Eden Prairie News - Comments

"WE'RE HIS BASE" PRESS LOVES

edenpprairiefactchecker — Sat, 10 May 2008 08:06:25 -0500

"WE'RE HIS BASE" PRESS LOVES JOHN MCCAIN
MSNBC Chris Matthews
2006

"The "Media Myths of McCain" detail the truths hiding benneth the surface of the media's coverage of John McCain. From his supposed status as a "maverick" and "straight talker" to his supposed independence from lobbyists, this site details the real John McCain seldomly portrayed in the media landscape. Taken together, these myths show just how big of a Free Ride the Arizona Senator has received from the media over the years."

John McCain is a maverick.
John McCain is a moderate.
John McCain is a straight-talker.
John McCain is a reformer.
John McCain doesn't do things just
because they're politically expedient.
Just about all you need to know about
John McCain's character is that he showed
courage as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.
John McCain has too much integrity
to use his war record to his political advantage.
John McCain is the lobbyist's biggest enemy.
The media honeymoon with John McCain is over.
John McCain has considerable foreign policy expertise.

1. John McCain is a maverick.
It sometimes seems that you can't read a story about John McCain without seeing him referred to as a "maverick." But is it true?

Perhaps no word has been used to describe John McCain more often than "maverick." In January and February of 2008 alone, McCain was called a "maverick" more than 1,300 times in newspapers and on television. And those who use the label to describe McCain rarely explain just what he has done to earn it. But a closer examination of his record shows that McCain isn't quite the maverick that he is made out to be. The truth is that McCain's breaks from the Republican Party line are few and far between. According to Congressional Quarterly's "party unity" ratings, since he came to the Senate in 1989, there have been only three years in which McCain voted with his party less than 80 percent of the time. When he has gone against the party line -- such as on campaign finance reform, global warming, or tobacco regulations -- McCain has taken a position that was overwhelmingly popular with the public, meaning that when he takes a "maverick" stance, he's gaining support with the public -- and hardly taking a political risk.

"Just as important, McCain's acts of independence aren't so much on high-profile issues as they are on issues that the press makes high-profile, precisely because of McCain's involvement. In all these cases, something important happens in the media when McCain opposes his party. When an ordinary senator crosses party lines, he or she will join members of the other party and perhaps have occasional opportunities to be quoted or interviewed on the issue in question. When McCain crosses party lines, on the other hand, the story the news media write undergoes a shift: It then becomes a story not about a conflict between Democrats and Republicans, but a story about John McCain and his rebellion. This is why McCain is perceived to be much more of a maverick than Republicans such as Olympia Snowe or Susan Collins, who actually break with the GOP far more often. Yet journalists continue over and over to call McCain a "maverick," seldom questioning whether there might be more to the story. "

http://mediamattersaction.org/freeride/myths/

MEDIA LOVE MCCAIN? "John, I

edenpprairiefactchecker — Sat, 10 May 2008 08:01:46 -0500

MEDIA LOVE MCCAIN?

"John, I hate to break this to you, but the media never loved you-they just hated your team and knew you were (and are) bad for its morale and unity. You were the enemy of their enemy, and never their friend. They rooted for you in same way that a Red Sox fan roots for whoever plays the Yankees. They loved you in the same way that Satan loves the flies that buzz around the face of a dying famine victim. Now that the fly is buzzing around Satan's face, it just needs to be squashed."

"And we're still eight months out from the actual election. The digging season has just begun, and who knows what treasures are waiting to be discovered in McCain's once-unexamined life. "

"Oh well, at least it will be nice to see McCain end his political career as he began it: as a Republican. "

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3827/is_20080225/ai_n24933439

OBAMA GODFATHER? How Obama

Ponytail — Sat, 10 May 2008 07:48:33 -0500

OBAMA GODFATHER?

How Obama is consolidating money/power:
This comes from a blogger who supported Obama.

"What are the consequences of a party where there is a new chief with massive amounts of power? We have a leader, and he’s not a partisan and he can now end fractious intraparty fights with a word and/or a nod. His opinion really matters in a way that even Nancy Pelosi’s just did not. He has control of the party apparatus, the grassroots, the money, and the messaging environment. He is also, and this is fundamental, someone that millions of people believe in as a moral force. "

Ponytail writes:
(So, when you disagree with Obama,” you could end up like Tavis Smalley or Reverend Wright, out of a job and or un-favored in the community. Not new in politics.)

[Obama]" is attempting to completely rewrite the rules of politics, and we should try to figure out what that means. Obama is now the party leader. He has the mandate, so when he speaks, he speaks for all of us. I hope he’s a vibrant progressive when he gets into office, and we should begin figuring out how to put ourselves in a position to help him take the country in a progressive direction."

"The only reason anyone has paid attention to the blogosphere is because of our fundraising, period. Obama’s now vacuumed up the majority of the grassroots donors, is discouraging his donors from giving to anyone else, and there’s no point whatsoever to placating the netroots."

"They don’t need us, and we will have no influence whatsoever in an Obama administration. Those of you who dream of a new progressive netroots Utopia will have a rather rude awakening, I think. (Not that this makes some huge difference in my own life - I’ve never thought bloggers were anywhere near as influential as they like to think.)
I can believe that Obama, or Daschle, or whoever designed his movement, has relatively benign intent - for now. But the nature of unchecked power is such that the power inevitably becomes an end in itself - and, of course, corrupts.
UPDATE: He’s building a national version of the Chicago machine!”

May 9th, 2008 at 6:39 am by Susie
http://susiemadrak.com/2008/05/09/06/39/vision-of-the-future-2/

Matt Stoller:Obama's Consolidation of the Party

"You know all that old-style Washington politics preventing real change? As hard as it might be to handle, in a lot of ways he means that those of us who believe in partisan hard edged combat are part of an outmoded system. It doesn't actually divide cleanly; old hand Tom Daschle is a key figure and likely to be Obama's chief of staff, and Artur Davis is likely to be his Attorney General. These are old school Democrats, and Obama's machine is full of the Congressional wing of the party that lost out in 1992 to Clinton and his people. "

(Ponytail writes: this seems highly contradictory" remove the Clinton Dems and replace with anti-Clinton Dems and they call this non-partisan? Are they intellectually bankrupt?")

"This isn't a criticism; again, Obama made his bet that the country isn't into ideological combat and wants a politics of unity and hope, and he has won at internally. In terms of the 'Iron Law of Institutions', the Obama campaign is masterful. From top to bottom, they have destroyed their opponents within the party, stolen out from under them their base, and persuaded a whole set of individuals from blog readers to people in the pews to ignore intermediaries and believe in Barack as a pure vessel of change. "

(Ponytail writes: So, this was what all the star gazing was about. I won't even allude to all the inferences this image conjures.)

"It's actually very similar to Clinton from 1994-2000, where power and money in the Democratic Party is being centralized around a key iconic figure. He's consolidating power within the party.
Now here's the part that's unclear. Obama has successfully remade the Democratic Party already, and shown that old partisan Washington politics is over if you are a Democrat. Can he do that with Republicans? By stripping power, money and responsibility from outside groups and opponents, Obama is increasing his control of the party apparatus. He is also, however, putting everything on his own shoulders. When the Swift Boaters come back, and they will, it's all on Obama and his movement to hit back. He's betting that he can strip power from their base just as he stripped power from the old Washington way of doing politics within the Democratic Party. "

(Ponytail writes: If anyone experienced the control Obama supporters had on the blogs through intimidation, race-baiting, abusive verbal attacks, the future looks fairly unappealing when thinking of a government by these kinds of mechanisms, which are hardly removed from the politics of old.)

"I do not doubt that he can do this during the general election. McCain is such a weak candidate, and the Republicans are in such disarray, that a solid White House victory, 5-7 Senate seats, and 40-50 seats in the House are clearly possible. House Republicans are especially mean right now; insiders tell me they are going to cause problems with the war funding tactics just because they are so depressed from losing in Louisiana and Illinois. They have no money for the House and the Senate, and a depressed base. I'm curious about Obama's governing philosophy, as that is where the Republicans are going to make their stand in 2009. Without traditional outside groups (and he doesn't want them involved, witness his lobbyist ban in his new administration), Obama is going to be relying on the emergent networks that come from his campaign to buttress his priorities, but since we don't actually know what they are, it's hard to figure out what his governing strategy will be. "

"As Mike Lux wrote earlier, it's time to get ready for Obama as the nominee. I would amplify this and point out that it's time to get ready for a party that is being taken apart and rebuilt as the Obama movement. It's incredibly refreshing, in a sense, for politics to be completely reimagined on top of the internet and with a strong focus on leadership development, volunteers, and outside of DC leadership disdainful of partisanship and the give and take of politics-as-usual. It's also displacing the anti-Bush arguments of the last eight years and the political dynamic it fostered on the left."

(Ponytail writes: If in fact brute bullying and race-baiting will take over for partisan politics, I'll take the later.)

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=5637

Here's a comment to Matt Stoller's post:
Sounds More Like Don Corleone (none / 0) (#103)
by santarita on Fri May 09, 2008 at 08:14:25 PM EST
"Master Stoller seems to be describing an all-powerful Godfather instead of a leader of a political party in a democracy. No more intrafamily quarrels, the Godfather will nod and say a few words to the Consigliere and all well be well. And the Party will march in lock step to the right. "

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/5/9/193354/0010

UP FOR GRABS: HILL

Ponytail — Sat, 10 May 2008 07:29:53 -0500

UP FOR GRABS: HILL DEMS

Analysis: 'Hillary Democrats' could be up for grabs
5/9/2008, 7:39 p.m. EDT
By NEDRA PICKLER
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — With the racially tinged Democratic race drawing to an awkward close, Barack Obama and John McCain face the challenge of winning over "Hillary Democrats" — the white, working-class voters who favored the former first lady over Obama's historic candidacy.
Obama and McCain clearly have set their sights on each other, a recognition of the long odds Clinton faces in trying to capture the Democratic presidential nomination. The McCain campaign figures some of her supporters might be up for grabs and won't necessarily vote Democratic in the general election in November.
"I've been saying for a year that you never count a Clinton out, but now people are laughing at me so I guess I've got to stop," McCain strategist Charlie Black said Friday. "But if you look at the blue-collar Democratic votes that Mrs. Clinton's been getting and then look at their opinions of Obama in these public polls, there's clearly an opportunity for McCain."

http://www.nj.com/newsflash/index.ssf?/base/politics-15/121037006936470....

OBAMA CLINTON DEAL? "Clinton

Ponytail — Sat, 10 May 2008 07:27:43 -0500

OBAMA CLINTON DEAL?

"Clinton agrees to leave the race in return for help paying off her campaign debt, a key role at the convention, and a guarantee that she becomes the lead Senate sponsor of the health care reform bill under a President Obama."

http://thepage.time.com/outlines-of-possible-obama-clinton-deal/

SPREADING THE JOY Sandwiched

edenpprairiefactchecker — Fri, 09 May 2008 15:58:33 -0500

SPREADING THE JOY

Sandwiched between Half Time Sports Bar and Big Bear Sports Center ads in the Great Falls Tribune online, the Governor of Montana made his case for continuing the Democratic race.

The primary without an end may be perceived by the Obama camp and the media as too long, but it’s apparent the vetting, visibility, vouching and validation isn’t only important to the candidates and the voters, but each state wants their day in the sun—wants to be a integral part of the nominating process.

Not to diminish the potential upside for local businesses. But, maybe the point is why did red states matter in January and not in May? What happened to the 50 state strategy?

Governor: Democrats should end their battle in Montana
By MATT GOURAS
Associated Press Writer , May 9, 2008

HELENA — Gov. Brian Schweitzer said he would like to see the race between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama continue to Montana's June 3 primary, the last contest in the nation.
Clinton has been under increased pressure in recent days to bow out and hand the Democratic presidential nomination to Obama. Although the race is close, Obama has an edge in pledged delegates and appears to hold the momentum among the key superdelegates who can vote for whomever they like at the Democratic national convention in August.

But Schweitzer said Thursday the race should continue.
"Ya know, it's nearly tied," Schweitzer said in an interview. "I think it's been good for the Democratic Party. There's millions of new voters, lots of excitement and energy. I don't know, let the voting continue. Might as well let Montana finish the voting."
Schweitzer, a superdelegate, has been staunchly uncommitted and has refused to say whom he might support. But all the attention from the candidates has been good for Montana, he said.
"It was exciting that the presidential candidates came to Montana, and they now have active presidential campaigns in Montana," the governor said.
Schweitzer said he will only announce his endorsement after he sees who Montanans choose in the June 3 primary. At stake in the primary are 16 pledged delegates.
On Thursday, Schweitzer also dismissed any notion that he would be interested in being a vice presidential candidate, despite some speculation. He was recently placed on a list of potential vice presidential picks for Obama.
"It's safe to say that (Obama) has not requested. It's also safe to say I have the best job in the world," Schweitzer said. "This is the first political job I have had. I like this, and I would like to complete this job.
"I have made it pretty clear that I don't like the politics back there in Washington, D.C., and Jag doesn't like the smell of it," he said, referring to his beloved dog.

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008805090343

OP CHAOS MYTH? From The

edenpprairiefactchecker — Fri, 09 May 2008 13:39:39 -0500

OP CHAOS MYTH?

From The Caucus blogs at NY Times:
"Mr. Limbaugh explained his plan to listeners on Monday, the day before the primary:
The strategy is to continue the chaos in this party. Look, there’s a reason for this. Our side isn’t going to do this. Obama needs to be bloodied up. Look, half the country already hates Hillary. That’s good. But nobody hates Obama yet. Hillary is going to be the one to have to bloody him up politically because our side isn’t going to do it. Mark my words. It’s about winning, folks!"

“We’re already screwed: Vote Hillary!” his Web site proclaims.

On Wednesday’s show, after Mrs. Clinton won in Texas and Ohio, Mr. Limbaugh proclaimed victory. However, there is little to suggest that he successfully drove enough Republicans to vote strategically to impact the outcome."

“There’s just not a lot of evidence, when you start looking at the data, that there’s a lot of this sort of behavior in presidential primaries,” said Michael McDonald, an associate professor at George Mason University who studies voter turnout."

"Mr. Obama actually won among Texas Republicans, who made up nearly twice as much of the voters in the Democratic primary as they did in 2004, at 9 percent, and 53 percent of them went for Mr. Obama, according to voter surveys by Edison/Mitofsky."

" In Ohio, where Republicans participated at similarly increased rates in the Democratic contest, Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama both received 49 percent of the G.O.P. vote."

"Mrs. Clinton won the Ohio primary 54.3 percent to Mr. Obama’s 44 percent, and she took the Texas vote with 50.9 percent to 47.4 percent."

"The Republican vote was “definitely not determinative of whether or not Clinton won those states,” said Professor McDonald. He added that the effect of Republican voters could have added “maybe a percentage point or two” to Mrs. Clinton’s total."

"Of the states with open or semi-open primaries, Mr. Obama has generally won among Republicans handily. Only in Alabama, on Feb. 5, did Mrs. Clinton win among Republicans, who made up 5 percent of the voters, by a margin of 52 to 45 percent – but Mr. Obama won the primary there overall."

"Ultimately, Mr. Obama’s success with Republicans tends to correlate with his fortunes among other groups."

"The voter polls do not give many clues about voters’ motivation, so it is difficult to determine exactly why Republicans voted for either Mrs. Clinton or Mr. Obama. Even though, by March 4, the Republican presidential race was all but decided, there were down-ballot races in both Ohio and Texas, giving Republicans other reasons to vote in their own primaries."

"Professor McDonald floats a novel theory: sincerity. “Even though Obama’s rhetoric appeals very much to moderate Republicans,” he said, “Hillary Clinton is actually closer to Republicans on the issues.”

Update | March 9 The Cleveland Plain Dealer’s politics blog also looks at crossover voting in Ohio. Those reporters found a broad array of reasoning among Republicans who voted for either Mrs. Clinton or Mr. Obama. Though Mr. Limbaugh’s plot is mentioned, the reporters do not quote anyone (they say they talked to more than two dozen people) who claims to have voted for Mrs. Clinton to help Mr. McCain. In fact, one woman said she voted for Mr. Obama because she saw him as a weaker candidate.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/08/measuring-the-limbaugh-eff...

SWITCHING SIDES The question

edenpprairiefactchecker — Fri, 09 May 2008 13:33:48 -0500

SWITCHING SIDES

The question is will cross over votes carry over into November?

According to MSNBC, May 3, 2008, “Republican officials like Murray Clark, the state party chairman in Indiana, say that the extent of the crossover phenomenon has been “greatly exaggerated” and that in any case it does not serve the party’s interests, because it draws potential Republican voters away from deciding other, more local races.
Mr. Clark acknowledged what he
called “heightened interest” in the Democratic primary, but argued that Republican-leaning independents, rather than “reliable and consistently Republican voters,” accounted for the bulk of the shift. "

“It’s probably a stretch to call it a crossover vote,” Mr. Clark said. “This is a unique situation. The circus is in town, and people want to go. This provides them an opportunity. But when the circus leaves town, we’ll have six months of opportunities to contrast their candidate with ours.”

"Indeed, some of the crossover Republicans here who back Mr. Obama said they would vote for Mr. McCain in November if Mrs. Clinton ends up getting the Democratic nomination, while some of those supporting Mrs. Clinton said the same of Mr. Obama. But others said they simply could not imagine gravitating back to the Republican camp in this election."

“I would probably not vote, or maybe look at a third party,” said Becky Kapsalis, who lives in Carmel, Ind., and describes herself as “a 70-year-old white woman for Barack Obama.”

“I respect McCain for what he’s done, his patriotism and devotion,” Ms. Kapsalis said, “but I just don’t think he has the heart to lead us, and he doesn’t speak to my heart the way this Barack Obama man does.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24437039/

An article written in the New York Times on May 2nd indicates that Clinton was getting a share of the cross over votes, “Much as I like John McCain as a war hero, I am fearful he does not have the depth of experience to fix the economy,” said Darlene Boatman, 62, a just-retired sales clerk who favors Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. “We’re all struggling here to make ends meet. I haven’t had health care coverage in about 10 years and jobs are fewer and farther between. The economy is my biggest concern, and I think Hillary has the best understanding of how to pull off the recovery we need.”

Back in Feb Obama’s cross over votes were more than Clintons, but recently it was reported that Clinton’s grew considerably. Despite Rush Limbaugh’s urging for Republicans to prolong the race, by voting for Clinton, “Republican voters interviewed here said that Mr. Limbaugh was not a factor in their decision to vote in the Democratic primary, and that it was the issues that propelled them."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/03/us/politics/03crossover.html?_r=1&ref=...

Measuring cross-over votes is the new polling.

McCAINOCRATS OBAMACANS? The

edenpprairiefactchecker — Fri, 09 May 2008 13:28:40 -0500

McCAINOCRATS OBAMACANS?

The new political demographic breaks with the old stereotypical swing groups, according to Pew Research Center on Feb 28th, 2008, which identified more McCainocrats than Obamacans.

About 14 percent of Democrats say they would vote for Mr. McCain today instead of Mr. Obama, but just 8 percent of Republicans say they would vote for the Illinois Democrat.

"McCain poses a clear and present danger to Obama in that he draws Democrat base support in historic numbers," said Republican strategist Scott Reed.

While Mrs. Clinton would draw far fewer Republican crossover voters and is making little effort to do so, Mr. Obama — who leads in the delegate race for the nomination — is making no bones about courting members of the other party. He tells a story at nearly every campaign event about Republicans quietly supporting him, which always draws guffaws from his partisan crowd.”

"They whisper to me. They say, 'Barack, I'm a Republican, but I support you,' " he said in an exaggerated stage whisper last month after winning primaries in Virginia, Maryland and the District.

"And I say, 'Thank you. Why are we whispering?' " Pointing into the crowd with a broad smile, he said: "There's one right there, an 'Obamacan,' that's what we call them." Raucous laughter erupted from his supporters.

Meanwhile, Mr. McCain, who already wrapped up the Republican nomination, likes to point out that he draws strong support from members of the other party. In Michigan's voting, on Jan. 15, some 10 percent of those who voted in the GOP primary were Democrats, and Mr. McCain won half of those votes. A December poll in Nevada showed Mr. McCain drawing 17 percent of Democrats.

"I want to thank all of you here and all the Republicans, independents — and independent-thinking Democrats," the Arizona senator said Tuesday night after he secured the 1,191 delegates needed to win the Republican presidential nomination.

Democratic strategist Mary Anne Marsh said both Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain have crossover appeal.

"If it is a McCain-Obama match up, you could see McCain picking up 'Reagan Democrats' and Obama picking up Republicans who oppose the war in Iraq," she said.

Pollster John Zogby agreed, saying both candidates are successfully wooing crossover voters.

"There are clearly Republicans behind Obama and I'm convinced there will continue to be," he said. But he acknowledged that as the Democratic race drags on, Mr. Obama is endangering that crossover vote by moving to the left to defeat Mrs Clinton.

"For Obama, one of things Republicans will use, in addition to lack of experience, is that he moved so far left, is left wing," Mr. Zogby said.

But he can't move much further to the left — National Journal magazine ranked him the most liberal member of the Senate, which will present problems if he tries to move back to the center in the general election.

Yet John Martin, the founder of RepublicansforObama.org — a Web site created in December 2006 that now boasts 1,000 members — said Republicans can look past their differences with Mr. Obama and find common ground.

"The reason people like me like Obama is that he's about unity and ending the partisan ways we've been dealing with things the last 20 years, during the Clinton years and the Bush years," Mr. Martin said.

"We don't support a lot of things that Obama stands for — including issues like Second Amendment rights — obviously abortion is a problem for us — but when you look at the bigger issues, health care, the deficit, energy independence, these are issues that we're only going to solve if we're unified and we have a majority of Americans behind one candidate, and that candidate is Obama."

http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080307/NATIO...
March 2008

Switching sides
Would you vote for John McCain if your Democratic candidate doesn't win the nomination?

32% said yes; 52% said no.

http://dyn.politico.com/polls/poll_results.cfm?uuid=CC954AC9-3048-5C12-0...

TIT FOR TAT Highly effective

edenpprairiefactchecker — Fri, 09 May 2008 13:17:31 -0500

TIT FOR TAT

Highly effective strategy in game theory for the iterated prisoner's dilemma. It was first introduced by Anatol Rapoport in Robert Axelrod's two tournaments, held around 1980. Based on the English saying meaning "equivalent retaliation" ("tit for tat"), an agent using this strategy will initially cooperate, then respond in kind to an opponent's previous action. If the opponent previously was cooperative, the agent is cooperative. If not, the agent is not.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tit_for_tat

Who knew politicians have been playing a highly effective game strategy that has become known as "old style Washington politics?"

You bettcha, and no matter what you've heard of late, things are not going to "change" any time soon, despite being told otherwise...

Joe Klein wrote, “Obama was talking about the Republicans …….. ….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."

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

How are Republicans going to run against, this “change” manifesto? And is it really what it’s cracked up to be?

Whether or not the “change” Obama is talking about has been validated by his message or backlog of achievements is debatable; whether or not he is capable of changing anything is unverifiable. Nevertheless the message is “change,” according to his latest inspirational conveyance. Millions are buying into the idea…. yet we've never had a test drive....

Obama’s platform of “change” boasts crossing party lines, creating bi-partisan relationships, overcoming division; discontinuing the politics of personal destruction, changing how things are run, so how many RPMs per minute? If Democrats and the media won’t rev it up, it’s up to the Republicans to do it, right?

USA Today wrote, “Last year, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., sent Obama a biting letter accusing the Illinois senator of playing partisan politics in wrangling over an overhaul of ethics rules. McCain said, "I concluded your professed concern for the institution and the public interest was genuine and admirable. Thank you for disabusing me of such notions," McCain, a likely Republican presidential candidate in 2008, wrote to Obama. The two later reconciled.”

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-01-16-obama-experience-cove...

The flack hasn't gone away: in an ethics overhaul that occurred in 2007, the result of legislation McCain was working on which Obama professed to support, what resulted after a few angry back and forth disagreements was another standard old Washington style behavior, not change. Obama crossed back over party lines to support the Democratic version of the bill, not McCain’s version.

“In a letter to Obama on Monday, McCain -- upset by his colleague's support for a reform bill put forward by Democratic leaders as well as a suggestion that McCain's approach might delay the process -- accused Obama of "self-interested partisan posturing" and "disingenuousness."

McCain also told the Illinois Democrat that "I understand how important the opportunity to lead your party's efforts to exploit this issue must seem to a freshman senator, and I hold no hard feelings over your earlier disingenuousness."

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/02/07/mccain.obama/index.html

That was then, this is now. While the press continues to highlight McCain’s age as a negative, Obama’s trumps his lack of experience as a positive, pointing to instances where other Presidents had no experience and proved to be much more than just an inadequate resume. The Obama camp has a laundry list of comparisons to show experience is not a litmus test for a successful Presidential run.

Obama has displayed a great proficiency for saying one thing and doing another, while denying he’s doing it. There’s a clear generational divide between these two contenders and an electability issue for both of them. The 40ish upstart has little with which to defend his electability. This will undoubtedly continue to plague him as age will continue to be an issue for McCain.

USA Today reports, “Last evening, McCain campaign senior adviser Mark Salter released a memo that says Obama was the one doing the attacking and that the Illinois senator is a hypocrite. Salter begins with this:

"First, let us be clear about the nature of Senator Obama's attack today: He used the words 'losing his bearings' intentionally, a not particularly clever way of raising John McCain's age as an issue. This is typical of the Obama style of campaigning.
We have all become familiar with Senator Obama's new brand of politics. First, you demand civility from your opponent, then you attack him, distort his record and send out surrogates to question his integrity. It is called hypocrisy, and it is the oldest kind of politics there is."

"It is important to focus on what Senator Obama is attempting to do here: He is trying desperately to delegitimize the discussion of issues that raise legitimate questions about his judgment and preparedness to be President of the United States."

"Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton has responded to Salter's memo with a statement of his own, that says, in part:
Clearly losing one's bearings has no relation to age, given this bizarre rant that Mark Salter just sent out."

http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/2008/05/mccain-adviser.html

On Fox News today, “But the Obama campaign did a double-take at Salter’s memo, which the campaign dubbed a “rant.”
“Clearly losing one’s bearings has no relation to age, given this bizarre rant that Mark Salter just sent out,” Obama spokesman Bill Burton said. “It’s clear why a candidate offering a third term of George Bush’s disastrous economic policies and failed strategy in Iraq would want to distract and attack, but it’s not the kind of campaign John McCain has promised the American people that he would run.”
"At the root of the dispute is McCain’s decision to call attention to a Hamas adviser’s apparent affinity for Obama. The adviser, Ahmed Yousef, said in a recent interview: “We like Obama and hope that he will win the election.”
McCain used comments about Hamas support of Obama in a fundraising appeal and has cited them in interviews."
"Asked about the matter Wednesday during a taping of “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” McCain said: “It’s indicative of how some of our enemies view America. And I guarantee you, they’re not going to endorse me.”
In Obama’s CNN interview, he accused McCain of engaging in a smear campaign.
“This is offensive, and I think it’s disappointing, because John McCain always says, ‘Well, I’m not going to run that kind of politics.’ And then to engage in that kind of smear, I think, is unfortunate, particularly since my policy toward Hamas has been no different than his,” Obama said."
"The Illinois senator added: “For him to toss out comments like that, I think, is an example of him losing his bearings as he pursues this nomination."

"We don’t need name-calling in this debate.”

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/05/08/obama-accuses-mccain-of-losing-h...

See anything different?

SUPERDELEGATE HANG-UP Can

edenpprairiefactchecker — Thu, 08 May 2008 21:28:02 -0500

SUPERDELEGATE HANG-UP

Can Obama win over Clinton's base? It's the question that pundits and Superdelegates are asking.

NBC News and MSNBC
updated 4:59 p.m. CT, Thurs., May. 8, 2008
WASHINGTON - In the afterglow of his big victory in North Carolina's primary and with the presidential nomination seemingly only 175 delegates away, Sen. Barack Obama predicted Thursday that he could win the votes of Democrats who support his rival Sen. Hillary Clinton.

And, in an interview with Brian Williams of NBC News, he did not summarily reject the notion of Clinton serving on the ticket as his vice presidential running mate.

When Williams asked Obama if he already was the presumptive Democratic nominee, the Illinois senator said, "Not yet. I will be if Senator Clinton decides not to go on, or if we complete these six contests and we are ahead as we are now. But nothing is certain, I don't want to take it for granted."

He continued, "Sen. Clinton has been written off before and came back, and she's a formidable candidate."

Obama's confidence about potentially winning over Clinton voters referred to opinion polling done in 2000 when Republicans John McCain and George Bush fought a fierce battle for their party’s nomination.

Obama said McCain supporters, disappointed after he lost the nomination, vowed they wouldn’t vote for Bush — but ultimately they did.

In exit poll interviews in Indiana and North Carolina on Tuesday, nearly one out of five voters said they’d choose McCain rather than Obama if the two men were to face each other on the Nov. 4 ballot.

Winning over voters
Obama said his campaign would embrace all voters, including those backing the former first lady.

“That doesn’t mean though that I don’t have lot of work to do if I end up being the nominee," he said, adding, "It's important for us to systematically reach out and describe for people — with as much specificity as possible — what, exactly an Obama presidency would mean."

“If I can say to people, 'Look, I might not have been your first choice, but here's how I'm going to allow you to send your kids to college, here's how I'm going to protect your pension, here's how I'm going to expand healthcare so you don't have to lose sleep at night trying to figure out whether or not you can afford to get sick,' then I think people will respond."

Obama: 'No doubt that she's qualified to be vice president'
May 8: NBC's Brian Williams asks Barack Obama if Hillary Clinton meets the criteria of a running mate.
Nightly News

He predicted that it “won’t just be Democrats, it won't just be Clinton voters who will respond; I think there are a lot of independents out there are a lot of disaffected Republicans but also independents and dissaffected Republicans.”

Obama has claimed from the beginning of the campaign, even as early as January's Iowa caucuses, that he has been winning over Republican voters.

Remaking the electoral map
He said he would “remake the electoral map,” implying he would be more competitive that Democratic nominees John Kerry and Al Gore were in 2004 and in 2000 — particularly in states like North Carolina, Virginia, and Colorado, which they both failed to carry.

When Williams asked Obama whether he and his advisors had been having any discussions about declaring victory on May 20, the day of the Oregon and Kentucky primaries, Obama said, “That will be an important day. If at that point, we have the majority of pledged delegates, which is possible, then we can make a pretty strong claim that we've got the most runs and it's the ninth inning and we've won.”

As for the idea of Clinton being his vice president, Obama said, “There's no doubt that she is qualified to be vice president. There's no doubt that she's qualified to be president….I think anybody who has been in a political contest with her can tell you that she's no pushover."

Earlier in the day, Obama caused a stir on Capitol Hill by bringing his campaign directly to the floor of the House of Representatives.

Shepherded by two of his supporters, Rep. Melissa Bean of Illinois and Rep. Steve Rothman of New Jersey, Obama walked through the chamber, chatting with House Democrats including a few of the undecided members.

Each of the House Democrats is an ex officio superdelegate with a vote at the convention.

'They need each other'
Before Obama's visit, one of Clinton’s House champions, Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, said, “I’m not throwing in the towel. If it were anyone else, if Hillary Clinton were a ‘mere mortal’”, then the battle might be over. But, he said, her extraordinary skill as campaigner kept the contest going.

Whatever happens, McGovern said, “The person who finished number two is going to be just as important as the person who finished number one. They need each other to get across the finish line" in November.

While Obama was campaigning among the House superdelegates at the Capitol, Clinton was appealing to Democratic voters by holding rallies in West Virginia, which holds its primary next Tuesday. It is a state where Clinton is expected to perform well.

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

FLORIDIANS' TAKE DEAN SLOW

edenpprairiefactchecker — Thu, 08 May 2008 15:22:32 -0500

FLORIDIANS' TAKE
DEAN SLOW WALKS VOTES

From NBC's Mike Viqueira
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A small but very fired up group of Floridians rallied in the street outside the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters here today, April 30, 2008, demanding that their primary votes be counted and threatening to literally block the doors of the Democratic Convention if they aren't.

"We will shut down the convention!" exclaimed Rep. Corrine Brown. "If we are not seated, then nobody is going to be seated!"

Brown, a superdelegate pledged to Clinton, addressed a crowd of about 150 who had been bused up to D.C. from Florida this week under the auspices of LULAC, an Hispanic advocacy group. Though Brown and another super who spoke -- Rep. Hilda Solis -- are in the Clinton camp, organizers went out of their way to remove any hint that they favored one or the other Democrat in the race. Many in the crowd wore T-shirts with the name of each Democratic candidate, from Kucinich to Dodd to Richardson to Obama, printed across the back in the shape of a rainbow. There was but one Hillary '08 shirt or button to be seen.

"We're not supposed to talk about that," confided Harriet Meltzer, 83, a member in good standing of the Del Ray Democratic Club, though she allowed that she was, in fact, a Clinton supporter. "What's he going to do when he goes to the Middle East?" she asked of Obama, who she deems to be lacking in experience. "Charm them?"

But others were adamant that this was about right and wrong, not Obama and Clinton. "We've been robbed. I didn't get a say," said Glenda O'Laughlin of Clearwater. "This is a betrayal of our rights as citizens," added Branford Fambro, also of Clearwater.

Protesters eventually turned their ire on Howard Dean, literally calling him out with taunting chants of, "Be a man, Howard!" and "Where is Howard!?"

After organizers went inside to meet with DNC officials, who they got outside to address the crowd was not Dean but Luis Miranda, deputy communications director for regional and specialty media. His promise of Florida representation in Denver was greeted with shouts of "When?" and "How?" He had no details to offer.

CLINTON NIXES SPLIT Mich

edenpprairiefactchecker — Thu, 08 May 2008 15:02:07 -0500

CLINTON NIXES SPLIT

Mich Delegate Split- Update [2008-5-8 14:50:35 by Big Tent Democrat]: Greg Sargent reports this reaction from the Clinton campaign on the MI proposal:

"This proposal does not honor the 600,000 votes that were cast in Michigan's January primary. Those votes must be counted.
Bad play by the Clinton campaign. I would have argued that it does honor and RECOGNIZE the 600,000 votes, at least in part, and thank the Obama campaign for accepting that Michigan must count."

By Big Tent Democrat
http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/5/8/133616/9063

Clintion is playing "Hardball" and why not. She doesn't have many options, but this is one thing both camps have to agree on to make happen. Obama has refused any fair settlement of this issue, now he'd like to wrap it up because the numbers are going his way. He knows this is doable and it won't threaten his nomination. Clinton is already so marginalized by her own party, why compromise just to appease everyone. She's going to hold on until she gets whatever it is she wants. Look how quickly the party jumped on the controversial delegate bandwagon-- they wouldn't touch it the entire election cycle---now they want to resolve it and Clinton whose been trying to do that form months and months is holding back and saying...more...more...

FAIR ASSESSMENT? Obama

mpetrus — Thu, 08 May 2008 14:27:22 -0500

FAIR ASSESSMENT?

Obama ASSETS

1. Teed-up superdelegate commitments will be rolled out all this month - win or lose in the upcoming primaries.

2. Clinton is running out of days to catch up and primaries to win.

3. Obama’s comfortable elected delegate lead trumps possible negative news cycles, any last-minute Clinton momentum surge, and a blemished image.

4. 2008 is still a change election.

LIABILITIES

1. Reverend Wright could speak out at any time, in any way.

2. Obama’s narrative (ending with a whimper against a dogged opponent) has been flagging a bit.

3. Crushing fatigue from months of non-stop campaigning has wiped the smile off of his face.

4. Obama is now the designated piñata of the Republican Party.

Waiting in the wings. John McCain has time to mull over his own pluses and minuses while he waits to get back in the ring - once his opponent is finally determined.

McCain ASSETS:

1. The Democrats’ never-ending story allows him to hone his economic pitch, build his team, and brandish his image as an uncontested winner.

2. Campaign experience, savvy and grit, and a knack for basking in the media spotlight.

3. The potential to create his own brand and differentiate himself from his broken party and his gravely unpopular president.

4. A built-in conservative base unity (inspired less by McCain himself and more by the looming threat of an Obama or Clinton presidency).

LIABILITIES:

1. He remains a seventysomething Washington fixture who is running in a year of change.

2. He is spending far more time and energy on fundraising than are the Democrats–and he’s still raising far less money (a disparity that will continue through November).

3. The potential to be tied so unshakably to his broken party and his gravely unpopular president that he can’t win.

4. Limited debate practice compared to his Democratic rivals (who have gone head to head innumerable times, with near general election intensity).

Clinton ASSETS

1. Some campaign trail and exit poll validation for her espoused stance as “the candidate fighting for the working class.”

2. The argument that the race should go on through the last primary so everyone gets to meaningfully vote.

3. Favorable terrain in the next-up West Virginia and Kentucky contests.

4. A new fiery, fired-up-and-ready-to-go style on the stump.

LIABILITIES

1. Even with her personal loans of millions, she has far less money to spend than her rival.

2. Political reporters have moved on from the nomination story.

3. Some Democratic leaders — frantic over the threat of a fractured party and a chaotic convention — want to shut things down. Same with increasing numbers of her supporters.

4. Clinton’s assertion that she is close in the popular vote requires creative accounting and an abrogation of the party’s rules.

http://thepage.time.com/halperins-take-the-candidates-ledger-sheets/

POWER PUNDITS " RACE

Ponytail — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:59:39 -0500

POWER PUNDITS

" RACE OVER"

Beginning with Tim Russert.

"Very early this morning, after many voters had already gone to sleep, the conventional wisdom of the elite political pundit class that resides on television shifted hard, and possibly irretrievably, against Senator Hillary Clinton’s continued viability as a presidential candidate."

"The moment came shortly after midnight Eastern time, captured in a devastatingly declarative statement from Tim Russert of NBC News: “We now know who the Democratic nominee’s going to be, and no one’s going to dispute it,” he said on MSNBC. “Those closest to her will give her a hard-headed analysis, and if they lay it all out, they’ll say: ‘What is the rationale? What do we say to the undeclared super delegates tomorrow? Why do we tell them you’re staying in the race?’ And tonight, there’s no good answer for that.”

Entire Article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/us/politics/07cnd-pundits.html?_r=2&hp...