Looks, sounds, waddles, swims and realllly smells like a duck. I think what we have here is a big fat duck.

How clumsy are these fools at Hess? The office manager must be sweating bullets. How horrid that this was dumped on her - trying to be a loyal employee and her management has implicated her in a prima facie criminal matter. There's a good chance that this duck will start to quack if there's a real investigation.

Of course, FEC prosecutions are notorious for taking forever. But being caught red-handed in the middle of the campaign....this introduces a whole new dynamic. This story has to go mainstream ASAP.

Posted at August 4, 2008 5:26 PM in response to Hess-Connected Amtrak Worker Who Gave $28,500 Likely Makes Less Than $100K Per Year

Lindsay Graham as VP nominee? Not gonna happen. Political reasons: Two Senators on the ticket; brings no coattails in that SC is already a red state; McCain already has the military credentials that Graham's background includes.
Personal reasons: Persistent whispers about the never-married Graham's sexual orientation.

Tom Daschle as VP nominee? Not gonna happen.
Political reasons: He lost his last state-wide election as Democratic Senate leader (Frist recklessly broke convention & campaigned heavily against him); his wife has long been prominent on K Street and since leaving the Senate - so is he.

Both Graham and Daschle will be seriously considered for cabinet positions if their candidate wins in November. But neither will be on the ticket.

Posted at August 3, 2008 11:31 AM in response to McCain Camp's Debate Response: Our Town-Hall Proposal Is "Beneath A Worldwide Celebrity"

McCain's political chop shop (AKA "campaign") is clearly bereft of an intelligible plan. Can't you just picture this fresh crop of College Republicans throwing ideas at each other as they squint at the projected image of another nasty political commercial with an irrelevant message being built real-time by their compliant awe-struck young neo-brownshirt computer jockey?

Wow...it must feel really cool to be one of them as they closet themselves in their own little Alamo to fight the good fight against impossible odds. Davis visits every few hours and spurts out a few sentences about what he wants to see. Then they go about constructing one stupid ad after another for consideration by the big boys in the McCain operation. With luck their will be one "gem" produced every day to be launched upon the gullible media for instant worldwide distribution and endless analysis.

Frank Luntz calls in on his web-cam to suggest some toxic language that has just been focus-group tested. After Frank disconnects, the guys joke about how really, really shiny bald Frank seems to be when he's sitting at his home computer. Hey, it's just us guys!

The air is thick and pungent with body odor and full ashtrays. The "boys" pass around a bottle of Jack to lubricate their creative juices after the technical "clockout" time of 5:00pm. For further inspiration, their is a framed picture above the door of Harvey Leroy "Lee" Atwater playing guitar on the Letterman show from a time before most of this crowd was born. Davis kisses the tip of his middle finger and touches the glass of the Atwater frame, muttering, "Take care of 'em Lee", every time he exits the "war room".

There's a dartboard at the far end of the room with a heavily Photo-shopped picture of Obama affixed to the business side with Elmers glue. Actually, the current depiction of Obama is the sixth version pasted over the other as he has progressively acquired a Hitler mustache, devil horns, vampire fangs, Spock ears and a Taliban turban. The guys almost pee their pants laughing with each revised depiction of their adversary. Such creativity! Everyone always whoops it up and they swap fist-bumps whenever a dart pierces the printed image right between Obama's eyes.

This is such an incredible experience for each one of these guys - to be participating in the reality of the American democratic electoral process. The sixteen hour days, the McDonald's and Starbucks nutritional program, the nagging cough from all of that second hand smoke and the painful indigestion at bed time from one too many gulps from the Jack bottle in the early morning is really all worth it. This is what it feels like to be making history and it feels so damn gooooood!

As Harvey Leroy would have riffed, "Go Johnny Go!"

Posted at August 2, 2008 10:18 PM in response to McCain Camp's Debate Response: Our Town-Hall Proposal Is "Beneath A Worldwide Celebrity"

I say this ain't so bad. These pathetic ads are providing great fodder for the debates. MSM is collectively shaking their head in disbelief. McCain will regret these videos in September and October when he is repeatedly questioned about them. The debates this cycle will be fascinating and will draw a huge rapt audience.

I say let McCain bring them on. We can't stop it anyway. The stupider the imaging the better. It's July. Let the neo-Rove's have their fun. They will overplay their hand soon enough. Just today... "McCain proud of Britney ad." Really, John? Justify that response please.

Every Obama ad and speech will contrast a message of substance against this mindless imaging. Obama is already doing that effectively today. The Obama campaign needs to stay on message and treat this purile crap as purile crap.

Posted at July 31, 2008 7:23 PM in response to Obama Slams McCain For Saying He's "Proud" Of Britney Ad

This should be pretty simple really. Someone needs to ask McCain the direct question of whether he will rule out the possibility of Gramm EVER serving in a McCain administration in ANY capacity. Let's see how far under the bus that McCain is willing to actually toss Gramm.

Posted at July 14, 2008 12:53 AM in response to McCain Camp: Gramm Is Not Advising Us Anymore

How surprising - twisting the knife until the bitter end. Somehow Clinton has managed to diminish herself, her husband, her supporters, her opponent and her party.

To date, McCain appears to be the only winner from her campaign.

Both Clinton's now face a very steep burden to work to undo as much of this damage as possible.

Posted at June 3, 2008 11:39 AM in response to Hillary Campaign: She Will Not Concede Tonight

Griffin's appointment is actually good news in my view. He has a very sullied background that any enterprising 527 can catapult into some quite effective "attack the messenger" spots.

We know that the Repugs will be playing with coded racial language and all sorts of meaningless but sleazy innuendo. Griffin sitting in the center of it all gives progressives a solid target to shift the focus back on the mud-slingers.

Can you picture the grainy pictures of Griffin in the RNC war room talking about making bullets, sitting in front of the judiciary committee excoriating him, cozying up to Rove as his sidekick and recalling his sleazy path to the US attorney position in Arkansas and his eventual tearful withdrawal? It's all sitting there on a platter to be carved and served. Not this time indeed. Mr Griffin, welcome to the spotlight!

Posted at May 22, 2008 12:35 PM in response to RNC Hiring Rove Protege To Dig Oppo Research On Obama

I think that I just pissed in my pants. But it was worth the humiliation. Share the humiliation. Humiliation is the new black. In fact, black is the new black. Black is not white and never the twain shall meet. Black is so blackenly black. Y'all come black now - ya hear? Gotta run...and run...and run...and run...and run....et. al., passim, ibid, etcetera, fuggetaboudit, waddayagonnado? Seriously, I have to go loan myself another $11.4M. Byeblack byeblack for now. Be right black. Frau Hill.

Posted at May 11, 2008 12:05 AM in response to Hillary Holds Private Conference Call With Her Super-Dels: "I Know This Is Not Easy"

Somebody needs to call her at 3:00am and explain that it's all over . . .

"HILLARY! YOU LOST! GO HOME TO CHICAGO, SCRANTON, ARKANSAS, CHAPPAQUA, WASHINGTON, NEW YORK CITY, THE WALMART BOARD, OR WHEREVER YOU WANT...EXCEPT THE WHITE HOUSE! FOLD THE BIG TENT! FORGET THE CROWN ROYAL! PUT AWAY THE GUNS! THERE'S NO SNIPER FIRE! OBAMA'S NOT A MUSLIM - AS FAR AS WE KNOW! YOU CAN DESECRATE THE FLAG! YOU CAN VOTE FOR THE WAR! YOU CAN DROP THE LANGUAGE OF GEORGE WALLACE! YOU DON'T HAVE TO OBLITERATE IRAN! TELL BILL TO GET BACK ON THE SPEAKER CIRCUIT TO REPAY YOURSELF! GO AWAY! LEAVE US ALONE! WE HAVE A DEMOCRATIC PROCESS TO CONDUCT! GO AWAAAAAY! JUST GO AWAY! NOW!"

Posted at May 10, 2008 11:05 PM in response to Hillary Holds Private Conference Call With Her Super-Dels: "I Know This Is Not Easy"

She also was really evasive when asked
about the Clinton library donors, and
said the names would be "released when
she's president."

TRANSLATION:
The Clinton Library donor list will NEVER be released. Note for investigative journalists - Check out the House of Saud.

Posted at May 4, 2008 10:33 AM in response to Hillary: Stephanopoulos And I Were In Anti-NAFTA Camp