Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Trying to Peg Obama

Obama as Dr. No




Via Jake Tapper

Today McCain launched a web video that dovetails with his new talking point that when it comes to energy proposals, Obama is "Dr. No."

"No To Drilling Offshore Oil," the web video says, "No To A Gas Tax Holiday….No To Innovation. No To The Electric Car….No To Clean, Safe, Nuclear Energy...Barack Obama Truly Is The Dr. No Of Energy Security."

(snip)

But unless one is over a certain age, a Sean Connery fan, or a member of Ian Fleming's immediate family, is the first James Bond film -- one that then-President John F. Kennedy heralded as a fave -- really the best reference for a 71-year-old candidate to be making?



Dr No - The Original

Dancing Through Life

McCain News Flash!!



McCain is 'AWARE' of Internet

From Personal Democracy Forum 2008:

During the internet campaign directors' plenary, Mark Soohoo of the McCain campaign and Tracy Russo of the Edwards campaign argued about how important it was for the next president to understand the internet.

It's Baruch Obama


Jewish Democrats Rally Around Obama


PINNING THEIR HOPES: Jewish Obama supporters have taken to wearing their allegiances on their sleeves — and lapels.

As the general election campaign gets under way, some Jewish liberals say they are working to ensure that 2008 doesn’t go down in history as the year that Barack Obama got “schvitz-boated.”


A small, grass-roots-powered group of Jewish Democrats called Jews for Obama is quietly rolling out an independent campaign to bolster its party’s presumptive presidential nominee. With a dozen board members but limited money and manpower, the group hopes to use the Internet to lance Republican attacks on Obama and to help the Illinois senator win over Jewish voters.


The new group, which is unusual in the scope of its efforts, has a fundraising goal of $500,000 with a gala planned for New York in September and current outreach efforts to major donors.

“In 2004, [Senator John] Kerry did not answer quickly enough and strongly enough when he was attacked,” said Gidon D. Remba, one of the group’s founders, in an interview with the Forward. Referring to the now-infamous ads run against Kerry in 2004 by the independent group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, Remba said his current effort is needed because Obama is, like Kerry, being “swift-boated — or, as some like to call it, ‘schvitz-boated,’— every day.”


Read More HERE

Telecom Donations Tied to FISA Vote

Via The Washington Independent

Supporters of the spying bill received twice the contributions as those against it.

When scores of House Democrats joined Republicans last week to reauthorize a controversial White House spying program, many critics attributed that support to election-year jitters. But as liberal voters continue to bash Democrats on the issue, some campaign finance reformers charge that political contributions from the telecom industry, which benefited handsomely under the bill, probably also swayed votes.


In an analysis released Tuesday, Maplight.org, a nonprofit campaign finance watchdog group, found that lawmakers voting Friday in support of the wiretap deal averaged roughly twice the donations from the nation's leading telecoms - Verizon, Sprint and AT&T - over the last three years as those voting against it.

The figures might not have raised eyebrows except that the proposal contained a gift for the industry, effectively granting retroactive legal immunity to the telecoms that enabled the Bush administration's warrantless eavesdropping program. The immunity provision - blasted by civil libertarians for putting industry concerns above Fourth Amendment rights against search and seizure - rescues the companies from the roughly 40 lawsuits pending against them. Some money-in-politics watchdogs say the connection between the contributions and votes is no accident.

[snip]

"This is all part of the abuse of power that we've seen out of this White House, as well as Congress' refusal to stand up and perform its constitutional duty to check the executive branch," said Boyle of Common Cause. "Congress is complicit here."

READ MORE HERE

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Like Reagan with Less Memory





FISA Vote May Be (Temporarily) Blocked

Dday explains-

Senator Reid just informed his colleagues on the Senate floor that, because of all the other bills in the queue (like the housing bill, and the Iraq supplemental), FISA may not get a vote until after the July 4 holiday recess.

This is honestly the best we can hope for right now. Sens. Dodd, Wyden and Feingold are ready to filibuster and gamely trying to get colleagues to do the same (Sen. Dodd's speech tonight was a bravura performance), but realistically the numbers to stop cloture aren't there. However, that could change if the delay continues. And getting this to the recess means being able to get in a lot of Senators' faces on their trips back home. In addition, there's going to be a very short window in August where a ton of must-pass bills have to get through Congress, and throwing FISA in with that mess means that anything can happen.



Call your Senators first thing in the morning- phone numbers here.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Uncontrollable McCain

He Said It First

Dedicated to those too squeamish to discuss an incident related to the temperament and character of a guy who'd like to be President.



A "safe for work" version is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBALqvp08Vk

Monday, June 16, 2008

Smart move: Who needs the “hanging chad’ problems of Florida and the “voter disenfranchisement” of Ohio?

Obama camp: We can win without Ohio, Florida

Barack Obama's campaign envisions a path to the presidency that could include Virginia, Georgia and several Rocky Mountain states, but not necessarily the pair of battlegrounds that decided the last two elections — Florida and Ohio.

Read more:
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/06/16/obama-camp-we-can-win-without-ohio-florida/