McCain's "Hail Mary" - Pennsylvania

Check out the McCain supporters at the rally on Monday in PA.





It's easy to understand why these people are losers. It is thought by many that McCain can't win without PA. These people have earned a good ass kicking.

McCain campaign's highest paid staffer - a makeup artist

So what are the candidates spending our money on? Painting lipstick on a pig.

Electoral Vote:

In the first two weeks of October, Obama and the DNC spent $105 million compared to $25 million for McCain and the RNC. In some key television markets, there are seven Obama ads for every McCain ad. Ten days ago each side had about $100 million in the bank, but in the first two weeks of October, the Democrats have raised $37 million to the Republicans $15 million.

Not all the money is going to TV ads. Salaries of people on the ground are also a major expense. McCain was in the news yesterday on this score. His highest paid staffer is makeup artist Amy Strozzi who got $22,800 for 2 weeks' work and hair stylist Angela Lew didn't do badly at $10,000 for 2 weeks work, either.

$150,000 was spent on Sarah Palin's clothes and fashion.

What is truly pathetic, revealing and ironic is to remember how Fox News repeatedly berated John Edwards for receiving two $400 haircuts and now they are DEFENDING the RNC for spending $150,000 on Sarah Palin's wardrobe !!!

Fox News on Edwards:

"...the Democratic Party, it's out of touch with reality, it talks about the common man, but everytime you look, there's John Edwards getting a $400 haircut.

-- Fox News: Your World with Neil Cavuto

Fox News on Palin:

"Television is a cosmetic business, always has been always will be to a certain extent and so is politics... if you're in the public eye, you've got to look good."

-- Fox News: Day Side

WATCH IT

100,000+ greet Obama in Denver, McCain is losing badly - dragging down the GOP

100,000+ greet Obama in Denver

WaPost:

John McCain is losing in a way that threatens to take the entire Republican Party down with him.

You have to go back to the Watergate era to see numbers quite so horrible for the GOP.

McCain's awful campaign is having awful consequences down the ballot. I spoke a little while ago to a senior Republican House member. "There is not a safe Republican seat in the country," he warned. "I don't mean that we're going to lose all of them. But we could lose any of them."

In the Senate, things look, if possible, even worse.

-- David Frum, former GW Bush speech writer

Why al Qaeda endorses McCain

The endorsement of John McCain by an al Qaeda-affiliated Web site isnt a surprise to security specialists Richard Clarke, the former White House counterterrorism director, and Joseph Nye, the former chairman of the National Intelligence Council. Both have suggested that Al Qaeda prefers Mr. McCain. Why? The same reason Osama bin Laden wanted Bush in '04:

"From their perspective, a continuation of Bush policies is best for recruiting," said Professor Nye, adding that Mr. McCain is far more likely to continue those policies.

Al Qaeda has simply outsmarted the feeble narrow minded alarmist and arrogant foreign policy of the Bush Administration. Al Qaeda welcomed the war in Iraq as a way to drain America's military resources and economy while building their real base in Afghanistan. Due to this Bush Administration blunder, they have been successful.

Bush obsesses about Islamic terrorism, understandably since he allowed the nation be attacked on 9/11 through gross negligence, he inclines toward military solutions and his antagonistic approach to other nations is an excellent recruiting tool for al Qaeda. In contrast, an African-American president with a Muslim grandfather and a penchant for building bridges rather than blowing them up would give Al Qaeda recruiters much less fertile ground.

McCain represents the cold war mentality, where the American ideological fear of communism led us to mistake every leftist for a Soviet pawn. This myopia helped lead to catastrophe in Vietnam. In the same way today, an exaggerated fear of Islamofascism leads us to overreact and damage our own interests. Perhaps the best example is one of the least-known failures in Bush administration foreign policy: Somalia.

NYT Nicholas Kristof explains:

Today, Somalia is the worlds greatest humanitarian disaster, worse even than Darfur or Congo. The crisis has complex roots, and Somali warlords bear primary blame. But Bush administration paranoia about Islamic radicals contributed to the disaster.

Somalia has been in chaos for many years, but in 2006 an umbrella movement called the Islamic Courts Union seemed close to uniting the country. The movement included both moderates and extremists, but it constituted the best hope for putting Somalia together again. Somalis were ecstatic at the prospect of having a functional government again.

Bush administration officials, however, were aghast at the rise of an Islamist movement that they feared would be uncooperative in the war on terror. So they gave Ethiopia, a longtime rival in the region, the green light to invade, and Somalias best hope for peace collapsed.

"A movement that looked as if it might end this long national nightmare was derailed, in part because of American and Ethiopian actions," said Ken Menkhaus, a Somalia expert at Davidson College. "As a result, Islamic militancy and anti-Americanism have surged, partly because Somalis blame Washington for the brutality of the Ethiopian occupiers."

"There's a level of anti-Americanism in Somalia today like nothing Ive seen over the last 20 years," Professor Menkhaus said. Somalis are furious with us for backing the Ethiopian intervention and occupation, provoking this huge humanitarian crisis.

Bottom line:

The only winner has been Islamic militancy. Thats probably the core reason why Al Qaeda militants prefer a McCain presidency: four more years of blindness to nuance in the Muslim world would be a tragedy for Americans and virtually everyone else, but a boon for radical groups trying to recruit suicide bombers.

Bill Ayers is a phony issue. Let's talk about McCain 's economic advisers who could shape America's future affecting everyone

Tell the people whose house just got foreclosed, lost their job, and can’t afford gas how Bill Ayers is relevant to them. It's desperate classic GOP swiftboating. Shall we talk about someone who did something radical when Obama was 8 years old or should we talk about the people who are responsible for the US financial situation that, according to the conservative Wall Street Journal, are "the people riding on his [McCain's] campaign bus."

Phil Gramm, McCain's economic adviser pushed through a bill that deregulated swaps - insurance policies covering the losses on securities in the event of a default.

"These unregulated swaps have been at the heart of the subprime meltdown. I happen to think Gramm did not know what he was doing. I don't think a member in Congress had read the 262-page bill or had thought of the cataclysm it would cause."

--Michael Greenberger, former Director of CTFC division of trading & markets

But how did Gramm get this into legislation? He did it deceptively. He bundled it into a must-pass omnibus spending bill and slipped it in at the last possible minute during the Bush v. Gore standoff at the very end of the Clinton Administration.

Gramm was also heavily connected to Enron. Enron was a generous contributor to Gramm. Gramm's bill exempted energy trading from regulatory oversight, allowing Enron to run rampant, wreck the California electricity market, and cost consumers billions before it collapsed. And this is the kicker... 8 years earlier, his wife, Wendy Gramm, as CFTC chairwoman, pushed through a rule excluding Enron's energy futures contracts from government oversight. Wendy later joined Eron's board, and in the following years her Enron salary and stock income brought between $915,000 and $1.8 million into the Gramm household.

Yea, lets talk history.

Let's talk about "Foreclosure Phil" Gramm, Carly "Golden Parachute" Fiorina, and Rick "Freddie Mac" Warren - ALL McCain campaign advisers, the people who will be guiding the McCain economic policy ... because the old man says he doesn't know much about it.

Relevant history.

McCain - a tired old man in retreat... it's pretty much over

McCain, with his campaign floundering, retreated to his AZ ranch Saturday while Obama hit the campaign trail in VA.

TIME magazine reporter Joe Klein wrote, "Several Republicans--Reagan Administration sorts--have said to me in the past few days, 'It's over. McCain blew it.' " There is fear in the GOP of an impending election disaster. There is also fantasy among neocons in denial.

According to the RCP electoral map, Obama has 264 electoral votes fairly solid. In the 8 states RCP calls "toss up," McCain needs to win all of them to win the election, but Obama leads in 6 of the eight.... which means - it's pretty much over.

On Thursday the McCain campaign pulled out of Michigan, effectively surrendering the midwestern state to the Democrats, to focus instead on six swing states.

Obama is swinging in for the kill. With more money, Obama out spent McCain on TV ads last week 6 to 1 in FL , 3 to 1 in OH, 2 to1 in PA, and 12 to 1 in VA. Look out for McCain to crank up the lies and fierce negative ads in the coming weeks in a last ditch act of desperation.

The neocons in McCain's camp are hoping for a terrorist attack at this point. Electronic vote fraud (which likely occurred in 2004 in OH) also may give McCain a chance. The direction of the momentum is clear:

Before Bush and now

Are you better off today than you were 8 years ago? Is America? The Bush administration has shown unprecedented incompetence in both foreign and domestic policy.

• Before Bush -- Dow: January 19, 2001: 10,587.59


• Now ---------- Dow: September 29, 2008: 10,365.45

• Before Bush - NASDAQ: Jan 19, 2001 = 2770.38


• Now --------- NASDAQ: September 29, 2008 = 1983.73

• Before Bush - Dollar exchange with Euro, January 19, 2001: 1.068


• Now --------- Dollar exchange with Euro, September 29, 2008: .695

• Before Bush -- National Debt: $5.727 trillion.


• Now ---------- National Debt: $9.849 trillion

Bush has made the largest contribution to the national debt than any previous president in American history: more than $4 trillion

US budget deficit: deficit is annual additions to national debt.



Can you imagine being John McSame (McBush) and having to debate Obama on the economy next week... with people like Phil "deregulator" Gramm, Carly "golden parachute" Fiorina, and Marc "Freddie mac" Davis on his staff?

How about Sarah "I can see Russia" Palin debating Joe Biden with 35 yrs foreign policy experience?

Obama's lead grows again today after polls show most thought he won the debate.

And you want more of the McSame?

• When Clinton took office the Dow was 3271
  

• When Clinton left office the Dow was 10,587


• A gain of about 325% and a record budget surplus

• When Bush took office the Dow was 10,587


• After nearly 8 yrs of Bush, the Dow closed today at 10,365


• Bush - 0% stock market gain, a record National Debt, and a financial crisis

Clinton - 325% stock market gain and a record budget surplus

vs

Bush - 0% stock market gain and a record National Debt, and a financial crisis

And you want to vote Republican for more of the (Mc)Same?

Where's our savior ... the great McCain? I thought he was going to suspend his campaign to broker a deal? Conservative Glen Beck says "we're standing on the precipice of a great depression. ...Americans need to know that their lives will change. ... This is not about Wall Street, this is about your street."

Just imagine what the wingnuts would be saying if this happened under the Clinton administration.

Jonah Goldberg and NRO fail to score hit on Obama over soldiers death

Jonah Goldberg delivers... Wingnutosphere swallows.



You would think right-wing bloggers would care enough about our military to not demagogue them, their families and their service. Such assholes... and I rarely use this word... still think they "own" the troops and their memories. They believe that those ultimate sacrifices are only "theirs" to be wielded for propaganda purposes when necessary. We can can see how much respect Jonah Goldberg has for the family, he never asked them. And you notice - it was McCain who brought it up - trying to score points on the death of a soldier. Obama just responded.

This is why the conservatives are losing. They don't want to know the truth, except when they can exploit a lie to hurt Obama.

AP: Soldier's mother 'ecstatic' about Obama's bracelet

MILWAUKEE (AP) -- The mother of a Wisconsin soldier who died in Iraq says she was "ecstatic" when Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama mentioned during Friday's debate the bracelet she gave him in honor of her son.

Tracy Jopek of Merrill told The Associated Press on Sunday she was honored that Obama remembered Sgt. Ryan David Jopek, who was killed in 2006 by a roadside bomb.

Jopek criticized Internet reports suggesting Obama, D-Ill., exploited her son for political purposes.

"I don't understand how people can take that and turn it into some garbage on the Internet," she said.

Jopek acknowledged e-mailing the Obama campaign in February asking that the presidential candidate not mention her son in speeches or debates. But she said Obama's mention on Friday was appropriate because he was responding after Sen. John McCain, the Republican nominee, said a soldier's mother gave him a bracelet.

McCain's stunt fails - Obama +8 in Gallup Poll

How's that stunt working for ya McCain?

Fox News Sunday - John Kerry tells us what happened with McCain's stunt:

"Barack Obama was in constant touch with Secretary Paulson almost every single day, sometimes several times a day for the last two weeks. Barack Obama was the first person to speak and lay out at that meeting at the White House for about seven or eight minutes the entire parameters of what we had resolved. John McCain, when offered the opportunity to speak, passed, didn’t speak until the very end, and when he spoke, did not offer a solution and did not say what he would support. The fact is that on a Monday of about a week ago, John McCain said the fundamentals of our economy are strong. Within a few days, John McCain was suspending his campaign because of the greatest crisis since World War II. He suspended his campaign and it took him 22 hours to get from New York to Washington, a one-hour flight, had time to go do Katie Couric in an interview, had time to give a speech to the Clinton millennium, and when he got here, he wound up — I mean, he said he was going to interrupt his campaign to come down and save the negotiations. Most people believe what he did was interrupt the negotiations to come down and save his campaign."

Obama is up by 8 in the new Gallup poll.

Lies we've come to expect: McCain claims victory in debate before deciding to go

Why bother watching the debate? McCain claims he already won - even before he even made the decision to go. This is the type of lie we come to expect from the McCain campaign. (click on image to enlarge)

WaPost:

"McCain Wins Debate!" declares the ad which features a headshot of a smiling McCain with an American flag background. Another ad spotted by our eagle-eyed observer featured a quote from McCain campaign manager Rick Davis declaring: "McCain won the debate-- hands down."

Here's the screenshot.

McCain makes a bet on the stupidity of American voters

• Last week: McCain said "the fundamentals of the economy are strong."

• Tuesday: McCain said he had not read Paulson's bailout plan which had been available since Friday.

• Wednesday: McCain "suspends his campaign" to 'work' on the bailout.

Why does McCain do what he does? To make the American voter think he's doing something - to make Americans focus on him, not the political party he represents. Why? Because John McCain represents the Republican party that has brought one of the largest foreign policy blunders in American history - Iraq ... AND a massive financial crisis, one of the largest domestic policy failures in American history.

So... on both foreign and domestic policy, the Republican administration McCain represents has shown mismanagement and incompetence on an epic and unprecedented scale. McCain doesn't really disagree with the policies that have caused these massive foreign and domestic policy disasters. In fact, the WSJ suggests of McCain that you'd find the cause of what when wrong on Wall Street "by cross-examining the people riding on his campaign bus."

So... since you can't run on your party's accomplishments, you have to gamble, you have to showboat, steal headlines, pull rabbits out of hats ... something.... anything.... try to distract the public from reality, try to shield your incompetent running mate from the press, try to avoid debating, try to make the public think you're a hero. (He was tortured, you know). He also invented the Blackberry.

Reactionary and desperate, McCain thinks America is stupid enough to buy his razzle-dazzle bullshit. This should give you an idea of McCain's management style.

Bailout agreement reached, McCain contributes nothing

UPDATE: McCain/GOP spoilers - Bailout agreement falls apart

Like we thought, just a stunt.

MS's Republican Gov. Barbour said today he fully expects the debate to go as planned. Sorry McCain, you lose.

Dodd, Banking Committee Chair: "a lot of us have been working for 5 straight days around the clock and I haven't heard a word from John McCain."

John McCain - Stunt Man

Obama did the right thing -- showed leadership. At 8:30 AM, Obama reached out to his rival to propose they come up with a bipartisan statement. By making this effort, Obama gave up the opportunity to show just how much better he and his team are responding to this issue, how much more the public blames the GOP for this mess, and instead prioritized finding a solution that would work.

McCain received that offer. And he sat on it. For six hours. What happened in those 6 hours? A call to the White House perhaps? Finally, at 2:30 PM, McCain accepted the offer. It seems that, during those six long hours when McCain was mulling Obama's proposal, McCain was inventing a way to turn this into yet another political gimmick. Twenty minutes after accepting Obama's proposal, McCain pulled this stunt of calling for a suspension of the campaign and postponement of the debate.

Who is gullible enough to actually believe John McCain will be going to DC to "work across the aisle to strike a deal that will save the economy?" You know, McCain - the guy who said 10 days ago - "the fundamentals of the economy are strong." Maybe the same people who thank Bush for a wonderful presidency? Maybe the same people who think "drill baby drill" will help our gas prices?

Chris Dodd is the chair of the Senate Banking Committee. He OWNS this issue. Dodd says:

"I'm beginning to think this is more about a rescue plan for John McCain than a rescue plan for the economy...Candidly, a lot of us have been working for 5 straight days around the clock and I haven't heard a word from John McCain."

Maybe you smart people can tell me what exactly McCain is going to do in Washington besides a photo op with Bush? He doesn't sit on any of the relevant committees, the committees are already deep in negotiations for days, pretty much finished with their work. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

What are others saying?

Survey USA:

Immediately after John McCain’s announcement 3 pm ET today, Wednesday 09/24/08, that he was suspending his campaign and seeking to postpone Friday’s schedule presidential debate, SurveyUSA interviewed 1,000 adults nationwide. Key findings:

A majority of Americans say the debate should be held. Just 10% say the debate should be postponed.

WashPost: A Transparent Ploy

Salon: Stunt Man

The only way to understand it is politically: In a presidential campaign, the surest sign that a candidate is playing politics on an issue is when he claims not to be playing politics on an issue... It's hard to believe that McCain's actions would pass his own laugh test.

Boston Globe: McCain's Debate Stunt

altering the debate schedule would hardly serve voters. If anything, debates are most valuable at times of national crisis, because voters need to hear candidates highlight their policy differences.

That's what Obama said.

Bush plays the fear card, sets up political stunt for McCain

Well you heard it... Bush using words like "crisis" ... "collapse" ... "recession" ... "economy in danger," be afraid of an imminent collapse, we must take urgent measures. Call off the debate! This meeting with McCain and Obama can't wait til Saturday.

Something is rotten in DC

I'd bet my bottom dollar that this scenario was a complete set up staged by McCain and Bush. Look at what McCain has done. He has pulled political stunts for effect during his whole campaign, not for America's well-being, but calculated risky maneuvers that may help him get elected... like getting an inexperienced good looking female governor as running mate, like calling for a gas tax holiday, like canceling the first night of the RNC because of a hurricane, like calling for the firing of Cox, and now McCain to the rescue of America's economic crisis ... postpone the debate!!!??? Even suggesting the postponement of the VP debate!!! Smoke and mirrors.

McCain is about as far away as any Senator from doing his job. He hasn't voted since April 8. He doesn't even know what his own Senate Commerce Committee does.

I am sorry, this is not about America's economic rescue, this is about saving McCain's ass from sinking poll numbers. McCain is a fake - a liar and a manipulator. It doesn't take a genius to see through this bullshit.

Look at what is happening - HuffPost gives us the McCain scenario:

• Sunday: McCain endorses $700B Wall Street bailout.
• Tuesday: McCain says he hasn't even read the bailout proposal and is undecided on whether to support it.
• Tuesday night: Washington Post poll shows big Obama lead.
• Wednesday morning: Obama calls McCain about issuing joint statement on Wall St. crisis, McCain isn't available. McCain finds time for meeting with ex-Clinton supporter Lady Lynn de Rothschild.
• Wednesday afternoon: McCain "suspends" campaign, demands debate be postponed. Decides to appear for interview with CBS's Katie Couric.
• Wednesday Night: Dems say they've already reached deal on bailout
• Wednesday Night: Bush plays fear card in speech, McCain-Bush summon Obama to DC
  

McCain, off to DC - the big hero to the rescue. Political theater at it's most absurd and disingenuous.

What are you going to do if you're elected and things get tough? Suspend being president?

David Letterman on McCain's antics:

"You don't suspend your campaign. This doesn't smell right. This isn't the way a tested hero behaves. I think someone's putting something in his Metamucil. He can't run the campaign because the economy is cratering? Fine, put in your second-string quarterback, Sarah Palin. Where is she? What are you going to do if you're elected and things get tough? Suspend being president? We've got a guy like that now!"

- David Letterman

Watch it tonight! (Wednesday Sept 24, 2008) Keith Olbermann stands in.

Wait a second, I thought he said "the fundamentals of the economy were strong?"

McCain now says the financial crisis is historic and he wants to postpone the debate to vote on the bailout bill. The guy who has missed 80% of Senate votes in the last year? (McCain hasn't voted since early April).

9 days ago, McCain said what he's been saying all year - "the fundamentals of the economy are strong." (Sept.15, 2008)

There's a reason McCain shouldn't have to debate. He was tortured, you know.

The Hail-Mary pass has been thrown...

Look at what McCain adviser Donald Luskin said 10 days ago:

"Things today just aren't that bad. ... When it comes to the economy, we have surely become a nation of exaggerators."

-- McCain Adviser, Donald Luskin, Sept 14, 2008

McCain knows what to do when disaster strikes ... here he is just after Katrina hit:

Palin meets her first world leaders today, stiffs the press - again

In a pathetic attempt to 'pad her resume,' hockey mom and VP hopeful met her first world leaders today but stiffed the press by refusing to allow the media to ask any questions, normally a routine event when such meetings take place. Palin barred all print reporters and a TV news producer from the photo shoot of the start of her meeting with Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai, until TV news shows threatened to not shoot the event. After that, they were allowed in to get a glimpse before being ushered back outside.

Look at how major media recated:

AP: Palin, in a bubble, meets her first world leaders - It was a tightly controlled crash course on foreign policy for the Republican vice presidential candidate, the mayor-turned-governor who has been outside North America just once.

CNN: McCain camp tries to keep reporters out of Palin meetings - Although Palin held photo-ops with the leaders, she refused to take questions from any reporters.

Fox: Palin Media Blackout Continues - It has been widely reported that Sarah Palin has yet to give a news conference or even answer a few questions from the traveling press that follow her from city to city on her plane. But, today the Palin camp went to new lengths to control the media, which is covering the GOP Vice-Presidential nominee.

ABC: McCain-Palin Camp Tried to Block Media Access to Palin in NY

LATimes: What's up with Sarah Palin's cone of silence? - McCain's camp has put a force field around the Alaska governor in recent weeks, and some in the media speculate that this is to keep her from dealing with unscripted questions from voters and reporters.
And it was even worse during these diplomacy sessions. Reporters were actually banned from the start of the meetings to stop them from asking questions of Palin.

Newsday: Sarah Palin meets world leaders, ducks press

Palin has not held a news conference since being selected as McCain's running mate, nor taken questions from her traveling press corps, frustrating journalists assigned to cover Palin for the election.

Good strategy Mr. McSame! The more she talks, the dumber she sounds. Look what has happened to McSame in the polls since her first interview.

Palin also met with Henry Kissinger.

In an official press release, the Palin camp misspelled Henry Kissinger's name as "Kissenger." What a bunch of dolts!

Republicans lose the blame game

Men and seniors now favor Obama

Game over:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- By a 2-to-1 ratio, Americans blame Republicans over Democrats for the financial crisis that has swept across the country the past few weeks, a new national poll suggests.

And Obama has a 10-point lead over McCain when it comes to who respondents think would better handle the economy overall.

These numbers seem to be affecting the battle for the presidency. Fifty-one percent of registered voters now say they will back Obama, five points ahead of McCain, at 46 percent.

"In two core McCain constituencies: men, who now narrowly favor Obama, and seniors, who have also flipped from McCain to Obama," said Bill Schneider, a CNN senior political analyst.

Conservative media: "McCain loses his head"..."behaving like a flustered rookie"..."unpresidential"

McCain flails

Conservative media highlight the temperament and ineptitude of John McCain.

Wall Street Journal: "John McCain has made it clear this week he doesn't understand what's happening on Wall Street...In a crisis, voters want steady, calm leadership, not easy, misleading answers that will do nothing to help. Mr. McCain is sounding like a candidate searching for a political foil rather than a genuine solution."

George Will (Washington Post): "...McCain, because of his boiling moralism and bottomless reservoir of certitudes, is not suited to the presidency. ...McCain's smear -- that Cox "betrayed the public's trust" -- is a harbinger of a McCain presidency. For McCain, politics is always operatic, pitting people who agree with him against those who are "corrupt" or "betray the public's trust," two categories that seem to be exhaustive -- there are no other people."

McCain is dumb, reactionary and simple. As George Will pointed out, inexperience can be corrected, "a dismaying temperament" can not.