Andrew Sullivan: Joe the Plumber has now had more press conferences than Sarah Palin.
Archive for the ‘2008 Elections’ Category
Circular Firing Squad
Posted: October 16, 2008 in 2008 Elections, Beltway Drama, John McCain, Sarah Palin, Talking HeadsTags: 2008 Elections, Beltway Drama, John McCain, Sarah Palin, Talking Heads
A few days ago, I made note of the back and forth sniping going on between the McCain campaign and conservative pundit Bill Kristol. It’s gotten a bit personal lately, with McCain campaign manager Rick Davis personally taking Kristol out to the woodshed on national television. The key soundbite:
DAVIS: Yes, well, you know, it’s a good thing Bill Kristol has never run a political campaign because he’d probably have to fire himself at least two or three times.
This may be beyond standard political sniping. Scott Horton of Harper’s has written extensively about Bill Kristol’s role in promoting Sarah Palin for the VP slot. But in a recent interview with Glenn Greenwald, Horton reveals evidence of discontent behind closed doors at the McCain campaign.
SH: I’d say, of course the McCain campaign isn’t doing too well right now, and one of the consequences of that is we’ve got a lot of finger-pointing going on within the camp, and I’d say there’s a pretty broad agreement amongst a number of the senior-most advisors to McCain that the Palin pick is worse than disappointing. It’s a total disaster, as one describes to me. And there is a sort of blame game going on there.
Now, one of them described to me quite recently in some detail, who it was who introduced and pushed the Palin nomination, and he says it really boils down – there were a number of people behind the nomination, but there’s one person who was essentially the person who introduced her as a candidate and pushed her consistently and firmly all through the summer primary she was elected – and that person is Bill Kristol. And the interesting thing is of course, if we look across the whole horizon of conservative columnists, prominent conservative columnists, pretty much all of them are expressing reservations or concerns or they’re outright opposing Palin as a pick, with one really striking exception, and that’s Bill Kristol. And Bill Kristol, in none of his columns has acknowledged that he in a sense is the author of Sarah Palin. He discovered her, he promoted her, and he pushed her through to the vice-presidential nomination.
If this is true, that makes Kristol’s recent criticism of Palin much more self-serving. It’s become full-on cover your ass mode. When the post-mortem of this campaign is written, there will be a lot of people pointing fingers at each other, and I think quite a few of them will be pointed at Bill Kristol.
Quote of the Day
Posted: October 16, 2008 in 2008 Elections, Debates, John McCainTags: 2008 Elections, Debates, John McCain
“In politics it is generally not considered a good sign when voters are laughing at you, not with you. And by the end of the third and last presidential debate, the undecided voters who had gathered in Denver for Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg’s focus group were ‘audibly snickering’ at John McCain’s grimaces, eye-bulging, and repeated references to ‘Joe the Plumber.'”
– TIME Magazine’s Amy Sullivan
Update: Came upon this quote, which merits an honorable mention.
“Not since Nixon have we heard so much about plumbers, by the way.”
– CNN contributor Bill Bennett
A Picture Speaks a Thousand Words
Posted: October 16, 2008 in 2008 Elections, Humor, John McCain, PhotographyTags: 2008 Elections, Humor, John McCain, Photography
I really don’t know what to make of this. Photo by Reuters.
Republican National Committee Giving Up On Wisconsin?
Posted: October 15, 2008 in 2008 ElectionsTags: 2008 Elections
A Wisconsin political blog picks up this interesting nugget:
The Republican National Committee hasn’t booked ads for the next week in Wisconsin TV markets after running a series of spots attacking Barack Obama and congressional Dems, according to TV sources.
The decision comes amid speculation on whether Republicans may pull back in Wisconsin after several polls in the past week showed Obama up over John McCain by double digits. An RNC spokesman referred calls to the party’s independent expenditure operation, which is in charge of the TV ad buys.
An official with the party’s IE arm did not immediately return a call from WisPolitics seeking comment.
If the RNC is packing its bags and effectively conceding Wisconsin, where multiple polls show Barack Obama in the lead, can the McCain campaign be far behind?
The Tell
Posted: October 15, 2008 in 2008 Elections, Sarah Palin, Talking HeadsTags: 2008 Elections, Sarah Palin, Talking Heads
See Rush Limbaugh’s question to Sarah Palin.
SCRANTON, Pennsylvania (CNN) – Though her cell phone service repeatedly dropped during her call-in, Sarah Palin made her first appearance on the Rush Limbaugh show on Tuesday, just minutes before taking the stage at a rally in Scranton.
In an unusual moment, Limbaugh asked Palin if she had thought about her “political future beyond this campaign.” The vice presidential nominee told the conservative talker and his millions of listeners: “That’s a good question.” But she then quickly re-assured the radio host that her focus was on winning the White House with John McCain on November 4.
“No, because I am thinking about November 4, and I am just so absolutely passionate about the job that we have in front of us from now to November 4,” she said.
If Limbaugh’s asking about Palin’s future, odds are that rank and file conservatives are probably thinking and feeling the same way.
Reading the 2012 Tea Leaves
Posted: October 15, 2008 in 2008 ElectionsTags: 2008 Elections, Is It 2012 Yet?
Romney even came by the state headquarters in Lansing after an event for Walberg, the e-mail said, and “thanked everyone for their efforts, encouraged folks to never give up and left us with a surprise check for $50,000 towards our statewide efforts!” There was chatter that Minnesota governor and former vice presidential wannabe Tim Pawlenty (R) might come by to help.
…
And don’t forget that former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee (R) is heading to Michigan next Wednesday for a luncheon fundraiser for Hoogendyk in Farmington Hills — $500 for a photo op. Huckabee is also going to be at the other end of the state that day for a speech at the Economic Club of Southwestern Michigan, in Benton Harbor.
Head of McCain Transition Team Involved in Saddam Lobbying Effort
Posted: October 15, 2008 in 2008 Elections, John McCain, October SurpriseTags: 2008 Elections, John McCain, October Surprise
Murray Waas gets a scoop, which I’m sure will be cannon fodder for Obama tonight.
William Timmons, the Washington lobbyist who John McCain has named to head his presidential transition team, aided an influence effort on behalf of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to ease international sanctions against his regime.
The two lobbyists who Timmons worked closely with over a five year period on the lobbying campaign later either pleaded guilty to or were convicted of federal criminal charges that they had acted as unregistered agents of Saddam Hussein’s government.
During the same period beginning in 1992, Timmons worked closely with the two lobbyists, Samir Vincent and Tongsun Park, on a previously unreported prospective deal with the Iraqis in which they hoped to be awarded a contract to purchase and resell Iraqi oil. Timmons, Vincent, and Park stood to share at least $45 million if the business deal went through.
Timmons’ activities occurred in the years following the first Gulf War, when Washington considered Iraq to be a rogue enemy state and a sponsor of terrorism. His dealings on behalf of the deceased Iraqi leader stand in stark contrast to the views his current employer held at the time.
John McCain strongly supported the 1991 military action against Iraq, and as recently as Sunday described Saddam Hussein as a one-time menace to the region who had “stated categorically that he would acquire weapons of mass destruction, and he would use them wherever he could.”
Imagine if this were the case with somebody in Obama’s campaign. The Right would be in an absolute frenzy over it from here till Election Day.
Buckley Quits the National Review
Posted: October 15, 2008 in 2008 Elections, MediaTags: 2008 Elections, Media
Christopher Buckley, the son of conservative icon William Buckley quits the magazine that his father founded more than 50 years ago. His entire blog entry is worth reading, but this part jumps out:
So, I have been effectively fatwahed (is that how you spell it?) by the conservative movement, and the magazine that my father founded must now distance itself from me. But then, conservatives have always had a bit of trouble with the concept of diversity. The GOP likes to say it’s a big-tent. Looks more like a yurt to me.
While I regret this development, I am not in mourning, for I no longer have any clear idea what, exactly, the modern conservative movement stands for. Eight years of “conservative” government has brought us a doubled national debt, ruinous expansion of entitlement programs, bridges to nowhere, poster boy Jack Abramoff and an ill-premised, ill-waged war conducted by politicians of breathtaking arrogance. As a sideshow, it brought us a truly obscene attempt at federal intervention in the Terry Schiavo case.
So, to paraphrase a real conservative, Ronald Reagan: I haven’t left the Republican Party. It left me.
Reaction from Rich Lowry here.
Icepicks and Nukes 
