According to First Read, the McCain campaign says the new ad called "Painful" will be run in Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia (Northern Virginia), and Wisconsin.
It lies about Obama's economic policies, and the Obama campaign is calling McCain out on it:
This ad is a lie, and it's part of the old, tired politics of a party in Washington that has run out of ideas and run out of steam.
As reported in smash artist's diary on Wednesday, McCain has has more than a few "questionable donors." A new story in the New York Times says:
Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign will return all of the contributions solicited by the Jordanian business partner of one of Mr. McCain’s most prolific fund-raisers.
The decision caps a frenetic two days in which both the Washington Post and The New York Times published articles scrutinizing a cluster of more than $50,000 in unusual contributions from a single extended family, the Abdullahs, in California and several of their friends.
Several of the contributors, who seemed to be unusual major donors to a political campaign, expressed in interviews indifference or even hostility to Mr. McCain’s candidacy.
Lynn Allen at Evergreen Politics just wrote a terrific piece on George Fearing. Check it out:
George Fearing is a very interesting candidate who is running for Congress against Doc Hastings in WA-04. He has several new video and radio clips available on his website and they are some of the most interesting campaign ads I've ever seen.
My favorite video is called "A Day on the Campaign". It's an oddly intimate picture of what he does every day to introduce himself to voters and potential donors. There are several other video-clips; if you watch a couple you begin to see a man who is a little dorky (sorry George) but earnest and competent and almost courtly, in that old-fashioned Southern manner. He just exudes respect for everyone he deals with.
The crux of Mike Malloy's comment last night that started the firestorm [if I may be so bold as to encapsulate the Wednesday and Thursday night shows] is that no matter who becomes President, they are going to be unable to fix the problems we have in the country, so it might as well be John McCain elected, rather than Barack Obama.
Paraphrasing all of what Mike said, if Obama is elected, he will be torn to ribbons by the Republicans. They will try to blame everything on him, and [this part is implied] it will result in a horrible backlash as Republicans regain control in 2012.
Malloy at no point in his program recommended that anyone vote for McCain. What he did say, is that if McCain were to be elected it would be better for progressives, because we'd be able to flush out the DINOs, DLC'ers and Blue Dogs [my shorthand] out of Congress in 2010 and 2012, and elect Obama or whomever in 2012. I'll comment on this part on the flip.
Well the good people of Memphis, both black and white, said NO to race-baiting and anti-semitism politics and gave Steve Cohen a HUGE victory over Nikki Tinker.
I'm surprised that nobody else has brought this up, but listening to Mike Malloy's radio show last night was quite depressing. Of all people, the last person I expected to espouse a defeatist (and borderline nihilistic) take on the 2008 election was Malloy. The short of it is that he was advocating the election of John McCain in 2008, because the big change that this country needs won't happen unless things get even worse than they are right now. Malloy is always teetering on the edge with some of his more outlandish takes, but at least I had the sense that he wants what's best for the country. After last night, I'm not so sure.
Well, Obama might be the "messiah," but McCain appears to have a bit of a Napoleon Complex going on:
Napoleon complex is a colloquial term describing an alleged type of inferiority complex which is said to affect some people who are physically short. The term is also used more generally to describe people who are driven by a perceived handicap to overcompensate in other aspects of their lives. This term is also known as Napoleon syndrome, Short Man syndrome,and Small Man syndrome.
His short height will also play a role in his electoral chances. More below the fold.
I'll have more to say on this topic in future posts, but for now I want to note one thing: although nearly all incumbents are able to outspend their opponents, that is not always enough to overcome a national tidal wave toward the other party.
What's happened to the notion of bowing out gracefully?
What's happened to the good form of the loser jogging to the net to extend a hand to the winner?
What's happened to common sense, manners and just plane good conduct?
When did "Survivor", "Lost", and "American Idol" become the standard for conduct at every level of American society, and why the hell do serious people like Julian Epstein find themselves trying to plaster over the infantile behavior of the Clinton's, and their ridiculous supporters?
The last 5 budgets of the United States of America, hold entire planet's record for the 5 highest record deficits ever recorded by anyone in history, by anyone.
George HW Bush (41) is actually responsible for instigating the good years by requiring that any tax cuts must have equivalent cuts in spending.
Clinton added to good fiscal policy when he got passed the balanced budget amendment.
Throughout American history, every generation has endured hardship and has done whatever was required to better their children's future. George Bush undid that . Because of Republican tax cuts, and only because of Republican tax cuts, we will be the first generation to give their children a world far worse than the one they inherited, because of the mantra once espoused by Republicans, that "deficits do not matter".
I've been given a copy of the most recent draft of the Democratic Party's platform. I'm told that this getting close to the end. There is good stuff and bad stuff. Here are my thoughts and please feel free to raise your issues and thoughts on whatever sections you find relevant.
Faggot. Nigger. Bitch. Please excuse the blunt language. From here forward, to avoid the ugly words, I’ll refer to it as "FNB politics." With little to show the electorate in 2008—after six years of uninterrupted control—besides sub-standard care from a privatized workforce at Walter Reed Hospital, thrice-married "family values" presidential candidates, and a boom in home foreclosures, the conservative base’s 2008 strategy has begun to emerge: Weaken the major Democratic opponents by making their image unpalatable to the public.
McCain has an ad/web video out using comments by Democrats that appear to praise him.
Howard Dean responds: "The John McCain of 2000 wouldn't even consider voting for the John McCain of 2008."
And John Kerry responds: "The real question is what happened to the John McCain we used to know and why he changed overnight into a George Bush nominee with a Karl Rove campaign."
Ah, John McCain. The maverick. ...Excuse me, the Maverick, capital "M."
He really wanted this to be a clean election. He really, really wanted this to be a campaign about the issues facing America. He really, really, really wanted it to be respectful and substantive, all the way up through November.
Lord knows he tried! But then Barack Obama FORCED him to start throwing buckets of slop and slime.
Poor John McCain had no choice, at all. Obama FORCED John McCain to act like Karl Rove. How?
John McCain himself explains below, in a talk with David "I-Like-Karl-Rove-Because-I've-Eaten-Quail-At-His-Table" Broder.
The McCain story of McCain's questionable fundraising continues to get more interesting. For those of you not familiar with the questions raised so far, a fundraiser named Harry Sargeant has been bringing in maxed out donations to McCain from questionable sources, including an auto mechanic and other unregistered voters. Senator McCain also received a donation of over $60,000 (between his campaign and the RNC) from a Hess office manager and an Amtrak foreman living in Flushing, Queens who still drive a 1993 sedan. If you'd like to read up on the story you can do so here.
The NYT has a piece out today that raises more questions about the contributions that McCain has raised from Harry Sargeant, particularly the contributions raised from one family, the Abdullahs.
One thing that is obvious from all corners of the media is the ongoing affection felt for John McCain, so it was interesting to see how they twittered and fluttered about his recent streak of just plain dirty ads. So how do people deal with information that doesn't fit in the narrative, they explain it away. First there was that rather ridiculous "Blame it on the campaign not the candidate" attempt as seen on Hardball. That of course might imply that the candidate was massively incompetent and unable to control his own campaign. So now, thanks to that scion David Broder, we have a much better one--- Blame it on Obama!
Most folks that are McCain's age (72) know that they and any of their peers should not be running for President. It comes with the territory that even in their best days they have lost considerable vigor and some intellectual acuity that would be worrisome given the forthcoming responsibilities McCain seeks. At the same time we should focus even more closely on the entire man we have before us not just the senior citizen we hear rambling on the stump. (His Dad died at age 70 and Grandfather at age 61)
McCain's life story worries me. I remain surprised, that even by accident, so much of it remains obscured by his daily quips to the press.
When exactly did McCain become someone we can trust to be President? He was a terrible student (like Bush) at the Naval Academy, was incorrigible as a young man (like Bush), was unfaithful in his marriage multiple times and abandoned his loyal wife after she suffered an disfiguring accident, stabbed his boss at the Pentagon numerous times in the back as he opportunistically lobbied against his policies, was member of the notorious Keating five, has supported the War in Iraq from the beginning (like Bush), has welcomed lobbyists to become a majority of his campaign leadership and is now a notorious flip flopper without a cause.
