Election Central Morning Roundup
Republican Convention Starting Today, But Prime-Time Cancelled
The Republican Convention is officially beginning today in St. Paul, but it has been seriously scaled back out of respect to Hurricane Gustav's imminent landfall in the Gulf Coast. The convention will only convene for about two hours to handle the formalities of bringing the gathering to order, and the whole prime-time speaking lineup has been cancelled.
Dem Ticket In Michigan And Wisconsin
Barack Obama is working hard on Labor Day, with his Rust Belt tour taking him through two swing states. Obama has a Detroit rally scheduled to being at 11 a.m. ET, a 1 p.m. barbecue in Monroe, Michigan, and finally a rally in Milwaukee set for 7 p.m. ET.
Cindy McCain Meeting With Louisiana GOPers This Morning
Cindy McCain and other McCain family members are scheduled to attend a 10 a.m. ET breakfast with Louisiana delegates at the Republican Convention, where they will likely discuss Hurricane Gustav and disaster preparation.
Howard Wolfson: I Now Heart Obama
Former Hillary Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson has a new column in today's Washington Post, saying that Barack Obama's acceptance speech has converted him into an enthusiastic supporter: "In person, my attention undivided, I saw something of what so many others had seen for so long."
NYT: Hillary Could Be Dems' Best Weapon Against Palin
The New York Times reports that Hillary Clinton could see an increased role on the trail in courting women voters for Barack Obama, in light of the McCain campaign's play for them in selecting Sarah Palin. Senior Clinton adviser Ann Lewis said some women voters may be giving McCain a second look now, but Hillary could reach them: "These voters see Hillary as someone who fought and rose to challenges with persistence, and who spoke in real ways to their lives."
USA Today: Yes, Palin Backed Bridge To Nowhere
The mainstream media is catching on to Sarah Palin's double-talk on federal earmarks and the infamous Bridge to Nowhere, with USA Today laying out her past support of it as well as other costly Alaska earmarks. On top of her support for the bridge, her town of Wasilla was also one of only six incorporated municipalities in Alaska to hire a federal lobbyist specifically for the purposes of obtaining earmarks.
CNN Poll: Presidential Race Remains A Dead Heat
A new CNN poll suggests that John McCain's gambit of announcing his running mate the day after the Dem Convention successfully blunted any post-convention bounce for Barack Obama: Obama 49%, McCain 48%, with a ±3% margin of error. The poll also shows that 50% of respondents say Sarah Palin is unqualified to assume the presidency in an emergency, against 45% who say she is in fact prepared.
Palin's Mother-In-Law Is Undecided
Sarah Palin's mother-in-law told the New York Daily News that she isn't sure who she'll vote for this November. "I'm not sure what she brings to the ticket other than she's a woman and a conservative," said Faye Palin. "Well, she's a better speaker than McCain."
Unqualified, another good term for unprepared, regardless of experience.
September 1, 2008 9:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think Eric's suggestion for Hillary's ad on Palin (or some permutation of it) could really kill whatever pandering effect would have been gained by Palin's selection.
The mother-in-law story is hilarious... Mother-in-laws are notorious. But come on! That's just funny. In-law may become an outlaw.
September 1, 2008 9:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
yeah, and I hope she votes for Obama. She right though all Palin is, is a women and a conservative...neo-con maybe.
Video: McCain Acts Presidential…Finally
September 1, 2008 10:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
"Remains a dead heat." It has never really been, and still isn't. For God's sake, Eric ... the Virgin Mary herself wouldn't help the pathetic soul-selling old man, let alone Klondike Barbie. Any poll that splits just 45-50 on that nitwit's qualifications is bogus on its face.
September 1, 2008 9:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
word
September 1, 2008 9:30 AM | Reply | Permalink
Turn Hillary lose on her - I'm ready.
Hillary will carve her up into little pieces that Joe Biden will smilingly extinguish when it's his turn.
September 1, 2008 9:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
That CNN poll is ridiculous. 50% say Palin is not ready to be VP, but 57% say the choice reflects favorably on McCain's presidential decision making skills. I don't think there are that many people who think "gee I want my President to choose a VP that isn't qualified for the job."
September 1, 2008 9:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, toss that poll out. It was taken over a holiday weekend. Bogus.
And Hillary is key now. She needs to take a sledgehammer to Palin. That's much better than Obama going after her.
http://pufferfish.typepad.com/
September 1, 2008 9:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
Note: It was taken by CNN - they don't have a great track record when it comes to objectivity in this race.
September 1, 2008 11:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
The GOP has managed to insult the hell out of me - I hope other women feel the same way. I'm actually ticked off about this - because what do they think of women that they offer us this - small town mayor and anti-choice crusader?
That's an insult.
September 1, 2008 9:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
Palin represents exactly what they think of women. She is a standard bearer of what they think women should be.
It just happens that she's offensive to women like you or me.
Are we typical? Dunno.
September 1, 2008 11:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
Why mention only the CNN poll? CNN for Pete's sake? Aren't there polls from Rasmussen and Gallup up over there on the right, too?
September 1, 2008 9:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
National polls don't mean much, Rasmussen gives +3 for two straight days, after being up to +4. And before that he -1. If one wants to read anything into it, then Palin didn't do squat for McCain but get the rightwing nuts fired up, which in this election year when most people want to be focused on economic issues, that can only help Obama.
September 1, 2008 9:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
To be fair - and Lord knows I'm loathe to give any credit to the Repubs - you could argue that Palin's appearance on the scene muted Obama's convention bounce, as evidenced in the Rasmussen/Gallup polls. From Gallup, there was a 1 pt increase after Michelle, a 3 pt increase after Hillary/Warner/Schweitzer, another 1 pt after Bubba/Kerry/Biden and then it held steady after that. So, while you might have expected another increase from reaction to Obama's speech, you could argue that the 1 pt we might have gotten from that was muted by the Repub VP announcement.
But, I'd point out that this bounce has not been coming from the 10% undecided in either the Gallup or the Rasmussen data. Obama's gains have been coming from McCain. So, these people are leaners - they're soft support either way and tend to sway and will continue to do so between now and Nov 4. In the end, this 4 to 6% of leaners will probably not go solidly to one side or the other. In fact, they may be 3rd party voters, for all we know.
What I want to see is how those Undecided Voters are going to settle out as we get closer to Nov 4.
In any case, yeah, the CNN poll should be ignored - they don't have a good track record for unbiased results and their results can't be interpreted w/reasonable objectivity.
And, again, what matters more than these national tracking polls, is the State polls and the Electoral Votes, so you keep you eye on:
www.fivethirtyeight.com
September 1, 2008 11:31 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hi - I wanted to throw in my little pov here so here I go... Scott Rasmussen has been quoted as saying that he 'feels a responsibility to keep McCain in the running at least through the GOP convention if not beyond' - other commenters have noted the bias in the Rasmussen group questions/structure of their polls - so I automatically discount their results. CNN is proving to be in a race with Faux Noose for whomever can skewer any and all coverage toward the GOP it's just obvious!
That said the real News is on the Ground - With the Palin announcement on Fri. the real story was that the McCain Campaign was frantically rounding up every warm body they could find in the region; even busing people in from western PA, they wound up with fewer than 10,000 at the Dayton event and in fact couldn't fill the hall there. I listened on the car radio and the crowd chants of USA USA USA was everything I'd expected from this jingoistic ship of fools...
Contrast that image with the fact that the Obama Biden tri-state labor weekend tour has had no trouble at all getting 20,000 plus at each and every event thus far...
So the McCain camp is scouring every rest-home in the region for bodies; the Obama folks are filling every single venue they've hit so far...
Watch the People - Not the Polls ;)
September 1, 2008 2:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
What is the implication of the changes to the RNC's convention on the "end of the primary period" and the transition to the general election campaign's spending limits for John McCain?
Is he trying to figure out a way to continue to break the spirit of his own campaign finance reform legislation? Is he 'banking' on Democrats not raising this because they fear reminding people Obama/Biden did not subscribe to public financing?
Or, since there isn't a functional governing body, John McCain thinks he can get away with anything?
Please, someone who knows more about the campaign finance system help me understand this. . .
Thanks!
September 1, 2008 10:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
I hope the Obama campaign uses Hillary a lot in the campaign. I think she would be a GREAT spokeswoman for the campaign.
September 1, 2008 10:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
The USAToday piece on the bridge flip-flop highlights (but doesn't point out) another lie/misleading statement...she claimed in 2007 that they "cancelled all state work on the Gravina Island bridge project."
The phrase "state work" is key; as TPM noted, the access "road to nowhere" was built with use-it or lose-it federal dollars.
September 1, 2008 10:13 AM | Reply | Permalink
McCain is trying to use Gustav to put lipstick on his Republican ass(donkey). Sorry about such a twisted metaphor but it is somehow appropriate. He has proved that he will do anything to drive the news cycle. Country first, my ass.
But it could get very interesting in the aftermath of the hurricane when the discussion turns to what to do about New Orleans. There will be questions about how much should be invested in rebuilding and what to do about those displaced. Nothing wrong about that but the fun begins when McCain trys to frame those issues in a way that will keep Sarah Palin's wingnuts happy.
September 1, 2008 10:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
It’s total bullshit that McCain has set up shop down near the storm to play pretend president thru this. He’s not in any position to affect anything other than sucking resources and getting in the way of people who are trying to do something real. He’s playing this like the Georgia crisis and he’s going to get away with it because the media just laps it up unquestioningly. It’s the only thing that people will remember about the RNC.
September 1, 2008 10:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
McCain, the anti-pork crusader, chooses a VP who as a mayor of a town of >7000 hired a federal lobbyist to secure more earmarks.
I believe I read somewhere that though the bridge wasn't built she kept the money to use elsewhere, but the funny part is that they built the roads leading up to where the bridge would have been because if they canceled that project they couldn't keep the money. So basically you have a road on either side leading up to the waters edge.
She also left Wasilla is HUGE debt for it's size. Something like $20M for a town of less than >7000, building a sports arena.
Also while Governor she's okay projects for Wasilla, but they deny the exact same expenditures for other cities/towns saying they were unnecessary or there wasn't the money for them. She's talking the same way now about Alaska, and how her being the VP would be good for Alaska and how she could really "put them on the map" and help them from the VP office.
September 1, 2008 10:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
So, while she was sorta against building the bridge to nowhere, she was in favor of building roads to where the bridge to nowhere would have been.
September 1, 2008 10:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
Granted she's getting a good vetting from bloggers and such, but I wonder if this kind of rank hypocrisy would even have been exposed if she and McCain hadn't touted it so loudly as a sign of her "integrity". Are they really this dumb?
September 1, 2008 1:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Palin was for the bridge to no where before she was against it.
McCain voted NO on everyone of the Katrina proposals put out by the Senate. I hope the Dems point that out particularly Biden.
September 1, 2008 10:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
Last night on NBC Nightly News (I know, I know) in response to Brian Williams's question about Pain's experience, McCain, in a litany of all Palin's "executive experience," actually invoked her being on "the PTA," I kid you not. I almost threw something at the TV.
September 1, 2008 10:34 AM | Reply | Permalink
I hope Jed youtubes it.
September 1, 2008 10:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
Is anyone else having trouble getting into the Jed Report this morning? I can't get to it this morning.
September 1, 2008 10:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
The PTA and her years on the city council of Wasilla and Mayor of Wasilla (a town of >7000 at the time) do not count for executive experience, at least not in any relation to the job of the Vice President of the United States. To even claim that they do is ridiculous and you should absolutely be mocked for it.
Her only relevant experience is the 18 months she has been Governor, and even that has to be put in perspective as Alaska has a Statewide population of >700K. If Alaska was a city, it would be the 17th most populous a mere 2000 more people than Fort Worth Texas, and unlike cities like Fort Worth and Memphis who has suburbs and such that flood into the city at times, Alaska doesn't have such an issue. So taking this into account Alaska, if compared to other cities could be ranked much lower yet.
September 1, 2008 10:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's always good to keep a basket of koosh balls or rolled-up socks near the tv, just for such occasions.
September 1, 2008 3:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's always good to keep a basket of koosh balls or rolled-up socks near the tv, just for such occasions.
September 1, 2008 3:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry about the double post. It was supposed to be a response to Limner above.
September 1, 2008 3:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Even the Chimpster is staying away from Gustav. Even he realizes the disruptive aspects of his enormous entourage in the middle of a natural disaster. It may be the best decision he made in his presiduncy.
Not so for McCain. He wants to be front and center of every news cycle. "Look at me, look at me, over here! Hey! I picked a woman I hardly know but now she's my soulmate." He'll take his bimbos with him to Mississippi, where the hurricane won't hit, to look like he cares, maybe hang out with Haley Barbour. It's a photo-op.
As he said in his book, "I didn't decide to run for president to start a national crusade for the political reforms I believed in or to run a campaign as if it were some grand act of patriotism. In truth, I wanted to be president because it had become my ambition to be president."
The nutjob in a nutshell.
September 1, 2008 10:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
Biden at the veep debate.
"Governor, I know Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton is a friend of mine. Governor, you are no Hillary Clinton."
September 1, 2008 10:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
Okay, please take this as intended. It is strictly an "inside baseball"
If you want to see one more reason why Hillary lost, go read Wolfson's op ed in the WaPo. It is gracious and confessional and gratifying to read in a party unity kind of way, but its a devestating self-criticism. Essentially he admits that he, the campaign's communications director, was working himself to exhaustion doing work that should have been delegated assistants rather than stepping outside the bubble, listening attentively to some of Obama's big speeches and paying attention to the effect those communications were having with the voters.
That's just a piece of what happened, of course. Allowing a guy who has crackpot theories about how to win elections to also have complete control over the empirical data stream generated a massive distortion of reality that got built into the campaign was a bigger piece. And Ickes over-the-top style added a volitile emotional component to the mix that made objective analysis of what was happening even more difficult.
September 1, 2008 10:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
Great diary at Kos - Sarah Palin is a Secessionist.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/1/4231/18477/878/581881
September 1, 2008 11:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
September 1, 2008 11:07 AM | Reply | Permalink
What good is all this talk about the RNC when the Police at the behest of the federal government is using storm trooper tactics against any dissenters or protesters. Glenn Greenwald @ salon.com has a good piece about us "good Germans" who sit quietly in our homes so as not to provoke our police state.
About as unconstitutional as it gets, confiscating computers and buses, arresting and handcuffing press and attorneys, homeowners and anyone else standing in their way. Are the Chinese any worse being they don't have a constitution making these intimidation and spying tactics illegal. Does it take a bullet to the back of the head for these college students before there is public outrage. Not a thing about this on TPM today yet this is a clear demonstration of a police state being unleashed.
WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE. Are we just in denial and don't want to believe our lying eyes or what.
People, it's happening here...right now...at this RNC fiasco. It should be dominating the headlines. For all this talk about "wake up America" and "enough"...where is the fucking outrage?????
September 1, 2008 1:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Notice how the press is making it seem that Bush never existed. Palin's a joke, a clueless valley girl Barbie who was picked only because she was a woman. Creationism, global warming denier, has to ask what a VP does all day like she's in civics class???. The focus is and should be on the horrible judgment and decision making of McCain. Quit respecting these monsters...they lied us into a war that killed millions and still try to justify mass murder and ethnic cleansing. This is not an election...it is a war between keeping our democracy or becoming a corporatocracy(sponsored by AT&T). Everything depends on this outcome. It is THE most serious moment in American History. Obama cannot stop what is happening, but he can stall for time and be a wrench in the establishment machinery...but I'm preaching to the choir.
The stubbornness of closed minded patriots can be turned into determination if they become motivated. We must give them the motivation. McCain is insane and even if they hate dems this man would get us all killed and destroy the country trying to prove how tough he thinks he is.
They must distrust and hate McCain even more, so he is not even an option.
September 1, 2008 1:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
So what's up with Cindy's right arm? A couple of weeks ago she was reportedly injured by an overexuberant voter who hurt her wrist. She was in a sling for more than a week, went to Georgia sporting a pink cast and still has the cast on.
Was she physically injured by someone and are the police investigating the assault?
And is someone checking to make sure Cindy isn't getting into the happy pills again?
September 1, 2008 1:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is it not rather obvious by now that the whole convention "cancelled" debate is a fakeout designed to get Cheney and Bush off the schedule while simultaneously wrapping themselves in the disaster, and protecting themselves from "partisan" Democratic criticisms? Republicans know a thing or two about standing atop wreckage. I believe that as always, the most cynical outlook prove to be the correct one.
September 1, 2008 2:03 PM | Reply | Permalink