fosella « WordPress.com Tag Feed

Daily Tidbits: June 6, 2008

rkref — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 04:38:09 +0000

WSJ: Obama way ahead of McCain in deploying his ground game and organizing in states all over the country.
Obama pivots to the economy, and launches a road trip in another red state he wants to turn blue: North Carolina.
Peggy Noonan: Her streak of spot on columns continues. How the country dodged a bullet with Hillary's loss, and why Obama won't pick her as Veep.
Fox News's Juan Williams finds the occasion of the nomination of the first African American nominee of a major political party cause to trash Barack Obama.
Superdelegate Rob Andrews (D-NJ) says a senior Clinton surrogate called him shortly before the Pennsylvania primary about a plan to hurt Obama by exploiting perceived divisions between Jewish and African American voters.
Team McCain puts on their rose-colored glasses and tells the press about its strategy and its prospects.
Chuck Todd's Excellent Clinton Post Mortem. "She shoulda run as a woman from the beginning, she shoulda gotten over her disdain for the media, she shoulda played the inside game a lot better post '04, she shoulda made sure she had more advocates at the DNC, and she shoulda built a stronger relationship with Nancy Pelosi."
McBush's Economy: Today unemployment rose to 5.5%, the Dept of Labor reported a loss of 49,000 jobs last month, the Dow plummeted 400 points today and the price of oil shot up $10 to a new high of $138 a barrel.
Politico: McCain's horrific speech Tuesday night triggered flood of panicked emails and discussions among GOP insiders. As noted here before, McCain did the speech in an effort to frame the election, and he did just that: as a race between a grumpy old man and a young visionary leader. Given the GOP's obsession with how to "brand" itself (as opposed to substantively changing its failed policies and practices), it was a horribly incompetent effort at rolling out his new general election image. McCain undermined his own effort to co-opt Obama's "change we can believe in" theme by, on the one hand, using the obscenely derivative "a leader you can believe in" slogan and, on the other hand, repeatedly mocking Obama's message of change with his stilted refrain "that's not change you can believe in." The combined effect was to send an anti-change message. As a result, he came across as the finger waving old neighbor yelling at the kids playing stick ball in the street interrupting his afternoon nap. If he keeps this negative, sarcastic, condescending persona as his response to Obama's positive message of hope and change, he will soon personify in the public's mind the two old guys in the audience of the old Muppet Show.
Eugene Robinson. What Obama did in winning the Democratic nomination was historic and our nation will never be the same, no matter what happens in November. (Note that Obama has said the same thing about Hillary's campaign, and how his daughters' lives have been dramatically changed for the better by her strong race).

GOP blocks climate change legislation. Sing it McCain: "That's not change you can believe in."
Some details emerge about the Obama-Clinton meeting in Senator Feinstein's house last night.
John Edwards rules out serving as Obama's Veep.
Bipartisan Senate report confirms that Bush Administration lied about alleged WMD intelligence to justify invasion of Iraq.
Tom Delay's absurd smear, that "unless he proves otherwise, [Obama] is a Marxist," triggers this snarky response.
NY Times - More McPocrisy: Just days after claiming that Obama was "falsely" accusing him of running for Bush's third term, McCain campaign confirms that he plans to adopt Bush Administration's same theory of "unitary executive", particularly with respect to retroactive immunity for warrantless eavesdropping by telecoms.
Politico reports that it was Rep. Charlie Rangel, the man who encouraged Hillary to run for the senate, who pushed Hillary to quit.
WaPo: Obama's first visit as nominee to Virginia proves it will be heavily contested this year, much to the GOP's chagrin. This will be Obama's strategy: stretching the field and forcing McCain to defend more turf and spend more money than he wants to. It's what Obama did to Hillary, who finished her losing campaign over $30M in debt.
NY Times's Nagourney: Clinton and Obama meet in DC late Thursday. They issue joint statement saying they discussed how they can work together to ensure victory in November. Clinton initiated meeting, following Obama's day of campaigning in southwest Virginia with Mark Warner and in Northern Virginia with Senator Webb and Governor Tim Kaine.
WaPo covers the Clinton/Obama meeting, too - noting that it took place in the DC home of Senator Dianne Feinstein.
Obama's rally in Northern Virginia attracts 10,000 on a late afternoon weekday. Obama noted the historical significance of an African American nominee campaigning for president in a former stronghold of the Confederacy. Of course, Virginia elected an African American governor, Doug Wilder, in the early 1990s.
WaPo on Obama's morning visit to southwestern Virginia Thursday morning.
In a bizarre twist, GOP's efforts to hold its lone GOP seat in the NYC metro area in the state following the Fosella scandal(s) just got worse. After the leading prospective candidates declined to run, the GOP scrambled and found an unknown candidate with deep pockets, Frank Powers. Unfortunately, the son of Powers has decided to run as a Libertarian against his own father for the same seat, which means the general election ballot will list the same name, "Frank Powers", twice.

Daily Tidbits: May 20, 2008

rkref — Tue, 20 May 2008 04:21:29 +0000

In recognition of Obama's return to Iowa tonight, here is Obama's speech on the night he won the Iowa caucus.

Obama campaign raised $31.3M in April.
Hillary campaign raised $22M in April. McCain raised $18M in April.
Hillary wins Kentucky by wide margin, but Obama nears pledged delegate majority milestone. MSNBC is reporting he's currently one pledged delegate away from the majority with 8 more KY delegates to be allocated.
McCain is looking for a few good comment trolls.
McCain Strategy: If Obama Isn't a Ripe Enough Target, Make Stuff Up. McCain has falsely stated Obama promised to sit down, face to face, with Iran's president (he never has). McCain alleges Obama said Iran is a "tiny" threat. Wrong again. Obama noted US presidents met with leaders of the Soviet Union at a time when the USSR was poised to blow up the world many times over with its nuclear arsenal. He said compared to the USSR, Iran's a tiny threat. Obama was illustrating that there's a long history of presidents meeting with dangerous state leaders (he also referenced Nixon meeting with Mao). Unlike the Soviets, Iran has no satellites and no nuclear arsenal pointed at us on a hair-trigger. What, McCain thinks Iran is equal to the USSR threat? That's neocon propaganda out of touch with reality.
McFlip-Flop in Action. McCain gives the Cuban American right wing some red meat today in a speech in Miami. But not long ago, he struck a much more liberal note about normalizing relations with Cuba.
Senator Ted Kennedy has a malignant brain tumor.
McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, pitched new lobbying clients by touting himself as a "Washington insider" with connections to help secure government contracts.
The Hill: Obama's supporters see "dream ticket" as a nightmare.
Former Clinton Administration official Roger Altman tells Wall Street Journal that Hillary should quit.
Daily Tracking Polls. In Rasmussen, McCain leads Obama by 3 points, 46-43% (Obama leads Hillary 50-44%). In Gallup, Obama jumps over McCain, 47-44%, and maintains large lead (14 points) over Hillary.
Senator McCaskill slams Ferraro over her "sexism" allegation.
Jerusalem Post: Bush told Israeli officials during visit that he plans to attack Iran before he leaves office. Suddenly Bush's statements comparing talks with Iran with Nazi appeasement make more sense -- Bush engaged in similar rhetoric before the Iraq invasion (e.g., comparing Saddam to Hitler, etc.).
Drip, Drip, Drip. Iowa Democratic Chairman to endorse Obama on Tuesday. Michigan superdelegate endorses Obama. Guam superdelegate endorses Obama. Hillary picks up Mass. State AG. Daily tally today so far: O+3, H+1.
Roger Simon: Obama "stronger" and "better" after long, difficult campaign.
WaPo: Hillary and Obama campaigns observe a fragile ceasefire.
NY Times: Obama expected to hit milestone as primary results come in Tuesday night.
LA Times has a similar story, noting that Obama could achieve a delegate tally tonight that would give him the majority of pledged delegates even after including Florida and Michigan.
WaPo: Vito Fosella (R-NY) won't run for reelection, depriving the Democrats of a great source of entertainment.
NY Times: St. John entangled in his lobbyist connections.
NY Times: McCain twists Obama's words about Iran.
Ben Smith: Hillary will also be in Florida on Wednesday when Obama is there. Is she there to block his sunlight, or join the party?
GOP primary House race in Oregon turns very personal and ugly.

Daily Tidbits: May 8, 2008

rkref — Thu, 08 May 2008 03:32:52 +0000

Time cover story: On to the general election.
Superdelegate Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA) endorses Obama. Second super of the day for Obama (not including David Bonior, who is not a super).
Terry McAuliffe, chief Hillary propagandist, admits race will be over before the Convention.
Superdelegate Rep. Brad Miller (D-NC) endorses Obama.
Hillary disenfranchises Michigan voters. Rejects plan proposed by leading Michigan Democrats.
Daily Tracking Polls. For third straight day, Rasmussen has Obama leading 47-43%. Gallup also shows no change, with Obama leading 47-46%.
John Edwards scheduled to be on the Today Show tomorrow. Hmmm... (recall his former campaign chief, David Bonior, endorsed Obama today).
Montana superdelegate commits to Obama.
NY GOP Rep. Fosella, who was recently arrested on DUI in DC area, admits to a lengthy extramarital affair that resulted in a love child. Story came out in part because the mystery woman paid his bail after his DUI arrest, and sparked interest in her motivation for doing so. Fosella is one of a shrinking number of elected Republicans in NY.
Obama makes a surprise visit to House floor this morning, works the room, chats up uncommitted superdelegates. Ben Smith reports he was mobbed like a rock star -- a Clinton-committed superdelegate asked for his autograph on the NY Daily News edition that declared Obama the nominee (perhaps she's not so committed) and even a GOP member crossed the aisle to greet him with three children in tow.
Politico has quotes from senior Obama campaign official that they will declare victory on 5/20, based on obtaining a majority of delegates under the 2024.5 metric, and that Hillary will dispute it, arguing the delegate number should include MI & FL.
Stephanopoulos on GMA this morning. Hillary's debt may be $20M or more. FL and MI won't be resolved to her liking. There are more uncommitted superdelegates for Obama than for Hillary -- many Obama supers are waiting for Hillary to concede before they announce.
Hillary Plays Race Card. Hillary makes explicit racial argument for her candidacy. She says "Sen. Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me." Did she really just make an explicit connection between "hard working" and "white" or is my eyesight failing? But since she brought up the topic, how exactly does she plan to succeed without winning a material percentage of the most loyal segment of Democratic Party, African American voters? You have to wonder if this kind of insanity will push some undeclared superdelegates to declare sooner than they planned. For example, I can't imagine these comments make "undeclared" super Donna Brazile too happy, given her comments on CNN Tuesday night about her frustration with Hillaryland's divisive tactics. (Video in separate post, above).
David Bonior, former campaign chief for John Edwards and Democratic Congressman from Michigan, to endorse Obama today. Bonior's core constituency was always blue collar labor, so this could be a helpful pick-up as Obama campaigns in West Virginia and Kentucky.
Hillary, Before You Pay Mark Penn's $12M Bill, Read This. Hillary's 5 biggest mistakes, one of which was Mark Penn not understanding that California was not a "winner take all" state. That's why Penn thought they'd win the election on Super Tuesday -- the idiot didn't understand the rules! No wonder they're whining that they would have won if they played by the Republican primary rules -- they thought they were playing by those rules!
The cash gap between Hillary and Obama is significant and will affect upcoming contests.
Toni Morrison explains what she meant by "Bill Clinton is the first black president" and why she endorsed Obama this time.
The Gas Tax Holiday. A Pander Too Far.
Hillaryland insiders share their grim fate to the NY Times.
GOP stuck with wrong poster child for its new state voter ID law campaigns: disenfranchised elderly nuns.
Michigan offers another plan to get its delegates seated.
WaPo finds many elected Dems willing to say off the record that it's over and time for Hillary to quit graciously.
The Hill gets many Dems to turn backs on Hillary on the record, including supporter Sen. Feinstein (D-CA).
Milbank: Hillary's very bad day.
Yglesias: Hillary staying in until MI & FL are resolved is just an excuse.
GOP thinks it is already prepared launch GE attack on Obama.
Russert's call of the race was decisive, and rippled through the MSM coverage.
Obama's apparent victory is a significant changing of the guard after 16 years of the Clintons.