Election Central Morning Roundup
GOP Preparing Legal Effort To Challenge Voter Registrations
The Wall St. Journal reports that Republican lawyers are preparing an organized response to Democratic voter-registration efforts, with a training session held this past weekend on how to comb through registrations and challenge them as ineligible -- particularly in swing states like Virginia and Pennsylvania. The Obama campaign already has their own response underway, with legal counsel in all 50 states ready to oppose the challenges.
Obama Holding Hawaii Fundraiser Tonight
Barack Obama is taking some time out from his Hawaiian vacation for some political activity, with a fundraiser scheduled for tonight in Honolulu.
McCain In Pennsylvania Today
John McCain is spending today in York, Pennsylvania, where he has a town hall scheduled for 11:45 a.m. ET, and will also tape a Fox News interview set to air in the 6 p.m. time slot. He'll be accompanied by former two-term Governor Tom Ridge, as he attempts to win over a big swing state that hasn't voted Republican since 1988.
Obama Camp Announcing Republicans For Obama Group
The Obama campaign will be hosting a conference call this morning to roll out their Republicans For Obama group, featuring former GOP Congressman Jim Leach of Iowa. Leach served in the House for 30 years as a relatively liberal Republican, most notably voting against the Iraq War in 2002, before being defeated in an upset by Democrat Dave Loebsack in 2006.
Pelosi Could Allow Vote On Drilling Compromise
Nancy Pelosi has softened her opposition to offshore drilling, following Barack Obama's lead in indicating that she could accept a compromise that included it. Pelosi told Larry King last night she could potentially allow a vote on drilling, if it was coupled with Dem-favored policies such as releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Sheehan Gets On The Ballot For House Bid Against Pelosi
Cindy Sheehan has officially qualified for the ballot in her Congressional race in San Francisco, where she is running as an independent against Nancy Pelosi. Election officials confirmed yesterday that Sheehan collected enough signatures for her campaign, which has the stated goal of punishing Pelosi for not ending the Iraq War or impeaching President Bush.
Stevens Now Opposed By Former Governor Who First Appointed Him
A new voice has come out against indicted GOP Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska: Former Governor Walter Hickel, the same man who first appointed Stevens to the Senate way back in 1968. "I don't care if I appointed him," Hickel told Bloomberg. "That was a long time ago."
What are the odds that Chuck Hagel will make an appearance?
http://thepajamapundit.com/
August 12, 2008 9:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
I've always respected Jim Leach. A Princeton grad, he was a good friend of Bill Bradley. Always a moderate, Leach was one of six Republicans who voted against the Iraq War Resolution.
August 12, 2008 9:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
As an Iowan in his district, it was very sad to see Leach go. He was in my opinion an ideal Senator: intelligent and independent. He never simply wagged the party line (the Iraq vote being the obvious example) and always came off as a truly great guy. It was a damn shame that someone who always stood apart from party politics was upset by Dave Loebsek, in a move that was purely a vote against the Republican party. Throwing out the baby with the bathwater indeed.
August 12, 2008 10:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
I hear ex-Senator, Lincoln Chafee will be coming out for Obama today also! Why can't McCain close the deal with fellow Republicans?
August 12, 2008 10:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
Actually, Chafee endorsed Obama during the spring.
August 12, 2008 10:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
yeah i like the republicans for obama group, they have a site set up, they are very active. though republicans only make up 10% of obama vote the last time i checked the polls
New Dem Ad: Exxon John
http://sensico.wordpress.com/2008/08/12/new-dem-ad-exxon-john/
August 12, 2008 9:11 AM | Reply | Permalink
"republicans only make up 10% of obama vote the last time i checked the polls"
This is a huge effect.
August 12, 2008 9:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, 10% of his support are Repubs? I'll take that.
August 12, 2008 10:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
Any polls out there that indicate what proportion of McCain's supporters are Dems?
August 12, 2008 10:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
Slinkerwink caught this - a new Swift Boat attempt to sink Obama, something we'll have to be alert for:
http://strategy08.wordpress.com/2008/08/12/this-caught-my-eye/
August 12, 2008 9:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hey, did you guys know that if we had the 527's out there, Obama would be up by 50? After all, it worked so well last time!!!
August 12, 2008 9:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
WHAT?!?!?!? Obama is working during his vacation? Shouldn't he be clearing brush?
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Good on Cindy Sheehan. I dislike her marginally less than Pelosi at this moment . . .
August 12, 2008 9:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm a resident of Pelosi's CA-08 district. I'm really disappointed that Sheehan didn't run against her in the Dem primary instead of the general election. But I gave her $100 anyway.
No matter. Pelosi is in no danger. It was just a symbolic indulgence of my shit-disturber side.
The local result I'm most interested is a local SF ballot measure: whether or not to rename a local sewage-treatment plant the George Bush Sewage Plant. Too bad we don't have a landifll within city limits :-)
August 12, 2008 11:31 AM | Reply | Permalink
Republican voter suppression is going to be HHUUGGEE this year. Dems are running around registering millions of new young people, blacks and Latinos across the country. They're the key to pushing Obama over the top. The writing's on the wall, baby.
I tuned into Lou Dobbs a few weeks ago and he was on there already talking about "illegal immigrants" voting in the election. That train is coming full speed ahead.
August 12, 2008 10:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
We need to do all that we can to ensure that their attempt to suppress the votes of certain demographics sees the light of day (talk about it A LOT, not just on the blogs, but in your local papers, letters to the Editors, letters to sympathetic journalists...). If this gets enough attention, it can help to spur greater turnout and counteract their efforts.
August 12, 2008 10:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
Ike's granddaughter calls Obama "the future of America."
I like Ike's granddaughter.
http://www.truthout.org/article/ikes-granddaughter-calls-obama-future-america
August 12, 2008 10:13 AM | Reply | Permalink
How many of the judges to whom the GOP lawyerbots will be filing disenfranchisement lawsuits will be Loyal Bushies? Bush has packed all levels of government with loyal soldiers for the cause of Rove's permanent GOP majority.
The old saying is that a black man has to be twice as good to compete with whites. In this case, considering how stacked the deck is, Barack will have to be 4 times as good to compete with McNasty and his minions. Not on the issues, though. McCain can't win on issues alone, so he's taking the muddy road.
August 12, 2008 10:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
He could have changed parties if he'd wanted too. His implicit endorsement of Bush by remaining in the party is reason enough to dump him.
Now if only we could get rid of Steve King...
August 12, 2008 10:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
No shit, Steve King has to be about the biggest bastard in the House...every time he opens his mouth you can be sure the most ignorant, bigoted shit is going to stream out.
August 12, 2008 10:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
I have my issues with Pelosi, as I'm sure we all do, but Sheehan? I might agree with a lot of what she says, but the Code Pink crew is a bit nutty, and they have a knack for making liberals look nutty in general. They piss me off with their stupid antics, their singing and dressing up all crazy and whatnot. They turn every event they show up at into a circus, and it feeds the Republicans with ammo to attack those of us who don't embrace theatrics. But hey, maybe a primary challenge will wake Pelosi up a little. But I hope Sheehan never gets there...I can just see her singing or chanting in the House while they are trying to get shit done.
August 12, 2008 10:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
I wish. Pelosi alreaqdy won her primary election -- unopposed. Sheehan is running against her in the GE.
August 12, 2008 11:34 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm inclined to agree. I'm not certain it constitutes a credible challenge to Pelosi, however there are enough people who are critical of her performance that Sheehan will get quite a few votes, although not enough to win. Unfortunately, I doubt if Pelosi will ever improve.
August 12, 2008 1:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Probably larger, but that's a little misleading -- the South has a large number of conservatives who register Democratic but vote for the GOP candidates consistently.
Why? Well, the War Between The States! Can't forgive the Republican party for that!
August 12, 2008 11:01 AM | Reply | Permalink
Any attorney who interferes with voter registration drives should have a grievance filed against him/her with the local disciplinary committee or commission or supreme court. That slows them down, gives them reason to pause, and allows the Court to determine whether they "got ethics" or not. I recommend it. It has worked.
August 12, 2008 11:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
only republicans would be against registering voters and getting more people involved in the process.
sometimes i wonder how these people sleep at night.
and then i realize, it probably helps to have no conscience at all.
August 12, 2008 12:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
The conservative definition of democracy is "elections are held, and the right people win" (see USA, 2000, Iraq, 2005, and for a counterexample, 2006.) "Will of the people" has nothing to do with it.
August 12, 2008 6:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
We would humbly like to point out that Project Vote was quoted in the WSJ article about voter registration.
"Other efforts are aimed at registering new voters around the country. In the largest effort, Project Vote and Acorn, a community organizing group, are teaming up with the aim of registering 1.2 million people nationally by Labor Day.
Project Vote's executive director, Michael Slater, acknowledged occasional problems with voter registrations, but said that many are the result of poor record keeping. He said a greater risk comes from Republicans' efforts to police the rolls. "We don't have a real history in the last 10 to 15 years of large-scale voter fraud," he said. "What we do have a problem with is getting everyone on the rolls and making sure their votes are counted."
And we would further point out our own diary here at TPM: http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/project-vote/
August 12, 2008 1:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
"The Obama campaign already has their own response underway, with legal counsel in all 50 states ready to oppose the challenges."
That line will likely be the best news I hear all day. One of the discouraging aspects of fighting Republican election fraud is how Democrats take take it seriously enough. I was a poll watcher in 2004, and the national and state parties were serious about defending voters against Republican challengers trying to intimidate and hassle voters in Democratic precincts, but it turned out that they thought intimidation and misinformation was the issue. They ignored warnings from techies who were worked up about touchscreen voting machines, and we now know that biggest problems were vote caging, the lack of machines in selected precincts, crappy old machines in selected precincts, and the diverting of likely Democratic voters into placebo ballots. This year, the big problem is the purging of the registration rolls. I urge all Democrats to get behind registration at the polls. That would defeat a lot of these fraud tactics.
August 12, 2008 4:14 PM | Reply | Permalink