Barack Obama’s new TV ad attacks “golden parachutes” for CEOs in any Wall Street bailout package, noting that John McCain’s National Republican Victory Fund chair Carly Fiorina received a huge golden parachute of her own when she was ousted from Hewlett-Packard.
** BILL CLINTON HITS THE ROAD FOR OBAMA. Former President Bill Clinton hits the road for Barack Obama on Wednesday, hosting two rallies in Florida. Clinton, who I think is key in locking down Obama’s victory, as I pointed out in this Huffington Post column, entitled “Obama Needs Bill Clinton,” the day Obama delivered his nomination acceptance speech in Denver, will appear in Orlando and Fort Pierce. Obama and John McCain are locked in a dead heat in the Sunshine State.
A lot of the chatterers heavily parsed Clinton’s remarks yesterday on Meet The Press, when the ex-prez described McCain as “a great man,” while not saying that about Obama. Who he nonetheless praised greatly.
Actually, I consider McCain a great man, having backed him in 2000 as a member of Veterans for McCain. But just because someone is a great man does not mean he should be president of the United States. Which is the point Clinton was making. McCain is a great hero of the US Navy. Does that mean he should be president? In my view, that is a separate determination.
** OIL SLUMPS ALONG WITH THE U.S. STOCK MARKET AND WASHINGTON’S BAILOUT BID. Crude oil closed down on global markets over $10 per barrel today, on news of the collapse of the Wall Street bailout package. $96.36 per barrel. That is down over $51 per barrel from July 11th.
What’s the problem? Well, if credit markets further dry up, so does the global economy.
** WILLIE SAYS JOHNNY BURTON IS COMING BACK. In his weekly San Francisco Chronicle column, legendary former Assembly Speaker and San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown confirmed the big rumor, that former state Senate leader John Burton is returning to politics as the leading candidate for California Democratic Party chairman next year. Longtime state Democratic chairman Art Torres, the former state senator from LA, is stepping away from the post.
Willie Brown is a longtime ally of John Burton and his late brother, former Congressman Phil Burton, going back to the 1960s. John Burton, incidentally, and this has not been mentioned by other writers, who apparently don’t know it, is not only a former congressman – Senator Barbara Boxer got her start as his district aide – but also a former state Democratic Party chairman.
Willie, who is a great raconteur (as well as a pal of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger), also allowed as how Barack Obama won the Friday night debate with John McCain. No kidding. As an analyst, Brown is, shall we say, fashionable. A few weeks ago, he was going on and on about what a great pick Sarah Palin is. Now he sees that, in fact, she is a liability. No kidding …
** WHOOPS! MCCAIN TOOK CREDIT FOR PASSAGE OF THE WALL STREET BAILOUT BILL — BEFORE IT LOST. You gotta hate when that happens.
** PENNSYLVANIA POLL: OBAMA BY 7. Few states have received more attention from the McCain campaign than Pennsylvania. But a new poll by Muhlenberg College has Barack Obama with a comfortable lead there, 49% to 42%, over John McCain. When the undecided voters are asked how they lean, Obama has the edge there, 50-35. The biggest issue? “The economy, stupid.”
** A BIG BLOW TO BUSH AND MCCAIN. The US House of Representatives has just voted down the Wall Street bailout package. Which, in some form or another, is needed to avert an even deeper financial crisis than we are in. President Bush and Vice President Cheney have been pushing for this. John McCain seemingly suspended his campaign for a time to push for a resolution, and said he was in favor of the current version of the bill.
But it went down, 205 to 228, with less than 70 Republicans voting in favor. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had made it clear that there would have to be around 100 House Republicans voting in favor. Because she refused to have this bailout of Bush/Cheney economic mismanagement come in a Democratic package, in a year in which House Republicans are otherwise in deep political trouble.
Anger at Wall Street is, needless to say, very high in the country. And while right-wing Republicans in the House are responding to this anger amongst their constituents, the overall impact is actually negative to their own party’s hopes to win the White House. As McCain, like Bush, is tagged with being a deregulationist, surrounded by lobbyists, who fiddled while Rome burned.
In this post-debate TV ad, John McCain says Barack Obama isn’t ready to lead.
MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK
This is a very key week in presidential politics. Barack Obama has opened up a real lead over John McCain, in circumstances very difficult for any Republican. The current administration, mostly backed by McCain, has mismanaged the economy and two wars. The situation is compounded for McCain because of the evident weakness of his running mate, Sarah Palin, who engages in her only debate this week with Joe Biden.
McCain has dispatched Steve Schmidt and other top aides to counsel with Palin, who, in an unusual move, was held out of spin duty following Friday night’s presidential debate, and help her prepare for her own debate.
But Palin, as I’ve said from the beginning, is a base play and a sideshow. While her selection raises questions about McCain’s judgment, she is not fundamental to the choice in November. The epic financial crisis is.
In his post-debate TV ad, Barack Obama says John McCain doesn’t get it.
With these sorts of fundamentals, as it were, Team McCain will have to come up with some more trick plays to stay in this game. Last week’s gambit of staying out of the debate unless there was a successful deal in place did not play. McCain had to show up, as I said he would. And when he did, according to the polls and focus groups I’ve seen, he got the worst of it at the hands of Obama.
I’ll be writing about McCain’s coming moves in a new column.
Meanwhile, the Wall Street bailout unfolds this week. Will it pass? And will it succeed if it does? Who knows? NWN is not your go-to place for high finance. My guess is we muddle through, muttering angrily all the way.
Incidentally, a note to both the McCain and Obama campaigns. The only people who talk about “Main Street” — as distinguished from the supposed rocket scientists of Manhattan — are folks in the political/media bubble. If you actually are in a town, you realize that virtually no one lives on its main street.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has two more days to decide on hundreds of legislative bills. Then he pivots into other matters. Which I’ll be writing about.
** WHERE THEY ARE TODAY.
Barack Obama is in Denver, Colorado.
Joe Biden is in debate prep.
John McCain is in Columbus, Ohio and Des Moines, Iowa.
Sarah Palin is in Columbus, Ohio and Sedona, Arizona, the latter for more debate prep.
** SCHWARZENEGGER LIVE WEBCAST THIS MORNING. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger tours the Nelson Nameplate Co. in Los Angeles and then signs two bills to move California toward a green chemistry program to reduce hazardous chemicals. The event will be webcast live at 9:45 AM on www.gov.ca.gov.
** THAT FOREIGN POLICY DEBATE WE’RE NOT HAVING. Let’s face it. This has been a disappointing campaign. Two very interesting candidates. Some of the biggest issues going, both within and without the US, and they have to blow up in our faces to get much attention. Then there’s the ridiculous media coverage. Which brings us to tonight’s foreign policy debate, which is finally back on.
Part of the problem is what it’s called. Because foreign policy is not “foreign,” it’s geopolitics. The underlying essential dynamics of geopolitics deeply affect domestic politics. In the flows of energy and capital and products and people, in our military budget, and in flash-point electoral politics. When there is debate, we end up debating symptoms — illegal immigration from Mexico, a surge in Iraq — rather than systems. … From Friday’s Huffington Post column.
** 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.
** SCHWARZENEGGER’S CALIFORNIA. Here is my series of five columns for the Los Angeles Times in debate with Pulitzer Prize-winning former Times reporter/editor Bill Boyarsky, whose columns are also included.
Among them is what I’m sure is the first piece examining Schwarzenegger’s legacy as governor of California. Since he will actually be governor of California until 2011. No technology known to be disruptive to the space/time continuum was used in its preparation.
** 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 closed is trading now in the $100 to $101 per barrel range. This is down $6 per barrel from Friday’s close, on concern that the Wall Street bailout package will falter.
The drop of over $47 per barrel since the record high two months ago 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 in the oil market.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum.
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Bill Bradley:
They’re not great ads. But the new Obama ad is good.
>Sacramento Solon:
I agree with Jack and CB…both ads suck.
—–
Shocking as it may seem, I totally ageee. It’s a very good ad.
lol
** WHOOPS! MCCAIN TOOK CREDIT FOR PASSAGE OF THE WALL STREET BAILOUT BILL – BEFORE IT LOST. You gotta hate when that happens.
Some idiot from the McCain campaign is saying McCain had the reep vote and the Dems blew it for the country.
Question…if he had the votes, if he’s now THEIR leader, if it’s for the good of the country, why wouldn’t the follow HIS lead no matter what????
What a bunch of B.S. for the Inane McCain people…Sid sucks!!!!!
I advised about 30 people to stay put in the market today based on the trust I had for congress. Sunday when the Asian markets opened the dollar was up against the euro. I felt very confident that we would be stable today. I was proven wrong and my advise cost some people… money. I feel bad about that. I am not attempting to sound like a conservative Reep….sometimes being a conservative with other peoples money is not a bad road to take.
Bill,
The leadership comment is a something I will remember. Thanks:)
who is Sid?
Ok – this says four things to me.
One, McCain is a liar.
Two, he can’t deliver his party’s votes any better than a lame-duck president with a 30% approval rating.
Three, he’s stupid.
Four, he’s a snarky bastard. Frankly, after 8 years of GWB, I’m done with that.
I’d like to run a split-screen ad of McCain taking credit as the bill goes down in flames.
McCain hasn’t shown one ounce of leadership during this crisis. And it hasn’t been for a lack of trying…
If Dem speaches on the floor could kill Republican legislation, you’d think we’d have a better record of stopping Bush’s legislative agenda over the past 8 years.
It shouldn’t take more than 2 minutes and a phone call to get that bill passed.
President calls the minority leader. Minority leader takes the floor, with the cell phone in his hand, and says the president is asking you to vote for this bill for the good of the country.
Live camera feed at the White House during the vote.
That shit would get passed – big time.
Complete leadership vacuum.
carole w:
who is Sid?
—-
Inane McCain’s middle name is Sidney…aka Sid as in Sid and Sarah…as in Inane and Senseless.
On that Penn poll, Obama has a 16 pt lead on McCain on who can best handle the Wall Street crisis, which is bigger than his lead on the economy.
That gap should widen after this week.
Barney Frank has promised to talk to the 12 Republican legislators with hurt feelings so we can go forward and fix the economy. Got a great laugh at the end of his presser.
So now the McCain campaign is blaming Pelosi for the vote. Saying that her comments came while the vote was still in doubt.
I’m sorry – the vote was in doubt PRIOR to Pelosi’s comments? This is the vote that McCain had no problem taking credit for BEFORE victory had been obtained (sound familiar)? And BTW, in taking credit for his “mission accomplished”, McCain didn’t avoid some partisan attacks himself BEFORE THE VOTE WAS FINALIZED.
The McCain camp has confused me again – was the vote in doubt or not? Yes or no?
I don’t think McCain win.
What do you think, Bill?
Hey all you polling wonks, a dumb question from the peanut gallery:
Why is “GW/Battleground Tracking” such a consistent outlier in the RCP polling averages? Different methodology or just in the tank or ????
No idea.
I think I know where the election is going.
Though I have to refocus on my upcoming column based on the bailout failure this morning …
So, I had a disquieting experience this afternoon.
With the failure of the bailout bill, it occurred to me that I should start moving money out of an account I have with a small bank, one that could go down with a rash of bank failures. The FDIC is committed to supporting such accounts, in a much broader fashion than ever before, but I like to think I can get my money now rather than a lot later. If at all.
So I drive over to this bank and walk into … a sushi restaurant!
Ah, the bank was gone.
Actually, the bank itself was not gone. But the branch was, in a prime location. It went away a few months ago, even before the present crisis.
Fortunately, I found another branch. Which took me another half an hour.
Things are going so well in this country …
I feel bad for my community. I am sorry for the small business community who won’t expand capital programs due to non existent credit. No growth equals less jobs. This will hurt us deeply. A house on my walking route sold last year for 1.6. Now that same house is owned by the bank. The declining home values will hurt everyone. I think we need a correction but,this is going to be a rough ride. I recommend stock in Tums.
Paul Krugman on the Republican market worship mind-set that in part has blocked the bailout:
First of all, we have the Republican Study Committee blowing things up with a complete nonsense proposal — solving the crisis with a holiday on capital gains taxes. How is that possible? Well, if a party runs on economic nonsense for 25 years, eventually many of its foot soldiers will be people who actually believe the nonsense.
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/26/demolition-accomplished/
McCain is a complete stumble bum. He is a complete liar. He is a complete incompetent. He is a complete ass.
Huffpo is now leading with my point that the stock market has retreated over 8 years of the Bush presidency.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/29/stock-dive-is-bookend-of_n_130398.html
Eight years of retirement stagnation, more debt, MUCH higher prices, financial institutions collapsing, record forclosures and the quickest, broadest and deepest home value reduction in history.
Thanks GWB. You suck.
“solving the crisis with a holiday on capital gains taxes”
Sounds like the accounting voodoo that got Fannie and Freddie in trouble — huge portions of their “assets” were actually hypothetical tax credits that they would never see. And it turns out that ConEd won’t take tax credits as payment for the light bill. Huh.
You have to have CAPITAL for it to get taxed.
Capital gains happens at the end of a successful financial cycle (which is why Warren Buffet likes them).
We need help on the front end of the financial cycle (credit and cash flow).
These guys are morons.
Sen. McCain insists on humiliating himself, in more ways than one can count on one’s fingers and goes.
And so it goes.
Jonathan Hemlock:
Sen. McCain insists on humiliating himself, in more ways than one can count on one’s fingers and goes.
And so it goes.
Sep 29, 2008 – 5:39 pm
Sorry for the double posting. This site is odd at times.
Looking at the map on pollster.com, if you put Penn into the Obama collumn, he only needs to pick-up something like 20 of the remaining 115 swing delegates.
Wow.
I meant TOES.
Jonathan Hemlock:
Sen. McCain insists on humiliating himself, in more ways than one can count on one’s fingers and goes.
lol
Bill Bradley:
So, I had a disquieting experience this afternoon.
With the failure of the bailout bill, it occurred to me that I should start moving money out of an account I have with a small bank, one that could go down with a rash of bank failures. The FDIC is committed to supporting such accounts, in a much broader fashion than ever before, but I like to think I can get my money now rather than a lot later. If at all.
So I drive over to this bank and walk into … a sushi restaurant!
Ah, the bank was gone.
Actually, the bank itself was not gone. But the branch was, in a prime location. It went away a few months ago, even before the present crisis.
Fortunately, I found another branch. Which took me another half an hour.
Things are going so well in this country …
Sep 29, 2008 – 4:26 pm
That is too much. And it is super scarey.
The whole situation has become extremely irritating. I just spoke with a very senior McCain player, and had to be very careful not to vent napalm over the phone.
>Ann:
lol
Bill Bradley:
So, I had a disquieting experience this afternoon.
With the failure of the bailout bill, it occurred to me that I should start moving money out of an account I have with a small bank, one that could go down with a rash of bank failures. The FDIC is committed to supporting such accounts, in a much broader fashion than ever before, but I like to think I can get my money now rather than a lot later. If at all.
So I drive over to this bank and walk into … a sushi restaurant!
Ah, the bank was gone.
Actually, the bank itself was not gone. But the branch was, in a prime location. It went away a few months ago, even before the present crisis.
Fortunately, I found another branch. Which took me another half an hour.
Things are going so well in this country …
Sep 29, 2008 – 4:26 pm
Sep 29, 2008 – 5:46 pm
This is so true.
BB:Actually, I consider McCain a great man, having backed him in 2000 as a member of Veterans for McCain. But just because someone is a great man does not mean he should be president of the United States. Which is the point Clinton was making. McCain is a great hero of the US Navy. Does that mean he should be president? In my view, that is a separate determination.
How McCain can salvage his campaign. He needs to encourage Sarah Palin to go back to Alaska and spend a lot more time with her family.
Then, he needs to convince Hillary to take Palin’s place.
And she might do it.
Ah, no.
I’m still hearing this nonsense about a partisan speach killing the bailout.
OK – after a significant vote, all the congressmen talk to local press as to why THEY didn’t vote for the package.
It isn’t hard to catalog all 90 of those and shove it pack into McCain’s face.
“The whole situation has become extremely irritating. I just spoke with a very senior McCain player, and had to be very careful not to vent napalm over the phone.”
i’m assuming more on this is forthcoming…?
You know, if Dems could of just called the Republicans “poopy heads” on the floor, we might never of had Medicare Part D.
Maybe if we had gotten into good game of “Seconds” we could have avoided the Bush tax cuts or the Iraq War.
If we had only known that Republicans were petulant 3rd graders instead of statesmen, maybe our country wouldn’t be were we are today.
Oh wait, that’s EXACTLY why were screwing the pooch right now. My bad.
The site’s back online. Good.
Indeed. Now I just need to become familiar with yet another dashboard …
Which one is that?
>Brasky:
You know, if Dems could of just called the Republicans “poopy heads” on the floor, we might never of had Medicare Part D.
Perhaps.
>four waters:
“The whole situation has become extremely irritating. I just spoke with a very senior McCain player, and had to be very careful not to vent napalm over the phone.”
i’m assuming more on this is forthcoming…?
Sep 29, 2008 – 8:35 pm
I believe that those folks are saying they voted against the bailout because they didn’t like it …
McCain is just trying to dodge responsibility for the failure after taking credit for the success.
>Brasky:
I’m still hearing this nonsense about a partisan speach killing the bailout.
OK – after a significant vote, all the congressmen talk to local press as to why THEY didn’t vote for the package.
It isn’t hard to catalog all 90 of those and shove it pack into McCain’s face.
Sep 29, 2008 – 6:24 pm
I hope America gets its issues together.
“Which one is that?”
The RX drug bill that short changed seniors and was a big give away to drug companies.
“I hope America gets its issues together.”
Your neighbors in the EU sounded pretty pissed. Nikkei took a big hit today too.
“I believe that those folks are saying they voted against the bailout because they didn’t like it …”
House Reeps actually held the text of her floor speech up at a PC and suggested that Pelosi killed the thing…
Brasky… wth… don’t you sleep?
Yeah.
Everybody is pissed.
Brasky:
“I hope America gets its issues together.”
Your neighbors in the EU sounded pretty pissed. Nikkei took a big hit today too.
Sep 30, 2008 – 8:39
Don’t count on that one, comrade.
sergei:
I hope America gets its issues together.
Sep 30, 2008 – 4:51 am