Category: Blogroll

Viguerie Immoderate About Ifill as Moderator

Buck Banks

bsspray.jpgMy favorite far-right whipping boy, Richard Viguerie, is all in a dither over Gwen Ifill moderating the veep debate tonight. He’s even got a petition drive going to try and have her tossed from the debate because she has a book about Barack Obama scheduled for publication in January.

Obviously, the ludicrous assertion that Ifill will somehow undermine Sarah Palin and therefore John McCain’s campaign in the debate tonight is not resonating with Viguerie’s fellow fringe elements, as he’s sent three e-mails to his list today. It’s mildly interesting to read his breathless rant against Ifill and his invocation of talking head and ambulance chaser Greta van Susteren as the last word on legal questions:

Dear Friend:

Gwen Ifill must be fired!

The moderator of a presidential debate is supposed to be objective. He or she is supposed to play fair, not be an advocate or cheerleader for one side. Yet Gwen Ifill – the moderator of tonight’s vice presidential debate – has hundreds of thousands of dollars riding on the outcome of the election.

Ifill has a book, The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama, coming out next year – on Inauguration Day!

According to former Clinton aide Dick Morris, who has had several best-selling books, Ifill stands to make $350,000, perhaps much more, if Obama is elected and the book is a best-seller. If McCain wins, her book will probably go straight to the remainder bin. She will probably make nothing, or nearly nothing.

She has a fortune at stake.

No one with a $350,000 interest in the outcome would be allowed to be a judge in a legal case or an official at a sporting event. Lawyer and TV journalist Greta van Susteren says that, “In law, this would create a mistrial.”

Can you imagine someone being allowed to officiate at last year’s Super Bowl if he had a book coming out on Super Bowl Sunday entitled Dynasty: The Age of the New England Patriots? Of course not. The other team would not have allowed it. Neither would the NFL.

It’s bad enough that most of this year’s debate moderators are liberals who are openly hostile to conservatives and Republicans – Sarah Palin, especially.

We must not allow Gwen Ifill to make a mockery of this debate by “moderating” despite her obvious conflict.

Obama Ad Shows McCain Winning

Trish

The Obama campaign provides a terrifying glimpse into the future, if people don’t register and then vote the right way.

I’m not sure how to feel about this ad. The New Age side of me worries about the power of visualization, which I believe is strong.

What do you think? Is this a good way to get out the vote?

Update: My mistake. The ad was produced by VoteForChange, not the Obama campaign. And it looks like they have pulled it.

Polls: Obama Defeated McCain in Debate

Jon Ponder

The pundits who say McCain won the debate need to hold off on the mind-altering substances until after the election:

Fifty-one percent said Obama, the Democrat, did a better job in Friday night’s faceoff while 38 percent preferred the Republican McCain, according to a CNN-Opinion Research Corp. survey of adults.

Obama was widely considered more intelligent, likable and in touch with peoples’ problems, and by modest margins was seen as the stronger leader and more sincere. Most said it was McCain who spent more time attacking his opponent.

About six in 10 said each did a better job than expected. Seven in 10 said each seemed capable of being president.

In a CBS News poll of people not committed to a candidate, 39 percent said Obama won the debate, 24 percent said McCain and 37 percent called it a tie. Twice as many said Obama understands their needs than said so about McCain.

Seventy-eight percent said McCain is prepared to be president, about the same proportion of uncommitted voters as said so before the debate. Sixty percent said Obama is ready — a lower score than McCain, but a solid 16-percentage-point improvement from before the debate.

Chris Rock Talks Obama on Larry King

Trish

Chris Rock made some great points on Larry King Live.

KING: You must be…proud that at this stage in our history a black man is running for president on a major ticket.

ROCK: Um, you know what? I’m proud Barack Obama’s running for president. You know? If it was Flavor Flav, would I be proud? No. I don’t support Barack Obama because he’s black.

The sound’s a little bad on this video but Rock is still a pleasure to watch.

Poll: Obama Is Tied with McCain in NC – Without Support of 20% of Tar Heel Dems

Jon Ponder

As an expatriated North Carolinian, this is both heartening and discouraging — in other words, normal for Tar Heel politics:
If Obama gained support of just 6% of these North Carolina Dems, he would be leading in current state polls.

In North Carolina, Public Policy has Obama pulling into a tie with McCain (they had McCain up 4 percent last week) while Rasmussen has McCain’s lead down to just 3 percent (they had McCain up 6 percent last month). Some figured that North Carolina was off the table once McCain picked Palin, but that is clearly not the case.

The Public Policy poll is the first one to show Obama tied in the state since April. Public Policy also has Bob Barr doing relatively well in North Carolina, getting 5percent of the vote. They are attributing Obama’s improvement in the state to economic concerns.

One major potential sign for concern for McCain is that both of these polls have Obama getting less than 80 percent of the Democratic vote. If he improves his support among Democrats by just 6 percent or so, he would be leading both of these polls. Obama has yet to lead in any North Carolina poll. This certainly explains why McCain is now shifting resources into North Carolina, as the state is very much in play.

A recent CNN poll suggested “that 40 percent of white Americans hold at least a partly negative view toward blacks, including more than a third of white Democrats and independents. A small percentage of voters — 2.5 percent of those surveyed — said they may turn away from Obama because of his race.”

CNN Poll: Race Could Be a Factor — You Think?

Buck Banks

cnn.jpgFrom the Bleedin’ Obvious File comes this nugget of hard-won truth from CNN: a recent poll “suggests” that race could be a “factor” in the presidential election. Well, duh. It wouldn’t, of course, be a factor if one of the candidates wasn’t BLACK.

Here’s the blather:

A new study that surveyed racial attitudes suggests that racial prejudices could tip the balance in the upcoming presidential election.

If there were no racial prejudice among voters, Sen. Barack Obama would receive about 6 percentage points more support, according to an AP-Yahoo News poll, designed in partnership with Stanford University.

The results suggest that 40 percent of white Americans hold at least a partly negative view toward blacks, including more than a third of white Democrats and independents. A small percentage of voters — 2.5 percent of those surveyed — said they may turn away from Obama because of his race.

I don’t know what the bright lights at CNN are thinking. Oh, I know, they’re racists! Check out this next bit:

A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey also indicates that race could play a big role in November. Asked if race would be a factor in their vote, 37 percent of respondents said yes. But of that group, many are Republicans who are not likely to vote for any Democrat, and some are Democrats who may vote for Obama because of his race.

OK, now the respondents are asked if race “would be a factor” in their vote. But some of the 37 percent — we don’t know how many — who said yes are actually racist Republicans who wouldn’t vote for Obama if he were Alan Keyes, right? And what about the racist Democrats who, CNN suggests, would vote for Obama because he’s black, even if he were a Nazi? Decoding, decoding, decoding ….

Of the 8 percent of Democrats who told CNN they plan to vote for Obama’s GOP rival, Sen. John McCain, half said race was a factor.

I suppose the other 4 percent are Hillaryites who would vote for Obama if he were a black woman. CNN carries on:

Experts point out that it’s hard to quantify racial prejudice because many people who hold prejudices are not going to admit to it.

“The hardest thing in the world for pollsters to poll for, with the exception of sexual behavior, is racial attitudes and how it affects behavior,” said Walter Shapiro, Washington bureau chief for Salon.com. Shapiro said while people might say things differently off the record, racial issues cannot easily be quantified.

Easy: That’s because racists are liars. They know that being a racist is wrong, and they have a deep-rooted shame over their feelings of racial hatred toward blacks, so, in order to protect their reputation, they lie on an anonymous survey to cover up their racism. Makes sense to me.

The pollsters for the AP/Yahoo survey used techniques that they thought would be more likely to lead to honest results — such as conducting the poll online and using subtle methods and formulas to calculate racial attitudes.

I think this is how a subtle question from the survey — formulated to get at those deep-seated racial hatreds — might have read:

I will not vote for Barack Obama for president because:
a) He’s black
b) He’s a Muslim
c) He’s a Democrat
d) He’s a liberal
e) All of the above

If you answered E, it means that “race is a factor.”

That study also suggests that the number of people who may turn away from Obama because of his race could be larger than what the margin of victory was in the 2004 election.

What are we supposed to do with that chestnut? The bigots at CNN just want to sew the seeds of discord, obviously. I mean, they don’t even tell us what that margin of victory was, so it implies that it was HUGE. It was 2.4 percent.

Photos from the Obama Rally in Jacksonville

Trish

Obama’s rally in Jacksonville on Sept. 20, courtesy of eyewitness Jeanmarie

A big THANK YOU to Jeanmarie, who supplied these pix from the Obama rally in Jacksonville. The gray skies are evident, but so is the spirit. Here’s what Jean said:

The crowd booed the two planes that were flying McCain banners that kept circling the area. One said, “Florida is McCain-Palin Country”

My photos weren’t fabulous, but here’s the best of what I have. The crowd was incredibly excited by Obama’s appearance, and there were roars of approval during his opening comments about McCain’s recent efforts to paint Obama as the source of our recent dire financial troubles. Prior to Obama’s appearance (about an hour late), the crowd booed the two planes that were flying McCain banners that kept circling the area. One said, “Florida is McCain-Palin Country” and the other said, “Taxes are Not Patriotic.” I read some blog that suggested some “LONE PATRIOT” was responsible for sending up the planes; I suspect not.

Anyway, the crowd was quite inspiring. There was one very old black woman, whose daughter was intent on getting her through the crowd up to front. Most of us were pretty tired about the latecomers who kept trying to get closer to the stage, but no one begrudged this one women, quietly proceeding through the crowd with her cane, a place of prominence in the crowd. Pretty cool.

The whole event sounds pretty cool indeed. Thanks, Jean!

News Reports: Thousands Turned Away From Jacksonville Obama Rally

Trish

Obama speaks in Jacksonville on Sept. 20

It was only a week ago that John McCain was preparing to roll into Jacksonville, with the radio and TV stations announcing that due to the anticipated large crowds, the venue had been changed. Instead, when McCain, Gov. Charile Crist, Sen. Mel Martinez, Jeb Bush, and other Republican luminaries took the stage at Veterans’ Memorial Arena, the place was embarrassingly empty.

Today Barack Obama came to town.
PHOTOS

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office has just announced that no more people will be allowed into the Barack Obama Rally at Metropolitan Park.

Officers say the park is at it’s (sic) 10,000 person capacity.

Thousands of people are being turned away.

I was unable to attend because I must earn a living (and you thought we were getting rich off Pensito Review) but my heart was there. Obama was due to speak at 2:30 EST but reportedly did not begin until 3:40. It is now 4:30. I’ll post an update as soon as possible.

Jon mentioned that Florida is, again, a battleground state. Demographically speaking, many of McCain’s old fuddy-duddy rich supporters might not turn out to hear him pontificate (especially since he only brought Cindy as eye candy, and not Palin), but they will still vote for him. And Obama’s more ambulatory, younger, less chauffeur-driven backers would be more likely to leave their domiciles to see him.

But still…It’s been raining since this morning. The Gators are playing in Tennessee as we speak. These folks could be dry and comfy in a sports bar somewhere doing 12-ounce curls and watching the game. Instead, they’re standing in the rain listening to Obama. That’s gotta count.

Update: Jacksonville’s First Coast News (the joint NBC and FOX affiliate) is reporting even bigger numbers.

Twenty thousand people came out to attend the rally Saturday afternoon, but a reported 8,000 were turned away at the gates after the park was at over capacity.

Wow. I am thrilled. Sounds like Obama was too.

The Democratic presidential nominee took the stage just over an hour later, saying, “What an unbelievable crowd.”

“Are there any [University of Florida] Gator fans in the house? It sounds like there might be some [University of Georgia] Bulldogs out here. I guess there’s one [Florida State] Seminole out here,” Obama said. “I’m amazed we got such a big crowd — I don’t know if ya’ll are aware there’s football today.”

Once the crowd settled, Obama turned serious, acknowledging the bombing in Pakistan that took many lives Saturday morning.

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