Posts Tagged ‘Barack Obama’

Quote of the Day

Posted: November 1, 2008 in 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, John McCain, Quotes
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“So here is where we are: McCain is hoping to make it a close race. Obama is hoping to make it a blowout.”
– Newsweek columnist Howard Fineman

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.”

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.

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.

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.

109-Year-Old Daughter of a Slave Votes for Obama

Posted: October 29, 2008 in 2008 Elections, Barack Obama
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This is an amazing story, not just for her longevity but because she lived through nearly every major civil rights milestone for African Americans in modern history. And if Obama wins the presidency next week, she will be one of the few, if not the only, voters with such an immediate generational tie to slavery to have the opportunity to vote for the country’s first African American president.

D’oh!

Posted: October 29, 2008 in 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, Humor
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Serious wrong number…

A flier sent by Michigan Democrats featuring a photo of Barack Obama that urged voters to submit an absentee ballot application includes a telephone number connecting callers to a phone sex line.

Obama Hits McCain for Picking Palin

Posted: October 29, 2008 in 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, John McCain, Sarah Palin
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The Obama campaign takes a direct shot at Sarah Palin in a new ad:

It is rare for a campaign to directly attack their opponent’s running mate, and in fairness, the McCain campaign has been using Biden’s words against Obama. But the fact they chose to explicitly hit him on picking Sarah Palin as his running mate shows just how much of a drag they think she is on the ticket.

Obama Donor$ Get Acce$$ to Advisers

Posted: October 29, 2008 in 2008 Elections, Barack Obama
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This seems like a pretty sweet fundraising racket. I’m not sure how ethical it is or not, but it seems to me like it’s the type of situation which could be exploited and lead to a slippery slope of corruption.

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