was Hillary Clinton's last chance to deliver a game changing blow to Obama's campaign for the nomination. She failed to deliver.

Pennsylvania provided her with her final real opportunity to knock the wheels off the Obama campaign. She needed a crushing victory of 18% to 25% to have any real chance of altering the math or the psychology. Demographically, Pennsylvania was made for Hillary: the second oldest state in the nation, heavily blue collar, Catholic and rural -- Hillary's voter profile. She started with a lead of almost 20 points. But her final margin -- which the Pennsylvania Secretary of State says was only 9.2% -- fell far short of what was needed to stop Obama's nomination. Here's why:

1). Pledged Delegates. By CNN's count, Clinton netted about 14 pledged delegates in Pennsylvania. That still leaves Obama up by 151 pledged delegates. It is likely that after Guam, Indiana and North Carolina, there will be no net change in pledged delegates, even if Clinton wins Indiana, since Obama will certainly pick up delegates in North Carolina. But at that point only 251 pledged delegates will remain to be chosen.

Even if she got 80% of all of the pledged delegates that remain after Indiana, she would still trail Obama at the end of the day.

The battle for the pledged delegate advantage is over.

2). Popular Vote. Pennsylvania was her best opportunity to really close in on Obama's popular vote lead. She picked up about 216,000 net votes. But that still leaves her over 600,000 votes behind, and Obama will likely increase his popular vote margin further after the contests on May 6th. Her failure to blow Obama out in Pennsylvania makes it almost impossible for her to close the popular vote gap.

3). Electability. Clinton's entire strategy rests on the premise that she can convince Super Delegates that Obama is unelectable. Only a massive win in Pennsylvania would have credibly made that case. Clinton's victory did little to enhance her argument.

Regardless of the passions of the moment, history shows us that just because voters prefer one candidate in the primary, it doesn't mean they won't vote for her Democratic opponent in a general election when the choice is a Republican. When all is said and done, primary voters almost always vote for the candidate of their party in a general election - regardless of what they might say (on either side) in the middle of a primary fight.

In fact, the people who decide general elections rarely set foot in primary voting booths. They are the independent voters who vote only in general elections and unengaged voters who are would vote Democratic, but have to be mobilized to go to the polls.

The fact is that to whatever degree Hillary might have more appeal among independent rural and blue collar voters, Obama more than makes up in additional appeal to independent suburban voters. Obama's ability to mobilize new young and African American voters in the general election is indisputably greater than Clinton's.

And of course, Obama will not go into the General Election burdened by the towering Clinton negatives that her own negative campaign strategy increases daily.

The polls, and even Pennsylvania Governor and Clinton supporter Ed Rendell, make it clear that Obama can win Pennsylvania in the general election. But Obama can also broaden the playing field with a shot at winning states like Colorado and Virginia.

4). Super Delegates. Finally is a fact that is generally overlooked by pundits. At the close of the primaries, Obama will not need a stampede of Super Delegates to clinch the nomination. In fact he will only need about 40% of those that remain today.

Let's make the most conservative assumptions about the outcome of the remaining races: Guam, even; North Carolina, 58%-42% Obama; Indiana, 54%-46% Clinton; Kentucky, 60%-40% Clinton; West Virginia, 60%-40% Clinton; Oregon, 56%-44% Obama, Montana 56%-44% Obama; Puerto Rico, 60%-40% Clinton. That would leave Obama at 1,846 delegates at the close of the Primaries.

He would need only 41% of the Super Delegates remaining today to clinch the nomination with 2,025. And let's remember, he has picked up almost one Super Delegate a day for the last month. There is no reason to believe he won't keep picking up Super Delegates as the contest continues. So by the end of the primaries he will need an even lower percentage of the Super Delegates that remain.

All that remains for Clinton are more opportunities have her own campaign to be shut down. If she loses Indiana and North Carolina it will be extremely hard for her to continue. But there is no longer any opportunity for her to defeat Obama.

Clinton's may have won last night, but she failed to do what she needed to do to derail Obama's march to the nomination. In retrospect, Pennsylvania will appear as Clinton's Waterloo.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-creamer/last-night-clinton-won-th_b_98165.html

lunar

23.04.2008, 20:21

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/20080411/capt.cps.mwj37.110408043329.photo01.photo.default-512x341.jpg?x=400&y=266&sig=rIYvrYCjN7_XV_rZn2BB6Q--
KEEP FIGHTING, DEMS! (http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN2237410920080423?feedType=RSS&feedName=politicsNews&rpc=22&sp=true)
:rolleyes

lunar

23.04.2008, 21:56

..vieleicht ein etwas kritischer Artkel - aber gehört ja auch dazu :)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/contributors/tom-hayden/headshot.jpg Tom Hayden (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-hayden)

Posted April 23, 2008 | 03:31 PM (EST)

Hopefully Barack Obama (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tag/barack-obama) is learning that a principle emphasis on style, particularly a post-partisan style, may not be enough to win the nomination without having clear policy differences with Hillary Clinton (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tag/hillary-clinton). But he has squandered those opportunities while Clinton has brilliantly postured herself as seeming to agree with Obama (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tag/barack-obama) on issues where she is vulnerable, such as Iraq and NAFTA, while emphasizing her signature difference over the popular issue of universal health care. Having erased the issue differences, she has thrown "the kitchen sink" against Obama in order to tarnish his claims to a new political style.

There is little time for Obama to open up a difference on policy that matters to voters. But there is an opportunity. In their last debate, Clinton declared a policy of "massive retaliation" against Iran in the event of a war between Iran and Israel. She extended the same NATO umbrella to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other US allies in the Middle East.

On its face, this was a pledge of unilateral intervention, perhaps including nuclear weapons, if a conflict breaks out between Iran and any American allies in the Middle East. While she was making this pledge, US officials were blaming Iran for masterminding and enabling the killing of American and Iraqi soldiers in Basra and the Green Zone, specifically identifying the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Clinton already had voted to identify the Revolutionary Guard as a "terrorist organization", making an American or Israeli strike on Iran easier to defend.

Clinton was threatening her massive retaliation without a requirement of Congressional consent.

Clinton was using the Cold War code word for atomic or nuclear weapons.

Clinton was extending the NATO nuclear shield to Israel and Arab oil monarchs without Congressional consent.

What exactly would constitute the commencement of hostilities in this case? An Iranian response to an Israeli attack on Teheran's nuclear program? A Tonkin Gulf incident in the Persian Gulf ? What would be the projected casualty levels and costs? What would be the impact on oil supplies and gas prices? What would be the endgame if Iran survived and counter-attacked?

Given this bizarre pandering, Obama could raise the question of whether Clinton has learned anything from the Iraq debacle. Instead, he has been silent for ten days, which implies that he declines to disagree. The media has failed to follow up, implying without the slightest evidence that there is a consensus among Democrats favoring an escalation of the Iraq war. The House and Senate Democratic leadership have been missing in action as well.

Obama has a chance in the next two weeks to question Clinton closely as to what she meant.

None are as important as this one, but there are ample opportunities to sharpen the policy differences:

Clinton still claims that her 2002 Iraq vote was not a vote for war, even though the legislation in question was titled a war authorization bill. Clinton still has produced no documented evidence that she privately opposed NAFTA while First Lady. Clinton still claims late night exhaustion, not outright lying, as the reason she claimed to be under sniper fire at the Bosnia airport. These are not reassuring patterns of leadership in a time of war, recession, and public disillusionment with government.

But Obama's basic problem is that he relies on stylistic differences rather than substantive ones, because he believes he cannot attack Clinton on policy grounds and still maintain his centrist orientation. She senses that, is therefore neutralizing the policy differences, and taking the offensive to demolish his character claims. Between two candidates with personal baggage, she figures the voters will ultimately vote for experience.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-hayden/how-obama-might-lose_b_98258.html

lunar

24.04.2008, 08:09

http://www.cbsnews.com/common/images/c2008/icondem.gif ******************************** http://www.cbsnews.com/common/images/c2008/iconrepub.gif
http://election.cbsnews.com/campaign2008/d_delegateScorecard.shtml

lunar

25.04.2008, 13:34

April 24th, 2008
Top House Democrat denounces Clinton campaign tactics (http://blogs.reuters.com/trail08/2008/04/24/top-house-democrat-denounces-clinton-campaign-tactics/)

Post a comment (160) (http://blogs.reuters.com/trail08/2008/04/24/top-house-democrat-denounces-clinton-campaign-tactics/#respond)
Posted by: Richard Cowan (http://blogs.reuters.com/trail08/author/richardcowan/)
Tags: Tales from the Trail: 2008 (http://blogs.reuters.com/trail08/category/uncategorized/)
WASHINGTON - “Scurrilous” and “disingenuous” were among the words a top Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives used on Thursday to describe Hillary Clinton’s (http://www.reuters.com/news/globalcoverage/hillaryclinton) campaign tactics in her bid to defeat Barack Obama (http://www.reuters.com/news/globalcoverage/barackobama) for their party’s presidential nomination.

House Democratic Whip James Clyburn (http://clyburn.house.gov/jimintro.cfm), of South Carolina and the highest ranking black in Congress, also said he has heard speculation that Clinton is staying in the race only to try to derail Obama and pave the way for her to make another White House run in 2012.

http://blogs.reuters.com/trail08/files/2008/04/rtr1w3w5.jpg (http://blogs.reuters.com/trail08/files/2008/04/rtr1w3w5.jpg)

“I heard something, the first time yesterday (in South Carolina), and I heard it on the (House) floor today, which is telling me there are African Americans who have reached the decision that the Clintons know that she can’t win this. But they’re hell-bound to make it impossible for Obama to win” in November, Clyburn told Reuters in an interview.

Obama holds a sizable lead in delegates won in state-nominating contests which could be hard for her to overcome......
full story: http://blogs.reuters.com/trail08/2008/04/24/top-house-democrat-denounces-clinton-campaign-tactics/

160 comments so far

April 24th, 2008
6:59 pm GMT
It won’t be happening for Hillary in 2012. The demographics will be totally against her, as they probably will be against McCain this year, if Obama is the Democratic nominee. Hillary knows this. She knows that this is her last chance because she should have run in 2004. :supi
Those interested in delving into demographics further should read an excellent book, “Millenial Makeover: MySpace, YouTube & the Future of American Politics.”

syracus

25.04.2008, 21:06

April 25, 2008

Using New Math, Clinton Contends She’s Ahead

By JOHN M. BRODER

Seizing on her Pennsylvania primary victory, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and her surrogates are renewing their efforts to have the disputed Michigan and Florida convention delegates seated and pushing the argument that she now leads in the total number of votes cast when the tallies in those two states are included.

The Democratic Party leadership does not recognize the results of those contests because the states broke party rules by holding early primaries. But on Thursday, a Michigan superdelegate supporting Mrs. Clinton filed a complaint with the national Democratic Party demanding that at least half the state’s delegates be seated at the convention.

The complaint by Joel I. Ferguson, a developer in Lansing and a member of the Democratic National Committee, is similar to a plea from supporters of Mrs. Clinton in Florida.

The D.N.C. officials said they were reviewing the complaints, which will be considered by the party’s Rules and Bylaws Committee, which punished the states for their early primaries by denying their delegations seats at the national convention in August.

The effort is the latest by Mrs. Clinton to capitalize on her nine-point victory in Pennsylvania and convince the 300 uncommitted party leaders that she has a rightful claim to the nomination. Pushing those efforts, she also met privately on Wednesday and Thursday with uncommitted superdelegates at Democratic Party headquarters in Washington, during a rare evening and morning off the campaign trail.

In the meetings, Mrs. Clinton, of New York, talked about her victory in Pennsylvania on Tuesday and her political strength among important voter groups, like women and blue-collar workers, whom the Democrats want to hold onto in the general election, her advisers said. She also talked about her fund-raising success over the last few days, after weeks when she was at a disadvantage to her Democratic opponent, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois.

But she also set aside time to answer superdelegates’ questions and to try to allay their concerns about the effect of a protracted nomination fight on the party’s ability to unify around a nominee by the start of the fall campaign, according to the advisers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private meetings. They declined to name the people Mrs. Clinton had lobbied.

Party leaders on Thursday were also hoping to prod uncommitted superdelegates, but for entirely different reasons from Mrs. Clinton’s. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, said on Thursday that he, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Howard Dean, the party chairman, might write to the party insiders and urge them to declare their preferences quickly once the primary season concludes in early June.

“I have said for several weeks now that this matter will be over by sometime in June and no later than the first of July,” Mr. Reid said. “I still believe that is the case.”

To help make her case with superdelegates, Mrs. Clinton and some of her prominent supporters are claiming that she has won more of the popular vote in the more than 40 Democratic nominating contests that have been held. She won a net of 200,000 more votes than Mr. Obama in Pennsylvania’s primary.

“I’m very proud that, as of today, I have received more votes by the people who have voted than anybody else,” Mrs. Clinton said on Wednesday in a campaign appearance in Indianapolis. “It’s a very close race, but if you count — as I count — the 2.3 million people who voted in Michigan and Florida, then we are going to build on that.”

Mrs. Clinton won both those states by double-digit margins, but neither she nor Mr. Obama campaigned in them and Mr. Obama voluntarily removed his name from the Michigan ballot.

The Obama campaign has cited its consistent lead in delegates and the popular vote in making its case to superdelegates.

According to a count by The Associated Press, Mrs. Clinton has won just more than 15 million votes in the primaries and caucuses held to date while Mr. Obama has slightly fewer than 15 million, if Michigan and Florida are counted. Without them, Mr. Obama has a roughly 500,000-vote margin over Mrs. Clinton. These numbers are merely estimates, however, because several of the states that held caucuses do not report raw popular vote numbers.

Popular vote totals have nothing to do with how a nominee is selected, since securing the nomination is purely a matter of accumulating a majority of convention delegates. And Michigan and Florida and the Democratic National Committee are still far from settling how or whether their delegates should be seated at the national convention in Denver.

Asked by a reporter this week about the new math from the Clinton camp, Mr. Obama smiled.

“I guess there have been a number of different formulations that the Clinton campaign has been trying to arrive at to suggest that somehow they’re not behind,” he said on Wednesday in Indiana. “I’ll leave that up to you guys; if you want to count them for some abstract measure, you’re free to do so. But, you know, the way that the popular vote is translated is into delegates. That’s how these primaries and these caucuses work.”

In a telephone interview, Mr. Ferguson, the Michigan party official, argued that Democratic Party rules called for penalizing states that violated rules by denying them half of their delegates, not all of them. He also said that Michigan’s 26 superdelegates ought to be seated, regardless of what happens to the state’s 128 pledged delegates.

Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, also a Clinton supporter, has made a similar argument about the Florida delegation. Mr. Nelson said the voters of Florida were being “stiff-armed” by the national Democratic Party.

“The vote is the vote,” Mr. Nelson said. “It is what it is.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/25/us/politics/25campaign.html?_r=2&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&ref=politics&adxnnlx=1209150251-Pv9sctePk7IOWz5KT6RcXQ

:hihi :hihi :hihi :dumm

Auch egal, wie peinlich es noch wird, in zwei Wochen ist Schluss, spätestens ein paar wenige Tage mehr :zz

syracus

07.05.2008, 11:55

Options dwindling for Clinton

Even a split of Indiana and North Carolina primaries was not a draw

By Adam Nagourney
The New York Times
May 7, 2008

Despite narrowly winning Indiana, while losing North Carolina, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton did not fundamentally improve her chances of securing the Democratic presidential nomination. If anything, Mrs. Clinton’s hopes for overtaking Senator Barack Obama dwindled further on Tuesday night.

For Mr. Obama, the outcome came after a brutal period in which he was on the defensive over the inflammatory comments of his former pastor. That he was able to hold his own under those circumstances should allow him to make a case that he has proved his resilience in the face of questions about race, patriotism and political mettle — the very kinds of issues that the Clinton campaign has suggested would leave him vulnerable in the general election.

Beating Mr. Obama in Indiana, a state he had once been confident of winning, was an achievement for Mrs. Clinton. But it was hardly the kind of strong victory she posted in Pennsylvania and Ohio. And when paired with his comfortable victory in North Carolina — which Mr. Obama pointedly described in his victory speech as “a big state, a swing state” — it hardly seemed enough for Mrs. Clinton to convince so-called uncommitted superdelegates to rally around her candidacy.

Her showing in the two states did not permit Mrs. Clinton to cut into Mr. Obama’s lead in pledged delegates or his overall lead in the popular vote.

Indeed, Mr. Obama may have widened his delegate lead over Mrs. Clinton, an outcome with mathematic and political resonance.

The result was so tight as to deprive her of the kind of clear-cut victory that would make it easy for her to fend off calls for her to drop out, raise money and campaign on into West Virginia in advance of a primary there next Tuesday where her campaign is confident of doing well.

A more populist voice

In the last several weeks, Mrs. Clinton, seizing on the campaign’s new focus on the weakening economy, seemed to find new energy and a more populist voice. She ran hard on a proposal to suspend the federal gasoline tax, an idea that Mr. Obama scorned. As she battled away, Mr. Obama struggled to explain his relationship with his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., and his apparent inability to appeal to blue-collar voters. Polls suggested that Democrats were starting to develop doubts about the strength of his candidacy.

In short, Mrs. Clinton could not have asked for a better second chance to turn this campaign around and to make her central case to superdelegates: that Mr. Obama was a damaged general election candidate who would get swallowed up by the Republican Party.

Yet she was unable on Tuesday to build her base of support substantially beyond the white, working-class voters who had sustained her for the last month. That will not be lost on the superdelegates, the elected Democrats and party leaders who will ultimately decide this fight.

And the superdelegates are where the fight is moving: after 50 nominating contests, there are only 6 left, with just 217 pledged delegates left to be elected, not enough to get either of them over the 2,025 threshold necessary to win the nomination.

Mr. Obama’s aides said Mrs. Clinton would have to win close to 70 percent of the remaining pledged delegates and superdelegates to win the nomination, a shift in the campaign’s trajectory that would seem possible only if some big development came along to hurt Mr. Obama.

What's changed?

“Unfortunately for her, the math reasserts itself,” said Carter Eskew, a Democratic consultant not affiliated with either candidate. “I don’t think this changes very much of anything”

Mrs. Clinton made clear in her speech that she would “go forward in this campaign,” noting that she had won a state where Mr. Obama had once expected victory and asserting that she remained close to Mr. Obama in the popular vote and delegates.

With few states left, she and her aides said they would step up their efforts to count the disputed results in Florida and Michigan, where the states held contests in defiance of Democratic Party rules. If Mrs. Clinton can win the battle to have the delegations from those two states seated at the conventions on the basis of the vote there, she could greatly reduce Mr. Obama’s lead in pledged delegates.

But neither candidate actively campaigned in Florida or Michigan, and Mr. Obama did not appear on the Michigan ballot.

Still, in a sign of where the Clinton campaign is going, her aides are asserting that the winner will need 2,209 delegates, not 2,025. That higher number reflects the full inclusion of Florida and Michigan, which held their primaries before the date permitted by the Democratic Party.

The goal of the Clinton campaign here is not just to get the delegate votes counted but also to get superdelegates to consider the popular vote Mrs. Clinton won in those two states; in some calculations that would put her over the top. The party’s Rules and Bylaws Committee is meeting in Washington at the end of the month to vote on an effort by the Clinton campaign to permit the seating of the delegations.

“We’re going to argue that it’s going to take 2,209 to get to the magic number,” said Howard Wolfson, one of Mrs. Clinton’s chief strategists. “We’re going to argue that Florida and Michigan need to be seated full-strength.”

The other big hope for the Clinton campaign is making the argument that Mr. Obama would suffer against Senator John McCain, the likely Republican presidential nominee. The exit polls gave Mrs. Clinton ammunition in that regard: half the Democrats who voted in Indiana and North Carolina said Mr. Obama’s association with Mr. Wright was very or somewhat important.

And in Indiana, for example, less than half of Mrs. Clinton’s supporters said they would support Mr. Obama in a general election, while one-third said they would vote for Mr. McCain. About one-fifth of Mr. Obama’s supporters in Indiana said they would vote for Mr. McCain in a general election should Mrs. Clinton get the nomination. Many of those Democrats can probably be expected to stay with their party in the end, but the figures suggest the intensity of the passion dividing Clinton and Obama supporters at the moment and the challenge facing the eventual nominee in uniting the party.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24493898/

http://images.huffingtonpost.com/gen/21324/thumbs/r-NOMINEE-huge.jpg

syracus

07.05.2008, 13:48

May 7, 2008, 12:57 am

Obama Shifts to General-Election Mode

Nick Timiraos

The Obama campaign appears poised to begin running its general election campaign after Tuesday night’s primaries seemed unlikely to change the math or the momentum in the Democratic nomination.

David Axelrod, the top Obama strategist, told reporters that Barack Obama would compete for the six remaining Democratic contests, where 217 delegates are at stake. But he said that the campaign would soon focus on the general election because likely Republican nominee John McCain had “basically run free for some time now because we’ve been consumed with this.” He added: “I don’t think we’re going to spend time solely in primary states.”

Pressed by reporters whether that meant the campaign would make stops in general election states over the next month, Axelrod said: “You could infer that from what I said.”

The mood aboard the campaign plane was cheerful on Tuesday night, even though the campaign didn’t yet know the final result of the Indiana vote. Campaign advisors said they didn’t expect to win Indiana, but that the numbers may have been in their favor.

“We’re down 39,000 votes,” Axelrod said. “There are somewhere between 120,000 and 185,000 [votes in Lake County]. If we got 60% of them we’d come pretty darn close.”

Axelrod declined to say whether he thought Clinton still had a viable path to the nomination, but he said the path had “certainly dimmed some tonight.”

“The fact that she lost… a large important state by a landslide and she’s struggling to hold in one where she was favored where this whole issue of white working class voters was front and center I think is pretty sobering,” he said.

The strategist also attributed a share of Clinton’s narrow lead in Indiana to Rush Limbaugh’s “Operation Chaos,” where the talk show host encouraged Republican listeners to vote for Clinton in the Democratic primary in order to prolong the nomination battle.

“If we come up short, they ought to call a press conference tomorrow and thank Rush Limbaugh for the victory,” he said. “Because there’s no doubt if they do win it’ll be by a margin so narrow that the Limbaugh project will have given them the margin.”

Axelrod also argued that the debate over a three month gas-tax holiday pushed by Clinton, which Obama had heavily criticized in recent days, may have backfired for the New York senator. “People were skeptical. I think this gas tax bit really worked for us,” he said.

One reporter pressed: Why didn’t it work?

The reply was blunt: “Because it was a stupid idea and we said so.”

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/05/07/obama-shifts-to-general-election-mode/?mod=WSJBlog

:dance

syracus

07.05.2008, 14:05

It's over: Obama closes the deal

Strong showing on Tuesday makes nomination inevitable

By Rex Nutting, MarketWatch
Last update: 9:59 p.m. EDT May 6, 2008

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Sen. Barack Obama has won the Democratic presidential nomination with his convincing win in the North Carolina primary.

The primary election that Sen. Hillary Clinton said would be a "game changer" has become a "game ender."

While Obama hasn't completely put to rest the concerns raised by Clinton about his ability to woo white working-class voters, his strong showing on Tuesday in North Carolina and, to a lesser extent in Indiana, will likely push even more Democratic super delegates into his camp.

Soon, in a few weeks or early next month, Obama will have the endorsements of a majority of Democrats to the Denver convention. And then it will be time for Clinton to step aside and step behind the man who has beat her under every conceivable standard: most delegates, most votes and most states.

It's no secret that Obama has had a very tough couple of weeks, as he's been dogged by intemperate statements made by the candidate and by his former pastor.

But his victory in North Carolina shows that he's survived the worst, perhaps, that can be thrown at him. If she is a fighter, then what is he?

A respected member of his own party has essentially campaigned against him as a Republican would -- questioning his patriotism, his aloofness, his manhood, and his judgment - and has failed in a key, big, swing state.

North Carolina proves that Obama isn't a loser, that he can still connect with a majority of Democrats, and that he can win a big state.

Clinton campaigned as the economic populist, but Obama won a majority of the votes in North Carolina cast by those most concerned about the economy, according to exit polls for the networks. He won a majority of voters with less than a high school education, and won among all white voters under 65.

The economy is becoming a bigger issue as winter turns to spring. At the beginning of the race in January and February, Obama scored big wins by appealing to voters who believed ending the war was the biggest issue. Clinton came back by emphasizing the economy as the calendar turned to Ohio and Pennsylvania.

But North Carolina also shows that Obama can appeal on pocketbook issues too. Those voters who see the economy as the biggest issue - two-thirds in North Carolina -- are highly likely to stick with the Democrat in November in the race that matters against McCain.

Clinton, of the hundred-million-dollar income and the Ivy League education, put on a corn-pone accent and accused Obama of being one of the "elite." But strong majorities in both North Carolina and Indiana said they believed Obama reflected their values and cared for them.

In his victory speech, Obama directly addressed the fire that nearly engulfed him, saying that ending the old politics of exploiting fears and the fake controversies was the very reason he was running.

"The other side can label and name-call all they want, but I trust the American people," Obama said.

And for their part, the Tuesday vote show that enough Democrats trust Obama to beat McCain in the fall.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/its-over-obama-closes-deal/story.aspx?guid=%7b901FF1FB-3849-4D86-8922-1CE7F4BCBDCE%7d&dist=TNMostRead&print=true&dist=printTop

syracus

08.05.2008, 08:14

We all have to admit- Hillary mismanaged her campaign, and Obama is a political genius

At this point, we all know the reality of the Democratic race: Barack Obama has won the nomination, Hillary lost it and she will drop in the next few weeks (probably May 20th). It's a reality they both know, and it's a reality we all need to face, accept and embrace. It's time to save our country from John McCain and the Republicans- we can't let GWB have 4 more years through McCain.

Now, I believe we all need to sit down for a moment and contemplate, ponder about and understand what has just happened here. Basically, how did Barack Obama, a young, black, unknown senator with a Muslim/African name managed to defeat one of the most powerful political families in the history of American politics and position himself to become the first black president of the USA? Also, how did Hillary Clinton, one of the most recognized, powerful, respected and capable candidates that this party has ever had managed to lose a nomination she pretty much had in the bag to an unknown candidate who, technically, could have waited to run 8 more years if he wanted to?

Let's consider several factors:

1) Overconfidence- Hillary Clinton knew she was the favorite to win the race. She knew she had the name, the power, the connections, the intelligence, the capacity and pretty much everything a politician needs to succeed, especially against a field of opponents who included several old-school senators (Biden, Dodd, Gravel), longshots (Kucinich, Obama) and known, respected but, let's be honest, somewhat weak, flawed candidates (Edwards, Richardson). She knew she could win it fairly easily. Only that she gave for a fact she was "going to win" about 3 or 4 months before the voting even started. Her staff saw Obama as a phenomenon that was going to fade quickly, and Edwards as damaged goods. They felt they had it so easy that expected the race to be over even before Super Tuesday (although they did have a Super Tuesday plan, just in case). Smaller states that voted after Feb 5th would automatically vote for her, and Florida and Michigan were not going to be a problem. Cash was everywhere, but it was not going to necessary to spend too much- so money could be spent lavishly...

In other words- The Clinton camp acted like a boxing champion who decides not to train too hard for a belt defense against a supposed "bum"- the "bum" was supposed to be KOed fairly quickly. Of course, a terrible mistake in boxing... and in politics. Great champions know they have to make sure they train hard for every opponent- in order to get rid of the "bum" quickly and effectively, and to last the distance with the tough opponent, if necessary (apart of realizing that sometimes apparent "bums" and "longshots" are indeed the toughest opponents... and the real champs...).

2) Message- Hillary Clinton did not realize what kind of election this was, which is kind of puzzling for someone as politically saavy as her, who also is surrounded by political heavyweights (including former champ, Bill Clinton). This was a CHANGE election- it became evident in 2006, when Americans basically grew tired of GWB and his policies, and started to get rid of him by voting for a Democratic congress. The message COULD NOT BE "REMEMBER THE 90s", but Hillary and her team tried to sell just that- "The Clintons brought peace and stability in the 1990s, and they will bring it again".

Hillary needed to understand the historic nature of her candidacy and the historic moment we were living in- SHE NEEDED TO RUN AS AN AGENT OF CHANGE, AS SOMEONE NEW- NOT AS THE FORMER FIRST LADY. She needed to run as an independent woman who was trying to break with the mistakes done by Bush and, yes, her husband- she had to embrace the CHANGE mantra, new ideas, a new vision, and she needed TO RUN AS A LEFTY. As a TRUE LEFTY. As a REFORMER. Washington is the reason why things are going so badly, so it needs to be reformed by a woman who has seen what is wrong with it, and now is asking for a chance to fix it.

I still don't know why Hillary chose to run as a fairly conservative Democrat, appealing to nostalgic democrats, older voters and right leaning independents, appealing to them by standing by her Iraq war vote and sounding as a hawkish politician ready to blow the Middle East up if necessary. AMERICANS ARE MOVING AWAY FROM EVERYTHING GWB AND THE WHOLE WASHINGTONIAN CULTURE REPRESENT, and Hillary did not distance herself enough from those things. She embraced the typical "experienced" and "tested" mantra- the same mantra that helped destroy Rudy Giuliani (apart of his bizarre political tactics, of course) and gave John McCain, to a certain extent, the Republican nomination.

2008 is the year of the grassroots, the young voters, the year of CHANGE, the year of big reform in all senses of American life. Things are changing, and you can sense it. The politician that could embody that, that could tap on the hopes of the people, that could exploit the outsider image as much as possible, the person that could inspire a nation that is right now in the middle of a recession and fighting an endless war in Iraq... the person that could symbolize what this country has achieved and can continue to achieve; that was going to be the Democratic nominee, and will be the next president.

Barack Obama did just that, and that's why he won the nomination and will win the presidency.

My salute to both Hillary and, my candidate, Barack Obama. Great people both of them. Excellent politicians. True champions for America...

It's just that the best of them won in a major upset.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5877686&mesg_id=5877686

:dd

syracus

08.05.2008, 11:09

http://markhalperin.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/timecover050808.jpg?w=265&h=350

Thursday, May. 08, 2008

Obama's Game Changing

By Joe Klein

On the Saturday before the North Carolina and Indiana primaries, Hillary Clinton stood on the back of a vintage pickup truck in Gastonia, N.C., and let fly in the most impressive fashion — a woman transformed from Eleanor Roosevelt into Huey Long in two short months. Spotting a big yellow placard that said GAS TAX HOLIDAY IS BLATANT PANDERING — a sign she would have ignored in her earlier, less feisty incarnations — she went after the young Obamish sign-holders: Why wasn't the Federal Reserve accused of pandering when it bailed out the Bear Stearns investment bank to the tune of $30 billion? Why shouldn't the oil companies pay the federal gasoline tax this summer instead of the people who "hold their breath" every time they pull up to the gas pump? "I know that some people don't have to worry when they go to the supermarket," she said, staring accusingly at the placard bearers, but "there are people who count their pennies as they walk down the aisle," trying to figure out what they can afford. "Don't they deserve a break every once in a while? They haven't done anything wrong ... The oil companies have had it their way for too long," she said. "I'm tired of being a patsy."

Wow. Watching the junior Senator from New York, I was of two minds. My high-minded policy brain was, of course, appalled. The gas-tax holiday was a scam. It had been tried at various times — Barack Obama had voted for a local version in the Illinois legislature — and prices never came down. The oil companies and gas-station owners simply pocketed the difference. Clinton's "responsible" version of the plan was also a scam. She wanted to pay for it with a "windfall profits" tax on the oil companies, but she had earlier, and more responsibly, called for the elimination of tax breaks for those same companies. If you eliminate the tax breaks, you effectively eliminate the windfall profits. There would be nothing to tax. In any case, the "holiday" had next to no chance of passing Congress. Her sell was, well, shameless pandering.

On the other hand, my cynical low-information political brain was saying, You go, girl. This was fun to watch. "This is a serious election," Clinton said in Gastonia, "but I believe you still should have some fun." She seemed energized by her irresponsibility, sprung from her lifelong, eat-your-peas policy straitjacket. She had always been the superego of Team Clinton; now she was gallivanting about, playing the id. It seemed like smart politics too. It was the kind of thing I have seen "work" throughout my nearly 40-year career as a journalist, an era that coincided neatly with the rise of consultant-driven flummery: you could fool most of the people most of the time. For nearly 30 years, the Republican offer of tax breaks had trumped the Democratic offer of responsible budgeting, with the ironic exception of Bill Clinton's presidency. And while that offer still might work in a general election, it did not in the May 6 Democratic primaries.

Clinton's paste-on populism changed absolutely nothing. The demographic blocs that had determined the shape of this remarkable campaign remained stolidly in place. Blacks, young people and those with college educations voted for Obama; Clinton won women, the elderly, whites without college educations. Clinton's slim margin of victory in Indiana was provided, appropriately enough, by Republicans, who were 10% of the Democratic-primary electorate and whose votes she carried 54% to 46% — some, perhaps, at the behest of the merry prankster Rush Limbaugh, who had counseled his ditto heads to bring "chaos" to the Democratic electoral process by voting for their favorite whipping girl. Clinton's new glow, her newfound stump proficiency, her symbiosis with Limbaugh, seemed an eerily Faustian narrative. But, as we know, those sorts of bargains tend to end badly. In this case, the upper-crust liberals who seemed ready to flee Obama in Pennsylvania — the sort of people who would run out and buy a hybrid before they'd support a reduction in the gasoline tax — decided to vote their faith that Obama was running an honorable campaign rather than their fear that his membership in Jeremiah Wright's church would render him radioactive.

And with good reason. The formerly charismatic Obama had undergone a transformation of his own: from John F. Kennedy to Adlai Stevenson, from dashing rhetorician to good-government egghead. He derided the gas-tax holiday as the gimmick it was, gambling that Democrats would see through the ruse. He trudged through the Wright debacle, never allowing his impeccable disposition to slip toward anger or pettiness. On the Sunday before the primaries, he gave a dour, newsless interview to Tim Russert, enduring another 20 minutes of questions about the Reverend Wright. Meanwhile, Clinton was spiky and histrionic in her simultaneous duel with George Stephanopoulos. She made alpha-dog power moves, standing up to talk to the live audience while Stephanopoulos remained seated, forcing him to stand uncomfortably beside her and then, later, embarrassing her host by reminiscing about his liberal, anti-NAFTA, Clinton-staffer past.

It wasn't until I read the transcript that I realized that Clinton's bravado had masked a brazenly empty performance. Stephanopoulos nailed her time after time, mostly on matters of character. She said, for example, that her husband's charitable foundation was private and didn't have to release the names of its donors. "Yet the foundation sold the donor list, 38,000 names," Stephanopoulos pointed out. Clinton said she didn't "know anything about that. You'd have to ask the foundation." In retrospect, it was easy to see that Clinton was desperate, willing to say almost anything to get over. At the time, she just seemed strong, certainly stronger than Obama on Meet the Press ... at least she did to me and many members of my chattering tribe. And our knee-jerk reactions — our prejudice toward performance values over policy — could infect the campaign to come between Obama and John McCain, just as it has the primaries.

Clinton's apparent loss of the nomination was a consequence of her campaign's incompetence, but it was also a result of her reliance on the same-old. The shameless populism that seemed a possible game changer to media observers, micro-ideas like the gas-tax holiday, the willingness to go negative — which Obama tried intermittently, in halfhearted reaction to Clinton's attacks — appeared very old and clichéd to Obama's legion of young supporters, who were the real game changers in this year of extraordinary turnouts. That, and the fact that Democrats have been the party of government, tragically hooked on the high-minded: they don't react well to flagrant pandering or character assassination. This has been a losing position these past 40 years, and the media — like pollsters and political consultants — tend to look in the rearview mirror and pretend to see the future.

In his victory speech after the smashing North Carolina results came in, Obama went directly after both McCain and the media. "[McCain's] plan to win in November appears to come from the very same playbook that his side has used time after time in election after election," Obama said. "Yes, we know what's coming. I'm not naive. We've already seen it, the same names and labels they always pin on everyone who doesn't agree with all their ideas, the same efforts to distract us from the issues that affect our lives, by pouncing on every gaffe and association and fake controversy, in the hopes that the media will play along."

That may have been unfair to McCain, since the Senator from Arizona won the Republican nomination in much the same way Obama has triumphed — as an outsider, an occasional reformer, a pariah to blowhards like Limbaugh. But it's also true that McCain has a choice to make: in the past month, he has wobbled between the high and low roads, at one point calling Obama the Hamas candidate for President after a member of that group "endorsed" the Senator from Illinois. If McCain wants to maintain his reputation as a politician more honorable than most, he's going to have to stop the sleaze. And if Obama wants to maintain his reputation for honor, he'll have representatives from his campaign sit down with McCain's people to work out a sane, equitable campaign-financing mechanism for the general election — and a robust series of debates. Mark McKinnon, a McCain adviser who has said he would rather recuse himself than help his candidate against Obama, has suggested that the two candidates campaign together, staging Lincoln-Douglas-style debates across the country — a proposal similar to the offer that Kennedy reportedly wanted to make if he ran against Barry Goldwater in 1964.

In the end, Obama's challenge to the media is as significant as his challenge to McCain. All the evidence — and especially the selection of these two apparent nominees — suggests the public not only is taking this election very seriously but is also extremely concerned about the state of the nation and tired of politics as usual. I suspect the public is also tired of media as usual, tired of journalists who put showmanship over substance ... as I found myself doing in the days before the May 6 primaries. Obama was talking about the Republicans, but he could easily have been talking about the press when he said, "The question, then, is not what kind of campaign they will run; it's what kind of campaign we will run. It's what we will do to make this year different. You see, I didn't get into this race thinking that I could avoid this kind of politics, but I am running for President because this is the time to end it."

Politics will always be propelled by grease, hot air and showmanship, but in the astonishing prosperity of the late 20th century, we allowed our public life to drift toward too much show biz, too little substance. Yes, the low-information signals — the bowling and tamale-eating — are crucial; politicians have to show that they are in touch with the lives of average folks. But a balance needs to be struck between carnival populism and the higher demands of democracy, and as a nation, we haven't been very good lately with the serious part of the program. As a result, there is a festering sense — I've seen it everywhere I've traveled this year — that the country is in "the ditch," as Clinton said. A general-election campaign between John McCain and Barack Obama doesn't need any hype. It won't be boring. The question is whether we, politicians and press alike, will grant this election — and electorate — the respect that it deserves.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1738330,00.html

syracus

09.05.2008, 08:20

Race Is All the Clintons Have Left

May 7, 2008 | 03:42 PM (EST)

Sitting there on the set, listening to the endless wrap-ups and explanation of the exit polls, I was on the verge of faking my own death on national TV in order to go talk to myself about the obvious, unspoken equation in the little there is left to this fight between Obama and Clinton. The beast that is nearly always there in American life, the danger that rustles the shrubs at the edge of our daily existence -- race -- was routinely ignored in the recitation of numbers pouring out of North Carolina and Indiana.

Now, faced with a mathematical mountain climb that even Stephen Hawking could not ascend, the Clintons -- and it is indeed both of them -- are just about to paste a bumper sticker on the rear of the collapsing vehicle that carries her campaign. It reads: VOTE WHITE.

That's the underlying message propping up a failed candidate. Check it out, you superdelegates: the buttoned down black guy is having trouble with blue collar white guys so cast your vote with the white chick who has transformed herself into an arm-wrestling, shot and a beer, kitchen table advocate for the working class and now it's on to West Virginia and Kentucky where she'll prove it.

So, after all the years they have been with us, after all the triumph and tastelessness, the accomplishments and embarrassments, we're about to watch them act out an updated, mixed gender re-make of Thelma and Louise with Bill behind the wheel, the two of them sharing a knowing look, a wink, in the front seat as they take the Democrat party right off the cliff, the whole thing crashing and burning in a racial divide both he and she sought to heal all those years ago in Little Rock and then Washington.

Look at the numbers, the Clintons say: Your son didn't get into the college that was his first choice but the black kid with lower SATs did? Your brother didn't get the civil service slot on the fire department because he was white and there is an unspoken quota? You didn't get the promotion because corporate diversity policy mutely suggested a person of color get it? Your kid is being bused an hour and half a day to a public school with low reading scores?

Scratch a sore, baby. Vote for Clinton.

Her campaign began -- When? Last year? Last century? It moved across the landscape a summer ago like a cash cow, arriving at each stop surrounded by an air of incumbent expectancy, never sensing, never seeing the black guy who had the audacity to get in her way.

It was a campaign run and dominated by a fat, arrogant pollster, this Penn who once conspired to concoct a question in order to figure out where the Clintons would swim one summer. Martha's Vineyard or Wyoming? In the past few weeks, Geoff Garin has turned Hillary Clinton into a very formidable candidate by doing something that apparently never occurred to the numbers cruncher Penn: Having her behave like a human being. Clearly, if Garin had been in the driver's seat from the start of this spectacle, Obama would have a lot more time to watch White Sox home games.

But presidential politics does not exist in the land of 'what if.' It is an exhausting, seemingly endless process, fueled by money and ego and an ability to withstand mistakes of commission or omission as well as hands coming out of the recent past, like the strangling grip of Jeremiah Wright, a racist himself, who still might inhibit any chance of an Obama success.

It's been an amazing ride, this whole campaign. It has three actors left on the stage, all with compelling personal stories to tell in this land of ours, itself the greatest story ever told. Everyone knows McCain's history, an epic of the age. And more and more are getting to know Obama's; a black guy from Chicago who, two, three years ago, would have had difficulty hailing a cab on a rainy afternoon in midtown Manhattan because of his skin color, suddenly within striking distance of being nominated for president by one of our two major political parties.

And Hillary Clinton, always ambitious, an over-achiever, tough, smart and resilient. And now on the edge of writing a truly ugly chapter for all to see.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-barnicle/race-is-all-the-clintons_b_100660.html

:bad

syracus

09.05.2008, 18:34

Favoritenliste VP's Obama :p

http://blogs.kansas.com/weblog/files/sebeliusobamaendorse3.jpg

1. Kathleen Sebelius: The second-term Kansas governor earns the top spot on the Line because of her ability to further bolster Obama's strengths while not exacerbating his weaknesses. Picking Sebelius would affirm Obama's core message of change and would give Obama's run even more historic weight. Sebelius' electoral success in ruby red Kansas would also echo Obama's pledge to broaden the playing field in the fall and ensure that the party is competitive in every state. The one knock on Sebelius is the dearth of foreign policy credentials on her resume. But she has six years of strong executive experience and could be the kind of political partner Obama needs in the fall.

2. Ted Strickland: While Obama may not feel compelled to name Clinton to the ticket, he is well aware of the need to offer an olive branch of sorts to the backers of the New York Senator. Strickland, the first term governor of Ohio, may well fit the bill. Not only is he an active and high profile Clinton supporter, he is also the popular chief executive of a state that Obama must find a way to win if he hopes to be president. Strickland, who represented a conservative southern Ohio congressional district before winning the governorship in 2006, could also help Obama deal with lingering doubts about his candidacy among white working class voters.

3. Hillary Clinton: In the wake of Clinton's speech in Indianapolis on Tuesday night, many within the party thought she was opening the door to the idea of sharing the ticket with Obama. Her rhetoric over the past 48 hours, however, particularly her comments about "white voters," may well quash the "Dream Ticket" talk before it begins in earnest. While Clinton has broad and deep support within the Democratic Party, picking her as vice president would seem to run counter to Obama's change message. That said, stranger things have most definitely happened.

4. Tim Kaine: Kaine's great strengths in this process are who he is and where's he from. A former missionary and a man who openly talks about his faith, Kaine could help Obama bridge the "God gap" that has emerged in recent presidential elections. He is also the highest ranking elected official in an emerging battleground state and his popularity coupled with Obama's appeal to African American voters statewide and white voters in northern Virginia could make the contest for the Commonwealth a barnburner. Kaine's problem is that he has spent just three years as governor (and four years as lieutenant governor before that) and has almost no foreign policy experience.

5.Sam Nunn: It's hard to argue with Nunn's place as one of the pre-eminent Democratic thinkers on foreign policy and defense issues. He spent more than two decades in the Senate representing Georgia and he chaired the Armed Services Committee. That resume coupled with Nunn's status as a white southerner could well make him an appealing pick for Obama. But, is Nunn too moderate (some would say conservative) for the party's liberal base to swallow?

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/05/the_friday_line_veepstakes_1.html

Interessant, hatte nicht alle Namen da erwartet

syracus

09.05.2008, 22:26

Endlich bekennen die Farbe.....

Obama picks up 9 superdelegates, union nod

American Federation of Government Employees is backing the candidate

The Associated Press
4:09 p.m. ET May 9, 2008

WASHINGTON - Barack Obama all but erased Hillary Clinton's once-imposing lead among national convention superdelegates on Friday and won fresh labor backing as elements of the Democratic Party began coalescing around the Illinois senator for the fall campaign.

Obama picked up the backing of nine superdelegates, including Rep. Donald Payne of New Jersey, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus who had been a Clinton supporter.

In addition, the American Federation of Government Employees announced its support for Obama. The union claims about 600,000 members who work in the federal and Washington, D.C., governments.

Obama, who won a convincing victory in the North Carolina primary and lost Indiana narrowly on Tuesday, has been steadily gaining strength in the days since.

Clinton also gained a superdelegate.

The developments left the former first lady with 271.5 superdelegates, to 271 for Obama. Little more than four months ago, on the eve of the primary season, she held a lead of 169-63.

In the overall race for the nomination, Obama leads with 1,859.5 delegates, to 1,697 for Clinton. Obama is just 165.5 delegates short of the 2,025 delegates needed to win it.

NBC's national delegate count currently stands at 1426 for Clinton and 1590 for Obama. NBC’s estimated superdelegate count stands at 273.5 for Clinton and 269 for Obama.

Superdelegates are party leaders who attend the convention delegates by virtue of their positions, and are not selected in primaries and caucuses.

In addition to Payne, Reps. Peter DeFazio of Oregon and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, two members of the Democratic National Committee from California and a party official in South Carolina announced they were supporting Obama. Superdelegates from New Mexico and Virginia also joined the migration.

So, too, John Gage, president of the AFGE.

"Our people, I think, recognize the enthusiasm and vitality behind Senator Obama's campaign," he said in a statement.

"The election is over, everybody knows that. Obama has won," said Vernon Watkins, one of the two Californians.

"After careful consideration, I have reached the conclusion that Barack Obama can best bring about the change that our country so desperately wants and needs," said Payne, who in a statement said that Clinton is a good friend and he still holds her in high regard.

Payne is one of at least 10 superdelegates who have switched allegiances from Clinton to Obama. None have publicly switched the other way.

Clinton's new supporter was Rep. Chris Carney, D-Pa. His congressional district voted overwhelmingly for the former first lady in the Pennsylvania primary on April 22.

Both Obama and Clinton have courted superdelegates in recent days in private meetings at party headquarters not far from the Capitol.

Despite Watkins' assessment, Clinton has shown no signs she is ready to quit the race. She is heavily favored to win Tuesday's primary in West Virginia, and is in the midst of a two-day swing through several other states with upcoming elections.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24538157

Eintscheidung hinter den Kulissen ist gefallen, Superdelegierte werden Clinton nicht zur Kandidatin "auf Umwegen" machen :verbeug

syracus

10.05.2008, 13:39

http://cagle.com/working/080508/plante.jpg

:hihi :hihi :hihi

syracus

14.05.2008, 20:05

Da hat aber McCain ein schweres Problem im Herbst.......

14.05.08; 12:26

Ein «Tsunami, der die Republikaner zerstört hat»

von Peter Blunschi

Hillary Clinton hat in West Virginia klar gewonnen. Weit wichtiger für die demokratische Partei war am Dienstag jedoch der Erfolg bei einer Kongresswahl in Mississippi. Er könnte Vorbote sein für ein Desaster der Republikaner im Herbst.

Unverdrossen kämpft Hillary Clinton weiter, doch selbst der deutliche Erfolg in West Virginia wird nichts daran ändern, dass sie das Vorwahl-Rennen gegen Barack Obama verlieren wird. Alle relevanten Zahlen sprechen gegen sie, selbst bei den Superdelegierten liegt sie hinter ihrem Kontrahenten zurück. Von ihrem auf 20 Millionen Dollar angewachsenen Schuldenberg ganz zu schweigen. Beobachter der US-Politik haben ihren Fokus am Dienstag denn auch auf eine andere Ecke des Landes gerichtet.

Im Bundesstaat Mississippi, im tiefsten Süden der USA, war eine Nachwahl für einen Sitz im Repräsentantenhaus angesetzt. Seit 1994 war der mehrheitlich von konservativen Weissen bewohnte Wahlkreis eine sichere Bastion der Republikaner. George W. Bush holte dort 2004 bei der Präsidentschaftswahl 62 Prozent der Stimmen. Am Dienstag jedoch ging das Parlamentsmandat mit 54 zu 46 Prozent überraschend klar an Travis Childers, den Kandidaten der demokratischen Partei.

Siegeszug der Demokraten

Chris Van Hollen, der Vorsitzende des Parteikomitees für die Parlamentswahlen, sprach gegenüber der «Washington Post» von einem «Tsunami, der die Republikaner in Mississippi zerstört hat». Und mit Blick auf den Herbst meint er: «Es gibt keinen Wahlkreis, in dem die Republikaner sicher sind.» Tatsächlich war der Erfolg in Mississippi bereits der dritte in diesem Frühjahr, in dem die Demokraten in einer Nachwahl den Republikanern ein vermeintlich sicheres Mandat entreissen konnten.

Erst vor zehn Tagen eroberten sie in Louisiana einen Sitz, der seit 1975 republikanisch war. Und im März gelang ihnen in Chicago ein Erfolg in einem Wahlkreis, der zuvor von Dennis Hastert besetzt war, einem ehemaligen Vorsitzenden des Repräsentantenhauses. Angesichts dieser Niederlagen hatten die Republikaner nichts unversucht gelassen, um wenigstens den Sitz in Mississippi zu halten. Noch am Montag war Vizepräsident Dick Cheney im Wahlkreis aufgetreten, und in Werbespots versuchten sie den Demokraten Childers – einen konservativen Politiker, der für Waffenbesitz und gegen Abtreibung eintritt – mit Barack Obama in einen Topf zu werfen.

Feindbild Obama zieht nicht

Mit der gleichen Strategie, die gemäss «New York Times» an «weisse Rassenvorurteile appellierte», hatten die Republikaner bereits in Louisiana operiert, auch dort ohne Erfolg. Für Beobachter ein Indiz, dass Obamas Wirkung als Feindbild beschränkt ist. Die «New York Times» glaubt, dass die Verlinkung mit dem schwarzen Kandidaten dem weissen Demokraten Childers vermutlich mehr genützt als geschadet habe, weil dadurch überdurchschnittlich viele schwarze Wähler mobilisiert wurden.

Ein Politexperte sieht in den jüngsten Erfolgen der Demokraten «ein Anzeichen, dass den Republikanern ein fürchterliches Jahr bevorsteht». Auch im Partei-Establishment läuten die Alarmglocken. Bereits letzte Woche meldete sich Newt Gingrich zu Wort, der Architekt des republikanischen Triumphs bei den Kongresswahlen 1994, der eine jahrelange Vorherrschaft der Partei einleitete. In einem Artikel warnte er vor «massiven Verlusten im November». Mit einem «Anti-Obama-Wahlkampf» könne die Partei nur verlieren, so Gingrich. Vielmehr müssten sich die Republikaner in Anlehnung an Obamas Motto für einen «echten Wandel» einsetzen: «Sonst könnten wir im Herbst eine Katastrophe erleben.»

Amerikaner im Stimmungstief

Die Warnung scheint anzukommen. John Boehner, der Fraktionschef der Partei im Repräsentantenhaus, sagte diese Woche gemäss «Washington Post», dass die Republikaner ihre Kampagne tatsächlich auf die Obama-Botschaft «Change» ausrichten wollen: «Bei dieser Wahl geht es um Wandel, und wenn wir die Amerikaner dazu bringen wollen, uns zu wählen, müssen wir sie davon überzeugen, dass wir die bessere Politik in Washington machen.»

Ob es gelingen wird, scheint fraglich. Eine Umfrage ergab am Dienstag, dass sich die Stimmungslage im Land auf dem tiefsten Punkt seit 1992 befindet, jenem Jahr, in dem Bill Clinton Präsident wurde. Mehr als 80 Prozent der Amerikaner seien der Meinung, das Land bewege sich in die falsche Richtung, und diese Haltung sei gekoppelt mit einer zunehmenden Abneigung gegenüber der republikanischen Partei, so die «Washington Post». Hauptgrund für die miese Stimmung ist die schlechte Wirtschaftslage, und dafür pflegen die US-Wähler stets die Regierungspartei abzustrafen.

http://www.20min.ch/news/dossier/uswahlen/story/20022461

syracus

15.05.2008, 06:05

. 14.05.08; 23:49 Pub. 14.05.08; 23:46

Edwards unterstützt Obama - Clinton vor Aus?

Der bereits aus dem Rennen um die Präsidentschaftskandidatur der Demokraten ausgeschiedene frühere US-Senator John Edwards stellt sich hinter Barack Obama.

Damit dürften Barack Obama zusätzlich zu seinen bislang 1884 Delegiertenstimmen die 19 Stimmen zufallen, die Senator Edwards anfangs des Vorwahlkampfes für sich gewinnen konnte.

Damit käme Obama auf Total 1903 Delegiertenstimmen.Hillary Clinton bleibt bei 1718. Zu Nominierung für die demokratische Präsidentschaftskandidatur sind 2026 Delegiertenstimmen nötig.

Die Unterstützung von Seiten des Vizepräsidentschaftskandidaten von 2004 ist ein weiterer wichtiger Erfolg für Obama im Duell mit Hillary Clinton um die Nominierung zum Spitzenkandidaten für die Wahl im November.

Edwards war im Januar nach mehreren Vorwahlniederlagen an dritter Stelle liegend aus dem Rennen um die Präsidentschaftskandidatur ausgeschieden. Seit längerem war ein Wort dazu erwartet worden, wen er aus seiner Partei im Rennen um die Nachfolge von Präsident George W. Bush unterstützen wird. Obama liegt im Duell mit Clinton bei der Zahl der Delegierten für den Nominierungsparteitag Ende August in Denver nahezu uneinholbar vorn.

Edwards und Obama wollten noch am Mittwoch gemeinsam in Grand Rapids im Staat Michigan auftreten.

http://www.20min.ch/news/dossier/uswahlen/story/13411283

:supi

syracus

15.05.2008, 17:21

John Edwards Endorses Barack Obama

By JOHN SULLIVAN and JULIE BOSMAN
The New York Times

At a rally in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Wednesday evening, John Edwards endorsed Barack Obama, who was on the stage with him, to be the Democratic nominee for president.

Sounding a theme of a nation divided into parts by walls, Mr. Edwards said, “The reason I am here tonight is that Democratic voters in America have made their choice and so have I.”

Mr. Edwards then went on to say, “There is one man who knows in his heart that it is time to tear down that wall and make one America, Barack Obama.”

Mr. Obama, who had introduced Mr. Edwards as “one of the great leaders we have in the Democratic Party, ” responded by saying he was grateful to him for coming to Michigan and giving his endorsement.

Mr. Obama also noted how Mr. Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth, had emphasized health care as an issue that is of primary concern, then said it would be a major issue in his administration.

The endorsement comes at a time when the appeal of Mr. Obama appears to be lagging among white, blue-collar voters, a group to which Mr. Edwards openly appealed.

Mr. Edwards’s endorsement also brings in tow 19 convention delegates he won in early party selections. He could certainly urge them to give their support to Mr. Obama, though they would not be obligated by party rules to do so.

Mr. Edwards had campaigned for the Democratic nomination for 13 months before dropping out of the race in January. He had been the first major Democrat to declare his candidacy.

Although Mr. Edwards had declined to endorse either of his rivals, there were signs that his political positions were more closely aligned with those of Mr. Obama than Mrs. Clinton. Most of Mr. Edwards’s former staff and advisers, including David E. Bonior, his former national campaign chairman, declared their support for Mr. Obama after Mr. Edwards left the race.

Mr. Edwards sought to make economic and social issues the center of his campaign and called for efforts to combat poverty in the United States. He announced his candidacy in New Orleans some 16 months after Hurricane Katrina struck and, echoed his 2004 bid for the Democratic nomination, by seeking to cast himself as the populist candidate and focusing on economic issues and job creation. He gained early support from a number of labor unions.

Mr. Edwards’s wife, Elizabeth, campaigned actively on his behalf, focusing on access to health care as her primary issue. Mrs. Edwards, who had been diagnosed with cancer during the 2004 campaign, said during this campaign that it had spread but had stopped.

Mr. Edwards alienated some supporters by abandoning his approach in the 2004 campaign in which he refused to criticize his rivals by name. After running unsuccessfully as John Kerry’s vice presidential running mate, Mr. Edwards began positioning himself for a second run at the presidency.

Early election results were disappointing for Mr. Edwards, who could not manage to gain headway against Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton. He came in third in the South Carolina primary, the state in which he was born and which he won during the 2004 presidential primary.

He announced his withdrawal from the race in the same place he began his campaign — against a backdrop of New Orleans houses damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Mr. Edwards did not make an endorsement at that time, but said both candidates had told him they would continue his theme of ending poverty as part of their campaigns.

The endorsement ended months of speculation over Mr. Edwards’s preference in the Democratic nominating contest, during which he mostly stayed silent and close to home in Chapel Hill with his wife, Elizabeth.

But in recent days, Mr. Edwards had made his choice all but obvious, giving a series of television interviews hinting that he was close to endorsing Mr. Obama, who last week he called “clearly the nominee at this point.”

And it was little surprise to close observers of Mr. Edwards on the campaign trail in the past year, when he regularly attacked so-called establishment politicians like Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and teamed with Mr. Obama against her in debates.

Throughout his second bid for the Democratic nomination, Mr. Edwards clashed repeatedly with Mrs. Clinton, criticizing her for accepting campaign contributions from lobbyists, a practice that he fiercely opposed.

And much of his campaign pitch centered on the notion that Washington politicians have become corrupted by the influence of lobbyists for drug companies, oil companies and other corporate interests.

“You can’t just trade corporate Republicans for corporate Democrats,” he told audiences frequently, an attack aimed at Mrs. Clinton.

But aides to Mr. Edwards said despite his personal admiration and respect for Mr. Obama, he was concerned about Mr. Obama’s experience and readiness for the job.

And he had another consideration: how to position himself for a job in the next president’s administration. As Mr. Edwards saw it, aides said, Mrs. Clinton seemed to be more likely than Mr. Obama to win the nomination.

That was before the nominating contests on Feb. 5, however, when Mr. Obama came out virtually tied with Mrs. Clinton; and the subsequent primaries and caucuses that Mr. Obama won decisively, giving him a significant advantage over Mrs. Clinton in the delegate count.

Mr. Edwards has carefully played down his aspirations for an administration role. In an interview in January, he said he would not accept a vice-presidential spot or Cabinet position. “No, absolutely not,” he said, shaking his head emphatically when asked.

But privately, he told aides that he would consider the role of vice president, and favored the position of attorney general, which would appeal to his experience of decades spent in courtrooms as a trial lawyer in North Carolina; and his desire to follow in the footsteps of Robert F. Kennedy, one of his heroes.

Not long after Mr. Edwards dropped out of the race, John C. Moylan, a close friend and adviser who ran his South Carolina campaign, said Mr. Edwards he would consider a Cabinet spot. “You don’t run for president unless you want to work in the administration,” Mr. Moylan said.

Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton have both heavily courted Mr. Edwards’s endorsement, calling him frequently and sending messages through surrogates. Mr. Edwards and Mrs. Clinton secretly met at his home in Chapel Hill in March; a meeting with Mr. Obama, scheduled several days later, was rescheduled because of intense media attention once news of the two meetings became known.

Since dropping out of the race, he has stressed his devotion to the issue of poverty, and promoted his new antipoverty initiative, Half in Ten. He extracted promises from both candidates to focus on poverty as president, and Mrs. Clinton, in a clear gesture to Mr. Edwards, said she would create a Cabinet-level “poverty czar” if she is elected president.

Even before Mr. Edwards withdrew from the presidential race, he began lengthy discussions with his advisers about whom he should endorse. His top aides were split: among them, Joe Trippi, a senior adviser, strongly favored Mr. Obama; Harrison Hickman, his longtime friend and pollster, argued for a Clinton endorsement.

But the kinship between the two campaigns has become most plain by the migration of most of Mr. Edwards’s former staff members and aides to the Obama campaign.

Terry McAuliffe, the Clinton campaign chairman, responded to the endorsement: "We respect John Edwards," he said in a statement, "but as the voters of West Virginia showed last night, this thing is far from over."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/14/us/politics/14cnd-edwards.html?_r=3&hp=&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=1&adxnnlx=1210864821-COW4Ntx0EIAIg2zXPphCLQ

:dance

syracus

17.05.2008, 11:33

New Math for November

PORTLAND, Ore. — This state is known for many things — good wine, the imperial branding of the Nike swoosh, a political culture that produces contrarians of both parties — but ethnic diversity is not one of them. This state has an African-American population of less than 2 percent.

And yet on May 20, when voters here could finally end the Democratic presidential marathon by giving Senator Barack Obama an outright majority of pledged delegates, don’t expect to hear much about how a black man has broadened the playing field for his party by winning a heavily white state. Apparently, white people in Gore-Tex country don’t count as much as white people in Appalachia. Nor, if you look at Colorado, a Bush state that Obama won this year, do white people who sing “Rocky Mountain High” matter as much as white people who sing, “Almost heaven, West Virginia.”

It’s absurd, of course, to tout the implied superiority of “hard-working Americans, white Americans,” as Hillary Clinton said last week of her core supporters. And those other white Americans, in Iowa, Wisconsin, or here in Oregon — all heavy Obama supporters — are slackers? Not to mention black supporters.

In Oregon, in recent days, we’ve seen fresh themes for the general election presented by Obama and Senator John McCain — and they have very little to do with dated, tribal politics. The fruit trees in the Willamette Valley may be in full blossom, but in Oregon it’s November in May.

The map of counties that Hillary Clinton won big this year shows a broad swath of Appalachia and rural America, places where a Democrat is unlikely to prevail in the general election. The scab of racial animus can be thick in those counties, judging by exit polls of Clinton supporters who say they would never vote for a black man, and by anecdotal reporting.

The political math of the future lies with the new America — fast-growing communities in Virginia, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and elsewhere, where people are trying to step out of the cement shoes of race. Yes, race is still a factor there — it’s coded and complex — but not as raw as in other states. The transient nature of these places, where nearly everybody is from somewhere else, makes it difficult for old biases to harden.

McCain surely knows this, even if his party has yet to get the message. The speech that he gave here on climate change marked a big break with President Bush and the troglodyte wing of his party.

Look for similar divorce announcements in coming months, even on race. In that speech, McCain envisioned a nightmare of runaway forest fires, heat waves stifling the cities, storms swamping the coasts, unless something is done. “The United States will lead,” he said, “and will lead with a different approach.” In every way, the speech was a slap at know-nothings like Rush Limbaugh, who tells his 20 million listeners almost every day that global warming is a massive hoax.

It is buried deep in the Republican family tree, but the environment used to be an issue that the party owned. And here in Oregon, the stunning ocean beaches are accessible to all, cities are livable and open space is plenty because of a sainted, long-ago Republican governor, Tom McCall.

Meanwhile, McCain’s party tried to hold onto a Republican Congressional seat in Mississippi this week by using racial scare-mongering from the Jim Crow era. There, a Democrat, Travis Childers, won a district that President Bush carried by 25 percentage points in 2004, the third red seat lost this year in special elections for the House. Republicans aimed for the deepest fears of white southerners by tying Childers to Obama’s nutty former preacher, Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr.

The preacher may be good ratings for Fox News. But as it happens, he’s not as much ballot box poison as is Bush. The president with the lowest approval ratings in 70 years is more damaging to McCain than Rev. Wright is to Obama, according to a recent Gallup poll. “By November,” said David Plouffe, Obama’s campaign manager, “every voter will know McCain is offering a third Bush term.” That’s the election fight, in a nutshell.

Obama’s themes in Oregon were future-directed — new energy policy, new foreign policy, new thinking on race. It goes without saying that he needs to carry blue collar whites, as Democrats have usually done. But Obama can lose Ohio and West Virginia — both fell to Republicans in 2004 — and make up for it with Colorado and Virginia, a combined 22 electoral votes from Bush states now trending Democratic.

When Obama spoke in the central Oregon city of Bend, the crowd at Summit High School was nearly all-white, and as enthusiastic as any gathering of Beavers and Ducks on a Saturday afternoon. In the sea of white faces, there was one person who stood out — the woman who introduced Obama, Myrlie Evers-Williams, widow of Medgar Evers, the civil rights leader who was shot in the back in Mississippi in 1963.

It turns out she lives in Bend, one of the tomorrow communities that will decide this year’s election. The county that includes Bend has grown by 30 percent since 2000. It is full of independents, an Oregonian trait, and people like Mrs. Evers-Williams, who see something here they never saw in the place they left behind.

http://egan.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/14/new-math-for-november/?ex=1211515200&en=d547fe3c8fb754a2&ei=5070&emc=eta1

Apropos Huffington Post, die ist schon lang nicht mehr "alternativ", vielmehr hat sie eine breitere Leserschaft als etwa die New York Times, nur um mal noch das Gesülz klarzustellen :p!

lunar

18.05.2008, 17:38

Negotiating isn't appeasement, jerkoff (http://maruthecrankpot.blogspot.com/2008/05/negotiating-isnt-appeasement-jerkoff.html)

An LA Times (http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-scoblic17-2008may17,0,6293795.story?track=ntothtml) op-ed blasts Dimbulb McDumbass and his fellow conservatards --

"Bush, McCain and other conservatives are on the wrong side of history"

[I]f there is anything that has been discredited by history, it is the argument that every enemy is Hitler, that negotiations constitute appeasement, and that talking will automatically lead to a slaughter of Holocaust-like proportions. It is an argument that conservatives made throughout the Cold War, and, if the charge seemed overblown at the time, it seems positively ludicrous with the clarity of hindsight. [snip]

Containment, negotiation, nuclear stability -- each of these things helped protect the United States and end the Cold War. And yet, at the time, conservatives thought each was synonymous with appeasement.

The Bush administration has been little different, refusing for years to talk to North Korea or Iran about their nuclear programs because it wanted to defeat evil, not talk to it. The result was that Pyongyang tested a nuclear weapon and Iran's uranium program continued unfettered.

Given conservatism's historical record, Obama's inclination to negotiate seems only sensible. When will conservatives learn that it is 2008, not 1938?

syracus

19.05.2008, 06:07

75,000 attend Obama rally in Portland

Sunday, May 18, 2008 6:17
From NBC's Mark Hudspeth

Per the Obama campaign, 75,000 people (60,000 in the gates and 15,000 outside of them) turned out in Portland to hear Obama speak there this afternoon -- making it the largest Obama crowd to date.

Duane Bray, the battalion chief with Portland Fire and Rescue, validated that crowd estimate, the campaign says.

Here's the dispatch from NBC/NJ's Athena Jones... Some 75,000 people flocked to Portland’s waterfront Sunday to watch Barack Obama speak, making it the biggest rally the campaign has held to date. Thousands stood on the lawn, dozens watched from boats and from the bridge stretching across the Willamette River. A few kayakers held their paddles and tried to keep their kayaks straight as they watched the candidate, who stood on a makeshift platform.

Obama hailed Clinton as a “formidable candidate," saying she "has been smart and tough and determined and she has worked as hard as she can and she has run an extraordinary campaign."

He added a few lines to an otherwise typical stump speech, attacking presumptive GOP nominee John McCain for his ties to lobbyists, an issue the campaign is pushing and one the candidate spoke about with reporters earlier in the day. "John McCain now has had to get rid of five of his top advisers because it turns out they’re all lobbying, many of them for foreign governments. That’s because he practices the same kind of politics that we’ve grown accustomed to in Washington," he said, adding that his campaign did not take money from PACs or federal lobbyists and saying he would have meetings on C-SPAN rather behind closed doors with lobbyists "in their Gucci shoes."

He also criticized President Bush for comments he made in Israel last week comparing those who would engage in direct diplomacy with governments like Iran to those who appeased Hitler. Obama's campaign has interpreted the comments as a hit against him and today he called such tactics "Karl Rove" politics.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/-/blog/Portland75K.jpeg

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/4210/omgcrowdcv8.jpg

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/05/18/1036703.aspx

syracus

19.05.2008, 19:52

http://media.gallup.com/poll/graphs/051908DailyUpdateGraph1_plkjyf9.gif
www.gallup.com

Rennen ist endgültig vorbei :rolleyes :D !

syracus

19.05.2008, 20:07

:) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbJR6ylt0Y8 :)

lunar

20.05.2008, 15:51

Who is Charlie Black?

by DarkSyde (http://darksyde.dailykos.com/)

Mon May 19, 2008 at 06:55:16 AM PDT

Up until last week, it would be no surprise if few Americans were familiar with the name Charlie Black: before joining the McCain campaign as chief adviser, Black amassed a fortune working not for middle class Americans, but as a serial lobbyist working closely with conservative powerbrokers in plush backrooms on behalf of powerful CEO’s and creepy foreign gazillionaires.......

full story: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/19/9551/42961/876/516795

McCain: Fire Charlie Black

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjCYmjjxp8I&eurl=http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/19/9551/42961/876/516795

syracus

20.05.2008, 19:05

May 20, 2008, 7:30 AM

Bill Clinton Blames “Slanted Press Coverage” for Obama's Delegate Lead

(CBS)From CBS News' Ryan Corsaro:

LOUISVILLE, KY. -- If it wasn't the night before the Kentucky and Oregon primaries, it would have been a standard Hillary Clinton speech. She talked about health care. She talked about jobs. She talked about bringing broadband to communities that don’t have it. She talked about all of the issues she’s talked about for the past nine months -- everything you can read about on her website or see her say on YouTube.

She had all of the lines the crowd loves to hear. Getting the “two big oilmen out of the White House.”

“I don’t understand what people didn’t like about the 90’s, was it the peace or the prosperity?”

And the other crowd favorite, not being able to wait for “the day when that moving van pulls away from the White House and heads back to Texas.”

However, the Clintons know that their audience isn’t just the crowds of voters hearing these lines for the first time – it’s national media who have heard her speeches hundreds of times, some of whom travel for months with the campaign and report anything new about what Clinton says on the road.

But the only new thing the Clintons had to say on primary eve came from her husband, who accused the press of not caring about the needs of voters and favoring other candidates over his wife.

Bill Clinton echoed statements Hillary herself made in the past few days, verifying that attacking the media has now become a Clinton campaign talking point.

“Every time you turn on the television and you listen one of those people dissing her, they all have a college degree, they’ve all got a new job, they’ve all got healthcare, and they're not going broke putting filling up their gas tank," said Bill Clinton.

Just two days before, Hillary Clinton told a crowd in Mayfield, Ky., “All those people on TV who are telling you and everybody else that this race is over and I should just be, you know, graceful and say ‘Oh it’s over’ even though I’ve won more votes. Those are all people who have a job. Those are all people who have healthcare. Those are all people who can afford to send their kids to college. Those are all people who can pay whatever is charged at the gas pump."

Around 1,300 supporters – mostly women – came out to see Hillary Clinton speak last night in Lexington on the eve of the Kentucky primary when her husband came out to give her introduction, which he called "the easy job."

"Just remember, all these people who are telling you it's over..." instructed the former president as several women began to scream "No!" in protest.

"First of all, by their own admission, this has been the most slanted press coverage in American history. Secondly, they declared her dead more times than a cat’s got lives."

He went out to point at poll numbers in New Hampshire, which many media outlets reported early on to show Clinton could lose the race. In the end, the polls were proven wrong, with Hillary Clinton winning that state's primary in early January.

Clinton said the same thing had happened in West Virginia, claiming the "people on television" had told voters in that state to stay at home.

"People in West Virginia didn't appreciate being talked to like that," he said.

Bill Clinton finished his introduction of his wife with an anecdote he has used on the road while campaigning for during the past few weeks, saying his daughter Chelsea called to tell him she told a questioner "yes" when the person asked if her mother would be a better president than her father.

"She said, 'They asked me a direct question and I gave them a direct answer,'" Bill Clinton recounted.

Hillary Clinton later hugged her husband after his remarks, calling him her "number one campaigner in chief." :rofl

While he does not have any version of such a title officially with her campaign, it appears Bill Clinton has had an influence on Hillary's new volleys at the media. On May 10th, ABCNews.com reported that Bill Clinton had began taking shots at the media while visiting Ripley, WV.

"They make a lot of fun of me because I like to campaign in places like this, they say I have been exiled to rural America, as if that was a problem. I don't know about you, but I'd rather be here than listening to that stuff I have to hear on television, I'd rather be with you. There is a simple reason: You need a president a lot more than those people telling you not to vote for her."

The Clintons seem to think attacks on the media gave a big boost to Clinton's double-digit win over Obama in West Virginia, and they're trying to make the same case in rural parts of Kentucky with the same voters as those who put them way over the top last Tuesday.

Hillary Clinton made similar statements about television critics in Mayfield, Prestonsburg, and Loretto, Ky. - all with large populations of blue-collar, white working families. She also ran a television ad in Kentucky going after members of the media including Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, Tim Russert, and one of Bill Clinton's former staffers, George Stephanopoulos.

Hillary Clinton will hold an event tonight in Louisville after the results of Kentucky's primary, which she is expected to win over Obama.

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/05/20/politics/fromtheroad/entry4110077.shtml

:rolleyes

Danke Bill, die Presse war schuld an der Niederlage in Vietnam, die Presse ist nach Bush schuld am Desaster im Irak und nach dir ist die Presse nun für die Niederlage Hillarys schuld. Man lernt nie aus :hihi :hihi :hihi !

lunar

21.05.2008, 09:17

...gehört leider auch zum WahlKAMPF :bad

"Vile and shameless" (http://maruthecrankpot.blogspot.com/2008/05/vile-and-shameless.html)

Bill Gallagher (http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com/gallagher364.html): Bush's Knesset remarks were an appalling display of hypocrisy and ignorance, arrogance and nincompoopery, bellicosity and asshattery.

[The grandson of.....]'s deceit has no limits. His attack on Sen. Barack Obama, suggesting the Democratic presidential candidate wants to "appease" terrorists, reaches a new low, and we should brace for more as the Busheviks desperately and ruthlessly try to cling to the White House.

Never before in our history has a president used an appearance before a foreign legislature to so brazenly attack a political opponent at home.

Bush wallowed in the most putrid muck ever, coating himself with everlasting stench and forever staining the Republican Party. His soul is as hollow as his imagination. He has no dignity. He has no conscience.

Read the whole thing. It's beautiful.

lunar

21.05.2008, 16:26

McCain strategist keeps Obama vow, leaving campaign

Wed May 21, 2008 2:10am

http://www.reuters.com/resources/r/?m=02&d=20080521&t=2&i=4472839&w=155&r=2008-05-21T061035Z_01_N20354915_RTRUKOP_0_PICTURE0
By Steve Holland

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (Reuters) - A senior adviser to Republican presidential candidate John McCain (http://www.reuters.com/news/globalcoverage/johnmccain) said on Tuesday that he was stepping down to keep a commitment he made not to campaign against Democrat Barack Obama (http://www.reuters.com/news/globalcoverage/barackobama).

Mark McKinnon, who was in charge of the McCain campaign's advertising message, said he was still backing the Arizona senator, but that he was simply moving from active campaign participant to cheerleader.

"I'll still be around occasionally in my lucky hat," said McKinnon, who often wears a distinctive hat.

McKinnon, who was a key aide in President George W. Bush's two election victories, has expressed admiration for Obama and pledged not to campaign against the Democratic front-runner if he became the party's presidential nominee...... :supi

full story: http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN2035491520080521?virtualBrandChannel=10112

:eek finde ich erstaunlich :cool:)

syracus

21.05.2008, 17:13

Money shocker Hillary Clinton's campaign debt soars to $31 million

No wonder Sen. Hillary Clinton was so late filing her required campaign financial reports Tuesday night. Her political team didn't want the shocking news in it to overshadow her lopsided thumping of Sen. Barack Obama in Kentucky.

But here's the morning after, pay-up time. Clinton's campaign debt has now soared to nearly $31 million, according to numbers crunched early this morning by The Times' campaign finance guru, Dan Morain.

She added another $9.5 million in unpaid bills to vendors this past month alone, pushing her total debt to vendors and herself to the new astronomical figure, about a 50% debt increase in one month.

According to a campaign release put out Tuesday evening as election returns revealed her big win in Kentucky and loss in Oregon, Clinton raised "approximately $22 million" from other people in April. The release also touted that $10 million had poured in within 48 hours of another lopsided Clinton victory over Obama, that one in Pennsylvania, and said it was the second best fundraising month of her entire campaign.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/05/clintondebt.html

Will sie eigentlich finanziellen und politischen Selbstmord begehen? Scheint fast so :rolleyes

lunar

23.05.2008, 23:01

HILLARY RAISES ASSASSINATION ISSUE

DEFENDS LONG-RUNNING CAMPAIGN

By GEOFF EARLE

http://www.nypost.com/seven/05232008/photos/hillary.jpg (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:SLIDES.hotlink%28%29)

May 23, 2008 --

Hillary Clinton today brought up the assassination of Sen. Robert Kennedy while defending her decision to stay in the race against Barack Obama.

"My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. I don't understand it," she said, dismissing calls to drop out.

Watch a video of the editorial board meeting here. (http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080523/FRONTPAGECAROUSEL/80522033&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL)

Obama's camp immediately fired back.

"Sen. Clinton's statement before the Argus Leader editorial board was unfortunate and has no place in this campaign," Obama campaign spokesman said in a statement....

full story: http://www.nypost.com/seven/05232008/news/nationalnews/why_hill_wont_drop_out__bobby_kennedy_wa_112232.htm

:kopf weiss sie eigentlich was sie so von sich gibt :dumm

http://www.drudgereport.com/nyp.jpg
SOMEONE COULD GET ASSASSINATED (http://www.nypost.com/seven/05242008/news/regionalnews/hills_assassin_talk_a_shocker_112301.htm)

syracus

24.05.2008, 12:45

http://www.nydailynews.com/img/2008/05/24/gal_frontpage_0524.jpg

Hillary Clinton slammed for Robert Kennedy assassination remark

BY DAVID SALTONSTALL and THOMAS M. DeFRANK
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Updated Saturday, May 24th 2008, 1:27 AM

Hillary Clinton's last gasp campaign suffered a gaping, self-inflicted wound Friday when she recalled Robert Kennedy's 1968 assassination while defending her determination to keep running against Barack Obama.

Meeting with the editorial board of the Argus Leader newspaper in Sioux Falls, S.D., Clinton vigorously defended soldiering on through the last two primaries on June 3.

"My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right?" Clinton said. "We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California."

Political reaction was swift and unanimously negative. Even Hillary loyalists expressed shock, dismay and private outrage.

It was a rare moment in political circles when Democrats and Republicans alike literally had the same visceral first response:

"Oh. My. God."

"She said what?" an incredulous Rev. Al Sharpton told the Daily News, adding that the remark reinforced his belief that Clinton should fold her candidacy.

"The danger of her staying in is that she keeps making statements that do serious harm to the party and, increasingly, irreparable harm to her and her legacy," Sharpton said.

A horrified senior Republican operative added, softly: "She is so finished. What a pathetically stupid thing to say."

But Robert Kennedy Jr., a Clinton supporter, came to her defense.

"It is clear from the context that Hillary was invoking a familiar political circumstance to support her decision to stay in the race through June. I have heard her make this reference before, also citing her husband's 1992 race, both of which were hard-fought through June," he said in a statement.

"I understand how highly charged the atmosphere is, but I think it is a mistake for people to take offense."

Clinton's embarrassing comment was the worst gaffe of a campaign universally considered doomed.

It was certain to complicate - and perhaps destroy - her chances of wresting the nomination from Obama or of becoming his running mate, an idea some of her operatives and supporters have floated.

Earlier in the Argus Leader interview, she called those rumors "flatly untrue and it is not anything I'm entertaining. It is nothing I have planned and it is nothing I am prepared to engage in."

The Clinton camp scrambled furiously to stem the carnage, saying she was simply making a factual historical analogy and making senior aides who rarely talk to reporters available. A subdued candidate Clinton sought out television cameras in a supermarket to issue a swift apology.

"The Kennedys have been much on my mind the last days because of Sen. [Edward] Kennedy and I regret that if my referencing that moment of trauma for our entire nation, and particularly for the Kennedy family, was in any way offensive," she said.

"I certainly had no intention of that whatsoever . . . I have the highest regard for the entire Kennedy family."

Obama spokesman Bill Burton responded, "Sen. Clinton's statement . . . was unfortunate and has no place in this campaign."

A close Obama ally, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), accepted her explanation. "It was . . . a careless remark, and we'll leave it at that," he said.

There was no comment from Sen. Kennedy, diagnosed this week with brain cancer.

Clinton's remarks were particularly problematic because worry over Obama's personal safety has been a major concern - although largely unspoken and unwritten - of this campaign cycle. He received Secret Service protection earlier than usual because of his historic status as the first black candidate with a real chance at the White House.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/05/23/2008-05-23_hillary_clinton_slammed_for_robert_kenne.html

Sie ist ganz selber schuld, dass seit Freitagabend jede Nachrichtensendung und jede Talkshow sich damit beschäftigt. Und sie hat sich damit selber aus dem Rennen genommen, bis anhin hatte nur McCain etwas den Ruf ab und zu mental nicht ganz stabil zu sein. Nun läuft die Disku ob Clinton....

syracus

24.05.2008, 13:02

May 24, 2008

Clinton Remark on Robert Kennedy’s Killing Stirs Uproar

By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE

BRANDON, S.D. — Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton defended staying in the Democratic nominating contest on Friday by pointing out that her husband had not wrapped up the nomination until June 1992, adding, “We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California.”

Her remarks were met with quick criticism from the campaign of Senator Barack Obama, and within hours of making them Mrs. Clinton expressed regret, saying, “The Kennedys have been much on my mind the last days because of Senator Kennedy,” referring to the recent diagnosis of Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s brain tumor. She added, “And I regret that if my referencing that moment of trauma for our entire nation and in particular the Kennedy family was in any way offensive.”

Still, the comments touched on one of the most sensitive aspects of the current presidential campaign — concern for Mr. Obama’s safety. And they come as Democrats have been talking increasingly of an Obama/Clinton ticket, with friends of the Clintons saying that Bill Clinton is musing about the possibility that the vice presidency might be his wife’s best path to the presidency if she loses the nomination.

It was in the context of discussions about her political future that Mrs. Clinton made the remarks on Friday to the editorial board of The Sioux Falls Argus Leader. She had said that some people whom she did not name were trying to push her out of the race, but she noted that historically many races had gone on longer than hers.

“My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right?” she said. “We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California.”

Bill Burton, a spokesman for the Obama campaign, which has refrained from engaging Mrs. Clinton in recent days, said her statement “was unfortunate and has no place in this campaign.”

Privately, aides to Mr. Obama were furious about the remark.

Concerns about Mr. Obama’s safety led the Secret Service to give him protection last May, before it was afforded to any other presidential candidate, although Mrs. Clinton had protection, too, in her capacity as a former first lady. Mr. Obama’s wife, Michelle, voiced concerns about his safety before he was elected to the Senate, and some black voters have even said such fears weighed on their decision of whether to vote for him.

It was against that backdrop that Mrs. Clinton’s mentioning the Kennedy assassination in the same breath as her own political fate struck some as going too far. Representative James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, an uncommitted superdelegate, said through a spokeswoman that the comments were “beyond the pale.”

The speed at which the remarks were transmitted and reacted to illustrated the new reality candidates are grappling with in this year’s campaign, in which Mr. Obama’s own remarks about “bitter” small-town voters ricocheted around the Internet.

Mrs. Clinton’s remarks were initially reported online by The New York Post, whose reporters were not traveling with the Clinton campaign but were instead watching a live video feed of the meeting with newspaper editors. Its report quickly jumped to the Drudge Report, then whipped around the Internet and on television, with outraged comments piling up on Web sites.

Campaign aides were taken aback by the quick reaction to her remarks, but then quickly realized that Mrs. Clinton had to backpedal. She then spoke to the traveling press corps for the first time in more than a week, at a supermarket here.

“Earlier today I was discussing the Democratic primary history and in the course of that discussion mentioned the campaigns that both my husband and Senator Kennedy waged in California in June, in 1992 and 1968,” she said. “And I was referencing those to make the point that we have had nomination primary contests that go into June. That’s a historic fact.”

The remarks overshadowed a campaign trip to South Dakota in which Mrs. Clinton has increasingly been dealing with a new thematic landscape: a campaign that is more consumed by questions about its own future, rather than by Mrs. Clinton talking about issues like health care.

During the editorial board meeting Friday, Mrs. Clinton also denied reports of any contact with the Obama camp regarding an exit strategy for her. “It’s flatly, completely untrue,” she said.

Mrs. Clinton has cited her husband’s 1992 nominating battle in discussing her decision to stay in the race. While she said that he only wrapped up the nomination in June of that year, he was viewed as having secured it in March, when his last serious opponent dropped out.

Friday was not the first time Mrs. Clinton referred to the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in such a context. In March, she told Time magazine: “Primary contests used to last a lot longer. We all remember the great tragedy of Bobby Kennedy being assassinated in June in L.A. My husband didn’t wrap up the nomination in 1992 until June. Having a primary contest go through June is nothing particularly unusual.”

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has endorsed Mrs. Clinton, defended her remarks in a telephone interview on Friday evening.

“I’ve heard her make that argument before,” Mr. Kennedy said, speaking on his cellphone as he drove to the family compound in Hyannis Port, Mass. “It sounds like she was invoking a familiar historical circumstance in support of her argument for continuing her campaign.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/24/us/politics/24clinton.html?_r=1&hp=&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1211626822-xGKb6z+EqoMj+vsZRrBleA

lunar

26.05.2008, 16:15

Carter sees superdelegates prompting Clinton to quit

Sun May 25, 2008 2:05pm EDT

http://www.reuters.com/resources/r/?m=02&d=20080525&t=2&i=4523271&w=155&r=2008-05-25T180500Z_01_L25624145_RTRUKOP_0_PICTURE0

Video

LONDON (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said on Sunday he expects Democratic superdelegates to reveal their choice for presidential nominee soon after the final primary in June and that Hillary Clinton (http://www.reuters.com/news/globalcoverage/hillaryclinton) will then have to quit the race.

In an interview with Sky News, Carter said he did not think Clinton was achieving anything by staying in the fight.

"I think not. But of course she has the perfect right to do so," he said while attending a literary festival in Britain.

"I'm a superdelegate ... I think a lot of the superdelegates will make a decision quite, announced quite rapidly, after the final primary on June 3," he told Sky News.

"I have not yet announced publicly, but I think at that point it will be time for her to give it up," Carter said.....

full story: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL2562414520080525?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=22&sp=true

lunar

26.05.2008, 16:23

...von einem AmiBoard:

Classy! (http://maruthecrankpot.blogspot.com/2008/05/classy.html)

Fox "News" subhuman scum: "And now we have what ... uh... some are reading as a suggestion that somebody knock off Osama ... uh... Osama ... um... Obama ... well, both if we could [laughing]"

Wow. Just ... wow.

Jeff Feldman at HuffPo (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-feldman/fox-pundit-wishes-for-oba_b_103500.html):
When we hear such "jokes" about assassinating a member of the Senate--a member of our government--we do not laugh, but instead wonder. We wonder what has happened to broadcast media in our country. We wonder to ourselves, to our families, and to our friends: How have we arrived at this point? How has our broadcast media so utterly lost its moral compass?

The reason for a free press--for our free press--is not to degrade our political institutions, undermine our elections, and threaten our politicians, but to strengthen and sustain our deliberative democracy.

If FOX News or any other broadcast media outlet cannot live up to that standard, then they should shut off their lights, sell their equipment, and choose another line of work.Indeed.

Fox News Jokes About Killing Obama
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjYpkvcmog0&eurl=http://maruthecrankpot.blogspot.com/ :dumm

lunar

28.05.2008, 17:08

:verbeug

The Real McCain

verfasst von MI, 28.05.2008, 16:00

Na, das scheint doch wirklich ein würdiger Nachfolger GWBs zu sein. Da kann die ganze schöne Geschichte ja doch noch weitergehen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEtZlR3zp4c&e

(@Chef und Techniker: embedded klappt nicht, was ist da los?)

Man achte besonders auf diese Stelle nach einer Minute:

http://fc1.parsimony.net/user1305/mccain.jpg

....nachdem Bush zum 2. Mal gewählt wurde - sollte man sich über gar nix mehr wundern :rolleyes:mad

syracus

28.05.2008, 20:58

Was Nader bei den Demokraten ist, wird nun Barr für die Republikaner. Nur dürfte er etwas mehr Stimmen als Nader bekommen ;)

Bob Barr is new piece in electoral puzzle

The Libertarian nominee could spell trouble for McCain if Ron Paul backers defect from the GOP

By Linda Feldmann | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
from the May 29, 2008 edition

Washington - Newly minted presidential nominee Bob Barr of the Libertarian Party may not be a household name, but the former Republican congressman from Georgia has caught the attention of the GOP's most passionate wing: supporters of libertarian-leaning Rep. Ron Paul (R) of Texas.

Though Mr. Paul is still running for president as a Republican, and scoring a fair share of votes in the late primaries – he won 16 percent in Pennsylvania – Sen. John McCain of Arizona has locked up the Republican nomination. But in the fall, Senator McCain will need all the votes he can get. And if a significant number of Paul supporters coalesce around Mr. Barr, that could spell trouble for McCain.

But that's a big "if." At the party convention in Denver last weekend, Barr won the Libertarian nomination on the sixth ballot, amid deep divisions over the direction of the party. Libertarianism centers on a belief in small, unintrusive government and puts a premium on individual liberty. As a member of Congress, Barr was known for three things: helping manage the impeachment of President Clinton, the war on drugs, and opposition to gay rights.

"At least on those latter two, he's got to adjust his image," says David Boaz, executive vice president of the libertarian Cato Institute in Washington. "He's started to do that, but if he's going to sound like a libertarian, then he's going to need to emphasize his opposition to the Iraq war."

Enter Ron Paul, and his vocal, generous supporters. Though national polls show only a small percentage of Republicans backing his candidacy, his fundraising has been prodigious, at more than $30 million. He maintains that he will take his nomination effort all the way to the Republican convention in Minneapolis-Saint Paul in September, but analysts believe the best he can get is a spot on the speakers' list – and, if he declines to help Barr in any way, perhaps even a prime-time speech.

So far, Paul has not spoken publicly about Barr's Libertarian nomination. And Paul's supporters are considering their options. "My heart will always be with Ron Paul, and I'll be fighting for him all the way to the National Convention," writes Frank Koch, a computer programmer from Columbus, Ohio, in an e-mail.

As for his vote in November, he adds: "I'm personally leaning toward the Constitution Party candidate Chuck Baldwin, but a large percentage of Ron Paul supporters are currently looking at Bob Barr. Voting for McCain, Hillary [Clinton], or [Barack] Obama is completely out of the question for all Constitution-loving activists."

Jane Aitken, a pro-Paul activist in Bedford, N.H., says she's not sure she likes Barr, but doesn't know what she'll do in November. "I could always have a good conscience and write in Ron Paul, and know that I didn't help someone like John McCain," says the retired schoolteacher.

Mr. Boaz, who hasn't endorsed anyone, doesn't rule out that some Paul supporters could even end up voting for likely Democratic nominee Barack Obama, because of his consistent opposition to the Iraq war. Some will end up with McCain, he adds, and others may not vote at all.

If the Paul vote splinters in numerous directions, then McCain can relax. And the typical Libertarian take in a presidential race, about 400,000 votes, also won't doom McCain, as long as it is spread thin around the country.

But there is a scenario in which Barr could become the Ralph Nader of the 2008 race – an echo of the third-party effort in 2000 that analysts believe took enough votes away from Democratic nominee Al Gore to cost him the crucial state of Florida.

Take Barr's home state of Georgia. A recent poll by Insider Advantage showed Barr winning 8 percent of the November vote there versus 45 percent for McCain and 35 percent for Senator Obama. Georgia has a large African-American population, and if Obama can generate high turnout in that community, a key part of his base, then that plus Barr could cost McCain the state – and conceivably the election.

This is a long-shot scenario, and the general-election campaign has not fully begun. But McCain cannot ignore Barr, especially if Paulites start to use him as a vehicle for a protest vote. A big challenge for Barr will be fundraising. So far, he has raised $155,000, according to his campaign website. He is likely not to be included in presidential debates. So getting the word out will be difficult.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0529/p02s01-uspo.html

damit eigentlich 4 Parteien im Rennen :)

lunar

30.05.2008, 08:07

...von einem AmiBoard

Suh-nap! (http://maruthecrankpot.blogspot.com/2008/05/suh-nap.html)

John "Iranian al-Qaidists are training Shiites (http://mediamatters.org/items/200805290002)" McBush: "Obama only visiting Iraq once shows how little he understands about Iraq."

Barack Obama: "It's funny that the guy who swallowed all of the misadministration's propaganda hook, line, sinker and ... ahem ... rod, would lecture me about the war":

“On the day after the former White House press secretary conceded that the Bush administration used deception and propaganda to take us to war, it seems odd that Senator McCain, who bought the flawed rationale for war so readily (http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/05/28/1072700.aspx), would be lecturing others on their depth of understanding about Iraq,” Obama spokesman Bill Burton said.

“Senator Obama challenged the President's rationale for the war from the start, warning that it would divert resources from Afghanistan and the pursuit of Al Qaeda and mire us in an endless civil war. Senator McCain stubbornly insists on pursuing the failed Bush policy that continues to cost so much, while Senator Obama believes it's time to begin a deliberate, careful strategy to remove our troops and compel the Iraqis to take responsibility for their own future.”

Stupid: The RNC is now actually keeping a clock (http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/05/rnc_clock_gigs.html) on their website to count the days since Obama last stepped foot in Iraq. :kopf

A pity they seem less concerned about tracking how many troops have died there.

Here's a pic of the last time McNuts was there: helmeted, armored, heavily escorted, and surrounded by so many pieces of artillery that his phalanx of snipers would have been in danger of friendly-fire ricochets had they been forced to actually shoot anyone.

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/4425/mccaindukakissn7.jpg

syracus

31.05.2008, 09:04

Obama used party rules to foil Clinton

May 30 10:48 AM US/Eastern
By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Unlike Hillary Rodham Clinton, rival Barack Obama planned for the long haul.

Clinton hinged her whole campaign on an early knockout blow on Super Tuesday, while Obama's staff researched congressional districts in states with primaries that were months away. What they found were opportunities to win delegates, even in states they would eventually lose.

Obama's campaign mastered some of the most arcane rules in politics, and then used them to foil a front-runner who seemed to have every advantage—money, fame and a husband who had essentially run the Democratic Party for eight years as president.

"Without a doubt, their understanding of the nominating process was one of the keys to their success," said Tad Devine, a Democratic strategist not aligned with either candidate. "They understood the nuances of it and approached it at a strategic level that the Clinton campaign did not."

Careful planning is one reason why Obama is emerging as the nominee as the Democratic Party prepares for its final three primaries, Puerto Rico on Sunday and Montana and South Dakota on Tuesday. Attributing his success only to soaring speeches and prodigious fundraising ignores a critical part of contest.

Obama used the Democrats' system of awarding delegates to limit his losses in states won by Clinton while maximizing gains in states he carried. Clinton, meanwhile, conserved her resources by essentially conceding states that favored Obama, including many states that held caucuses instead of primaries.

In a stark example, Obama's victory in Kansas wiped out the gains made by Clinton for winning New Jersey, even though New Jersey had three times as many delegates at stake. Obama did it by winning big in Kansas while keeping the vote relatively close in New Jersey.

The research effort was headed by Jeffrey Berman, Obama's press-shy national director of delegate operations. Berman, who also tracked delegates in former Rep. Dick Gephardt's presidential bids, spent the better part of 2007 analyzing delegate opportunities for Obama.

Obama won a majority of the 23 Super Tuesday contests on Feb. 5 and then spent the following two weeks racking up 11 straight victories, building an insurmountable lead among delegates won in primaries and caucuses.

What made it especially hard for Clinton to catch up was that Obama understood and took advantage of a nominating system that emerged from the 1970s and '80s, when the party struggled to find a balance between party insiders and its rank-and-file voters.

Until the 1970s, the nominating process was controlled by party leaders, with ordinary citizens having little say. There were primaries and caucuses, but the delegates were often chosen behind closed doors, sometimes a full year before the national convention. That culminated in a 1968 national convention that didn't reflect the diversity of the party—racially or ideologically.

The fiasco of the 1968 convention in Chicago, where police battled anti-war protesters in the streets, led to calls for a more inclusive process.

One big change was awarding delegates proportionally, meaning you can finish second or third in a primary and still win delegates to the party's national convention. As long candidates get at least 15 percent of the vote, they are eligible for delegates.

The system enables strong second-place candidates to stay competitive and extend the race—as long as they don't run out of campaign money.

"For people who want a campaign to end quickly, proportional allocation is a bad system," Devine said. "For people who want a system that is fair and reflective of the voters, it's a much better system."

Another big change was the introduction of superdelegates, the party and elected officials who automatically attend the convention and can vote for whomever they choose regardless of what happens in the primaries and caucuses.

Superdelegates were first seated at the 1984 convention. Much has been made of them this year because neither Obama nor Clinton can reach the number of delegates needed to secure the nomination without their support.

A more subtle change was the distribution of delegates within each state. As part of the proportional system, Democrats award delegates based on statewide vote totals as well as results in individual congressional districts. The delegates, however, are not distributed evenly within a state, like they are in the Republican system.

Under Democratic rules, congressional districts with a history of strong support for Democratic candidates are rewarded with more delegates than districts that are more Republican. Some districts packed with Democratic voters can have as many as eight or nine delegates up for grabs, while more Republican districts in the same state have three or four.

The system is designed to benefit candidates who do well among loyal Democratic constituencies, and none is more loyal than black voters. Obama, who would be the first black candidate nominated by a major political party, has been winning 80 percent to 90 percent of the black vote in most primaries, according to exit polls.

"Black districts always have a large number of delegates because they are the highest performers for the Democratic Party," said Elaine Kamarck, a Harvard University professor who is writing a book about the Democratic nominating process.

"Once you had a black candidate you knew that he would be winning large numbers of delegates because of this phenomenon," said Kamarck, who is also a superdelegate supporting Clinton.

In states like Ohio and Pennsylvania, Clinton won the statewide vote but Obama won enough delegates to limit her gains. In states Obama carried, like Georgia and Virginia, he maximized the number of delegates he won.

"The Obama campaign was very good at targeting districts in areas where they could do well," said former DNC Chairman Don Fowler, a Clinton superdelegate from South Carolina. "They were very conscious and aware of these nuances."

But, Fowler noted, the best strategy in the world would have been useless without the right candidate.

"If that same strategy and that same effort had been used with a different candidate, a less charismatic candidate, a less attractive candidate, it wouldn't have worked," Fowler said. "The reason they look so good is because Obama was so good."

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D91018RO0&show_article=1

The Art Of War: Barack Obama used party rules to foil Clinton

Its become pretty embarrassing to continue hearing Hillary Clinton's repetitious speech menu that consists of a steady diet of " I'm more qualified & prepared to be Commander and Chief than Obama " diatribe when in fact, he snookered her from the get-go of these campaigns and she or Bill didn't even see him coming.

Now, call it whatever you want to call it, but from where I'm standing, I see Obama as a candidate who came here to play hard and win and he wasn't taking any prisoners. I see a candidate who did his homework and came prepared and trusted & allowed his campaign strategist to unveil a stealthy iron-clad ground-game with precise patience.

He is definitely a force to be reckoned with and has made all these unfounded claims of " lack of leadership or experience " against him by Hillary become moot. How can she continue with the same tired rhetoric against Obama when in fact, it is HER, HILLARY & The CLINTON Machine he has beaten, the very same person claiming to have all this talent and experience to lead and command this nation into the future, yet, she & Bill were caught with their pantsuits down and now the chase is all but lost and over in the coming days. There is a lot more to leadership than just going about town pounding a single message into everyone's nugget that you can lead and are more experienced than your opponent but then you allowed yourself to be snookered by the very same rookie you've been criticizing all this time. One thing for sure, Obama WON'T be snoozing away when the call comes in at 3:00am, but I can't say the same for Hillary,.......that I can't.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=6191037&mesg_id=6191037

syracus

01.06.2008, 10:35

Endlich, die Probleme mit Florida & Michigan sind gelöst, beide im Sinn der Staaten, weniger in Clintons...

Obama Now Controls the Democratic Party

by BooMan
Sat May 31st, 2008 at 07:45:20 PM EST

Well...a remarkable thing just happened. We just discovered that the Clintons no longer control the Democratic National Committee. They were unable to win a single argument today. The Obama campaign joined both the Florida and Michigan Democratic Party's proposals, and both proposals prevailed. In Florida, the delegation was restored but given only half votes. In Michigan, the delegation was also restored, but given only half votes. But the Rules and Bylaws Committee (RBC) chucked out the results of the Michigan primary and instead used a formula awarding Obama all Uncommitted delegates plus four delegates the election results would have awarded to Clinton.

As a result, the absolute voting power of both states was halved. Clinton emerged with 19 net votes out of Florida, but that is offset by 4.5 votes that Edwards received. Her advantage out of Michigan was a mere five delegates. In other words, she picked up approximately 20 delegates today. In addition, the RBC did not recognize the validity of the Michigan primary thereby undermining any claim that the Clinton's could make for winning the popular votes there.

During the vote over the Michigan proposal, Harold Ickes spoke for the Clinton campaign. He was furious and he accused the committee of 'hijacking' four of Clinton's delegates. He informed the committee that he had been instructed by Hillary Clinton to tell them that she reserved the right to appeal their decision at the Credentials Committee in Denver. This evoked a very angry response from one of the black members of the Committee (I'll update with his name) who gave a history lesson on the Mississippi Freedom Party and showed real moral indignation at the dishonest and insincere arguments that have been made by Harold Ickes and some other Clinton allies. The most important signal came from former DNC Chair Don Fowler of South Carolina. Fowler is very well respected and he is a prominent Clinton supporter. He sharply disagreed with Ickes. He said that he didn't get what he wanted out of the negotiations but that he supported the Michigan proposal as the best and fairest solution available to bring about party unity. He praised Jim Roosevelt and Alexis Harman, the co-chairs, for running an excellent hearing.

Nevertheless, the final vote was 19-8. It was a 2-1 decision that was supported by the Michigan Democratic Party and the Obama campaign. The Clintons may reserve the right to appeal but they don't have a leg to stand on. I understand that the Clinton campaign has also sent out a press release now reaffirming their right to appeal. So, we'll have to see what the Clintons will do, but it is clear that their camp is angrier than a swarm of hornets.

Personally, I think we should treat them like a swarm of hornets and run for cover, because they're capable of anything right now.

As for the New Math, the new magic number will be 2,117 or 2,118 (when Donna Edwards is elected, it will change the math slightly). Obama now has 2,053 delegates and so is 64 delegates short of the nomination. He will win approximately 42 delegates from the remaining three contests. So, I think we can say with confidence that he needs 20-22 superdelegates out of the remaining 205 superdelegates. In reality, between not yet awarded add-on delegates, Edwards delegates, the Pelosi delegates that will go to the winner of the pledged delegate war, Rahm Emanuel, Jim Clyburn, Donna Brazille, etc., Obama already has more than the 20-22 delegates he needs. He is now assured of winning the nomination and he can probably make that announcement official after the polls close in Montana on Tuesday night.

Let's all take a moment to celebrate.

http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2008/5/31/194520/141

lunar

02.06.2008, 16:19

:).

syracus

02.06.2008, 17:25

Lang aber interessant, da werden so einige Zusammenhänge klar...

Family Ties

Hillary Clinton's evangelical cabal

Jeff Sharlet, The New Republic
Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Hillary Clinto nLost in the hysteria over Reverend Jeremiah Wright's remarks is the fact that the current race offers a rare snapshot of the three great strands of American political religion. It's ironic that Wright occupies center stage, since, in the twenty-first century, his is by far the weakest of these--a progressive Christianity which stretches from the Social Gospel to black liberation theology, a big tent of liberal and left religion that's not very crowded anymore. John McCain's problem pastor, a Texas pulpit-pounder named John Hagee, stands in for a more familiar faith: populist fundamentalism, a crowd-pleasing mix of hellfire and the kind of prosperity preaching that encourages followers to ante up to the Lord in both spirit and dollars. And then there's Hillary Clinton's religion: the third strand of political faith, the least understood and arguably the most powerful.

Clinton, an evangelically inclined Methodist, is by far the most religiously rooted and theologically astute of the three candidates, a Christian intellectual schooled in the cold war religion of Reinhold Niebuhr's post-leftist years. Don Jones, her youth pastor and a lifelong spiritual mentor, calls the faith he instructed her in then and which they still share a third way between old-school fundamentalism and liberal Christianity. It's not centrism, though; Jones describes it in terms of Burkean conservatism, after the eighteenth-century reactionary philosopher's belief that change should be slow and come without the sort of "social leveling" that offends class hierarchy.

That's the crux of the conflict between the progressive Christianity that's broad enough to encompass both Jeremiah Wright and Jimmy Carter, and the elitist variation long embraced by Hillary: The former dreams always, if imperfectly, of challenging power, while the latter works to reaffirm it. Clinton's faith is not the liberal version of Christianity that Democratic leaders have traditionally invoked--instead, her version, exemplified by her alliance with a shadowy network of powerful conservative Christians, is steeped in the kind of establishmentarianism that she has otherwise tried to distance herself from throughout the primary season.

Clinton's formal introduction to the publicity-shy network of mostly evangelical elites in government, military, and business known to the world as The Fellowship--and to its adherents as The Family--came at a lunch organized on her behalf in February 1993 at the Cedars, "an estate on the Potomac that serves as the headquarters for the National Prayer Breakfast and the prayer groups it has spawned around the world," as she wrote in Living History. "Doug Coe, the longtime National Prayer Breakfast organizer"--and the de facto leader of the The Family, dubbed by Time the "Stealth Persuader"--"is a unique presence in Washington: a genuinely loving spiritual mentor and guide to anyone, regardless of party or faith, who wants to deepen his or her relationship with God."

Or with the kind of politically useful friends one might not make otherwise. For the eight years she lived in the White House, Clinton met regularly with a gathering of women who put aside political differences to seek--for themselves, for their husbands' careers--an even greater power. Among Clinton's prayer partners were Susan Baker, the wife of Bush consigliere James and a former board member of James Dobson's Focus on the Family; Joanne Kemp, the wife of conservative icon Jack, responsible for introducing the political theology of fundamentalist guru Francis Schaeffer to Washington; Eileen Bakke, a leading activist for charter schools based on "character" and the wife of Dennis Bakke, then the CEO of AES, one of the world's largest power companies; and Janet Hall, the wife of Representative Tony Hall, once a socially liberal Democrat from Ohio who, in The Family's care, became pro-life, anti-gay rights, and simply confused about the separation of church and state. Hillary's "prayer warriors," as she called them, sent her daily Scripture verses to study, and Baker provided Clinton with spiritual counsel during "political storms." ;) :schwitz

When Clinton moved to the Senate, she became a regular at a weekly Senate prayer meeting led by Coe, and rumor spread among evangelical elites that she was seeking individual spiritual counsel with Coe. "She needs that nucleus of energy that the Coe camp produces," the Reverend Rob Schenck, president of another elite Capitol Hill ministry called Faith and Action, says. "Washington right now is a town where, if you're going to be powerful, you need religion."

But what kind of religion? The Family's major concern, as revealed in the nearly 600 boxes of documents in their archives, is power itself. Its ministry is shaped not by the needs of the poor but of the wealthy, the "up and out," the "key men," whom The Family believes God anoints for leadership. These chosen, gathered in "cells," can listen to Christ's private teachings for the powerful, which they'll then put into action for the benefit of the masses. It's a trickle-down religion, classical political paternalism.:bad

In Coe's teachings, such ideas come across bluntly, to say the least. In 2002, I sat in on a conversation between Coe and Republican Representative Todd Tiahrt of Kansas, who'd come to The Family's C Street House--a former convent on Capitol Hill--for counseling. Coe sought to explain the secret of success for God-led elites who'll work together toward His kingdom: "a covenant," he said. "Like the Mafia. Look at the strength of their bonds. ... See, for them, it's honor. For us, it's Jesus." Coe listed other men who had changed the world through the strength of the covenants they had forged with their "brothers": "Look at Hitler," he said. "Lenin, Ho Chi Minh, bin Laden."

In a video I obtained of Coe preaching to a group of elite evangelical leaders in 1989, Coe expands upon the concept. "Hitler, Goebbels, and Himmler were three men. Think of the immense power these three men had, these nobodies from nowhere. ... Jesus said, 'You have to put me before other people. And you have to put me before yourself.' ... [T]hat was the demand to be in the Nazi party. You have to put the Nazi party and its objectives ahead of your own life and ahead of other people." Coe's only evident argument with Hitler is the Fuhrer's substitution of himself for the Father.

David Kuo, a former special assistant to President Bush, defends Coe's Hitler talk as a metaphor for commitment. But it's more than that. Since Coe assumed leadership of The Family in 1969, according to The Family's archives he's used its prayer networks to facilitate U.S. support for God's "key men" overseas, such as the recently deceased Indonesian dictator Suharto, a Muslim willing to pray with Coe so long as American arms kept flowing to his brutal regime, and the Somali dictator Siad Barre, who agreed to pray with Family emissary Senator Chuck Grassley.

Of course, The Family no more owns Hillary than Jeremiah Wright's beliefs define Obama's or John Hagee will choose John McCain's bombing targets. For one thing, Hillary is not a member of Coe's Family. Rather, she's a "Friend," a semi-formal designation that marks her as less elect than a member but more chosen than the rest of us. Her goals are not always their goals, but, when they coincide, Hillary and Family members work well together, as on initiatives to reframe workplace religious freedom as a license for religious discrimination and international religious freedom as a justification for an interventionist foreign policy. As with Wright and Obama, the problem is not whom Clinton knows, but the ideas she shares.

The third way of American Protestantism exemplified by The Family isn't about a return to an imagined past, as longed for by Hagee's populist fundamentalism, or a vision for the future, as dreamed by the best traditions of progressive religion. It's a faith in things-as-they-are, a conviction in keeping with the reductionist reading of Romans 13:1 embraced by The Family: "[T]he powers that be are ordained of God." Within the Family, it doesn't confront ideas, it coexists with them, its power growing by absorbing enemies rather than destroying them. "We work with power where we can," Coe declares, "build new power where we can't." Clinton is a perfect example. Critics compare Clinton's faux populism on the campaign trail to George W. Bush's patented style of fake folksiness. But Bush, who found his faith at the bottom of a bottle, comes to his populism by way of traditional fundamentalism; it's Hillary who's the true establishment believer.

Jeff Sharlet is an associate research scholar at NewYork University's Center for Religion and Media and author of The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power.

http://tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=816d53a2-3564-4b49-9664-9d294f9087b1

Gut wird sie es nicht, der Fundamentalismus der unter Bush salonfähig wurde, wär weiter auf dem Vormarsch... :rolleyes

syracus

02.06.2008, 21:23

Clinton Summons Top Donors, Supporters For Tuesday Speech

Hillary Clinton has summoned top donors and backers to attend her New York speech tomorrow night in an unusual move that is being widely interpreted to mean she plans to suspend her campaign and endorse Barack Obama.

Obama and Clinton spoke Sunday night and agreed that their staffs should begin negotiations over post-primary activities, according to reliable sources. In addition to seeking Obama's help in raising money to pay off some $20 million-plus in debts, Clinton is known to want Obama to assist black officials who endorsed her and who are now taking constituent heat, including, in some cases, primary challenges from pro-Obama politicians.

"This has never happened before," one donor said, referring to the personalized request by email to attend the event in New York Tuesday night.

Obama is expected to claim enough delegates to put him over the top that night at a separate event in Minneapolis.

Earlier in the day it was reported that Clinton staffers were being urged by the campaign's finance department "to turn in their outstanding expense receipts by the end of the week," another sign that the run at the White House was nearing an end. In addition, Politico wrote that members of Clinton's advance staff had received calls and emails Sunday night, summoning them to New York City and telling them their roles on the campaign are ending.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/02/clinton-summons-top-donor_n_104715.html

syracus

03.06.2008, 17:41

Clinton to say Obama has enough delegates

Aides: N.Y. senator will stop short of formally suspending or ending her race

BREAKING NEWS
MSNBC staff and news service reports
updated 11:04 a.m. ET June 3, 2008

CHICAGO - Hillary Rodham Clinton will concede Tuesday night that Barack Obama has the delegates to secure the Democratic nomination, campaign officials said, effectively ending her bid to be the nation's first female president.

The former first lady will stop short of formally suspending or ending her race in her speech in New York City. She will pledge to continue to speak out on issues like health care. But for all intents and purposes, the two senior officials said, the campaign is over.

Most campaign staff will be let go and will be paid through June 15, said the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to divulge her plans.

The advisers said Clinton made a strategic decision to not formally end her campaign, giving her leverage to negotiate with Obama on various matters including a possible vice presidential nomination for her. She also wants to press him on issues he should focus on in the fall, such as health care.

History within his reach, Obama was primed to claim the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday or soon after as voters in Montana and South Dakota bring his months-long contest with dogged rival to a close.

Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe said Tuesday that once Obama gets the majority of convention delegates, "I think Hillary Clinton will congratulate him and call him the nominee."

The outcome could come by the end of the day with some choreography by the party's superdelegates. The party insiders were lining up behind Obama at a rate that could seal the nomination once results are in from Montana and South Dakota — or even before.

Two more superdelegates endorsed him Tuesday morning, from Michigan and Missouri, leaving him just 40 delegates short of the 2,118 needed to put him over the top and make him the nation's first black presidential nominee from a major party.

Challenge unlikely

Clinton, once seen as a sure bet in her historic quest to become the first female president, was still pressing the superdelegates to support her fading candidacy. But McAuliffe indicated she was not inclined to drag out a dispute over delegates from the unsanctioned Michigan primary despite feeling shortchanged by a weekend compromise by the party's rules committee that she could still appeal to a higher level.

"I don't think she's going to go to the credentials committee," he said on NBC's "Today" show. Taking the matter to that committee would essentially extend the dispute into the convention and deny Democrats the unity they sorely want to achieve against Republican John McCain.

Seeing the cards fall into place for his November rival, McCain planned a prime time speech Tuesday night in the New Orleans suburb of Kenner, La., in what is essentially a kickoff of the fall campaign.

Obama told The Associated Press on Monday that "we've got a lot of work to do in terms of bringing the party together" with the convention approaching.

On Tuesday, House Majority Whip and unpledged delegate James Clyburn told the TODAY show that he was throwing his support behind Obama.

"I believe the nomination of Senator Obama is our party's best chance for victory in November, and our nation's best hope for much needed change," the South Carolina representative said.

"Once the last votes are cast, then it's in everybody's interest to resolve this quickly so we can pivot," he added.

Obama said there were a lot of superdelegates who have been private supporters of his but wanted to respect the process by not endorsing until the final primaries were done.

"We're still working the phones and we're still talking to people ... so we'll certainly have to wait until a little later tonight to see what the final tally is, but we certainly feel good waking up this morning," Robert Gibbs, Obama's spokesman, told CNN on Tuesday.

In a defiant shot across the GOP bow, Obama, who returned to hometown Chicago late Monday, planned to hold his wrap-up rally in St. Paul, Minn., at the arena that will be the site of the Republican National Convention in September.

Clinton rally in NYC

Clinton returned to New York, the state she represents in the Senate, planning an end-of-primary evening rally in Manhattan after a grueling campaign finale as she pushed through South Dakota on Monday.

"I'm just very grateful we kept this campaign going until South Dakota would have the last word," she said at a restaurant in Rapid City in one of her final campaign stops. Polls suggested Obama would win both South Dakota and Montana.

She still sounded buoyant. Her biggest booster and most tireless campaigner, husband Bill Clinton, didn't. "This may be the last day I'm ever involved in a campaign of this kind," the former president said somberly as he stumped for her in South Dakota.

Ahead of Tuesday's concluding primaries, Obama sought to set the stage for reconciliation, praising Clinton's endurance and determination and offering to meet with her — on her terms — "once the dust settles" from their race.

"The sooner we can bring the party together, the sooner we can start focusing on McCain in November," Obama told reporters in Michigan. He said he spoke with Clinton on Sunday when he called to congratulate her on winning the Puerto Rico primary, most likely her last hurrah.

That fueled speculation for a "dream ticket" in which Clinton would become Obama's running mate — but neither camp was suggesting that was much of a possibility.

In the AP interview, Obama was asked when he would start looking for a running mate.

"The day after I have gotten that last delegate needed to officially claim the nomination, I'll start thinking about vice presidential nominees," he said. "It's a very important decision, and it's one where I'm going to have to take some time."

Clinton finished a whirlwind four days of campaigning that took her from New York to Puerto Rico to South Dakota and back. For a campaign pushing against long odds, it was a show of determination.

The former first lady, suffering from a recurrent cough, had to cede the microphone to her daughter Chelsea twice Monday as she struggled to recover her voice. Chelsea promptly took the opportunity — to discuss health care.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24944453/

Cashflow

04.06.2008, 00:13

syracus

04.06.2008, 06:08

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20080604/capt.670963455842413abaa9751c7d3f8ed0.obama_2008_primary_mndp110.jpg
Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and his wife applaud at a primary night rally Tuesday, June 3, 2008, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20080604/i/r1798864589.jpg
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) waves to the audience as his wife Michelle (R) claps, at his South Dakota and Montana presidential primary election night rally in St. Paul, Minnesota June 3, 2008. REUTERS/Jeff Haynes

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20080604/capt.7aebf315672a45dbb49e58488e652375.obama_2008_primary_mndp107.jpg
Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and his wife Michelle wave to supporters before speaking at a primary night rally Tuesday, June 3, 2008, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20080604/capt.b1982f0db4af47de88d22b581abea6d1.obama_2008_primary_mncc201.jpg
Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack Obama D-Ill. arrives for a election night rally with his wife Michelle in St. Paul, Minn., Tuesday, June 3, 2008.
(AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20080604/capt.d36d96865b9347c5b81919843750604a.obama_2008_primary_mndp105.jpg
Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., waves to supporters before speaking at a primary night rally Tuesday, June 3, 2008, in St. Paul, Minn. Obama sealed the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday, a historic step toward his once-improbable goal of becoming the nation's first black president. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20080604/capt.2944c3c1092744af9844aa4c1b4b3aae.aptopix_obama_2008_primary_mndp103.jpg
Supporters wave flags as they await the arrival of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., for a primary night rally Tuesday, June 3, 2008, in St. Paul, Minn.
(AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20080604/i/r1330726721.jpg
Supporters of US Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) cheer at his South Dakota and Montana presidential primary election night rally at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota, June 3, 2008. REUTERS/Eric Miller

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20080604/capt.880ff4dfef9e460cb6e1800b3c87b6cb.obama_2008_primary_mndp114.jpg
Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks at a primary night rally Tuesday, June 3, 2008, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

syracus

04.06.2008, 06:10

"Classless, graceless, shameless, relentless. Pure Clinton."

Andrew Sullivan
Los Angeles Times

The speech tonight was a remarkable one for a candidate who has lost the nomination, though not remarkable for a Clinton. It was an assertion that she had won the nomination and a refusal to concede anything to her opponent. Classless, graceless, shameless, relentless. Pure Clinton.

Her narcissism requires that she deprive her opponent of a night, or a second, of gratification or attention. And she has now won, in her Bush-like version of reality, 18 million votes. Her invitation for her supporters to email their suggestions to her website is pure theater, a way of keeping herself in the spotlight and maneuvering her delegates to demand a second spot on the ticket. The way she is now doing this - by an implicit threat, backed by McCain, to claim that Obama is an illegitimate nominee if she does not get her way - is designed to humiliate the nominee sufficiently to wound him enough to lose the election.

Either way, she is clearly intent on getting Obama defeated this fall if she is not offered the vice-presidency. And if she gets the veep nod, the way she has gotten it will allow her to argue that a November loss was not her loss. It was his. And she will run again in 2012.

She will not go away. The Clintons will never go away. And they will do all they can to cripple any Democrat who tries to replace them. In the tent or out of it, it is always about them. And they are no longer rivals to Obama; they are threats.

:rolleyes

lunar

04.06.2008, 16:51

US- PRÄSIDENTSCHAFT

McCain und Obama liefern sich ersten Schlagabtausch (http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,557669,00.html)

Hillary Clinton hat er niedergerungen, John McCain ist jetzt der entscheidende Gegner für Barack Obama: In seiner Siegesrede nach den beiden letzten Vorwahlen griff der Kandidat der Demokraten seinen republikanischen Rivalen an. Der schlug umgehend zurück. mehr... (http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,557669,00.html) [ Video (http://www.spiegel.de/video/video-31234.html) | Forum (http://forum.spiegel.de/showthread.php?t=4039) ]

http://www.spiegel.de/static/sys/v8/backgrounds/bg_list_quarter.gifVorwahl-Finale bei US-Demokraten: Clinton pokert um Posten und Macht (http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,557612,00.html)
http://www.spiegel.de/static/sys/v8/backgrounds/bg_list_quarter.gifSieg über Clinton bei US-Vorwahlen: Obama jubelt leise (http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,557557,00.html)
http://www.spiegel.de/static/sys/v8/backgrounds/bg_list_quarter.gifUS-Präsidentschaft: Bush gratuliert Obama (http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,557714,00.html)
http://www.spiegel.de/static/sys/v8/backgrounds/bg_list_quarter.gifChronologie: Der lange Weg zur Kandidatur (http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,557553,00.html)
http://www.spiegel.de/static/sys/v8/backgrounds/bg_list_quarter.gifBarack Obama: 16 Monate harter Wahlkampf http://www.spiegel.de/static/sys/v8/icons/ic_spiegel_tv.gif (http://www.spiegel.de/video/video-31234.html)

syracus

04.06.2008, 20:16

McCain setzt um was er schon vor über einem Monat ins Gespräch brachte, direkte Debatten direkt mit dem Publikum, ohne grosse Einmischung der Medien........ und ich denk Obama wird darauf eingehen, die Reaktion als dies zuletzt ein Thema war, die war eigentlich positiv :)

McCain Challenges Obama to 10 Town Hall Meetings

Updated 1:51 p.m.
By Michael D. Shear

BATON ROUGE -- Republican Sen. John McCain challenged his Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama, to a series of 10 joint town hall meetings, starting next week in New York City, and said the American people deserve "a new tenor" in its presidential campaigns.

Less than a day after Obama clinched the Democratic nomination, McCain delivered a letter to his campaign, formally proposing what he had raised last month. In the letter, he proposed that the two men fly to the first town hall meeting in the same plane as symbol that they are "embracing the politics of civility."

"What a welcome change it would be were presidential candidates in our time to treat each other and the people they seek to lead with respect and courtesy as they discussed the great issues of the day, without the empty soundbites and media-filtered exchanges that dominate our elections," he wrote.

McCain unveiled the proposal at his own town hall meeting here in Baton Rouge, where he discussed energy policy and the Iraq war, answering questions from a mostly friendly audience.

He said he envisions a series of town halls based on an agreement that Barry Goldwater and John F. Kennedy had to hold similar forums before Kennedy was assassinated.

"No process questions from reporters, no spin room," McCain said.

"We're the world leader. And leaders don't hide form history. They make history. If we're going to lead, we have to begin by reforming the tenor of political discussion in our campaigns."

McCain said the details of the joint town halls could be worked out by the two campaigns. But he said the first should take place in at New York's Federal Hall. He said he will be there on June 12th, waiting for Obama.

In the past, Obama has said it was a "great idea." Today, his campaign manager David Plouffe reiterated the campaign's support for such debates in theory.

"As Barack Obama has said before, the idea of joint town halls is appealing and one that would allow a great conversation to take place about the need to change the direction of this country," said Plouffe in a statement. "We would recommend a format that is less structured and lengthier than the McCain campaign suggests, one that more closely resembles the historic debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. But, having just secured our party's nomination, this is one of the many items we will be addressing in the coming days and look forward to discussing it with the McCain campaign."

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/06/04/mccain_challenges_obama_to_10.html?hpid=topnews

lunar

05.06.2008, 09:32

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/nm/20080604/2008_06_04t143736_450x312_us_usa_politics_search.jpg?x=400&y=277&sig=oLZ3giWGb4X7wrZMK6q87Q--

JFK DAUGHTER: VP SEARCH TEAM (http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080604/D913GONG0.html)

syracus

05.06.2008, 17:18

June 5, 2008, 9:14 am

Obama Camp Sets New Money Guidelines

By Jeff Zeleny

Senator Barack Obama, as he becomes his party’s presumptive presidential nominee, is starting to exert his authority over the Democratic National Committee. A first step? New fund-raising guidelines.

Mr. Obama is announcing today that the D.N.C. will no longer accept contributions from federal lobbyists or political action committees, which follows the rules he established for his own campaign last year.

“We want the Democratic Party to conform to his standards of openness to reduce the influence of special interests,” Linda Douglass, a campaign spokeswoman, told reporters today before Mr. Obama flew from New York City for a campaign stop in Virginia.

The announcement comes the morning after Mr. Obama helped raise about $2.5 million for the D.N.C. at a Manhattan fund-raiser. Aides said the rules would take effect going forward, but would not be retroactive. (Translation: Last night’s haul likely included money from federal lobbyists or PACs.)

The decision underscores what Mr. Obama intends to make a central theme of the general election campaign with Senator John McCain: reducing the influence of Washington lobbyists and special interest money.

But Mr. Obama has yet to answer another looming question governing money and politics: Will he be the first presidential candidate to decline public financing – about $84 million this year – and the accompanying spending limits?

For months, Mr. Obama has sidestepped that question, backing away from a pledge he made last year to accept public financing if the Republican nominee did the same. He said he would make a decision at the conclusion of the primary campaign, but argued that his record-setting fund-raising operation has created “a parallel public financing system” because of the large amount of small donors.

No major-party candidate has turned down public financing for the general election since the system took effect in 1976. And Senator John McCain has indicated that he intends to accept the infusion of public financing.

While $84.1 million for the two-month fall campaign is a sizable amount of money, Mr. Obama’s fund-raising machine has shown an ability to eclipse the figure easily, raising half of that – or more – in several recent months. Advisers concede he could take a public relations hit if he decides to bypass the public financing, so they are working on a series of new proposals – including today’s announcement about the D.N.C. – in an attempt to demonstrate their commitment to reducing the influence of money and special interests.

Aides have not said when Mr. Obama intends to make his decision.
Last night, before he attended two Park Avenue fund-raising events, Mr. Obama spoke to Mr. McCain for the first time.

“Senator McCain called Senator Obama last night at 7 p.m. to congratulate him,” Ms. Douglass told reporters today. “They had a short, cordial conversation and said they looked forward to having a civil discussion in the campaign going forward.”

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/05/obama-camp-sets-new-money-guidelines/

:supi

Trüffelschwein

06.06.2008, 03:12

Eine interessante Abschätzung der Wahlchancen in den einzelnen Staaten der USA:

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=26723

lunar

06.06.2008, 09:49

@Trüffelchwein :supi

http://www.humanevents.com/images/enpr/ENPR-Electoral-College-2008.gif wird wohl eine heisse Schlacht :schwitz hoffentlich nicht so widerlich wie bis jetzt :rolleyes

syracus

07.06.2008, 09:32

Wobei Obama in Ohio und New Mexiko in allen Umfragen vorne liegt, North Carolina dank Bob Barr für McCain eine Zitterpartie wird und auch im Süden Texas alles andere als sicher ist.

Sieht dann etwa so aus, Stand 7. Juni:

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh75/hnmnf/June7thMap.jpg
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=6308830&mesg_id=6308830

Ich geh von keinem engen Rennen aus, Obama sollte die 300 erreichen und damit klar in Front sein :)

syracus

07.06.2008, 13:14

McCain Needs ‘Vision’ to Beat Historic Odds Favoring Obama in ’08

By Mort Kondracke

A new scholarly analysis confirms that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has to perform miracles to win the 2008 election. So far, he is far short of doing that.

McCain’s speech in Louisiana Tuesday night fell embarrassingly short of matching Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) eloquence, vision and delivery " demonstrating the distance McCain has to go to have a chance of winning in November.

In the absence of a big step-up in his performance, McCain will have to rely on Obama’s self-destruction " which could happen, in view of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) evident effort to force him to name her as his running mate.

She refused to yield the limelight to him on Tuesday, when he clinched the Democratic nomination, and now she is implicitly threatening to turn the Democratic National Convention into a donnybrook unless he agrees to put her onto a “unity ticket.”

He may actually decide on his own that he needs her to guarantee carrying her constituencies " white workers, Hispanics, Jews and Catholics" but to accept her under threat will make him look weak, hardly commander-in-chief material in a dangerous world.

And yet, McCain can’t bank on Democratic disarray. Despite polls showing him doing surprisingly well against Obama, historical patterns show he’s in perilous territory.

Professor Alan Abramowitz of Emory University has developed an “electoral barometer” based on just three variables for predicting election outcomes, and it suggests that McCain is all but certainly set to lose this year.

In an article last week on University of Virginia professor Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball Web site, Abramowitz declared that “it appears very likely that the Republican party is dealing with the dreaded ‘triple whammy’ in 2008: an unpopular president, a weak economy and a second-term election.”

Abramowitz has tracked the effect of those variables on the last 15 presidential elections and found that they accurately predicted the popular vote outcome in 14 and came close in the 15th.

The formula adds the incumbent president’s net approval rating (approval minus disapproval), the second-quarter election-year GDP growth rate multiplied by five (emphasizing the importance of the economy) and then (factoring in time-for-a-change sentiment) subtracts 25 points if the in-party is finishing a second term.

Bush’s net approval now stands at minus 40. The first-quarter growth rate was 0.6 percent and Bush is finishing eight years, meaning that this year’s electoral barometer currently stands at minus 62.

If such a number holds, it “would predict a decisive defeat for the Republican presidential candidate,” Abramowitz wrote. “The only election since World War II with a score in this range was 1980,” when “Jimmy Carter suffered the worst defeat for an incumbent president since Herbert Hoover in 1932.”

The second worst occurred in 1952, when Democrat Adlai Stevenson tried to succeed Harry S. Truman with a minus 50 score and lost the popular vote by 11 points to Dwight D. Eisenhower.

The Abramowitz barometer is a short-cut variation on American University professor Allan Lichtman’s famed “13 Keys to the Presidency,” which adds such factors as wars, candidate charisma, scandal and the incumbent party’s performance in off-year elections to the economy and incumbency.

When Lichtman published the latest edition of his book early this year, he flatly predicted that “the Democratic candidate will capture the White House in 2008 no matter the choice of a nominee.”

Democrats have advantages Lichtman couldn’t anticipate, such as a charismatic nominee, now giving them eight of the 13 “keys” " plenty enough to win.

Historical models are invented to be broken, of course. But they give an indication of the odds McCain has to overcome.

As his and Obama’s speeches Tuesday night showed, McCain is not overcoming them.

Against Obama’s positive, eloquent, visionary uplift, McCain offered a negative, weakly delivered alternative that was even half-borrowed from Obama. A sign behind McCain read “A Leader We Can Believe In,” a lift from Obama’s slogan “Change We Can Believe In.”

McCain has a great set of substantive arguments, notably that Obama’s idea of change relies on across-the-board big government, which again and again falls short of meeting America’s needs.

McCain did his best to claim the word “reform” as an alternative to Obama’s “change” and to refute Obama’s charge that he represents “Bush’s third term.”

But he offered no overriding vision to compete with Obama’s soaring, Kennedy-esque declaration, “America, this is our moment ... our time to offer a new direction to the country we love.”

Even though McCain has differed from Bush on Iraq War strategy, detainee policy, energy and climate change, McCain does back Bush policies on taxes, foreign policy, health care and (the environment excepted) free-market solutions to America’s problems.

McCain has nothing to match Obama’s promise to “invest in our crumbling infrastructure” and in human capital " early childhood education, the public schools, college education and scientific research.

To the contrary, McCain plans to curtail “wasteful spending” and freeze all government programs at current levels until he sorts out which work. “Public investment” is not in his vocabulary.

Obama’s vision may well represent a throwback to 1960s liberalism, but the country’s attitude toward government often cycles from “big” to “small” and back again.

During Bush’s claimed “small government” years, median income has fallen, the ranks of the uninsured have swelled, debt has mounted and prices have soared.

Voters clearly want “change.” McCain has a long way to go to convince them that his kind is better than Obama’s, even though " on the merits" it may well be.

At the rate things are going, history will repeat itself with a Democratic victory in 2008 and liberal domination of the government until voters change their minds again.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/06/mccain_needs_vision_to_beat_hi.html

:) :) :)

syracus

08.06.2008, 16:14

Tägliche Wasserstandsmeldungen verwirren wohl eher als sie informativ wären, also gibt es nun bis November jeweils am Sonntag die Meldung ;):):

Daily Presidential Tracking Poll

Sunday, June 08, 2008

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday shows Barack Obama’s bounce growing to an eight-point lead over John McCain. Obama now attracts 48% of the vote while McCain earns 40%.

When “leaners” are included, Obama leads 50% to 43%. On Tuesday, just before Obama clinched the nomination, the candidates were tied at 46% (see recent daily results). Data from Rasmussen Markets gives Obama a 94.9% chance of winning.

Obama’s bounce is the result of growing unity among the Democratic Party. Eighty-one percent (81%) of Democrats say they will vote for Obama over McCain. That’s the highest level of party support ever enjoyed by Obama. ;) Still, three-out-of-ten voters are either uncommitted or could change their mind before Election Day. Fifty-six percent (56%) of those swayable voters are women and most earn less than $60,000 a year. There are more conservatives than liberals among these potential swing voters.

Other survey results show that voters—by a 4-to-1 margin--believe reporters try to help their favorite candidate rather than report the news objectively. Most believe Obama has been the reporters’ favorite so far in Election 2008 and 44% believe most reporters will try to help Obama in the fall campaign. Just 14% believe that most reporters will try to help McCain.

Fifty percent (50%) of voters say federal spending will increase if Obama is elected and 33% say the same will happen if McCain wins. Forty-five percent (45%) say taxes will increase if there is a President Obama. Twenty-eight percent (28%) say tax hikes will result from a McCain Administration (crosstabs available for Premium Members).

Tracking Poll results are updated daily at 9:30 a.m. Eastern. Tonight (Sunday), at 5:00 p.m. Eastern, Rasmussen Reports will release new polling data for South Carolina, and Texas. Additional state surveys will be released on Monday.

Obama’s bounce can be seen in his favorability ratings as well. Fifty-eight percent (58%) of voters now give the Illinois Senator positive reviews. Just 41% have an unfavorable opinion. Those totals include 36% with a Very Favorable opinion and 27% with a Very Unfavorable opinion. Today’s results are the highest ratings yet recorded for Obama.

As for McCain, he is viewed favorably by 52% and unfavorably by 45%. Opinions about the presumptive Republican nominee are less firmly established. Just 16% have a Very Favorable opinion of McCain and 21% have a Very Unfavorable view (see daily results).

Other data found little enthusiasm for John McCain reaching across party lines to select Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman as his running mate. Only 13% believe McCain should select a woman or minority candidate. Forty-one percent (41%) believe that Obama is too inexperienced to be President while 30% say McCain is too old. Fifty-one percent (51%) of Democrats believe Hillary Clinton should be named as Obama’s Vice-Presidential running mate.

Additionally, 78% of all voters say they could vote for an African-American for President. But, only 56% believe their family, friends and co-workers are willing to do the same. Economic issues have muscled past national security issues as a voter concern with significant implications for Election 2008. Fifty-nine percent (59%) of Americans say that talks with Iran should not take place until that nation stops developing nuclear weapons.

Voters see a clear distinction between the two leading candidates on the issue of Iraq. Eighty-one percent (81%) say Obama is more interested in getting troops home from Iraq than finishing the mission. Seventy-four percent (74%) say that McCain is more interested in finishing the mission (crosstabs available for Premium Members). An earlier survey found that 52% of voters say getting the troops home is the higher priority.

Forty-three percent (43%) of voters say McCain is a better leader than Obama while 38% hold the opposite view. When asked which candidate has personal values closer to their own, 43% name McCain and 42% say Obama (crosstabs available for Premium Members).

Forty-four percent (44%) trust McCain most when it comes to economic issues and managing the economy while 40% prefer Obama. On national security issues such as the War in Iraq and the War on Terrorism, 51% have more trust in McCain while 37% prefer Obama (crosstabs available for Premium Members).

The Rasmussen Reports Balance of Power Calculator shows Democrats leading in states with 200 Electoral Votes while the GOP has the advantage in states with 189. When “leaners” are included, the Democrats enjoy a 260-240 Electoral College lead (see summary of recent state-by-state results).

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/daily_presidential_tracking_poll

lunar

09.06.2008, 12:21

ok - dann tu ich's weg :cool
wäre aber schon mal interessant seriöse Berichte über Bilderberg zu lesen :rolleyes

...also hier das Treffen:

Details Of Obama, Clinton Meeting Emerge

Rivals Were "Laughing" Together After Secret Gathering At Sen. Feinstein's House

WASHINGTON, June 6, 2008

(http://www.answers.com/topic/1-click)
(CBS/AP) Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/08/22/politics/main3193678.shtml) met rival Barack Obama (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/08/22/politics/main3193625.shtml) Obama face-to-face with no one else present, hours before her campaign formally announced she would endorse him Saturday at an event in Washington......
full story: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/05/politics/main4158471.shtml

syracus

09.06.2008, 17:13

infowars.com ist prisonplanet.com und somit Alex Jones VT-Müllhaufen. Bitte in Zukunft auf solche Quellen verzichten, thx ;):).

Nebenbei: das Treffen fand in Washington bei Feinstein statt, das Bilderberg-Treffen dagegen im Westfields Marriott Hotel in Chantilly, Virginia :verbeug

lunar

12.06.2008, 16:32

New Gang of 14 won’t back McCain
By Kristen Coulter and Bob Cusack
Posted: 06/11/08 07:48 PM [ET]

At least 14 Republican members of Congress have refused to endorse or publicly support Sen. John McCain for president, and more than a dozen others declined to answer whether they back the Arizona senator.

Many of the recalcitrant GOP members declined to detail their reasons for withholding support, but Rep. John Peterson (R-Pa.) expressed major concerns about McCain’s energy policies and Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) cited the Iraq war.....

full story: http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/new-gang-of-14-wont-back-mccain-2008-06-11.html

lunar

13.06.2008, 19:12

http://img.iht.com/images/2008/06/13/13split550.jpg
Campaign signs near the entrance to the California governor's home in Los Angeles.
The political debate is at home and in public. (J. Emilio Flores for The New York Times)

In California, a house divided stands strong

Schwarzenegger and Shriver back opposing candidates

http://img.iht.com/images/dot_h.gif
By Jennifer Steinhauer (http://www.iht.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?query=By%20Jennifer%20Steinhauer&sort=publicationdate&submit=Search)
Published: June 13, 2008 http://img.iht.com/images/articletools/dots_at_narrow.gif

http://img.iht.com/images/articletools/at_narrow_bot.gif

LOS ANGELES (http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/13/america/13split.php#): It is one thing to disagree about politics with your spouse at a backyard barbecue. It is quite another to do it in front of the 38 million people of California, with apparent and abundant passion.

Of all the supporters behind the two presumptive nominees for president this year, none are quite as intriguing as Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican who has thrown his support behind Senator John McCain, and the governor's wife, Maria Shriver, a Democrat and vocal backer of Senator Barack Obama.....

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/13/america/13split.php

lunar

14.06.2008, 19:31

Holy Joe betrays man who supported him in his moment of need (http://maruthecrankpot.blogspot.com/2008/06/holy-joe-betrays-man-who-supported-him.html)

Insufferable quisling stabs Senator Obama in the back, hopefully will face major assreaming come November. Via C&L (http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/06/12/joe-liebermans-obama-betrayal/):

This back-story is particularly relevant right now in light of Lieberman’s harsh assaults on Obama’s national security credentials.

The top Lieberman official, who was directly involved in securing Obama’s help, tells me that the campaign was desperate for Obama to come to Connecticut in March of 2006, soon after Lamont entered the race.

It’s well known that Obama’s 2006 endorsement was important. But it’s not widely understood just how urgently the Lieberman people begged for Obama’s help at a critical moment in Lieberman’s career — and in that light, just how much of a back-stabbing (http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/06/top_lieberman_staffer_we_begge.php) Lieberman’s attacks on Obama now represent.

syracus

15.06.2008, 10:09

Daily Presidential Tracking Poll

Saturday, June 14, 2008

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Saturday shows Barack Obama attracting 47% of the vote while John McCain earns 40%.

When “leaners” are included, Obama holds a six-point advantage, 49% to 43%. Leaners are those who initially have no preference for either candidate but who indicate in a follow-up question that they are leaning towards one of the contenders. Overall, the recent results show that Obama received a modest bounce after clinching the nomination and the numbers have changed little since then (see recent daily results). Tracking poll results are updated at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time each day.

A new Saturday morning feature debuts this morning: “What They Told Us: Reviewing Last Week’s Key Polls.”. Also, the Rasmussen Reports Balance of Power Calculator has been updated. With the revised formula and latest poll results, Obama leads in states with 185 Electoral College votes while McCain has the advantage in states with 174 votes. A total of 141 votes are in states that merely lean towards one candidate or the other while 38 votes are in four states rated as a Toss-Up.

Obama is now viewed favorably by 55% of voters nationwide and unfavorably by 44%. The numbers for McCain are 52% favorable and 45% unfavorable. Opinions are held more strongly about Obama--32% have a Very Favorable opinion of the Democratic hopeful while 26% hold a Very Unfavorable opinion. For McCain, those numbers are 16% Very Favorable and 19% Very Unfavorable (see recent daily favorables).

Obama is viewed favorably by 58% of women and 52% of men. McCain earns favorable reviews from 54% of men and 51% of women.

Among voters under 30, 62% have a favorable opinion of Obama. Those ratings decline steadily by age—just 49% of seniors (65+) have a favorable opinion of the Democratic candidate. McCain is viewed favorably by 59% of seniors, his highest rating from any age group. His weakest reviews come from 30-somethings. Among these young adults, 49% have a favorable opinion of the Republican standard bearer.

Few surprises are seen on a partisan basis. Obama is viewed favorably by 82% of Democrats and 25% of Republicans. McCain is viewed favorably by 81% of Republicans and 29% of Democrats. For all the talk of post-partisanship, the campaign is shaping up so far along fiercely partisan lines. Among voters not affiliated with either major party, McCain is viewed favorably by 55%, Obama by 51%.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/daily_presidential_tracking_poll

http://media.gallup.com/poll/graphs/080614DailyUpdateGraph1_dhudysam.gif
http://www.gallup.com/poll/107851/Gallup-Daily-Obama-45-McCain-42.aspx

http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2008/Pres/Pngs/Jun14.png
Obama 304 McCain 221 Ties 13

http://www.electoral-vote.com/

syracus

17.06.2008, 16:39

June 16, 2008

Americans Predict Obama Will Be Next U.S. President

A 52% majority thinks Obama Will Win, Versus 41% Choosing McCain

by Lydia Saad

PRINCETON, NJ -- Barack Obama and John McCain are now about tied in Gallup Poll Daily tracking of voter preferences for the general election, nevertheless, in a June 9-12 Gallup Poll, Obama leads McCain 52% to 41% in public perceptions of who will win in November.

http://media.gallup.com/poll/graphs/080616Prediction1_tyghbnp.gif

Democrats are slightly more confident that their presumptive nominee will prevail in November -- 76% say Obama will win -- than Republicans are about McCain's chances (67%). What tips the balance of national opinion more strongly in favor of Obama is that, by a nine-percentage point margin, independents join Democrats in believing Obama is likely to win.

http://media.gallup.com/poll/graphs/080616Prediction2_plygrwd.gif

Gallup Poll Daily tracking of the presidential election over the same period as the June 9-12 Gallup Poll shows Obama beating McCain among registered voters in the East and West, while he roughly ties McCain in the Midwest and trails McCain by a substantial margin in the South. Nevertheless, roughly half of voters in all four regions believe Obama is the more likely of the two to win.

http://media.gallup.com/poll/graphs/080616Prediction3_zxrfcbv.gif

Similarly, perceptions of Obama's electability by age don't exactly line up with his presidential support patterns across the same groups. Gallup Poll Daily tracking spanning June 9-12 shows adults aged 18 to 34 to be his strongest support group, giving him a 24-point lead over McCain, compared with a virtual tie between Obama and McCain among those aged 35 to 54 and a six-point lead for McCain among those 55 and older.

While one might expect younger Americans to be the most idealistic about the chances of the first black nominee for either major party winning the presidency, they are in fact the least likely to believe he will win. Adults aged 18 to 34 are essentially divided between choosing Obama and McCain as the likely winner: 48% predict an Obama win vs. 45% for McCain. By contrast, the majority of Americans 55 and older say Obama will win.

http://media.gallup.com/poll/graphs/080616Prediction4_phtwdvb.gif

Gallup Poll Daily tracking shows women backing Obama over McCain, 50% to 38%, while men prefer McCain to Obama, 48% to 42%. Nevertheless, both genders are more likely to believe Obama rather than McCain will win the election.

http://media.gallup.com/poll/graphs/080616Prediction5_ghbrwsd.gif

Bottom Line

They say perception becomes reality. At this early stage of the general election campaign, perceptions of who can win are working in Obama's favor, even among older generations of Americans and Southerners who are more likely to back McCain for the presidency.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/107995/Americans-Predict-Obama-Will-Next-US-President.aspx

lunar

19.06.2008, 22:31

WAHLKAMPFSPENDEN

Obama bootet McCain mit Multimillionen- Trick aus (http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,560830,00.html)

Als erster Präsidentschaftskandidat seit 1976 verzichtet Barack Obama auf öffentliche Gelder für seinen Wahlkampf :supi Er will sich lieber ganz mit Privatspenden finanzieren - John McCain wirft ihm jetzt Wortbruch vor, doch für den Demokraten rechnet sich der Trick so richtig. Von Marc Pitzke, New York mehr... (http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,560830,00.html) [ Forum (http://forum.spiegel.de/showthread.php?t=4231) ]

lunar

09.07.2008, 22:31

...von einem AmiBoard :rolleyes:gruebel :bad

McCain jokes about killing Iranians again (http://maruthecrankpot.blogspot.com/2008/07/mccain-jokes-about-killing-iranians.html)

Insane old nutjob Saint "leadership experience" McCain on Tuesday had some fun with a report that proved the Bushies allowed brazillions of cigarettes -- or "freedom tubes" -- to be sent to Iran.
"Maybe that's a way of killing them," McCain told reporters, smiling as he waited for a cheesesteak sandwich, the sycophantic laughter to die down.

His trollopy wife, sitting next to him at the counter, poked his back (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080709/ap_on_el_pr/political_play_of_the_day_3) without looking up."I meant that as a joke," McCain quickly explained. "You fucking cunt."

Taking a more serious tone, McCain said, "I'd like to look into" details of exports to Iran. "This is the first that I've heard about it," the foreign policy expert said.In a related story, the entire state of North Carolina has endorsed Sen. Obama for president.

lunar

10.07.2008, 09:13

....also ich versteh bald gar nix mehr :rolleyes:confused:gruebel

http://www.drudgereport.com/jjf.jpg WHISPER IN CHICAGO (http://www.nypost.com/seven/07092008/news/nationalnews/jesse_jackson_sharply_criticizes_obama_119161.htm)

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20080709/capt.aae9a87c15ce48048eab0b729d944c36.obama_jackson_ny122.jpg?x=218&y=345&sig=a2Mf0ssR_JXIT24hj3fbFg--

Jackson apologizes for comments... (http://cbs2chicago.com/politics/jackson.obama.comments.2.767252.html)

O'REILLY: 'We held back some of this conversation... we didn't feel it had any relevance to the conversation this evening. We are not out to get Jesse Jackson. We are not out to embarrass him and we are not out to make him look bad. If we were, we would have used what we had, which is more damaging than what you have heard'...

JESSE JACKSON SAYS HE WANTS TO CUT OBAMA'S 'NUTS OUT'... (http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/07/09/jesse-jackson-apologizes-for-obama-remarks)

lunar

12.07.2008, 10:56

McCain Awkward Pause On Birth Control...:kopf

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOCV3j6piBg&eurl=

lunar

14.07.2008, 10:05

http://images.politico.com/global/080713_nyorkercover.jpg :mad

July 13, 2008
Categories: Obama (http://dyn.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/index.cfm/category/Obama) Ya can't make it up

The New Yorker says it’s satire. It certainly will be candy for cable news.....

.....UPDATE -- Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton says: “The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Senator Obama's right-wing critics have tried to create. But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree."

http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0708/Ya_cant_make_it_up.html

....ich fand "The New Yorker" eigentlich immer gut - aber das :dumm:gomad

Silverbay

14.07.2008, 10:22

:no

... ist das ein aktueller Titel ?

BL als Portrait über dem mit brennender
Flagge schmauchenden Cheminée ?

lunar

14.07.2008, 15:03

:no

... ist das ein aktueller Titel ?

Zum Original-Beitrag (http://www.stock-channel.net/stock-board/showthread.php3?p=1165567#post1165567)
....ein Trost - sollte das wirklich der nächste werden :o

....the latest "funny" New Yorker magazine cover (http://images.politico.com/global/080713_obamanewyorker.jpg) showing our beloved Marxist Socialist Muslim terrorist Presidential candidate.Coming soon: a cover showing McSame in his Navy uniform groping Cindy while his crippled wife lays on the ground crying for help, and Cindy stuffing pills in her mouth that she illegally stole from a charity she ran so she could feed her addiction, and a picture of a failed S&L on the wall that John McSame was responsible for, and a picture of McCain and GWB hugging, and a picture of him and his BFF Phil Gramm, and of McCain being guarded by helicopters and hundreds of US troops as he visited Baghdad while saying going there was as safe as going to an Indiana market. Suuuuuuurrrrrrre!!

lunar

16.07.2008, 12:10

http://www.wftv.com/2008/0714/16879923_240X180.jpg :rolleyes

Florida businessman pays for a billboard ad showing the burning World Trade Center (http://www.wftv.com/news/16879991/detail.html) with the phrase "Please Don't Vote for a Democrat" next to them.

:dumm

lunar

17.07.2008, 16:34

The US presidential race gets animated

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/telegraphtv/tvplayer/?ID=News&bcpid=1463233317&bclid=1475274705&bctid=1672670178 ;)

lunar

21.07.2008, 09:21

THE FOREIGN TOUR (http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080721030823.koyz2qz6&show_article=1)

lunar

21.07.2008, 18:08

NYT REJECTS MCCAIN'S EDITORIAL; SHOULD 'MIRROR' OBAMA (http://www.drudgereport.com/flashnym.htm)

:cool

lunar

22.07.2008, 18:00

US- WAHLKAMPF

Obamas Triumphtour frustriert McCain
(http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,567306,00.html)

Durch giftige Attacken versucht John McCain, Barack Obamas Nahost- und Europa-Reise zu stören. Doch die Strahlkraft des Demokraten im US-Wahlkampf kann er damit nicht gefährden - der Republikaner hat ein Problem. Von Marc Pitzke, New York mehr... (http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,567306,00.html) [ Forum (http://forum.spiegel.de/showthread.php?t=4231) ]

lunar

22.07.2008, 22:46

July 21, 2008
Categories: Barack Obama (http://dyn.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/index.cfm/category/BarackObama)

The day in images

It's not really close:

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20080721/capt.581320f365c04cd0816ca91733e1a9f8.iraq_obama_bag125.jpg?x=400&y=265&sig=0m3QkzPzrURGSbOrKKWYJQ--
http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20080721/i/r2587655473.jpg?x=400&y=289&sig=FwDdwq4prJC8SVdWqy1D5w--

By Ben Smith 03:03 PM
http://images.politico.com/global/secondary/comment.gifcomments (206) (http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0708/The_day_in_images.html#comments)

lunar

23.07.2008, 10:09

In response to the New Yorker's "satire," Vanity Fair fires back (http://www.vanityfair.com/online/politics/2008/07/new-yorker-cover.html).

http://bp0.blogger.com/_iYrhopY-rI4/SIY_uK9EzZI/AAAAAAAADkM/8PXeDIiBrYM/s320/vanityfairsatire.jpg (http://bp0.blogger.com/_iYrhopY-rI4/SIY_uK9EzZI/AAAAAAAADkM/8PXeDIiBrYM/s1600-h/vanityfairsatire.jpg)

Post a comment (http://www.vanityfair.com/online/politics/2008/07/new-yorker-cover.html#frmSubmitComment_vanityfair_1000000000032523) (free, easy registration required)

(...einer davon)The important difference between this cover and The New Yorker cover is that the satire here is based on facts. Excellent!

Posted 7/22/2008 by toyontoots
(http://www.vanityfair.com/online/politics/2008/07/new-yorker-cover.html#)

syracus

24.07.2008, 22:10

Obama in Berlin, 200'000 Zuschauer, wunderbar :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiF-qvqvHwI

Obama dazzles over 200,000 in Berlin

Published: 24 Jul 08 19:42 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/13277/

Over 200,000 jubilant Barack Obama supporters shut down the centre of Berlin on Thursday evening to listen to the US presidential candidate give an impassioned speech on the global challenges of the 21st century.

People from all walks of life streamed to the German capital’s Victory Column memorial at the heart of the city’s Tiergarten park hoping to glimpse of the popular US senator from Illinois.

“Thank you to the citizens of Berlin and to the people of Germany,” Obama told the crowd to wild applause. "Tonight, I speak to you not as a candidate for president, but as a citizen – a proud citizen of the United States, and a fellow citizen of the world.”

As the sun set on the German capital, the predominately younger audience of Berliners listened intently to Obama speak of the common problems facing Europe and America.

“As we speak, cars in Boston and factories in Beijing are melting the ice caps in the Arctic, shrinking coastlines in the Atlantic, and bringing drought to farms from Kansas to Kenya,” Obama said.

“Poorly secured nuclear material in the former Soviet Union, or secrets from a scientist in Pakistan could help build a bomb that detonates in Paris. The poppies in Afghanistan become the heroin in Berlin. The poverty and violence in Somalia breeds the terror of tomorrow. The genocide in Darfur shames the conscience of us all.”

German television broadcast the speech live, as some 1,000 police officers, US Secret Service and private security guards were mobilized for the visit.

Silverbay

29.07.2008, 23:52

Nicht mehr ganz jung, jedoch weiterhin aktuell:

http://www.worldpolicy.org/projects...Report.3.07.pdf

... Interessant wäre sicher, die Portfolios der Senatsmitglieder
nach genannten Profiteuren der Militärbudgetierung abzuklopfen.

Weder rechts der Mitte noch auf Demokratischer Seite sind Aus-
nahmen zu erwarten, die nicht an der Geschmacklosigkeit eines
an Zivilopfern indiskutablen Krieges mitverdienen und perfider
Weise für eine Beibehaltung der Truppen im Irak argumentieren.

Spätestens innerhalb der für Senator Obama nicht mehr zu
leugnenden Zusammenhänge ökonomischer Relevanz, wird
ihm die inzwischen kolportierte Reduzierung der Truppen
seitens dieser Lobby – die in etwa auf 100.000 contractors
geschätzt wird – nicht ohne Widerspruch begegnen und mit
Sicherheit ein freies Spiel der Rochaden verwehren.

lunar

30.07.2008, 18:17

Nicht mehr ganz jung, jedoch weiterhin aktuell:

http://www.worldpolicy.org/projects...Report.3.07.pdf

Zum Original-Beitrag (http://www.stock-channel.net/stock-board/showthread.php3?p=1170076#post1170076)
Not Found

The requested URL /projects...Report.3.07.pdf was not found on this server.

lunar

30.07.2008, 18:19

Don't Go There (http://maruthecrankpot.blogspot.com/2008/07/dont-go-there.html)

A year ago, McSame would have gone to the gates of hell to get Bin Laden. Now, in yet another stunning flip flop ignored by the "liberal Media," McSame stutters that Bin Laden would be safe (http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/206076.php) from a McCain attack as long as he is in Pakistan. Unf...ingbelievable, yet true.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dkt0LO3CE3I&eurl=

peinlich :rolleyes

Silverbay

30.07.2008, 18:22

... das ging schnell,
habe ihn heute Nacht
noch eingesehen.

try at once:

http://www.worldpolicy.org/projects/arms/reports/Top_100_Report.3.07.pdf

... gibt es auch als Publikation:

http://www.isn.ethz.ch/pubs/ph/details.cfm?lng=en&id=30630

Quelle: International Relations & Security Network, ETH

lunar

30.07.2008, 18:43

danke :)

lunar

30.07.2008, 21:31

:dumm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHXYsw_ZDXg&eurl :dumm

:bad http://i.ytimg.com/u/EyLs_rjU7gwtUNJR4wtjEQ/watch_header.jpg :bad

lunar

31.07.2008, 10:20

......"I don't pay attention to John McCain (http://www.reuters.com/news/globalcoverage/johnmccain)'s ads, although I do notice he doesn't seem to have anything very positive to say about himself," Obama told reporters after visiting a diner in Lebanon, Missouri.
"He seems to only be talking about me," Obama said. "You need to ask John McCain (http://www.reuters.com/news/globalcoverage/johnmccain) what he's for, not just what he's against.".... :supi

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN3044180520080731?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=22&sp=true

lunar

02.08.2008, 00:03

Desperate Times

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cfyKFgfTvI&eurl=

With Republicans, Independents and Democrats alike questioning the increasingly nasty and desperate tone of John McCain's campaign, the Democratic National Committee today released a web ad called "Desperate Times." The ad highlights the fact that, despite promising to "wage a respectful campaign," McCain has resorted to questioning Senator Obama's patriotism and launching false and misleading attacks that have been widely debunked. His campaign has stooped so low that one of McCain's former advisors called his most recent ad "childish" and said the campaign's strategy "diminishes John McCain." [The Atlantic, 7/30/08]

lunar

06.08.2008, 10:32

:dumm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHXYsw_ZDXg&eurl :dumm

:bad http://i.ytimg.com/u/EyLs_rjU7gwtUNJR4wtjEQ/watch_header.jpg :bad

Zum Original-Beitrag (http://www.stock-channel.net/stock-board/showthread.php3?p=1170414#post1170414)
http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/20080805/capt.cps.neu76.050808233711.photo00.photo.default-438x512.jpg?x=295&y=345&sig=GInbS88Bol9mqyGvp54TzQ--
OMG: PARIS STRIKES BACK; MOCKS MCCAIN IN 'AD' (http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/64ad536a6d)

:hihi:supi

lunar

06.08.2008, 11:16

Paris Hilton makes fun of John McCain's age and unveils her own energy policy. Really.

UPDATE: Obama spokesman Bill Burton reacts: "Whatever."

UPDATE: McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds emails: “It sounds like Paris Hilton supports John McCain’s ‘all of the above’ approach to America’s energy crisis - including both alternatives and drilling. Paris Hilton might not be as big a celebrity as Barack Obama, but she obviously has a better energy plan.” :rolleyes

lunar

07.08.2008, 19:50

http://www.blogger.com/img/icon18_edit_allbkg.gif (http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=3330328&postID=8662453844776922081) Old Man Yells at Cloud (http://maruthecrankpot.blogspot.com/2008/08/old-man-yells-at-cloud.html)

At a South Dakota rally, obviously forgetting that he hasn't been to work in almost four months, Alzheimer's stricken crot..... old f... McSame yelled: “When I’m president of the United States, I’m not going to let them [Congress] go on vacation!”So says the dem..... stricken shell of a man who hasn’t shown up for work since April 9. I would like a job where you don’t have to show up for months at a time and still get paid, but then again, I'm an elitist.
Sadly, too many knuckle dragging morons, the low information voter targets of the McSame campaign, are willingly swallowing this sh.. like a desperately broke bi...... transv...... hook.. at an all night scatathon.

Mr “I’ve missed 60% of my votes” McCain bitching about Congress taking time off?

John McSame: Was against off-shore drilling until the oil companies paid him to be for it.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_iYrhopY-rI4/SJoQ6Rjk2SI/AAAAAAAADoU/DpeB8xsLZwc/s200/grandpa_simpson_yelling_at_cloud_001.jpg (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_iYrhopY-rI4/SJoQ6Rjk2SI/AAAAAAAADoU/DpeB8xsLZwc/s1600-h/grandpa_simpson_yelling_at_cloud_001.jpg)
Posted by Undeniable Liberal at 8/06/2008 05:03:00 PM (http://maruthecrankpot.blogspot.com/2008/08/old-man-yells-at-cloud.html) 1 comments (http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=3330328&postID=2315288601065448075&isPopup=true)

lunar

10.08.2008, 13:05

Lieberman 'on McCain short-list'... (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4af34942-65a1-11dd-a352-0000779fd18c,dwp_uuid=729ab242-9cb1-11db-8ec6-0000779e2340.html)

:dumm

lunar

10.08.2008, 13:09

Senile McFar..... gets punked (http://maruthecrankpot.blogspot.com/2008/08/senile-mcfarthead-gets-punked.html)

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_SYvjA-tg0H0/SJ4pV-NDw6I/AAAAAAAAAH8/vbBGgiX_BLI/s320/icanhascountry.jpg (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_SYvjA-tg0H0/SJ4pV-NDw6I/AAAAAAAAAH8/vbBGgiX_BLI/s1600-h/icanhascountry.jpg)

For once, the MSM (Newsweek) shows a tiny bit of integrity and gets the facts straight on Grumpy McStain:

McCain released three new ads with multiple false and misleading claims (http://www.newsweek.com/id/151621)about Obama's tax proposals. A TV spot claims Obama once voted for a tax increase "on people making just $42,000 a year." That's true for a single taxpayer, who would have seen a tax increase of $15 for the year – if the measure had been enacted. But the ad shows a woman with two children, and as a single mother, she would not have been affected unless she made more than $62,150. The increase that Obama once supported as part of a Democratic budget bill is not part of his current tax plan anyway.

lunar

10.08.2008, 13:26

Uh, who's the celebrity here? (http://maruthecrankpot.blogspot.com/2008/08/uh-who-s-celebrity-here.html)

This is just creepy: http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/08/08/verdict-isnt-john-mccain-the-real-celebrity-in-the-race/

(If this doesn't work, go here (http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/08/08/verdict-isnt-john-mccain-the-real-celebrity-in-the-race/).)

Präsident :ironie oder was wird denn gewählt in USA :confused:gruebel

Oops, You Did It Again (http://maruthecrankpot.blogspot.com/2008/08/oops-you-did-it-again.html)

Setting the table for a full out Rovian rapture assault, Rethuglican propaganda outlet Fox "news",
the fairly imbalanced media source for the reich-wingnutosphere introduces yet again a classic banner (http://www.newshounds.us/2008/08/07/fox_news_still_trying_to_portray_obama_as_a_muslim.php):

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_iYrhopY-rI4/SJzTV_cLg-I/AAAAAAAADo8/Oseks8RfUh8/s200/foxnewsobama.jpg (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_iYrhopY-rI4/SJzTV_cLg-I/AAAAAAAADo8/Oseks8RfUh8/s1600-h/foxnewsobama.jpg)

The early rise of the antichrist, coming to an election near you soon.

lunar

12.08.2008, 17:18

Who's the celebrity again? (http://maruthecrankpot.blogspot.com/2008/08/who-s-celebrity-again.html)

Sen. Obama finally calls out Huggy McGrumpersons from his orbital mega-suckathon around Bush's a**:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBPZyXvEw6M&eurl=

lunar

14.08.2008, 16:14

.http://picayune.uclick.com/comics/crmth/2008/crmth080812.gif

syracus

18.08.2008, 17:36

Biden Trip to Georgia Stokes VP Chatter

By Shailagh Murray

RENO, Nev. -- The Barack Obama vice-presidential sweepstakes has entered its breathless final phase.

Word is the presumptive Democratic nominee hasn't placed final phone calls to any of the top contenders and the notoriously tight-lipped campaign won't discuss who is on Obama's short list, or drop any hints as to when the big news might hit.

So it may or may not be a coincidence that Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine and Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh, two presumed top prospects, appeared on Sunday news programs this morning. Further stoking the Kaine flame, Obama is scheduled to campaign in Virginia on Thursday.

But the most curious recent development was Sen. Joseph Biden Jr.'s trip to Georgia this weekend. Obama campaign officials said the fact-finding mission wasn't their idea, but they did confirm discussing it in advance with Biden's office.

As of late last week, the Delaware senator was set to spend the weekend at home with his family. His senior foreign policy aide, Tony Blinken, left for Hawaii on vacation. But then on Saturday morning, Biden's office announced the senator was headed for Tbilisi.

According to Biden spokeswoman Elizabeth Alexander, Biden spoke to Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili on Monday, and on Wednesday, the Georgian embassy conveyed to the Foreign Relations chairman that Saakashvili wanted Biden to come as soon as possible, as the former Soviet republic sought a ceasefire with Russia.

Biden and Obama staffers discussed the proposed trip and Obama officials said they were glad Biden was considering it. One source familiar with the discussions added that had the Obama team opposed the idea, the senator would likely not have gone.

What does it all mean? Who knows. The vice presidential nominee is speaking a week from Wednesday at the Democratic convention, so Obama has to announce his decision before then.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/08/17/biden_trip_to_georgia_stokes_v.html

lunar

22.08.2008, 13:30

http://www.stock-channel.net/stock-board/showpost.php3?p=1175253&postcount=614

:rolleyes

syracus

23.08.2008, 09:16

Akt. 23.08.08; 07:34 Pub. 23.08.08; 07:02

Biden wird Obamas Vize

Der 65-jährige Politiker Joe Biden ist der Kandidat von Barack Obama für das Amt des US-Vizepräsidenten.

Dies hat die Nachrichtenagentur AP aus Kreisen der Demokratischen Partei erfahren. Der katholische Politiker aus dem Staat Delaware ist der Vorsitzende des Aussenpolitischen Ausschusses im Senat. Der gelernte Jurist war in der Vergangenheit auch Vorsitzender des Justizausschusses im Senat und verfügt über Erfahrung in Verteidigungsfragen. Die Gewährsperson, die die Information weitergab, wollte namentlich nicht genannt werden, um Obama nicht vorzugreifen.

Der designierte Präsidentschaftskandidat der Demokraten will heute gemeinsam mit seinem «Running Mate» bei einer Wahlkundgebung in Springfield, der Hauptstadt seines Heimatstaates Illinois auftreten. Wenige Stunden zuvor will er seine Entscheidung bekanntgeben.

Biden galt zuletzt als Favorit unter den möglichen Kandidaten. Er wurde 1973 im Alter von 29 Jahren in den Senat gewählt und bringt als Vorsitzender des Aussenpolitischen Ausschusses sehr viel Auslandserfahrung mit sich - genau das, was Obama nur im begrenzten Masse vorweisen kann. Kritiker könnten Obama angesichts der Entscheidung für Biden allerdings vorwerfen, dass es ihm an Selbstvertrauen in seine eigenen aussenpolitischen Einsichten fehle.

http://www.20min.ch/news/dossier/uswahlen/story/21176563

syracus

26.08.2008, 16:52

26. August 2008, 08:12 Uhr

Polizei fasst Männer mit Präzisionsgewehren

Angst vor einem Attentat auf Barack Obama: Die Polizei in Denver hat vier Verdächtige festgenommen, die zwei Präzisionsgewehre bei sich hatten. Die Ermittler bezweifeln, dass die Gruppe tatsächlich gefährlich war. Den Männern werden Verbindungen zu Rassisten vorgeworfen.

Denver - Die Polizei könnte einen Anschlag auf Barack Obama während des Parteitag der Demokraten verhindert haben. Vier Verdächtige seien festgenommen worden, bestätigten Sicherheitskräfte in Denver.

Einer der Verdächtigen habe den Behörden gesagt, sie hätten Obama "von einem geeigneten Punkt aus mit einem Gewehr erschießen" wollen. Das berichtete der lokale Fernsehsender CBS34. Der Anschlag sei für Donnerstag geplant gewesen, wenn Obama vor den Teilnehmern des Parteikonvents offiziell die Nominierung zum Präsidentschaftskandidaten annehmen soll.

Ein Verdächtiger, Tharin Gartrell, 28, wurde demnach am Sonntag festgenommen. Die Polizei hatte zwei Präzisionsgewehre mit Zielfernrohr und eine schusssichere Weste in einem von ihm gemieteten Kleintransporter gefunden, außerdem Funkgeräte und Drogen. Später wurden laut Sky News Nathan Johnson, 32, und Shawn Robert Adolf, 33, festgenommen. Adolf war in einem Hotel; als die Polizisten klopften, sprang er aus dem Fenster im sechsten Stock, landete auf einer Markise und versuchte zu fliehen - er wurde später gefasst.

Einer der Verdächtigen trug den Angaben zufolge ein Hakenkreuz und soll Verbindungen zu einer rassistischen Gruppe haben. Laut CBS34 werden die mutmaßlichen Anschlagspläne vom Geheimdienst untersucht, der gemeinsam mit der US-Bundespolizei FBI für die Sicherheit auf dem am Montag begonnenen Parteitag zuständig ist.

Die Staatsanwaltschaft in Denver beraumte noch für Dienstag eine Pressekonferenz zu den Festnahmen an. Staatsanwalt Troy Eid sagte nach Angaben der Zeitung "Rocky Mountain News" jedoch: "Wir sind absolut sicher, dass es keine Bedrohung für den Kandidaten, den Parteitag oder die Menschen in Colorado gibt."

als/AFP

http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,574344,00.html

Er wird ein gefährliches Leben führen die nächsten paar Jahre sofern er gewählt wird :schwitz

syracus

29.08.2008, 16:50

10:37 a.m. McCain picks Palin as Republican vice president

10:39 a.m. Alaska Gov. Palin, 44, could help woo women voters

Naja, fraglich ob sie McCain wirklich etwas bringt, ausser dem Umstand, dass sie eine Frau ist fällt vorallem eines auf: sie ist praktisch unbekannt über Alaska hinaus. Ob das ein geschickter Schachzug ist bezweifle ich etwas, ist etwas offensichtlich auf Hillarys ehemalige Anhängerschaft zugeschnitten :p

syracus

29.08.2008, 21:18

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQGsP8mnHsg

:)

syracus

29.08.2008, 21:33

Did John McCain just throw the election today?

I woke up this morning to the news that someone named Palin, a governor from Alaska, with ZERO foreign policy experience, LESS THAN 2 years as a governor, and a former PART TIME mayor of a city with about 9k people living in it, has been tapped to be McCain's vice president. On top of that, this woman had the AUDACITY to compare herself to Hillary Rodham Clinton and say that she was going to crack the glass ceiling as if she DID ANYTHING to do it. On top of that, this woman is a RABID anti-woman's rights activist and believes in creationism.

McCain has lost whatever little mind he has. He just threw the election. My phone has been ringing OFF THE HOOK and I have been getting text messages all day saying, "Barack Obama is our next president" and "congratulations to President Obama".

I'm serious. What the FUCK was McCain thinking?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6816530

:hihi

syracus

30.08.2008, 12:44

Die Evangeliken & Waffenfreaks sind glücklich mit McCains Wahl, dagegen sind republikanische Wort- und Meinungsführer geradezu entsetzt. Gut so :D !

The Palin Puzzle

McCain had been steadily gaining on Obama (before the inevitable convention bounce) and had the race in a dead heat in a year in which the generic Democrat is running ten points ahead of the generic Republican. He had succeeded in making this a referendum on Obama. The devastating line of attack was, "Is he ready to lead?"

The Palin selection completely undercuts the argument about Obama's inexperience and readiness to lead -- on the theory that because Palin is a maverick and a corruption fighter, she bolsters McCain's claim to be the reformer in this campaign. In her rollout today, Palin spoke a lot about change. McCain is now trying to steal "change" from Obama, a contest McCain will lose in an overwhelmingly Democratic year with an overwhelmingly unpopular incumbent Republican administration. At the same time, he's weakening his strong suit -- readiness vs. unreadiness.

The McCain campaign is reveling in the fact that Palin is a game changer. But why a game changer when you’ve been gaining? To gratuitously undercut the remarkably successful "Is he ready to lead" line of attack seems near suicidal.

By Charles Krauthammer | August 29, 2008

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2008/08/the_palin_puzzle.html

http://media.gallup.com/poll/graphs/080829DailyUpdateGraph1_tyghnbv.gif

http://media.gallup.com/poll/graphs/080829DailyUpdateGraph2_plkmnbv.gif
http://www.gallup.com/poll/109933/Gallup-Daily-Obama-Stretches-Lead-Points.aspx

:p

syracus

31.08.2008, 16:32

Alaska's Palin Faces Probe

Star GOP Governor To Be Investigated For Abuse of Office

By JIM CARLTON
July 31, 2008; Page A4

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- When Sarah Palin was elected governor as a Republican outsider in 2006, she didn't just take on an incumbent from her own party. She took on Alaska's Republican establishment.

Ms. Palin vowed to clean up a long-cozy political system that had been sullied by an FBI corruption investigation. She endeared herself to Alaskans by making good on her reform promises and showing homey touches, like driving herself to work.

Now, one of the bright new stars in the Republican Party has suddenly become tarnished. The state legislature this week voted to hire an independent investigator to see whether Ms. Palin abused her office by trying to get her former brother-in-law fired from his job as an Alaska state trooper.

"This is a governor who was almost impervious to error," says Hollis French, a Democratic state senator. "Now she could face impeachment, in a worst-case scenario."

The allegations against Ms. Palin are less serious than -- and entirely separate from -- those that have been leveled against a number of Alaska's most prominent politicians since 2006, when a Federal Bureau of Investigation probe into influence peddling by oil-field contractor VECO Corp. came to light.

Since then, five state legislators have been sentenced to prison or face prosecution on corruption charges. On Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens was indicted on criminal charges related to the case. Mr. Stevens says he is innocent.

This is the first real chink in the armor of Alaska's first woman governor, whose popularity soared above 80% as she enacted an ethics bill, shelved pork-barrel projects by fellow Republicans and jump-started a campaign by her lieutenant governor, Sean Parnell, to unseat veteran U.S. Rep. Don Young of Alaska. Mr. Young has fallen under the FBI probe, too. Mr. Young, who didn't return a call seeking comment, has previously declined to comment on the matter.

Ms. Palin has shown similar boldness in going after Big Oil, whose money has long dominated the state and helped fund its Republican machine. In a snub to the oil majors, she has proposed TransCanada Corp., a Calgary energy company, be given the primary contract to lead the $30 billion job to build a natural-gas pipeline from Alaska's North Slope.

The state legislature is now meeting in special session to consider the TransCanada deal. The state's major producers, BP PLC and ConocoPhillips, have come up with their own pipeline proposal.

Although Alaska has only about 700,000 residents, the state contains some of the richest mineral resources in the world.

Ms. Palin -- a 44-year-old mother of five and former mayor of Wasilla, Alaska (population 8,500), and winner of the Miss Wasilla pageant -- has gained national acclaim. She has been featured in a photo spread in Vogue. Some pundits have touted the antiabortion conservative as a potential running mate to Republican presidential contender John McCain.

A spokesman for the Arizona senator said he admires Ms. Palin but is still reviewing running mates.

"People see her as the symbol of purity in an atmosphere of corruption," says Anchorage pollster Marc Hellenthal. "She is almost Saint Sarah."

A native of Idaho who grew up in Alaska hunting and fishing, Ms. Palin made an early stand on ethics. In 2004, she resigned as chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission after Gov. Frank Murkowski appointed the chairman of the Alaska Republican Party to a seat on her commission while allowing him to keep his partisan post. "Someone has to take a stand and change some things," Ms. Palin said in a June interview in her 17th-floor office in downtown Anchorage, whose decor includes a grizzly-bear skin.

When she ran against Mr. Murkowski in 2006, Ms. Palin says, she got a call from Ben Stevens, then president of the Republican-run Alaska Senate and son of Sen. Stevens. "He told me, "You're not just running against Murkowski. You're running against me, my dad, the whole state Republican party,'" Ms. Palin said.

Ben Stevens, who remains under the FBI investigation, didn't return calls for comment.

Ms. Palin, whose husband, Todd Palin, is employed as an oil-field worker and fisherman, set an earthier style in office than her predecessors. She sold the jet Mr. Murkowski used to get around Alaska, relying instead on commercial airlines, her family's Volkswagen Jetta or a state-issued black Suburban. "I love to drive," she explained.

That penchant for independence -- and driving -- has occasionally caused problems. On June 18, she blamed her half-hour delay in arriving to a tourism-bill ceremony in Kenai on road construction. "Todd kept reminding me to bite my tongue, saying, 'Good roads are comin'! Good roads are comin'!' " Ms. Palin said to laughter from a small crowd in a converted fish cannery.

Ms. Palin said afterward that she had ducked down to keep state troopers from seeing her as the family negotiated roadwork on the 160-mile drive from Anchorage to Kenai. "I knew they would wave me through," said Ms. Palin, as her husband, a four-time winner of Alaska's Tesoro Iron Dog snow-machine race, held their baby, Trig.

The controversy now surrounding Ms. Palin stems from a messy divorce between state trooper Mike Wooten and his wife, Molly McCann, who is Ms. Palin's younger sister.

In 2005, Ms. Palin alleged to Mr. Wooten's supervisors that he had threatened to harm her sister and father and had engaged in numerous instances of misconduct, including using a stun gun on his 10-year-old stepson, according to state documents.

In one instance, she told state investigators, she overheard him on the telephone threatening her sister: "I'm gonna f-kin" shoot your dad. He's gonna get a lead bullet."

Mr. Wooten told investigators he tested a Taser stun gun on the boy at his request but never threatened the Palins. An internal police investigation substantiated the stun-gun incident and some other charges but threw out most of the rest. Mr. Wooten was suspended for five days in 2006.

Through a spokesman with the Public Safety Employees Association, he declined to comment.

On July 11 of this year, Ms. Palin fired Department of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan. Mr. Monegan then complained that she and her husband had pressured him to fire Mr. Wooten.

Ms. Palin, in a statement, denied that, saying she had removed the commissioner she had appointed 18 months earlier because she wanted "a new direction."

She said she will cooperate with the legislative probe, which is expected to be completed by November.

Ms. Palin's supporters dismiss the so-called Troopergate incident as trouble stoked by her enemies.

"Many of those who had been in positions of power and authority have been very envious over the past year and a half, with Ms. Palin's great popularity," says Soldotna Mayor David Carey.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121746477267499109.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

lunar

12.09.2008, 10:12

:rolleyes:schwitz

US-Wahlkampf

Sarah Palin hält Krieg um Georgien für möglich (http://www.welt.de/politik/article2432398/Sarah-Palin-haelt-Krieg-um-Georgien-fuer-moeglich.html)

http://www.welt.de/multimedia/archive/00663/fsl_sarah_palin_usa_663580b.jpg (http://www.welt.de/politik/article2432398/Sarah-Palin-haelt-Krieg-um-Georgien-fuer-moeglich.html) (144) (http://www.welt.de/politik/article2432398/Sarah-Palin-haelt-Krieg-um-Georgien-fuer-moeglich.html#article_comment) In ihrem ersten großen TV-Interview seit ihrer Nominierung als Vizekandidaten von John McCain gibt Sarah Palin sich als außenpolitische Hardlinerin. Georgien und die Ukraine müssten in die Nato aufgenommen und notfalls mit Waffengewalt verteidigt werden. Auch an den Iran richtete die Republikanerin eine deutliche Drohung.mehr... (http://www.welt.de/politik/article2432398/Sarah-Palin-haelt-Krieg-um-Georgien-fuer-moeglich.html)

lunar

17.09.2008, 14:11

Just Thinking

09.15.08 -- 10:45PM
By Josh Marshall (http://talkingpointsmemo.com/joshmarshall.php)
Let me get this straight. John McCain's top economic advisor, former Sen. Phil Gramm, is the guy who authored the deregulation law that most agree is the ultimate cause of today's financial meltdown. Tomorrow's and probably next week's too. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. John Thain, CEO of Merrill Lynch, which swirled into brokerage oblivion today, is one of McCain's top economic advisors too. And now McCain says he's going to clean up the mess by putting in tighter regulations and oversight (http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2008/09/mccain_wall_street_woes_point_1.php) even though he's always supported lax oversight and his top economics guy is the one who loosened the rules in the first place.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/217149.php

:farrer

lunar

17.09.2008, 20:52

Helllllp!!!11eleventy!!1 (http://maruthecrankpot.blogspot.com/2008/09/helllllp11eleventy1.html)

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_iYrhopY-rI4/SNAZ3SM4AeI/AAAAAAAADzs/ShQS4JPvioU/s400/mccaineconomy.jpg (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_iYrhopY-rI4/SNAZ3SM4AeI/AAAAAAAADzs/ShQS4JPvioU/s1600-h/mccaineconomy.jpg)

H/T: Open Left (http://openleft.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=C157D3FC90EDDDACE5B96C28749E4642?diaryId=8273)

:rolleyes:rolleyes:rolleyes

lunar

18.09.2008, 10:39

CNN Fact Checks McCain: Verdict He's Not Telling Truth

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLswpZtca48&eurl=

...die Schlussfolgerung :rolleyes:rolleyes:rolleyes

lunar

18.09.2008, 17:31

El Cid -- in English

09.18.08 -- 9:11AM
By David Kurtz (http://talkingpointsmemo.com/)
The original untranslated English version of John McCain's interview with Radio Caracol Miami has now been released.

Have a listen (the key passage about Spain starts at 2:58 in):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WItI9It_Swc&eurl=

At first it sounds like McCain is taking a hard neocon line against Prime Minister Zapatero, but as the interviewer continues to press the point, it becomes pretty obvious that McCain has no idea who she's talking about.

His broad, generic answer is clearly meant to cover Latin American leaders generally, known and unknown -- sort of a blanket "we'll stand up to tinpot dictators" -- even if they happen to be NATO prime ministers.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/217792.php

:kopf .....man glaubt es kaum :dumm

lunar

19.09.2008, 12:44

merci DU :)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/opinion/ssi/images/Toles/c_09192008_520.gif

lunar

19.09.2008, 23:32

Barack Obama Fires Back Against McCain's 'Sad' Attacks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2fxGAXzFAY&eurl=

syracus

20.09.2008, 08:01

EarlG News: Media Announces Bailout Of McCain Campaign

Edited on Fri Sep-19-08 01:57 PM by EarlG

WASHINGTON, DC -- Acting to avert a possible crisis in the U.S. presidential election, the media today announced a bailout of Sen John McCain's (R-AZ) campaign. Cable news commentators scrambled to prop up the Senator's sagging poll numbers Friday as the fast-disappearing dream of a nail-biting horse-race threatened to bring down America's entire punditry system.

A senior CNN political analyst speaking on condition of anonymity said that the collapse of McCain's campaign could prove disastrous to the pundit industry. "A horse-race is vital to our bottom line," he said. "Without neck-and-neck poll numbers we can't maintain an air of suspense right up to election day, and our ratings will suffer. I could be out of a job by this time next week."

"These are desperate times, and we're going to take unprecedented action to bring the polls back into line with our preferred projections," said another anonymous insider. "We'll be ignoring all of McCain's gaffes on foreign policy matters and covering up his tremendous flip-flops on the economy. Then we'll focus tightly on polls which show the closest possible race between the two candidates."

If the first part of the media's emergency bailout fails to turn things around industry insiders say they could resort to more drastic measures, such as taking more of Michelle Obama's comments out of context to gin up another false controversy about her patriotism, or creating additional rumors about Barack Obama's religion. An anonymous source at Fox News revealed, "At this point nothing is off the table."

Reaction to the announcement was mixed, with many members of the public remaining skeptical. "Isn't the media supposed to tell us what's actually happening in the world, as opposed to cherry-picking stories in order to create a narrative that boosts their ratings and advertising revenue?" asked Bob Jenkins, 52, a mechanic from Harrisburg, Penn.

Despite the media's best efforts, John McCain's campaign has teetered on the brink of collapse ever since he selected a clueless moosehunter as his running mate.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x7120032

:ironie

syracus

20.09.2008, 08:14

Shocker: Palin Cancels Big California Swing

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who was to star at two major California fundraisers and an Orange County rally for 15,000 next week, has canceled her two-day swing through the Golden State, campaign sources said.

The change is a shocker, because Palin's presence had electrified the GOP base in California. Party insiders were distributing 15,000 tickets to her Sept. 26 rally in Orange County -- and fundraisers reported an almost instantaneous sell-out of her two $1,000-a-head Sept. 25 fundraising events in Orange County and Santa Clara.

Both fundraisers had generated such high ticket sales that the OC Lincoln Club event was moved to the Orange County Performing Arts Center, and the Bay Area event was moved from the Woodside home of Tom Siebel to the huge Santa Clara Convention Center.

The change comes in the same week a new Field Poll showed that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama still leads Republican presidential candidate John McCain in California by a whopping 16-point margin.

So Palin's pullout from her Western state swing is sure to ramp up chatter that the GOP ticket -- which has insisted it will compete here -- may be reassessing its Golden State presence. (Team McCain says it's just a scheduling issue.)

The Field poll had some troubling news for McCain-Palin here: The Alaska Gov's addition to the ticket, while strengthening the GOP base, hasn't advanced the ball for the Republican team among the 1 in 5 California voters who are independent or decline to state.

Field Poll director Mark DiCamillo noted this week that those independents and middle-of-the-roaders are the same critical voters who elected Arnold Schwarzenegger here -- and weigh heavily in the election nationwide. A New York Times poll released today, which shows Obama ahead by 5 points, appears to reflect the same trend.

Just last week, powerhouse Bay Area GOP fundraiser Kristen Hueter said Palin was a ''gangbusters'' fundraiser with folks snapping up tickets and coming from around the country for her Sept. 25 appearances.

''It doesn't happen in my world like this," Hueter told us last week. ''People are flying in ... from the Virgin Islands, Florida, Massachusetts, all over.''

The Palin events were aimed to benefit the Republican National Committee, and the California Republican Party (chairs and hosts were being told they could give as much as $40,800 a person for those causes). The latest (6 p.m.): Campaign literature has just gone out confirming the two fundraisers have now been rescheduled -- for Oct. 4 and 5. Still no date and time on a new rally, but we're told it is coming. More details in a story to be posted on SFGate shortly.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=14&entry_id=30444&tsp=1

Palin sagt derzeit alles ab, ist wohl zu riskant nach den letzten Reinfällen :a

syracus

20.09.2008, 20:11

September 20, 2008

Gallup Daily: Obama 50%, McCain 44%

Obama maintains lead

PRINCETON, NJ -- Gallup Poll Daily tracking (http://www.gallup.com/tag/Gallup%2bDaily.aspx) from Wednesday through Friday finds Barack Obama maintaining his lead over John McCain among registered voters, by a 50% to 44% margin.

http://sas-origin.onstreammedia.com/origin/gallupinc/GallupSpaces/Production/Cms/POLL/ln1rrppsu0w54lkv3eld_g.gif

Obama has held at least a small margin over McCain in each of the last four daily reports, generally coincident with the start of the Wall Street financial meltdown that began to dominate the news on Monday this past week. Separate Gallup consumer confidence tracking has shown that Americans' views of the economy deteriorated as the week progressed, and that Americans also began to express increased personal worry about their own finances. There is thus a reasonable inference that Obama's gains may, in part, be related to the way in which the public viewed his and McCain's response to the financial crisis. Friday's economic news was a bit more positive, with the announcement of a pending major U.S. government bailout for the country's economy, and the second day of significant increases in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and other stock market indices. It remains to be seen if this will affect Obama's lead in the days ahead.

Obama's current 50% rating matches his 50% record high (http://www.gallup.com/poll/109960/Gallup-Daily-Obama-Hits-50-First-Time.aspx) reached just after the Democratic National Convention. (That came in Gallup Poll Daily tracking from Aug. 30-Sept. 1.) However, his current six percentage point advantage is not as large as the nine-point lead he held in late July and an eight-point lead after the Democratic National Convention in late August. It is important to note that McCain recovered and moved ahead after each of these Obama high points, suggesting that it is certainly possible that McCain could recover in this situation as well.

Both candidates will be on stage at the University of Mississippi this coming Friday for the first of three presidential debates, and the public's reactions to the candidates' performances there could certainly have an impact on their election standing. (To view the complete trend since March 7, 2008, click here (http://www.gallup.com/poll/107674/Interactive-Graph-Follow-General-Election.aspx).) -- Frank Newport

http://www.gallup.com/poll/110551/Gallup-Daily-Obama-50-McCain-44.aspx

syracus

23.09.2008, 18:43

McCain-Palin Camp Tried to Block Media Access to Palin in NY

September 23, 2008 12:09 PM

ABC News' Kate Snow reports: The McCain campaign tried to limit access to Republican vice president Sarah Palin today as she met with world leaders in New York.

For a time this morning, the McCain-Palin campaign was refusing to allow any editorial presence -- no reporters or producers -- to go with a network pool camera to take pictures of Palin meeting with Afghan Pres Hamid Karzai, Colombian Pres Alvaro Uribe and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

The McCain campaign eventually relented after the television networks threatened to ban and not use any footage of Palin meeting with leaders.

Palin is scheduled to meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai shortly, followed by Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and then with McCain advisor, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

The networks had arranged for a "pool" camera- one camera to cover the first few seconds of the meetings, whose video would be pooled or shared with all networks.

Such arrangements are standard when dealing with intimate high-level meetings between leaders and candidates.

But typically, along with cameras, there is an editorial presence-- at least one print reporter, one television reporter, and one radio reporter is standard.

However today the McCain campaign told media covering Palin's trip to New York that they would allow only one editorial person inside.

Then the campaign scaled back further, saying it will only allow a camera and no editorial presence.

The networks, including ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, and Fox fiercely objected to the McCain campaign's apparent effort to try to shield Palin from questions. Networks voted today to not use any video coming out of Palin's meeting as a protest.

Palin has not held a news conference since being selected as McCain's running-mate, nor taken questions from her traveling press corps, frustrating journalists assigned to cover Palin for the election.

After the television networks strenuously objected to the McCain campaign's effort to block any editorial presence from the room, the McCain campaign finally allowed one CNN pool camera and one pool producer into the meeting room.

As she arrived for her meeting with Karzai, Palin avoided reporters who were camped out at the main front entrance of the hotel, instead pulling up in a motorcade to a side entrance and quickly sneaking inside.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/09/mccain-palin-ca.html

Und schon wieder fliegt ein zusätzlicher kleiner Skandal auf, erst recht unter dem Aspekt, dass McCain mit Palin wohl paar Hillary-Wählerinnen umpolen wollte: nach CNN war es Palin höchstpersönlich die dafür gesorgt hat, dass in ihrer Heimatstadt Frauen nach einer Vergewaltigung die notwendigen ärztlichen Untersuchungen selbst bezahlen müssen. Selbst im übrigen Alaska ist dies nicht der Fall. Und da fragt sich mancher Republikaner warum die grossen Frauenverbände da drüben durchs Band Wahlempfehlungen für Obama abgeben :)....

lunar

24.09.2008, 10:09

....für einmal :supi für McCain

.....McCain cautioned against granting unchecked authority to Paulson, saying he is "greatly concerned that the plan gives a single individual the unprecedented power to spend $1 trillion on the basis of not much more than 'Trust me.'"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080922/ap_on_el_pr/campaign_rdp_3

Silverbay

24.09.2008, 11:15

.

... "swing trades" auch in der Politik

lunar

24.09.2008, 19:38

...und wieder :mies

The McCain campaign issues a 698 word response to the stories in the NYT, Newsweek (http://www.newsweek.com/id/160561) and Roll Call (http://www.rollcall.com/news/28629-1.html) accusing McCain campaign manager Rick Davis of continuing to receive financial benefits from Fannie and Freddie up until last month - contradicting what McCain and Davis both claimed to be the case.

The stories are incredibly damaging, as they imply that Fannie and Freddie were trying to gild Davis' pockets in order to buy favor with McCain- this isn't about lobbying, it's about whether someone was paid a bribe to buy John McCain. As Ben Smith notes, in its entire statement the McCain campaign never once denies the allegation (http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0908/McCain_camp_attacks_Times_doesnt_deny_report.html?showall). I'd also add that attacking the NY

Silverbay

26.09.2008, 05:33

p.s. zu

... "swing trades" auch in der Politik

Fate of Bailout Plan Remains Uncertain

Das war abzusehen – the "project" wird nun zum Spielball
der Parteien um ihren Kandidaten das Zünglein der Waage
in die Hand zu geben.

Witzige Anekdote, siehe der NYT Artikel

«In the Roosevelt Room after the session, the Treasury secretary,
Henry M. Paulson Jr. literally bent down on one knee as he
pleaded with Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker, not to “blow
it up” by withdrawing her party’s support for the package over what
Ms. Pelosi derided as a Republican betrayal.

“I didn’t know you were Catholic,” Ms. Pelosi said, a wry reference
to Mr. Paulson’s kneeling ...»

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/26/business/26bailout.html?hp

syracus

26.09.2008, 16:42

Huckabee Calls McCain Debate Ploy a ‘Huge Mistake’

by Associated Press
Friday, September 26, 2008

MOBILE, Ala. — Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said Thursday that Sen. John McCain made a “huge mistake” by even discussing canceling the presidential debate with Sen. Barack Obama.

McCain’s campaign has said the Republican wouldn’t participate in the Mississippi debate Friday unless there was a consensus on the financial crisis, but Obama still wants the debate to go on.

Huckabee defeated McCain in the Alabama GOP primary in February.

Huckabee said Thursday in Mobile that the people need to hear both candidates. He said that’s “far better than heading to Washington” to huddle with senators.

He said the candidates should level with the people about the financial crisis and say the “heart of this is greed.”

Huckabee said he still backs McCain’s candidacy, but said the Arizona senator should not have put his campaign on hold to deal with the financial crisis on Wall Street. He said a president must be prepared to “deal with the unexpected.”

“You can’t just say, ‘World stop for a moment. I’m going to cancel everything,”‘ Huckabee said.

Huckabee also was critical of President Bush’s handling of the crisis.

He said to lay the $700 billion obligation on the nation “in 24 hours” amounts to “holding the country hostage.”

“I just think the American people ought to be screaming their lungs out, saying to Congress, not so fast. That’s our money you’re giving away,” Huckabee said.

He said the burden of the $700 billion relief package will fall on the next generation and those in their teens and 20s.

Huckabee spoke to reporters before attending a benefit for the Baptist-affiliated University of Mobile. Huckabee is an ordained Southern Baptist minister.

While in Mobile, he also played a little blues guitar with a student group.

Since losing his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, Huckabee said he has formed a political action committee and advises other candidates.

“I don’t have any immediate plans to seek office,” he said.

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/09/26/huckabee-calls-mccain-debate-ploy-a-huge-mistake/

:a

syracus

26.09.2008, 16:53

updated 42 minutes ago

Plan B proposed for Mississippi debate

OXFORD, Mississippi (CNN) -- University of Mississippi Chancellor Robert Khayat said Friday morning that if GOP nominee McCain does not show for the first presidential debate at the school in Oxford, the format may include members of the audience to submit questions to the moderator, Jim Lehrer.

Lehrer would then pose the questions to Obama. It would take on a kind of town hall format, according to Khayat.

Khayat said he will recommend that to the Debate Commission, which would make the final decision.

The debate was to focus on foreign policy and national security, but the economic crisis is likely to be a dominant issue as well.

Whether McCain intends to participate is up in the air, but Democratic opponent Barack Obama said it's still on as far as he's concerned.

Obama will fly to Oxford on Friday, according to his campaign.

On Thursday, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said he expects both candidates to attend Friday night's debate, even though McCain has said he'll only go if Congress reaches a deal on the bailout.

"I expect there to be a debate tomorrow night [Friday] and I look forward to it," Barbour told reporters at the University of Mississippi.

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/26/debate.mississippi/index.html

Tja, irgendwie wird McCain wohl noch einen Grund finden seinen Entscheid vom Vortag wieder einmal rückgängig zu machen, 90 Minuten ganz allein für Obama zur besten Sendezeit kann er sich schlicht nicht erlauben, das wär eine Bankrotterklärung allerersten Ranges :dd

syracus

26.09.2008, 17:31

Na also :rofl

01. Republican John McCain will attend debate
11:28 AM ET, Sep 26, 2008

Kerry wurde für sowas "Flip-Flopper" genannt :dd

syracus

26.09.2008, 17:35

September 26, 2008 12:00 AM

Palin Problem

She’s out of her league

By Kathleen Parker

If at one time women were considered heretical for swimming upstream against feminist orthodoxy, they now face condemnation for swimming downstream — away from Sarah Palin.

To express reservations about her qualifications to be vice president — and possibly president — is to risk being labeled anti-woman.

Or, as I am guilty of charging her early critics, supporting only a certain kind of woman.

Some of the passionately feminist critics of Palin who attacked her personally deserved some of the backlash they received. But circumstances have changed since Palin was introduced as just a hockey mom with lipstick — what a difference a financial crisis makes — and a more complicated picture has emerged.

As we’ve seen and heard more from John McCain’s running mate, it is increasingly clear that Palin is a problem. Quick study or not, she doesn’t know enough about economics and foreign policy to make Americans comfortable with a President Palin should conditions warrant her promotion.

Yes, she recently met and turned several heads of state as the United Nations General Assembly convened in New York. She was gracious, charming and disarming. Men swooned. Pakistan’s president wanted to hug her. (Perhaps Osama bin Laden is dying to meet her?)

And, yes, she has common sense, something we value. And she’s had executive experience as a mayor and a governor, though of relatively small constituencies (about 6,000 and 680,000, respectively).

Finally, Palin’s narrative is fun, inspiring and all-American in that frontier way we seem to admire. When Palin first emerged as John McCain’s running mate, I confess I was delighted. She was the antithesis and nemesis of the hirsute, Birkenstock-wearing sisterhood — a refreshing feminist of a different order who personified the modern successful working mother.

Palin didn’t make a mess cracking the glass ceiling. She simply glided through it.

It was fun while it lasted.

Palin’s recent interviews with Charles Gibson, Sean Hannity, and now Katie Couric have all revealed an attractive, earnest, confident candidate. Who Is Clearly Out Of Her League.

No one hates saying that more than I do. Like so many women, I’ve been pulling for Palin, wishing her the best, hoping she will perform brilliantly. I’ve also noticed that I watch her interviews with the held breath of an anxious parent, my finger poised over the mute button in case it gets too painful. Unfortunately, it often does. My cringe reflex is exhausted.

Palin filibusters. She repeats words, filling space with deadwood. Cut the verbiage and there’s not much content there. Here’s but one example of many from her interview with Hannity: “Well, there is a danger in allowing some obsessive partisanship to get into the issue that we’re talking about today. And that’s something that John McCain, too, his track record, proving that he can work both sides of the aisle, he can surpass the partisanship that must be surpassed to deal with an issue like this.”

When Couric pointed to polls showing that the financial crisis had boosted Obama’s numbers, Palin blustered wordily: “I’m not looking at poll numbers. What I think Americans at the end of the day are going to be able to go back and look at track records and see who’s more apt to be talking about solutions and wishing for and hoping for solutions for some opportunity to change, and who’s actually done it?”

If BS were currency, Palin could bail out Wall Street herself.

If Palin were a man, we’d all be guffawing, just as we do every time Joe Biden tickles the back of his throat with his toes. But because she’s a woman — and the first ever on a Republican presidential ticket — we are reluctant to say what is painfully true.

What to do?

McCain can’t repudiate his choice for running mate. He not only risks the wrath of the GOP’s unforgiving base, but he invites others to second-guess his executive decision-making ability. Barack Obama faces the same problem with Biden.

Only Palin can save McCain, her party, and the country she loves. She can bow out for personal reasons, perhaps because she wants to spend more time with her newborn. No one would criticize a mother who puts her family first.

Do it for your country.

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MDZiMDhjYTU1NmI5Y2MwZjg2MWNiMWMyYTUxZDkwNTE=#more

und das in der tief konservativen National Review :schwitz :dd

syracus

26.09.2008, 19:08

McCain's image falters amid Wall Street troubles

Commentary: Pew Research Center says the GOP candidate took a hit

By MarketWatch
Last update: 2:50 p.m. EDT Sept. 25, 2008

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- John McCain had a bad week.

True, there seems to be a presidential survey coming out every 15 seconds or so. Still, when the results are so closely tied to a tangible news issue, the candidates and their handlers had better pay attention.

As Wall Street crumbled, the public's opinion of Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain "turned somewhat more negative last week," according to the Pew weekly News Interest Index, an ongoing project of the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.

As the voters' interest in economic news continued to climb, their views on the Arizona senator slipped. In a survey held from Sept. 19-22, "fully half of the public said their opinion of the GOP nominee had changed in the past few days, with 30% saying their opinion has become less favorable."

The Pew results, released Thursday, also underscore how quickly the voters can change their minds.

According to the findings: The Wall Street financial crisis is triggering widespread concern among the public. Fully 71% say they think the problems on Wall Street will affect their own personal financial situation a great deal or some. And 39% say as a result of what has been happening with the economy, they have changed the way their money is saved or invested.

Perhaps the most important polls will surface following the presidential debates -- whenever they happen to occur.

If McCain and Sen. Barack Obama ignore the results, they do so at their own peril.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/story.aspx?guid=%7BDF218279%2D72C2%2D4D2C%2D8A6F%2D95C4E6794F8D%7D&siteid=djm_HAMWRSSElecH&print=true&dist=printMidSection

:D

syracus

26.09.2008, 21:00

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/09/mccain_... (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/09/mccain_wins_debate.html)

"McCain Wins Debate!" declares the ad which features a headshot of a smiling McCain with an American flag background. Another ad spotted by our eagle-eyed observer featured a quote from McCain campaign manager Rick Davis declaring: "McCain won the debate-- hands down."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/images/26Sep_Friday_WSJ.JPG

wirklich ganz dummer Fehltritt, die Debatte ist noch Stunden entfernt und McCain feiert sich als "Sieger" :schaf

syracus

26.09.2008, 22:30

Hendrick Hertzberg

A Busy Day

What a contrast yesterday. First, out comes McCain, looking drawn, jittery, and (to my admittedly jaundiced eye) guilty, with his announcement that he doesn’t want to debate on Friday because the financial crisis is too awful for a thing like politics to occur. He reads his statement and exits quickly. A couple of hours later, Obama appears. He looks and sounds like a President of the United States. He is preternaturally calm. He explains the chronology of the day: he called McCain at 8:30, the call was returned at 2:30, they discussed the idea of putting out a joint statement about the crisis. He says not a word about postponing the debate.

Then, unlike McCain, Obama takes questions. It becomes a full-fledged press conference. He eventually mentions the postponement. He says that during their phone call McCain had said it was something that ought to be looked at, and he had replied that they should get their joint statement out first. He makes it clear, in an offhand way, that McCain had blindsided him, but he does it without rancor. Perhaps there was a miscommunication, he suggests generously. He stresses his agreement with McCain that the crisis is neither Republican nor Democratic but American. He outlines some conditions he would like to see attached to the bailout bill but adds that both parties should refrain from loading it up with extraneous desiderata. He mentions a couple of specific examples of Democratic pet causes, including bankruptcy protection, that he doesn’t think should be in the bill. His manner with respect to the crisis is grave and businesslike, but he treats McCain’s debate-postponement demand as a minor matter that need not be taken too seriously. He notes dryly that both candidates have big airplanes with their names emblazoned and can easily travel to Oxford, Mississippi. He suggests that a potential President ought to be able to cope with more than one problem at a time.

Obama handled the situation perfectly. He didn’t have to point out that McCain’s cheap gambit was a cheap gambit. Surrogates, supporters, and, perhaps, the press would do that for him. And by treating the debate-postponement ploy as a detail, he slipped the trap McCain had set for him: either be bullied into obeying McCain’s order or be seen as putting politics above country. That’s how I saw it, anyhow. I have no idea if “the American people” will agree. Dick Morris doesn’t think so. On Bill O’Reilly’s show on Fox News, Morris was bubbling over with glee at the brilliance of it all. McCain’s maneuver, Morris said, was so clever it might have been orchestrated by Karl Rove himself. Maybe Morris is right. At the very least, McCain managed to prevent the cable chatterers from focusing on the news that his campaign manager had been on the Fannie Mae take right up to the moment last month when Fannie fell on her fanny.

A couple of hours later, Katie Couric, whose evening news program on CBS is reliably reported to have become the best of the big three, shows a few minutes of the interview she had taped that morning with Sarah Palin. Couric is both pleasanter and tougher than Charlie Gibson had been during the only other non-Fox interview the lady has condescended to give. For Palin, the interview excerpt begins badly. Couric asks about the campaign manager and the Fannie Mae payroll. Palin gives her answer, something about how her “understanding” is that the campaign manager had “recused himself.” Couric rephrases the question. Palin gives her answer again. It is nearly word for word the same as the first time. Chilling. The interview excerpt ends badly, too. Couric asks what, besides suggesting two years ago that there ought to be more oversight of the mortgage giants, McCain has ever done in his twenty-six years in Congress to change the way Wall Street does business. Palin points to McCain’s call for more oversight of the mortgage giants. Couric asks again. Palin says fondly that McCain is a maverick. Politely, a third time, Couric asks for specific examples. Pertly, Palin says, “I’ll try to find some and I’ll bring ‘em to ya.”

In other news, President Bush gave a nationally televised speech.

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/hendrikhertzberg/2008/09/an-eventful-day.html

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20080926/capt.97bce3ef29b748eb9547a713cde1d422.obama_2008_msab110.jpg
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., takes his sunglasses off as arrives at The Inn at Ole Miss before the first presidential debate at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Miss. Friday, Sept. 26, 2008.
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Silverbay

27.09.2008, 07:02

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=k9wHxhHnFRY

Gruss

syracus

27.09.2008, 08:59

Die Debatte war wohl wirklich ein Unentschieden, aber ein kleiner Fakt ist offensichtlich vielen aufgefallen. Wie Al Gores Seufzer etwa;) .... McCain hat Obama nicht ein einziges Mal in die Augen geschaut, 90 Minuten lang :bad

http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/01GDdL59NWczv/610x.jpg
http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/00YrbXt0Kt3Yl/340x.jpg
http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0bzDcf8eZy3yL/610x.jpg
http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/02bI8tTfVqbHt/610x.jpg
http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/06aC1Ila9be6T/610x.jpg
http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/06lv7A99jVcul/340x.jpg
http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/076kaZ2gBm3I8/610x.jpg

syracus

27.09.2008, 09:20

Why Voters Thought Obama Won

TPM has the internals of the CNN poll of debate-watchers, which had Obama winning overall by a margin of 51-38. The poll suggests that Obama is opening up a gap on connectedness, while closing a gap on readiness.

Specifically, by a 62-32 margin, voters thought that Obama was “more in touch with the needs and problems of people like you”. This is a gap that has no doubt grown because of the financial crisis of recent days. But it also grew because Obama was actually speaking to middle class voters. Per the transcript, McCain never once mentioned the phrase “middle class” (Obama did so three times). And Obama’s eye contact was directly with the camera, i.e. the voters at home. McCain seemed to be speaking literally to the people in the room in Mississippi, but figuratively to the punditry. It is no surprise that a small majority of pundits seemed to have thought that McCain won, even when the polls indicated otherwise; the pundits were his target audience.

Something as simple as Obama mentioning that he’ll cut taxes for “95 percent of working families” is worth, I would guess, a point or so in the national polls. Obama had not been speaking enough about his middle class tax cut; there was some untapped potential there, and Obama may have gotten the message to sink in tonight

By contrast, I don’t think McCain’s pressing Obama on earmarks was time well spent for him. One, it simply not something that voters care all that much about, given the other pressures the economy faces. But also, it is not something that voters particularly associate with Obama, as the McCain campaign had not really pressed this line of attack. If you’re going to introduce a new line of attack late in a campaign, it has better be a more effective one that earmarks. And then there was McCain's technocratic line about the virtues of lowering corporate taxes, one which might represent perfectly valid economic policy, but which was exactly the sort of patrician argument that lost George H.W. Bush the election in 1992.

Meanwhile, voters thought that Obama “seemed to be the stronger leader” by a 49-43 margin, reversing a traditional area of McCain strength. And voters thought that the candidates were equally likely to be able to handle the job of president if elected.

These internals are worse for McCain than the topline results, because they suggest not only that McCain missed one of his few remaining opportunities to close the gap with Barack Obama, but also that he has few places to go. The only category in which McCain rated significantly higher than Obama was on “spent more time attacking his opponent”. McCain won that one by 37 points.

My other annoyance with the punditry is that they seem to weight all segments of the debate equally. There were eight segments in this debate: bailout, economy, spending, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Russia, terrorism. The pundit consensus seems to be that Obama won the segments on the bailout, the economy, and Iraq, drew the segment on Afghanistan, and lost the other four. So, McCain wins 4-3, right? Except that, voters don’t weight these issues anywhere near evenly. In Peter Hart’s recent poll for NBC, 43 percent of voters listed the economy or the financial crisis as their top priority, 12 percent Iraq, and 13 percent terrorism or other foreign policy issues. What happens if we give Obama two out of three economic voters (corresponding to the fact that he won two out of the three segments on the economy), and the Iraq voters, but give McCain all the “other foreign policy” voters?

Issue Priority Obama McCain
Economy 43 --> 29 14
Iraq 12 --> 12 0
Foreign Policy 13 --> 0 13
==========================================
Total 41 27

By this measure, Obama “won” by 14 points, which almost exactly his margin in the CNN poll.

McCain’s essential problem is that his fundamental strength – his experience -- is specifically not viewed by voters as carrying over to the economy. And the economy is pretty much all that voters care about these days.

EDIT: The CBS poll of undecideds has more confirmatory detail. Obama went from a +18 on "understanding your needs and problems" before the debate to a +56 (!) afterward. And he went from a -9 on "prepared to be president" to a +21.

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/

syracus

27.09.2008, 12:21

GOP concerned about Palin

By: Alexander Burns and David Paul Kuhn
September 26, 2008 07:27 PM EST

A growing number of Republicans are expressing concern about Sarah Palin’s uneven — and sometimes downright awkward — performances in her limited media appearances.

Conservative columnist Kathleen Parker, a former Palin supporter, says the vice presidential nominee should step aside. Kathryn Jean Lopez, writing for the conservative National Review, says “that’s not a crazy suggestion” and that “something’s gotta change.”

Tony Fabrizio, a GOP strategist, says Palin’s recent CBS appearance isn’t disqualifying but is certainly alarming. “You can’t continue to have interviews like that and not take on water.”

“I have not been blown away by the interviews from her, but at the same time, I haven’t come away from them thinking she doesn’t know s—t,” said Chris Lacivita, a GOP strategist. “But she ain’t Dick Cheney, nor Joe Biden and definitely not Hillary Clinton.”

There is no doubt that Palin retains a tremendous amount of support among rank-and-file Republicans. She draws huge crowds, continues to raise a lot of money for the McCain campaign, and state parties report she has sparked an uptick in the number of volunteers.

Asked about Palin's performance in the CBS interview, a McCain official briefing reporters on condition of anonymity said: "She did fine. She's a tremendous asset and a fantastic candidate."

But there is also no doubt many Republican insiders are worried she could blow next week’s debate, based on her unexpectedly weak and unsteady media appearances, and hurt the Republican ticket if she does.

What follows is a viewer’s guide to some of Palin’s toughest moments on camera so far.

Speaking this week with CBS’s Katie Couric, Palin seemed caught off-guard by a very predictable question about the status of McCain adviser Rick Davis’ relationship with mortgage lender Freddie Mac. Davis was accused by several news outlets of retaining ties — and profiting from — the companies despite his denials.

Where a more experienced politician might have been able to brush off Couric’s follow-up question, Palin seemed genuinely stumped, repeating the same answer twice and resorting to boilerplate language about the “undue influence of lobbyists.”

These missteps could be attributed to inadequate preparation and don’t necessarily reflect more deeply on Palin’s ability to perform as vice president. But when reporters have tried to probe Palin’s thinking on subjects such as foreign policy, she’s been similarly opaque.

In an interview with ABC’s Charlie Gibson, Palin gave a muddled answer to a question about her opinion of the Bush Doctrine.

And given the chance to describe her foreign policy credentials more fully, Palin recited familiar talking points, telling Gibson that her experience with energy policy was sufficient preparation for dealing with national security issues.

In the same interview, Palin let Gibson lead her into saying it might be necessary to wage war on Russia — a suggestion that most candidates would have avoided making explicitly and that signaled her discomfort in discussing global affairs.

Then, asked this week by Couric to discuss her knowledge of foreign relations — in particular, her assertion that Alaska’s proximity to Russia gave her international experience — Palin tripped herself up explaining her interactions with Alaska’s neighbor to the west.

On the economy, too, Palin has avoided taking clear stances. In a largely friendly interview with Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity, Palin spoke in tangled generalities in response to a question about a possible Wall Street bailout — and even preempted her campaign by coming out against it.

On Thursday, Palin finally took questions from her traveling press — but shut things down quickly after Politico’s Kenneth P. Vogel asked her whether she would support Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, who has been indicted for corruption, and Rep. Don Young, who is under federal investigation, for reelection.

Unlike her other interviews, at least this time Palin had the option to walk away.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13991.html

Mit allen Interviews als Videos im Link :)....... "poor Sarah" :a

lunar

27.09.2008, 12:58

...kleiner Nachtrag zu Frau Palin :rolleyes

Matt Damon Absolutely Shreds Sarah Palin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvKFJ6iyGrI&eurl=

syracus

27.09.2008, 16:02

"Poor Sarah" als Expertin in Aussenpolitik :rofl...

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

Hoffentlich klonen sie McCain im dutzend falls er gewählt wird damit immer einer einspringen könnte wenn der Vorgänger im Amt sterben sollte :schwitz

syracus

27.09.2008, 18:37

The Debate: The All-Important Grumpiness Factor

Here’s the politically incorrect way of phrasing one of the central questions about tonight’s presidential debate: Did John McCain come across as too much of a grumpy old man?

That might not be a nice question, but it’s an important one. Americans like to vote for the nice guy, not the grumbling prophet of doom. Throughout the 90-minute debate, McCain seemed contemptuous of Obama. He wouldn’t look at him. He tried to belittle him whenever possible -- how many times did he work “Senator Obama just doesn’t understand” into his answers? His body language was closed, defensive, tense. McCain certainly succeeded in proving that he can be aggressive, but the aggression came with a smirk and a sneer.

In terms of substance, there were no knockout blows. (I hate using the prizefight metaphor, which is the oldest cliché in the world, but unfortunately it’s the only metaphor approved for journalistic use in connection with a presidential debate. I don’t write the rules.) Both candidates got in numerous good lines and a couple of real zingers. McCain managed to cross the dangerous terrain of economic policy without suffering grievous harm, and Obama managed to surmount the foreign-policy toughness threshold. Voters who were leaning toward one or the other but wanted reassurance probably found it.

But we in the commentariat tend to forget that the electorate always, and I mean always, sees a presidential debate very differently from the way we see it. If you read the papers in the fall of 2000, for example, you learned that Al Gore wiped the floor with George Bush in their encounters -- but voters thought otherwise. Demeanor and body language have been important in every debate I can think of, so I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t be important in this one. The candidate who projects affability and optimism is usually seen to have bettered the candidate who projects resentment and gloom. If that is the case with tonight’s debate, Obama won and McCain lost.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2008/09/the_debate_the_all-important_g.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

syracus

27.09.2008, 19:02

Palin Couric media reviews are in, and are DEVASTATINGLY BAD
by NYFM
Fri Sep 26, 2008 at 07:40:56 AM PDT

Late last night as I went to bed, my wife asked me to see the clip from Huffingtonpost - which focuses on her astoundingly simplistic view of proximity to Russia giving the Governor of Alaska ample foreign policy experience, and includes the cartoonish reference to the "ugly head" of Putin flying over Alaska's airspace. She had it sitting there open on our iMac, I clicked the video link, and was soon left aghast and speechless. It was an OH. MY. GOD. moment such as I had only thought Bush capable of. I was so shocked that I could only reel back and drag myself to bed- not wanting to believe it was real.

Today is a new day though and I decided to check out the reactions this morning of fellow Americans to it across the land. And quite clearly they are as visceral and alarmed and as instilled with fright as mine, and for McCain, they are DEVASTATINGLY BAD:

Palin talks to Couric -- and if she's lucky, few are listening James Rainey - LATimes

Her third nationally televised interview, with CBS anchor Katie Couric, found Palin rambling, marginally responsive and even more adrift than during her network debut with ABC’s Charles Gibson....
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na... (http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-onthemedia26-2008sep26,0,3542588.story)

Katie Couric carves up Sarah Palin Kansas City Star
Palin looks unprepared to be vice president (and certainly president)...
http://voices.kansascity.com/node/2157 (http://voices.kansascity.com/node/2157)

Couric shines, Palin doesn't in CBS interview The Oregonian

Ouch. Only one of the two women showed poise, focus and a good grasp of the facts, and it wasn't the one who's running for vice president....
http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2008/09/cou... (http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2008/09/couric_shines_palin_doesnt_in.html)

I’m sorry — Sarah Palin is a bad joke Jay Bookman - Atlanta Journal and Constitution

Palin is living, breathing proof that John McCain lies when he claims to put this country first over politics. She makes Dan Quayle look like Albert Einstein with a better haircut.
http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/bookm... (http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/bookman/entries/2008/09/25/im_sorry_sarah_palin_is_a_bad.html)

Shameless and clueless Sarah Palin David Horsey - Seattle Post-Intelligencer

How would Republicans be reacting if Gov. Christine Gregoire were the Democratic candidate for vice president and she claimed that, because Washington borders Canada and sends trade missions to Japan and China and Russia, she is, therefore, experienced in foreign policy? And what if Gregoire also claimed to be a seasoned commander-in-chief because she is titular head of the Washington National Guard? We all know how Republicans would react: they would roar with mocking laughter. And they would be absolutely right to mock such idiotic pretense.
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/davidhorsey/archives... (http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/davidhorsey/archives/149699.asp?from=blog_last3)

and no help from Palin's side of the aisle either:

Jake Tapper quotes conservative columnist Kathleen Parker:

Watching the CBS interview of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin did not exactly fill Parker with confidence.
"Palin's recent interviews with Charles Gibson, Sean Hannity and now Katie Couric have all revealed an attractive, earnest, confident candidate. Who Is Clearly Out Of Her League.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/09/ill-try... (http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/09/ill-try-to-find.html)

and my favorite, from a compilation on the British "firstpost"

Babbling Palin ‘makes George Bush sound like Cicero’ Rod Dreher

a religious-conservative blogger who frequently appears on Fox News and was as recently as last week a Palin supporter, says the Alaskan Governor "was mediocre". Dreher says he felt "embarrassed" listening to Palin "regurgitating talking points mechanically, not thinking. just babbling. She makes George W. Bush sound like Cicero."

MORE AT:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/26/101337/331/44/6... (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/26/101337/331/44/611191)

lunar

27.09.2008, 21:59

The verdict on the debate (http://maruthecrankpot.blogspot.com/2008/09/verdict-on-debate.html)

Below stolen from the HuffPo main page (please go here (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/) for all the links):

CBS Poll: Obama Boosted Most By Debate

NYT Editorial: Obama Dominated Economic Discussions, McCain Sounded Like "A Tinny Echo Of The 20th Century"

Time's Mark Halperin: Obama Clearly Better

CNN Poll: Obama Had The Edge

George Will: Mild Leg Up To Obama

George Stephanopoulos: Overall Winner Is Obama

WSJ Editorial: McCain Won On Foreign Policy, Obama On Domestic Issues

Time's Joe Klein: Narrow Win For Obama

WaPo's Tom Shales: McCain Too Nasty, Obama Too Nice

LA Times Editorial: Too Close To Call

Valley Forge Herald-Picayune: Obama Cool, Collected; McCain Twitchy, Angry

lunar

27.09.2008, 22:06

FOX :eek News Focus Group: Obama Wins Debate :supi:D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wup4nsIWe8A&eurl=

syracus

28.09.2008, 14:46

Palin on CBS - Saturday Night Live Remake :hihi :hihi :hihi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-5uJSCBZlQ

:rofl........

Luigi

28.09.2008, 16:51

Palin on CBS - Saturday Night Live Remake :hihi :hihi :hihi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-5uJSCBZlQ

:rofl........

Zum Original-Beitrag (http://www.stock-channel.net/stock-board/showthread.php3?p=1184916#post1184916)
:hihi:hihi:hihi:hihi:hihi:hihi:hihi:hihi:hihi:hihi:hihi:hihi:hihi:hihi:hihi:hihi
Dieses Video ist aufgrund des Urheberrechtsanspruchs von NBC Universal nicht mehr verfügbar.

einfach auf
http://www.nbc.com/

das ist dort der

Video

Clip of the Day
Saturday Night Live

Watch this weekend's opening sketch with Gov. Palin!

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/couric-palin-open/704042/

:hihi:hihi:hihi:hihi:hihi:hihi:hihi:hihi:hihi:hihi:hihi:hihi:hihi:hihi:hihi:hihi:hihi

syracus

28.09.2008, 19:59

September 28, 2008

Gallup Daily: Obama Moves to 50% to 42% Lead

Obama registers strong performance over Thursday-Saturday time period

PRINCETON, NJ -- Barack Obama leads John McCain, 50% to 42% among registered voters in the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking (http://www.gallup.com/tag/Gallup%2bDaily.aspx) update for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday -- just one point shy of his strongest showing of the year.

http://sas-origin.onstreammedia.com/origin/gallupinc/GallupSpaces/Production/Cms/POLL/tl5xazv3nucritnggvi34q.gif

These results, from Sept. 25-27, span the time period since John McCain made the announcement that he was temporarily suspending his campaign and returning to Washington to work for a bipartisan solution to the financial crisis, and since Congressional leaders first announced progress towards the resolution of a financial bailout bill. The results also include one complete day (Saturday) after the first presidential debate on Friday night. McCain had reached a point where he was tied with Obama earlier in the week, but Obama has gained steadily in each of the last three days' reports. Overall, Obama has gained four percentage points over the last three days, while McCain has lost four points, for an eight-point swing in the "gap" or margin.

The full impact of the debate and its aftermath will not be reflected in the tracking data until Tuesday's report, which will be based on interviewing conducted Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Still, Gallup's one-day read on the standing of the two candidates on Saturday suggests that Obama held the lead over McCain among registered voters that night, just as he had for the two previous nights.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/110740/Gallup-Daily-Obama-Moves-50-42-Lead.aspx

syracus

28.09.2008, 20:31

Palin Is Ready? Please

McCain says that he always puts country first. In this important case, that is simply not true.

Fareed Zakaria
NEWSWEEK
From the magazine issue dated Oct 6, 2008

Will someone please put Sarah Palin out of her agony? Is it too much to ask that she come to realize that she wants, in that wonderful phrase in American politics, "to spend more time with her family"? Having stayed in purdah for weeks, she finally agreed to a third interview. CBS's Katie Couric questioned her in her trademark sympathetic style. It didn't help. When asked how living in the state closest to Russia gave her foreign-policy experience, Palin responded thus:

"It's very important when you consider even national-security issues with Russia as Putin rears his head and comes into the airspace of the United States of America. Where—where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border. It is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right there. They are right next to—to our state."

There is, of course, the sheer absurdity of the premise. Two weeks ago I flew to Tokyo, crossing over the North Pole. Does that make me an expert on Santa Claus? (Thanks, Jon Stewart.) But even beyond that, read the rest of her response. "It is from Alaska that we send out those …" What does this mean? This is not an isolated example. Palin has been given a set of talking points by campaign advisers, simple ideological mantras that she repeats and repeats as long as she can. ("We mustn't blink.") But if forced off those rehearsed lines, what she has to say is often, quite frankly, gibberish.

Couric asked her a smart question about the proposed $700 billion bailout of the American financial sector. It was designed to see if Palin understood that the problem in this crisis is that credit and liquidity in the financial system has dried up, and that that's why, in the estimation of Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Fed chairman Ben Bernanke, the government needs to step in to buy up Wall Street's most toxic liabilities. Here's the entire exchange:

COURIC: Why isn't it better, Governor Palin, to spend $700 billion helping middle-class families who are struggling with health care, housing, gas and groceries; allow them to spend more and put more money into the economy instead of helping these big financial institutions that played a role in creating this mess?

PALIN: That's why I say I, like every American I'm speaking with, were ill about this position that we have been put in where it is the taxpayers looking to bail out. But ultimately, what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the health-care reform that is needed to help shore up our economy, helping the—it's got to be all about job creation, too, shoring up our economy and putting it back on the right track. So health-care reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions and tax relief for Americans. And trade, we've got to see trade as opportunity, not as a competitive, scary thing. But one in five jobs being created in the trade sector today, we've got to look at that as more opportunity. All those things under the umbrella of job creation. This bailout is a part of that.

This is nonsense—a vapid emptying out of every catchphrase about economics that came into her head. Some commentators, like CNN's Campbell Brown, have argued that it's sexist to keep Sarah Palin under wraps, as if she were a delicate flower who might wilt under the bright lights of the modern media. But the more Palin talks, the more we see that it may not be sexism but common sense that's causing the McCain campaign to treat her like a time bomb.

Can we now admit the obvious? Sarah Palin is utterly unqualified to be vice president. She is a feisty, charismatic politician who has done some good things in Alaska. But she has never spent a day thinking about any important national or international issue, and this is a hell of a time to start. The next administration is going to face a set of challenges unlike any in recent memory. There is an ongoing military operation in Iraq that still costs $10 billion a month, a war against the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan that is not going well and is not easily fixed. Iran, Russia and Venezuela present tough strategic challenges.

Domestically, the bailout and reform of the financial industry will take years and hundreds of billions of dollars. Health-care costs, unless curtailed, will bankrupt the federal government. Social Security, immigration, collapsing infrastructure and education are all going to get much worse if they are not handled soon.

And the American government is stretched to the limit. Between the Bush tax cuts, homeland-security needs, Iraq, Afghanistan and the bailout, the budget is looking bleak. Plus, within a few years, the retirement of the baby boomers begins with its massive and rising costs (in the trillions).

Obviously these are very serious challenges and constraints. In these times, for John McCain to have chosen this person to be his running mate is fundamentally irresponsible. McCain says that he always puts country first. In this important case, it is simply not true.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/161204

:rolleyes

syracus

29.09.2008, 17:37

Florida - In Play :)

http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2008/Pres/Graphs/florida.png

Ohio - In Play :):)

http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2008/Pres/Graphs/ohio.png

North Carolina - In Play :eek :)

http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2008/Pres/Graphs/north-carolina.png

Pennsylvania - Obama-Land :dd

http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2008/Pres/Graphs/pennsylvania.png

Wer 3 der 4 Bundesstaaten gewinnt, wird Präsi der USA, die restlichen Verschiebungen werden zu gering sein. Aber NC wär eine ganz, ganz grosse Überaschung :dance...

Gallup hat heute Obama 52%, McCain 40%, landesweit :stoned

syracus

30.09.2008, 11:55

McCain takes credit for bill before it loses

By: Mike Allen
September 29, 2008 05:39 PM EST

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and his top aides took credit for building a winning bailout coalition – hours before the vote failed and stocks tanked.

Shortly before the vote, McCain had bragged about his involvement and mocked Sen. Barack Obama for staying on the sidelines.

“I've never been afraid of stepping in to solve problems for the American people, and I'm not going to stop now,” McCain told a rally in Columbus, Ohio. “Sen. Obama took a very different approach to the crisis our country faced. At first he didn't want to get involved. Then he was monitoring the situation.”

“That's not leadership. That's watching from the sidelines,” he added to cheers and applause.

Doug Holtz-Eakin, McCain's senior policy adviser, told reporters on a conference call that McCain "dedicated the past week" to addressing the problem but made "a conscious decision not to attract attention to John McCain."

"He's made dozens of calls," Holtz-Eakin said.

Asked if McCain bears any responsibility for the bill's failure, Holtz-Eakin said McCain "improved it greatly — took the lead in the need for taxpayer protections."

Making a similar point earlier on MSNBC, Holtz-Eakin said McCain deliberately "kept a low profile."

"John McCain understands that had he looked like he was going to be the key to the success, that Democrats would attack him and kill the deal," Holtz-Eakin said. "That's what you saw today. They were not going to let John McCain do the job that he was trying to do: deliver a bill that would help the American people."

"John McCain understood that had he kept a low profile, talked with members of Congress as he did, asked them where they were in their votes, called those members who were reluctant. He was doing his job, and doing it with a low profile [that was] necessary," Holtz-Eakin added.

Holtz-Eakin told MSNBC that Obama was "phoning it in" instead of working hard on a rescue. "Where was Barack Obama for today?" Holtz-Eakin said. "He's phoning it in — phoning it in — one more time."

McCain initially had been modest about his role. On Sunday, he said on ABC’s “This Week” that congressional negotiators deserve “great credit” for the bipartisan deal. “"It wasn’t because of me,” McCain said. “They did it themselves.”

But at almost the same time, McCain senior adviser Steve Schmidt was saying on NBC’s “Meet the Press”: “What Sen. McCain was able to do … was to help get all of the parties to the table. There had been announcements by Senate leaders saying that a deal had been reached earlier in the week. There were no votes for that deal.

“Sen. McCain knew time was short and he came back, he listened and he helped put together the framework of getting everybody to the table, which was necessary to produce a package to avoid a financial catastrophe for this country.”

On Monday morning, McCain campaign communications director Jill Hazelbaker said on Fox News that the deal would not have happened “without Sen. McCain.”

“Sen. McCain interrupted his campaign, suspended his campaign activity to come back to Washington to get Republicans around a table,” Hazelbaker said. “Without Sen. McCain, House Republicans would not have appointed a negotiator, which would not have moved this bill forward.

“It’s really Sen. McCain who got all parties around a table to hammer out a deal that hopefully is in the best interests of the American taxpayer.”

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/14088.html

Tja, und es waren seine Leute die den Plan abgelehnt haben. Natürlich sind nun, nach der Abstimmung, die Demokraten schuld nach McCain :rofl:dumm....

syracus

30.09.2008, 13:29

McCain at dead end as House rejects bailout plan

By STEVEN R. HURST, Associated Press Writer
Posted on Sep 30, 6:21 AM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republican John McCain has maneuvered himself into a political dead end and has five weeks to find his way out.

Last Wednesday, McCain suspended his presidential campaign to insert himself into a $700 billion effort to rescue America's crumbling financial structure. In so doing, he tied himself far more tightly to the bill than did his Democratic opponent, Barack Obama.

Then, as the bailout plan appeared ready for passage Monday in the House, McCain bragged that he was an action-oriented Teddy Roosevelt Republican who did not sit on the sidelines at a moment of crisis.

The implication: that he played a critical role in building bipartisan support for the unprecedented bailout.

"I went to Washington last week to make sure that the taxpayers of Ohio and across this great country were not left footing the bill for mistakes made on Wall Street and in Washington," McCain said at a campaign rally in the swing state of Ohio.

Both he and Obama had insisted the plan originally proposed by the Bush administration be strengthened with greater oversight and regulation.

Within hours, however, the measure died in the House mainly at the hands of McCain's own Republicans.

Initially, McCain went silent, choosing instead to send his chief economic adviser out with a statement that blamed Obama, claiming that the first-term Illinois senator had put his political ambitions ahead of the good of the country.

"This bill failed because Barack Obama and the Democrats put politics ahead of country," McCain senior policy adviser Doug Holtz-Eakin said.

It wasn't long, however, before McCain told reporters in Iowa: "Now is not the time to fix the blame, it's time to fix the problem."

All in all, McCain might have been better served by staying out of the mess and above the fray.

If the congressional impasse leads to a credit crisis, "it's not going to be good for McCain," veteran Republican consultant John Feehery said.

Obama had predicted trouble last week when he said the four-term Arizona senator was wrongly inserting red-hot presidential politics into a critical bailout plan even as the package was finding little support among voters.

As the plan failed Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 777 points, the largest one-day point drop ever. Credit markets, whose turmoil helped feed the stock market's deep anxiety, froze up further with the growing belief that the country is headed into a spreading credit and economic crisis.

Stunned traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange watched on TV screens as the House voted down the plan, and they saw stock prices tumbling on their monitors.

After the House vote, Obama - campaigning in swing-state Colorado - declared that McCain had "fought against commonsense regulations for decades, he's called for less regulation 20 times just this year, and he said in a recent interview that he thought deregulation has actually helped grow our economy."

"Senator, what economy are you talking about?" Obama said.

Sensing Obama's advantage, spokesman Bill Burton piled on:

"This is a moment of national crisis, and today's inaction in Congress as well as the angry and hyper-partisan statement released by the McCain campaign are exactly why the American people are disgusted with Washington."

McCain has been routinely wrong-footed on the slumping U.S. economy throughout the campaign, starting last year when he said he was not as up on that subject as he would like to be.

Polls consistently have shown voters place greater trust in Obama to pull the country out of a financial crisis that has not been matched since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

McCain - apparently obsessed with those facts - gambled last Wednesday by declaring he had suspended campaigning to bring his considerable bipartisan credentials to bear in congressional negotiations with the Bush administration. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson sent the enormous bailout package to Congress 11 days ago and said passage was urgent.

The measure went down 228-205, with more than two-thirds of McCain's own Republicans and 40 percent of Democrats opposed.

http://www.theday.com/re_ap.aspx?re=/M/MCCAIN_DEAD_END

Heute kommen die ersten Umfragen die den Effekt der Debatte aufzeigen werden, in 3-4 Tagen wird auch die Bailout-Geschichte darin voll enthalten sein.... Ich tippe mal auf 12-15% Vorsprung für Obama zum Wochenende :lach

lunar

01.10.2008, 09:17

McCain Charges Obama with Taking Advice from Raines

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYI0mHWQeD8&eurl :rolleyes

By Howard Kurtz
The Ad: Obama has no background in economics. Who advises him? The Post says it's Franklin Raines, for "advice on mortgage and housing policy." Shocking. Under Raines, Fannie Mae committed "extensive financial fraud." Raines made millions. Fannie Mae collapsed. Taxpayers? Stuck with the bill. Barack Obama. Bad advice. Bad instincts. Not ready to lead.

Analysis: This John McCain ad is based on a disputed premise.

There's no dispute that Obama has no background in economics -- but then, neither does McCain, which makes this an odd charge for the Arizona senator to hurl......

.....An Obama spokesman called the ad's contention "a flat-out lie," saying Raines has "never advised Senator Obama about anything, ever.".....

full story: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/09/19/_the_ad_obama_has.html

syracus

01.10.2008, 12:07

http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/1307/palinfacebookpageqb9.jpg

:hihi :hihi :hihi

syracus

01.10.2008, 12:21

Electoral-Vote 30.09.2008

syracus

01.10.2008, 13:29

Polls: Obama leads in critical trio of states

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: October 1, 2008
Filed at 6:43 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Recently trailing or tied, Democrat Barack Obama now leads Republican John McCain in a trio of the most critical, vote-rich states five weeks before the election, according to presidential poll results released Wednesday.

The Democrat's support jumped to 50 percent or above in Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania in Quinnipiac University surveys taken during the weekend -- after the opening presidential debate and during Monday's dramatic stock market plunge as the House rejected a $700 billion financial bailout plan.

Combined, these states offer 68 of the 270 electoral votes needed for victory on Election Day, Nov. 4.

Pollsters attributed Obama's improved standing to the public's general approval of his debate performance, antipathy toward GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and heightened confidence in the Illinois senator's ability to handle the economic crisis.

The fresh polling is the latest troublesome turn for McCain, the Arizona senator who is trying to regain control of the campaign conversation amid increasingly difficult circumstances for Republicans. It comes on the eve of a debate between Palin and her Democratic counterpart, Joe Biden, and as the financial crisis shapes the presidential race in unpredictable ways.

For now and probably for the next month, the race will be entirely about who can best handle an economy in peril.

The war in Iraq, national security and foreign policy issues -- McCain's strengths -- have largely fallen by the wayside as each campaign tries to chart a course to the presidency in extraordinarily choppy economic waters.

The new surveys show Obama leading McCain in Florida 51 percent to 43 percent, in Ohio 50 percent to 42 percent and in Pennsylvania 54 percent to 39 percent.

Since 1960, no president has been elected without winning two of those three states.

The results are notable because they show Obama in a strong position in the pair of states that put Bush in the White House in 2000 and kept him there four years later -- Florida and Ohio, with 27 and 20 electoral votes, respectively.

Obama has been struggling to break into a comfortable lead in both states; for weeks he had been mostly about even with McCain in Ohio while lagging for months in Florida, even after being the only candidate on the air and spending some $8 million on advertising.

Pennsylvania, with 21 electoral votes, is a different story.

Obama is trying to hang onto the state Democrat John Kerry won four years ago, though McCain has mounted a stiff challenge as he seeks to benefit from his rival's trouble with working-class voters who question his liberal voting record and, perhaps, his race.

The telephone polls, which were taken before and after last week's McCain-Obama debate, have margins of error ranging from plus or minus 2.8 percentage points to plus or minus 3.4 points.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/washington/AP-Campaign-Battlegrounds.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

lunar

01.10.2008, 16:08

http://images.huffingtonpost.com/gen/41121/original.jpg :rolleyes:hihi

syracus

02.10.2008, 17:55

Obama passes McCain in Florida polls

By Alex Leary, Jennifer Liberto and Steve Bousquet, Times staff writers

Published Wednesday, October 1, 2008 11:24 PM

TALLAHASSEE — Florida Republican leaders hastily convened a top secret meeting this week to grapple with Sen. John McCain's sagging performance in this must-win state.

Their fears were confirmed Wednesday when four new polls showed Sen. Barack Obama leading, a reversal from just a few weeks ago when McCain was opening up an advantage.

The polls come amid a cascade of bad news about the economy, an issue that McCain has struggled with in recent days.

With some grass roots organizers complaining about coordination problems with the campaign, Republican Party chairman Jim Greer gathered top officials at the state headquarters in Tallahassee on Tuesday afternoon. He swore the group to secrecy.

When asked about it by the St. Petersburg Times, Greer confirmed the meeting. He largely declined to discuss what was said, but sought to play down any strife.

Over the course of an hour, described by some as tense, Greer offered a forceful assessment of where McCain stands in Florida and what needs to be done to win in a battleground state that could decide the election.

"I have a responsibility to make sure things are done right, and we win these campaigns," Greer said. "I'm sure everyone in the room understands that I take that responsibility very seriously."

One of the concerns has been the relationship between grass roots volunteers across the state and far fewer paid campaign staffers. Complaints range from not getting yard signs quickly enough to knowing who will speak at events and overall manpower coordination.

"The biggest challenge is communication," said state Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, who is involved in the campaign but was not at the meeting. She said the Broward County effort is running smoothly but that her overall impression is that state campaign officials are somewhat limited due to national directives.

This friction and fretting goes on all the time in stressful campaigns, and especially when one side's candidate has hit a rough patch, as McCain has. Buzz Jacobs, the campaign's Southeast regional director, who sat in on the meeting, denied any tension and declined comment.

McCain supporter and former Republican Party of Florida chairman Tom Slade said he's been hearing rumblings over the past few weeks that the campaign is not fully utilizing volunteers, though he said that was not the case in Jacksonville.

"I get the sense that on the statewide basis, the grass roots Republicans don't quite feel like they have a natural fit within the McCain organization," Slade said.

The four polls released Wednesday show Obama leading, and for the first time, he has broken the 50 percent approval mark in the biggest battleground state.

What's more, a rolling average of Florida polls shows Obama ahead, albeit barely, for the first time.

• Quinnipiac: Obama leads 51-43.

• InsiderAdvantage/Poll Position: Obama leads 49-46.

• CNN/Time magazine: Obama leads 51-47.

• Suffolk University showed Obama leading 46-42.

• Real Clear Politics average of all Florida polls: Obama up by 3 percentage points.

"The Wall Street meltdown has been a dagger to McCain's political heart," said Peter Brown of the independent Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, who also cited a softening in enthusiasm for McCain's running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

The Quinnipiac poll, with 5 percent undecided and 1 percent saying they would vote for another candidate, involved 836 likely voters and had a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points. It was conducted Sept. 27-29, after last week's debate, which focused heavily on the economy.

The McCain campaign dismissed the poll findings.

"Between now and Nov. 4th there will be numerous polls, but the only one that matters will be the last one on election night," spokesman Mario Diaz said.

Palin remains a big draw, and the McCain campaign plans to bring her to Clearwater and Fort Myers on Monday, and Jacksonville and Pensacola on Tuesday.

The participants in the Greer meeting included McCain's top Florida staffer, Arlene DiBenigno, as well as RNC staffers by phone from Washington.

Greer, whose hands-on approach has sometimes come across to fellow Republicans as too controlling, has spent the past two years, along with Gov. Charlie Crist, making inroads in the African-American and Hispanic communities. Greer said he wanted to make sure the campaign is adequately tapping those resources, along with state party staffers he has made available. The McCain campaign is housed in the state headquarters.

"It was just to ensure the ship is on its proper course as it relates to working with local party leaders and the grass roots volunteers," Greer said of the meeting. "I felt confident that the campaign is doing that."

http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/state/article835288.ece#

Mal sehen ob sie in Florida wieder etwas wie im Jahr 2000 planen in weiser Voraussicht :schwitz

syracus

03.10.2008, 06:30

CNN David Gergen 10:05 PM: People underestimating how good Biden was, Biden “was really good”

CNN Alex Castellanos 10:38 PM : "The second part of the debate, you know Republicans aren't going to win debates on Iraq, I don't care who you put on that stage tonight, we're not going to win debates on Iraq and we didn't tonight. But overall, we've had a rough week as Republicans. You know, this has not been our best week."

CBS Bob Schieffer 10:35 PM: “I must say, I thought Senator Biden had a very good night. He seemed comfortable with the facts, it was clear he has dealt with these issues over the years, I thought he put his experience on display in a very good way.”

MSNBC Chris Matthews 10:35 PM: "Not only did she say I'm not going to do any more interviews, it seemed, but she was saying, I'm not going to listen to uh Gwen Ifill tonight. She said I'm not going to uh give the answers the moderator wants to ask for. What an extraordinary statement. I'm not going to play by the rules and when I get elected I want more power in the office than it's had before. Hmm.. Not too much humility here."

CBS Bob Schieffer 10:35 PM: “I must say, I found it a little disconcerting, time and again, Governor Palin would just choose not to answer the question and launch into some dissertation, sometimes talking points, and not really address what Gwen Ifill had asked her.”

PBS David Brooks 10:39 PM: "When he talked about his family and the death of his wife, that is a moment people remember, what they remember about the debates is the moment when you think you see the person and that was a moment where I thought you saw Joe Biden."

MSNBC Andrea Mitchell 10:38 PM: "She didn't answer the questions. And, in fact, she would say, I want to talk about taxes, which hadn't even come up."

FOX News Frank Luntz 10:44 PM: With the Luntz Polling Group was in the Anheuser-Busch Headquarters, When Asked Independent Voters Their Reactions One Voter Said, “she had a presentation about her, but that also annoyed me, too. She catered to kind of an adorability and lacked substance.”

Washington Post (Eugene Robinson): Exactly an hour into the debate, Joe Biden began an answer by saying, "Facts matter, Gwen." To him, maybe. To Sarah Palin, maybe not. The pattern, so far, has been one of Biden presenting facts and Palin countering with… saying stuff. Sometimes she throws in a fact, but mostly she seems to be offering a string of approximate policy positions, encomiums to the American spirit, disputed interpretations of Barack Obama's record and anecdotes from Alaska.

Washington Post (Chris Cillizza): Go Biden Go! Again, very good moment for Biden. The more he talks "Bush=McCain" the better.

Philadelphia Inquirerer (Will Bunch): Biden points out that Ahmadinjad isn't the surpreme ruler of Iran -- how come people don't bring that up. Hammering McCain on the Spain issue -- the McCain camp really screwed up on the way it handled that one.

Salon (Joan Walsh) How Sarah Palin blew it: Joe Biden and Sarah Palin were talking to two different Americas Thursday night. Actually, that's unfair to Joe Biden; he was trying to talk to everyone. I can say for certain, though, that Sarah Palin was talking to – and winking at – her own private Idaho, and for long stretches of the debate, it was an unnerving experience.

Washington Post: (E.J. Dionne Jr.) McCain's Dicey Gamble: Gambling with his presidential candidacy is McCain's right. Gambling with the country McCain says he puts first is another thing entirely. And last night's vice presidential debate took place at precisely the moment when a majority of American voters decided that having Palin in line for the presidency is more than a little bit scary.

CNN (Bob Schneider): Palin’s answers do not lack confidence, they lack coherence.

Washington Post (Chris Cillizza): She pivots to executive appearance but her answer on the role of the vice presidency was REALLY bad.

TIME: Palin didn’t make any big mistakes, but she also didn’t reassure that she could handle the presidency.

Washington Post (Chris Cillizza): Palin: Worst spot in the debate. Looking down at her notes a lot. Really struggling.

TIME: This closing statement sounds like she's giving a speech to the College Republicans. It's really amateur hour.

Politico (Ben Smith): As this debate has gone on, Palin's gotten more abstract, Biden more concrete.

ABC News (Rick Klein): Palin: "So Joe, there you go again." Anyone else over that line? Couldn't it have been retired with Reagan? Shout-out to third graders at her brother's elementary school? What world were we just in there for a few minutes?

CNN (Bob Schneider): Palin needs to define the terms she uses. Reform, corruption, maverick…these are words that Palin often uses, but she needs to define them.

FOX News (Aaron Bruns): Palin calls the supreme NATO commander in Afghanistan, Gen David McKiernan, “McClellan.” Does it twice.

Politico (Jonathan Martin): Biden explains how McCain is not a maverick On voting for Bush's budgets, health care and education. No dispute from Palin.

TNR: Palin's final quote was from Ronald Reagan, warning that without vigilance, "you and I are going to spend our sunset years telling our children, and our children's children, what it once was like in America when men were free." In fact, Reagan was not warning about a general lack of vigilance about freedom, he was warning what would happen if Medicare was enacted.

http://www.americablog.com/2008/10/reviews-are-in-biden... (http://www.americablog.com/2008/10/reviews-are-in-biden-won.html)

syracus

04.10.2008, 14:19

Boiling it down: Obama has 8 shots to win this race

As it stands Obama will win the Kerry States + Iowa, NM. That's 264 EV.

Then we have.....

- Ohio (20)

- Florida (27)

- North Carolina (15)

- Virginia (13)

- Indiana (11)

- Colorado (9)

- Missouri (11)

He needs to win ONE to get to 270. Just one. That's an awful lot of territory for McCain to defend. No room for error at all. And even if McSame wins WV and GA a late Obama surge in those states would expand the map even further. Advantage Obama.

Shot No. 8 is the BREAK ONLY IN CASE OF EMERGENCY option which would be that he loses all those states, but wins Nevada or wins all the Kerry states except NH while picking up only Iowa and NM from 2004. Then it goes to the house where at least theoretically we win.

By late Oct. 2004 Kerry had one shot -- Ohio.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x7311180

:D

lunar

04.10.2008, 19:02

Paris Fashion Week

Play Slideshow (http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/slideshow/photo//081003/481/b9bd8c072fdd4d8da8a10d013c9fe226/#)

Photo (http://news.yahoo.com/im:/081003/481/b9bd8c072fdd4d8da8a10d013c9fe226//;_ylt=AjiHEx.ZG_Qdrc4ronqj1FDlWMcF) Gallery (http://news.yahoo.com/im:/081003/481/b9bd8c072fdd4d8da8a10d013c9fe226//;_ylt=AnhFQQ74mOMxH5ka1JI6vg3lWMcF)

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20081003/capt.010dd5447aa14d2a9abe4352803ff9f4.aptopix_france_fashion_meu103.jpg?x=247&y=345&q=85&sig=V_DEV8h0JRNrIHu1FbJ02A--
http://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/nws/p/ap_small.gif (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/brand/photos//SIG=10qgqrhua/*http://www.apimages.com/)
Fri Oct 3, 9:16 AM ET

Previous (http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Paris-Fashion-Week-Chanel-German-designer-Karl-Lagerfeld-French-fashion-house/ss/events/fashion/093008parisfashionwk/im:/081003/ids_photos_en/r2199378203.jpg/;_ylt=AuRVIlTlzMGS9chfMG2Ax7rlWMcF) 218 of 648 Next (http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Paris-Fashion-Week-Chanel-German-designer-Karl-Lagerfeld-French-fashion-house/ss/events/fashion/093008parisfashionwk/im:/081003/ids_photos_en/r961639394.jpg/;_ylt=AmreiTtOHgn6GO8wZIsRla_lWMcF)
A model wears a short dress with a portrait of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill, a creation by French designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac during his spring-summer 2009 ready-to-wear collection presented in Paris, Friday, Oct. 3, 2008.

(AP Photo/Michel Euler)

syracus

05.10.2008, 17:58

Die Dreckschlacht beginnt, "First Strike Palin" :a

Analysis: Palin's words may backfire on McCain

By DOUGLASS K. DANIEL, Associated Press Writer
7 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - By claiming that Democrat Barack Obama is "palling around with terrorists" and doesn't see the U.S. like other Americans, vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin targeted key goals for a faltering campaign.

And though she may have scored a political hit each time, her attack was unsubstantiated and carried a racially tinged subtext that John McCain himself may come to regret.

First, Palin's attack shows that her energetic debate with rival Joe Biden may be just the beginning, not the end, of a sharpened role in the battle to win the presidency.

"Our opponent ... is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect, imperfect enough, that he's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country," Palin told a group of donors in Englewood, Colo. A deliberate attempt to smear Obama, McCain's ticket-mate echoed the line at three separate events Saturday.

"This is not a man who sees America like you and I see America," she said. "We see America as a force of good in this world. We see an America of exceptionalism."

Her reference to Obama's relationship with William Ayers, a member of the Vietnam-era Weather Underground, was exaggerated at best if not outright false. No evidence shows they were "pals" or even close when they worked on community boards years ago and Ayers hosted a political event for Obama early in his career.

Obama, who was a child when the Weathermen were planting bombs, has denounced Ayers' radical views and actions.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081005/ap_on_el_pr/palin_s_words_analysis

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/

syracus

07.10.2008, 18:01

Unworthy campaign of lies

Published Monday, October 6, 2008 6:39 PM

Unable to slow Barack Obama's momentum or win on issues such as health care and the economy, John McCain has resorted to character assassination. It is common for a struggling campaign to change the subject, but this abrupt change in strategy is beneath the Arizona Republican who claims to value honor and integrity. McCain needs to put a stop to it in tonight's second presidential debate before he does permanent damage to his own reputation.

Over the weekend and again on Monday in Clearwater, Sarah Palin tried to scare voters by attacking Obama's ties to 1960s-era radical Bill Ayers, one of the founders of the violent Weather Underground. The Alaska governor accused Obama on Saturday in Colorado of "palling around with terrorists who would target their own country.'' Since Obama was 8 years old when the Weather Underground was claiming credit for bombings, that was quickly labeled as a lie. So Palin retooled the line for Clearwater, calling Obama "someone who sees America as 'imperfect enough' to work with a former domestic terrorist who targeted his own country.''

The intent remains the same: Scare white voters by exaggerating the links between a black presidential candidate and onetime violent radicals. Raise doubts about those associations while questioning Obama's patriotism and implying he is too radical to identify with middle class values. And do it in the context of a speech that later leads to chants of "USA!" and is delivered with a backdrop of supporters dressed in red, white and blue. It's not subtle, and voters ought to reject these campaign smears.

In fact, Obama has said Ayers "engaged in detestable acts'' in the 1960s. In fact, an examination of the ties between the two by the New York Times concluded "the two men do not appear to have been close.'' They served together on boards overseeing a Chicago schools project in the 1990s and a Chicago charity from 2000 to 2002. Ayers hosted a neighborhood gathering of Democrats in 1995 where Obama was introduced as he prepared for a state Senate race. Obama once praised a book on juvenile courts by Ayers, and Ayers contributed $200 to Obama's 2001 re-election campaign to the state Senate. They still live in the same Chicago neighborhood. They appear to have had little contact in recent years, and there is no evidence Ayers has had any influence in Obama's presidential campaign or his thinking on key issues.

For Ayers, there is no escaping his radical past. He is an author and college professor in Chicago, where the mayor says he has done positive things for the city and should be judged by his entire life. But the campaign for president is about the future, not Obama's casual ties to a 1960s radical that had nothing to with violence or extremism.

McCain was on the receiving end of devious campaign attacks in the 2000 Republican primary. He knows better than to spread such gross distortions and innuendo. He is better than this, and he can demonstrate it tonight by putting a stop to the lies and smears.

http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/editorials/article841556.ece

Nr. 2 in Florida :respekt

syracus

07.10.2008, 20:47

berni_mccoy http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/images/donor.gif (1000+ posts)

We Have a Landslide In The Making Folks (Obama has over 300 EVs with > 5% margin)

From Electoral-Vote.com:

http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2008/Pres/ec_graph-2008-solid.png

The graph above shows the electoral votes again but omits the "barely" states. The electoral votes of a state only count in this graph if the candidate has a margin of 5% or more over his opponent.

Simply amazing. Those are EVs from states where Obama is leading by more than 5%.

People in general are excited about an Obama Presidency!

For comparison, this was the same graph in 2004:
http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2008/Pres/ec_graph-2004-solid.png

Here is the current Electoral Vote Map:

http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2008/Pres/Pngs/Oct07.png http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x7342500

syracus

08.10.2008, 06:16

McCain verweigert Handschlag

Der merkwürdigste Moment allerdings kam mitten in einer Debatte zur Energiepolitik. McCain verglich das Abstimmungsverhalten zu einem umstrittenen Gesetz und fügte an: «Wer dafür gestimmt, ist dieser da, und wer dagegen war, bin ich«. Der Senator aus Arizona machte mit einem Schlag klar, dass er den Gegner nicht für ebenbürtig hält. Solch abfällige Bemerkungen kommen schlecht an, weil sie Vorurteile bestätigen und als nicht-präsidial betrachtet werden. Die Nachbefragung durch CNN zeigte denn auch, dass 65 Prozent der Zuschauer Obama als sympathischer betrachten; aber nur 28 Prozent McCain den Vorzug gaben.

Dass McCain mit seiner Vorstellung kaum zufrieden gewesen war, zeigte eine Szene nach Ende der Debatte. Er weigerte sich, die Hand von Obama zu schütteln ;) . Und während Obama und seine Frau Michelle sich noch mit dem Publikum an der Universität unterhielten, hatte sich das Ehepaar McCain schon lange verabschiedet.

http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/ausland/uswahlen/Obama-haelt-McCain-auf-Distanz/story/14760444

Tja, man kann dem Gegner auch Steilvorlagen schenken :schwitz :hihi

syracus

08.10.2008, 18:28

http://www.electoral-vote.com/

PA wird 2008 kein Wackelkandidat wie bei Kerry 2004, in North Carolina liegt eine der grösstmöglichen Überraschungen drin dieses Jahr, eigentlich ein tiefroter Südstaatlerstaat den derzeitig McCain bis aufs Blut verteidigen muss, Obama hat gleichgezogen. NC, PA und FL werden am 5. November bei den ersten ausgezählten Staaten dabei sein, sollte dann Obama alle 3 gewinnen muss sich keiner wundern wenn gegen 2 Uhr morgens bei uns die Newssender da drüben bereits den Sieger ausrufen:p

syracus

08.10.2008, 19:19

You Guys Are Nuts

Andy McCarthy

We have a disaster here — which is what you should expect when you delegate a non-conservative to make the conservative (nay, the American) case. We can parse it eight ways to Sunday, but I think the commentary is missing the big picture.

Here's what Obama needed to do tonight: Convince the country that he was an utterly safe, conventional, centrist politician who may have leftward leanings but will do the right thing when the crunch comes.

Now, as the night went along, did you get the impression that Obama comes from the radical Left? Did you sense that he funded Leftist causes to the tune of tens of millions of dollars? Would you have guessed that he's pals with a guy who brags about bombing the Pentagon? Would you have guessed that he helped underwrite raging anti-Semites? Would you come away thinking, "Gee, he's proposing to transfer nearly a trillion dollars of wealth to third-world dictators through the UN"?

Nope. McCain didn't want to go there. So Obama comes off as just your average Center-Left politician. Gonna raise your taxes a little, gonna negotiate reasonably with America's enemies; gonna rely on our very talented federal courts to fight terrorists and solve most of America's problems; gonna legalize millions of hard-working illegal immigrants.

McCain? He comes off as Center-Right .. or maybe Center-Left ... but, either way, deeply respectful of Obama despite their policy quibbles.

Great. Memo to McCain Campaign: Someone is either a terrorist sympathizer or he isn't; someone is either disqualified as a terrorist sympathizer or he's qualified for public office. You helped portray Obama as a clealy qualified presidential candidate who would fight terrorists.

If that's what the public thinks, good luck trying to win this thing.

With due respect, I think tonight was a disaster for our side. I'm dumbfounded that no one else seems to think so. Obama did everything he needed to do, McCain did nothing he needed to do. What am I missing?

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MmFkOTk5MTNhZjVjMmYzYzhlY2RiYmQzN2Y3ZGZjMTg=

GOP weiter mit internem Streit :lach

syracus

08.10.2008, 19:24

October 8, 2008 - Editorial

Politics of Attack

It is a sorry fact of American political life that campaigns get ugly, often in their final weeks. But Senator John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin have been running one of the most appalling campaigns we can remember.

They have gone far beyond the usual fare of quotes taken out of context and distortions of an opponent’s record — into the dark territory of race-baiting and xenophobia. Senator Barack Obama has taken some cheap shots at Mr. McCain, but there is no comparison.

Despite the occasional slip (referring to Mr. Obama’s “cronies” and calling him “that one”), Mr. McCain tried to take a higher road in Tuesday night’s presidential debate. It was hard to keep track of the number of times he referred to his audience as “my friends.” But apart from promising to buy up troubled mortgages as president, he offered no real answers for how he plans to solve the country’s deep economic crisis. He is unable or unwilling to admit that the Republican assault on regulation was to blame.

Ninety minutes of forced cordiality did not erase the dismal ugliness of his campaign in recent weeks, nor did it leave us with much hope that he would not just return to the same dismal ugliness on Wednesday.

Ms. Palin, in particular, revels in the attack. Her campaign rallies have become spectacles of anger and insult. “This is not a man who sees America as you see it and how I see America,” Ms. Palin has taken to saying.

That line follows passages in Ms. Palin’s new stump speech in which she twists Mr. Obama’s ill-advised but fleeting and long-past association with William Ayers, founder of the Weather Underground and confessed bomber. By the time she’s done, she implies that Mr. Obama is right now a close friend of Mr. Ayers — and sympathetic to the violent overthrow of the government. The Democrat, she says, “sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect that he’s palling around with terrorists who would target their own country.”

Her demagoguery has elicited some frightening, intolerable responses. A recent Washington Post report said at a rally in Florida this week a man yelled “kill him!” as Ms. Palin delivered that line and others shouted epithets at an African-American member of a TV crew.

Mr. McCain’s aides haven’t even tried to hide their cynical tactics, saying they were “going negative” in hopes of shifting attention away from the financial crisis — and by implication Mr. McCain’s stumbling response.

We certainly expected better from Mr. McCain, who once showed withering contempt for win-at-any-cost politics. He was driven out of the 2000 Republican primaries by this sort of smear, orchestrated by some of the same people who are now running his campaign.

And the tactic of guilt by association is perplexing, since Mr. McCain has his own list of political associates he would rather forget. We were disappointed to see the Obama campaign air an ad (held for just this occasion) reminding voters of Mr. McCain’s involvement in the Keating Five savings-and-loan debacle, for which he was reprimanded by the Senate. That episode at least bears on Mr. McCain’s claims to be the morally pure candidate and his argument that he alone is capable of doing away with greed, fraud and abuse.

In a way, we should not be surprised that Mr. McCain has stooped so low, since the debate showed once again that he has little else to talk about. He long ago abandoned his signature issues of immigration reform and global warming; his talk of “victory” in Iraq has little to offer a war-weary nation; and his Reagan-inspired ideology of starving government and shredding regulation lies in tatters on Wall Street.

But surely, Mr. McCain and his team can come up with a better answer to that problem than inciting more division, anger and hatred.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/08/opinion/08wed1.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

:wirr:respekt

syracus

09.10.2008, 17:52

Keep The N*gger Out Of Office"

Cops: Man threatened voter officials over tardy registration card

OCTOBER 8--Angered by a delay in the receipt of his voter registration card, a Louisiana man today threatened to shoot election officials, claiming that he urgently needed to cast a ballot to "keep the nigger out of office," according to police. Wade Williams, 75, was arrested this morning on a felony terrorizing charge after allegedly calling the Registrar of Voters and warning that he would come to the state office and empty his shotgun unless he got his registration card. Using profanity and racial slurs, Williams told a state official "about needing to vote to 'keep the nigger out of office," according to an Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office affidavit, a copy of which you'll find here. Though the document does not name the candidate to which Williams is so violently opposed, it seems likely he was referring to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. After being arrested at his Monroe home, Williams was booked into the Ouachita Correctional Center, where the below mug shot was snapped. En route to the jail, he "continued his 'tirade' about niggers and also stated that he had a shotgun, but had it hidden at his residence," reported Lt. Michael Judd.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/1008082voter1.html

Ausgestorben sind sie nicht, die Rassisten im Süden, aber die Natur regelt die Dinge auch so von sich aus mit der Zeit :a

syracus

09.10.2008, 18:05

Michelle Obama, über ihre Kinder, Hillary ("She is a real pro and a woman with character") und McCain.......

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/08/michelle.obama/index.html#cnnSTCVideo

:)

syracus

10.10.2008, 18:30

John Kerry 10/10/2008

John McCain has shown a stunning failure of leadership. His campaign, in a time of economic crisis and foreign policy drift, has degenerated into a negative and nasty campaign of smears.

The reports are piling up of ugliness at the campaign rallies of John McCain and Sarah Palin. Audience members hurl insults and racial epithets, call out "Kill Him!" and "Off With His Head," and yell "treason" when Senator Obama's name is mentioned. I strongly condemn language like this which can only be described as hate-filled.

According to reports, every ad paid for by the John McCain campaign is now a negative ad -- every single one! McCain allows his running mate to make outrageous charges that only a few years ago would have disqualified someone from serious consideration for national office.

We cannot stand by and allow this to happen. We need to fight back, spread the word about what kind of low campaign he's running, and make sure people know the truth.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/10/kerry-mccain-palins-hate_n_133584.html

:wirr

syracus

11.10.2008, 08:12

Akt. 11.10.08; 07:01 Pub. 11.10.08; 06:53

Palin missbrauchte ihr Amt

Der Präsidentschafts- Wahlkampf der Republikaner hat einen Rückschlag erlitten. Nach einem in Alaska veröffentlichten Untersuchungsbericht hat die Kandidatin für die Vizepräsidentschaft, Sarah Palin, ihr Amt als Gouverneurin missbraucht.

Ein vom Kongress in Alaska eingesetzter Ausschuss kam am Freitag (Ortzeit) zum Schluss, dass Palin im Juni ihren Polizeichef zum Teil aus persönlicher Rachsucht entlassen hatte.

Auf Sanktionen oder strafrechtliche Ermittlungen wurde nach Medienberichten aber mit der Begründung verzichtet, dass eine Entlassung des Polizeichefs generell in der Befugnis der Gouverneurin gelegen habe.

Die Untersuchungen der mittlerweile als «Troopergate» bekannten Affäre hatten Wochen vor der Nominierung Palins als Nummer Zwei von Präsidentschaftskandidat John McCain Ende August begonnen.

Palin selbst hatte zunächst ihre Bereitschaft zur Zusammenarbeit mit dem Ausschuss erklärt, dies aber dann später mit der Begründung zurückgenommen, dass die Ermittlungen politisch «vergiftet» seien, da die Demokraten versuchten, daraus im Wahlkampf politisches Kapital zu schlagen.

Opfer eines Familienstreits

Polizeichef Walter Monegan war im Juni entlassen worden, Palin zufolge hauptsächlich wegen Budgetstreitigkeiten. Monegan selbst erklärte jedoch, dass er das Opfer eines hässlichen Disputs innerhalb der Palin-Familie geworden sei.

Nach eigenen Aussagen wurde er von Palin, deren Mann Todd und Mitarbeitern der Gouverneurin Dutzende Male indirekt, aber massiv unter Druck gesetzt, Palins Ex-Schwager, den Polizisten (Trooper) Mike Wooten, zu feuern.

Wooten hatte sich von der Schwester der Gouverneurin scheiden lassen und sich danach mit ihr einen erbitterten Sorgerechtsstreit geliefert.

19 Telefonate aus dem Hause Palin

Dem Untersuchungsbericht zufolge sah es der Ausschuss aufgrund von Zeugenaussagen als erwiesen an, dass Monegan mindestens 19 Telefonanrufe von Palin, ihrem Mann und Mitarbeitern erhielt, in denen zumindest indirekt auf eine Entlassung Wootens gedrungen wurde.

«Gouverneurin Palin liess wissentlich eine Situation zu, in der unerlaubter Druck auf verschiedene Untergebene ausgeübt wurde, um ein persönliches Ziel zu verfolgen: die Entlassung von Trooper Michael Wooten», heisst es in dem Report.

Beweise stützten die Schlussfolgerung, dass Palin zumindest durch «Untätigkeit, wenn nicht sogar durch aktive Beteiligung oder Unterstützung ihres Ehemannes» in einen «offiziellen Akt» verwickelt gewesen sei, der die Entlassung Wootens zum Ziel hatte.

http://www.20min.ch/news/dossier/uswahlen/story/Palin-missbrauchte-ihr-Amt-20335317

Noch ein Tiefschlag für McCain :dd

syracus

11.10.2008, 08:15

dabei hat er schon genug Probleme mit den eigenen "Fans" derzeit, vorallem den Rassisten und Rechtsextremen :schwitz

Crowd boos after McCain says Obama not 'an Arab'

By JONATHAN MARTIN & AMIE PARNES | 10/10/08 9:19 PM EDT

Fearing the raw and at times angry emotions of his supporters may damage his campaign, John McCain on Friday urged them to tone down their increasingly personal denunciations of Barack Obama, including one woman who said she had heard that the Democrat was "an Arab."

Each time he tried to cool the crowd, he was rewarded with a round of boos.

"I have to tell you. Sen. Obama is a decent person and a person you don’t have to be scared of as president of the United States," McCain told a supporter at a town hall meeting in Minnesota who said he was “scared” of the prospect of an Obama presidency and of who the Democrat would appoint to the Supreme Court.

“Come on, John!” one audience member yelled out as the Republicans crowd expressed their dismay at their nominee. Others yelled "liar," and "terrorist," referring to Barack Obama.

McCain passed his wireless microphone to one woman who said, "I can't trust Obama. I have read about him and he's not he's not uh—he's an Arab. He's not—" before McCain retook the microphone and replied:

"No, ma'am," the Arizona senator assured. "He's a decent family man [and] citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues and that's what this campaign's all about. He's not [an Arab]."

The public display of fear and unease over Obama comes at the end of a week in which other Republicans at McCain and Sarah Palin events expressed similar frustrations, a product of exasperation at the prospect of the Illinois senator becoming president and their own nominee not doing enough to prevent it.

McCain’s campaign manager, Rick Davis, sought to tamp down concerns about the audience outbursts on a conference call earlier Friday, saying they were not a “big deal.”

But that was before the highly-charged meeting in a high school gymnasium in Lakeville, Minnesota Friday night.

In addition to the man who said he feared Obama as president, another predicted the Democrat would “lead the country to socialism.”

“The time has come and the Bible tells us you speak the truth and that the truth sets you free,” the man added.

Yet another voter implored McCain in plain terms: "The people here in Minnesota want to see a real fight."

McCain promised the audience he wouldn’t back down—but again sought to tamp down emotions.

"We want to fight, and I will fight," McCain said. "But I will be respectful. I admire Sen. Obama and his accomplishments and I will respect him."

At which point he was booed again.

"I don't mean that has to reduce your ferocity," he added over the jeers. "I just mean to say you have to be respectful."

The anger is plainly worrying McCain and his campaign. Already viewed with skepticism by the conservative base, they don’t want to throw a proverbial wet blanket over the enthusiasm of the worker bees of the party. But they also fear a backlash from less partisan—and still undecided—voters seeing clips of the angry activists on TV and online.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14479.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf6YKOkfFsE

syracus

11.10.2008, 08:49

Weird. Sad. Surreal

10.10.08 -- 11:28PM
By Josh Marshall (http://talkingpointsmemo.com/joshmarshall.php)

This afternoon on the campaign trail, John McCain began dialing back (or began trying to appear to be dialing back) the rising tide of hatred and verbal violence he and his running mate have been whipping up over recent weeks. After all we've seen over recent months, I think it would naive to conclude that McCain did this for any other reason but that the attacks appeared to be backfiring. Perhaps that's ungenerous. But to think so requires a leap of faith, a judgment not grounded in any evidence from the last year of the man's behavior. The aim of such a bludgeoning assault is to force the subject of Obama's relationship to Ayers back to the center of the campaign dialogue. But that's not what happened. By week's end that campaign narrative was all about the ferocity and recklessness of McCain's attacks.

There's something else to note too. Over the last 48 hours several name brand Republicans have come out and either chided or denounced McCain's borderline incitement. And given how taboo it is to level such criticism of your own nominee at this stage of the election you have to assume these criticisms were only the tip of the iceberg, with a far more intense and angry barrage of criticism voiced privately.

The first passage to watch starts at 25 seconds in. A participant tells McCain he's "scared" of any Obama presidency and McCain responds that he "is a decent person and a person you do not have to be scared [of] as President of the United States."

Those are the words. But look at the facial expressions. McCain looks down as he says it and has the countenance of someone who been forced to tell someone else they're sorry. There's some mix of gritting your teeth and saying something you don't want to say mixed with some sort of shamefacedness. Look at the video. Because while I feel like I intuitively 'get' the gestures I find it hard to quite capture them in words. Perhaps you'll do better and you can share your thoughts with me.

In the next clip McCain is speaking up close with a woman in the audience who says she can't trust Obama and then blurts out that it's because he's "Arab". Some reports have it that she said 'Arab terrorist'. But at least on this tape only 'Arab' is audible.

McCain shakes his head, as though losing his patience and snatches the mic back out of woman's hands. "No, Ma'am. No, Ma'am. He's a decent family man, citizen, that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues." Again, there's a lot there when you actually see the video. And I encourage you to watch.

I get from his expression a sense of a man that is, in addition to all the other things he's angry about, is frustrated or angry at the situation he's gotten himself into. But he has sown the wind and now he's reaping the whirlwind. "Even," says TPM Reader RB, "as he says 'You don't have to be scared of an Obama presidency' to a handful of followers (and, more importantly, of national reporters), he is spending millions to bombard as many people as he can with the ad named "Dangerous". The small hand giveth, and the large hand taketh away."

And yet this conveys too much suggestion of planning and intent. I have more the sense of someone desperately casting about and losing control of the situation itself. Even hypocrites can get in over their heads. Indeed, in a more nuts-and-bolts strategic sense McCain has really gotten himself into a hole because the campaign he's been running has almost entirely been premised on the claim that you should be scared of an Obama presidency. Not that McCain, if he'd run a very different campaign, couldn't have run on issue disagreements with Obama. But right now if you take away fear of Obama becoming president, there's almost no reason not to vote for him since McCain has basically conceded the issue agenda to Obama. If you look at every poll for months, voters are dying for change. Fear of Obama is the only thing keeping him from leaving McCain in the dust. Take that away and McCain's done.

I'm not sure what else to say about this episode. But it is something to behold.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/223572.php

syracus

11.10.2008, 12:32

The Fight for the Jewish Vote

Obama was trailing, but Palin may hurt McCain

Catharine Skipp and Arian Campo-Flores
Newsweek Web Exclusive

Like many Jews in south Florida, Todd and Jamie Ehrenreich are registered Democrats who have faithfully cast ballots for their party's presidential nominees as long as they can remember. But this year, they'd decided to back Sen. John McCain, the Republican candidate. "We are over the $250,000 tax bracket, and we didn't want to lose our money," Jamie says. "We wanted to benefit from our own American dream."

Then McCain selected Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate—and "lost us in one fell swoop," says Jamie, who lives with her husband and two kids in Miami. She finds so much about Palin objectionable that she almost doesn't know where to begin. There's the abortion issue, for one. Palin "wouldn't want anyone to have an abortion even for rape or incest," says Jamie. "Who is she to judge by telling me how to live my life and overturning the things women have worked so hard for?" Equally disconcerting is Palin's seeming shallowness on some of the most pressing matters facing the country. "She doesn't know what she is talking about and makes it up as she goes along," says Jamie. "The fact that she had to be coached for two weeks [to prepare for the vice presidential debate] tells me she doesn't know anything. She just talks in circles."

The Ehrenreichs' reaction is hardly isolated. Many Florida Jews who had previously been open to McCain appear to share the couple's aversion to Palin, according to political scientists, polling data and anecdotal reporting. "She stands for all the wrong things in the eyes of the Jewish community," says Kenneth Wald, a professor at the University of Florida. Among the examples he cites: Palin seems to disdain intellectualism, she's a vociferous opponent of gun control and she attended a fundamentalist church that hosted Jews for Jesus, which seeks to convert Jews to Christianity. (Palin apparently sat through a speech by a leader of the group in which he said terrorist attacks on Israel were punishment for Israelis' failure to accept Jesus as the Messiah.) An American Jewish Committee poll taken in the weeks after Palin was picked found that 54 percent of respondents disapproved of her selection, compared to 37 percent who approved. And that was before the onslaught of withering criticism of her interviews with CBS's Katie Couric.

Such rejection of Palin could prove decisive on November 4. The Sunshine State has emerged once again as a key battleground, and "in a close election, Florida Jews could tip the scales," says State Rep. Adam Hasner, co-chair of McCain's Jewish steering committee there. Though Jews account for only 5 percent of Florida voters, they turn out reliably on election day. In 2004, Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic nominee, captured about 78 percent of the Jewish vote nationally—roughly in line with recent historical trends (Ronald Reagan's 39 percent in 1980 marked the high point for Republicans). But this year's Democratic nominee, Sen. Barack Obama, has appeared to lag among Jews. The AJC poll showed only 57 percent of Jews nationwide supporting Obama, with 30 percent backing McCain and 13 percent undecided. "There's no question that Obama came into this election with probably less going for him than most Democratic nominees," says Wald. But the Palin pick "probably blunted any gains the Republicans had made."

Obama's underperformance among Jews has numerous explanations. He was an unfamiliar figure to many as a result of his short U.S. Senate career. His Muslim-sounding middle name, Hussein, unsettled some Jews. And his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, has in the past praised Louis Farrakhan, who has made a host of anti-Semitic statements over the years. In Florida, most Jews backed Sen. Hillary Clinton during the primaries (though neither candidate competed there due to a dispute over the pushed-up voting date) and were sorely disappointed when she lost. Moreover, Obama has been the subject of a malicious—and mendacious—Internet smear campaign that has sought to stoke Jewish fears about his loyalty to Israel and supposed support for Palestinian causes. All of this "created an air of uncertainty," says Steven Windmueller, a professor at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles. "It was that level of doubt that has weakened his base of support that would normally be for the Democratic ticket."

McCain has sought to capitalize on those suspicions. For instance, he has hammered Obama relentlessly for saying he'd be willing to meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has called Israel a "stinking corpse." And McCain has touted himself as a foreign-policy hawk and a longstanding friend of Israel. He has also benefited from the backing of Sen. Joe Lieberman, an "independent Democrat" and the first Jewish vice presidential candidate, who has been barnstorming Florida and other states on McCain's behalf. Lieberman "is a rock star," says Florida State Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, the other co-chair of McCain's Jewish steering committee in the state. "I call him the Jewish Elvis Presley." Frank Luntz, a GOP pollster, says that McCain was polling higher than 30 percent among Jews in early September. If those numbers have since dropped, he would attribute the decline to the economic downturn, not to Palin. "Everyone keeps wanting to link it to Palin," he says. "No one cares about Palin. They care about the collapse in the stock market."

Obama has worked strenuously to combat Jewish misgivings about his candidacy. His campaign has highlighted the prominent role Jews played in his rise in Illinois politics. And he has appeared before numerous Jewish groups, including the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Washington, D.C., in June, when he declared Israel's security "sacrosanct" and "non-negotiable." The speech was well received and earned him a sort of "hechsher," says Wald—the certification from a rabbi that food is kosher. In Florida, Obama has dispatched well-regarded Jewish surrogates like U.S. Reps. Robert Wexler and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who have been making an emphatic case for the Democratic nominee. The Republicans "are wrong on funding and improving education, they are wrong on health care and wrong on civil rights and civil liberties," says Wasserman Schultz. "Barack Obama supports all our values, not just some of them."

Obama is also getting support from a recently announced campaign called The Great Schlep. Sponsored by the Jewish Council for Education and Research, its goal is to get young Jews from around the country to "schlep" to Florida to persuade their bubbes (grandmothers) and zaydes (grandfathers) to vote for Obama. The group enlisted comedian Sarah Silverman to shoot a humorous, expletive-filled video to promote its Web site, TheGreatSchlep.com. In it, she suggests that grandkids use threats if necessary. "If they vote for Barack Obama, they're going to get another visit this year," she says. "If not, let's just hope they stay healthy until next year."

Another boon for Obama: his choice of Sen. Joe Biden as his running mate. "He generally reflects the values of Jews even though he isn't one, and no one can question his credentials vis-à-vis Israel," says Ira Sheskin, a fellow at The Sue and Leonard Miller Center for Contemporary Judaic Studies at the University of Miami. In the AJC poll, 73 percent of respondents approved of Biden's selection, compared to only 15 percent who disapproved. Wexler, who recently toured the state with Biden, recounts how the Delaware senator regaled some elderly Jewish voters at Century Village in Deerfield Beach with stories of meeting Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir and her successor, Yitzhak Rabin. "It's great to be with mishpocheh [family]," Biden told them.

Biden is one of the reasons Hannah Handler Hostyk, an Orthodox Jew who lives in Hollywood, Fla., is planning to vote for the Democratic presidential ticket—a first for her. But Palin was the deciding factor. "I was shocked," she says. "I watched some of the speeches at the [Republican] convention and some of the debates. Each time, I was more and more appalled." Hostyk finds a number of Palin's traits disturbing: her hard-line position on abortion, her extreme religiosity and her apparent ignorance on economic and foreign-policy matters. "Basically, on every issue, Sarah Palin is not coming from where I'm coming from," says Hostyk. In the aftermath of the Palin pick, "Obama and Biden became the perfect ticket." If enough Florida Jews share such sentiments, they may help propel that ticket all the way to the White House.

URL: http://www.newsweek.com/id/163348

syracus

12.10.2008, 16:12

GOP Attacks on American Voters Turn Desperate, Ugly and Dangerous

by Bob Fitrakis/Harvey Wasserman

The GOP assault on American voters has hit full stride as John McCain and the economy tank in synch.

With just over three weeks until election day, the Republicans have mounted an all-out attack against newly registered voters and the organizations working to sign them up. As many as 75% of these new voters are expected to vote Democratic, but the attacks have also spread to long-established voters as well. Recent calculations show more than a million more newly registered Democrats in Ohio than Republicans.

The usual drumbeat claiming massive voter fraud has become ceaseless at Fox "News" and other right wing media mouthpieces.

As expected, the assault centers in Ohio, which once again could decide the presidency, but has manifested throughout the nation:

1) A Republican sheriff in Greene County, Ohio, has demanded social security and other records from 302 local voters whose ballots he apparently wants to negate. Sheriff Gene Fischer has requested registration cards and address forms for all Greene County residents who voted in a special session established in Ohio allowing new voters to register and vote on the same day. The process was challenged in court by the GOP. The Ohio Supreme Court turned down that challenge, and allowed the same-day voting to proceed. But now Fischer claims telephone calls complaining about the potential for voter fraud have prompted him to go after the information.

In Franklin County, home of Ohio State University, Columbus State Community College, Capital University, Ohio Dominican University, and Otterbein College, election protection observers are reporting continuing surveillance by Republicans at Veterans Memorial, the site for early voting. The observers have documented Republican operatives taking photographs and writing down license plate numbers of voters. Election activists expect similar criminal charges as in Greene County to be filed in the state's capital.

Greene County is home to Wright State, Central State, Wilberforce and Cedarville Universities, along with Antioch College, which was recently put out of business by a right-wing putsch on its board of directors.

Llyn McCoy, Greene County's deputy elections director, says names, telephone and Social Security numbers will be blacked out of any records handed over to the Sheriff. According to McCoy, the Sheriff says he has no evidence of voter fraud other than phone calls stating fraud was a possibility. It is widely assumed that the same-day registration/voting option was exercised primarily by students who lean heavily Democratic. In 2004, African-American students from Wright State, Central State and Wilberforce were regularly challenged on their registration credentials and forced to endure waiting in lines to vote for hours. Students at Cedarville, a Christian school, made no such reports. Sheriff Fischer's targeting of historically black college students, the core of Obama-mania, is intended to send a chilling effect through the ranks of these Democratic voters.

2) U.S. District Court Judge George C. Smith, a Reagan appointee, has approved a GOP lawsuit demanding that the state give county boards of elections great leeway in attacking new voter registration forms. The decision, framed under the Help America Vote Act, would allow Republican challengers access to data from the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and the Social Security agency to challenge new voters. The Judge noted that Ohio law permits challenges to absentee ballots, thousands of which have been pouring in to elections boards. If allowed to stand, it could give the GOP the right to shred ballots already cast in the Buckeye State, with the precedent possibly being used to further enable a GOP nationwide disenfranchisement campaign. Smith gave Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner a week to respond. Brunner has stated she will appeal.

3) Before the ruling, Brunner announced at the close of registration that the number of registered voters in Ohio had jumped by 665,949, from 7,518,189 active voters on January 1, 2008, to 8,184,138 active voters now. About 5.4 million votes were officially counted in Ohio's 2004 presidential election. Then-Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell certified a Bush victory of less than 119,000 votes. A massive GOP disenfranchisement campaign could easily exceed that margin.

4) The New York Times has reported that boards of elections in at least nine crucial states, including Ohio, have violated federal law in conducting purges and have been illegally using Social Security data bases as part of those purges. The Times' Ian Urbina quotes Colorado Secretary of State Mike Coffman as asking the Colorado Attorney-General to review how some 2,500 citizens were removed from the registration lists there. The Times has cited purges in Colorado, Louisiana and Michigan that have apparently been conducted within 90 days of the upcoming November 4 election, violating federal law that allows states to expunge only those who have been convicted of a felony, moved out of state or died.

5) The Times has also reported that boards of elections in Nevada, North Carolina, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio have illegally used federal Social Security databases to flag and possibly eliminate voters whose registration applications were suspected of irregularities. The Times reported some 37,000 Colorado voters removed in the three weeks after July 21; Secretary Coffman said the number was 14,000.

6) Michigan elections director Christopher Thomas said his state had removed about 11,000 voters in August, while the Times estimated the real number to be closer to 33,000. Thomas refused to make the purged files public. Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land is a long-standing Republican partisan whose political activism traces back to the mid-70s when she worked for Gerald Ford's campaign in high school. Critics charge that she functions in the traditional of Florida's Katherine Harris and Ohio's J. Kenneth Blackwell.

7) North Carolina's BOE director Gary Bartlett dismissed concerns raised by the Social Security Administration about possible mis-used of SS files to purge registrations there in conjunction with drivers licenses. The SSI contends Social Security numbers can only be accessed when there is no drivers license or other form of state ID available.

8) A CBS News report has revealed organized caging attempts by the GOP to eliminate registered voters from the rolls in 19 states. The report marks one of the first initiated by a corporate news organization isolating Republican anti-vote campaigning.

9) An electronic voting machine in New Mexico was found to be operating on faulty software which could have eliminated hundreds of votes. The glitch was apparently corrected, but was of a type that could result in thousands of votes being lost on Election Day 2008, as they were in 2000 and 2004.

10) The grassroots organizing group ACORN has come under serious attack in Nevada, Missouri, Ohio and elsewhere from Republicans attempting to negate the thousands of generally low-income citizens ACORN has registered to vote. As a matter of law, ACORN is required to report irregular registrations that come through its process. But GOP operatives have equated these with "fraudulent" filings, and a have ramped up a smear and fear campaign aimed at negating thousands of legitimate ACORN registrants throughout the US.

11) The GOP continues to resist attempts to subpoena Michael Connell, a shady Republican computer operative who programmed the 2000 Bush-Cheney web site. Connell was also hired by former Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell in 2004 to tabulate the Ohio vote count. Under Connell, Ohio's vote totals were shunted to a computer bank in the same basement in Chattanooga, Tennessee, that housed the servers of the Republican National Committee. In the early hours of the morning after election day, vote totals mysteriously began shifting from Kerry to Bush, swinging the 2004 election. Connell's cyber-security industry colleague Stephen Spoonamore, a Republican and former McCain supporter, has said that Connell may be able to shed light on vote count rigging in the 2008 vote count as well. Attorneys in the King-Lincoln-Bronzeville civil rights lawsuit have thus far been unable to secure Connell's sworn testimony.

12) CNN has reported that Obama's surging poll numbers may leave him "in position to steal Virginia from the GOP." Virginia hasn't backed a Democratic presidential candidate since Lyndon Johnson in 1964, but CNN's use of the word "steal" has raised hackles among election protection activists who argue the flow of theft is in the other direction.

As the moment of truth arrives, McCain-Palin attacks based on race, alleged "terrorist" ties and more are sure to increasingly dominate the GOP campaign. But far more insidious will be an all-out assault on voter registration in the name of "voter fraud," and on finding new ways to undermine the national vote, most importantly on electronic voting machines of the kind programmed by Michael Connell.

If those supporting the democratic process are not exceedingly vigilant, the GOP could use these tactics to once again take the White House.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/10/11-4

Scheint, als ob die absehbare Verliererseite mal wieder "dirty tricks" versucht, schon vor der Wahl :schwitz

lunar

12.10.2008, 17:55

Probe Finds Palin Abused Power in Case of Trooper (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/10/10/ST2008101003254.html)

Article | An Alaska state legislative investigator found yesterday that Gov. Sarah Palin abused executive power when she and her husband engaged in a campaign to oust her former brother-in-law from the state police force.

http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2008/10/10/PH2008101001569.jpg (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2008/10/10/VI2008101001581.html)

Video ---> Troopergate Hounds Palin (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2008/10/10/VI2008101001581.html)

The soon-to-be released report is expected to show Todd Palin's involvement in the dismissal of an Alaska official, reports John Blackstone. Bob Schieffer discusses the probe's likely effect.

Probe Finds Palin Abused Power in Case of Trooper

By James V. Grimaldi and Kimberly Kindy (http://projects.washingtonpost.com/staff/email/james+v.+grimaldi+and+kimberly+kindy/)
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, October 11, 2008; Page A01

An Alaska state legislative investigator found yesterday that Gov. Sarah Palin (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Sarah+Palin?tid=informline) abused executive power when she and her husband engaged in a campaign to oust her former brother-in-law from the state police force.....

lunar

13.10.2008, 10:36

lunar

13.10.2008, 13:12

Hockey mom Sarah Palin boo'd at hockey game.

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=gd4wQd_gbj8&feature=related :rolleyes

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e164/bobgeiger/infrastructure/blog_banner_2007_1.jpg (http://bobgeiger.blogspot.com/)
Saturday, October 11, 2008

Palin Booed Off The Ice In Philly

And what exactly did the McCain-Palin ticket expect when having her make an appearance (http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1008/Booed_on_the_ice.html?showall) at any sporting event in a heavily-Democratic city like Philadelphia?

syracus

13.10.2008, 17:44

October 12, 2008, 6:48 pm

Obama Knocks on Doors in Ohio

By Jeff Zeleny

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/10/12/us/politics/12obama-ohio.jpg

TOLEDO, Ohio – For months, supporters of Senator Barack Obama have been knocking on doors across the country to rally enthusiasm for his candidacy. On Sunday, he joined them at a few doorsteps.

As Mr. Obama arrived in northern Ohio to begin preparing for his third debate with Senator John McCain later this week, he made a detour to the Lincoln Green neighborhood of Holland for nearly an hour of impromptu door-to-door campaigning.

The locations of Mr. Obama’s debate camp have been built around the politics of battleground geography. For the first debate, he and his circle of advisers converged on Florida. For his next debate, the Obama team hunkered down in North Carolina. And for the final encounter with Mr. McCain, the Obama campaign selected the Toledo area.

His visit on Shrewsbury Street clearly took some residents by surprise, including Sue Sekel, 43, who was cleaning her house when the presidential candidate rang the doorbell.

“The one day I come home to clean ceiling fans and look like crap, and then this happens,” said Ms. Sekel, who pulled out her cell phone to snap a photograph with Mr. Obama. She told him that she had already voted early, but declined to tell a small group of pool reporters who she supported.

But Mr. Obama seemed to give away the secret, saying: “I appreciate that,” before moving to the next house on the block.

As word spread that he was in the neighborhood, a crowd began to gather, nearly all of whom seemed to be excited by the political visit. Before leaving, though, he was confronted by a man, who shouted: “Do you believe in the American Dream?”

When Mr. Obama answered yes, the man said he had a follow-up question.

“I’m being taxed more and more for fulfilling the American Dream,” the man said, perhaps referring to Mr. Obama’s plan to increase taxes for those making $250,000 a year or more . While Mr. Obama ran through a series of points about how his plan would mean tax cuts for 95 percent of people, that didn’t seem to convince the man.

“I’ve got to go prepare for this debate,” Mr. Obama said as he walked away. “But that was pretty good practice.”

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/obama-knocks-on-doors-in-ohio/

lunar

14.10.2008, 10:12

McCain may rue attacks 'rest of his life'

By ANDY BARR (http://www.politico.com/reporters/AndyBarr.html) | 10/13/08 5:59 PM EDT

http://images.politico.com/global/080825_biden_vogel.jpg

“It’s not a useful time to be running an ad that says the guy consorts with terrorists,” Joe Biden says.
Photo: AP
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14541.html

syracus

14.10.2008, 16:42

From Quinnipiac/washingtonpost.com/Wall Street Journal polls:

Colorado: Obama 52, McCain 43

Michigan: Obama 54, McCain 38

Minnesota: Obama 51, McCain 40

Wisconsin: Obama 54, McCain 37

Dates conducted: Oct. 8-12. Error margin: Ranges 2.8-3.1 points.

http://thepage.time.com/2008/10/14/obama-leading-in-fou... (http://thepage.time.com/2008/10/14/obama-leading-in-fou...)

This Land Is Your Land

This land is your land This land is my land
From California to the New York island;
From the red wood forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and Me.

As I was walking that ribbon of highway,
I saw above me that endless skyway:
I saw below me that golden valley:
This land was made for you and me.

I've roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts;
And all around me a voice was sounding:
This land was made for you and me.

When the sun came shining, and I was strolling,
And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling,
As the fog was lifting a voice was chanting:
This land was made for you and me.

As I went walking I saw a sign there
And on the sign it said "No Trespassing."
But on the other side it didn't say nothing,
That side was made for you and me.

In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,
By the relief office I seen my people;
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking
Is this land made for you and me?

Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can ever make me turn back
This land was made for you and me.

syracus

14.10.2008, 16:57

North Dakota blau :eek , West Virginia blau:ek , glaub ich beides nicht wirklich, wär ja seit den 50er oder 60er-Jahren das erste Mal für die Dems. aber auch so, "race is over", noch nie gewann die Partei an der Macht in einer Rezession, noch nie gewann die Präsidentenpartei wenn der unter 35% Beliebtheit hatte, noch nie verlor einer der landesweit zweistellig voraus war :a

News from the Votemaster

U.S. Government Will Nationalize the Banks

Just a week after announcing that it was absolutely essential for the government to buy up all the toxic mortgages and that no other solution was possible, treasury secretary Henry Paulson has now ditched his plan and is going to (partially) buy the banks (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/13/AR2008101300184.html?hpid=topnews). This move effectively nationalizes them. The British government did this over the weekend and it led to a huge stock market rally in Europe. Paulson II caused the Dow Jones index to jump 936 points yesterday, its biggest one-day gain in history. While Paulson will never admit it, the plan to buy the banks was originally proposed by the liberal Democrats. However, he steamrollered them into submission and they voted for his plan because without it. he said, the sky would fall. Government ownership of the banks is a hallmark of socialism, of course. Who would have thought that the October surprise was for the Bush administration to come out of the closet and become overt socialists three weeks before a hotly contested election? The reaction of the Republican rank and file is yet to come. No doubt this subject will get a lot of play in tomorrow's third and final presidential debate.

Paul Krugman Wins the Nobel Prize for Economics

Princeton professor of economics and New York Times op-ed columnist has won (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/14/business/economy/14econ.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin) the Nobel Prize for economics. Krugman has been a vociferous and unrelenting critic of George Bush and John McCain, especially their economic policies. While Krugman got the prize for his work on the impact of global trade, this award will only enhance his prestige and increase the size of his megaphone.

Palin Whips the Base into a Frenzy

The decision to pick an unknown evangelical governor as John McCain's running mate has succeeded beyond Steve Schmidt's wildest dreams. Way beyond. Sarah Palin has perfect aim when throwing red meat to partisan crowds and whipping them into a frenzy to the point when people at rallies yell: "terrorist" and "kill him" about Obama. Then Palin can conveniently say she did not say that but the point is made anyway. Of course when this happens she could say: "Somebody grab that guy and drag him out of here. I don't want people like that at my rallies" but she never does. She winks and basks. The trouble for Palin and now McCain is that this frenzy has been widely reported and condemned and it is turning off crucial independent voters in droves. The featured commentary (http://www.intrade.com/jsp/intrade/misc/blog/?initialBlogId=keiser_1) at intrade.com (http://www.intrade.com/) is about Palin, saying: "Rove's creation has turned into a mob baying for blood." Even leading conservative columnists don't like this. Kathleen Parker has called for her to drop off the ticket (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-092608-kathleen-parker-column-link,0,889134.column). The bettors agree that Rove III is not working. Ten shares of McCain stock cost $23 this morning. This means that if you are absolutely convinced McCain will win, you can invest, say, $23,000 now and collect $100,000 in 3 weeks if McCain wins.

The consequence of this whole campaign could be far reaching. If Obama wins and the exit polls show independents voted overwhelmingly for him, the pundits are going to lay the blame at Palin's high heels and advise the GOP to forget the evangelicals and run candidates with financial expertise (like Mitt Romney) in the future. Needless to say, the evangelicals, who finally got one of their own on the ticket, won't take this well and the ensuing battle will tear the Republican Party to bits.

More on the Bradley Effect

The Bradley Effect gets its name from the 1982 gubernatorial race in which the late Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley (who was black) lost despite being ahead in the polls. Only it is not true according to the pollster working for the winner, George Deukmejian. In an article (http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/10/the_bradley_effect_selective_m.html) on Real Clear Politics, Deukmejian's pollster, Lance Tarrance, says that his polls showed Bradley's once-impressive lead had dwindled to 1 point by election day. In other words, he says that the polls did not predict a Bradley win, they predicted a too-close-to-call race. Tarrance was there at polling ground zero and doesn't believe in any such effect at all. Another interesting fact to toss into the hopper.

http://www.electoral-vote.com/

syracus

14.10.2008, 17:26

October 14, 2008, 10:22 am

McCain Is ‘Getting Annihilated’ in Four Battleground States

Sara Murray reports on the presidential race.

In another piece of bad news for John McCain, rival Barack Obama has taken a solid lead in four battleground states, according to the latest round of Quinnipiac University polls conducted in conjuction with The Wall Street Journal and WashingtonPost.com.

Obama has a healthy 17-point lead, 54%-37%, in Wisconsin—a critical state for McCain—and Obama’s widest margin in the poll. McCain’s campaign redirected staff and resources there after abandoning Michigan earlier this month.

In Michigan, Obama has a similar 16-point lead, 54%-38%. In Minnesota, Obama leads 51%-40%. In Colorado, Obama leads 52%-43%.

Obama’s prospects have improved in the wake of two nationally televised presidential debates with McCain, and enhanced by the fact that the electorate views him as better prepared to deal with the economy.

More significantly, Obama now has opened a strong lead with independent voters, a key bloc. More than half of independent voters in each of the four battleground states said they were supporting Obama.

“This election was always going to be about which candidate could win over independents,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. And Sen. McCain is “getting annihilated in these states.”

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/10/14/mccain-is-getting-annihilated-by-obama-in-wi-mi-mn-co

lunar

14.10.2008, 17:38

@syr - Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band- Tougher Than The Rest (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwAsFFpjlg4)http://smiliestation.de/smileys/Liebe/130.gifMSNBC - USA Stream (http://www.channelsurfing.net/watch-msnbc.html)

:supi:supi:supi

*************************************************

Moanday Funnies (http://maruthecrankpot.blogspot.com/2008/10/moanday-funnies.html)

Sarah Palin Remixed (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRNNPDnuIxU)
(http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/slideshow/photo//081013/480/df31609e4849466094b710181193af07/)

lunar

15.10.2008, 16:55

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20081014/capt.a7db9d95379f42edabecc00356d3dcfe.bobblehead_candidates_ohas101.jpg?x=273&y=345&q=85&sig=qJTC7ABuzyqcmn5eoaIlRA--
TONIGHT! (http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081015/D93QTEQ00.html)

syracus

15.10.2008, 18:19

McCain's Transition Chief Lobbied for Saddam Hussein

The person charged with planning the McCain administration, William Timmons, lobbied (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/14/mccain-transition-chief-a_n_134595.html) for Saddam Hussein in an effort to get the international community off his back. Obama challenged McCain to talk about William Ayers to his face at the debate tonight and McCain accepted the challenge. What was Obama thinking? Maybe he will bring up Timmons and point that he (Obama) was 8 years old and living in Indonesia when Ayers was planting crude bombs but McCain knowingly chose Saddam Hussein's lobbyist for an important job in his campaign. There could be fireworks if Obama brings this up.

http://www.electoral-vote.com/

Autsch :bäh

lunar

15.10.2008, 21:26

...bei DU gesehen ;)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/revesta/rf101508.gif

lunar

16.10.2008, 15:44

THREE FOR THREE (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/15/who-won-the-last-debate-o_n_135066.html)

CBS, CNN, FOX INSTANT REACTION... OBAMA TROUNCES MCCAIN (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/15/who-won-the-last-debate-o_n_135066.html)

http://images.huffingtonpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/441/slide_441_10819_large.jpg http://www.huffingtonpost.com/images/v/slideshow/nav_left.gif (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/#) • (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/#) • (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/#) • (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/#) • (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/#) • (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/#) • (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/#) • (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/#) • (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/#) • (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/#) • (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/#) • (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/#)
Barack Obama and John McCain face off for the last time...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/images/v/slideshow/nav_right.gif (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/#)

REACTION: (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huffingtonpost/obama-mccain-presidential_b_135047.html)Arianna Huffington: McCain's Losing Strategy: Double Down On The Anger... (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/mccains-losing-strategy-d_b_135109.html)Nora Ephron:McCain Seemed Off His Meds... (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nora-ephron/off-the-meds_b_135113.html)Bob Shrum: Put McCain Out Of His Misery... Marty Kaplan: The Relentless Close-Ups Of McCain Were Cruel... Ari Melber: McCain's Entire Offensive Muddled... (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huffingtonpost/obama-mccain-presidential_b_135047.html)David Gergen: McCain "An Exercise In Anger Management... He Brought Back Memories Of Bob Dole In 1996"... (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/15/gergen-mccain-an-exercise_n_135073.html)NYT: McCain Seemed "Angry And Desperate"... (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/16/opinion/16thu1.html)
Ambinder: "We Saw A McXplosion"... Josh Marshall: McCain Didn't Land "Any Solid Punches" (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/15/third-presidential-debate_n_135091.html)

DEBATE HIGHLIGHTS... McCain Forced To Say It To Obama's Face... McCain: My Feelings Have Been Hurt By Accusations Of Racism... Obama: The American Public Cares About Issues, Not Our Feelings... (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/15/bob-schieffer-say-it-to-e_n_135054.html)Obama: Mr. Ayers Has Been The Centerpiece Of McCain's Campaign... Let's Get The Record Straight... (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/15/final-debate-mccain-bring_n_135060.html)
MORE DEBATE HIGHLIGHTS... BLOGGING... VIDEO (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/05/presidential-debate-moder_n_117048.html)
Read HuffPost's Debate Big News Page... (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/presidential-debates)

Trüffelschwein

17.10.2008, 00:16

:lach

http://img2.abload.de/img/10599925__john_20mccainzy0.jpg (http://www.aktienboard.com/vb/showthread.php?t=108928&page=145#nolink)

lunar

17.10.2008, 10:03

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20081017/i/r2339706035.jpg?x=400&y=310&q=85&sig=Ox5NEEc9iwjnlGdWOPMsLw--

GALLUP SHOCK: 49 OBAMA, 47 MCCAIN WITH LIKELY VOTERS

GALLUP's 'traditional' likely voter model shows Obama with a two-point advantage over McCain on Thursday, 49% to 47%, this is within poll's margin of error... Developing...

http://www.drudgereport.com/

:confused:confused:confused:confused:confused syr was sagst Du dazu :confused:confused:confused:confused:confused

Luigi

17.10.2008, 14:39

würde mich auch interessieren, syr

http://www.gallup.com/poll/111211/Gallup-Daily-Obama-49-McCain-43.aspx

October 16, 2008

Gallup Daily: Obama 49%, McCain 43%

Obama maintains lead, but falls under 50%

USA (http://www.gallup.com/tagbox/USA.aspx)
Election 2008 (http://www.gallup.com/tagbox/Election%2b2008.aspx)
Gallup Daily (http://www.gallup.com/tagbox/Gallup%2bDaily.aspx)
Americas (http://www.gallup.com/tagbox/Americas.aspx)
Northern America (http://www.gallup.com/tagbox/Northern%2bAmerica.aspx)
PRINCETON, NJ -- The latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking (http://www.gallup.com/tag/Gallup%2bDaily.aspx) report from Monday through Wednesday shows Barack Obama with a 49%to 43% lead over John McCain among registered voters.

http://sas-origin.onstreammedia.com/origin/gallupinc/GallupSpaces/Production/Cms/POLL/ubsz-37cfke2ic0nm9vmva.gif

Almost all of the interviews in this three-day rolling average were conducted before Wednesday night's third and final presidential debate at Hofstra University, which began at 9 p.m. ET. It will be several days before the full impact of this debate can be measured in the three-day rolling average, although its initial impact might be apparent as early as Friday's report.

Meanwhile, the current rolling average shows that McCain has done slightly better in the days leading into the debate. McCain's 43% share of the vote matches his best in the last two weeks. Today's average also represents the first time since the Sept. 30 - Oct. 2 average that Obama has received less than 50% support from registered voters, although Obama continues to maintain a significant lead among this group. (To view the complete trend since March 7, 2008, click here (http://www.gallup.com/poll/107674/Interactive-Graph-Follow-General-Election.aspx).)

Gallup is presenting two likely voter estimates to see how preferences might vary under different turnout scenarios. The "expanded" model determines likely voters based only on current voting intentions. This estimate would take into account higher turnout among groups of voters traditionally less likely to vote, such as young adults and minorities. That model has generally produced results that closely match the registered voter figures, but with a lower undecided percentage, and show Obama up by six percentage points today, 51% to 45%.

The "traditional" likely voter model, which Gallup has employed for past elections, factors in prior voting behavior as well as current voting intention. This has generally shown a closer contest, reflecting the fact that Republicans have typically been more likely to vote than Democrats in previous elections. Today's results show Obama with a two-point advantage over McCain using this likely voter model, 49% to 47%, this is within the poll's margin of error. -- Frank Newport

http://sas-origin.onstreammedia.com/origin/gallupinc/GallupSpaces/Production/Cms/POLL/e2u1vywun0g1afqhuuxiuq.gif

(Click here (http://www.gallup.com/tag/Key%2bIndicators.aspx) to see how the race currently breaks down by demographic subgroup.)

Survey Methods

For the Gallup Poll Daily tracking survey, Gallup is interviewing no fewer than 1,000 U.S. adults nationwide each day during 2008.

The general-election results are based on combined data from Oct. 13-15, 2008. For results based on this sample of 2,786 registered voters, the maximum margin of sampling error is ±2 percentage points.

For results based on the sample of 2,143 "traditional" likely voters (based on the model taking into account current voting intention and past voting behavior), the maximum margin of sampling error is ±2 percentage points.

For results based on the sample of 2,312 more broadly defined likely voters (based on the model taking into account current voting intention only), the maximum margin of sampling error is ±2 percentage points.

Interviews are conducted with respondents on landline telephones (for respondents with a landline telephone) and cellular phones (for respondents who are cell phone only).

In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

syracus

17.10.2008, 19:38

Direkt gesagt: ich schlaf ruhig und habe heute für den 5. November frei genommen:p

Nö, Teufel liegt im Detail:

Gallup's likely voter scenarios show differing patterns. If turnout in this year's election follows traditional patterns (http://www.gallup.com/poll/111124/Gallup-Daily-Likely-Voters-Traditional.aspx) by which the voting electorate skews towards those who usually vote as well as those who are interested in this year's election, the race is a close one, with Obama holding on to a two percentage point margin, 49% to 47%. If a much higher than usual proportion of new voters turn out (http://www.gallup.com/poll/111121/Gallup-Daily-Likely-Voters-Expanded.aspx), thus increasing the potential impact of groups of voters traditionally less likely to vote, such as young adults and minorities, Obama has a six-point lead, 51% to 45%.

Aufgrund des ganzen Vorwahlkampfes mit einer Beteiligung die alles bekannte gesprengt hat und gesamthaft über 8 Millionen "Neuwähler" ist anzunehmen, dass eher nicht der "traditionelle" Wert zum tragen kommt, und somit nicht das knappere Resultat. Im weiteren würd ich nicht nur auf Gallup schauen (wie etwa Drudge derzeit, da aber nur ein Wert und zum ersten Mal seit Wochen Gallup, bis anhin war Zogby dort "Liebling"...) sondern auf einen Schnitt. Wie etwa auf Real Clear Politics. Oder der "Umfragewert" der 2004 wie 2000 mit Abstand am besten war, Intrade, wo man die Kandidaten mit echtem Geld wie Aktien handelt.

Intrade Obama 83.9%, McCain 15.9%

http://www.intrade.com/jsp/intrade/trading/t_index.jsp?selConID=409933

Ansonsten, landesweite Umfragen sind eigentlich nicht der Schlüssel, es sind Wahlen je Bundesstaat. Obama braucht Iowa und 11 weitere EV's, Virginia hat die bei Obama 10% plus, North Carolina hätte noch mehr, da ist es aber gleichauf. Florida wie Ohio benötigt Obama nicht dieses Jahr, anders als Gore oder Kerry...

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/

syracus

17.10.2008, 22:30

Fri, Oct. 17, 2008

Pennsylvania Democrats now outnumber GOP by almost 1.2 million

By Anthony R. Wood
Inquirer Staff Writer

Pennsylvania, which voted Democratic in the 2004 presidential election by the narrowest of margins, has taken on a decidedly bluer look, based on the latest registration figures.

Since the April primary, Democrats have added to their record margin and now outnumber Republicans by almost 1.2 million statewide. And Democrats have made dramatic gains in Philadelphia's suburbs.

Analysts cite an extraordinary set of circumstances, including the hotly contested Pennsylvania primary - a race played out over six weeks - for pumping up the numbers.

They agree that while it is unclear how the registration numbers will affect vote totals, they will not work to the GOP's advantage.

"You would probably want to be a Democratic candidate, rather than a Republican," said Scott Keeter, director of survey research for the Pew Research Center, in Washington. A Pew poll also found Democratic gains in several other swing states.

Republicans have all but conceded New Jersey, where Democrats hold a 2-1 registration edge. But both John McCain and Barack Obama could qualify for frequent-visitor passes in Pennsylvania, where the campaigns had spent $27 million in TV advertising through the end of last month. Pennsylvania is one of the nation's richest electoral prizes, with 21 votes.

Pennsylvania's ratio of registered Democrats to Republicans, nearly 3-2, topped even that of 1976, after the GOP had been damaged by the Watergate scandal that drove President Richard M. Nixon from office.

Challenges could result in some changes to the final figures, which are expected next week. Through Monday, however, 8.7 million Pennsylvania voters had registered, an all-time high. Democrats have shown an unprecedented net gain of 614,008 in the last four years, which surprised even Obama's Pennsylvania organization, said spokesman Sean Smith.

"They are amazingly stunning," said Francis G. Lee, a political science professor at St. Joseph's University, who lives in Delaware County, where Democrats posted a net gain of 28 percent from 2004.

In 2004, only 150,000 votes separated Democratic nominee John Kerry and President Bush.

"There's no doubt they did a good job of registering voters," GOP spokesman Michael Barley said of the Democrats.

The Republican Party is "troubled" by the Democratic gains, but Barley questioned how many new voters would show up on Nov. 4, how they would vote, or how many of the registrations would end up being valid.

Republicans also have questioned the validity of thousands of new registrations, in Pennsylvania and across the country, collected by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform, known as ACORN.

A senior Philadelphia election official said yesterday that the city had discovered about 1,200 possibly fraudulent voter registrations - almost all of them submitted by ACORN - and had turned them over to the U.S. Attorney's Office for criminal investigation.

Patty Hartman, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, said she couldn't confirm or deny any investigation. But she said, "We are aware that there are allegations out there against ACORN, and we are reviewing the allegations appropriately."

ACORN representative Ali Kronley said the organization had not been notified that the commissioners turned over suspect forms to the U.S. Attorney. But she said the number, 1,200, was consistent with ACORN's own records, which show that ACORN flagged 1,294 forms out of the approximately 85,000 it collected in the city.

In Philadelphia, the number of registrants, 1.1 million, actually exceeds the census count of the eligible population. The city has identified 58,000 "duplicate" registrations, and the actual number of eligible voters on the rolls is probably closer to a million, said the election board's Bob Lee.

Keeter, of the Pew Research Center, said that the final figures for Pennsylvania were unlikely to change much and would point to an extraordinary turnaround in a state where the GOP held mammoth registration advantages from the New Deal era through the 1950s.

In Philadelphia and the four suburban counties, Democrats gained 317,708, with a 22 percent jump in Chester County; 21 in Montgomery; 12 in Bucks; and 8 in Philadelphia, where Republicans are outnumbered 6-1.

In the once solidly Republican suburbs, the GOP advantage has fallen from almost 350,000 in 2000 to fewer than 20,000.

Similar shifts have occurred in other Northeastern metropolitan areas, such as New York and Boston, said Francis Lee. That is at least partly the result of people moving out of the city and taking their Democratic voting habits with them.

In Philadelphia's case, 2008 registrations got a mighty boost from the Pennsylvania primary race between Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Obama, said Tom Lindenfield, a Washington consultant who helped organize the state's Obama registration drive.

The six-week wait between the Mississippi primary and Pennsylvania's, on April 22, allowed Democrats to focus efforts on signing up voters, he said.

Prospective voters were not only energized by Obama and Clinton. General dissatisfaction with the Bush administration and concerns about the Iraq war helped swell the voter rolls.

"You don't have that many big states that could have felt the same kind of forces," said Keeter.

Randall M. Miller, a history professor at St. Joseph's and a veteran political observer, said Democrats benefited from more than good fortune.

He said they were focused and well-organized and used the Internet and new technologies to recruit voters.

Said Miller, "They out-thought and out-hustled the Republicans."

It is too soon to determine whether Pennsylvania will lose its battleground status, the experts cautioned.

But should Obama win big in the state, it is possible that Pennsylvanians would see less of presidential candidates and their advertising dollars in future campaigns.

"Clearly," said professor Francis Lee, "they would be foolish to spend money in Pennsylvania."

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_top_stories/20081017_Pa__Democrats_now_outnumber_GOP_by_almost_1_2_million.html

:rolleyes

lunar

17.10.2008, 23:36

Just KKKidding! (http://maruthecrankpot.blogspot.com/2008/10/just-kkkidding.html)

A little innocent fun (http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_buck16.3d67d4a.html) among Republicans.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_iYrhopY-rI4/SPiJyCKee1I/AAAAAAAAD-w/sr2bkkQYl8g/s400/racist16_400.jpg (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_iYrhopY-rI4/SPiJyCKee1I/AAAAAAAAD-w/sr2bkkQYl8g/s1600-h/racist16_400.jpg)

How dare anybody accuse them of being racist!

...diese Leue disqualifizieren sich selber :kopf

syracus

18.10.2008, 19:57

Saturday, October 18, 2008

GOP turnout lagging in heavy N. Carolina early voting

Thursday's first day of early voting drew record numbers across North Carolina, election officials said, as more than 100,000 people turned out.

That exceeded the 2004 figure by about 40 percent, said Gary Bartlett, executive director of the State Board of Elections.

"We blew it away," Bartlett said Friday, encouraging other voters to take advantage of the early voting period before it ends on Nov. 1. "If not, it will be a long day on Election Day."

Mecklenburg County, where Chgarlotte is located, also set records, with an updated count showing more than 10,000 voting on the first day, and an additional 7,000 on Friday. Michael Dickerson, the county's elections director, suspects Friday's totals might have been higher if not for the rain.

Across the state, Democrats showed the most first-day enthusiasm. Of the nearly 114,000 first-day voters, 64 percent were Democrats, 21 percent Republicans and 15 percent unaffiliateds.

African American turnout was up significantly. Black voters, who make up about 22 percent of registered voters, were 36 percent of Thursday's early voters.

In 2004, blacks made up 18.6 percent of voters.

Experts estimate that Barack Obama needs a black turnout in North Carolina of between 22 percent to 23 percent to carry the state. No Democratic presidential candidate has carried North Carolina since Jimmy Carter in 1976.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/54396.html

syracus

18.10.2008, 21:41

http://s.wsj.net/media/obamastlouis_Q_20081018135311.jpg

Barack Obama attracted 100,000 people at a Saturday rally here, his biggest crowd ever at a U.S. event.

The crowd assembled under the Gateway Arch on a sunny Saturday afternoon to hear Obama speak about taxes and slam the Republicans on economic issues.

Lt. Samuel Dotson of the St. Louis Police Department confirmed the number of attendees piled into the grassy lawn flanked by the Missouri capital and the Missouri River.

A Rasmussen poll released on Friday shows Obama leading in Missouri 52% to 46% for McCain.

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/10/18/obama-rally-dr... (http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/10/18/obama-rally-draws-100000-in-missouri/?mod=googlenews_wsj)

syracus

19.10.2008, 15:40

Colin Powell backing Obama for president: reports

By Michael Kitchen
Last update: 9:33 a.m. EDT Oct. 19, 2008

NEW YORK (MakretWatch) -- Retired Gen. Colin Powell, who previously served as secretary of state for President George Bush, said Sunday he is backing Democratic candidate Sen. Barack Obama. Powell, who also served in senior positions under Republican presidents George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, told NBC's "Meet the Press" that he plans to vote for Obama "because of his ability to inspire [and] because of the inclusive nature of his campaign," according to reports published before the news show's East Coast broadcast.

Republikaner, einziges Mitglied der Bush-Administration welcher je den Irakkrieg öffentlich als Fehler bezeichnete, Ex-General, die wohl wichtigste Wahlempfehlung seit Monaten und die Freeper rasten völlig aus über den "Verrat" auf freerepublic.com :respekt

syracus

19.10.2008, 17:14

Powell endorses Obama as 'transformational'

By: Mike Allen and Jonathan Martin
October 19, 2008 10:41 AM EST

Retired General Colin L. Powell, one of the country's most respected Republicans, stunned both parties on Sunday by strongly endorsing Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) for president on NBC's "Meet the Press" and laying out a blistering, detailed critique of the modern GOP.

Powell said the election of Obama would "electrify the world."

"I think he is a transformational figure," Powell said. "He is a new generation coming ... onto the world stage and on the American stage. And for that reason, I'll be voting for Senator Barack Obama."

As a key reason, Powell said: "I would have difficult with two more conservative appointments to the Supreme Court, but that's what we'd be looking at in a McCain administration."

Powell, once considered likely to be the nation's first African-American presidential nominee, said his decision was not about race.

Moderator Tom Brokaw said: "There will be some ... who will say this is an African-American, distinguished American supporting another African-American because of race."

Powell, who last year gave the Arizona senator's campaign the maximum $2,300, replied: "If I had only had that in mind, I could have done this six, eight, 10 months ago. I really have been going back and forth between somebody I have the highest respect and regard for, John McCain and somebody I was getting to know, Barack Obama. And it was only in the last couple of months that I settled on this."

"I can't deny that it will be a historic event when an African-American becomes president," Powell continued, speaking live in the studio. "And should that happen, all Americans should be proud — not just African-American, but all Americans — that we have reached this point in our national history where such a thing could happen. It would also not only electrify the country, but electrify the world."

Powell, making his 30th appearance on "Meet the Press," said he does not plan to campaign for Obama. He led into his endorsement by saying: "We've got two individuals — either one of them could be a good president. But which is the president that we need now — which is the individual that serves the needs of the nation for the next period of time.

"And I come to the conclusion that because of his ability to inspire, because of the inclusive nature of his campaign, because he is reaching out all across America, because of who he is and his rhetorical abilities — and you have to take that into account — as well as his substance — he has both style and substance, he has met the standard of being a successful president, being an exceptional president."

Powell said that he is "troubled" by the direction of the Republican Party, and said he began to doubt Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) when he chose Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate.

"Not just small towns have values," he said, responding to one of Palin's signature lines.

"She's a very distinguished woman, and she's to be admired," he said. "But at the same, now that we have had a chance to watch her for some seven weeks, I don't believe she's ready to be president of the United States, which is the job of the vice president. And so that raised some question in my mind as to the judgment that Senator McCain made."

The endorsement is likely to help Obama convince skeptical centrists that he is ready to handle the challenges of commander in chief, and undercuts McCain argument that he is better qualified on national-security issues.

McCain, appearing on "Fox News Sunday," sought to minimize the endorsement by noting his support from other former secretaries of state and retired military flag officers.

"It doesn’t come as a surprise," McCain said. "I'm very pleased to have the endorsement of four former secretaries of state, well over 200 retired generals and admirals. I've admired and continue to respect Secretary Powell."

Powell, 71, criticized McCain and his campaign for invoking the former domestic terrorist William Ayers.

"They're trying to connect him to some kind of terrorist feelings, and I think that's inappropriate," Powell said. "Now I understand what politics is all about — I know how you can go after one another. And that's good. But I think this goes too far. And I think it has made the McCain campaign look a little narrow. It's not what the American people are looking for. And I look at these kinds of approaches to the campaign, and they trouble me. And the party has moved even further to the right, and Governor Palin has indicated a further rightward shift."

Powell said he has "heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion [that Obama's] a Muslim and might be associated with terrorists."

"This is not the way we should be doing it in America. I feel strongly about this particular point," Powell said. "We have got to stop polarizing ourselves in this way. And John McCain is as non-discriminatory as anyone I know. But I'm troubled about the fact that within the party, we have these kinds of expressions."

Powell, a four-star Army general, was national security adviser to President Ronald Reagan; chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the 1991 Persian Gulf war, when George H.W. Bush was president; and was President George W. Bush’s first secretary of State.

Powell has consulted with both Obama and McCain, and the general’s camp had indicated in the past that he would not endorse.

Powell said that as he watched McCain, the Republican “was a little unsure as to how to deal with the economic problems that we were having, and almost every day, there was a different approach to the problem, and that concerned me, sensing that he didn't have a complete grasp of the economic problems that we had."

Powell said a big job of the new president will be “conveying a new image of American leadership, a new image of America’s role in the world.”

“I think what the president has to do is to start using the power of the Oval Office and the power of his personality to convince the American people and to convince the world that America is solid, America is going to move forward … restoring a sense of purpose,” he said.

http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=151350E9-18FE-70B2-A8D66137D46ED292

Dazu im September ein Allzeitspendenrekord von 150 Millionen $, 100'000 Personen in St. Louis, 75'000 in Kansas City, ein wundervolles Wochenende für Obama :a

syracus

19.10.2008, 18:51

Obama mit Grossangriff, nach "Meet the Press" auf NBC hat Obama alle noch freien Werbeslots aller TV-Stationen in den Swingstates bis zum 4. November aufgekauft sowie je 30 Minuten am Stück zur Primetime am Wahlvorabend bei den landesweit 5 grössten TV-Ketten, schlicht Wahnsinn :p :dd !

syracus

19.10.2008, 19:47

We’re Heading Left Once Again

The test for the next president is whether he can use the powers of government to act on behalf of Americans. That's a liberal idea.

Jonathan Alter
NEWSWEEK
From the magazine issue dated Oct 27, 2008

John McCain's "Joe the Plumber" would no doubt like to have a beer with Sarah Palin's "Joe Six-Pack." In truth, Joe Wurzelbacher isn't a licensed plumber and Joe Six-Pack is a horrible cliché, but no matter. They're cultural kin to the iconic "Average Joe" who was part of Richard Nixon's "Silent Majority" in the early 1970s and Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority in the 1980s. But conservative majorities come and go. If the polls are to be believed, today's hard-strapped Joes have more in common politically with Joe Biden. And millions of them are preparing to do something that they never thought they'd do in a million years—vote for a black guy with the middle name Hussein for president of the United States.

Even if Joe stays Republican, Barack Obama will still likely win. That's because he has built a huge base of non-Joes—better-educated, younger whites, as well as women and minorities. These voters are the future of the electorate and they're progressive. If they turn out in the numbers expected, they could restructure American politics for a generation.

For all the statistical permutations, analyzing the makeup of the American electorate for the past half-century is fairly simple. About 40 percent of voters are reliable Democrats (whether they call themselves liberals or not), 40 percent are conservative Republicans (a term starting to lose its coherence), and the shape of our politics is determined by the 20 percent in the middle, mostly independents.

Since about 1980, we've been living in a center-right America, but we're center-center now, and likely headed left. Even if McCain pulls an upset, the Democratic Congress would nudge him leftward on issues like alternative energy and taxes (and his health-care plan would be DOA). Should Obama win, he will press hard for his ambitious agenda, even, aides say, at the risk of being a one-term president. Then it would all be about execution.

If Obama moves "smart left" next year, he will have succeeded in rewriting the American social contract—the obligations of the government to the people on the economy, energy, health care and education. But if we see a revival of the dumb left with old-fashioned capitulation to interest groups and a series of rookie mistakes on foreign policy, even a big Democratic victory next month would be a speed bump on the Ronald Reagan highway.

Most voters are neither Limbaugh dittoheads nor ACORN activists. They're pragmatic centrists who decided they liked Obama when he reminded them more of Will Smith than Jesse Jackson. They liked that he tried to calm their fears rather than express their anger. But this election is about something deeper than temperament. When people are scared, whether it's after 9/11 or heading into a recession, they turn to government for protection. Cultural issues like gay marriage and resentment of elites fade. Even though voters don't trust Washington any more than Wall Street, it's their only option.

The question for the new president then becomes not whether he's moving too fast but too slow. The test becomes whether he can use the powers of government to act on behalf of the American people. That is a fundamentally liberal idea.

Obama is lucky. Had Wall Street collapsed in 2009 instead of 2008, he would have had a much harder time shifting the political center of gravity. The critically important fact for Obama's agenda is that a conservative Republican (President Bush) is the one who has essentially nationalized banks with more than a trillion dollars in public money. That discredits the GOP argument on spending but also on the proper role of government, which is essentially what separates liberals and conservatives on domestic issues. If Obama offers a big, budget-busting program next year, it will more likely be seen as fair than irresponsible.

At every campaign stop last week, McCain derided Obama's statement to Joe the Plumber that we should be "spreading the wealth around." In the old center-right world, such an idea would be offensive to many voters because it sounds socialistic—grabbing money from taxpayers and putting it in someone else's pocket. But the cold war is over (taking the sting out of cries of socialism), and a lot has changed in the past month. Using taxpayer dollars to bail out colossally greedy and incompetent bankers is "spreading the wealth around," too. Voters are beginning to figure that if banks facing bankruptcy deserve the government's help, maybe people facing bankruptcy do as well.

Jon Meacham is right that by the standards of a European-style welfare state, we will always be a relatively conservative country. But closer to home, the norm has not been consistently conservative over the course of the 20th century. If anything, the nation was more often center-left. Democrats controlled the House of Representatives—the "People's House"—for six straight decades between 1930 and 1994 (with only a short exception). While many were Southern conservatives on race, the huge chunks of progressive legislation they swallowed over many years could choke an elephant.

When the GOP finally did get full control of Capitol Hill in 1994, what did they do with it? The reign of Tom DeLay was not conservative in any way that Edmund Burke would recognize. He led a band of radical Republicans who actually shut down the Congress to intervene in the case of a brain-dead woman in Florida— a move that will likely be remembered as the high-water mark of theocratic power in the United States.

At the presidential level, two Republicans, Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon, left almost every major element of the New Deal in place and added their own initiatives that sound right out of the 2008 Democratic Party platform. (Ike's Interstate Highway System was the mother of all infrastructure projects, and Nixon gave us the Environmental Protection Agency.) Every GOP effort to undermine Social Security—the great emblem of domestic liberalism—failed by huge margins between 1936 and 2005. For all his talk, Ronald Reagan failed to reduce the size of government, much less dismantle the welfare state. His acolytes did succeed in the semantic crusade of wrecking the word "liberal," though liberal-bashing is no longer potent politically in any large state except Texas.

The Schlesinger theory of the cycles of history still makes the most sense. Over the past century, we've moved in roughly 30-year cycles, from the Progressive Era to the laissez-faire 1920s to the New Deal to the Reagan years. As it happened, Arthur Schlesinger's timing was a bit off. He dated the last burst of liberalism to the mid-1960s and thus expected a revival in the 1990s. But the conservative era arguably began in 1978 when Rep. William Steiger won approval of a bill that cut the capital-gains tax from 50 percent to 25 percent. We're now exactly 30 years down the road from that.

Does that mean the country is still center-right if we fail to restore confiscatory tax levels? Hardly. Just because Democrats aren't stupid enough anymore to go the Walter Mondale route and promise to raise everyone's taxes doesn't mean they are conceding the ideological argument. In fact, Obama has neutralized or even turned the tax issue to his advantage with positions on taxing the rich that would have once been easily dismissed as class warfare. And with his hawkish comments on bombing Pakistan if necessary to kill Osama bin Laden, we are moving past the time when a credible commitment to defend the United States militarily was the exclusive province of the Republican Party.

History does not repeat itself, but it can have a familiar ring. In the 1920s, Americans essentially believed that the private sector could solve any problem. After the Depression began, Congress was still deeply unpopular, as it is today. But once Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected in 1932 and proved in his first 100 days that he could dent the problem, the center moved left. While the Depression didn't actually end for another eight years, the American people felt that at least the government was on their side.

Reagan's revolution in 1980 was so striking that it conditioned a whole generation to believe it was permanent. Many scholars even believed the GOP had an "electoral lock" on the presidency—an insurmountable geographical advantage in the Electoral College. Bill Clinton's victories in 1992 and 1996 didn't do much to change the map; he won both times with less than 50 percent of the vote, thanks to the presence of independent Ross Perot in those races.

Perot's agenda—reducing the deficit—became Clinton's. James Carville joked bitterly that he wanted to be reincarnated as the bond market because Wall Street was getting all the loving attention of the Clinton administration. The strategy paid off: the budget was balanced (in part through tax increases begun under President George H.W. Bush) and the economy surged. But Clinton ended up a bit like the character in the poem "Miniver Cheevy" by Edward Arlington Robinson. Miniver felt he was born too late for King Arthur's Camelot; Clinton felt the same way about the ambitious Camelot of the 1960s.

Now we're confronting a big deficit again—seemingly a recipe for a Democratic president to pull his liberal punches once more. But the political context has changed in ways that would give a President Obama more running room. Instead of a Democratic Congress that's out of gas after 40 years in power, as Clinton faced, Obama would have allies on Capitol Hill determined to prove that they can address problems in a practical way. Instead of an almost religious devotion to the libertarian ideas of Alan Greenspan, we're moving back toward what might be called neo-Keynesian economics. And instead of the unobstructed opposition of a new media powerhouse (talk radio), Obama would have the help of more than 2.5 million small contributors, eager to use the Web to mobilize on behalf of his program.

If he wins, Obama could run aground in a thousand ways next year. He will have to possess all the dexterity he's shown during the campaign, and then some. If he fails to deliver, the country will go back to the center-right. But if he gets a few big things enacted in his first year, Barack Obama would have a fighting chance to move the country to a new place, or at least one we haven't seen for a while. Leftward ho!

http://www.newsweek.com/id/164503/output/print

syracus

19.10.2008, 21:06

Gingrich Impressed With Powell Nod

Former Republican House Speaker Says General's Endorsement 'Eliminated Experience Argument'

By MARY BRUCE
Oct. 19, 2008

Former Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich reacted this morning to Colin Powell's endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., arguing, "What that just did in one sound bite... is it eliminated the experience argument."

Powell, the former secretary of state, announced his long-awaited endorsement Sunday morning, explaining that he is backing Obama "because of his ability to inspire, because of the inclusive nature of this campaign, because he is reaching out all across America, because of who he is and his rhetorical abilities we have to take that into account as well as his substance he has both style and substance he has met the standard of being a successful president, being an exceptional president."

In all-star roundtable edition of "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," former presidential adviser David Gergen categorized Powell's announcement as "the most important endorsement of the campaign so far."

Tom Friedman of The New York Times agreed, explaining, "Gen. Powell helps a lot, I think, especially at this moment, you know. That's a real affirmation that the country can trust Barack Obama as commander in chief, and Colin Powell still has a lot of cred[ibility] with Republicans and Democrats."

Gingrich, Gergen and Friedman were joined in the powerhouse roundtable by Democratic strategist Donna Brazile and Republican columnist George Will.

Brazile added, "this is an endorsement that has enormous dividend for Sen. Obama, not only in helping to erase any remaining doubts about his national security agenda, his experience, but also it says that he wants to govern in a different way, different than, say, past administrations where you relied on just his base or his party.

"It says that he's going to reach across the aisle, and perhaps this is a good way for Sen. Obama to put that message out in the closing weeks of the campaign."

The panelists also discussed the possibility of Obama falling prey to the "Bradley Effect," named for Tom Bradley, the African-American politician running for governor who ended up losing after having a huge lead in the polls.

"Twenty-six years has passed since the Bradley effect," Brazile explained. "I think we're looking at an Obama effect. He has increased, enlarged the electorate. He's bringing new people into the process. There is an enthusiasm gap that we've never seen before on the Democratic side, 20 percent more likely Democratic voters than Republican voters at this moment, so I think we -- I think the issue of race may be a factor, but it will not be as large a factor as it would have been, say, 12 years ago."

Gingrich agreed that "there is a racial effect on both sides, that African-Americans will disproportionately turn out and they will disproportionately vote for Obama, and they have disproportionately registered for a good reason. The Obama effect is real and legitimate. It's authentic."

And Will argued that Obama will gain more votes than he will lose on account of race. "It seems to me if we had these tools to measure, we'd find that Barack Obama gets two votes because he's black for every one he loses because he's black," he said.

Friedman added that the number of white voters who may ultimately support Obama may be underestimated.

"I think there are a lot of white voters telling pollsters, you know, we're going to vote for Obama, and they won't when the moment comes, but I think there is also a whole group of white Republicans who are telling their friends at the country club that I'm voting for McCain, and they're going to go...vote for Obama, because their kids are," he said.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/story?id=6066689&page=1

:cool

lunar

20.10.2008, 16:44

Sun 19 Oct 2008

LOLFed Sunday Afternoon Links (http://lolfed.com/2008/10/19/lolfed-sunday-afternoon-links/)

Posted by alyx under links (http://lolfed.com/category/links/)

http://lolfed.com/wp-content/maverick-palin-vpilf.jpg

Pit bulls with lipstick: most popular with the male set (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/19/us/politics/19palin.html). [NYT]

Staying political, is there market manipulation going on at Intrade (https://self-evident.org/?p=309) related to the Presidential election? [Self-Evident]

When you think sticky groceries (http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081019/sticky_prices.html), don’t think of a pint of Haagen-Dazs that melted on the way home; think of higher profit margins for companies like Coke (KO), Pepsi (PEP) and Kroger (KR). [AP]

:schwitz hmmmm - mir graut etwas wenn ich an den DurchschnittsAmi denke am 4. November :rolleyes

lunar

20.10.2008, 17:27

@syr :)

Monday, October 20, 2008

Its the Votes, Stupid! BradBlog Breaks Voter Registration Fraud Arrest Story, Live on Fox News!

Our great friend Brad of Brad Blog (http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6536) was able to break this story live on Fox News last night in the midst of an appearance with scary John Fund, punditizing for the left on a segment that was purported to be about voter disenfranchisement/fraud through home foreclosures. These things usually devolve into a tit for tat of "well, no one made the borrowers take the loans" versus "well, no one made the banks loan the money," with the likes of Fund saying "poor banks were forced by Freddie/Fannie..." and that the unscrupulous borrowers should have known better...whatever; used to be that the lender did a thorough check as to whether a borrower could afford a loan. So, enter our hero, stage left, with a real breaking story about real, immediate, lawbreaking on the GOP side, and gasp!!! ...Fox led with the breaking story at the top of the news hour, and Fund is probably still bristling.

This is a great example of real news reporting meeting Faux News and the real stuff winning out.... Because when faced with stark truth, even in the face of the angry Fund types trying to spin it, this kind of thing can't get a footing even at Fox. They have to leave it with a "well, if this is true we will run it," statement...and then, they sorta have to run it...

Imagine what would happen if each outlet had to be fair and balanced, and if it was a matter of national regulation rather than corporate interest ...imagine what would happen if Americans had the actual information breaking from wherever the news was, without the spin, and were tasked with coming to their own conclusions...it sounds quaint and old fashioned, but here it is; reporting like it used to be....

V7-w0NUm3FA&eurl

Thanks, as always, to Brad (http://www.bradblog.com/) for working tirelessly to get the truth out about making our votes count and be counted! This is probably the one most important issue leading to this election, and we all need to be aware of what is going on. Visit Brad often for the constantly breaking news and let your representatives know that you are watching this situation and that you expect to be protected and to have your vote counted.

c/p RIP Coco (http://www.ripcoco.com/)Labels: Fox News (http://brilliantatbreakfast.blogspot.com/search/label/Fox%20News), liars (http://brilliantatbreakfast.blogspot.com/search/label/liars), vote suppression (http://brilliantatbreakfast.blogspot.com/search/label/vote%20suppression)

syracus

20.10.2008, 18:58

The Republicans have lifted the lid off their rightwing

Now McCain's supporters are casting Obama as anti-American. This may well scare voters, but not the way they mean to

A year or two ago, if you'd told me that Barack Obama would be leading John McCain by a seemingly comfortable margin with two weeks to go and asked me what, in their desperation, the Republicans would be talking about to try and scare my fellow Americans into voting against him, I'd have said race. After all, Republicans have race-baited in one form or other in most of our presidential contests since Richard Nixon's time, so it would have seemed impossible to me that they'd miss the chance to do so at a time when Democrats had actually gone to the trouble of nominating an African-American candidate.

It's true that we're hearing racial-code talk here and there. But the main fear tactic being employed now is something else. It's that Obama and his associates - and for that matter his supporters and even the regions of the country that he's destined to carry - are anti-American.'

Last Friday, in North Carolina, Sarah Palin told a rally that she was proud to be "with all of you hard-working, very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation". She means here of course that there are anti-American areas of America, and they are where the liberals live, and the people there are voting for Mr Anti-America.

This was especially interesting coming from a woman whose husband, Todd Palin, was until just six years ago an enrolled member of a rightwing fringe political party that wanted the state of Alaska to secede from the US. But if you understand rightwing logic, then you'd know that Mr Palin had no choice but to join the Alaska Independence party in 1995, because by that time the America he thought he knew and loved had been brought to ruin by the liberals and socialists and America-haters. See?

Likewise, earlier this month, Joe McCain, the brother of John, said that Alexandria and Arlington, the two major cities in the northern Virginia suburbs that lie just across the Potomac River from Washington, were "communist country" as far as he was concerned. His brother lives in Arlington when in the nation's capital for work, and his brother's campaign is headquartered there as well, but never mind. A McCain spokeswoman offered a wan apology at the time, but lo and behold, just last Saturday a different McCain spokes-woman said on television that while Obama would perform well in northern Virginia, "the rest of the state - real Virginia if you will - I think will be very responsive to Senator McCain's message". This did not seem a planned one-liner. The spokeswoman made the fatal error of saying what she actually thinks. Republican Virginia equals real Virginia. Democratic Virginia is alien and impure.

Do you folks do this sort of thing in Britain? I know there's something about the chap on the Clapham omnibus who's supposed to represent some kind of middling everyman. And I know you've got your xenophobes just like we do. But trust me. You don't have a right wing that's anything like our right wing.

This point was proved most dramatically by a woman named Michele Bachmann, a member of Congress from Minnesota. In an interview last Friday on Hardball, a leading US cable talk show, host Chris Matthews asked Bachmann whether Obama worried her. "Absolutely. I'm very concerned that he may have anti-American views," she said. He asked her what she thought distinguished liberal from hard left from anti-American. If she maintains such distinctions in her mind, she refused to acknowledge them. Then, finally, Matthews - who deftly fed her the rope to hang herself - asked her how many members of the US Congress held, in her view, anti-American views.

It's been almost a two-year campaign. There have been moments we've thought of as memorable, only to see the tide of events erase their mark from the sand. Bachmann's answer, however, will live imperishably: "What I would say - what I would say is that the news media should do a penetrating exposé and take a look. I wish they would. I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out, are they pro-America or anti-America? I think people would love to see an exposé like that."

Before we go any further - who is this Bachmann? She's a first-term backbencher from exurban Minneapolis who says the Lord told her to run for Congress. She declared herself "a fool for Christ" in 2006 when she announced her candidacy. By all accounts she's down with the whole rightwing Christian package: immigrants bring disease and pestilence, homosexuals want to indoctrinate straight children, and so on. Republican leadership undoubtedly pushed her out on to television because she is, as you Brits say, a looker - at least by the standards of Congress.

The call for an investigation into the beliefs of every federal lawmaker, and an exposé of those found wanting in their patriotism, certainly takes us into deeply creepy territory. I would not call Bachmann herself a fascist. Odd as it sounds, to do so would be to grant her far too much credit. For one to embrace an -ism, even a repugnant one, one needs to have read a certain amount of history and political philosophy. Bachmann is just an idiot. She wouldn't know Edmund Burke from Billie Burke (she played the good witch in the Wizard of Oz), and she obviously has no idea that, in her rejection of the two bedrock American principles of separation of church and state and freedom of thought, she is the one who is as anti-American as they come.

But friends, all is not darkness. Bachmann's appearance caused a national uproar. Colin Powell, in endorsing Obama yesterday, said of Bachmann's comments that "we have got to stop this kind of nonsense and pull ourselves together". Her Democratic opponent raised nearly half a million dollars from around the country in just 24 hours, and he now has a chance of beating her.

That would be nice. But let's go back to the big contest. With Bachmann, the lid came off the rightwing id. It will happen many more times over these next two weeks. McCain, now openly using the word "socialist" to describe Obama's proposals (the week after his friend George W Bush took federal control of nine major banks!:hihi ), and especially Palin have shown every sign of encouraging it. Their goal is to scare Americans about Obama, but moderate, independent voters might well decide that Obama looks a lot less scary than they do.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/20/commentanddebate-john-mccain-barack-obama/print

Luigi

21.10.2008, 12:20

http://www.ftd.de/politik/international/:Bitte-um-Wahlkampfspende-McCain-pumpt-die-Russen-an/428649.html

Bitte um Wahlkampfspende

McCain pumpt die Russen :eek:hihian

Die Sympathien des Republikaners für Russland sind eigentlich begrenzt. Nun aber hat Präsidentschaftskandidat John McCain ausgerechnet die russische Uno-Botschaft um eine Spende gebeten. Die Reaktion: herzliches Gelächter.

Der Bittbrief mit dem Datum vom 29. September sei an Botschafter Vitali Tschurkin und mehrere andere Diplomaten gegangen, berichtete ein Botschaftssprecher am Montag. "Lieber Freund", beginnt der am Donnerstag eingetroffene sechsseitige Brief, den die russische Botschaft der Nachrichtenagentur AP in Kopie zur Verfügung stellte. Darin wird der Empfänger um bis 5000 $ gebeten, um den demokratischen Bewerber Barack Obama zu schlagen und McCain zu helfen, "Freiheit und Demokratie in der Welt zu verbreiten".

Außer Spott gab es für den Republikaner freilich nichts in Moskaus Vorposten in New York zu holen. Die russische Regierung "finanziert keine politische Aktivitäten im Ausland", teilte die Botschaft mit. McCain vertritt gegenüber Russland eine harte Gangart und hat vorgeschlagen, das Land wegen des Kriegs mit Georgien im August aus der Gruppe der acht wichtigsten Industriestaaten (G-8) auszuschließen. Bachatin sagte, es habe sich offensichtlich um einen Computerfehler gehandelt.

"So was passiert", sagte der Sprecher und räumte ein, dass man in der Botschaft einmal von Herzen gelacht habe. "Normalerweise verbreitet man derartige Briefe nicht an diplomatische Stellen." In McCains Wahlkampfteam war man ratlos, was zu der Panne geführt haben könnte.

ap, 08:46 Uhr
© 2008 Financial Times Deutschland

syracus

21.10.2008, 17:28

Gallup 21/10/08 (Drudge muss wieder ein anderes Umfrageinstitut berücksichtigen für die Frontpage ;))

Luigi

21.10.2008, 22:02

:ek
PMMoJadRSQA

Jemand sollte wohl Tracy darüber aufklären, dass Gott keine T-Bonds, Notes, Mortgages-loans, Us-Aktien,... kauft, sondern Araber, Chinesen, Koreaner...:hihi:hihi:hihi:hihi:hihi:hihi

syracus

21.10.2008, 22:11

EXCLUSIVE: Obama Asked About Assassination

In the interview conducted by BET's Ed Gordon, Obama talks about his thoughts on a possible attempt on his life.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

In a 30 minute interview with BET's Ed Gordon, Illinois Senator Barack Obama was asked if he'd ever thought about being assassinated.

Obama responded saying "I just can't spend time thinking about it."

Obama added that's what the Secret Service is for and he trusts them with his life.

Following Obama's win in the Iowa democratic primary in January his secret service detail was immediately doubled rivaling that of President Bush.

At least two possible security threats have been reported during the campaign.

Prior to the Democratic Convention in Denver, several men were arrested with weapons, one allegedly muttering something about the senator during the arrest.

Last month a twice-convicted felon was arrested outside of Obama's Chicago home. The man said he was looking for a job. A police search of the man's car uncovered a gun.

While it's not known exactly how many agents are on the Senator's detail, Obama's children travel in a motorcade of five SUVs when they go to school. :cry

At public events Obama has at least a dozen agents with him at all times, and requires bomb sniffing dogs and metal detectors at every event.

http://kfiam640.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=104668&article=4445909

Ganzes Interview als Video im Link. Möge der Secret Service ihn und seine Familie beschützen für die nächsten 8 Jahre :engel

Vetinari

21.10.2008, 22:37

lol , wer lebt lange ... Mc Bush oder Obama ;) ?

Aber was angst macht ist wer folgt ... die idiot Palin oder der idiot Biden ... das ist wirklich erschreckend fuer die ganz welt ;)

liebe Imperator George wieder ... 4 more years ... aber er braucht nur etwas schrecklich ... wie national security ;) ...

:D

:gusa

Luigi

22.10.2008, 22:51

Al the Shoesalesman Gets a Tax Cut

99HzP6BQm5Y

lunar

23.10.2008, 16:32

http://llnw.static.cbslocal.com/Themes/CBS/_resources/img/ico010x010clock.gif Oct 23, 2008 6:37 am US/Central
Election Night In Grant Park: Construction Begins

mit Video: http://cbs2chicago.com/local/obama.event.grant.2.846677.html

syracus

23.10.2008, 18:17

Gar nix Zensur, einzig eine Bezeichnung als "bin laden" geht hier nicht an, auch nicht in Zukunft. Wenn's dich stört, es gibt andere Orte zur Genüge für dich :winke

Fühl dich wohl :lach : www.freerepublic.com

Back to topic :cool

Obama team pours money, manpower into battle for Fla.

By Brian C. Mooney, Globe Staff | October 23, 2008

ORLANDO, Fla. - Seeking a knockout punch against Republican John McCain, Democrat Barack Obama's campaign has poured people and money into Florida in building the largest field organization ever assembled in the Sunshine State.

Obama's campaign says it has deployed 500 paid staff members and boasts 160,000 volunteers in Florida, an unprecedented network that is hunting for votes via telephone, e-mail, and old-fashioned, door-to-door personal contact. Combined with a barrage of advertising, the Florida blitz will cost much more than the $39 million the campaign initially budgeted.

McCain has fought back in Florida with his own formidable ground operation, and he held a solid lead in the state until last month, when Obama surged ahead in most polls. Surveys this week show the race for Florida, whose economy is being ravaged by the home foreclosure crisis, to be a dead heat.

Four years ago, President Bush ran a massive get-out-the-vote operation and easily bagged Florida's 27 electoral votes on his way to reelection. This year, a Democratic win in Florida would be a huge blow to McCain. Everyone on both sides understands what is at stake here.

"If we win Florida, it's over," said Steven Schale, director of the Obama campaign in Florida.

"There's no formula to win without Florida," said Lew Oliver, chairman of the McCain campaign and Republican Party in Orange County. "We know Florida is it," he said during a break in phoning voters at the GOP's county headquarters in an Orlando strip mall. "It's a big motivating factor."

Orange County, with its fast-changing demographics, is a major battleground within the battleground state. In 2004, John Kerry beat George Bush by 815 votes out of 388,000 cast in Orange County, near the center of the so-called I-4 corridor, the interstate highway between Tampa and Daytona Beach that connects the Gulf and Atlantic coasts. More than 40 percent of the state's voters reside in the Tampa and Orlando media markets, and the region helps decide every close election in Florida.

The Florida operation raises the Obama campaign's commitment to strong field organization to a new level. Schale, a veteran of Florida politics, presides over a network of Obama regional offices that buzz with young staffers and volunteers armed with wireless laptops.

The McCain campaign and Republican National Committee do not disclose staffing figures, but one RNC staff member said the Obama campaign "probably has more [staff] people on the ground in Florida than the RNC has in the whole country."

The Obama campaign has also heavily outspent McCain and the RNC on advertising. This week, the Obama campaign increased its purchase of TV air time in most of the state's 10 media markets to about triple the volume of a typical campaign. The Democrat's campaign is also running extensive radio ads all over the state, including in rural areas.

The operation is especially evident on the ground, beginning with its vast voter registration drive. The campaign boosted the Democrats' registration advantage over the Republicans to almost 658,000 voters out of 11.2 million in the state. That edge is nearly double the Democratic margin four years ago.

The Democratic ground operation now is working to get Obama supporters to take advantage of Florida's early voting, which ends two days before the Nov. 4 election. There were long lines at early polling stations this week, with delays of up to three hours.

The Obama campaign is trying to capitalize on demographic trends that favor Democrats - growing populations of young people and Hispanic immigrants from the Caribbean and Central and South America who are not part of the Cuban community, which has been loyal to the GOP. The ground forces are also targeting the 400,000 African-Americans who were registered but did not vote in 2004, Schale said. What's more, they are aggressively seeking out Republicans, particularly transplanted Midwesterners on the Gulf Coast, who are angered by the budget deficits and interventionist foreign policy of the Bush administration.

Lifelong Republican Susan Eisenhower, granddaughter of Republican president Dwight D. Eisenhower, is an increasingly visible Obama surrogate. She stumped for the Democrat earlier this week in Sarasota and Fort Myers, traditional GOP strongholds.

As part of the effort, the Obama campaign has opened offices in areas the Democrats have neglected in the past - among them Sun City, a traditionally Republican retirement community near Tampa; Pahokee, a rural, largely African-American community on Lake Okeechobee; and Lake City, an agricultural community in North Florida.

"You take your opponent's winning playbook from the last election, you learn from it and you try to improve it," said Susan A. MacManus, a professor of political science at the University of South Florida. "That's what the Obama campaign has done so far."

MacManus recently issued a study titled "Generational Politics in Florida - Some Surprises!" She found that, contrary to the public perception of Florida as a state dominated by retirees and the elderly, there are now more voting-age residents under the age of 35 than there are residents 65 or older.

"Florida is a microcosm of the country," MacManus said in an interview. "It's a place where there is just so much change and churning in the demographics that if you base your campaign on the demographics of the last election, you might lose."

Oliver, the GOP chairman in Orange County, said campaigns may have trouble finding some voters because many have moved as a result of the housing market crash and foreclosure epidemic. In knocking on doors, , he said he often finds homes once occupied by reliable Republican voters empty, even in upscale areas, with for sale signs on the lawn and lock boxes on the doors.

"If this is impacting Republicans at this rate, I think it will impact the Democrats a little more," Oliver said.

Republicans' early ground game efforts have focused on absentee ballots cast by reliably Republican voters. Tallies early this week showed Republicans with an advantage of nearly 100,000 in ballots already returned, and double that in requested absentee ballots. Canvassers hand out absentee ballot applications in packets of campaign literature.

"We depend mostly on volunteers for vigorous phone banking, neighbor-to-neighbor contacts and targeted precinct walks," said Greg Truax, chairman of the McCain campaign in Hillsborough County, a Republican-leaning area anchored by Tampa. "They say Obama has the largest organization, but is it the most effective? I would say no."

"We're running virtually the same program we ran in '04 except the technology is vastly improved," said Mike Grissom, an RNC operative from Florida who was in charge of the RNC-McCain operation in Michigan until the McCain campaign pulled out of that state earlier in the month and brought him home.

The Tampa office has 32 Internet phones that connect directly to the rich voter database the party has built in recent years.

Clint Reed, the RNC-McCain campaign's political director for Southeastern states, acknowledged the Democrats' large presence in Florida this time around but cautioned: "Never confuse motion for progress."

He said the McCain campaign is 25 percent ahead of the 2004 voter-contact rate. "And that was arguably the best ground campaign put together in Florida politics," he said. "We have a big organization. Obama has a big organization. It's going to be close and fun to watch in the last 72 hours."

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/10/23/obama_team_pours_money_manpower_into_battle_for_fla?mode=PF

syracus

25.10.2008, 10:29

Akt. 25.10.08; 09:40 Pub. 25.10.08; 09:37

Noch mehr Ärger für Sarah Palin

Ist hier etwas bei der Prioritätensetzung falsch gelaufen? Die bestbezahlte Person im Wahlkampfteam von John McCain sind nicht dessen strategische Berater - sondern die Visagistin von Sarah Palin.

Diese Nachricht dürfte weitere republikanische Spender verärgern: Sarah Palins Visagistin staubte innert zweier Wochen 22 800 Dollar ab. Amy Strozzi, die sonst Promis in Fernsehshows aufmöbelt, verdiente damit gut doppelt so viel wie die Nummer zwei auf der Gehaltsliste. Das ist John McCains aussenpolitischer Berater Randy Scheunemann, der laut Unterlagen des republikanischen Wahlkampfteams 12 500 Dollar erhielt.

Strozzi begleitet Palin derzeit auf ihrer Wahlkampftour quer durchs Land. Doch auch die drittbestbezahlte Person gehört schon wieder zu den Dienstleistern Sarah Palins: Auch Angela Lew wurde fürstlich entlöhnt. Die Frau, die sich derzeit um Palins Frisur kümmert, bekam 10 000 Dollar. In den ersten beiden Oktoberwochen wohlgemerkt, wie die «New York Times» berichtet.

http://www.20min.ch/news/dossier/uswahlen/story/Noch-mehr--rger-fuer-Sarah-Palin-19936100

:hihi sie tut derzeit einiges für ihren ungeliebten Spitznamen "Barbie" :dd

syracus

25.10.2008, 16:07

Obama Swinging For The Fences

By every metric, the Democrat's presidential campaign looks as if it is headed for the upper deck.

by Charlie Cook
Saturday, Oct. 25, 2008

For a political analyst, the normal posture this time of year is much like a baseball umpire's: hunched over, peering carefully as the ball approaches the plate, watching for whether it breaks left or right, whether it's coming in high or low. But, these days, we analysts are more like outfielders, watching in awe as a ball seems on a trajectory to not only clear the fence but very likely land in the upper deck.

By every metric, Barack Obama's presidential campaign appears headed for the upper deck. Polls (both national and state-by-state), organization, money, and momentum are all running strongly in Obama's favor. At this point, one wonders whether Obama's winning margin could be greater than Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton's 5.6-point win over President George H.W. Bush in 1992, more than Bush's 7.7-point win over Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis in 1988, or more than Clinton's 8.5-point win over Sen. Bob Dole in 1996. Even higher on the landslide roster is California Gov. Ronald Reagan's 9.7-point victory over President Carter in 1980 and Gen. Dwight Eisenhower's 10.9-point win over Adlai Stevenson in 1952.

Certainly, the 2008 presidential contest could reverse direction and result in victory for John McCain. But at this point, he would have to be the beneficiary of something quite dramatic for that to happen.

As this campaign has shifted from a surprise-around-every-corner situation to one more akin to watching concrete set, many observers have begun playing "What if?" If McCain had picked someone other than Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, would he now be higher in the polls? If the senator from Arizona had waged this battle more as John McCain 1.0, the 2000-vintage candidate who was more of a maverick and less of a partisan than the 2008 version, could he have succeeded because he was less tied to his Republican Party and less joined at the hip with President Bush?

These are interesting questions, but they avoid one unmistakable fact: This is a toxic political environment for Republicans. That's why they will probably lose at least seven seats in the Senate and at least 20 in the House. Having former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney or former eBay CEO Meg Whitman or even Mother Teresa as McCain's running mate would not have changed that. And, with Bush's job-approval rating in a recent Gallup Poll at 25 percent, my National Journal colleague Ronald Brownstein has noted that McCain would need the support of one-third of all voters who disapprove of Bush's performance in order to reach 50 percent in a general election. With Republican Party identification down from parity four years ago to a 10-point deficit, this race would have been incredibly hard for the Republican nominee no matter what.

Although this contest was very competitive over the summer and could have gone either way before the stock market crashed and the credit markets seized up, arguably it has become virtually unwinnable for McCain. The nation's economic problems feel very personal and very painful for nearly everybody who has looked at their 401(k) or other retirement account statements and seen that a quarter or more of their retirement savings have evaporated. Many voters even held stock in venerable companies, including some of those long considered among the safest around, and have watched in horror as those investments turned almost worthless.

For voters who may end up working many more years than they had planned, or who have lost money set aside to send their children or grandchildren to college or to start or expand a business, it is far easier to blame anyone wearing a red Republican jersey than to dwell on thoughts about which presidential nominee has had more experience on national security issues or has spent more time contemplating the situation in the Middle East.

Of course, this election isn't over. Something could transform it from one focused on an economic recession to one obsessed with national security or some other topic that would give McCain a fighting chance. But with the growing popularity of early voting, that "something" would have to be very big and happen very soon to have the power to change the trajectory of Obama's campaign.

For now, what is so jarring about the tempo of this election is its shift from turbulent to placid, from shocking to inevitable. Perhaps that is a fitting end to this weird campaign year.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/njmagazine/cr_20081025_9803.php

syracus

26.10.2008, 10:52

I just confirmed my suspicion about the touch screens set up by Diebold (now ES&S). When Mccain is listed first, many votes for Obama will be erroneously recorded for McCain. The reverse is true in the case where a county for some reason listed Obama ahead of McCain. I suspect few will. Look to the swing states with ESS machines and Mccain listed first on the touch screen panels. We must act now or we are going to lose.

We cannot stand by and let them steal another election. Early elections are giving us a chance to raise the red flag and get he word out. Alert the media while there is still time to get these machines shut down or changed. A 10% error in voting for Obama will swing the entire election easily to McCain.

It is not enough to just be careful when you vote. Millions won't read this blog, they won't know, and they will vote incorrectly. Call your local media outlets and email the national outlets starting with CNN. CNN ran the story that "concluded" it was just voter error or a one time "calibration error". Go after them, pressure them to cover this properly and point out the voting design flaw with the tocuh screens.

It is possible these machines are being "calibrated" so the touch screen hit box (invisible box the software detects being pressed) is being moved down or even widened so it overlaps the top of the Obama box. In fact if the memory or software has been tampered with, anything is possible in terms of simple tampering that could throw the election. Right now there is no way to know without a computer forensic inspection of the machines. It is likely however that there is no malicious software and simply by the design of the electronic ballot the Republicans will steal millions of Obama votes.

Get the word out immediately. Contact the media outlets, your friends, anyone you can. Tell them the machines must either be removed or the layout of the Presidential vote buttons need to be changed. The two buttons MUST be moved apart and have no other vote buttons immediately around them.

See http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6561 (http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6561)
and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sDoyCGVacU (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sDoyCGVacU)

In the video above you can see the Presidential names "McCain" and "Obama" are in the top left corner of each button in small font. Why not in the middle of the button in large font? Because if you try to click on the text "Obama" you are likely to cast a vote for McCain instead as long as Obama appears directly below the McCain button. To even design the ballot this way in the first place with both candidates jammed together on a touch screen should be criminal.

Double check this yourself. I guarantee you that Obama is listed directly ABOVE McCain in this Decatur County election referenced below. In most counties, you will no doubt discover McCain appears above Obama. Womever the presidential candidate is listed 2nd, many erroneous touch screen votes will be cast for the candidate above listed 1st.

______________________
http://www.decaturcountyonline.com/article.asp?art=1244 (http://www.decaturcountyonline.com/article.asp?art=1244)

Machine Problems Frustrate Early Voters
by Jennifer Clendenion
10/22/08

Several Decatur County voters are concerned about problems with the voting machines at the Election Commission Office. Voters claim they tried to vote for McCain for President but the machine checked Obama instead.
At least three voters encountered the problem when casting their early ballot on Saturday morning. Franklin Boroughs says he intended to vote for Republican but rather the computer had checked the Democratic candidate instead.
Wanda and Barney Blasingim similarly said they tried to vote for McCain but the machine switched the vote.
“I noticed the problem immediately,” Wanda said Monday. She says she touched the “button” for McCain a second time and the problem was corrected. Her husband said he asked for assistance from election workers and was told the error sometimes occurs when a person’s finger touches close to the line of the box the candidate’s name is in.
While Blasingim maintains that his finger was not on the line, Election Commissioner Rick Box said the trouble may be that when a person is standing in front of the machine, it may appear their finger is poised over one button but it is actually closer to the button above.

(SEE LINK FOR FULL STORY):rolleyes .............. warum nur können die nicht einfach wählen wie überall sonst, mit Papier :confused

syracus

26.10.2008, 14:10

Republicans fear long exile in the wilderness

Paul Harris in Texas
The Observer, Sunday October 26 2008

In America's conservative heartland the talk now is not just of a win for Obama. With the Democrats poised for gains in the Senate and the House, moderate Republicans fear a wipeout that would leave their party in the grip of evangelicals increasingly out of touch with the public. Could the country be on the brink of change as deep as that ushered in by Reagan

Voting for a Republican president runs in the blood of places like Gainesville. The pretty little town of 15,000 sits in north Texas ranch country and it is safe to say that Barack Obama has few fans here. Certainly Jim Farquhar, who works in the justice system, has taken to heart warnings that Obama has links with dangerous radicals, such as former 1960s militant Bill Ayers.

'Obama scares me. He has all these friendships. You just don't know how that might effect him once he gets into office,' Farquhar said as he stood outside Gainsville's sturdy old courthouse. 'I'm voting for John McCain.'

Such worries are increasingly not shared by many other Americans. Weeks of relentless attacks on Obama by McCain and his running mate Sarah Palin have not succeeded in denting Obama's lead. Instead it has strengthened. Across America, battleground states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania are falling into Obama's column and southern states such as Virginia and North Carolina are going from red to blue. Some Democratic insiders are even whispering about the prospect of a landslide.

The flipside of that is a potentially devastating Republican loss. If current polling holds true, the party may be reduced to its core support in the solid red heartland that runs through Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Georgia and other southern and western states. That would trigger a profound crisis for a party that just three years ago was basking in the afterglow of a convincing presidential win and dreaming of creating a 'permanent majority'.

Now that same Republican party could face a prolonged period in the political wilderness, working out how to appeal to an American public that seems prepared to send a pro-life, black senator from Chicago to the White House and reject a conservative Republican war hero.

'The Republican party is going to have to work out what sort of party it actually wants to be. It's a changing world for them,' said Professor Shaun Bowler, a political scientist at the University of California at Riverside. It might not be easy. A powerful Democratic win could wipe out Republican moderates. It could leave the party in the grip of its conservative and evangelical base who remain critical of figures such as McCain but who are wildly enthusiastic about politicians such as Palin. The Republican party could end up in a bitter civil war for its political future.'

One of the key battlegrounds in that conflict will be the role of religion in Republican politics. The evangelical base has been a key part of the political coalition that has brought the party such success in recent years. Political guru Karl Rove cemented evangelical ideas into President George W Bush's brand of conservatism and used them to inspire a very effective 'get out the vote' team in elections.

Rove focused on social issues such as gay marriage and abortion as a way of ensuring fanatical evangelical support. Nothing came to symbolise the power of the evangelical movement more than the rise of mega-churches, especially in staunchly Republican areas. These enormous edifices now dot the landscape of many states and Texas is no exception.

In the northern Dallas suburb of Prosper, a new mega-church has just opened. It is called Prestonwood North and is a branch of its mother church a few miles south in Plano, a fast-growing city of some 260,000 people. At first glance the church looks like a sparkling new office development, identical to many other buildings popping up on farmland as these 'exurbs' of Dallas succumb to development. But the large cross on its front reveals the truth. Taken as a whole, Prestonwood now has almost 30,000 members, making it one of the largest churches in America. It was recently named as one of America's 50 most influential churches.

It certainly fits in in Prosper. Once a hamlet, it is gradually being swallowed by the suburbs, but its politics remain God and guns. 'People around here all voted for Bush. That has not really changed. It's a churchgoing kind of place,' said Michelle Williams, 32, a dental nurse.

In Texas, church and politics have been mixing. In recent weeks, leading evangelical leaders in the state have endorsed McCain from their pulpits. They include Pastor Gary Simons, who heads a church near Dallas. He compared Obama to King Herod, the biblical child killer, because of his support for abortion. 'How many of you would want to go to the polls and vote for Herod?' Simons asked his congregation.

But increasingly such nakedly political preaching is looking out of step with many religious voters. Obama, who is a regular churchgoer and looks at ease in religious surroundings, has made huge strides in appealing to evangelical voters. His campaign has aggressively courted the religious vote, holding regular meetings with evangelical leaders.

That is in marked contrast to the 2004 Democratic nominee, John Kerry. It has worked too. A recent survey showed Obama and McCain in a virtual dead heat among born-again Christians, with support for McCain running at 45 per cent and Obama on 43 per cent. In 2004, Bush won 62 per cent of that vote. 'If Obama goes on to win, one of the significant stories will be the profile of the faith vote ... the Democrats are poised to make up significant ground among born again and evangelical voters,' said David Kinnaman, president of the evangelical research group that carried out the poll.

The trend is also likely to reflect growing differences in the evangelical movement itself; changes that are leaving the Republican party behind. Far from being a monolithic bloc, evangelicals have increasingly embraced a wider variety of causes. Some are just as likely to campaign on fighting Aids and issues in the developing world as to crusade against abortion and gay marriage. One of the hottest topics in conservative Christianity at the moment is environmental conservation and global warming, neither of which is a Republican strong suit.

Yet, following a possible November defeat, the Republican party itself could still remain firmly in the hands of its conservative evangelical wing. Even as America drifts away from causes that right-wing evangelicals care about, the Republican base remains fixated on them. After all, McCain was forced to court the evangelical vote in order to secure the nomination himself.

To cement his position, he ended up choosing Palin - a true religious conservative - as his running mate. That move electrified die-hard Republicans but turned off other voters for whom the collapsing economy - not fighting the teaching of evolution in schools or banning abortion - has become the overriding concern. It allowed Obama to seize the vital middle ground.

'In the Republican party itself it seems that the Christian right is going to be in the ascendancy. But that is looking like a losing political strategy for the future,' said Bowler.

There is increasingly a sense that what works for the Republican base no longer works for the rest of the country, even in the heart of red state America. Take Kingfisher, Oklahoma. The town sits in the middle of a county that is one of the reddest in America when it comes to presidential politics. It voted for Bush over Kerry in 2004 by a staggering 85 per cent to 15 per cent. Even now the state of Oklahoma remains spectacularly loyal to the Republicans. The most recent poll showed McCain 24 points ahead of Obama. A previous one gave him a lead of more than 30 per cent.

But even in Kingfisher the signs of Republican disarray are not hard to find. Businesswoman Charlene Franks is put off by the campaign that McCain and Palin are running. 'I am voting for McCain but I don't really like it. It's the economy that matters right now and groceries are getting expensive. We really don't eat that much any more,' she said. Her views on Palin were not complimentary either. 'She is not ready to be president,' Franks said.

Ready or not, Palin is still likely to be one of the most dominant forces in Republican politics after the election. Unlike McCain, she draws thousands to her rallies. She has developed a genuinely enthusiastic following among activists who are dedicated to her cause. Already there is speculation that Palin, if McCain loses in November, will be the hottest pick for the nomination in 2012.

That will be made easier by a large-scale electoral defeat. In a process reminiscent of the Labour party in the 1980s and the Conservatives in the late 1990s, the Republicans could end up as an extremist rump, reduced to a few stronghold states and obsessed with causes that seem not to matter to the general public.

Across America, moderate Republicans are facing a tough battle as the Democrats look set to increase greatly their strength in Congress. Some analysts are seeing Democratic gains of up to nine Senate seats and 30 seats in the House of Representatives. In a leaked Republican party document last week, an incredible 58 House seats were ranked as potentially at risk with 11 of them virtually written off as already lost.

If the Democrats perform strongly enough to control 60 Senate seats then they would have a virtual free rein over the political landscape. Republicans would probably survive only in their heartland, thus thrusting the party further right at a time when the country has shifted left. That would mark a profound change similar to Ronald Reagan's win in 1980 which seemed to usher in a conservative-dominated era.

The possibility has many Republican pundits terrified. 'The end of the Reagan era?' blared one headline in the political magazine National Journal. The Wall Street Journal added fuel to the fire with an editorial that went ever further. 'Get ready for change we haven't seen since 1965 or 1933,' it warned under the headline: 'A liberal supermajority'.

Such a prospect angers conservative Republicans. But much of that anger is directed at the current occupa