Newsweek: McCain Playing the "Race Card" Card

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Friday August 01, 2008 · 5:22 PM PDT

2008/08/01 · 17:22

Newsweek's Andrew Romano pens an incisive article that lays the blame at the feet of the McCain camp. While it is not nearly as critical as the NYT editorial, I think therein lies it value. Its analysis is sufficiently non-inflammatory to become the accepted media CW, while still being incredibly damaging to McCain.

Please rec/digg to give the article more coverage.

eusto

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Monday July 28, 2008 · 10:44 PM PDT

2008/07/28 · 22:44

[My contribution to the recent Kaine-mania, highlighted on Drudge, Politico, and the Page. Kaine 'very, very high' on VP shortlist.]

I’ve been split between Biden and Kaine as veep picks. If one thinks that Obama’s greatest vulnerability is inexperience and unreadiness, then it seems that a steady hand like Biden could be reassuring. Biden would be a VP in the (sadly victorious) Cheney model. And perhaps given the current climate (where foreign policy issues are more salient than they were in 1992) heft is what is needed. However, if one thinks that Obama’s greatest vulnerability is an inability to connect with voters, then Kaine seems much stronger as this video witnesses (the missonary background, Spanish fluency, and southern roots are big plusses as well). Kaine would thus be a VP in the model of Gore

Poll

58 votes Show Results

Which is more important?

58 votes Vote Now!

Which is more important?

connecting to voters

39 votes

readiness to lead

19 votes

We were supposed to swamp McCain in the money race

eusto

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Thursday July 17, 2008 · 11:16 AM PDT

2008/07/17 · 11:16

We were supposed to swamp McCain in the money race, but we're barely keeping pace.

From MSNBC's First Read

When Obama's cash reserves are combined with the DNC's, the party has about $92 million to spend right now -- a few million less than John McCain and the RNC.

From TNR's the Stump

But as First Read reminds us, the relevant metric is really Obama + DNC vs. McCain + RNC, and in that calculus it's likely to be about even.

eusto

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday July 12, 2008 · 10:39 AM PDT

2008/07/12 · 10:39

"The reason it might hurt him [Obama] is because his party wouldn't have his back. With over two thirds of the members of his own party prepared to vote in favor of the bill, he has no political cover. If he opposes the bill, the question posed to him by every reporter and debate moderator would be: if the bill was so bad, why did over 2/3rds of the members of your own party think it was necessary to keep America safe?"

-- Anonymous Liberal

Although we have evidence that opposing telco immunity doesn't hurt Democrats in local races, do we have any evidence of that on the national level? Given that commander-in-chief and national security issues are much more prominent on the national level, and given that Obama (astoundingly) trails McCain by double digits on foreign policy and is viewed with suspicion by many (for inexperience as well as the crypto-muslim terrorist-sympathizing BS), perhaps Obama (in distinction to most other Democrats) would have been hurt by voting against the FISA bill. And especially because the party would (very likely) not have rallied behind him had he done so.

If this argument has some weight, perhaps it significantly mitigates Obama's guilt.

Poll

98 votes Show Results

Would Obama have been uniquely vulnerable if he had voted against FISA?

98 votes Vote Now!

Would Obama have been uniquely vulnerable if he had voted against FISA?

yes

47 votes

51 votes

Hold the Associated Press Accountable (Updated)

eusto

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday July 08, 2008 · 9:35 PM PDT

2008/07/08 · 21:35

Recently, the AP has been failing to uphold its standards of journalistic integrity. Josh Marshall at TPM has been documenting this carefully, even stating semi-facetiously that the AP has "endorsed" McCain. He has even charged the AP with bamboozlement over its distortion of Obama's Iraq stance.

In particular, AP writer Liz Sidoti (of McCain donut sprinkles fame: see first link) has written that: "On Iraq, he has gone from hard-line opposition to the war to more nuanced rhetoric that calls for a troop drawdown process that could last 16 months." Of course, this is patently false for Obama has always talked about a 16 month withdrawal. She also writes of Obama's Iraq stance: "a potentially flexible formulation that has troubled liberals."

However, this is also patently false. The uniform response from the liberal blogosphere has been condemnation of the media for distortion, not Obama.

Below I describe how you can take action. Please rec this diary to encourage others to do likewise.

eusto

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Saturday July 05, 2008 · 3:24 PM PDT

2008/07/05 · 15:24

This diary examines the question of the smartest thing for Obama to do if it is true that FISA would nonetheless pass even were he to throw his entire weight behind opposing it.

(Given that politicians are concerned foremost with their own electoral fate, and that the Dem leadership has been working on this bill for months, I think it is reasonable to assume that Obama probably would be unable to stop this juggernaut.)

I try to argue that Obama is uniquely vulnerable in a way that Democrats running in local races are not to being wounded on issues of national security (he's running for commander-in-chief and he's a young black "crypto-muslim commie"). Thus, I will argue that we should cut Obama some slack because his choices most likely are (1) oppose FISA and sustain potentially serious political damage or (2) don't oppose FISA and receive political benefits. In either case, FISA passes. I try to stress that Obama is facing a strong headwind of beltway bias and has to court low-information voters. And I remind Kos readers of the many times Obama has shown great courage on the issues of national security. In other words, Kossacks, be pragmatic first and foremost, and don't require that Obama fight a battle that he will likely lose and that would harm his chances in the war.

Poll

16 votes Show Results

Did Obama make the right "optical" decision

16 votes Vote Now!

Did Obama make the right "optical" decision

the diarist is insightful, hail Obama's prudence!

14 votes

the diarist is a hack, but I still love Obama warts and all!

2 votes

Fire up the donors during the crucial summer months!

eusto

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday July 01, 2008 · 10:41 AM PDT

2008/07/01 · 10:41

Due to the never-ending primary and the very small gap between the primary and the general, I worry that many Obama donors are exhausted and are taking a very understandable though deeply unwise break. The May fundraising numbers were the worst ever, and even now the number of donors are barely crawling upwards (on the Obama site under "Declare Your Independence"). Each new fundraising email seems to only increase the number by a few thousand if even that. And the rapidity and fury (perhaps even desperation) of the recent email blitz asking for donations before the now passed June 30th deadline also raises concerns.

(Rec this diary to help rouse the sleeping giant of the army of Obama donors!)

eusto

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday June 19, 2008 · 5:11 PM PDT

2008/06/19 · 17:11

While Obama may have broken a promise, McCain may now be breaking the law. He opted into public financing for the primary because he was broke. When he became the presumptive nominee, he just declared that he was no longer bound to stay within the limits that the primary opt-in required. At the time, the FEC did not have a quorum because the Bush administration wanted to appoint "vote suppression guru" Hans Sapovsky to the FEC, and so there was a stalemeate. Bush eventually withdrew his name several months later. However, the Republican appointed head of the FEC expressed serious doubts whether John McCain's opt-out was legal. So McCain has been raising private money for the general election for months because the offical time period for the general to start is post-convention, so public financing doesn't start till then. If McCain didn't opt out he would have been broke (the RNC could have perhaps stepped in), so it's understandable. Even so, he at least violated the spirit of a law that he himself was the champion.

Campaign Finance Deformed

Please rec to give the video more exposure.

Poll

50 votes Show Results

Who's the bigger hypocrite on campaign finance?

50 votes Vote Now!

Who's the bigger hypocrite on campaign finance?

Obama

1 vote

McCain

49 votes

McCain, Misogyny, and Webb (w/ hilarious new vid!)

eusto

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday June 18, 2008 · 12:56 PM PDT

2008/06/18 · 12:56

One of the major concerns about Jim Webb being VP is his 1979 Washingtonian Article "Why Women Can't Fight," his calling the Tailhook scandal "a witch hunt," and the fact that he's on his third wife. This is often thought to pose at least a perpection problem that could alienate Hillary supporters and other women. However, it seems that perhaps this record could be swamped by McCain's much worse record on treating women.

Not only do we have his smears of Chelsea, his abandonment of his first wife, his tacit approval of referring to Hillary as a b****, we have his inglorious moment of calling his wife a c***. This last moment is brilliantly and wickedly highlighted in a new satirical video: here.

(Don't forget to rate the vid if you like it!)

Also discussed in this huffington post story.

Poll

66 votes Show Results

Who has a worse problem with women

66 votes Vote Now!

Who has a worse problem with women

Jim Webb

1 vote

John McCain

50 votes

I don't know, but that vid sure is funny.

15 votes

Ensuring an Obama Landslide: The Rosetta Stone to Victory

eusto

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday May 19, 2008 · 9:29 PM PDT

2008/05/19 · 21:29

This diary makes the comprehensive case that Jim Webb is uniquely suited to be Obama's running mate and could very well be the key to an Obama-landslide for two central reasons. It would enable Obama to destroy McCain's key strength on national security, and it would deliver him the demographic group--working-class Appalachian voters--most resistant to his candidacy and most crucial to his victory.

If after reading you agree, please sign the petition and recommend this diary so others may sign as well.

The following diary is in three parts: (1) stage-setting (2) list of all Webb's virtues and (3) why other running mates do not make the cut. You may wish to focus on the list.

Poll

218 votes Show Results

Obama's running mate should be

218 votes Vote Now!

Obama's running mate should be

Webb

111 votes

Sebelius

49 votes

Strickland

10 votes

Clinton

10 votes

Biden

8 votes

Kaine

9 votes

Richardson

21 votes

Fighting VoteBoth and other Clinton VP manuevers

eusto

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday May 12, 2008 · 2:46 PM PDT

2008/05/12 · 14:46

A week ago, I "penned" an entry making the comprehensive case for Obama-Clinton. Since then, I've returned to my senses in realizing just how horrid a weight the Clintons would be on an Obama adminstration.

More importantly, however, there have long been clear signs that the Obama people want no part of her. Pelosi, Kennedy, and Dodd have repeatedly nixed it and continue to nix it.

However, Clinton people have recently been talking it up despite official denials. McAuliffe has weighed in positively as has Chuck Schumer.

Poll

82 votes Show Results

Should we

82 votes Vote Now!

Should we

do nothing

22 votes

start a counter website

23 votes

have Kos do press appearances

12 votes

wait and see

25 votes

obama-clinton: "the hate-filled dream ticket" (a comprehensive case)

eusto

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday May 07, 2008 · 7:42 PM PDT

2008/05/07 · 19:42

As much as I dislike Senator Clinton (for all the common reasons cited), I think it is important not to underestimate the challenge Obama will face in the fall. We must remember that our challenge is not with high-information voters but with low-information voters. And we must remember how resistant low-information voters have been to Obama's candidacy. I have no doubt that Senator Obama would be one of our best presidents and is eminently qualified for the job--even so, we must remember that he is a black first-term senator with an arabic middle name, with a firebrand ex-pastor who has proclaimed "God Damn America."

So, reluctantly I here offer the case for Obama-Clinton, primarily because I think that the pair would be an "unstoppable force" and would handily win the White House. The presence of Clinton would dispel the fears of Obama skeptics who think he's too green or "foreign." Such a powerful mandate would help Democrats accomplish many of their goals including withdrawal from Iraq.

RSS

Newsweek: McCain Playing the "Race Card" Card

Kaine on the Harmonica: Connecting with Voters vs. Readiness to Lead

We were supposed to swamp McCain in the money race

FISA: national vs. local politics, disunity, and Obama's guilt (updated)

Hold the Associated Press Accountable (Updated)

FISA Optics: Obama's potential wisdom

Fire up the donors during the crucial summer months!

TPM video highlighting McCain's public financing hypocrisy

McCain, Misogyny, and Webb (w/ hilarious new vid!)

Ensuring an Obama Landslide: The Rosetta Stone to Victory

Fighting VoteBoth and other Clinton VP manuevers

obama-clinton: "the hate-filled dream ticket" (a comprehensive case)