John McCain’s campaign touts this former Democratic convention delegate in a new TV ad which is apparently airing nowhere other than the cable shows which choose to play it.
** DEMS’ OPENING NIGHT. A very good speech by Michelle Obama, following Caroline Kennedy’s remarks to the convention, the Ken Burns documentary, and the semi-surprise appearance of Senator Ted Kennedy.
Michelle Obama, the likely next first lady, gave a strong and appealing speech. She looked great, sounded sympathetic, and gave the lie to our friends on the far right with their constant trope that she is an angry anti-American.
What did not happen tonight was the politically necessary definition of John McCain as a third term for George W. Bush. That’s not how the Western senator sees it, naturally, but given the tenor of his now relentlessly negative campaign, he should not be surprised by how he is portrayed.
This was more of a party unity night — the Kennedys, and many tears — and a definitional night for the Obamas and their cute kids. Incidentally, I’ve heard a lot from folks on the far right about the demonization of Michelle Obama, how she supposedly hates America, was a bad writer at Princeton, yada yada.
But these are folks who said that this would be Jimmy Carter Night in Denver. (Clue: He’s not there, and in any event, is far more popular than Dick Cheney.) And have gone on and on about a fantasy version of Michelle Obama and her purported “whitey” comments that was actually taken from a very bad novel.
More to come, along with a column tomorrow on how Team McCain is trying to counter-program the DNC — and itself.
Michelle Obama: And you know, what struck me when I first met Barack was that even though he had this funny name, even though he’d grown up all the way across the continent in Hawaii, his family was so much like mine. He was raised by grandparents who were working class folks just like my parents, and by a single mother who struggled to pay the bills just like we did. Like my family, they scrimped and saved so that he could have opportunities they never had themselves. And Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values: that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say you’re going to do; that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don’t know them, and even if you don’t agree with them.
And Barack and I set out to build lives guided by these values, and pass them on to the next generation. Because we want our children – and all children in this nation – to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.
** FROM CAROLINE KENNEDY’S REMARKS INTRODUCING TED KENNEDY. I am here tonight to pay tribute to two men who have changed my life and the life of this country: Barack Obama and Edward M. Kennedy. Their stories are very different, but they share a commitment to the timeless American ideals of justice and fairness, service and sacrifice, faith and family. …
Everywhere I go in this country, people tell me that Barack Obama is making them feel hopeful the way they did when my father was president. It’s partly the words he uses—words that remind us that we are all in this together and that we each have something to contribute to this country that has given us so much. But it’s the life he has led that is the true source of this inspiration—a life spent fighting for ordinary people in neighborhoods and courts, in the state senate and the United States Senate.
I have never had someone inspire me the way people tell me my father inspired them, but I do now, Barack Obama. And I know someone else who’s been inspired all over again by Senator Obama. In our family, he’s known as Uncle Teddy. More than any senator of his generation, or perhaps any generation, Teddy has made life better for people in this country and around the world.
For 46 years, he has been so much more than just a senator for the people of Massachusetts. He’s been a senator for all who believe in a dream that’s never died. …
Not only has Teddy helped put the American dream within reach for so many families, he’s been a powerful force around the world for human rights and human dignity, for refugees and the dispossessed. He helped end apartheid in South Africa and bring peace to Northern Ireland. He’s been a leader on nuclear arms control. And he took a strong, early and courageous stand against the war in Iraq.
He is a man who always insists that America live up to her highest ideals, who always fights for what he knows is right and who is always there for others. I’ve seen it in my own life. No matter how busy he is, he never fails to find time for those in pain, those in grief or those who just need a hug. In our family, he has never missed a first communion, a graduation, or a chance to walk one of his nieces down the aisle.
He has a special relationship with each of us. And his 60 great nieces and nephews all know that the best cookies and the best laughs are always found at Uncle Teddy’s. Whether he is teaching us about sailing, about the Senate or about life, he has shown us how to chart our course, take the helm and sail against the wind. And this summer, as he faced yet another challenge, he and Vicki have taught us all about dignity, courage and the power of love.
In this campaign, Barack Obama has no greater champion. When he is president, he will have no stronger partner in the United States Senate. Now, it is my honor to introduce a tribute to Senator Edward M. Kennedy.
** OBAMA ASSASSINATION PLOT? Colorado police will discuss tomorrow the arrest of two men with high-powered rifles and sniper scopes — and methamphetamine — who may have planned to assassinate Democratic presidential frontrunner Barack Obama.
This, of course, is the nightmare scenario with regard to the first black man to get within hailing distance of winning the White House. And the negativity and hatred being whipped up around him.
** “STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES.” So we are many hours on from the announcement from the Iraqi government that it has secured an agreement from the US to withdraw its troops by the end of 2011. And, you know, it’s not a big story in the nitwit blogosphere and ADD cable news cycle.
This, actually, does not surprise me. But it does tell us a lot about the new media cycle. Which is quite like the old media cycle. Just faster. But certainly not smarter.
** COLORADO POLL: OBAMA BY 5. The new Suffolk University poll of battleground state Colorado has Barack Obama leading John McCain, 44% to 39%. Colorado is a key takeaway opportunity for the Democrats in the presidential race.
In fact, that is why the Democratic national convention is in Denver.
** CALIFORNIA LEGISLATIVE DEMOCRATS OUT OF THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION. Assembly Speaker Karen Bass has just called session for Wednesday and Thursday. Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata had previously announced that he would have the state Senate in session.
Assembly Democrats, who have not effectively grappled with the chronic state budget crisis yet, had toyed with rolling over to Denver, where many of them are delegates. Albeit mostly for defeated candidate Hillary Clinton. But it didn’t look like a good idea. Especially since they were going to be drawing per diem payments for the week …
** GET YOUR ANTONIO BOBBLEHEAD. I’m told he’s not running for governor of California in 2010, but there is a bobblehead of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa — one of four national chairs of the defeated Hillary Clinton for President campaign — on sale at the Democratic national convention in Denver.
Villaraigosa, incidentally, is not speaking to the convention. There’s a story behind this, naturally, and we’ll get to it on NWN …
** HILLARY CLINTON RELEASING HER DELEGATES. Let me repeat yesterday afternoon’s item, which the AP later picked up on.
According to a well-informed source, Hillary Clinton is releasing her delegates from their pledge to vote for her at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Clinton herself, as a super-delegate, will be voting for Barack Obama.
So much for a much bandied-about fantasy of a close vote between Obama and Clinton.
The Morning Column: MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK.
With the highest-rated Olympics in television history over, and political nerds pretending that voters were really paying attention to politics, the first of two back-to-back national conventions/infomercials begins.
The Democrats convene today in Denver, with Barack Obama up an eyelash in the polls over where he was a week ago. Meanwhile, I’m-not-a-celebrity John McCain appears once again tonight on The Tonight Show. We’ll see how Jay handles the question of how many houses McCain’s super-rich wife Cindy owns. I think this guy has been on Leno more than Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Anyway, a big week for Obama and his new vice president, Senate Foreign Relations chairman Joe Biden. Following Biden’s totally unsurprising Saturday roll-out, they won’t appear together again until Thursday night, when Obama addresses a crowd of 80,000 at Denver’s football stadium. The pair drew a crowd of 35,000 in sweltering Springfield, Illinois, on Saturday.
Meanwhile, as you see below, Obama is in battleground Iowa today. Yesterday he was in Wisconsin. Later in the week, he goes to Missouri, Montana, and Colorado.
For his part, McCain is pursuing a twofold strategy. Distract. And detract. I’ll explain it all in a forthcoming column.
The fundamentals in this race have not changed for the better for McCain. And with the Iraqi government announcing that it has agreed to a timeline for US withdrawal from Iraq — with the Bush/Cheney White House — the news has gotten worse for the Republican candidate. See my flash item below.
While McCain was right about the Iraq surge, the war remains quite unpopular and his hardcore stance against a withdrawal timeline looks like an outlier opinion.
So he is left with an essentially negative campaign. Which he has been executing rather well since our old NWN friend Steve Schmidt took over as campaign director. Notwithstanding his other big-name client, Arnold Schwarzenegger — whose endorsement was a key clincher for McCain’s primary campaign — uttering various dissents with the McCain campaign’s oil policy.
** WHERE THEY ARE TODAY.
Barack Obama is in Iowa. He has a “One Nation” town hall meeting in Davenport. That’s a new theme, by the way.
John McCain is in Arizona and California. He appears, once again, on The Tonight Show in California. McCain has a press conference at a high school in Phoenix. He has private fundraisers in Sacramento and Los Angeles. And he tapes his latest Jay Leno appearance in Burbank. No other candidate has more late nigth show appearances than McCain. Can you say “celebrity?”
** “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 may be 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. … Friday’s column from my HuffPost blog.
** DARK KNIGHT AMERICA. 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 Sacramento, where he will have private conversations in and around the Capitol, mostly centering on 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 $114 per barrel.
The drop of over $33 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.
Read 
| Comments (53) |
Who’s she? Worst McCain ad yet.
McCain’s new ad sucks.
McCain’s campaign sucks. He is a liar, a phony, and a cheat.
How does McCain carry on without the Iraq War. He can’t scare up a war with Russia. He can’t scare up a war with Iran. We’re all wise to those nostrums.
McCain Tries The ‘Chicken Prank’
By Steve Benen
an excerpt
(note the acknowledged singularity of McCain’s example):
But before the networks take the ad too seriously, they should consider an anecdote about the “chicken prank” from TNR’s Eve Fairbanks:
I almost feel like a dupe writing about the second pro-Hillary ad McCain released today at 6am: It’s a stunt, a trick meant to keep him in the press during the Democratic convention and gin up more Hillary-Obama-tension media storylines. Message: neener neener neener. It is, in fact, the political equivalent of a prank legendarily pulled at my high school in which students procured well fewer than 20 live chickens, numbered them 1 through 20 with magic markers (leaving some numbers out), set them loose, and then sat back and gleefully watched as hapless school officials ran around the school searching for the remaining missing chickens that had never actually existed
Nobody knows how much truly dangerous anti-Obama sentiment exists among former Hillary supporters or how many Hillary delegates will vote for John McCain in November (this past June, McCain said that the woman in today’s ad, Wisconsin nurse Debra Bartoshevich, was the only Hillary delegate they knew of who was committed to pull the lever for McCain). But I guarantee some of us in the press will spend today haplessly running around looking for more of them out here, to fill out our stories about this ad and the angry-Hillary-brigades-hit-Denver storyline.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/08/25/politics/animal/main4379730.shtml
i assume if it is noticed at all, it will be seen for what it’s worth… a silly high school prank.
(very Presidential)
four waters:
Thanks for the post.
Anyone have a spare ticket to the Republican convention…and fourteen live chickens?
It suits the agenda of big business (Iraq was the most contracted military operation in our history). Folks like the Reason Foundation take big contributions and produce white papers as cover for folks pushing an agenda. Has been ever thus…
>Bill
Incidentally, libertarian think tanks are a growth industry.
Imagine why.
Denver is nice.
Denver is nice and the convention is exciting. I have to ask, Capitol Boy, what is it that you like about Obama’s message? He won on his change message, but your posts reflect old style politics.
The convention is exciting? The convention hasn’t started. Turn on your TV.
How many negative ads is Schmidt going to pump out this week?
I sense a record.
It’s four so far.
How about that thunder and lighting?
>ColoradoVoter:
Denver is nice and the convention is exciting. I have to ask, Capitol Boy, what is it that you like about Obama’s message? He won on his change message, but your posts reflect old style politics.
Aug 25, 2008 – 10:11 am
Denver is a great town, with some sad connotations.
>Alva:
Denver is nice.
Aug 25, 2008 – 9:46 am
Much of Iraq had to be off the books.
>Dana:
It suits the agenda of big business (Iraq was the most contracted military operation in our history). Folks like the Reason Foundation take big contributions and produce white papers as cover for folks pushing an agenda. Has been ever thus…
>Bill
Incidentally, libertarian think tanks are a growth industry.
Imagine why.
Aug 25, 2008 – 9:43 am
That’s a funny story.
Did I mention the Schwarzenegger ads that aired at midnight in San Diego till I wrote about them repeatedly?
>four waters:
McCain Tries The ‘Chicken Prank’
By Steve Benen
an excerpt
(note the acknowledged singularity of McCain’s example):
But before the networks take the ad too seriously, they should consider an anecdote about the “chicken prank” from TNR’s Eve Fairbanks:
I almost feel like a dupe writing about the second pro-Hillary ad McCain released today at 6am: It’s a stunt, a trick meant to keep him in the press during the Democratic convention and gin up more Hillary-Obama-tension media storylines. Message: neener neener neener. It is, in fact, the political equivalent of a prank legendarily pulled at my high school in which students procured well fewer than 20 live chickens, numbered them
No chickens here, sorry.
>Brasky:
four waters:
Thanks for the post.
Anyone have a spare ticket to the Republican convention…and fourteen live chickens?
Aug 25, 2008 – 9:40 am
Mac is counting on Russia to be stupid.
>Len:
How does McCain carry on without the Iraq War. He can’t scare up a war with Russia. He can’t scare up a war with Iran. We’re all wise to those nostrums.
Aug 25, 2008 – 8:57 am
… Although, it may be that Russia wants a McCain presidency.
Keep it cool.
>Capitol Boy:
McCain’s campaign sucks. He is a liar, a phony, and a cheat.
Aug 25, 2008 – 8:46 am
You’re at the DEMOCRATIC convention?
I don’t think so. Buh-bye.
ColoradoVoter:
Denver is nice and the convention is exciting. I have to ask, Capitol Boy, what is it that you like about Obama’s message? He won on his change message, but your posts reflect old style politics.
Aug 25, 2008 – 10:11 am
She is a former Hillary Clinton delegate, disowned by Clinton and kicked out by the Wisconsin Democratic Party.
>Jonas Blane:
Who’s she? Worst McCain ad yet.
Aug 25, 2008 – 8:43 am
Has anybody found video from 1980 of the dems attacking Reagan for being an actor? I’d love to see that next to McCain’s current ads…
So Johnny Mac is on the Tonight Show AGAIN. He’s been host to SNL twice, had a walk-on part in 24, had a speaking bit in the wedding crashers and is credited as writer in two separate projects on IMDB.
How many residual checks is this guy collecting? How many book tours has he been on? How many entertainment unions has he been a member of?
And it seems Mac is still holding on to that fools-gold Las Vegas Journal-Review editorial. How many ads has that thing run in?
This from a paper that doesn’t believe in global warming and editorializes against child car seats. Does Johnny Mac share those beliefs too? I mean he must hold this paper in high regard since he runs their editorial in almost every ad.
Evidently the Antonio Bobblehead has been sold since last November by a Latino non-profit political organization to fundraise. And hizzoner even gave them permission to use his likeness:
https://latinocongreso.org/bobblehead/
Barry O’s still losing 20% of the Clinton vote. If he can’t win it, he loses.
“Barry O’s still losing 20% of the Clinton vote.”
Ain’t going to happen.
Love the chicken story. There should be a rule against running ads repeated on cable chat shows when the campaign doesn’t make an ad buy.
I would most definitely and vehemently disagree that the
McCain campaign sucks. Schmidt is doing brilliantly, taking over a sinking ship and making a real race out of it. One cannot blame him for using all available weapons. This ain’t tiddlywinks.
In the final analysis, Mac’s the wrong candidate at the wrong time. I think this will prove out over time. The seven houses and five-million controversy are going to hound him for the next 71 days.
By the way, Mac is not in AFTRA. There is an exclusion for non-performers appearing as themselves. I still assume he’s in SAG. But I have no way to confirm it.
forgive typos. iPhone sucks. Out of town.
Thanks pat skipper for the AFTRA info.
I assume that, member or no member, McCain still receives residuals for his hosting appearances on SNL.
OK Marcus, I have my TV on and I know that the convention hasn’t started yet, it is exciting to have it here in Denver where I live. No Capitol Boy I am not attending the convention, but I do have a lot of interest in it. Sorry if I offended you by my comment–didn’t really mean to. I just wonder. And Bill the thunder and the lightening are awesome…tornadoes not so much.
Lightning or lightening?
The key, I think, is if McCain said anything during his cameo on “24.”
iPhone, sadly, is still overrated.
>pat skipper:
forgive typos. iPhone sucks. Out of town.
Aug 25, 2008 – 11:44 am
It’s all a con.
Which I quickly exposed and stopped in the 2006 governor’s race.
But in the presidential race, oddly, the cable news nets are eager co-conspirators …
>pat skipper:
Love the chicken story. There should be a rule against running ads repeated on cable chat shows when the campaign doesn’t make an ad buy.
This is the high water mark on that.
>marcus:
Barry O’s still losing 20% of the Clinton vote. If he can’t win it, he loses.
Aug 25, 2008 – 11:26 am
Steve Schmidt is doing a great job with what he has …
>pat skipper:
Love the chicken story. There should be a rule against running ads repeated on cable chat shows when the campaign doesn’t make an ad buy.
I would most definitely and vehemently disagree that the
McCain campaign sucks. Schmidt is doing brilliantly, taking over a sinking ship and making a real race out of it. One cannot blame him for using all available weapons. This ain’t tiddlywinks.
And … they’re selling it in Denver. Along with a casino tribe.
>Dana:
Evidently the Antonio Bobblehead has been sold since last November by a Latino non-profit political organization to fundraise. And hizzoner even gave them permission to use his likeness:
https://latinocongreso.org/bobblehead/
Aug 25, 2008 – 11:18 am
You know, it’s what they have.
>Brasky:
And it seems Mac is still holding on to that fools-gold Las Vegas Journal-Review editorial. How many ads has that thing run in?
This from a paper that doesn’t believe in global warming and editorializes against child car seats. Does Johnny Mac share those beliefs too? I mean he must hold this paper in high regard since he runs their editorial in almost every ad.
Aug 25, 2008 – 11:03 am
Which must mean the “limited edition” hasn’t been selling all that fast (not surprising at $30 a pop through the mail). What does it go for at the convention or casino?
>Bill Bradley:
And … they’re selling it in Denver. Along with a casino tribe.
“You know, it’s what they have.”
Well, no one seems to question its validity.
Wait. Did Dana say that they’re selling a casino tribe in Denver? Now THAT’S a unique fundraiser.
It’s 6:35 and if you’re watchng the DNC and don’t have a tear in you eye and lump in your throat you’re lacking something called heart!
Go Teddy!!!!
“OBAMA ASSASSINATION PLOT?”
Is already appearing on foreign news services.
Here’s an article with more details: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/aug/25/police-investigate-possible-plot-kill-obama/
Newsweek blog also reports that they are staying at the same hotel as the “assassins” and spotted what they thought were FBI agents earlier in the day.
Ted Kennedy video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IDN4b58pTU
Is Michelle Obama going to be Sherry Palmer?
In about 24 hours…
The AP is reporting that Senator Biden will continue to seek re-election to his 7th term in the Senate — which of course is following a precedent set by LBJ in 1960 and Lieberman in 2000.
the UN is saying that the evidence points to many civilian deaths in the last Afghanistan raid.
so far, i believe, the US is still “looking into the matter…”
(this is not helping us in Afghanistan, as this has happened several times now.)
from the BBC:
Strike ‘killed 60 young Afghans’
The UN says up to eight houses were totally destroyed
There is convincing evidence that 60 children and 30 adults were killed in a US air strike in western Afghanistan last Friday, the United Nations says.
The US originally said its planes had killed 30 militants in the attack in the province of Herat….
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7582170.stm
What new video today?