Archive for October, 2008

The Tell

Posted: October 31, 2008 in 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, Beltway Drama, John McCain, Senate
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Downballot Senate Republicans are warning of Democrats controlling the Washington trifecta with a Senate supermajority:

WASHINGTON — In the waning days of the 2008 elections, Republicans from the top of the ticket on down are making a remarkable appeal: Vote for me, because the rest of my party seems headed for defeat.

A spate of new ads paid for by the National Republican Senatorial Committee are premised on Barack Obama beating John McCain. Some even say that Democrats could pick up enough Senate seats to have a filibuster-proof majority of 60 votes. McCain, meanwhile, is arguing that a vote for him is a check against a Democrat-dominated Congress.

“Sending Jeff Merkley to the U.S. Senate could give one party a blank check … again,” says an announcer in an ad for Sen. Gordon Smith of Oregon, a Republican in a close race with Merkley, a Democrat. “Especially in this economy, Oregon needs an independent voice in the U.S. Senate.”

In North Carolina, where Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole is at risk of losing to Democrat Kay Hagan, the announcer intones, “Who’s the Senate race really about? Hagan or Dole? Neither one. It’s about liberals in Washington. They want complete control of the government … The left wants 60 votes in the Senate.”

In Louisiana, another ad paid for by the Republican committee said of Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu: “Landrieu votes with Barack Obama 81% of the time. Landrieu endorsed Obama. … Don’t give Washington liberals complete control; don’t give them a blank check.”

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Hologram Interviews on Election Night

Posted: October 31, 2008 in 2008 Elections, Media, Talking Heads, Technology
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According to their press release, my former employer CNN has a sweet new gadget to do interviews with guests from remote locations, via holographic projection:

Adding to what promises to be one of the most technologically advanced events in CNN’s 28-year history, CNN will enhance interviews with remote correspondents and guests using hologram projection. The network has built sets powered by hologram technology at both campaign headquarters making it possible to project three-dimensional images into the Election Center. From the New York set, anchors will exhibit more natural conversations with newsmakers and CNN correspondents in the field by interacting in real time with their 3-D virtual images.

Did they rip the idea off from Star Wars or what?

The 2008 Election By Numbers

Posted: October 31, 2008 in 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, Bush Administration, House of Representatives, Joe Biden, John McCain, Sarah Palin, Senate, Talking Heads
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538 – The total number of votes in the Electoral College.

270 – The number of votes in the Electoral College needed to win the White House.

72 – John McCain’s age. If elected, he would be the oldest first term president in American history.

65 – Joe Biden’s age.

47 – Barack Obama’s age.

44 – Sarah Palin’s age.

9 – The number of candidates who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination.

11 – The number of candidates who ran for the Republican presidential nomination.

43 – The number of men who have been President of the United States.

46 – The number of men who have been Vice President of the United States.

14 – The number of vice presidents who have become president.

0 – The number of women and African Americans who have been President or Vice President of the United States.

41 – The number of states that lost jobs during the month of September.

11 – The percentage of people who think the country is going in the right direction, according to a recent poll by CBS News and the New York Times.

15 – The approval rating of Congress in a recent poll by CBS News and the New York Times.

22 – President George W. Bush’s approval rating in recent poll by CBS News and the New York Times.

435 – The number of members in the House of Representatives. All of them are up for re-election.

34 – The number of senators up for re-election.

60 – The number of senators necessary to break a filibuster.

9 – The number of Senate seats Democrats need to win on Election Day to reach a 60-seat filibuster-proof supermajority.

150,000 – The amount of money the Republican National Committee spent on shopping for clothes for Sarah Palin and her family after she was chosen to be John McCain’s running mate.

150,000,000 – The record amount of money the Obama campaign raised during the month of September.

134,000,000 – The amount of money the Obama campaign had at its disposal to spend during the final month of the election.

640,000,000 – The amount of money raised by the Obama campaign.

360,000,000 – The amount of money raised by the McCain campaign.

84,000,000 – The amount of money from public financing John McCain could spend during the last two months of the campaign after securing his party’s presidential nomination.

4,191 – The number of U.S. military casualties killed in Iraq since 2003.

554 – The number of U.S. military casualties killed in Afghanistan since 2001.

537 – The number of votes that decided who won Florida and the 2000 presidential election.

123,535,883 – The number of people who voted in the 2004 presidential election.

19,549,291 – The number of ballots cast during early voting in the 2008 election.

Note: All statistics are updated as of Friday, October 31.

With Friends Like These…

Posted: October 31, 2008 in 2008 Elections, John McCain, Sarah Palin
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Former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger rips Sarah Palin during an NPR interview where he was supposed to be making the case for his candidate John McCain.

A former Republican Secretary of State and one of John McCain’s most prominent supporters offered a stunningly frank and remarkably bleak assessment of Sarah Palin’s capacity to handle the presidency should such a scenario arise.

Lawrence Eagleburger, who served as Secretary of State under George H.W. Bush and whose endorsement is often trumpeted by McCain, said on Thursday that the Alaska governor is not only unprepared to take over the job on a moment’s notice but, even after some time in office, would only amount to an “adequate” commander in chief.

“And I devoutly hope that [she] would never be tested,” he added for good measure — referring both to Palin’s policy dexterity and the idea of McCain not making it through his time in office. (Listen to audio below.)

The remarks took place during an interview on National Public Radio that was, ironically, billed as “making the case” for a McCain presidency. Asked by the host whether Palin could step in during a time of crisis, Eagleburger reverted to sarcasm before leveling the harsh blow.

“It is a very good question,” he said, pausing a few seconds, then adding with a chuckle: “I’m being facetious here. Look, of course not.”

Expect him to join Carly Fiorina at the undisclosed location for McCain surrogates during the final days of the campaign.

Defamation Suits Galore

Posted: October 31, 2008 in 2008 Elections, Senate
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Norm Coleman and Kay Hagan take it to the courts.

Bringing Out the Big Guns

Posted: October 31, 2008 in 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, John McCain
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The closing arguments have been made, now both campaigns are calling in the A-list surrogates and going for a strong finish in the key battleground states before Election Day.

Obama called in Bill Clinton and Al Gore to hit Florida.

McCain called in Arnold Schwarzenegger to hit the campaign trail for him in Ohio.

This is almost an exact replay of what happened four years ago, when Clinton hit the trail for John Kerry in Pennsylvania and Schwarzenegger hit the trail for President Bush in Ohio.

Obama Making Last-Minute Effort to Win Arizona

Posted: October 30, 2008 in 2008 Elections, Barack Obama
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The McCain people must be freaking out about this.

Update: During a conference call with reporters, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said they were buying TV ads in North Dakota, Georgia, and Arizona.

Not the Other Guy

Posted: October 30, 2008 in 2008 Elections, John McCain
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John Cole notes the surprising similarity between the core message of John Kerry in 2004 and John McCain this year. He makes broader points about rebuilding the Republican grassroots movement, but he is absolutely right that “Not Bush” in 2004 and “Not Obama” in 2008 were/are not winning messages. Kerry and McCain each have their unique personalities, strengths and weaknesses as political candidates, but their fundamental problem was the same: they were unable to make the case as to why people should vote for them, rather than voting against the other guy.

Quote of the Day

Posted: October 30, 2008 in 2008 Elections, Quotes, Senate
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“When you’re making ads that say ‘There is no God,’ it usually means your campaign doesn’t have much of a prayer.”
– GOP strategist Alex Castellanos

McCain Playing Defense in Arizona

Posted: October 30, 2008 in 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, John McCain
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If you need proof that the McCain campaign is taking the tightening poll numbers in Arizona seriously, here it is:

John McCain and the Republican National Committee are now running robocalls attacking Obama as weak on terrorism — in McCain’s home state of Arizona, according to multiple readers from the state.

The call signals genuine worry about McCain’s home state at a time when several polls show the race to be much closer than expected there.

McCain’s robocall, which was played to us over the phone by Mary Joe Bartel, a retiree who lives south of Tucson, attacks Obama as unprepared to defend the country from terrorism, singling out Joe Biden’s recent remarks about the likelihood of Obama being tested by an international crisis early in his first term.

This is extraordinary. It may seem like I’m being hard on McCain, but the sad reality is his campaign is a trainwreck happening in slow motion. If Obama had to spend time and money this late in the game to defend Illinois, I would be saying exactly the same thing. Looks like we may be in for a few more surprises on Election Day.

Update: According to Richard Wolffe, the Obama campaign is looking at the numbers and considering its options to make a last-minute push to contest the state – in the form of ads, staff and volunteers on the ground, or a visit from the candidate himself.

Obama’s war of attrition strategy, which he used effectively against Hillary Clinton, might work here as well. If he spends money on advertising or makes a campaign visit to Arizona, he may force McCain to have to reciprocate to compete with the media attention and to solidify his support there. In doing so, it forces McCain to use some of the limited time and resources he has left to defend a state he should have locked up in his column, instead of spending time in more competitive states like Ohio, Missouri and Florida.

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