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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McCain’s ad is boring. It doesn’t make much sense.
Obama’s ad is pretty good.
Johnny Mac’s ad is terrible! He is so going to lose.
well, that was confusing.
and certainly not emotionally compelling –
in either the “for” McCain, or “against” Obama direction.
what a waste of resources.
btw, Bill… i haven’t seen any reporting of resource comparisons… which was a big topic at the beginning of the gen’l. do you have any idea of how the campaigns stack up financially? i’ve been hearing that that was a plus with Palin, but i’ve seen any actual #’s. would you be willing to look at that after the new numbers come out?
CB… if i were to ever run for something (which is sincerely unlikely), i would hope that you would offer to be my cheerleader! you are unflappably singular in perspective : )
Barack’s ad isn’t very good, either.
This feels like the week Obama wins it. Schmidt’s stunts aren’t working in a real world crisis. Palin is a joke. Game over.
Both those ads suck.
I agree with Jack and CB…both ads suck.
Nuke ‘em.
i actually think Obama’s is fine. its not great… but it repeats the section of the debate which got the highest positive responses. and while, during the debate, i didn’t think he was strong enough, i was clearly wrong. this did resonate with undecideds.
I agree with Johnnie Rico, but would go one step further…
Kill ‘em all!
Liked your piece in the Otherblog, Bill. I’m frustrated with the campaign. They don’t seem to be talking about anything. And, I agree that both are good, strong candidates. I thought McCain did just fine in the debate. Probably won by a point or two, but Obama won and style. He just seemed more “Presidential”–which is a word I usually hate. This time, I think it’s apt.
Nonetheless, Obama’s apparently gonna play it close to the chest, as he should. Looking at the electoral map, I haven’t been able to see any way McCain can win since Spring. It worsens for him every day. Obama’s people see that.
I might add, that I’m so sure it’s over, I’ve practically given up following it on a day-to-day basis.
Right now, thoughts of this economic disaster consume me and are keeping me up at night.
ps Last post should read “on style”.
Another fine mess from the clowns in the White House.
Faux News is going hysterical.
Bush’s bail out bill crashed and burned after Republicans voted against it by a 2-1 margin.
Skipper,
I predicted the bill would pass and it hasn’t. My friends that have retirements are stressing. I know a lot of people who share your insomnia. I hope this mess is stabilized soon. I watched the market tumble while Pelosi was speaking. Not a good sign.
Republican “leadership” didn’t press for the vote — telling their members that they were free to vote either way.
Lame duck doesn’t even begin to discribe GWB.
BTW — I’m sure glad Johny Mac decided to suspend his campaign to work on the economy.
Proof of the pudding is in the eating, as they say. But the steaming bowl produced by Republicans wasn’t exactly pudding…
This is unreal. How come they do this. Morons. And that might be too weak a term.
This bill was pushed by the administration as necessary to prevent financial Armageddon. No one liked it, so it was extensively amended.
Yet, it is still basically the President’s bill and it was written to get Republican support in Congress.
That didn’t work, so it’s time for Dems to write the thing from scratch – do what you need to do to get a majority of Dems to vote for it and force Bush to sign our bill.
Reeps not only put the global economy in jeopardy, but also took themselves out of the rewrite.
BTW – this could be a major opportunity for Obama, if he could be seen as the one who delivered votes for a Democratic solution while Reeps allowed Rome to burn.
Political butt darts…that is the most accurate label for this irritating situation. I can’t believe congress screwed this up:(
Brasky,
Everyone heard the house speeches and watched the market tumble. No opportunity here.
There is a vacuum of leadership and it’s not Nancy. This is the president’s bill and his own party voted against it 2-1. Democrats brought a majority of their members for a bill that wasn’t theirs.
If Obama can step in on a Democratic alternative (with bankruptcy protection addressed – which wasn’t included so we could supposedly get a majority of Republican votes) it’s a win-win.
BTW — Just looked at the closing of the DOW when Bush took office. Slightly higher than it is now.
Eight years and about a -1% growth in the DOJ – while oil prices tripled and the nation was saddled with about a trillion dollars in debt for Iraq.
Republican ideologues are bad, really bad, for the economy.
Carole…
It wasn’t Congress…it was the Reeps who failed to deliver the votes. It’s on them…totally. They have proved, once again, that they are behind the times and not qulaified to lead. Frack ‘em!
I’m not laughing today. This is crazy.
BS! I watched the whole situation live . The partisan BS swayed votes. The market dropped as the congress spoke. This was very poorly executed. This was not time for an pro Obama or McCain speech by either side. It should have been a done deal.
Meanwhile, Cadbury is recalling chocolate that might be contaminated with industrial chemicals from China.
Bush/McCain laissez faire stikes again.
Well, fortunately I favor See’s and Godiva.
It’s a crisis of leadership. Don’t be distracted by that stuff.
>carole w:
BS! I watched the whole situation live . The partisan BS swayed votes. The market dropped as the congress spoke. This was very poorly executed. This was not time for an pro Obama or McCain speech by either side. It should have been a done deal.
Sep 29, 2008 – 12:23 pm
Yep.
>Ann:
I’m not laughing today. This is crazy.
Sep 29, 2008 – 12:20 pm
Umm, a partisan speach caused Republicans to vote against their own president’s bill?!
WTF?!
The president asked the country, and congress, to get him this bill. Dems delivered, Reeps did not.
They were told by their leadership that they didn’t have to vote for the bill!!!
If you’re getting hundreds (thousands) of calls from your voters against this measure and you’re told you don’t have to vote for it, then you don’t vote for it.
Considering that a similar extremist view is prevalent amongst California Republicans, I’m surprised you would think this.
>carole w:
Political butt darts…that is the most accurate label for this irritating situation. I can’t believe congress screwed this up:(
Sep 29, 2008 – 11:53 am
Rome is burning.
>Brasky:
BTW – this could be a major opportunity for Obama, if he could be seen as the one who delivered votes for a Democratic solution while Reeps allowed Rome to burn.
Sep 29, 2008 – 11:50 am
That’s a very tough thing to do. I don’t know what should be done.
>Brasky:
This bill was pushed by the administration as necessary to prevent financial Armageddon. No one liked it, so it was extensively amended.
Yet, it is still basically the President’s bill and it was written to get Republican support in Congress.
That didn’t work, so it’s time for Dems to write the thing from scratch – do what you need to do to get a majority of Dems to vote for it and force Bush to sign our bill.
Reeps not only put the global economy in jeopardy, but also took themselves out of the rewrite.
Sep 29, 2008 – 11:46 am
They really did sound on the edge of hysterica on FNC.
>marcos leon:
Another fine mess from the clowns in the White House.
Faux News is going hysterical.
Sep 29, 2008 – 11:25 am
Carole,
Somebody had their feelings hurt so they voted to hurt the country??? You must be kidding me.
Trust me, with the country at stake you can talk about my mummy and I’m still voting for the bill.
As Barney Frank said…show me the votes. Tell me the folks that were so offended. What he didn’t say, but I will…the entire country has a right to know that these 12 were so thin skinned that the voted against the country because someone offended them. Then they can run them from office…
Leadership is leadership and the Republican leadership failed to deliver their side.
“That’s a very tough thing to do. I don’t know what should be done.”
There’s nothing left on the table that’s not tough.
We should grab the bull by the horns. Craft our bill – include homeowner and bankruptcy protection and send it up on Dem votes.
Bush will have no choice but to sign it — his legacy (whatever HE thinks it might be) will be dwarfed if this thing blows up.
It may be over.
>Pat Skipper:
I might add, that I’m so sure it’s over, I’ve practically given up following it on a day-to-day basis.
Right now, thoughts of this economic disaster consume me and are keeping me up at night.
ps Last post should read “on style”.
Sep 29, 2008 – 10:05 am
Thanks, Pat. It is disappointing, because there are massive issues before us, which we aren’t discussing.
Incidentally, while I expect us to muddle through the financial crisis, I’m going to make a couple of moves today after the bill’s failure. One of which is to drastically increase the number of greenbacks onhand.
>Pat Skipper:
Liked your piece in the Otherblog, Bill. I’m frustrated with the campaign. They don’t seem to be talking about anything. And, I agree that both are good, strong candidates. I thought McCain did just fine in the debate. Probably won by a point or two, but Obama won and style. He just seemed more “Presidential”–which is a word I usually hate. This time, I think it’s apt.
Nonetheless, Obama’s apparently gonna play it close to the chest, as he should. Looking at the electoral map, I haven’t been able to see any way McCain can win since Spring. It worsens for him every day. Obama’s people see that.
Sep 29, 2008 – 10:03 am
If you’re putting more cash into your portfolio, you shoud diversify and get some euros.
We may have to make some moves now that will lower the value of the dollar.
They’re not great ads. But the new Obama ad is good.
>Sacramento Solon:
I agree with Jack and CB…both ads suck.
Sep 29, 2008 – 9:37 am
Uh, thanks.
>Johnnie Rico:
Nuke ‘em.
Sep 29, 2008 – 9:46 am
Actually, you might want to look at Pounds Sterling. I know that as part of the Euro switch over years ago, many of the European banks had to massively divest in gold backing in favor of euro baking.
Pounds might have a stronger gold position that euros.
We’ll see … I had a good bead on things, but have to factor in the bailout failure.
>Len:
This feels like the week Obama wins it. Schmidt’s stunts aren’t working in a real world crisis. Palin is a joke. Game over.
Sep 29, 2008 – 9:27 am
The second Obama ad is good.
The first one started strong, but ended weak.
I hate debate footage in a commercial. Debates are boring – commercials shouldn’t be.
Yeah, but I have nine million things to do.
Short form: Obama has an edge. How much depends on how you view the efficacy of more generic party advertising.
>four waters:
well, that was confusing.
and certainly not emotionally compelling –
in either the “for” McCain, or “against” Obama direction.
what a waste of resources.
btw, Bill… i haven’t seen any reporting of resource comparisons… which was a big topic at the beginning of the gen’l. do you have any idea of how the campaigns stack up financially? i’ve been hearing that that was a plus with Palin, but i’ve seen any actual #’s. would you be willing to look at that after the new numbers come out?
Sep 29, 2008 – 9:15 am
The McCain guys seem unable to produce anything that isn’t snarky.
Might as well change their slogan to “Ready to Lead…Nah, Nah, Nah-Nah-Nah!”
Here is a link to the vote tally for the failed bailout plan I found via cnn.com: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll674.xml