Barack Obama rips John McCain for his “country club economics” in this brand-new ad.
FLASH – 8 PM … ** JOE BIDEN: SECRET SERVICE DETAIL DISPATCHED TO THE SENATOR’S HOME. ABC News has just reported that a Secret Service detail has been dispatched to Delaware home of US Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Joe Biden.
Biden is who I’ve been expecting to be Barack Obama’s pick for vice president. The only reason for him to have Secret Service protection is if he is the Democratic vice presidential nominee or if he has received a very serious assassination threat.
** MAC’S GAFFES, UN-DOUSED. Oh, incidentally, regarding Team McCain’s furious full court press effort to douse the John McCain gaffes regarding his confusion about how many houses he and wife Cindy own and his contention that it takes $5 million a year to be rich? Not successful.
** VEEPSTAKES AGAIN. Well, unless Barack Obama is planning to send his famous message to millions on a Friday night, the day is passing without the the announcement of his vice presidential running mate. NBC’s Andrea Mitchell is reporting that Evan Bayh and Tim Kaine are out. This after the national media fluttered for hours about a purported “Obama/Bayh” bumper sticker discovered in Kansas City.
I looked at it, noticed it didn’t fit the Obama design matrix, and decided not to mention it. Which didn’t stop hundreds of others from going on for hours about it.
The pick certainly can’t be Governor Kaine. He has never been in the military and has no foreign policy experience. Prior to being Virginia’s first term governor, he was lieutenant governor and a mayor. Not really the background to deal with what I discuss in the column linked to below.
** NEW COLD WAR LEAVES VOTERS COOL BUT SHOWS OBAMA’S NEED. Given how tentative Barack Obama is in discussing geopolitics, his running mate is unusually important. But there’s some good news for Obama with regard to John McCain’s New Cold War rhetoric. If he and his team can engage successfully with the Vietnam War hero.
McCain’s hot rhetoric in the wake of the Russia-Georgia War — “We are all Georgians,” which of course hasn’t done a thing for Georgians — isn’t catching on. But McCain is still seen as the national security/geopolitics maven.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin’s plans are working and there are some bad repercussions for US policy coming down the pike. After a visit to Moscow by Syria’s president, Russia is getting a naval base in Syria. And sending a task force with an aircraft carrier and subs to the Mediterranean, all the better to bollix up US strategy in the Middle East. And oil power Kazakhstan, not to be confused with the Borat fantasy, is moving under Moscow’s umbrella. … New column from my other blog.
** VEEPSTAKES WATCH. Nothing much that’s reportable. The Obama camp is keeping a very tight rein on thanks. Atmospherics, and in many respects, logic, suggests Joe Biden has the edge. The big rumor about Hillary Clinton seems to be unfounded.
On the Republican side, Team McCain is also holding a tight rein. Mitt Romney had appeared to be the frontrunner, and was actually reported as the pick by a big media outlet. But is McCain going to pick the richest Republican politician as his running mate in the wake of his how-many-houses and it-takes-$5 mil remarks?
** NEW MEXICO POLL: OBAMA BY 6. The latest Rasmussen poll of battleground state New Mexico has Barack Obama leading John McCain, 47% to 41%. This is part of the Democratic strategy to take key Mountain West states away from the Republicans.
** MICHIGAN POLL: OBAMA BY 7. The new Detroit Free Press poll shows Barack Obama moving to a seven-point lead over John McCain, 46% to 39%. McCain has campaigned heavily in Michigan and has outspent Obama on TV advertising there. Obama’s edge is due to young voters, women, and people concerned about the economy. Michigan is one of three big states McCain is concentrating on in the midsection of the country, the others being Ohio and Pennsylvania.
John McCain’s brand-new attack ad, casting Barack Obama as a celebrity who doesn’t understand the financial strain on most Americans and wants to raise their taxes. McCain is under fire on all but the last point.
** NEW MAC ATTACK AD TRIES TO DOUSE THIS WEEK’S GAFFES. Here’s the script to John McCain’s brand-new attack ad, playing on national cable and in some battleground states:
Narrator: Celebrities don’t have to worry about family budgets, but we sure do.
We’re paying more for food and gas, making it harder to save for college, retirement.
Obama’s solution? Higher taxes called “a recipe for economic disaster.”
He’s ready to raise your taxes, but not ready to lead.
McCain: I’m John McCain and I approved this message.
McCain, as you know, is in trouble after saying he didn’t know how many homes he and wife Cindy own, and for saying that you have to make $5 million a year to be rich. The McCain campaign is in a full court press to try to douse the fire here, and has responded first by invoking the Vietnam War hero’s POW status, then with a series of attacks on Obama, including his ties to convicted Chicago developer/influence peddler Tony Rezko and ’60s domestic terror figure Bill Ayers, now a well-known professor.
If the Rezko stuff gets any traction, expect to hear about McCain’s past in the Keating Five.
Meanwhile, the Democrats held a press event outside McCain’s high-rise Washington area condo.
** WHERE THEY ARE TODAY.
Barack Obama is in Chicago, off the trail.
John McCain is in Sedona, Arizona, off the trail.
** DARK KNIGHT AMERICA. My latest column. All the hyperpartisan spin aside, here is where we are in a deeper cultural sense. The Dark Knight ends up in much the same place we find ourselves today. Bereft of a clearcut hero. Having narrowly survived a fundamental assault against our essential selves. And wondering what comes next. … From my other blog.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in LA, where he is having private meetings and conversations, many around the chronic California budget crisis.
His recuperation from athroscopic knee surgery for a workout injury is proceeding without a hitch. So to speak.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the new Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti.
While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, which I know as a former DemRussia advisor, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** TRACK GLOBAL AND U.S. ENERGY PRICES IN NEAR REAL TIME VIA BLOOMBERG ENERGY MARKET WATCH. After crashing over $147 for yet another record on July 11th, crude oil is trading around $118 per barrel.
The drop of over $29 per barrel comes on acknowledgement that the weak US economy will cut future demand and the easing of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. The Russian war with Georgia, confounding much speculation and reporting to the contrary, actually decreased the geopolitical risk premium. Though the repercussions may not.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum.
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| Comments (96) |
If you look at the front page, and my new HuffPost column, I’m not paying any attention to state legislative shenanigans on this day.
>Paul:
It looks like Carol Migden is really going the extra mile to cement her reputation for volatility. From the Sac Bee:
Sen. Carole Migden’s Capitol staff was sent home on Thursday afternoon and told not to report to work on Friday, after the San Francisco Democrat was heard berating them from the hallway.
Enedina Hidalgo, the director of personnel for the state Senate, overheard Migden screaming, according to a witness to the event. The source said she entered the office while the senator was not present on Thursday, informing the staff of their rights.
Soon after, Hidalgo returned to Migden’s office with Tony Beard Jr., the chief sergeant-at-arms of the state Senate. They told the staff to pack up their belongings and escorted them out of the building, the witness said.
Everyone’s being very hush-hush in the Senate, but do you have any additional insights Bill? Granted it’s kind of gossipy, but speaks to the actions of the Senate.
Aug 22, 2008 – 3:19 pm
It is!
>Ann:
I thought that was the Starship Troopers. lol
Aug 22, 2008 – 12:00 pm
… And to complete the whacko synchronicity of all this, the 101st Airborne Division are the Screaming EAGLES!
>Brasky:
“The 101st Airborne?”
Mors Ab Alto — Death from Above — is a motto associated with 101st.
Aug 22, 2008 – 11:50 am
I really like Jim Webb.
>Brasky:
A military combat veteran doesn’t appear to be in the cards. Too bad.
Aug 22, 2008 – 2:38 pm
“Screaming EAGLES!”
and the circle of life is completed…
For your comic releif we bring you the following from the halls of the Golden Dome…
After yelling episode, Migden’s staff sent home
http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/1178786.html
Can anybody top it????
That Las Vegas Journal-Review citation is indeed an editorial, published on 9/20/07.
It was written on Obama’s tax plan…before he released it.
Here it is in all its glory. Besides critiquing an Obama tax plan that didn’t exist, it also complains about the elimination tax breaks for oil and gas exploration:
http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/9892957.html?numComments=28
It’s entitled, “More class warfare” and it complains about Obama unfairly taxing millionaires (like McCain): “…tax increases on the upper-middle class, the affluent, investors of all means and corporations that employ millions of Americans.”
To give you an idea what kind of paper this is, here’s an editorial from this year DENYING GLOBAL WARMING: http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/15155126.html
Here’s a taste: “… bit by bit, cold, hard, scientific fact is deflating many assertions of the climate change alarmists.”
Here it is in all its glory. Besides critiquing an Obama tax plan that didn’t exist, it also complains about the elimination tax breaks for oil and gas exploration:
http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/9892957.html?numComments=28
It’s entitled, “More class warfare” and it complains about Obama unfairly taxing millionaires (like McCain): “…tax increases on the upper-middle class, the affluent, investors of all means and corporations that employ millions of Americans.”
sorry for the double – i got an “awaiting approval” warning that I didn’t see.
Yes, PJM stuff.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal is Nevada’s biggest daily newspaper.
Politically, it is very conservative.
Economically, it is libertarian. Incidentally, libertarian think tanks are a growth industry.
Imagine why.
The paper is owned by the very conservative Stephens family group, out of Arkansas.
>Brasky:
Here it is in all its glory. Besides critiquing an Obama tax plan that didn’t exist, it also complains about the elimination tax breaks for oil and gas exploration:
http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/9892957.html?numComments=28
It’s entitled, “More class warfare” and it complains about Obama unfairly taxing millionaires (like McCain): “…tax increases on the upper-middle class, the affluent, investors of all means and corporations that employ millions of Americans.”
To give you an idea what kind of paper this is, here’s an editorial from this year DENYING GLOBAL WARMING: http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/15155126.html
Here’s a taste: “… bit by bit, cold, hard, scientific fact is deflating many assertions of the climate change alarmists.”
Aug 22, 2008 – 3:46 pm
Naturally.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal, incidentally, is one that I read a lot. It has some good coverage, and a fine political reporter in Molly Ball.
>Brasky:
That Las Vegas Journal-Review citation is indeed an editorial, published on 9/20/07.
It was written on Obama’s tax plan…before he released it.
Aug 22, 2008 – 3:37 pm
Thanks, Solon.
My prediction: Migden will not be Barack Obama’s vice president.
>Sacramento Solon:
For your comic releif we bring you the following from the halls of the Golden Dome…
After yelling episode, Migden’s staff sent home
http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/1178786.html
Can anybody top it????
Aug 22, 2008 – 3:34 pm
Indeed.
>Brasky:
“Screaming EAGLES!”
and the circle of life is completed…
Aug 22, 2008 – 3:26 pm
Bill,
Thanks, Solon.
My prediction: Migden will not be Barack Obama’s vice president.
—-
Wow!!! That’s stunning. I thought for sure she would be…
Oh, well, perhaps he will be super smart and name you!!!
Another editorial denying global warming:
“As opposed to the nonsense the Green extreme pumps into the heads of today’s schoolchildren, our environment is much, much cleaner than it was 50 or even 100 years ago. There simply is no crisis — making it fair to ask what the chanting extremists really want.”
http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/15490431.html
As much as I hate to spread rumors, there’s a report posted to the KCRA (Channel 3) site stating:
KMBC reported that a company in the area that specializes in political literature has printed a bumper sticker that says “Obama/Bayh ’08,” which suggests that U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana could be Obama’s vice presidential running mate.
Here’s a link to the full story…
http://www.kcra.com/politics/17270355/detail.html
Thanks, Solon.
The national media has been fluttering on this for a few hours.
I have seen the bumper sticker and it does not have Obama design elements.
I wish you were writing more about the budget debacle, though perhaps there isn’t much very insightful to be said. John Laird summed it up well the other day when he said “We’re being held hostage, and we can’t get a ransom note”. I wish the Reeps had the honesty or courage to actually articulate their proposed solution.
I’ve been avoiding your Dark Knight columns until I can see the movie – I’ve been holding out to see it at the IMAX next week (starts 8/29). That should be a visual spectacle, assuming it’s any good…
I’ve been writing as much about the California budget story as it deserves.
This is not an impressive situation.
It’s also not a very interesting situation.
It is what it is and there’s a lot more interesting things I have to cover.
Ok, here’s an editorial against training for car seat installation that hints at opposition to mandatory seat belt laws and requiring kids to wear bicycle helmets: http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/26219009.html
“If you believe the soldiers of the Nanny State, it’s nothing short of a miracle that generations of kids lived long enough to reproduce after childhoods spent crawling around the back seats of family sedans and wagons on the open road.”
I could only go back to 2007 on the LVRJ website – I would love to have access to editorials from 2000 forward. Actually, editorials from the 1990s would be great too.
“This is not an impressive situation.
It’s also not a very interesting situation.”
It’s like an old SNL skit:
“This just in…Senator Carole Migden is still a wack job and the budget is still.” – Chevy Chase
sorry “still late”
Good column on the geopolitics and the Vice Presidency.
Thanks.
Here’s my take on Carole Migden.
She’s a lame duck. She was defeated in her primary. She is undergoing chemotherapy. She’s an unhappy person.
OK?
>Brasky:
“This is not an impressive situation.
It’s also not a very interesting situation.”
It’s like an old SNL skit:
“This just in…Senator Carole Migden is still a wack job and the budget is still.” – Chevy Chase
Aug 22, 2008 – 4:30 pm
Well, those helmets do look stupid. But the rest, like, you know, the seat belts ….
>Brasky:
Ok, here’s an editorial against training for car seat installation that hints at opposition to mandatory seat belt laws and requiring kids to wear bicycle helmets: http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/26219009.html
“If you believe the soldiers of the Nanny State, it’s nothing short of a miracle that generations of kids lived long enough to reproduce after childhoods spent crawling around the back seats of family sedans and wagons on the open road.”
Aug 22, 2008 – 4:24 pm
No kidding.
** MAC’S GAFFES, UN-DOUSED. Oh, incidentally, regarding Team McCain’s furious full court press effort to douse the John McCain gaffes regarding his confusion about how many houses he and wife Cindy own and his contention that it takes $5 million a year to be rich? Not successful.
“a purported “Obama/Bayh” bumper sticker discovered in Kansas City.”
Not even the same font. Give me a break.
Great column on VP and geopolitics. Sent link to my Mom, who loves this sort of stuff.
Biden? That would be a smart choice. I’d be curious if Obama’s choice will influence what McCain decides.
How many days until Nov. 4? 75?
The point of journalism, is you find out things people didn’t already know and tell them to other people; that’s also the point of news blogging. McCain already explained
of what houses he uses as a residence, which are in trust, which are his wife’s name. Now that was a good tip about the Kuznetzov, a story I haven’t seen anywhere in the
conventional press; I also noted the lack of urgency, going from Murmansk all the way to Tartus. however, it did make a similar junket a year ago. One recalls there
was a North Korean ship, that also docked at Tartus; about a year or two back, cargo went to a place called Al Quaim, near the Iraqi border.
So I’m confused Mr. Bradley, is Kazakhstan reverting to Soviet form; a good thing, or something we shouldn’t care about. After all, Zhirinovsky and Nagovitsyn were both born there. And frankly they deserve what’s coming to them. Like the Georgians apparently
have. Only paid neocons like Schueneman should care about that right.See, Russia and China should be able to exploit or exhort the resources of other nations; whereas we should twiddle our thumbs, and build windmills.
Now it’s a distressing situation, but when a state, with per capital spending equivalent to several national economies goes into a tailspin; that’s a big issue,wouldn’t you agree. Schwartzenegger, has been a dissapointment, from what was expected.
So when the Senator signed on to a bill Obama signed the bill, making incomes as low as 31,500 taxable; who’s fault is it. That he supported the energy subsidies to big oil, when McCain didn’t. Maybe he didn’t read what he was signing. Isn’t it curious, how he’s the largest Senatorial recipient of Countrywide’s largesse in campaign
contributions, in light of the the subprime mess, That Robert Wolf of UBS and one of the Pritzkers are among his largest bundlers
Save the Republican spin for the dummies.
McCain didn’t “explain” anything about his houses. He didn’t know.
McCain’s BROTHER explained that the women in their family run all the finances.
He’s a clueless rich guy.
narciso:
The point of journalism, is you find out things people didn’t already know and tell them to other people; that’s also the point of news blogging. McCain already explained
of what houses he uses as a residence, which are in trust, which are his wife’s name.
This is a dumb Republican lie.
<< So when the Senator signed on to a bill Obama signed the bill, making incomes as low as 31,500 taxable; who’s fault is it.
Bill,
Thanks for the Biden info. Good choice if it’s true.
This is great news about Biden. He’ll straighten out the wingnut corps that badly needs straightening out.
Dana:
Great column on VP and geopolitics. Sent link to my Mom, who loves this sort of stuff.
Biden? That would be a smart choice. I’d be curious if Obama’s choice will influence what McCain decides.
i just hopped on here, having been at an event, b/c i’d heard the Biden rumor… but you are sooo on it. : )
i think this is a good thing!
What new video today?
A McCain attack ad.
Probably a good pick.
>four waters:
i just hopped on here, having been at an event, b/c i’d heard the Biden rumor… but you are sooo on it. : )
i think this is a good thing!
Aug 22, 2008 – 10:04 pm
Turns out to true, all right.
>Sacramento Solon:
Bill,
Thanks for the Biden info. Good choice if it’s true.
Aug 22, 2008 – 8:43 pm
It sounds like you are telling the point of journalism is to tell you what you want to hear …
>narciso:
The point of journalism, is you find out things people didn’t already know and tell them to other people; that’s also the point of news blogging. McCain already explained
of what houses he uses as a residence, which are in trust, which are his wife’s name.
Let’s keep it cool.
>Capitol Boy:
This is a dumb Republican lie.
<< So when the Senator signed on to a bill Obama signed the bill, making incomes as low as 31,500 taxable; who’s fault is it.
Aug 22, 2008 – 8:43 pm
Thanks.
I think McCain needs something he doesn’t have.
Youth and economic expertise and/or concern.
>Dana:
Great column on VP and geopolitics. Sent link to my Mom, who loves this sort of stuff.
Biden? That would be a smart choice. I’d be curious if Obama’s choice will influence what McCain decides.
How many days until Nov. 4? 75?
Aug 22, 2008 – 8:25 pm
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