Posts Tagged ‘2008 Elections’

Quote of the Day

Posted: October 16, 2008 in 2008 Elections, Debates, John McCain
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“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

Red State Hold ‘Em

Posted: October 16, 2008 in 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, John McCain, Senate
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If Tom Daschle is accurate, then Republicans are in even more trouble.

And Obama is weighing broadening a map that already appears big and red into four more states. A top adviser, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, said Obama is considering expanding his active campaign back into North Dakota and Georgia, from which he’d shifted resources, and into the Appalachian heartland of West Virginia and Kentucky.

“Those states are much more in play than they were a week ago,” Daschle said.

The biggest concern for Republicans in this would be Georgia and Kentucky, where two incumbent Republican senators are now in the middle of unexpectedly competitive races. If Obama puts serious money and time into the state (personnel, ads, and visits), the two Democratic challengers could potentially ride his coattails and take out Mitch McConnell and Saxby Chambliss.

Democrats would love to win both races not only because it helps them build to a 60-seat majority, but because they could symbolically avenge previous losses: Max Cleland, who was defeated by Chambliss in a nasty campaign, and Daschle, who Republicans successfully targeted for defeat in 2004 because of his role in leading opposition to the Bush agenda as Senate Minority Leader (a position now held by McConnell).

A Picture Speaks a Thousand Words

Posted: October 16, 2008 in 2008 Elections, Humor, John McCain, Photography
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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 Elections
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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 Heads
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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 Elections
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From the Washington Post:

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 Surprise
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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, Media
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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.

Circular Firing Squad

Posted: October 15, 2008 in 2008 Elections, John McCain
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This time from John McCain’s brother, no less. The Baltimore Sun has the story:

WASHINGTON – Frustrations inside John McCain’s camp boiled over on the eve of Wednesday night’s presidential debate as the candidate’s brother unleashed an e-mail blasting the campaign’s “counter-productive” strategy.

“Let John McCain be John McCain,” wrote Joe McCain in a missive sent out shortly before midnight Monday. “Make ads that show John not as crank and curmudgeon but as a great leader for his time.”

McCain’s younger brother was sharply critical of unnamed top campaign officials who “so tightly ‘control the message'” that they are preventing reporters from speaking with those, like himself, who know the candidate best. His complaint echoed those of other McCain intimates who have chafed for months at orders not to speak with the news media without advance permission from the campaign.

The younger McCain called this news management strategy “counter-intuitive, counter-experiential, and counter-productive” because it conflicts with his brother’s reputation for openness. The clampdown “has gradually bled away all the good will that this great man had from the press,” he wrote.

Update: The full text of the e-mail can be read here.

Debate Zingers

Posted: October 15, 2008 in 2008 Elections, Debates
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In anticipation of tonight’s final presidential debate, Politico has compiled a list of suggested zingers from all sides of the political spectrum.

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