Election Central Morning Roundup
WaPo Takes Closer Look At McCain's Shadow Foreign Policy On Georgia
The Washington Post points out this morning just how odd John McCain's move has been in sending his own delegation to Georgia. "They accused Obama of being presumptuous," said Lawrence Korb, a former Reagan Defense official now supporting Obama, "but he didn't do anything close to this."
Obama Camp To Announce "Backstage with Barack" Winners
The Obama campaign will announce today the names of ten grassroots supporters selected for their "Backstage With Barack" drawing, who will be flown out to the Democratic Convention and given hotel accommodations at the campaign's expense.
John McCain Off The Trail Today
John McCain does not have any announced public events for today.
GOP's Conservative Base Objects To Potential Pro-Choice McCain Veep
The Christian Right base is up in arms over a trial balloon that John McCain has floated, indicating that he could potentially pick a pro-choice running mate. "That choice will end his bid for the presidency and spell defeat for other Republican candidates," said Phil Burress, head of the Ohio-based Citizens For Community Values.
Poll: McCain Up By Six In North Carolina
A new Rasmussen poll of North Carolina gives John McCain a 50%-44% lead here, with a ±4% margin of error. This lead comes thanks to a two-to-one advantage among white voters, while Obama picks up 93% of African-American respondents.
Parties Taking In Big Last-Minute Donations For Conventions
Both parties are hitting up their biggest donors and interest groups to close their budget gaps for the conventions. The Democratic Convention's committee, which has struggled to meet its fundraising goals, was helped in the last month by donations of more than $500,000 each from AFSCME and the American Federation of Teachers.
Question...if McCain gets 66% of the white vote in a state and Obama gets 93% of the African American vote...why are the white guys racists?
August 15, 2008 9:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
Because white guys are racists ?
August 15, 2008 9:13 AM | Reply | Permalink
Who said the "white guys" are racists?
August 15, 2008 9:13 AM | Reply | Permalink
To SFC, not AMK.
August 15, 2008 9:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
I know hyperrevue.
I would change it to "Because the white guys who vote for JM are racists ?"
August 15, 2008 9:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
White folk with dangly-down bits who vote for McInsane are not necessarily racists . . . A couple of them are REALLY WEALTHY and the rest are just plain illiterate.
August 15, 2008 12:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's 95% of the knocks on McCain's ads...they're racist dog whistle, secret codes, hidden cryptics...blah blah blah...
August 15, 2008 9:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
Wait. Are we talking about McCain's ads or the "white guys" in this poll who said they'd vote for him?
August 15, 2008 9:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's inseperable...racist ads will only appeal to racists and have an equally negative effect on non-racists. If McCain is producing racist ads and his numbers go up, it has to be racists driving the increase...a second question: Is voting for a guy just because of his skin color racist?
August 15, 2008 9:29 AM | Reply | Permalink
Man. You're really obsessing over this. No one else mentioned anything about racism in this thread, you do realize that, right?
August 15, 2008 9:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm just tired of the "Default" position being Republican = Racist.
August 15, 2008 9:51 AM | Reply | Permalink
Then call it out when you see it. But this pre-emptive bullshit is annoying.
August 15, 2008 9:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
Project much, sarge.
August 15, 2008 10:22 AM | Reply | Permalink
Me thinks he doth protest to much.
August 15, 2008 10:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
1. "Obama gets 93% of the African American vote"
2. "McCain's ads...they're racist dog whistle"
3. "voting for a guy just because of his skin color"
1 is due to 2, not 3.
August 15, 2008 10:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
"That's 95% of the knocks on McCain's ads...they're racist dog whistle, secret codes, hidden cryptics...blah blah blah..."
"Blah, Blah" pretty mush sums up your argument recently..
August 15, 2008 9:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
"much"
August 15, 2008 9:53 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'd say "mush" pretty much sums them up too.
August 15, 2008 10:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
No one is saying white guys are racist. But there are sizable chunks in certain regions in certain states who are, and have openly said they won't vote for Obama because he's black.
Now, you can't accuse black voters of not voting for white candidates because that's the only choice they've had until now.
http://strategy08.wordpress.com
August 15, 2008 9:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
And larger blocks of blacks who said they would vote for Soetoro because he's black. Racists for certain.
Face it, the Barry mantra is that if you don't vote for him you're racist.
August 15, 2008 9:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
So, all the women who voted for Hillary were sexist? Don't be such a fucking tool.
August 15, 2008 9:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
good one
Video: Baracky Part 2
August 15, 2008 10:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
If it was main or only reason they voted for then, yes they were.
Racist voters for Obama.
Sexist voters for Clinton.
August 15, 2008 1:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
..if African Americans usually vote democratic anyway, but somehow a black candidate getting that same support somehow raises eyebrows - is the specific eyebrow raiser an insufferable prick?
August 15, 2008 9:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
But your forgetting the huge groundswell of AA support for all of Alan Keyes presidential races....oh, wait....nevermind.
August 15, 2008 9:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
And didn't Steve Cohen just lose to an AA candidate in a majority AA community in Tenn? Oh wait....scratch that....I'm sorry...what was SFC Wallace's point again?
August 15, 2008 9:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hahahaha. Pwned.
August 15, 2008 10:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
You're kinda cute when you try so hard. It's recess soon, monkey bars for you.
August 15, 2008 1:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
whites make up the majority of America, blacks only make up 14%. your rhetorical question is somewhat an excuse to people who would vote on race. Blacks as you probably know didn't even support Obama over Clinton before south carolina, and Bill Clinton screwed it up with his diminishing of Obama.
I don't see it as racist, theres a sense of pride, and do you really expect a republican who isn't even a staunch evangelical to even get more then 10% of the African American vote.
Video: Baracky Part 2
August 15, 2008 10:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
Good point SFCWallace. When black people have never voted for a white candidate for president, how they complain that whites don't vote for blacks?
August 15, 2008 11:13 AM | Reply | Permalink
Good point SFCWallace. When black people have never voted for a white candidate for president, how they complain that whites don't vote for blacks?
August 15, 2008 11:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
Um, the Democratic candidate typically gets around 90% of the black vote regardless of his race. Many whites in NC are voting against Obama primarily because he is black. In fact, in a recent poll,about 20% of whites nationwide say that most of the people they knew would not vote for a black man (though a much smaller % admits that bias about themselves). Sounds like racism to me.
August 15, 2008 11:31 AM | Reply | Permalink
Just in case you have an open mind and want a real answer:
Aside from the fact that 93% is only a cople of points from the AA support of Kerry or Gore, consider this. There's a huge difference between people voting for someone from their own under-represented community, and people who have been well-represented for 220 years voting to try to maintain a monopoly and keep out anyone else.
Unless there has been a black president I don't know about.
August 15, 2008 11:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
That was for SFC, of course.
Also, to fogu2, why is it somehow bad that he was called Barry Soetoro as a kid? Who cares?
August 15, 2008 11:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe it's because us white guys are voting for the guy that looks like us and the black guys are voting for the candidate who has their best interests at heart. It's not racist when your best interests gybe with the interests of the candidate that happens to look like you.
August 15, 2008 9:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
"It's not racist when your best interests gybe with the interests of the candidate that happens to look like you." ...unless you're a white Republican living in the South...
August 15, 2008 9:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
No, it's racist when they say, "Shit, I wish it was Mitt or Rudy up there and not John, but no way am I voting for a n****r".*
* Actual quote of NE Floridian Repub I know.
August 15, 2008 10:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
I have heard that exact quote. But, here in Arizona where we had segregation of schools for years and years until Brown vs Board of Education ruling, racism is VERY alive and well. Though not in the South, imagine, segregated schools.
August 15, 2008 3:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
What is going on in the swing states? Obama's leads are shrinking in Minnesota, Iowa, Washington, Wisconsin, etc. And he now is behind slightly in Nevada, Virginia, and Colorado. He is falling further behind in Florida, Missouri and North Carolina.
August 15, 2008 9:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
You need to stop watching polls.
August 15, 2008 9:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
I know they are a snap shot but the trend is not good.
August 15, 2008 9:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
The pollster trend lines look just fine to me.
August 15, 2008 9:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
Agreed. Polls are not your friends.
August 15, 2008 10:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's pretty simple actually:
"Everyone said, loud enough for the others to hear: "Look at the Emperor's new clothes. They're beautiful!"
"What a marvellous train!"
"And the colors! The colors of that beautiful fabric! I have never seen anything like it in my life!" They all tried to conceal their disappointment at not being able to see the clothes, and since nobody was willing to admit his own stupidity and incompetence, they all behaved as the two scoundrels had predicted.
A child, however, who had no important job and could only see things as his eyes showed them to him, went up to the carriage.
"The Emperor is naked," he said."
Hence the falling poll numbers...
August 15, 2008 9:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
Having participated in one of Rasmussen's state polls, I don't believe any of their results are close to accurate.
August 15, 2008 9:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
It is odd that Rasmussen national and state poll consistently show a much tighter race than every other pollster. Obama's leads are always smaller and McCain's leads are always larger.
August 15, 2008 9:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
I came away from the poll disappointed by their methods. Since so many news sources and blogs use Rasmussen results as the basis of their stories, I was surprised that the poll was so clunky. Anyone who doesn't know about Rasmussen and who isn't a political junkie would have hung up at some point. I
There were also a bunch of false choice questions regarding offshore drilling and the Supreme Court. It was so bad I wondered at times if it wasn't actually some GOP push polling firm trying to pass itself off as Rasmussen. Or maybe Rasmussen is a GOP push polling firm passing itself off as legit.
Anyway, I don't buy their numbers anymore.
August 15, 2008 9:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
Well, Rasmussen nailed the 2004 election after blowing 2000 (he had Bush winning by like 9 points) I don't know how accurate his state polling was in 2004 though.
August 15, 2008 10:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
Rasmussen is very good at the straight-forward are you going to vote for candidate a, b, or c. They are a conservative polling group and will skew issue oriented polls with loaded questions.
August 15, 2008 11:06 AM | Reply | Permalink
That sounds about right.
August 15, 2008 11:31 AM | Reply | Permalink
Backstage with Barry. Talk about celebrity crap. Apparently McCain's characterization is spot on.
August 15, 2008 9:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, guy, standing around "backstage" at an event with a huge stage, like a convention, is SOOOOOOO celebrity-like.
August 15, 2008 10:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
"John McCain Off The Trail Today
John McCain does not have any announced public events for today."
Elitist millionaire John McCain, probably spending vacation at one of his 10 homes, lounging around in hsi $520 Italian loafers.
Will the MSM bash McCain for taking a day off?
It's fun watching the Democrat Rules at play. Almost anything is okay if you are a Republican, including adultery.
August 15, 2008 9:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
Not quite. Adultery is only okay if you're a POW.
August 15, 2008 9:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
Will Jonze bash McCain for taking a day off? Apparently this first week of the Olympics is a critical time to get your message out...
August 15, 2008 10:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
"They accused Obama of being presumptuous," said Lawrence Korb, a former Reagan Defense official now supporting Obama, "but he didn't do anything close to this."
----
Exactly what I was thinking throughout McCain's Georgia grandstand. Sending delegations? Sticking your neck out so far amidst a highly sensitive, international crisis that should involve nobody on our side but the White House?
Thank goodness John McCain is an old white man or they'd be busting out all the code words to brand him an uppity negro. Hell we'd probably get a few new terms after this one.
August 15, 2008 9:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
Well, gotta give McCain credit for one thing: he clearly differentiated himself from Bush on Georgia. It's going to be harder for Obama to lump them together on foreign policy after this.
August 15, 2008 10:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
except he's already backing off. yesterday he was very measured and with the Post story today, he's gonna make sure droopy dog and howdy doody tread lightly, ie, fall in behind the chimperor. making the trip look less presumptuous and more base political theater.
August 15, 2008 11:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
more like base political theater.
August 15, 2008 11:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
No, it's okay for Newt, Vitter, Rush, etc.
Spitzer being with a prositute requires that he step down and even possibly face charges, Vitter, not so much.
August 15, 2008 9:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
Surprised you haven't picked up the video we got
in the mail yesterday. It's at
http://foxattacks.com/virus/?utm_source=rgemail
August 15, 2008 10:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
White guys are not racist. Idiots are racist! There just happens to be a lot of idiots in the Republican party!
August 15, 2008 10:06 AM | Reply | Permalink
John McCain raised $27 million in July and the RNC raised $26 million. I am surprised that the RNC didn't raise more money than that.
Hoping that Obama raised another $50 million in July.
August 15, 2008 10:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
On whose behalf is John McCain conducting his shadow foreign policy? When he says "Country First," what country does he mean? Did he go off half-cocked on a script written by his chief foreign policy advisor, Randy Schuenemann, a foreign agent for Georgia? Perish the thought, has the administration had to escalate against Russia in order to cover for John McCain? Has John McCain unwittingly become a foreign agent for Georgia? Is he taking the day off because the administration told him to STFU?
August 15, 2008 10:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
Well, Joe LieberSchmuck is going, and he's definitely Likud First. Also going is Graham, and that rhymes with Gramm, and that stands for Countrywide First.
August 15, 2008 10:29 AM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, is it that time already? Time to play another round of "Let's Pretend Being Black and Being White in America Are the Same Thing"?
I thought we'd grown tired of that one.
August 15, 2008 10:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's comforting to live, when it's convenient, in a world free of history and context.
August 15, 2008 10:51 AM | Reply | Permalink
Obama should have been pushing the presumptuous tag on McCain, but then McCain would have shot back "Barack is politicizing an international crisis!!". It's all games the GOP is playing here. In the very least Obama should make slight digs when he finally comes back from his vacation. Something along the lines of "I take my first vacation after almost 10 months of 16 hour days (Sundays too) and come back to find John McCain has been decided he the President. Or at least he is pretending to be - Seems a bit presumptuous to me, how about you?"
August 15, 2008 10:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
Are you a political strategist? It's amazing how much daily advice you have for the Obama campaign!
August 15, 2008 10:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
As a Southerner with LOTS of repub friends, i feel very comfortable making the 'republican=racist' charge.
August 15, 2008 10:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
Mr. Kleefeld,
I think that I noted a typo above. You typed:
I believe it woulda been more correct to type:
Please review and correct if necessary.
August 15, 2008 10:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
No, it was correct the first time.
August 15, 2008 11:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
Sources?
It appears that although Mr. Burgess does hold a leadership position at Citizens For Community Values which based in Ohio . . . There is also a body of evidence that the slur "head" may also be applicable.
August 15, 2008 12:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
What SFC fails to realize in his simplistic racism argument is the "dominant culture" versus "subserviant culture" angle as well as the institutionalized roadblocks and cultural perceptions that exist. I'm a white guy married to a beautiful West Indian black women which makes our kids "whatever". It is amazing how differently (i.e., better) she and they get treated in all sorts of social and professional settings when I show up unexpectedly.
August 15, 2008 11:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
There goes the librul media again. How dare they subject the presumptive Republican nominee to scrutiny?
August 15, 2008 12:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
OMG! What will David Broder do now? :-)
August 15, 2008 12:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Find a way to blame it on Obama.
August 15, 2008 12:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
So today Obama returns from HI through San Francisco and will be holding a fundraiser at the Fairmont; he will then head south to Saddleback Church tomorrow for a "forum" with McCain. I have every confidence that he'll really shine through on Saturday night.
Some of you may recall the earliest days of the Democratic contest - when Barack was invited to the memorial for the Civil Rights March at the Peatus(?) Bridge; I seems Hillary didn't want to be left out and got herself invited to speak across town...
I watched both of them speak back to back on C-Span and wanted to keep a truly open mind for what both would say... Obama's talk was called "the Joshua Generation" and went through a comparison of the Biblical passage in the old testament with the civil rights era of the US in the 60's it was a very nice lecture and well thought out. Hillary on the other hand, while she spoke the praises of the civil rights movement and made appropriate links to the feminist cause also - spoke in a completely different voice, sounding more like she was delivering applause lines than speaking from a pulpit - I remember thinking to myself - 'she's breezed right past all the primary stuff and is giving a convention speech...'
The contrast was indeed jarring....
I have a good feeling that Sat Nite at Saddleback is gonna be a Really Good Night for Barack - I think CNN is gonna cover it maybe more - worth a look...
My .02 Thanx
August 15, 2008 2:34 PM | Reply | Permalink