Barack Obama is starting the day right: flying into enemy territory (Georgia), proposing new and innovative bankruptcy laws, and slapping McCain hard on his economic record, particularly as it relates to bankruptcy:
The Democratic presidential hopeful also accused Republican rival John McCain of repeatedly siding with the banking industry, saying, "When it comes to strengthening the safety net for hardworking families, he's been part of the problem, not part of the solution." (emphasis mine)
More below, including the substance of Obama's new proposals, more smackdowns, and lines around the block to get to the event in Atlanta this morning...
WOW. Big news in Veepstakes land. Senator Jim Webb just removed his name from consideration:
"Last week I communicated to Senator Obama and his presidential campaign my firm intention to remain in the United States Senate, where I believe I am best equipped to serve the people of Virginia and this country. Under no circumstances will I be a candidate for Vice President."
Hmm...this is certainly narrowing down the field. Bad news/good news based on your perspective. I promise to update with more news as I get it. Full statement below:
In honor of the long holiday, during which I'll be taking a break from posting diaries and I hope you'll be taking a break from reading them, I thought I'd share some vitally important information: THE NEW JAMES BOND TRAILER IS LIVE.
Yes, for all those fanboys (like me) and fangirls who thought Daniel Craig kicked serious ass in "Casino Royale," get ready for "Quantum of Solace." Not only does it continue in the tradition of "CR" - all stunts, no CGI, keeping it grounded in character - this one literally picks up minutes after the end of "Casino Royale" and continues the story.
Is anyone else incredibly excited for November 7th? Combined with the potential of electing Barack Obama, the release of the new James Bond movie may make that the greatest week ever. Kick-ass trailer after the jump:
The Politico runs a story which feels like deja vu all over again: yet another article in which GOP insiders vocally complain about John McCain's strategy, or lack thereof. It seems like every couple weeks, another publication releases an article that shows the growing unease among Republican circles over John McCain:
“McCain’s campaign seems not to have a game plan. I don’t see a consistent message,” said Ed Rollins, a veteran of Republican presidential campaigns. “As someone who has run campaigns, this campaign is not running smoothly. But none of this matters if they get their act together.”
As always, everyone notes that there is still time to get it together. On this, I actually agree. For all the hand-wringing around here over FISA, General Clark's comments, or countless other issues: I believe that most Americans haven't started paying real attention. Having said that, it's getting late early for the McCain camp, especially with the strides Obama is making...
Barack Obama took a brave step and came out explicitly on the side of equal rights. While he previously said the gay marriage issue should be left up to the states, he has come out forcefully against the proposed ballot initiative that would ban gay marriage in California:
In a letter to the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club read Sunday at the group's annual Pride Breakfast in San Francisco, the Illinois senator said he supports extending "fully equal rights and benefits to same-sex couples under both state and federal law."
"And that is why I oppose the divisive and discriminatory efforts to amend the California Constitution, and similar efforts to amend the U.S. Constitution or those of other states," Obama wrote.
For those who suddenly find themselves "concerned" about where Obama's heart lies - here was an opportunity for a "Sister Souljah" moment to burnish his "centrist" credentials, but Obama did the right thing (and I should add, according to national polls, the unpopular thing).
In late April, after Obama's primary defeat in Pennsylvania, I wrote a post called "A Dissenting Opinion From a Huge Obama Fan" that sparked a lot of discussion. At the time, I was worried about what I sensed was a complacency, a cautiousness, a tendency to float on the part of the Obama campaign. While I have no illusions that this diary won't spark the same level of discussions (especially since I'm not the first to address this), I do feel compelled to write a few more thoughts.
Note: this is NOT a diary about FISA, but about the campaign itself. I'll list my thoughts in a more organized manner below, but in a nutshell, let me say this:
Barack Obama's campaign currently lacks energy, drive, and feels like it's playing it way too safe. Gone is the sense of insurgency, change, or doing something new. More importantly, there are certain media tactics that the campaign is not employing and it's coming at a huge cost. The good news: it's early in the campaign and can be fixed, but it's an important time and change has to occur ASAP.
Thinking he still has something going with this Obama-Carter comparison, John McCain went a step further today and called Jimmy Carter, a "lousy president":
McCain, who is a proponent of nuclear reprocessing, was asked why he thought Carter was against the process when he was president.
"Yes, because Carter was a lousy president," McCain quipped. "This is the same guy who kissed Brezhnev."
Now, let's be fair about this - many of our candidates have said worse things (deservedly so) about President George W. Bush, a far far far worse president than Jimmy Carter. So while this is clearly a classless swipe at a distinguished ex-President who has gone on to do impressive work, we have to be honest about this. However:
Those of you who know me and my posts know I tend to keep it to breaking news and analysis, and not so much venturing into meta or opinion-based territory. But allow me the digression while I vent. Bill Clinton released the following statement yesterday:
"President Clinton is obviously committed to doing whatever he can and is asked to do to ensure Senator Obama is the next President of the United States."
It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out that this was about as tepid a response as could be given. To which we have all sorts of analysis that explains why Bill is miffed at Obama for campaigning against his legacy or for implying Bill raised the race card (which, of course, he did). But my point here isn't to raise ancient history, but to say the following to President Bill:
Following up on yesterday's news that John McCain visited Iowa IN SPITE of being asked not to by the governor, and the revelation (shocking) that McCain voted against flood protection, Barack Obama kept up the heat today.
And just the other day, Senator McCain traveled to Iowa to express his sympathies for the victims of the recent flooding. I’m sure they appreciated the sentiment, but they probably would have appreciated it more if he hadn’t voted against funding for levees and flood control programs, which he seems to consider pork.
In what could be the final nail in the coffin of John McCain's hopes (such as they were) in the state of Iowa, we discover that yesterday's photo-op in the flood-ravaged areas came AGAINST the request of the state's governor, who was worried (as with Obama's canceled visit), that it would divert local resources:
An aide to Gov. Chet Culver said Thursday that Republican presidential candidate John McCain ignored the governor's request to cancel a campaign visit amid a massive flood recovery effort in the state.
"As a courtesy — and as we did for Senator Obama — we privately made an effort to make sure that Senator McCain knew that state and local resources were still being deployed to support the flood fight and that now may not be the best time for a campaign trip," Dillon said in a statement.
But old Johnny just couldn't resist the opportunity to exploit this tragedy for political gain. But wait, there's more...
You're seeing it here first folks, at long last, Obama's first ad of the general election. It is entitled, "The Country I Love," and is an autobiographical piece designed to introduce Barack to a larger audience:
Strikes me as exactly the right tone to start with. Patriotic, faithful, and an intro to who he is (notice the Kansas plug). Here's the best part: where it's going to be run...wait for it...
Rudy Giuliani has been on the war-path on behalf of John McCain these last couple days, including appearing on virtually every morning show this morning to say things like:
Giuliani repeated his message, saying Obama favors a "defensive" response to terror. Said Clinton was right when she called him "irresponsible and naive."
This is all comes in response to Obama's praising of the trials and incarceration of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing terrorists. That statement alone set off a fury of attacks from the McCain campaign that Obama sees this as a "law enforcement issue," something Rudy picked up pretty fast in his attacks. So, wait for it...
A CNN Poll taken earlier this month showed an enormous enthusiasm gap, and one that will spell big trouble for John McCain in terms of ground game and turntout:
According to the poll, two-thirds of Obama supporters, or 67 percent, say they're extremely or very enthusiastic about voting for president this year.
And the level of enthusiasm among John McCain supporters? Wait for it...
In what I think is good news, Obama told reporters in Michigan today that he will be visiting both Iraq and Afghanistan before the November election. TPM is also reporting on this announcement:
Obama has said before he was considering a trip, but his comment to reporters Monday was his first firm declaration that he will be making the trip. He said more details will be announced shortly.
There are a number of reasons why this is important, which I'll review below, but I think it's become all the more important after the news today that hundreds of Taliban fighters actually captured a number of Afghan villages:
Hundreds of Taliban fighters have taken over several villages in the same southern Afghanistan province where about 400 Taliban militants recently escaped from prison, local officials and police said.
Amidst all the other political news of the morning, there's a pretty important story out there with major implications for the fall. John McCain, in an interview with the Boston Herald, says he won't "referee" 527s:
"I can’t be a referee of every spot run on television," McCain told the Herald in an exclusive interview. "I admire Sen. Obama and his accomplishments, but we all know there are groups who want to attack me."
Indeed, if you had clout in your party, you could referee these groups. But there is a major implication in this statement: McCain just gave Obama the opening needed for him to opt out of public financing for his campaign.
Some good news from Gallup this morning: women are moving towards Obama in fairly dramatic numbers. Before I continue, one caveat - this is all good news, but please don't let poll numbers foster complacency. This campaign is going to take work and money and nothing can be taken for granted. A lot can happen in the next 5 months. Now, on with the analysis:
Since Hillary Clinton decided to concede the Democratic nomination to Barack Obama last week, Obama has established a lead over Republican John McCain in general-election polling. Obama's gains have come more from women than men, though he has picked up among both groups in recent days.
Along with myths about Obama's religion, there's another myth that needs to be confronted head-on: that John McCain is, or has ever been, pro-choice. I'm sure many of you have encountered extremely educated people who are convinced that McCain has been pro-choice at one time in his life. As a relative told me the other day, "Sure he's anti-abortion now, but in the past he was pro-choice. Why else would John Kerry have considered him for VP?"
"Our own poll within the battleground states show that half of McCain’s women supporters are pro-choice, and they are really shocked to find out how far to right he is on women’s health issues," Richards said.
Via TPM Election Central, Newsweek has some scoop on the Obama-Lieberman confrontation of last week:
In a brief but animated Senate floor confrontation last week, according to a campaign aide who asked for anonymity when talking about private discussions, Obama told Lieberman he was surprised by Lieberman's personal attacks and his half-hearted denials of the false rumors that Obama is a Muslim.
I wasn't aware that Joe was part of spreading (or at least not stopping) the Muslim lie, but I'm not the least bit surprised. More:
