Author: Buck Banks

Obama Flips, Calls In the 527s

Buck Banks

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Looks like Barack Obama is taking the gloves off in the presidential race — flip-flopping a little as he does it — and is signaling his willingness to accept the support and tactics of the notorious 527 groups.

According to The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder, the campaign is lifting the lid on the potentially volatile 527s:

An Obama adviser privy to the campaign’s internal thinking on the matter says that,with less than two months before the election and with the realization that Republicans have achieved financial parity with Democrats, they hope that Democratic allies — what another campaign aide termed “the cavalry” — will come to Obama’s aid.

The Obama campaign can’t ask donors to form outside groups; it can only communicate, through the public and the media, with body language, tells and hints.

The upshot: Obama’s campaign will no longer object to independent efforts that hammer John McCain, just as, in their mind, the McCain campaign has not objected to those efforts targeted at Obama. “I assume with their 527s stirring, some [Democratic] ones will as well,” another senior campaign official said.

It’s about time, but it might also be too late. The Republicans already have the machinery in place to crank up the nastiness:

  • The New York Sun reported Monday that a Sacramento Republican linked to a McCain bundler is raising money for a new group called Leadership for America’s Future.
  • The American Issues Project is spending $3 million on a battleground state ad campaign that ties Obama to ex-Weatherman William Ayres.
  • Freedom’s Watch, which plays mostly in House elections, has spent nearly $500,000 worth of hard money on ads against Obama.
  • Vets for Freedom plans a $10 million campaign on ads touting the Bush Administration’s policies in Iraq and Afghanistan.
  • The Republican Majority Campaign has tallied more than $1.3 million in independent expenditures against Obama.

Crist Won’t Campaign for Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment

Buck Banks

crist.jpgFlorida Gov. Charlie Crist is refusing to actively campaign for the one remaining state constitutional amendment still on the ballot in November. It would define marriage in Florida as between a man and a woman, period. No domestic partners, nothing. In a move that’s certain to get Florida conservatives’ panties all in a twist, Crist exhibits a blasé attitude toward the proposed amendment:

“I’ll support it, I’ll vote for it, move on,” the governor said of the Amendment 2 gay-marriage ban in an interview during a trip to tour flood-damaged areas in Central Florida. “It’s not top-tier for me, put it that way.”

When asked if he’ll spend time plugging Amendment 2, Crist said, “I don’t think so. I think I will campaign for candidates much more extensively — Sen. McCain.” The governor also reiterated his position of precluding the Republican Party of Florida from spending money to support the gay-marriage ban.

Of course, Charlie is affianced to a woman, Carole Rome, so if the amendment passes, it wouldn’t affect him. Of course, if that marriage only lasts six months and the whispers about Crist’s being gay turn out to be true, he’d want to keep his options open if the right fellow came along.

Maybe that’s why he’s not pushing Amendment 2 ….

Quote du Jour

Buck Banks

I am not denying that Sarah Palin may have great skills. She may well. I am insisting that neither you, nor I, nor John McCain has any valid reason to believe that she does. This is not an argument about the attributes she lacks. It’s an argument about the information we lack. I am pleading with my fellow conservatives: Please demand more and better knowledge before you commit yourselves to a political leader. That’s all.

— Former Bush speechwriter David Frum

Sarah Palin’s Secret E-Mails

Buck Banks

e-mails_dont.jpgThere’s yet another potential scandal dogging Gov. Sarah Palin as she continues to avoid speaking to the media. Seems she is refusing to release about 1,100 e-mails between herself and her aides that a Republican activist claims violate ethics and hiring rules. Of course, Palin and her cronies are crying “executive privilege,” but what is undermining that argument is that the governor’s husband Todd Palin was copied on many of the e-mails. Since he has no position in state government, but is just another upstanding Alaskan, the argument for privilege is moot.

But the real reason the e-mails are being withheld is likely because they contain a whole lotta wrongdoing that might further tarnish Palin’s halo:

The list of confidential emails includes a number of communications related to the Public Safety Employees Association, a union for the state’s police officers and state troopers, and the headings refer to PSEA ads and a “PR campaign.” Many of these PSEA-related emails were CC’ed to Todd Palin—and were also withheld under the deliberative process and executive privileges. (Recently, John Cyr, the PSEA executive director, told The Washington Post that Sarah Palin held a grudge against the state troopers and held down their salaries and other funding because her ex-brother-in-law-the-trooper had not been fired.) A separate email sent from Frye to Bailey and Todd Palin and headed “I may be in trouble here guys” was withheld because it involves a personnel matter. In April, a series of emails with the subject line “from Sheila Toomey” zipped between Sarah Palin, Bailey, Frye, other Palin aides, and Todd Palin. Toomey writes the “Alaska Ear” political gossip column for the Anchorage Daily News. These emails were also withheld under the deliberative process and executive privileges. And a string of emails titled “Racism on the Radio” that went back and forth between Governor Palin and her aides was blocked from release on the same grounds.

Andreé McLeod, the person who originally requested the e-mails and who used to work for Palin in Alaska government, is continuing her efforts to shake loose the secret e-mails:

“I’ve known Sarah for years, ” says McLeod, who moved to Alaska from New York in 1978. “When the finger is pointed at somebody else, she’s all for accountability. When it’s pointing at her, it’s different. Sarah Palin was elected on the basis of providing open and honest government. She has failed miserably.”

“Executive privilege?” Withholding e-mails? Sounds like Palin subscribes to the Cheney School of Vice President (emphasis on the “vice”).

Putnam Lies About His Greenness While Sending Junk Mail on the Public’s Dime

Buck Banks

adamputnam.jpgThe St. Petersburg Times reports that U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam (R-FL), recently sent out a mailer listing his efforts to lower gas prices and use environmentally friendly, domestic sources of energy.

Since he didn’t mention that he’s up for re-election this November, he was, according to House ethics rules, able to use taxpayer dollars to send his piece of junk mail to more than 600,000 constituents.

University of South Florida political science professor Susan MacManus noted, though, that in economic down times, voters tend to cast a jaundiced eye at such uses of public funds: “When people get stressed in their own pocketbooks, they expect government to do so too, and they watch government spending more,” MacManus said.

One problem with Putnam’s piece of junk mail is it’s junk, the second is that it touts his environmental leadership and the third problem is that he”leads” by padding his resume, not by example:

The mailer lists 13 points under headings that declare he’s working to “promote renewable energy” and “encourage energy efficiency.” It states that he supports researching clean energy sources, using environmentally safe energy to reduce carbon-based emissions, and building nuclear power plants.

In reality, however, Putnam’ playing fast and loose with the facts:

The League of Conservation Voters gave him Putnam five out of 100 points on its 2007 environmental scorecard. The low score came from his votes on 20 issues. He got negative marks for everything except his vote against offshore drilling.

Another group, the Republicans for Environmental Protection, analyzed 15 votes and gave Putnam 13 out of 100 on the 2007 congressional scorecard.

In three recent House votes on energy- or environment-related bills, Putnam voted against the environmentalists’ positions 66 percent of the time:

  • On the Udall Amendment that would require 15 percent of retail electricity sales to be generated from specific renewable resources, Putnam voted no.
  • On an amendment would have removed a nonbinding expression of Congress’ opinion in the bill that supported mandatory policies for reducing greenhouse gases, Putnam voted no.
  • The only one he got right was a no against drilling for oil off Florida’s coast at 25 miles or farther, but his reasons were that the bill gave Florida no control or participation in the decision.

Let’s review: Putnam prints and mails a chunk of tree to more than a half-million people that lies about his environmental track record. Sounds like he’s right on track for re-election.

Quote du Jour

Buck Banks

“The media doesn’t understand life membership in the NRA; they don’t understand getting up at 3 a.m. to hunt a moose, they don’t understand eating a mooseburger, they don’t understand being married to a guy who likes to snowmobile for fun. I am not surprised that they don’t get it. But Americans get it. A mooseburger means she is like one of us. She is not some jackass who’s ‘gone Washington.'”

— Congressman Adam Putnam (R – Bartow), trying to explain GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin

Viguerie: ‘Palin the Next Reagan’

Buck Banks

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In another sign that right-wing nut-job Richard Viguerie has gone completely off the rails, his latest e-mail goes beyond even his usual bombast and veers into the realm of the insane:

With her acceptance speech, “Now we know why liberal Democrats hate and fear Sarah Palin,” Richard A. Viguerie said.

“A week ago, conservatives and most Republicans were down-in-the-dumps, listless, unengaged. That lack of enthusiasm is a thing of the past. Tonight, thanks to Senator McCain and Governor Palin, conservatives and Republicans are fired up as they have not been since Ronald Reagan was president,” he said.

“Sarah Palin is the next Ronald Reagan,” Viguerie said.

“In less than a week, Governor Sarah has captured the heart and soul of this convention, the Republican Party, and the conservative movement. She brings together social conservatives, and economic conservatives and libertarians, and people who are fed up with the Culture of Corruption that infests our nation’s politics,” he said.

“From this moment forward, there’s no limit on where Sarah Palin might go,” Viguerie concluded.

How about back to Alaska ….

Quote du Jour

Buck Banks

The speech that Governor Palin gave was well delivered, but it was written by George Bush’s speechwriter and sounds exactly like the same divisive, partisan attacks we’ve heard from George Bush for the last eight years. If Governor Palin and John McCain want to define ‘change’ as voting with George Bush 90 percent of the time, that’s their choice, but we don’t think the American people are ready to take a 10 percent chance on change.

— Bill Burton, Barack Obama campaign spokesman

Poll: Palin Not a Chick Magnet for McCain Campaign

Buck Banks

From Political Wire:

A new survey conducted for EMILY’s List suggests Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is not helping the Republican ticket with female voters. Among all women surveyed, Obama-Biden leads McCain-Palin, 53 percent to 35 percent.

When asked how the running mates were picked, half of those surveyed said Obama chose Biden based on his experience, while 29 percent said he was chosen for political reasons. Meanwhile, 20 percent said McCain chose Palin for experience and 59% said his pick was for political purposes.

Key finding: A 55 percent majority of women voters who backed Sen. Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary say that Palin’s inclusion on the ticket makes them less likely to vote for McCain; just 9 percent say her presence on the ticket makes them more likely to support McCain.