Month: October 2008

Poll: The Early Line 10/28

Buck Banks

Obama/Biden 50%
McCain/Palin 42%
Undec 6%

– Obama leads 50-42% for the third straight day. He also leads Indies 48-36% for the second consecutive day.

– McCain and Obama remain deadlocked 45-45% on who LVs think is more prepared to lead the U.S.

– Obama continues to lead McCain 52-38% on who LVs think “better understands the needs and priorities of people like yourself.” With the exception of the survey completed 9/10, the Dem nominee has had a double-digit lead on the question in every Diageo/Hotline tracking poll release.

Today’s Diageo/Hotline tracking poll, conducted 10/25-27 by FD, surveyed 878 LVs and has a margin of error of +/- 3.3%. Party ID Breakdown for the sample is 41%D, 37%R, 18%I.

A Unique Approach to Solidarity

Buck Banks

A friend sent me the following interesting idea about bringing this divided nation together after this divisive election cycle:

There is less than one week until the election, an election that will decide the next President of the United States. The person elected will be the president of “all” Americans, not just Democrats or Republicans.

It’s time that we all came together, Democrats and Republicans alike.

If you support Barack Obama and Joe Biden, please drive with your headlights on during the day on Election Day. If you support John McCain and Sarah Palin, please drive with your headlights off on Election Day — especially at night.

Hat tip to George M.

Need Convincing That Obama’s Ready? Watch This

Trish

Wow. I worried about Barack Obama taking two days from the end of the campaign to go to see his tutu in Hawaii. I was wrong. Obama is so energized now, he practically pulsates.

I had some time off last week and I used a couple of days to hang out at my local Obama headquarters and do whatever there was to do. I am blessed, despite one and a half full-time jobs, with a certain amount of flexibility and I will use the rest of any spare time I can dig up between now and Nov. 4 to do the same. It’s just too important, and besides, this is what we’ve worked all this time for.

As Obama said, if you can do a little too, we’ll change this country. Let’s do it!

Latest Polls Show Obama Leading in Florida

Trish

Rasmussen’s latest count: Obama — 313 electoral votes, McCain — 174

Put Florida in the “Leans Obama” category!

At least Rasumussen — my favorite pollster because it’s so conservative that FOX News has a relationship with it — does.

After John McCain pulled even in Florida a week ago, Barack Obama is back on top this week.

The latest Fox News/Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state finds Obama with 51% of the vote while McCain gets support from 47%.

This is the fourth time in five weeks that Obama has held a single digit lead over McCain. Last week was the exception with McCain up by a single point.

McCain has been running the “I’m Joe the Plumber” ad nonstop in Florida. If you’re not familiar (lucky you!), the ad shows Obama using the poorly chosen “spread the wealth around” phrase when he was actually going for “a rising tide lifts all boats,” then parades supposed McCain supporters proclaiming their Joe the Plumber-ness.

I feared seeing McCain’s ad might take a toll, but if Rasmussen is right, then as with every other McCain ad that focuses on Obama, after watching, people only become less favorable toward McCain.

Poll: The Early Line, 10/27

Buck Banks

Obama/Biden: 50%
McCain/Palin: 42%
Undec: 5%

–For the first time ever McCain and Obama are tied on the question of who’s more prepared to lead. A week ago (10/20), McCain was ahead on this question by 8 pts.

–Congressional Democrats have expanded their lead over Republicans on the generic ballot question, with Democrats now up by 10 pts. 47-37%. On 10/20, Democrats had a 5 pt. lead.

–The number of voters who say they’ve cast early ballots continues to rise with 15% of the sample now saying they have already voted.

Today’s Diageo/Hotline tracking poll, conducted 10/24-26 by FD, surveyed 879 LVs and has a margin of error of +/- 3.6%. Party ID Breakdown for the sample is 41%D, 37%R, 18%I.

ATF Says Plot Foiled to Assassinate Obama, Others

Jon Ponder

Skinheads:

Two men have been charged with making threats against presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Daniel Cowart, 20, of Bells, Tennessee and Paul Schlesselman, 18, of West Helena were charged in a federal complaint last Friday of illegal possession of a sawed-off shotgun, conspiracy to rob a federal firearms licensee, and making threats against a major candidate for the Office of President.

According to the complaint, Cowart and Schlesselman met via the Internet through a mutual friend last month, with both men claiming to have very strong beliefs regarding “White Power” and “Skinhead” philosophies.

The complaint said the pair discussed robbing a gun shop in order to gather weapons and ammunition to use in a ‘killing spree.’

On October 20, 2008, Cowart allegedly traveled from Tennessee to Arkansas to pick up Schlesselman in order to carry out their plan.

According to the complaint, the defendants further discussed their killing spree to include targeting a predominately African American school, and to continue their spree until their final act of violence, which would be to attempt to assassinate Obama.

Officials said Cowart and Schlesselman stated that they would be willing to die during their attempt.

The pair was arrested on October 22, 2008 by the Crockett County, Tennessee Sheriff’s Department.

Cowart and Schlesselman appeared in court Monday, and are scheduled to appear again at a detention hearing on October 30th.

Obama Wins the Editorial Endorsement Race

Trish

If the election were decided by numbers of endorsements from newspaper dailies, Barack Obama would win in a landslide. Editor & Publisher counts 194 papers casting editorial votes for Obama, including, as Jon noted, the Anchorage Daily News, while only 82 make the case for McCain.

The Roswell Daily Record, read by 11,700 New Mexicans as well as an undetermined number of UFO crew members, endorsed McCain

Obama’s lopsided margin, including most of the major papers that have decided so far, is in stark contrast to John Kerry barely edging George W. Bush in endorsements in 2004 by 213 to 205…

At least 38 papers have now switched to Obama from Bush in 2004, with just four flipping to McCain. The latest majors to flipflop to Obama: the papers in Providence and Fort Worth. In addition, several top papers that went for Bush in 2004 have now chosen not to endorse this year, the latest being the Indianapolis Star in key swing state Indiana.

If the list tallied circulation figures for those papers, the difference would be even starker. In Florida, the largest of the four papers endorsing McCain is the conservative Tampa Tribune, circulation 220,522. The others are more typical of the types of editors supporting the Republican: the Brandenton Herald, circ. 48,618; the Palatka Daily News, circ. 11,000; and the Cape Coral Daily Breeze, circ. 2,015.

The largest California paper to endorse McCain is the San Diego Union-Tribune, read by 288,669 San Diegans, many of whom presumably reside on the Navy base.

No North Carolina newspapers have yet sided with McCain.

McCain does pick up one daily with possibly universal appeal: the Roswell Daily Record is read by 11,700 New Mexicans, as well as an undetermined number of UFO crew members.

McCain’s Words Show He Was Wrong Eight Years Ago and He’s Still Wrong Now

Trish

The loser customarily makes a rousing speech at political conventions in support of the people’s selected candidate. In 2000, loser John McCain took the podium at the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia to rally his party in support of the man who would become his asshole buddy for the next eight years. What he said was interesting in hindsight on so many levels.

McCain in 2000: “Too often, partisanship seems all consuming. Differences are defined with derision.”

Palin in 2008: “You betcha!”

Cynicism is suffocating the idealism of many Americans, especially among our young. And with cause, for they have lost pride in their government…

Too often, partisanship seems all consuming. Differences are defined with derision…

It is easy to forget in politics where principle ends and selfishness begins. It takes leaders of courage and character to remember the difference.

Tomorrow, our party will nominate such a leader. George W. Bush believes in the greatness of America and the justice of our cause…

He is proud of America’s stature as the world’s only superpower, and he accepts the responsibilities along with the blessings that come with that hard-earned distinction. He knows well that there is no safe alternative to American leadership. And he will not squander this unique moment in history by allowing America to retreat behind empty threats, false promises, and uncertain diplomacy.

You betcha!

McCain’s speech shows one thing clearly: he was as wrong then as he is now.

But it’s the line about defining differences with derision that really stops me. Before McCain hired a team of deriders, led by Steve Schmidt and eventually outdone by Sarah Palin, he made noises about being committed to a clean, positive campaign. Somewhere along the line he switched to the current win at any cost mode, signaling plainly how little McCain’s vaunted ideals mean to him.

Alaska’s Biggest Newspaper Endorses Obama

Jon Ponder

The endorsement from the Anchorage Daily News skewers John McCain, goes easier on Sarah Palin:
“[McCain] declared that ‘the fundamentals of our economy are strong’ at 9 a.m. one day and by 11 a.m. was describing an economy in crisis … His behavior in this crisis — erratic is a kind description — shows him to be ill-equipped to lead the essential effort of reining in a runaway financial system and setting an anxious nation on course to economic recovery.”
– Anchorage Daily News

Gov. Palin’s nomination clearly alters the landscape for Alaskans as we survey this race for the presidency — but it does not overwhelm all other judgment. The election, after all is said and done, is not about Sarah Palin, and our sober view is that her running mate, Sen. John McCain, is the wrong choice for president at this critical time for our nation.

Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee, brings far more promise to the office. In a time of grave economic crisis, he displays thoughtful analysis, enlists wise counsel and operates with a cool, steady hand. The same cannot be said of Sen. McCain.

Since his early acknowledgement that economic policy is not his strong suit, Sen. McCain has stumbled and fumbled badly in dealing with the accelerating crisis as it emerged. He declared that “the fundamentals of our economy are strong” at 9 a.m. one day and by 11 a.m. was describing an economy in crisis. He is both a longtime advocate of less market regulation and a supporter of the huge taxpayer-funded Wall Street bailout. His behavior in this crisis — erratic is a kind description — shows him to be ill-equipped to lead the essential effort of reining in a runaway financial system and setting an anxious nation on course to economic recovery.

Sen. Obama warned regulators and the nation 19 months ago that the subprime lending crisis was a disaster in the making. Sen. McCain backed tighter rules for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but didn’t do much to advance that legislation. Of the two candidates, Sen. Obama better understands the mortgage meltdown’s root causes and has the judgment and intelligence to shape a solution, as well as the leadership to rally the country behind it. It is easy to look at Sen. Obama and see a return to the smart, bipartisan economic policies of the last Democratic administration in Washington, which left the country with the momentum of growth and a budget surplus that President George Bush has squandered.

On the most important issue of the day, Sen. Obama is a clear choice.

Is Obama Running Out of Money?

Trish

No one wins an election solely because they had the most money, but there is no doubt that proper funding is a great advantage. The Obama campaign is known as a cash king, but that reputation could be a problem in itself if too many people think Obama doesn’t need the money. Candidates always need the money.

Donate now. In ten days, it will be too late.

Democrat Obama spent more than $105 million during the first two weeks of October, according to new campaign finance reports, and reported raising only $36 million during that period, about half his pace in September when he brought in a record $150 million.

Obama had nearly $66 million in the bank as of Oct. 15, and the Democratic National Committee and a joint Obama-party victory fund had another $31 million combined.

McCain and the Republican National Committee reported having a combined $84 million as of Oct. 15 to spend before Election Day. McCain, who has accepted $84.1 million in public money, had spent all but $25 million as of mid-month…

In seven key swing states – Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia – Obama ran more than double the number of ads between Oct. 6 and Oct. 22 than McCain, 53,049 to 21,106, Nielsen Media Research reported yesterday…

McCain and his running mate, Sarah Palin, meanwhile, tried to douse a furor over how their side spent theirs.

The RNC came under scrutiny after reporting this week that it had spent about $150,000 in September on wardrobe and cosmetics after Palin joined the GOP ticket.

This is crunch time, guys. We’ve come this far, but to go all the way the Obama campaign needs money. Don’t worry, they’ll spend it wisely. Think of it as an investment. We are all investing in the kind of future we want, not the kind McCain/Palin would give us.

It’s the difference between creating clean-energy jobs and shooting wolves from helicopters, the difference between a sane approach to health care and more tax cuts for the rich, the difference between frank truths and whispered lies.

Donate now. In ten days, it will be too late.