Archive for October, 2008

GOP Throwing Michelle Bachmann Under the Bus?

Posted: October 22, 2008 in 2008 Elections, House of Representatives
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That’s what Sam Stein is hearing.

Five days after Rep. Michele Bachmann went on a McCarthy-esque rant suggesting Barack Obama was unpatriotic and urging the major newspapers of the country to investigate anti-American sentiment in Congress, the national Republican political parties are running for cover.

Two sources aware of ad buys in Minnesota say that the National Republican Congressional Committee is pulling its media purchases from Bachmann’s race. If true, it is a remarkable fall for a congresswoman who, until recently, seemed relatively safe in her predominantly conservative district. The race had become closer in recent days — the NRCC had transferred funds from Rep. Erik Paulsen (MN-03) to Bachmann a little over a week ago.

A few observers are calling it the Macaca Incident of 2008. If Bachmann loses what was previously a safe seat over this, it will be a truly epic meltdown.

Update: TPM Election Central confirms that the NRCC is pulling its funding for Bachmann. She really is that radioactive within the House GOP as a result of this mess.

Update II: The Republican base is not happy with the NRCC’s decision about this.

Your Tax Dollars At Work

Posted: October 22, 2008 in Beltway Drama
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The Washington Post has an interesting investigative story on what I didn’t realize was a cottage industry in Washington: commissioning artists to paint portraits of senior government officials using taxpayer money.

Sarah Palin’s New Wardrobe By the Numbers

Posted: October 22, 2008 in 2008 Elections, October Surprise, Sarah Palin
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Sam Stein at the Huffington Post:

If Edwards had gotten one of his legendary haircuts every singe week, it would still take him 7.2 years to spend what Palin has spent. Palin has received the equivalent of $2,500 in clothes per day from places such as Saks Fifth Avenue (where RNC expenditures totaled nearly $50,000) and Neiman Marcus (where the governor had a $75,000 spree).
…
Indeed, the story could not come at a more inopportune time for the McCain campaign. During a week in which the Republican ticket is trying to highlight its connection to the working class — and, by extension, promoting its newest campaign tool, Joe the Plumber — it was revealed that Palin’s fashion budget for several weeks was more than four times the median salary of an American plumber ($37,514). To put it another way: Palin received more valuable clothes in one month than the average American household spends on clothes in 80 years. A Democrat put it in even blunter terms: her clothes were the cost of health care for 15 or so people.

Update: Marc Ambinder:

That’s one good week of television time in Colorado.

The McCain Narratives

Posted: October 22, 2008 in 2008 Elections, John McCain, Media
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The New York Times Magazine is publishing a story on Sunday chronicling the behind-the-scenes drama and the ever-changing narratives in the McCain campaign. Given that the campaign has essentially declared war on the Times at the most senior levels on multiple occasions, expect a similar response when this story runs. Politico has excerpts.

The New 400 Dollar Haircut

Posted: October 22, 2008 in 2008 Elections, John McCain, Sarah Palin
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Remember how much fun Republicans had tarring and feathering John Edwards with this?

If that was fair game (I thought at the time – and still do – that it was quite silly) then Sarah Palin and the Republican National Committee just handed the Democrats a whole caseload of ammunition.

The Republican National Committee has spent more than $150,000 to clothe and accessorize vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her family since her surprise pick by John McCain in late August.

According to financial disclosure records, the accessorizing began in early September and included bills from Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis and New York for a combined $49,425.74.

The records also document a couple of big-time shopping trips to Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, including one $75,062.63 spree in early September.

The RNC also spent $4,716.49 on hair and makeup through September after reporting no such costs in August.

The cash expenditures immediately raised questions among campaign finance experts about their legality under the Federal Election Commission’s long-standing advisory opinions on using campaign cash to purchase items for personal use.

Politico asked the McCain campaign for comment, explicitly noting the $150,000 in expenses for department store shopping and makeup consultation that were incurred immediately after Palin’s announcement. Pre-September reports do not include similar costs.

Somehow, I think a six-figure shopping spree for a personal makeover is not what Republican donors had in mind when they wrote out their checks. Expect the Democrats and the late night comedians to pounce on this.

Update: Marc Ambinder quotes Republicans, GOP donors and an RNC staffer who are disgusted with the expenditures, although not surprisingly all of them are on background.

The Most Patriotic and God-Loving Part of America

Posted: October 22, 2008 in 2008 Elections, John McCain
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Following up on his brother and his advisor dissing Northern Virginia, McCain may well have walked into a similar trap in Pennsylvania. Marc Ambinder:

Referring to Rep. Jack Murtha’s remarks on the region’s alleged racism, McCain said: “I think you may have noticed that Sen. Obama’s supporters are saying some pretty nasty things about Western Pennsylvania lately.”

McCain: “And you know, I couldn’t agree with them more.”

“I couldn’t disagree with you.”

“I couldn’t agree with you more than the fact that Western Pennsylvania is the most patriotic, most God-loving, most patriotic part of America… this is a great part of the country.”

Forget about McCain blowing the line…

MOST patriotic?

MOST God-loving?

He may as well write off Pittsburgh and Philadelphia at this point and hope he can make up the difference in the rest of the state, although polls show him trailing Obama. Not a smart thing for a candidate to say in any state, but especially so in the one on which your entire election strategy is dependent on.

Update: Forgot to note that Sarah Palin ran into some trouble with her “Pro-America” comment at a recent event. She apologized for it during a recent interview with CNN.

The First Timers

Posted: October 22, 2008 in 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, John McCain
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George Stephanopoulos points out this interesting finding from the latest ABC/Washington Post poll:

But four years ago, first time voters backed Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., over President George W. Bush 53 to 46 percent — a 7 points advantage for the Democratic nominee. In 2008 first time voters favor Obama over McCain 73 – 26 — a  whopping 47 percentage point lead.

This will be a key demographic to watch out for on Election Night as the polls come in, especially if it comes down to the wire at the end in a few key swing states like Colorado or Missouri.

Tories for Obama

Posted: October 21, 2008 in 2008 Elections, Barack Obama
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The conservative mayor of London pens an endorsement of Barack Obama. Not that it will sway much votes over on the other side of the pond, but it is rare for a foreign politician to inject himself into the American political process, especially in rebuking the party whose views are often aligned with those of his own.

The money quote (hat tip to Andrew Sullivan):

The legacy of George Bush may take years, if not decades, to determine.

But at present he seems to have pulled off an astonishing double whammy.

However well-intentioned it was, the catastrophic and unpopular intervention in Iraq has served in some parts of the world to discredit the very idea of western democracy.

The recent collapse of the banking system, and the humiliating resort to semi-socialist solutions, has done a great deal to discredit – in some people’s eyes – the idea of free-market capitalism.

Democracy and capitalism are the two great pillars of the American idea.

To have rocked one of those pillars may be regarded as a misfortune.

To have damaged the reputation of both, at home and abroad, is a pretty stunning achievement for an American president.

McCain Bets It All On Pennsylvania

Posted: October 21, 2008 in 2008 Elections, John McCain
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CNN’s John King (via kos):

Most people top in the McCain campaign now believe New Mexico and Iowa are gone, that Barack Obama will win New Mexico and Iowa. They are now off the dream list of the McCain campaign. More interestingly, most top people inside the McCain campaign think Colorado is gone.

So they are now finishing with a very risky strategy. Win Florida. Win Nevada … And here is the biggest risk of all — yes they have to win North Carolina, yes they have to win Ohio, yes they have to win Virginia, trailing or dead-even in all those states right now. But they are betting Wolf on coming back and taking the state of Pennsylvania. It has become the critical state now in the McCain electoral scenario. And they are down 10, 12, and even 14 points in some polls there. But they say as Colorado, Iowa and other states drift away, they think they have to take a big state. 21 electoral votes in Pennsylvania, Wolf, watch that state over the next few weeks.

Look at where the candidates are spending their time, money, and resources at this point two weeks out from the election. McCain is betting it all on Pennsylvania at this point. It is the lynchpin of his electoral strategy and the only blue state he is seriously contesting at this point, while still pursuing traditional swing states like Ohio, Florida and Missouri and playing defense in Virginia and North Carolina. Obama is spending the rest of the campaign in red states that either went for Bush the last two elections or have become newly competitive swing states in this cycle. He also must be feeling pretty good about his chances in Wisconsin, because he cancelled a campaign event there to focus on more competitive states.

Can Obama get to the White House without Pennsylvania? Yes, but he will have to either win Florida or a combination of smaller states (Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio, Missouri, and/or Colorado) to make up the difference. But McCain’s firewall is stretched thin as it is, and if he fails to take Pennsylvania and Obama wins any of those red states, it’s game over.

Update: According to the Washington Post, Obama canceled campaign events in Wisconsin and Iowa to go to Hawaii to be with his ailing grandmother.

Update II: You can read John King’s full wire note here.

Update III: The McCain camp is pushing back on this report, according to Jonathan Martin. But it’s interesting to note the similarity with the story reported by Marc Ambinder a few days ago that the NRSC was pulling out of Colorado, only to have that report challenged as well. Are there mixed messages going on between the campaign management and the people on the ground, or are they trying to save face 2 weeks before the election so the base doesn’t get discouraged?

Call Me On January 20

Posted: October 20, 2008 in 2008 Elections, Beltway Drama, Bush Administration, Media
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The Guardian wrote a profile on legendary investigative reporter Seymour Hersh. Yes, he does have a well-documented record of being a Bush-hating liberal who can get a little over the top with his rhetoric. But the Guardian buried the lead in their story.

‘You cannot believe how many people have told me to call them on 20 January [the date of the next president’s inauguration],’ he says, with relish. ‘[They say:] “You wanna know about abuses and violations? Call me then.” So that is what I’ll do, so long as nothing awful happens before the inauguration.’

Memo to investigative reporters everywhere: Have your rolodexes updated and ready to work the phones on Inauguration Day.

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