Michelle Obama Prepares To Knock It Out the Park
Can you say, “Charming?” I thought you could.
Month: August 2008
Homophobe Group’s Online Poll on McCain’s VP Includes 53-Year-Old Never-Married Senator
Among the choices on the the American Family Association’s online poll, “Who should McCain select as his running mate,” is Sen. Lindsey Graham, the mild-mannered militarist from South Carolina. Never married and 53, Graham is a member of John McCain’s posse.
Graham became nationally known during the Clinton impeachment when he served on the House prosecution team. A longtime JAG officer in the Air Force Reserves, George Bush himself officiated when Graham was promoted to colonel in 2004. He did a tour of duty in Iraq last year.
The AFA poll has been up since Aug. 20, and as of August 25, Graham had the lowest score, only 424 votes. Former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas led with 84,357 votes.
Others in the poll include Govs. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Sarah Palin of Alaska, Haley Barbour of Mississippi (429 votes), Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who was second under Huckabee, with 38, 544 votes.
The AFA is an anti-gay lobbying group that uses direct marketing of homophobic propaganda to raise millions.
Go here to vote for Lindsey Graham.
Video: Marchers in Denver Shout ‘F**k Fox News’ at ‘Reporter’ Who Harangues Them
This is hands down the best TV footage in years.
On the video above, liberal demonstrators marching on the opening day of the Democratic Convention in Denver chase a Fox crew down like a rats in the street, shouting “F**k Fox News!”
Below the fold is another video of what Fox viewers saw a few minutes later — live and unbleeped.
As fun as these videos are to watch, there’s a serious angle here, because Fox is obviously trying to goad these marchers so they can broadcast images of “out of control demonstrations” to their mouth-breathing, dittohead viewers in order to gin up fear over the prospect of the coming liberal resurgence.
Quote du Jour
You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose.
— Mario Cuomo (1932- ), former governor of New York
Michigan and Florida Voters to be Recognized
From the Florida Democratic Party:
DENVER – At the request of Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic National Convention’s Credentials Committee today voted to restore full voting strength to the delegates from Michigan and Florida, bringing the primary dispute to closure.
Florida Democratic Party Chair Karen L. Thurman issued the following statement from Denver:
“Every Floridian should be pleased with the unanimous decision of the credentials committee. I’d like to thank the 1.75-million Democrats who got out and voted in the Florida primary, along with Senators Obama and Clinton and the DNC leadership for their support of restoring our vote.
“Today, our party unites once and for all. This Thursday, when Barack Obama accepts the Democratic nomination, he will do so with the support of the Florida delegation.
We figured as much but it’s still nice to see we’re being included.
Obama’s VP Pick Drives a News Cycle – And Drives CNN Starkers
MSNBC would have been similarly driven nuts but they were covering Olympic events wall to wall. Who knows, or cares, what Fox was doing all day.
Ryan Skipper’s Family Endorses Obama
The Obama campaign has found a supporter in the family of Ryan Skipper, a 25-year-old gay man from Winter Haven who was killed last year in what authorities have ruled a hate crime.
Presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama’s Web site pride.barackobama.com is dedicated solely to detailing the Illinois Democrat’s support of gay rights. In a campaign e-mail and blog posted on the Web site Thursday, Obama’s campaign referenced Skipper’s story and linked to a YouTube video recorded and posted online by Skipper’s brother, Damien Skipper.
In the video, Skipper describes his brother’s death as a tragedy that had additional weight because Ryan Skipper was gay.
“I know most of you watching this can understand how difficult it is to lose a loved one,” he says. “Now just take a moment to consider how difficult it would be to lose a loved one in the manner we lost Ryan. And then consider that Ryan was killed because of who he was. Ryan was killed because he was an openly gay man. That’s sickening.”
Skipper was found stabbed to death on the side of a Wahneta road March 15. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office called his slaying a hate crime after they said a witness told them the men charged in his killing did it because Skipper was gay…
Skipper recorded the video after campaign staffers contacted his family and asked them to share Ryan’s story in support of changes to federal hate crimes legislation.
In the video, Damien Skipper urges viewers to support the Matthew Shepard Act, proposed legislation that seeks to add sexual orientation and gender identity to existing federal hate crime laws which currently include only race, religion, ethnicity and nationality.
“We as a society have an opportunity to make a change. We have the opportunity to provide equality for the LGBT community,” Skipper says in the video.
“My family strongly supports Barack Obama in his campaign for the presidency due in large part to his support for the Matthew Shepard Act. Please join us.”
The Other One
Sen. Barack Obama has selected Delaware Sen. Joe Biden as his running mate, according to his official Web site and a text message the campaign sent to supporters on Saturday.
“Barack has chosen Senator Joe Biden to be our VP nominee,” the text message, sent at around 3 a.m. ET, said.
“Joe and I will appear for the first time as running mates this afternoon in Springfield, Illinois — the same place this campaign began more than 19 months ago,” Obama said in an e-mail sent to supporters Saturday morning.
“I’m excited about hitting the campaign trail with Joe, but the two of us can’t do this alone,” he wrote. ” We need your help to keep building this movement for change.”
Vice presidential candidates are often called on to be the aggressors in the campaign. A comment Biden made earlier this year may have resonated with Obama:
“I refuse to sit back like we did in 2000 and 2004. This administration is the worst administration in American foreign policy in modern history — maybe ever. The idea that they are competent to continue to conduct our foreign policy, to make us more secure and make Israel secure, is preposterous. … Every single thing they’ve touched has been a near-disaster.â€
Updated by JP at 5:27 a.m.
McCain Goes After the Dehydrated Baby Vote
How did I miss this? It’s the next “All your base are belong to us.”
No matter how many times I watch it, it still cracks me up. WTF???
Breaking: Bush’s Dem. Congressman Vetted for Obama’s VP
This is slightly bizarre, and is probably an intentional distraction to keep the media guessing, but Rep. Chet Edwards (D), TX-17, which includes George Bush’s “ranch” in Crawford, revealed today that he was vetted by Obama’s VP search team:
Final-hour speculation on Democrat Barack Obama’s vice presidential choice is centering on U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards of Waco, a low-key moderate and dark horse ticket prospect.
Edwards, first elected to Congress in 1990, campaigned with Obama in Texas earlier this year. Their chemistry and the experience Edwards might bring to the ticket fueled speculation at the time about a possible vice presidential nomination.
Since then, better-known national brands like Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware and Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia have largely dominated the veepstakes talk in the news media.
The Associated Press is reporting today that Edwards is back in the mix.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi is said to have advocated for Edwards in the vetting process.
