THEATER OF THE ABSURD

Let’s start with the simple, unspinnable facts. Two thirds of the Republicans in Congress voted against their own President’s bailout proposal (while two thirds of the Democrats voted for it). After the vote went down, the stock market lost its biggest point value in history. Now, how do the Republicans blame somebody else for THAT?

Well, first, it was Nancy Pelosi’s fault

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/09/29/shorter-house-gop-we-killed-the-bailout-bill-because-pelosi-hurt-our-feelings/
[Silent Patriot] The House GOP “Leadership” addressed the media just now after the bailout bill failed and pointed their fingers at Nancy Pelosi for giving a speech that upset them. The speech hurt them so much that it forced them to sink the bill and now the market is down more than 600 points. Why are you so mean, Nancy?

What mean old Nancy said: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/220712.php

Barney Frank shows how ridiculous this excuse is: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/220689.php

More: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014943.php
[Steve Benen] On its face, this is comically stupid. House Republicans wanted to vote to prevent a financial collapse, the pitch goes, but the Big Bad House Speaker made them mad with a speech. You can read Pelosi's remarks yourself -- if it strikes you as the kind of speech that's worth risking the economy over, let me know.

But more important that than is the truly ridiculous frame Republicans are establishing for themselves by using Pelosi's speech as an excuse for their own failure. The House GOP, for reasons that defy comprehension, has decided to characterize itself as a caucus of cry babies. Worse, they're irresponsible cry babies who, according to their own argument, are more concerned with their precious hurt feelings than the nation's economic stability. . . .

Make no mistake -- this is a failure of the Republican Party of historic proportions. When push came to shove, the Democratic leadership delivered the votes on the rescue plan, while Republicans voted, 2-to-1, against it.

Then it was the fault of the Jews

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/220659.php
Now Rep. Blunt is blaming the Jewish Holidays. Are there enough Republican Jews in the House to make that credible?

Look: the Republicans said last week they wouldn’t mind causing a major stock market crash rather than vote for this bill – and so they did. This quote should wash away any questions about who is to blame for all this. Rightly or wrongly, they opposed the bill. They said they would vote against it, and they did. They didn’t care if it made the markets tank. End of story

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/politico-some-house-republicans-would.html
[Politico] According to one GOP lawmaker, some House Republicans are saying privately that they’d rather “let the markets crash” than sign on to a massive bailout. . . .

Of course, the McCain campaign tried to tell us that it was all Obama’s fault . . .

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/09/mccain-and-his.html

. . . . then told us that we shouldn’t be assigning blame (especially not if McCain is the one getting blamed)

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/mccain_says_now_is_not_time_to.php
McCain Says Now Is Not Time To Assign Blame -- Only Two Hours After His Campaign Blamed Obama . . .

Watch: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/220726.php

Obama responds

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/obama_campaign_mccain_attack_a.php
"This is a moment of national crisis, and today's inaction in Congress as well as the angry and hyper-partisan statement released by the McCain campaign are exactly why the American people are disgusted with Washington. Now is the time for Democrats and Republicans to join together and act in a way that prevents an economic catastrophe. Every American should be outraged that an era of greed and irresponsibility on Wall Street and Washington has led us to this point, but now that we are here, the stability of our entire economy depends on us taking immediate action to ease this crisis."

Let’s be serious, folks: McCain interjected himself into this process in a major campaign stunt. He claimed credit for forging a bipartisan compromise that he actually had very little to do with. But if he was the lynchpin in putting it together, then who is responsible when it falls apart? The nasty old Democrats, of course – who undermined McCain’s efforts . . . by voting 2-to-1 FOR the bill

Watch! http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/220700.php

McCain’s failure

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/09/29/oops.html
"What Senator McCain was able to do was to help bring all of the parties to the table, including the House Republicans, whose votes were needed to pass this."

-- McCain campaign strategist Steve Schmidt, on Meet the Press yesterday, taking early credit for getting House Republicans to support the bailout bill.

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/with_bailout_package_failure_w.php
[Greg Sargent] In political terms, John McCain needed this bailout bill to pass. Now that it's failed in the House, it's clear that this could pose a serious blow to his campaign -- and that his big campaign suspension gambit could backfire badly.

McCain pushed way too many political chips onto the bailout deal with his supposed decision to put his campaign on ice and his subsequent high-profile swooping into D.C. His campaign got way too far out front appearing to take credit for the bailout in advance.

"What Senator McCain was able to do was to help bring all of the parties to the table, including the House Republicans, whose votes were needed to pass this," McCain senior Steve Schmidt said on Meet the Press yesterday.

"We're optimistic that Senator McCain will bring House Republicans on board . . .”

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/29/14471/2074/774/614513
[DemFromCT] The fact is that John McCain rode into town on a campaign stunt promising to shepherd the economic crisis bill through, and garner bipartisan resolution. . . .

The next piece of spin was that McCain, and only McCain, could bring the House along.

The next piece of spin was that McCain was working the phones while Obama was "laissez-faire".

John McCain, in a campaign rally this morning, took credit for the resolution and claimed Obama "was on the sidelines". McCain said he, McCain, was pivotal. . . .

John McCain is all about gimmicks and campaign stunts, not results.

The fact is that Democrats voted for this bill and Republicans did not. The job of the leader is to deliver the votes. And whether you think it should or should not have passed, John McCain failed miserably as a bipartisan "leader", though he had no hesitation to prematurely take credit for it.

That is a hard fact.

Politico – it’s McCain’s fault: http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=AF9F10EC-18FE-70B2-A82949C5A24271A8

CNN – it’s McCain’s fault: http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/cnns-ed-henry-john-mccain-failed.html

MSNBC – it’s McCain’s fault: http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/chris-matthews-its-mccains-fault.html

AP – it’s McCain’s fault: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080929/ap_on_el_pr/candidates_bailout;_ylt=AsxhCKFphU6n.F3.MKuhutyyFz4D
[T]he U.S. House made John McCain pay Monday for his politically risky, high-profile involvement in a financial rescue plan that came crashing down, mainly at the hands of his fellow Republicans. . .

By McCain’s own logic, now, isn’t it time to “suspend” his campaign again? If anything, the situation is even more dire than it was last week

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014945.php

Maybe the real blame should go to the Bush administration in the first place

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/michaeltomasky/2008/sep/29/georgebush.wallstreet

So, what will happen next?

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/09/stephanopoul-11.html

Good one

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/09/29/bailout/index.html
[Glenn Greenwald] Bailout follows the 10 normal principles for how our government functions . . . [read on]

Well, the Palin/McCain gang has found a new way to approach the Troopergate investigation: they think Walt Monegan (the faultless public safety commissioner she fired) should just shut up and take it

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/09/29/mcpalin-campaign-on-troopergate-shut-up-shut-up-shut-up-shut-up/

Sarah Palin goes back on with Katie Couric, but this time with McCain alongside to speak for her, cut off her answers, and dominate the conversation

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/220763.php

More: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/mccain_blames_pakistan_flub_wi.php

Reports are that CBS has additional footage from Palin’s original interview that is even worse than what was televised. Will we see it?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/28/AR2008092802587_3.html
[Howard Kurtz] It may have been a turning point for Couric, who was persistent without being overbearing, in shedding early doubts about her ability to be a commanding presence in the CBS anchor chair. And the worst may be yet to come for Palin; sources say CBS has two more responses on tape that will likely prove embarrassing.

[S]ome journalists say privately they are censoring their comments about Palin to avoid looking like they're piling on . .

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/09/29/mccain_campaign_attempts_palin_makeover.html
[Jonathan Martin] Of concern to McCain's campaign, however, is a remaining and still-undisclosed clip from Palin's interview with Couric last week that has the political world buzzing.

The Palin aide, after first noting how "infuriating" it was for CBS to purportedly leak word about the gaffe, revealed that it came in response to a question about Supreme Court decisions.

After noting Roe vs. Wade, Palin was apparently unable to discuss any major court cases.

There was no verbal fumbling with this particular question as there was with some others, the aide said, but rather silence.

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/cbs_to_air_more_footage_of_cou.php
[Greg Sargent] A CBS source confirms to me that more footage of Sarah Palin being interviewed by Katie Couric will indeed air this week, in advance of the debate. . . . Couric's interviews with both Veep contenders will air on Wednesday and Thursday. . .

The McCain gang reportedly shifts Palin’s debate prep strategy, four days before the event. They can’t cram enough info into her head, they can’t make her smarter, but they can give her better attack lines

“Debate camp” http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/29/palin-heads-to-%E2%80%98debate-camp%E2%80%99-in-arizona/

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/us/politics/30palin.html
Ms. Palin has traveled with a briefing team since Sept. 10. Two people close to the campaign, addressing her difficulties, said she had been stuffed with facts as if preparing for an oral exam and had become nervous and unnatural in the few interviews.

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/09/29/mccain_campaign_attempts_palin_makeover.html
[William Kristol] "I'm told McCain recently expressed unhappiness with his staff's handling of Palin. On Sunday he dispatched his top aides Steve Schmidt and Rick Davis to join Palin in Philadelphia. They're supposed to liberate Palin to go on the offensive as a combative conservative in the vice-presidential debate on Thursday."

Here’s the other part of their strategy: try to intimidate the moderator, Gwen Ifill, before the event even starts. She shouldn’t ask too many questions about foreign policy, you see, because that would be “unfair”

Watch: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/220563.php

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/09/29/mccain-campaign-so-concerned-about-palin-theyve-forgotten-about-joe/
[Marcy Wheeler] Not only is this another pathetic example of McPalin trying to play the ref [they’re] forgetting that Palin has been no whiz on domestic policy issues either. . .

Secret’s out

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/9/30/4913/53631
"Palin Is Tanking Everywhere"

What McCain has lost

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/220806.php
[Josh Marshall] I've been thinking over the last few days that if John McCain loses this election he will have lost much more than the presidency. His reputation as an honest and honorable politician will be wrecked, I suspect, for good -- particularly among centrist and independent voters and the centrist commentator class in New York and Washington. . . .

I think a lot of people -- a lot of former admirers -- are coming around to agreeing with the general outlines. McCain has revealed himself as a liar well outside the permissive standards applied to politicians. He's shown himself to be reckless to the point of instability, repeatedly putting the country at risk (exploiting the Georgia crisis, picking Palin, storming the bailout negotiations) for transparently self-serving reasons. And in too many ways to count, he's conducted his campaign in disgraceful and dishonorable ways. . . . [read on]

The Dept of Justice IG report is out, calling for the appointment of a special prosecutor, with subpoena power. They’re looking at possible obstruction and perjury

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/220575.php
“[T]here are gaps in our investigation because of the refusal of certain key witnesses to be interviewed by us, including former White House officials Karl Rove, Harriet Miers, and William Kelley, former Department of Justice White House Liaison Monica Goodling, Senator Pete Domenici, and his Chief of Staff. In addition, the White House would not provide us internal documents related to the removals of the U.S. Attorneys.”

Here she is, Nora Dannehy: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/prosecutor_named_in_us_attorne.php

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/220614.php

The Dems respond

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/senators_react_to_report_on_us.php
Judiciary chair Pat Leahy (D-VT) said in a statement: "This report might have told us even more if the investigation had not been impeded by the Bush administration's refusal to cooperate and provide documents and witnesses. . .

Leahy also said he intended to look into former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' testimony to Congress about the firings, for evidence of possible perjury. And he warned that if President Bush chose to pardon anyone ultimately convicted of a crime in connection with the firings, such a move would be seen by the nation as an admission of wrongdoing.

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), the ranking minority member on the committee told reporters that there's no indication that the White House is planning such pardons, but said he'd be quick to push back if it did.

At a press conference, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), a former U.S. attorney himself, questioned the effectiveness of the investigation to be led by federal prosecutor Nora Dannehy. He said that it's unclear whether Dannehy will have the power to subpoena White House officials, and whether her probe would focus narrowly on the question of whether a crime was committed by Gonzales and his deputies, rather than being able to look at a possible cover-up by the administration. Whitehouse asserted: "There is a cover-up, and it continues."

Whitehouse also singled out Mukasey for blame, noting that the DOJ's own Office of Legal Counsel has not cooperated with the report. "If he's willing to accept a White House cover-up, if he's willing to accept the inspector general being hindered, then we, I think, should have further questions of the attorney general," Whitehouse said.

Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) , who received an anonymous tip in January 2007 that led to the investigation, wrote in a press release: "The Inspector General report released today confirms our worst fears, and makes it clear that this was a scandal that went to the highest levels of the Department of the Justice, and that the role of the White House was in fact prominent."

David Iglesias, one of the more outspoken fired attorneys

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/iglesias_information_on_my_fir.php
David Iglesias, the former US attorney whose dismissal was deemed the "most troubling" in today's IG report, says he still wants to see the full range of evidence about the White House's possible role in the firing. That includes all relevant emails and notes from meetings -- information the White House held back from the IG's investigators.

"That's the critical bit of information that we don't have right now," Iglesias told TPMmuckraker. He added: "I suspect that the information is going to have to be forced out of the administration." . . .

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/220628.php
According to the DOJ IG's report released this morning, Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) told Karl Rove at a November 16, 2006 meeting: "Mr. Rove, for what it's worth, the U.S. Attorney in New Mexico is a waste of breath."

Rove's response: "That decision has already been made. He's gone."

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/white_house_doj_domenici_stone.php
But [the report] states that IG investigators were unable to determine how Rove knew this (Iglesias wasn't notifed until December 7), and what his possible role in the decision was, because Rove and White House counsel Harriet Miers refused to cooperate with the investigation.

Similarly, it notes that Kyle Sampson, who as chief of staff to Alberto Gonzales took the lead in bringing about the firings, gave "misleading after-the-fact explanations for why Iglesias was placed on the list." The report concludes: "[W]e question whether Sampson provided us the full story about Iglesias's placement on the list, as well as the reasons for other U.S. Attorney removals."

And: "Our investigation was also hindered by the refusal of Senator Domenici and his Chief of Staff to agree to an interview by us." (In April, Domenici, who is retiring this year, received a "qualified admonition" from the Senate ethics committee for his role in the firing.)

Mr. Rove, call your lawyer

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/rove_attended_meeting_on_dojs.php
Karl Rove's involvement in the U.S. attorney firings has always been questioned, but additional information on a March 2007 meeting mentioned in the Inspector General's report today suggests that at the very least, Rove and other White House officials played an active role in crafting the release of information on the firings to the public.

Shortly after the U.S. attorney removals, when the DOJ was grappling to explain the justification behind the firings, communications between Alberto Gonzales' former chief-of-staff, Kyle Sampson and White House officials increased. . . .

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2008/09/29/BL2008092901192.html
[Dan Froomkin] Astonishingly enough, the results of an internal White House investigation -- which were provided to the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel and to then-attorney general Gonzales early last year -- were nevertheless denied to the DOJ's internal investigators. The report states that associate White House counsel Michael Scudder interviewed Justice and White House personnel in early 2007 at the request of White House Counsel Fred Fielding. "[W]e requested that OLC produce a complete copy of the final Scudder memorandum and all drafts of the memorandum. OLC declined to produce the document, stating that the White House Counsel's Office directed it not to do so. . . .

Legal analysis

http://www.slate.com/id/2201156
[Dahlia Lithwick] The report finds that Gonzales approved the removals of a group of U.S. attorneys "without inquiring about the process Sampson used to select them for removal, or why each name was on Sampson's removal list. Gonzales also did not know who Sampson had consulted with or what these individuals had said about each of the U.S. Attorneys identified for removal." Investigators also found that "Sampson's repeated assertion that 'underperformance' was the decisive factor in the removal process was misleading." Investigators learned that some of the fired U.S. attorneys (like Nevada's Dan Bogden) were placed on Sampson's list based on Monica Goodling's unsupported suggestion. John McKay, from Washington, similarly appears to have been put on the list by some specter.

The evidence indicates that in at least three of the firings, "the White House was more involved than merely approving the removal of presidential appointees as Department officials initially stated."

The report faults Gonzales et al. for failing "to provide accurate and truthful statements about the removals and their role in the process" (i.e., they lied). Among other things, the IG found that Gonzales "claimed to us and to Congress an extraordinary lack of recollection about the entire removal process. In his most remarkable claim, he testified that he did not remember the meeting in his conference room on November 27, 2006, when the plan was finalized and he approved the removals of the U.S. Attorneys, even though this important meeting occurred only a few months prior to his testimony."

The report also concludes that Kyle Sampson's system for determining who was fired was "casual, ad hoc, and anecdotal, and he did not develop any consensus from Department officials about which U.S. Attorneys should be removed."

More: http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/29/can-you-spell-obstruction/

http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/29/not-just-the-hatch-act-about-that-doj-exodus-add-interview-avoidance-to-the-list/

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/09/29/the-ig-report-working-thread/

Maliki: Why the US needs a troop agreement as much as we do

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jaCk5jgsruLSTI-HuXoqIor1JrlgD93GF46G0

Posse Comitatus (thanks to Dale M. for the link)

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/09/24/army/print.html

Shut UP, Bill!

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/29/clinton-hesitant-to-call-obama-a-great-man-2/

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/09/29/did_clinton_snub_obama_again.html

Bonus item: Oh, how the mighty have fallen

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/garbage_pail_/2008/09/lame_duck.php
[WP] Yesterday, Bush called nearly every member of Texas's Republican delegation, GOP aides said. He reached four of the 19.

[Jonathan Zasloff] Four out of 19? Fifteen either didn't take the call or refused to call back? Wow. . .

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 6:25 AM

 
BANGING THE DRUM

Of course

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/14032.html
McCain claims bailout credit . . . [read on]

Does ANYONE believe that?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/28/opinion/28rich.html
[Frank Rich] When John McCain gratuitously parachuted into Washington on Thursday, he didn’t care if his grandstanding might precipitate an even deeper economic collapse. All he cared about was whether he might save his campaign. . . .

By the time he arrived, there already was a bipartisan agreement in principle. It collapsed hours later at the meeting convened by the president in the Cabinet Room. Rather than help try to resuscitate Wall Street’s bloodied bulls, McCain was determined to be the bull in Washington’s legislative china shop, running around town and playing both sides of his divided party against Congress’s middle. Once others eventually forged a path out of the wreckage, he’d inflate, if not outright fictionalize, his own role in cleaning up the mess his mischief helped make. Or so he hoped, until his ignominious retreat.

The question is why would a man who forever advertises his own honor toy so selfishly with our national interest at a time of crisis. I’ll leave any physiological explanations to gerontologists — if they can get hold of his complete medical records — and any armchair psychoanalysis to the sundry McCain press acolytes who have sorrowfully tried to rationalize his erratic behavior this year. The other answers, all putting politics first, can be found by examining the 24 hours before he decided to “suspend” campaigning and swoop down on the Capitol to save America . . .

To put these 24 hours in context, you must remember that McCain not only knows little about the economy but that he has not previously expressed any urgency about its meltdown. It was on Sept. 15 — the day after his former idol Alan Greenspan pronounced the current crisis a “once-in-a-century” catastrophe — that McCain reaffirmed for the umpteenth time that the “fundamentals of our economy are strong.” As recently as Tuesday he had not yet even read the two-and-a-half-page bailout proposal first circulated by Hank Paulson last weekend. “I have not had a chance to see it in writing,” he explained. . . . [read on]

John McCain, call your office

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2008/09/28/mccain_and_the_phone/index.html
[Mike Madden] John McCain, to ABC News's George Stephanopoulos, on why he left the campaign trail as Congress worked on a Wall Street bailout deal: "I came back because I wasn't going to phone it in."

McCain senior advisor Mark Salter, to the New York Times's Elizabeth Bumiller, on what McCain was doing in Washington to help reach a deal: "He's calling members on both sides, talking to people in the administration, helping out as he can... he can effectively do what he needs to do by phone."

More: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014927.php

What McCain REALLY did with his time back in D.C.

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/mccain-never-bothered-showing-up-for.html
McCain never bothered showing up for the bailout talks Saturday, but he did have a very swanky dinner with Joe Lieberman . . . [read on]

Mark Kleiman picked up on my suggestion yesterday that the reason McCain wouldn’t look at Obama during the debate was because he had to do it to avoid losing his temper. Watching some of the replays yesterday, it certainly looked to me as if he were TRYING NOT to look at Obama. Kleiman adds a good observation

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/campaign_2008_/2008/09/note_to_david_broder.php
Nick Burbules at PBD suggests that McCain was mostly trying to keep his temper in check, and feared that he couldn't do so if he looked at Obama. That could well be right. Of course, a man so lacking in self-command is not to be trusted as Commander-in-Chief.

More on McCain’s anger management: http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/monday-morning-open-thread_29.html
[Joe Sudbay] I'm still struck by how angry McCain was on Friday night. Refusing to look at Obama. Sneering. And, muttering under his breath. He was acting like a fifth grader. McCain should have been on best behavior, but he couldn't control himself. He can't control himself and is increasingly erratic. And, as I've been saying, "erratic" is the best word to describe John McCain, but "erratic" is the one of the worst words to describe a president.

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/get-off-my-lawn.html
[Chris in Paris] If McCain hasn't addressed his raging temper by the time he is 72 years old, it's not going to happen. It hardly looks presidential as McCain loses his composure during a simple debate. How will he guide America in dangerous situations if he's unable to control his temper in such a friendly and important setting?

What next? The McCain campaign and their supporters see that a straight-line extension of current trends will lead to defeat. Thursday’s debate with Palin is going to be. . . . well . . . bring the popcorn. So what will their next ploy be to try to change the momentum?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/27/AR2008092702906.html
In the two weeks that the Wall Street financial crisis has dominated the political debate, the presidential race has shifted from what had been essentially a dead heat to one in which Sen. Barack Obama has opened up a narrow but perceptible advantage nationally, as well as in a number of battleground states.

The burden now falls on Sen. John McCain to reverse the effects of the focus on the economy, and to keep the contest close enough so that a dominant debate performance, a gaffe by Obama or some outside event can shift the momentum back to him. . . .

Schmidt said the campaign will press two arguments as forcefully as possible in the coming days. One is that Obama is not ready to be commander in chief and that, in a time of two wars, "his policies will make the world more dangerous and America less secure." Second, he said, McCain will argue that, in a time of economic crisis, Obama will raise taxes and spending and "will make our economy worse." . . .

[NB: Bold, creative. Keep banging that drum, boys. It's all you've got.]

More: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/220506.php

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014928.php

McCain’s health-care plan: it costs you more by taxing your benefits than it gives you back – that is a TAX INCREASE. Repeat

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/5000-wont-buy-you-diddly-squat.html

Attacking the New York Times – very smart

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/last-thing-mccain-campaign-campaign.html

One of Obama’s best lines was after McCain gave yet another accounting of the dead soldier’s bracelet he’s wearing – and why that was a reason for continuing the war. Obama replied, “I have a bracelet too” – and explained why that was a reason for ending it. So, of course the wingnutsphere has to take him down for that – and of course they get the facts wrong

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/28/224454/075/410/613868

Yesterday we had a piece about Sarah Palin saying, in response to a question about carrying out raids into Pakistan, “"If that's what we have to do stop the terrorists from coming any further in, absolutely, we should." This is exactly the view that McCain criticized Obama for in the debate, calling it “naïve.” Now his own running mate has said the same thing. How will they handle it?

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/28/mccain-retracts-palins-pakistan-comments/
McCain retracts Palin's Pakistan comments
[McCain] “In all due respect, people going around and… sticking a microphone while conversations are being held, and then all of a sudden that's—that's a person's position… This is a free country, but I don't think most Americans think that that's a definitive policy statement made by Governor Palin."

More: http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2008/09/quote_of_the_day_92808.html
[Kevin Drum] Got that? It's unfair for someone to "stick a microphone" in the face of a vice presidential candidate during a campaign appearance and then take her words seriously. This is no longer even low farce. It's more like we're all in the middle of a bad vaudeville skit.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014929.php
[Steve Benen] I see. So, just because Sarah Palin says something in public doesn't mean Palin actually believes what she's saying. And for goodness sakes, no one should think that Palin's comments are a reflection of the campaign's position on an issue.

This is getting pretty silly. . .

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/mccain-takes-back-what-palin-says-about.html

Ethical pit bull, eh?

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ijvcK8P0ztXwMgir7NnkIy4rcI0AD93FQIA81
Some of her first actions after being elected mayor in 1996 raised possible ethical red flags: She cast the tie-breaking vote to propose a tax exemption on aircraft when her father-in-law owned one, and backed the city's repeal of all taxes a year later on planes, snow machines and other personal property. She also asked the council to consider looser rules for snow machine races. Palin and her husband, Todd, a champion racer, co-owned a snow machine store at the time.

Palin often told the City Council of her personal involvement in such issues, but that didn't stop her from pressing them, according to minutes of council meetings.

She sometimes followed a cautious path in the face of real or potential conflicts — for example, stepping away from the table in 1997 when the council considered a grant for the Iron Dog snow machine race in which her husband competes.

But mostly, like other Wasilla elected officials at the time, she took an active role on issues that directly affected and sometimes benefited her. . . . [read on]

Palin, sinking fast . . .

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-palin28-2008sep28,0,3440078.story
While John McCain and his aides have railed against the "liberal mainstream media" in recent weeks, some of the most searing attacks against the Republican presidential nominee have come from conservative intellectuals.

McCain's surprise vice presidential pick, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, and his sharp reactions to the continuing economic storm have led several prominent columnists on the right to slam the Arizona senator as more reckless than bold, more strident than forceful. . . . [read on]

A devastating takedown: http://www.newsweek.com/id/161204
[Fareed Zakaria] Will someone please put Sarah Palin out of her agony? Is it too much to ask that she come to realize that she wants, in that wonderful phrase in American politics, "to spend more time with her family"? Having stayed in purdah for weeks, she finally agreed to a third interview. CBS's Katie Couric questioned her in her trademark sympathetic style. It didn't help. . . . [read on!]

Don’t get too caught up in the daily tracking numbers (though Obama’s advantage is widening) – look at the trends. Aside from a little spike after the Republican convention and the (initially) popular choice of Palin, McCain has been losing for months. What could McCain possibly do that would change those trends?

Now: http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/09/28/obamas_national_lead_grows.html

http://www.juancole.com/2008/09/obama-won-gallupusa-today-poll-52-say.html

Trends: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/us/general_election_mccain_vs_obama-225.html

When this election is over, if McCain loses, two things will be cited as his downfall. One is the selection of Palin – which I still maintain was a disaster that will cost him net votes. The other is the events of this past week, especially his campaign-suspension that wasn’t a suspension, his trip back to DC, his rudderless conduct there, and then his last-second reversal and decision to debate after all. Imagine McCain as President in a real crisis

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/28/195234/916/390/608795

What (NOT) to expect from the Dept of Justice IG report later today

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/09/28/the-usa-purge-dojs-ig-punts/
[Marcy Wheeler] Well over a year after the Department of Justice's Inspector General started an investigation into the US Attorney firings, they're set to punt tomorrow. They won't refer Gonzales--or anyone else--for prosecution, but they will recommend that someone--someone with subpoena power--continue the investigation . . .

Bonus item: More on the Tina Fey parody

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014924.php
[Steve Benen] Here's the truly hysterical part: the bit used actual quotes from Palin's interview this week with Sarah Palin [NB: Katie Couric] As the Huffington Post noted, "no parody was required."

When a comedy show can make you look ridiculous by actually quoting you, verbatim, that's a problem. . . .

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

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- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:52 AM

 
GRUMPY OLD MAN

On further review: second thoughts across the board about why viewers reacted so negatively to McCain during the debate. The consensus is, his grumpiness, rudeness, lack of eye contact, and dismissive attitude toward Obama rubbed people the wrong way – even people not previously predisposed toward Obama. Nicely done, John

LA Times: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-debate27-2008sep27,0,4778370.story
Time and again, McCain, who is 72 and would be the oldest man ever elected to a first term, condescended to Obama, who is 47 and one of the youngest ever to win his party's nomination. "He doesn't understand," McCain said repeatedly. Discussing Obama's willingness to engage in talks with Iran without preconditions, McCain said: "It isn't just naive. It's dangerous."

Obama declined to be belittled. Although McCain refused to address him directly -- despite encouragement from moderator Jim Lehrer -- Obama looked at and spoke to McCain. Obama often credited McCain on issues -- a grace that was not reciprocated -- but he did not accept the role of junior candidate. . . .

Hilzoy: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014917.php
[T]he McCain campaign seems to think that pointing out the occasions when Obama said that McCain was right is a winning strategy. I think this is wrong, not only for the reasons I mentioned, but because it undercuts one of McCain's main lines of argument: that he is willing to reach across the aisle and work for bipartisan solutions, whereas Obama is not.

Think about it: McCain couldn't even bring himself to look at Obama. He was consistently contemptuous and dismissive. And now he has released an ad that takes Obama's willingness to acknowledge that his opponents are right to be the sort of thing that's worth attacking him for.

McCain claims that he can truly reach out to his opponents and work with them, while Obama cannot. It's hard for me to think that his performance in this debate didn't seriously undermine that claim. . .

Marshall: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/220315.php
Whether it was contempt or condescension or some sort of fear or inability to -- in the most literal sense -- face Obama, it made McCain look small and angry. . . .

Fallows: http://jamesfallows.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/09/on_strategy_and_tactics.php
The least self-aware moment for John McCain in last night's debate came at the half-way point, when he said, "I'm afraid Senator Obama doesn't understand the difference between a tactic and a strategy."

In a sense McCain was sticking to his battle plan in saying this -- the plan being on-message hammering-home of the "Obama doesn't understand" theme. In another sense, he lost his way, since he immediately segued not into a discussion of strategic matters in Iraq and Afghanistan but into an anecdote. But that kind of literal parsing of his answer -- tactical analysis, you might call it -- really misses the point.

There has been no greater contrast between the Obama and McCain campaigns than the tactical-vs-strategic difference, with McCain demonstrating the primacy of short-term tactics and Obama sticking to a more coherent long-term strategy. And McCain's dismissive comment suggests that he still does not realize this. . . .

Cole: http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=11439
Look for the appearance of the following words in days to come: cranky, grumpy, crotchety, angry, mean, rude, sneering, snarling, contemptuous, off-putting, snide, boorish, and worst of all, not Presidential. SNL will probably drive the point home in a skit that will become the dominant narrative tonight, and McCain will become boxed in regarding his behavior in the second debate, much as Gore was unable to be as aggressive as he wanted in the second debate (I remember the running joke was that Gore had been medicated for the second debate). And if McCain does not tone down the contempt, it will simply feed the narrative. Or, if we are really lucky, as someone suggested in another thread, McCain will overcompensate and spend the entire time comically and creepily attempting to make eye contact with Obama . . .

More: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/roundup_of_opinion_on_the_deba.php

Yesterday I mentioned the CNN feature, tracking Democratic, Republican, and Independent voter responses. As the debate went on, the Independent line dropped into the negative as soon as McCain started talking, before he even gave his answer. This tells you, I think, that it was a reaction to his affect and manner more than to his positions. Here’s more:

http://www.time-blog.com/swampland/2008/09/what_sayeth_the_undecideds.html
[Time] McCain was seen as the more negative of the two—by 7 points before the debate and by 26 points after. The audience did not like it when he went after Obama for being "naïve" or used his oft-repeated "what Senator Obama doesn't understand" line. When the two clashed directly in the second half of the debate, with Obama repeatedly protesting McCain's characterization of his statements or positions, the voter dials went down. Voters appear to have judged McCain too negative in those encounters and Obama more favorably. . . .

On McCain’s lack of eye-contact. It was certainly striking that McCain never looked at Obama. Too striking to be an accident. David Broder says, ridiculously, that this was some kind of “alpha male” moment for McCain. Mark Kleiman, and others, have suggested that McCain was actually AFRAID to look at him.

Let me give you my take, and I think it’s pretty obvious. We all knew that McCain HAD to keep his temper in check. I think he was coached and constantly reminded not to look at Obama, because I believe he CAN’T look at Obama, standing there as his equal, calling him out, without getting furious. It’s just that simple. It’s a very human thing

Broder: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/27/AR2008092701357_pf.html

Kleiman: http://www.samefacts.com/archives/campaign_2008_/2008/09/note_to_david_broder.php

More McCain bungles on foreign policy facts (it’s his area of “expertise,” you know)

http://www.centredaily.com/news/politics/story/867627.html

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/09/27/playing-pakistan/

http://www.juancole.com/2008/09/iraqi-hopes-for-us-troop-withdrawal.html

Palin too: http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/you-cant-even-trust-her-to-buy.html

McCain says Obama opposed funding for the troops. Well then, so did McCain

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014919.php
[Obama] "Senator McCain opposed funding for troops in legislation that had a timetable, because he didn't believe in a timetable. I opposed funding a mission that had no timetable, and was open-ended, giving a blank check to George Bush. We had a difference on the timetable. We didn't have a difference on whether or not we were going to be funding troops. We had a legitimate difference." . . . [read on]

Vets for Obama: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/27/1541/22658/668/612601

Smart analysis: you want proof that the debate didn’t work for McCain? Look at the post-debate ads – Obama’s have debate footage of the candidate, McCain’s don’t

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/9/27/142545/212

More: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014916.php

Clever: The Washington Post Debate Decoder

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/interactives/campaign08/debates/

More highlights: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/220288.php

The next debate: McCain versus McCain

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/john-mccain-on-george-bush-i-did.html

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/oh-just-watch-it.html

John McCain, oh-so-desperately needed back in D.C. to help with the bailout bill, spends the day at his election headquarters and condo. No, he isn’t part of the negotiations, and yes, he does plan to try to take credit for whatever they come up with

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iE2JCSH5p9r2GBkQWS9TWAMzmuvQD93F91800
Senior adviser Mark Salter said the Arizona senator spent the morning at his campaign headquarters placing calls . . . "He can effectively do what he needs to do by phone," Salter said Saturday. "He's calling members on both sides, talking to people in the administration, helping out as he can." . . .

[NB: Begging the question, then, Why did he have to hurry back to D.C.?]

McCain couldn’t care less about the Congressional Republicans or their plan. If you look at this video, he didn’t even understand what their plan is. But he is VERY interested in seeming to be the person who brought them to the negotiating table

Video: http://www.samefacts.com/archives/john_mccain_/2008/09/well_matched.php

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/26/AR2008092603957_pf.html
"McCain has been trying to help the House guys, trying to get their ideas into the broader bill," said a senior Republican Senate aide. "If McCain can do that, he can bring 50 to 100 House Republicans to the bill. That would be a big damn deal." . . .

The breakdown was serious enough that word reached Paulson. Just 25 minutes before the scheduled meeting at the White House, Paulson phoned House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to alert her to trouble, according to a Senate Democratic leadership aide. When congressional leaders converged on the White House, the Democrats peeled off into the Roosevelt Room to discuss the revolt over the insurance plan. President Bush was kept waiting, something he has always hated.

After the cameras left the Cabinet room, Bush thanked everybody for their spirit of cooperation and said he knew it was not an easy vote. He knew elements still needed to be worked out and said he wanted to go around the table to hear people's views.

Pelosi said Obama would speak for the Democrats. Though later he would pepper Paulson with questions, according to a Republican in the room, his initial point was brief: "We've got to get something done."

Bush turned to McCain, who joked, "The longer I am around here, the more I respect seniority." McCain then turned to Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to speak first.

Boehner was blunt. The plan Paulson laid out would not win the support of the vast majority of House Republicans. It had been improved on the edges, with an oversight board and caps on the compensation of participating executives. But it had to be changed at the core. He did not mention the insurance alternative, but Democrats did. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, pressed Boehner hard, asking him if he really intended to scrap the deal and start again.

No, Boehner replied, he just wanted his members to have a voice. Obama then jumped in to turn the question on his rival: "What do you think of the [insurance] plan, John?" he asked repeatedly. McCain did not answer.

One Republican in the room said it was clear that the Democrats came into the meeting with a "game plan" aimed at forcing McCain to choose between the administration and House Republicans. "They had taken McCain's request for a meeting and trumped it," said this source.

Congressional aides from both parties were standing in the lobby of the West Wing, unaware of the discord inside the Cabinet room, when McCain emerged alone, shook the hands of the Marines at the door and left. . . .

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/27/14618/9420/710/612543
[NYT] Mr. McCain did not explicitly side with the House Republicans who derailed the deal on Thursday. But neither did he discourage them, nor put forth his own bailout plan, nor endorse the White House proposal to have the government buy up distressed mortgage assets from faltering Wall Street firms. But by keeping his views to himself, Mr. McCain kept the House revolt alive, a move that infuriated the White House and Congressional Democrats, but one that did bring him accolades from House Republicans, who say Mr. McCain at least helped get their voices heard . . . [read on]

More: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014920.php

Oxymoron alert!

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2008/09/quote_of_the_day_-_92708.html
[SEC chairman Christopher Cox] "The last six months have made it abundantly clear that voluntary regulation does not work."

A very bad week for McCain and Palin – and possibly the turning point in the campaign

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/09/26/2008-09-26_after_reversing_on_debate_john_mccain_lo.html
The collapse of McCain's Hail Mary intervention capped a tumultuous week which saw the Arizona Democrat's [sic] lead over Obama evaporate and his running mate deliver a ragged and at times impenetrable TV interview. With economic jitters playing to traditional Democratic dogma, McCain's Big Mo suddenly reverted to his challenger.

"This is the attention-deficit-disorder campaign," said a bewildered senior Republican operative. "They've had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week."

In the process, McCain invited questions about his judgment and ability to work his will in Washington if elected.

"This raises the fundamental issue of how a guy who is hated by his own party can govern," fretted a GOP mandarin who worked for several Presidents. "If he can't control the Republicans, how can he run a country?" . . .

Post-debate tracking polls: Is Obama’s lead settling in?

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/09/27/tracking_poll_update.html

Now will attention turn back to the lies the McCain campaign has been dishing about campaign manager Rick Davis?

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/220349.php

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014922.php

That’s some web development!

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/220379.php
[Josh Marshall] Mike Isikoff reveals that in addition to paying Davis's salary directly to Davis Manafort, the McCain campaign has paid almost a million dollars to 3eDC, a web development company, part owned by Davis.

That's a decent chunk of change for web development. So TPM Reader UB looked up 3eDC's website. And as you can see, for a firm in the business of billing $1 million for high-end design work, their own website appears to be one of those off-the-rack professional firm template sites you can by for $19.99.

I'm not saying it's Jukt Micronics exactly. But 3eDC's existence as an actual company seems rather thin.

Now, digging around a little, I notice that 3eDC is pretty closely tied to Davis Manafort. Not only, as Newsweek notes, does the company share an address with Davis Manafort. Last year, US News got Davis to admit that the company has two owners -- Rick Davis and Paul Manafort.

And there's a bit more. According to a July 2007 article in the Wall Street Journal, 3eDC was a "start-up ... with one customer -- the [McCain] campaign." The Journal further reported that within the campaign it was understood that 3eDC was essentially a pass-through, that it had a series of other 'partner firms' that did the actual work.

Perhaps not surprisingly, in June, the Post's Matthew Mosk reported that shortly after McCain took over the Republican National Committee in his role as de facto nominee, 3eDC resurfaced with its second client to date -- the Republican National Committee -- with a contract potentially worth as much as $3 million.

So to cycle back, how we got into all this was trying to figure out whether Rick Davis had really cut his ties with Davis Manafort. The question most people have been asking is whether Davis was still drawing a salary. What it seems like now, however, is that Davis has born poring tons of McCain campaign money back into Davis Manafort -- either by having his campaign salary paid to the firm or by having huge consulting accounts set up for paper companies owned by Davis and Manafort. In either case, the question seems no longer to be whether Davis still draws a salary from Davis Manafort but whether McCain-Palin 2008 and Davis Manafort are even distinct organizations.

McCain’s ties to Big Gambling

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/28/us/politics/28gambling-web.html
A lifelong gambler, Mr. McCain takes risks, both on and off the craps table. He was throwing dice that night not long after his failed 2000 presidential bid, in which he was skewered by the Republican Party’s evangelical base, opponents of gambling. Mr. McCain was betting at a casino he oversaw as a member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, and he was doing so with the lobbyist who represents that casino, according to three associates of Mr. McCain.

The visit had been arranged by the lobbyist, Scott Reed, who works for the Mashantucket Pequot, a tribe that has contributed heavily to Mr. McCain’s campaigns and built Foxwoods into the world’s second-largest casino. Joining them was Rick Davis, Mr. McCain’s current campaign manager. Their night of good fortune epitomized not just Mr. McCain’s affection for gambling, but also the close relationship he has built with the gambling industry and its lobbyists during his 25-year career in Congress. . . . [read on]

Who were the Keating Five?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/24/john-mccains-keating-five_n_128807.html

Cheneyism at work in Anchorage

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/27/11185/6381/859/612402
[ADN] With state officials again defying legislative subpoenas in the investigation of whether Gov. Sarah Palin abused her power, the war between state lawmakers and Alaska's attorney general is escalating.The governor's chief of staff, Mike Nizich, and six other Palin aides didn't show up Friday to honor subpoenas ordering them to testify in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The committee chairman, Anchorage Democratic Sen. Hollis French, said they could be found in contempt when the full Legislature convenes in January . . . [NB: Yeah, right, JANUARY]

Don’t tell me that the McCain/Palin campaign is going to orchestrate a WEDDING for Palin’s pregnant daughter just before the election!

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/220382.php
[Times of London] "It would be fantastic," said a McCain insider. "You would have every TV camera there. The entire country would be watching. It would shut down the race for a week."

Further analysis of Murray Waas’s blockbuster on Gonzales’ hospital visit to Ashcroft

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/09/27/rationalizing-the-hospital-visit/

Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in trouble. . . . IN KENTUCKY. You know something has shifted

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/09/27/bluegrass_poll_mcconnell_in_trouble_in_kentucky.html

Expect more and more of this in the weeks to come, frantic articles and ads meant to whip up panic that Obama might actually become President!

http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/27/obamacommie/
[NRO] What’s depressing, to a person like me, is that Obama has mastered the trick of coming off as perfectly moderate — even when your career and thought have been very different. Listening to Obama last night, you would have taken him to be a Sam Nunn, David Boren type. No ACORN, no Ayers, no Wright, no community-organizin’ radicalism, no nothing. He certainly knows what it takes to appeal to people in a general election. Then, once he’s in — if he gets in — he will govern as far to the left as possible. . . .

Sunday talk show line-ups

http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlDC/television/sunday_show_preview_95791.asp
NBC Meet the Press: Bill Clinton. Tom Brokaw will moderate a debate between Colorado Senate candidates Mark Udall (D) and Bob Schaffer (R).

CBS Face the Nation: Barack Obama.

ABC This Week: John McCain, and a roundtable with former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, The Washington Post's Steve Pearlstein, The American Prospect's Robert Reich, and ABC News' George Will.

CNN Late Edition: Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, New York Times' Thomas Friedman, CNN's Gloria Borger, CNN's John King, CNN's Jeffrey Toobin, GOP strategist Alex Castellanos, Dem strategist Hilary Rosen, GOP strategist Leslie Sanchez and Dem strategist Donna Brazile.

Bonus item: “It doesn’t have to be that way”

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/9/27/191259/366

Double extra special bonus item: Tina Fey as Sarah Palin (again)

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/couric-palin-open/704042/

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:01 AM

 
180 DEGREES

Silly me. I actually believed that McCain meant it when he said he was suspending his campaign and postponing the debate so he could hurry back to Washington, where he would work tirelessly until a bailout deal was done, as he promised.

Of course, the instant he saw that this stunt was hurting him in the polls (only 10% thought postponing the debate was a good idea; Obama’s overnight tracking poll lead doubled), he suddenly reversed course, declared victory, and rushed back to do the debate after all – even though an agreement, largely thanks to his meddling, is actually farther away than ever. He still refuses to say whether he will even support the outcome of the process of bipartisan negotiation he wants to claim credit for putting in place. And, as documented here and elsewhere, he never did “suspend his campaign.”

But you know what? I thought McCain won the debate overall (though the polls don’t agree with me – see below). He continually framed issues in a way that put Obama in a reactive position – especially on the economy. Obama clearly had made a decision that he wasn’t going to be overly confrontational, and backed off several opportunities (as I yelled at the television) to come back hard at McCain. His one gain – and I suppose this was the main purpose – was to look calm, knowledgeable, and Presidential. He certainly was more respectful. He stood as McCain’s equal in foreign policy insight, despite McCain’s frequent labeling of him as “naïve.” And that’s a victory in itself, for Obama.

The most interesting thing, watching the debate on CNN, was their “instant response” chart running along the bottom – tracking the positive and negative reactions of selected Democratic, Republican, and Independent viewers. I wasn’t making a systematic study of this, but the Independent line seemed to favor Obama sharply over McCain. That’s huge, if it’s true

Debate recaps and assessments

Marshall: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/220201.php

Sargent: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/mccain_seems_to_have_upper_han.php

Digby: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/reflexive-recoil-by-digby-its-very-hard.html

Hamsher: http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2008/09/26/debate-wrap-up-obama-didnt-hurt-himself/

Benen (2): http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014910.php

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014912.php

Ambinder: http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/09/the_rumble_in_oxford_first_tho.php

Dickerson: http://www.slate.com/id/2200924

Lots more: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/26/221952/675/311/611925

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/27/12521/2632/94/612158

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/26/232251/977/229/612007

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/26/23114/5164/258/611970

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/27/8637/23266/987/612274

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/9/26/232459/403

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/09/27/the_first_presidential_debate.html

I wouldn’t make too much of it, but the post-debate polls seem to think Obama won

CNN: http://www.eschatonblog.com/2008_09_21_archive.html#4515984453314773703

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/initial_polls_show_obama_winni.php

CBS: http://www.eschatonblog.com/2008_09_21_archive.html#7322430381225428975

Much more: http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_plank/archive/2008/09/27/why-voters-thought-obama-won-and-why-the-pundits-didn-t-get-it.aspx
[Nate Silver] Why Voters Thought Obama Won (And Why the Pundits Didn't Get It) . . . [read on!]

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/27/71646/2857/993/612252

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/220218.php

McCain’s palpable contempt

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/seems-everyone-noticed-mccains-sneers.html

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/campaign_2008_/2008/09/mccains_rudeness.php

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/220226.php

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/9/27/63437/1338
[Todd Beeton] Much has been made of John McCain's refusal to look Barack Obama in the eye during the debate, and I do think it's a really important point, but Obama wasn't the only one whose gaze Senator McCain averted.

Several times during the debate, particularly in the opening section on the economy, Barack Obama looked directly into the camera and literally addressed the people watching at home, saying, essentially, in his own Barack way, "I feel your pain." I don't recall one time when John McCain did the same. . . . [read on]

Orwellian: McCain’s campaign posts an ad claiming “McCain Wins Debate” – HOURS BEFORE THE DEBATE EVEN HAPPENED

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/26/113724/157/938/611306

Watch McCain and his surrogates try to explain how there was sufficient “progress” in the budget talks to allow him to go back for the debate

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/220160.php

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/top_mccain_ally_hints_mccain_w_1.php

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/breaking_mccain_to_attend_deba.php

Joe Klein: Bailout Kabuki

http://www.time-blog.com/swampland/2008/09/what_actually_happened_yesterd_1.html
The New York Times has an excellent account of the impact of John McCain's bailout freakout on the actual work of negotiating a compromise. There are several stunning revelations here. First, House Minority Leader John Boehner's top aide pretty much conceded that among the motivations for the House Republicans' refusal to go along with the plan was to save face for McCain . . . [read on]

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/house-republican-whip-roy-blunt-r-mo.html
House Republican Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO) was just interviewed by Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC, and he told Mitchell that McCain killed the deal yesterday at the White House . . .

http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2008/09/26/house-gop-aides-mccain-clueless-on-bailout/
[Think Progress] Boehner and McCain discussed the bailout plan, but Republican leadership aides described the conversation as somewhat surreal. Neither man was familiar with the details of the proposal being pressed by House conservatives . . .

Today’s must-read: John Judis nails McCain’s opportunism and hypocrisy.

http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_plank/archive/2008/09/26/putting-country-last.aspx
“Putting Country Last”

More McCain-bashing from across the political spectrum: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/26/ex-adviser-mccain-blinked_n_129611.html
After days of saying that John McCain would not attend Friday's presidential debate unless an agreement on a bailout package for the markets was "locked-down," the McCain campaign has gone back on its word.

On Friday, it announced that the Senator would head down to Mississippi even though, as they readily admit, much work remained needed on the bailout agreement.

The whole episode left even conservatives admitting that the McCain campaign looked erratic and a bit foolish with no apparent direction or guiding principle.

"It just proves his campaign is governed by tactics and not ideology," said Republican consultant Craig Shirley, who advised McCain earlier in this cycle. "In the end, he blinked and Obama did not. The 'steady hand in a storm' argument looks now to more favor Obama, not McCain."

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/huckabee-mccains-debate-gambit-huge.html
[Fox] Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said Thursday that Sen. John McCain made a “huge mistake” by even discussing canceling the presidential debate with Sen. Barack Obama. . . .

More: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-welch26-2008sep26,0,5641824.story

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2008/09/26/BL2008092602013.html

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/john-farrell/2008/9/26/obama-looks-presidential-while-mccain-looks-for-a-photo-op.html

John McCain, thrill junkie

http://www.slate.com/id/2200867/

More (and more and more) evidence of lobbyist influence over McCain’s campaign

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/mccain_advisers_husband_heads.php

The lack of investigation into McCain’s health issues – and his continued refusal to make his medical reports fully available

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/9/26/163337/141

Obama’s polling lead doubles overnight, thanks to McCain’s stunt

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/obamas_lead_nearly_doubles_in.php

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/09/26/diageohotline_poll_obama_widens_lead.html
[Whoa!] Key finding: On the economy, Obama has a 48% to 34% advantage over McCain.

How the rest of the world votes on McCain/Obama (thanks to Robert M. for the link)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/sep/10/uselections2008.barackobama
[Jonathan Freedland] Obama has stirred an excitement around the globe unmatched by any American politician in living memory. Polling in Germany, France, Britain and Russia shows that Obama would win by whopping majorities, with the pattern repeated in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. If November 4 were a global ballot, Obama would win it handsomely. If the free world could choose its leader, it would be Barack Obama. . . .

VP surrogates

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014913.php
[Steve Benen] After a debate, campaigns generally want high-profile figures telling the media how great their candidate did. And as a rule, it's hard to top the running mates as high-profile figures.

It was pretty interesting, then, that the Obama campaign was anxious to get Joe Biden in front of the cameras -- while Sarah Palin was nowhere to be found.

Indeed, as this CNN clip shows, Biden was not only out there, he was excellent . . .

Now, on the other side of the GOP ticket. The disastrous Gibson and Couric interviews, the impending debate disaster with Biden, has conservatives really worried about Sarah Palin. As predicted here, once the novelty and instant celebrity of Palin wore off, once she had to step down from reading clever quips from the teleprompter (which she does really, really well) and actually talk about what she knows and believes, the shallowness of this woman has become apparent to everyone. You’re actually hearing calls from the RIGHT that she should step down. That’s amazing. Even more amazing is to see a ninny like Kathleen Parker say that Palin isn’t smart enough for the job

http://article.nationalreview.com/print/?q=MDZiMDhjYTU1NmI5Y2MwZjg2MWNiMWMyYTUxZDkwNTE
[Parker] It was fun while it lasted.

Palin’s recent interviews with Charles Gibson, Sean Hannity, and now Katie Couric have all revealed an attractive, earnest, confident candidate. Who Is Clearly Out Of Her League.

No one hates saying that more than I do. Like so many women, I’ve been pulling for Palin, wishing her the best, hoping she will perform brilliantly. I’ve also noticed that I watch her interviews with the held breath of an anxious parent, my finger poised over the mute button in case it gets too painful. Unfortunately, it often does. My cringe reflex is exhausted . . . [read on!]

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/26/palin-should-step-down-conservative-commentator-says/
Parker's comments follow those by prominent conservatives David Brooks, George Will, and David Frum who have all publicly questioned Palin's readiness to be vice president.

"Sarah Palin has many virtues," Brooks wrote in a recent column. "If you wanted someone to destroy a corrupt establishment, she'd be your woman. But the constructive act of governance is another matter. She has not been engaged in national issues, does not have a repertoire of historic patterns and, like President Bush, she seems to compensate for her lack of experience with brashness and excessive decisiveness."

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/220136.php
[CNN’s Jack] Cafferty: Palin's a Friggin' Laughingstock

Much more! http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13991.html

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/220129.php

Palin’s lies

On Israel: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/26/82920/5951/156/611079

On Kissinger: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/26/174427/828/428/610807

On passports: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014908.php

http://www.juancole.com/2008/09/palin-says-she-did-not-have-money-to.html

McCain’s thugs and Palin’s lackeys have pretty much shut down the investigation process in Alaska – the national press has moved on, but the locals are furious

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/alaska_ag_files_suit_to_quash.php
[Zachary Roth] The national press may have mostly left Alaska, but the legal maneuvering over Trooper-Gate continues. Yesterday, Attorney General Talis Colberg filed suit to throw out the subpoenas issued to witnesses in the legislature's investigation. . . .

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/25/palin.probe/index.html
Lawmakers investigating Gov. Sarah Palin's firing of her public safety commissioner accused the McCain-Palin campaign on Thursday of stonewalling the probe by helping witnesses refuse to comply with subpoenas. . . .

Theocracy warning

http://www.newsweek.com/id/160080/page/1
[Sam Harris] The point to be lamented is not that Sarah Palin comes from outside Washington, or that she has glimpsed so little of the earth's surface (she didn't have a passport until last year), or that she's never met a foreign head of state. The point is that she comes to us, seeking the second most important job in the world, without any intellectual training relevant to the challenges and responsibilities that await her. There is nothing to suggest that she even sees a role for careful analysis or a deep understanding of world events when it comes to deciding the fate of a nation. In her interview with Gibson, Palin managed to turn a joke about seeing Russia from her window into a straight-faced claim that Alaska's geographical proximity to Russia gave her some essential foreign-policy experience. Palin may be a perfectly wonderful person, a loving mother and a great American success story—but she is a beauty queen/sports reporter who stumbled into small-town politics, and who is now on the verge of stumbling into, or upon, world history.

The problem, as far as our political process is concerned, is that half the electorate revels in Palin's lack of intellectual qualifications. . . .

I care even more about the many things Palin thinks she knows but doesn't: like her conviction that the Biblical God consciously directs world events. Needless to say, she shares this belief with mil-lions of Americans—but we shouldn't be eager to give these people our nuclear codes, either. There is no question that if President McCain chokes on a spare rib and Palin becomes the first woman president, she and her supporters will believe that God, in all his majesty and wisdom, has brought it to pass. Why would God give Sarah Palin a job she isn't ready for? He wouldn't. Everything happens for a reason. Palin seems perfectly willing to stake the welfare of our country—even the welfare of our species—as collateral in her own personal journey of faith . . . [read on]

FINALLY, the rape kit story being pushed by us, by AmericaBlog, and a couple of others, breaks into the mainstream: WHY did Palin refuse to pay for victims’ examinations – and did it have to do with her extremist views on contraception?

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/nyt-editorial-writer-sarah-palin-owes.html

Just for fun: Palin’s beauty contest video

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/26/sarah-palins-beauty-pagea_n_129667.html

The number of red states that Obama has turned into battleground states keeps growing – and with that, the number of places where McCain and the GOP have to spend time and money: Indiana, Virginia, North Carolina, Colorado, and New Hampshire

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/obamas_chances_rise_in_three_d.php

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/report_republicans_going_up_on.php

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/09/26/suffolk_poll_obama_inches_ahead_in_new_hampshire.html

I keep harping on this, but keep an eye on voter registration and GOTV operations – that’s where Obama has a huge advantage, come election day

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/in_multiple_key_battleground_s.php
[Greg Sargent] In a development that could have a significant impact on the presidential race, the rise in registered Democrats has far outpaced Republican registration in many key swing states, giving Dems a clear registration advantage in a lot of them, while wiping away one-time GOP registration advantages in a couple others. . . .

60 Senate seats, back within reach thanks to the financial meltdown

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/09/26/democrats_have_a_chance_at_60_senate_seats.html

Losing Pakistan

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2008/09/pakistan_warns_us_troops_after.php
[AP] Pakistan warned U.S. troops not to intrude on its territory Friday . . . [read on]

Report on Alberto Gonzales’s politicized firing of US Attorneys to be released on Monday. Here are some teasers

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/doj_report_on_us_attorney_firi.php
[Former US Attorney David Iglesias] “I expect them to conclude that there is sufficient evidence to show that former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and former Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty committed perjury in their statements before Congressional committees and investigators.”

Alberto could be in BIG trouble

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200809u/gonzales-notes
[Murray Waas] The Justice Department is investigating whether former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales created a set of fictitious notes so that President Bush would have a rationale for reauthorizing his warrantless eavesdropping program . . . [read on]

BUSH sent Gonzales and his henchmen on that ill-fated trip to Ashcroft’s hospital bed

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200809u/gonzales-investigation
[Murray Waas] In March 2004, White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales made a now-famous late-night visit to the hospital room of Attorney General John Ashcroft, seeking to get Ashcroft to sign a certification stating that the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program was legal. According to people familiar with statements recently made by Gonzales to federal investigators, Gonzales is now saying that George Bush personally directed him to make that hospital visit. . . . [read on]

More: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/220019.php

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/report_bush_directed_gonzo_to.php

The kind of people they are

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/09/26/national_review/index.html
[Glenn Greenwald] National Review's Mark Krikorian notes that (1) Washington Mutual became the largest bank to fail in American history yesterday and (2) its last press release touted the fact that it was named one of America's most diverse employers, having been "honored specifically for its efforts to recruit Hispanic employees, reach out to Hispanic consumers and support Hispanic communities and organizations"; for being "named [one of] the top 60 companies for Hispanics"; for "attaining equal rights for GLBT employees and consumers"; for having "earned points for competitive diversity policies and programs, including the recently established Latino, African American and GLBT employee network groups"; and for being "named one of 25 Noteworthy Companies by Diversity Inc magazine and one of the Top 50 Corporations for Supplier Diversity by Hispanic Enterprise magazine."

While juxtaposing these two facts -- (1) WaMu has a racially and ethnically diverse workforce and (2) WaMu collapsed yesterday -- the National Review writer headlined his post: "Cause and Effect?" . . .

Bonus item: McCain’s next ten campaign stunts

http://www.slate.com/id/2200927/
1. Returns to Vietnam and jails himself.
2. Offers the post of "vice vice president" to Warren Buffett.
3. Challenges Obama to suspend campaign so they both can go and personally drill for oil offshore.
4. Learns to use computer.
5. Does bombing run over Taliban-controlled tribal areas of Pakistan.
6. Offers to forgo salary, sell one house.
7. Sex-change operation.
8. Suspends campaign until Nov. 4, offers to start being president right now.
9. Sells Alaska to Russia for $700 billion.
10. Pledges to serve only one term. OK, half a term.

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 8:54 AM

 
CORRELATION OR CAUSATION?

I think the story is pretty well known by now: yesterday morning they had a bipartisan agreement on the budget deal. McCain rolls into town and the agreement falls apart. Coincidence?

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/09/mccains_surprise.php
[Marc Ambinder] During the White House meeting, it appears that Sen. John McCain had an agenda. He brought up alternative proposals, surprising and angering Democrats. He did not, according to someone briefed on the meeting, provide specifics.

One the proposals -- favored by House Republicans -- would relax regulation and temporarily get rid of certain taxes in order to lure private industry into the market for these distressed assets.

That approach has been rejected by Senate Democrats, Senate Republicans and, to this point, the White House. During the meeting, according to someone briefed on it, Sec. Henry Paulson told those assembled that the approach was not workable. . . .

[NB: Yes, you heard that right – the new conservative solution is LESS regulation and MORE tax cuts.]

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/25/201722/173/600/610627

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014888.php

http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/25/mccain-and-house-republicans-shred-bill-more-deregulation/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/michaeltomasky/2008/sep/26/uselections2008.useconomy

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2008/09/25/reid/index.html
[Harry Reid, D-NV] "I would suggest that anyone in that meeting that tried to understand what John McCain said in the meeting, couldn't... John McCain did nothing to help. He only hurt the process."

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/9/25/1953/34949
[Chris Dodd, D-CT] "It was contentious for a moment or so. What threw us off is that all of sudden there was some new core agreement floating around that none of us had ever heard of, and that of course was distracting."

On McCain's role:

"What happened is we've been spending a lot of time with this trying to come up with a rescue plan for the economy; what this looked like was a rescue plan for John McCain for two hours- not everyone is going to understand it. I'm convinced that the situation is grave."

"To be distracted for two or three hours by political theatre is something else."

"I have no idea where John McCain is on this."

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2008/09/25/obama_cbs/index.html
[Obama] “It's important not to inject presidential politics into this. My preference is to use the phone, and to talk to people and work with them, including [Treasury Secretary Henry] Paulson, [Federal Reserve Chairman Ben] Bernanke and others, in a way that's not a photo-op, because I think sometimes that prevents things from getting done. It's amazing what you can get done when you're not looking to try to get credit for it.”

Here’s the tell – while everyone else was saying an agreement was done, and before he even arrived in DC, McCain was predicting it would fail. Something was afoot behind the scenes already – watch McCain’s and Boehner’s kabuki

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/mccain_bailout_deal_wont_pass.php

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/25/135213/891/1009/610202

More: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13918.html

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/garbage_pail_/2008/09/ticktock_on_a_train_wreck.php

Having helped destroy the agreement, now McCain has a problem: when the markets tank today, how does he avoid the blame?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/25/mccain-makes-it-worse-as_n_129475.html
[Sam Stein] Later, the campaign sought to fight back against a developing narrative that McCain had hurt negotiations by speaking positively about an alternative bailout proposal, one put forth by a "working group" of conservative House Republicans.

In a damage control effort, McCain aides sent reporters a link to an article written by the Atlantic's Marc Ambinder, which reported that the Senator had taken no leadership position whatsoever. . . .

But in his story, Ambinder opined, "Boehner and the White House -- and McCain -- if they want to get something passed -- do have the responsibility to persuade these Republicans to support the bailout. After all, if not to get these recalcitrant Republicans on board, why did McCain go to Washington in the first place?"

Indeed, even members of the conservative commentariat were forced to acknowledge that much of what was happening among Republicans was strict, bare-knuckled politics.

"At the end of the day, there's a lot of people thinking about how to rebuild this party," said GOP strategist Ed Rollins on CNN, "and do we want to rebuild it with John McCain, who's always kind of questionable on the basic facts of fiscal control, all the rest of it, immigration. And I think to a certain extent this 110, 115 members of this study group are saying, here's the time to draw the line in the sand."

"That's pretty scary stuff that they're thinking about party right now and not country, is that what you're saying?" responded host Anderson Cooper.

"I think they're, yes, they're thinking about themselves," said Rollins. "I think they don't think that the threat is as great as a lot of other people do."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/26/confused-mccain-claims-we_n_129490.html
On NBC News Thursday night, John McCain claimed that "we've made progress" on negotiating a financial rescue package. McCain suggested that he deserves some of the credit for the "progress" . . .

What’s clear now is that (a) the debate can do McCain no good politically, so he’s looking for an excuse out of it, and (b) he wants to float around Washington, saying nothing definitive publicly, so that he can claim credit for whatever agreement (or, if he decides it will help him politically, nonagreement) results. He doesn’t really care about the details of the issue. He just needs to demonstrate his “leadership”

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/09/mccain_sounding_out_support_fo.php
"We are not pushing any specific proposal," Jill Hazelbaker, McCain's chief spokesperson, said after the meeting. "We are dedicated to brokering a quality agreement on a bipartisan basis"

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/garbage_pail_/2008/09/snatching_defeat_from_the_jaws_of_victory.php
[Mark Kleiman] McCain is like a firebug who starts a fire in hopes of making himself a hero by putting it out.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/219653.php
[JB] The current stunt is certainly at the top of the list, but I think there is another aspect of his rash decision to suspend the Republican National Convention that has not been commented on enough. It wasn't just that he truncated the convention. It was that his campaign leaked that he might give his acceptance speech by live feed from the disaster zone. As if he, John S. McCain III, somehow had to be there......doing what? Commandeering FEMA? This idea that McCain had to be there in the disaster zone instead of addressing his party in St. Paul is in some ways even more ridiculous than the notion that only he could save the Wall Street bailout and that the only way to do that is to "suspend" his campaign.

These are the people McCain is allying himself with right now

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/politico-some-house-republicans-would.html
[Politico] According to one GOP lawmaker, some House Republicans are saying privately that they’d rather “let the markets crash” than sign on to a massive bailout. . . .

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/219841.php
[David Kurtz] It is no small irony that after years of being at odds with the right wing of his own party, John McCain is staking his campaign for presidency on it. . . . [read on]

http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/25/breaking-house-republicans-scuttle-economic-rescue/
About 10:00 p.m. Thursday night, Barney Frank emerged from a Congressional meeting to announce that House Republicans had scuttled the negotiations over the financial bailout plan. . . .

No, of course McCain had no intention of really “suspending his campaign”

Ads: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/expert_mccains_ads_wont_be_all.php

Attack surrogates: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/25/153747/506/890/610337

Local campaign offices: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/25/mccain-campaign-still-act_n_129327.html

Fundraisers: http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2008/09/25/davis/index.html

More: http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/9/25/21259/2027

CNN’s Jeff Toobin: don’t be suckered

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/219833.php

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/219888.php
[Josh Marshall] As we've been reporting, John McCain's attack ads have remained up on the air across the country as late as this evening. And now it turns out that his campaign has instructed TV stations around the country to start airing them again starting on Saturday. In other words, McCain's ads may actually disappear from the air for a few hours on Friday.

At this point it looks like the only thing that got cancelled is McCain's much ballyhooed suspension of his campaign was the appearance on David Letterman.

McCain admits that, as of TUESDAY, he hadn’t even looked at the Paulson proposal – the most important document in this whole budget debate. Too busy? IT’S ONLY THREE PAGES LONG

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/219649.php

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014878.php

Obama will still show up and hold a town hall meeting if McCain ducks the debate

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/25/obama-will-make-debate-a_n_129250.html

McCain: my debate cancellation is . . . Obama’s fault?

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/mccain_pressure_on_us_to_have.php

He’s pulled this before

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/25/15128/8014/935/610284
[February 28, 2000] With new polls showing his campaign dead in the water among California Republicans, Arizona Sen. John McCain has pulled out of a long-scheduled debate with Texas Gov. George Bush, set for Thursday in Los Angeles. . . .

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/25/105250/467/235/609975
[DemFromCT] We know John McCain likes to gamble (craps is his preferred game). And we know when he's losing, because he always does something unsettling to, as Richard Wolffe put it 'upset the chessboard'. . . [read on]

“Country First,” huh John?

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014890.php

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/219755.php

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/09/25/obama_blasts_mccains_political_stunt.html

The pundits: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2008/09/the_dog_ate_my_debate_homework.php

Still lying about campaign manager Rick Davis

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/davis_still_an_officer_at_lobb.php

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/25/1199/18713/536/609674

NRA lobbyists working for McCain?

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/two_nra_lobbyists_working_for.php
[Kate Klonick] Looks like Rick Davis isn't the only lobbyist problem the McCain camp is dealing with these days.

Mother Jones reports that two actively-registered lobbyists are currently working on John McCain's campaign for president.

Wayne Berman, co-chairs McCain's national finance committee. James Jay Baker co-steers McCain's National Steering Committee of Sportsmen for McCain. Both work for the lobbying firm, Ogilvy Government Relations as managing directors. . . .

This month, the NRA -- a client of Baker and Berman's -- launched attack ads against Barack Obama. MoJo points out that besides conflicting with McCain's claims for running a straight-shooting, non-lobbyist campaign, Berman and Baker's presence also could come into conflict with the actual campaign rules that banned active lobbyists from working full time for the campaign, or participating in 527s or groups that "oppose any presidential candidate."

[Mother Jones] Asked whether he might be in violation of the campaign's conflict rules, Berman told Mother Jones, "Hmmm, I hadn't thought of that." . . .

McCain campaign strongly viewed as more negative

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/09/mccain_on_the_attack.php

Palin’s first interview with Katie Couric was painfully embarrassing. The second one is, well, just watch it:

Watch: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4479049n

Partial text: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/25/eveningnews/main4479062.shtml
Couric: In preparing for this conversation, a lot of our viewers … and Internet users wanted to know why you did not get a passport until last year. And they wondered if that indicated a lack of interest and curiosity in the world.

Palin: I'm not one of those who maybe came from a background of, you know, kids who perhaps graduate college and their parents give them a passport and give them a backpack and say go off and travel the world.

No, I've worked all my life. In fact, I usually had two jobs all my life until I had kids. I was not a part of, I guess, that culture. . . .

Couric: You've cited Alaska's proximity to Russia as part of your foreign policy experience. What did you mean by that?

Sarah Palin: That Alaska has a very narrow maritime border between a foreign country, Russia, and, on our other side, the land-boundary that we have with Canada. It's funny that a comment like that was kinda made to … I don't know, you know … reporters.

Couric: Mocked?

Palin: Yeah, mocked, I guess that's the word, yeah.

Couric: Well, explain to me why that enhances your foreign-policy credentials.

Palin: Well, it certainly does, because our, our next-door neighbors are foreign countries, there in the state that I am the executive of. And there…

Couric: Have you ever been involved in any negotiations, for example, with the Russians?

Palin: We have trade missions back and forth, we do. It's very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia. As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border. It is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right there, they are right next to our state. . . .

Couric: You recently said three times that you would never, quote, "second guess" Israel if that country decided to attack Iran. Why not?

Palin: We shouldn't second guess Israel's security efforts because we cannot ever afford to send a message that we would allow a second Holocaust, for one. Israel has got to have the opportunity and the ability to protect itself. They are our closest ally in the Mideast. We need them. They need us. And we shouldn't second guess their efforts.

Couric: You don't think the United States is within its rights to express its position to Israel? And if that means second-guessing or discussing an option?

Palin: No, abso … we need to express our rights and our concerns and …

Couric: But you said never second guess them.

Palin: We don't have to second-guess what their efforts would be if they believe … that it is in their country and their allies, including us, all of our best interests to fight against a regime, especially Iran, who would seek to wipe them off the face of the earth. It is obvious to me who the good guys are in this one and who the bad guys are. The bad guys are the ones who say Israel is a stinking corpse and should be wiped off the face of the earth. That's not a good guy who is saying that. Now, one who would seek to protect the good guys in this, the leaders of Israel and her friends, her allies, including the United States, in my world, those are the good guys. . . . [read on!]

Glenn Greenwald admits he was wrong: http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/09/25/palin/
Three weeks ago -- before Sarah Palin's interview with Charlie Gibson was announced -- I mocked the idea that the McCain campaign was afraid to have Palin face our mighty press corps, and I defended Palin as follows . . . I was so wrong . . . Just watch these clips from her interview last night with Katie Couric. I'll be honest: watching this, I actually felt sorry for Sarah Palin . . . [read on]

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2008/09/sarah_palin_unplugged.html
[Kevin Drum] Look, this is just getting scary. I don't care how partisan you are, you can't watch this clip from Sarah Palin's interview with Katie Couric without wondering if she's completely cracked under the pressure of running for vice president. . . .

Here’s yet another idiotic interview: http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/palin-channels-bush-cheney-blames-iraq.html

Palin’s “Road to Nowhere” – she happily took the money for THAT

http://www.propublica.org/article/palin-defends-construction-of-road-to-nowhere-925
[Paul Kiel] After refusing to answer questions for more than a week about Gov. Sarah Palin's administration's construction of a $26 million dead-end road, a McCain campaign spokeswoman told CNN earlier this week that Gov. Palin had no choice. But Alaska and federal officials say otherwise . . .

Excellent question

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/palin_/2008/09/serious_question.php
[Mark Kleiman] When are we going to see Sarah Palin's tax returns?

Those per diems for lodging at home were taxable income. Did she report them, or cheat?

Really, not a hard question to answer. Will someone please ask it?

Erk!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/25/AR2008092503988.html
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who has made a crackdown on gift-giving to state officials a centerpiece of her ethics reform agenda, has accepted gifts valued at $25,367 from industry executives, municipalities and a cultural center whose board includes officials from some of the largest mining interests in the state, a review of state records shows. . . .

Will Palin support fellow Alaska Republicans? [crickets]

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/219669.php

Now, we’re going to see this video of Palin’s racist nutty pastor on all the news channels, 24/7, in a constant loop, right? Right? Wright?

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/palins-preacher-jews-control-economy.html

Damn them. Damn them all

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/condi_admits_white_house_role.php

WHAT is Bill Clinton doing here?

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/25/bill-clinton-lavishes-praise-on-mccain/

Bonus item: McCain’s crisis

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/mccains-own-crisis.html

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 8:20 AM

 
A DESPERATE STUNT

Are you kidding me? Of all the pathetic, transparent, empty ploys – who could have imagined that McCain would try this one? His campaign has lost momentum, his campaign manager is in hot water, Obama’s ads are starting to bite, he’s lost whatever convention/Palin bounce he got, a debate with Obama is more likely to hurt than to help, and Palin is obviously NOT READY for hers.

So what does he do? Suggests SUSPENDING A PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN, so that he can hurry back to Washington, where he is urgently needed to save the nation from its budget crisis. Problem is, he’s NOT needed in Washington (the negotiations are going just fine, thank you), and his political posturing could only muck things up. Now maybe, mucking things up is just what he wants to do. But he’s desperate to find something to change the dynamics – and a debate, he fears, won’t do that

Meanwhile, we observe his pattern of leadership decisions. Bomb Iran. Kick Russia out of the G8. Hire Palin. Fire Cox. Suspend the campaign. “Bold” moves? That’s what he wants us to think – but to the rest of us these are wild, intemperate decisions that suggest a disproportionate temperament, willing to throw big risks onto the table for uncertain gain. Imagine a mindset like that in the White House.

He is losing, he knows it, and he figures he has nothing to lose. This is a dangerous man . . .

McCain’s plea: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/breaking_mccain_campaign_suspe.php

Watch: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/219347.php

Obama’s response: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/219484.php
"A few moments ago, President Bush called Senator Obama and asked him to attend a meeting in Washington tomorrow, which he agreed to do. Senator Obama has been working all week with leaders in Congress, Secretary Paulsen, and Chairman Bernanke to improve this proposal, and he has said that he will continue to work in a bipartisan spirit and do whatever is necessary to come up with a final solution. He strongly believes the debate should go forward on Friday so that the American people can hear from their next President about how he will lead America forward at this defining moment for our country," said Obama-Biden spokesman Bill Burton.

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/obama_dismisses_mccains_call_f.php
At a press conference just now, Barack Obama rejected John McCain's demand for a suspension of the debate.

"I believe we should continue to have the debate," he just said. "I believe it makes sense for us to present ourselves to the American people."

"Obviously if it turns out that we need to be in Washington, we've both got big planes, we've painted our slogan on the side of them," Obama also said. "They can get us from Washington to Mississippi pretty quickly." The debate is set to take place in Mississippi.

Obama also said that he was blindsided by McCain's public call for a debates suspension . . .

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014868.php
[Obama] "Presidents are going to have to deal with more than one thing at a time," he said. "It's not necessary for us to think that we can do only one thing, and suspend everything else."

More: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/219402.php
[Josh Marshall] Let's state outright a few obvious points. Bringing the presidential candidates and their press entourages back to Capitol Hill won't speed or improve the process of coming up with a good bailout deal. It will politicize it. That's so transparently obvious that it barely requires stating. And of course that is the point.

By going public with his 'suspension' announcement as a breaking news statement McCain intended to make any agreement between the candidate impossible. Contrast that with Obama's campaign, which apparently tried to get both campaigns to agree on a common set of principles privately before going public. There's no logical reason there can't be a presidential debate while a bailout plan is being negotiated.

Finally, does anyone think that McCain would have come up with this gambit if his polls were where they were two weeks ago instead of where they are today? Of course, not. This isn't a reaction to the national financial crisis but to the McCain polling crisis.

What does “suspending” a campaign even mean?

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/breaking_mccain_campaign_suspe.php
[Greg Sargent] t's not immediately clear what this means in practice. Will all of McCain's ads come down? Will the campaign stop sending out statements? Will campaign aides all leave headquarters and turn out the lights?

More: http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/09/suspending_a_campaign_iswhat_e.php

[NB: Especially when your campaign, like McCain’s, depends heavily on third-party ads that can continue even while you’ve “suspended” yours.]

Assessing the politics of it all

http://www.politico.com/arena/perm/Mickey_Edwards_89EC6432-6C1F-4A3C-863F-EF2D0F456116.html
[Mickey Edwards, retired Republican congressman] Oh, brother. What idiot came up with this stunt?

It ranks somewhere on the stupidity scale between plain silly and numbingly desperate. . . . [read on!]

More: http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0908/McCains_gambit.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/michaeltomasky/2008/sep/24/johnmccain.uselections20083

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/09/24/bush-failure-obama-leadership-mccain-stunt/

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/obama_avoids_getting_a_gop_bit.php

Obama starting to press money advantage (that’s another reason to suspend the campaign – McCain wouldn’t have to spread his dwindling money over as many days)

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/obama_dramatically_ramping_up.php

Meanwhile, there’s a bit of a backstory: earlier in the day, Obama contacted McCain to suggest a joint statement of principles on the budget agreement

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/219357.php

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/219361.php
[Josh Marshall] Obama reached out to McCain privately to agree to a shared set of bailout principles. McCain went off the handle again and tried to use the crisis as a way to call off the debates.

[A longtime reader says it's worse than that] Obama reached out privately, because once this discussion went public it was bound to be politicized. Instead of taking his call and hearing what he had to say, McCain spent the next six hours huddling with his aides, searching for a way of turning the situation to his political advantage. His response - a unilateral, public call for cooperation - was designed to retake the initiative and steal Obama's thunder. But it also ends any hope of actual cooperation.

Obama reached out, hoping that McCain would see something more important at stake than his own personal ambition. Alas, it would appear that there is nothing more important to McCain.

McCain’s version: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/mccain_campaigns_version_of_ev.php

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/219444.php
[Josh Marshall] It seems that today during the time Barack Obama was waiting to hear back from Sen. McCain about their planned joint statement -- and while McCain says he was meeting with key advisors and becoming increasingly concerned about the financial crisis facing the country -- he was actually holding a special meeting with Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, the expat international financier who once supported Hillary Clinton but now is supporting McCain because she thinks Obama is "elitist".

But here’s the BEST part. ROFLMAO

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/219470.php
[CNN] McCain supporter Sen. Lindsey Graham tells CNN the McCain campaign is proposing to the Presidential Debate Commission and the Obama camp that if there's no bailout deal by Friday, the first presidential debate should take the place of the VP debate, currently scheduled for next Thursday, October 2 in St. Louis.

It gets worse! http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/09/mccains_bottom_line_no_deal_no.php
[Marc Ambinder] A senior campaign official says that McCain will NOT debate -- no matter what -- if Congress hasn't reached an agreement on a bailout package.

The aide said that Obama's refusal to suspend his campaign will have no bearing on McCain's decision to attend the debate.

The aide did not know whether Gov. Palin would attend Oct. 2's vice presidential debate if Congress, by that point, still hasn't reached a deal.

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/25/0116/98083/581/609621

The people ain’t buying it

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/219427.php
Postpone 10%

Neither is the press

http://www.time-blog.com/swampland/2008/09/gimmicks_r_us.html
[Joe Klein] McCain suspends his campaign because of financial crisis? Oh please. Given today's poll numbers--even Fox has him dropping--it seems another Hail Mary (like the feckless selection of Palin) to try make McCain seem a statesman, which is difficult given the puerile tenor of his campaign's message operation.

Perhaps, if he's really interested in this financial stuff, McCain should propose that he and Obama change the topic from foreign policy to economics this Friday night--they could even stage the debate in Washington, so they wouldn't have to stray far from the bailout negotiations. I'm sure their fellow members of the Senate won't mind if McCain and Obama spend a few hours enlightening the public on this crucial subject.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/24/17531/5762/1021/609197
[Barney Frank, D-MA] "It's the longest Hail Mary pass in the history of either football or Marys."

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/25/2185/95157/491/609719

Late night hosts?

http://drudgereport.com/flash3cbm.htm
David Letterman tells audience that McCain called him today to tell him he had to rush back to DC to deal with the economy.

Then in the middle of the taping Dave got word that McCain was, in fact just down the street being interviewed by Katie Couric. Dave even cut over to the live video of the interview, and said, "Hey Senator, can I give you a ride home?"

Earlier in the show, Dave kept saying, "You don't suspend your campaign. This doesn't smell right. This isn't the way a tested hero behaves." And he joked: "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, Sara 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!"

Watch: http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/david-letterman-blasts-mccain-after.html

Back to substance: the negotiations are going just fine without McCain

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/219410.php
[From a participant] The deal on the "bail out" is 98% done. Treasury has capitulated on almost every point. A draft is circulating on the Hill now. No one needs McCain to help do the remaining 2%....except the White House who has no standing on this matter on the Hill with either Democrats or Republicans.

Draft text: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/docs/working-draft-house-bailout-plan/

Harry Reid: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/harry_reid_the_debate_must_go.php
[I]t would not be helpful at this time to have them come back during these negotiations and risk injecting presidential politics into this process or distract important talks about the future of our nation's economy. If that changes, we will call upon them. We need leadership; not a campaign photo op.

Steady leadership?

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/219393.php
[David Kurtz] The guy who a week ago said the fundamentals of our economy remain strong suddenly suspends his campaign and wants to cancel the first presidential debate to rush back to Washington to deal with a crisis that his vice presidential candidate now says could lead to another Great Depression if not addressed immediately.

Sarah Palin, mindlessly encouraging a financial panic: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/palin_passage_of_a_bailout_pac.php

More from that interview: http://home.comcast.net/~duncanblack/couricpalin.htm

Watch: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/25/04912/6111/558/609660

http://www.eschatonblog.com/2008_09_21_archive.html#4503990152807877255
[Atrios] Oh my is this a horror show.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014871.php
[Steve Benen] At first blush, the notion that the McCain campaign would go to extraordinary lengths just to draw attention away from Sarah Palin's interview with Katic Couric sounds pretty farfetched. But actually watching the five-and-a-half minute clip from CBS, it's actually fairly reasonable to think campaign aides saw the interview, panicked, and thought, "We need to do something drastic."

Hilzoy tackled the highlights (or the lowlights, depending on one's perspective) last night, but I just wanted to reiterate just how great a train wreck Palin's interview really was. The governor seemed hopelessly lost, offering answers that varied between odd and nonsensical. . . . [read on]

No more questions!

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/letting_sarah_palin_answer_que.php
[Greg Sargent] The lengths the McCain campaign is going to in order to shield Sarah Palin from questioning are reaching truly comic dimensions. . . . [read on]

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014862.php
[Politico] McCain then looked around the room and gestured as if to welcome questions. The AP reporter shouted a question at Gov. Palin ("Governor, what have you learned from your meetings?") but McCain aide Brooke Buchanan intervened and shepherded everybody out of the room.

Palin looked surprised, leaned over to McCain and asked him a question, to which your pooler thinks he shook his head as if to say "No."

Palin as “post turtle”

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/palin_/2008/09/palin_as_a_post_turtle.php
[Mark Kleiman] The old rancher said, "When you're driving down a country road and you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that's a post turtle.You know she didn't get up there by herself, she doesn't belong up there, she doesn't know what to do while she is up there, and you just wonder what kind of dumb ass put her up there to begin with."

Cozying up to the press (this will help)

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/24/new-york-times-investigates-senior-mccain-advisor/
A senior McCain aide reacted to the latest New York Times investigation into a top campaign advisor Wednesday with a scathing memo that called the Times a “failing business” and the allegation “demonstrably false.”

The story, which charges that a firm formerly headed by campaign manager Rick Davis had received a monthly $15,000 retainer from mortgage giant Freddie Mac until the government took it over this month – is “a partisan attack falsely labeled as objective news” from “an Obama advocacy organization,” wrote McCain spokesman Michael Goldfarb. . . .

Nothing to hide? http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2008/09/john_mccain_campaign_manager_r.html
John McCain campaign manager Rick Davis--under the spotlight because of his work for mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac--is skipping a Wednesday lunch with reporters sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor. . .

More: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/questions_linger_on_mccain_cam.php

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/mccains_embattled_campaign_man.php

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/obama-did-freddie-and-fannie-buy-access.html

Bye, bye Rick?

http://www.newsweek.com/id/160713
Regulatory filings indicate that McCain campaign chief Rick Davis remains an officer with his lobbying firm. . . .

[NB: Losing your campaign manager, 40 days before the election. Not good.]

Biden, doing his job

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/biden_mccain_dangerously_wrong.php
[Greg Sargent] oe Biden is set to jump back into one of his major roles as Obama's Veep candidate -- front man for attacking McCain on foreign policy -- by giving a speech in Ohio today designed to frame the national security discussion in advance of Friday's Obama-McCain debate on that topic.

According to the prepared remarks, Biden will unleash a slashing attack on McCain, painting him as reckless, hot-headed, out of touch with basic foreign policy realities, and hell bent on deepening the hole Bush has gotten America into . . . [read on]

McCain health alert: Is something wrong?

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/draft-anybody-else-notice-anything.html

Palin is now HURTING McCain among white women

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/24/12123/6394/506/608687

Worse and worse: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/24/145551/135/296/608897
Asked by CNN's Zain Verjee if she thought Palin's resume included sufficient foreign policy experience, Bush said, "Of course she doesn't have that."

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/nbcwjs-forty-nine-percent-say-that.html
NBC/WSJ poll: "Forty-nine percent say that Palin is unqualified to be president"

Palin’s pastor problem: WATCH THIS VIDEO

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/24/171613/532/36/609149

Troopergate: having done nothing but publicly trash and undermine the bipartisan legislative investigation, the Palin/McCain gang now says that the (friendly) Personnel Board investigation must be left alone to do its work

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/mccain_camp_wont_talk_about_er.php

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014856.php

THIS is what scared the bejeezus out of McCain

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=8480

60%: McCain will follow Bush's policies

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/poll-more-than-60-believe-mccain-would.html

The kind of people they are

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/obama-effigy-hung-from-christian.html
Obama effigy hung from Christian university tree . . .

More: http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/24/the-quiet-racial-campaign-against-obama/

Once again, a story that would have led a year ago now trails at the bottom

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/25/washington/25detain.html
Senior White House officials played a central role in deliberations in the spring of 2002 about whether the Central Intelligence Agency could legally use harsh interrogation techniques . . .

The surge in Iraq is a success! (uh-huh) What about Afghanistan?

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5867448&page=1
US intelligence analysts are putting the final touches on a secret National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Afghanistan that reportedly describes the situation as "grim", but there are "no plans to declassify" any of it before the election . . .

Officials say a draft of the classified NIE, representing the key judgments of the US intelligence community's 17 agencies and departments, is being circulated in Washington and a final "coordination meeting" of the agencies involved, under the direction of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, is scheduled in the next few weeks.

According to people who have been briefed, the NIE will paint a "grim" picture of the situation in Afghanistan, seven years after the US invaded in an effort to dismantle the al Qaeda network and its Taliban protectors.

Oh, yeah: Bush gave a speech

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2008/09/24/BL2008092401517.html
[Dan Froomkin] So this is what happens when the president of the United States has virtually no credibility left. . . .

Bonus item: Gah!

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2008/09/quote_of_the_day_9.php
[Why $700 billion?] “It’s not based on any particular data point,” a Treasury spokeswoman told Forbes.com Tuesday. “We just wanted to choose a really large number.”

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 8:32 AM

 
FULL DISCLOSURE

Whoa. I’ll put aside the bailout issue and lead with this. The Bush gang pressured Maliki to change his withdrawal date (in public) simply in order to help out McCain politically

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2008/09/bush_pressured_maliki_to_revise_withdrawal_date_to_bail_out_mccain.php
[Maliki] “Actually, the final date was really the end of 2010 and the period between the end of 2010 and the end of 2011 was for withdrawing the remaining troops from all of Iraq, but they asked for a change [in date] due to political circumstances related to the [U.S] domestic situation so it will not be said to the end of 2010 followed by one year for withdrawal but the end of 2011 as a final date.”

Matt Duss wonders “What did McCain know about this, and when did he know it?” Good questions.

This “crisis” bailout bill? It’s been MONTHS in the making

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/09/23/bush-mouthpiece-admits-theyve-been-sitting-on-this-plan/

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/23/15463/3802/393/607783

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/long-term-capitol-by-digby-marci.html

Hold on a second. WHO is going to get this bailout money?

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/219072.php
[David Kurtz] [A]pparently the White House view is that "very successful banks and investment houses that have done very well" should be bailed out, too, and they should be allowed to have their cake and eat it, too.

Actually, as I think about it, it's even worse than that. Under its "the more the merrier" plan, the White House doesn't want firms who are doing just fine to be discouraged from the participating in the bailout. . . . [read on!]

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/219037.php
[Josh Marshall] As we've been noting, a lot about the Paulson/Bush bailout plan only makes sense if you assume the US Government is going to be paying premium prices for worthless or near worthless securities. And Here Fed Chief Bernanke seems to be saying precisely that. . . . [read on]

A closer look: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/219065.php

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/well-that-could-have-gone-better-by.html

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/23/171759/124/260/607908

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/09/24/credit_crunch/index.html

Looking back

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2008/09/23/BL2008092301299.html
[Dan Froomkin] Looking back on the wreckage of the Bush era, there is one undeniable bright spot: It's been a very good time to be a fat cat. A consistent result of virtually every major Bush policy, from tax cuts to war, has been to enrich the already wealthy. . . . [read on]

Congressional Republicans release an alternative proposal emphasizing (well, duh) more tax cuts and privatization

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/conservative_gopers_release_al.php

No one cares, but here’s what the Republican platform, just adopted, says

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/23/17555/0985/283/607893
“We do not support government bailouts of private institutions. Government interference in the markets exacerbates problems in the marketplace and causes the free market to take longer to correct itself."

Bush sends Luca Brasi to kick the Republicans into shape. They send back a fish wrapped in newspaper

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/cheney_heads_to_hill_to_quell.php
The White House dispatched Vice President Dick Cheney to Capitol Hill Tuesday morning to help shore up support for the financial bailout of Wall Street. . . .

Remember? http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0907/Darth_Cheney.html
[September 19, 2007] "Vice President [Dick] Cheney came up to see the Republicans yesterday. You can always tell when the Republicans are getting restless, because the Vice President’s motorcade pulls into the Capitol, and Darth Vader emerges," Hillary Clinton said . . .

It didn’t work! http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13789.html
There was a time when Dick Cheney could turn back a Republican revolt on Capitol Hill.

That time is gone.

The vice president traveled to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to silence a chorus of GOP complaints about Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s $700 billion plan. But House Republicans who walked into a closed-door meeting with Cheney steaming over the plan walked out just as angry, and they described what happened in between as both “a bloodbath” and “an unmitigated disaster.” . . .

Yes, Congress is VERY angry

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/well-that-could-have-gone-better-by.html

The financial meltdown: fingering the blame

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/219121.php

McCain seems more interested in finding a way to blame Obama than to develop a clear position on the bailout himself

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/mccain_urges_action_but_insist.php
[Greg Sargent] In his presser McCain insisted on five improvements he wants to see made to the bailout package. . . .

McCain insisted on greater accountability, a way for taxpayers to recoup the cash fed into the fund, total transparency in the review and implementation of the legislation, and no profits for Wall Street execs.

But McCain declined to say whether the absence of any of those features would be a dealbreaker, saying instead that current efforts should focus on securing them first. And McCain took only a few questions at the presser that followed. . . .

Political posturing: http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/09/stephanopoulo-4.html
ABC News' George Stephanopoulos reports: If Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain doesn't vote for the Bush administration's $700 billion economic bailout plan, some Republican and Democratic congressional leaders tell ABC News the plan won't pass.

"If McCain doesn't come out for this, it's over," a Top House Republican tells ABC News. . . .

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/he-wont-be-problem-by-digby-i-feel-so.html
[ABC] However a Democratic congressional leadership source tells ABC News' Jake Tapper that Paulson went so far as to assure Democratic leaders that McCain "won't be a problem" -- in other words that McCain will vote for the proposal. . . [read on]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/michaeltomasky/2008/sep/23/congress.wallstreet1
[Michael Tomasky] How can Democrats prevent McCain from demagoguing the bailout?

Of course! http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/poll_by_doubledigits_more_say.php
Poll: By Double-Digits, More Say Obama Is Best Able To Address Financial Meltdown

The heavy bubble the McCain people have built around Sarah Palin is starting to really piss off the press. Good

http://www.politicalbase.com/news/palin-bans-reporters-from-meetings-with-leaders/131526/
[AP] Sarah Palin met her first world leaders Tuesday. It was a tightly controlled crash course on foreign policy for the Republican vice presidential candidate . . .

John McCain's presidential campaign has shielded the first-term Alaska governor for weeks from spontaneous questions from voters and reporters, and went to striking lengths Tuesday to maintain that distance as Palin made her diplomatic debut.

The GOP campaign, applying more restrictive rules on access than even President Bush uses in the White House, banned reporters from the start of the meetings, so as not to risk a question being asked of Palin.

McCain aides relented after news organizations objected and CNN, which was supplying TV footage to a variety of networks, decided to pull its TV crew from Palin's meeting with Karzai. . .

[NB: Hmmm . . . the AP headline was CHANGED from “Palin bans reporters from meetings with leaders” to “Palin meets her first world leaders in New York.” The text of the story changed too: see the original at http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/23/12339/0544/633/607543
“Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who has not held a press conference in nearly four weeks of campaigning, on Tuesday banned reporters from her first meetings with world leaders, allowing access only to photographers and a television crew.

CNN, which was providing the television coverage for news organizations, decided to pull its TV crew, effectively denying Palin the high visibility she had sought.”]

Camera crew? http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/23/12339/0544/633/607543
[Nickolas] Anyone want to bet five bucks that the "television crew" is really a film crew sent by McCain-Palin's media consultant for the sole purpose of future campaign ads?

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/palin_in_bitter_standoff_with.php
[Greg Sargent] Either way, between the stiff-arm Palin has given the press, the constant lying from the McCain campaign, and the McCain camp's adolescent acting-out about the media's alleged mistreatment of longtime media fave McCain, it seems clear that relations between the McCain campaign and the media are approaching a breaking point. Whether this will materially impact the race is unclear, but that's where we are now.

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/09/23/politics/fromtheroad/entry4470968.shtml
She has been a candidate for the second highest office in the land for nearly a month, but Sarah Palin has yet to hold a single press conference. Now, the McCain/Palin campaign is attempting to take an unprecedented step in their apparent effort to protect Palin from having to face impromptu questions from national reporters. . . .

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13783.html
Journalists, displeased with Sarah Palin’s efforts to restrict their access to her, are threatening not to cover her events surrounding the United Nations conference here unless they're allowed more access.

The unfolding boycott is the latest development in a rocky relationship between Palin’s handlers and the press, in which the campaign has sought to tightly control her interactions with the media. . . . [read on]

Later: we get a little glimpse into her High Level meetings with foreign heads of state – and from these snippets I can see why they didn’t want the press around

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/media-rebellion-over-palin-photo-ops/
“Good, good,’’ Ms. Palin said. “And you’ll give me more insight on that, also, huh? Good.” . . .

When Ms. Palin emerged from the building, a news producer asked her how it went, and she mouthed the words, “It was great.” . . .

Ms. Palin was overheard telling Mr. Uribe, “Thank you for your work.’’ . . .

When Gov. Sarah Palin sat down with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan on Tuesday afternoon, the polite preliminaries to their conversation centered around children, as Mr. Karzai spoke of the birth of his first child last year.

“What is his name?” Ms. Palin was heard to ask, as she met with Mr. Karzai in the suite of a midtown hotel, according to a pool report.

“Mirwais,” Mr. Karzai replied. “Mirwais, which means, ‘The Light of the House.’”

“Oh nice,” Palin responded. . . .

Then the pool of journalists was escorted out . . .

“On thin ice”

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2008/09/palin_on_thin_ice.html
[Ruth Marcus] With today’s kerfuffle over the media being kept away from Sarah Palin’s meetings with foreign leaders -- like there was a risk she’d answer their shouted questions? -- I’ve been mulling over Colby’s post about the Hannity-Palin “100 percent pure infomercial” interview. I watched both nights, then read the transcripts, and I think the interview hasn’t gotten nearly the attention it deserved. While I agree with Colby’s assessment that the audience was “treated to a political advertisement aimed at serving the interests of the Republican presidential ticket,” I think the Hannity love-fest offered a valuable look at Palin, perhaps more revealing because she was on such friendly territory. For all the softballs Hannity tossed her way, Palin did not come off very well, in my view. If this was a political commercial, I wasn’t buying the product. . . . [read on]

McCain’s “sexism”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/23/campbell-brown-rips-mccai_n_128782.html
A prominent female news anchor [CNN’s Campbell Brown] chastised the McCain campaign Tuesday evening for engaging in sexism and insulting behavior in its attempt to shield Gov. Sarah Palin from members of the press. . . .

Is CNN just stupid? It makes a big play that Sarah Palin has now agreed to “cooperate” with the Troopergate investigation. Not true. She has agreed to meet with the investigator hired by the (governor-appointed) Personnel Board – the friendly panel she wanted to take over the investigation in the first place, NOT the bipartisan investigation ordered by the state legislature. Doesn’t CNN know the difference? Moreover, the investigator is meeting with her lawyer, who is in turn meeting with McCain campaign officials -- and from this story it sure sounds as if he is giving them details of the investigation!

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/22/palin.investigation/index.html
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's lawyer met Monday with the independent counsel hired by the state Personnel Board to discuss that agency's investigation into her firing of Alaska's public safety commissioner. . .

Palin's attorney, Thomas Van Flein, met with special counsel Timothy Petumenos to discuss documents and witness interviews, campaign spokeswoman Meg Stapleton said. . . .

Stapleton said Petumenos, who will have subpoena power, was "truly acting independent." And campaign spokesman Ed O'Callaghan said the campaign was "not privy" to details of what the personnel board was seeking.

O'Callaghan, a former federal prosecutor, said he was consulting with Van Flein . . .

More: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014848.php

We love Emptywheel

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/09/23/who-told-the-troopergate-witnesses-to-ignore-the-subpoenas/
[Marcy Wheeler] Here's an interesting question. Who told the Palin-friendly TrooperGate witnesses not to show up? It's relevant, you see, because two Democrats are thinking of asking the police to investigate whether there was any witness tampering in the case. It seems they're not focusing on the more incendiary possibility that Murlene Wilkes' financial incentive persuaded her to lie to Stephen Branchflower about being pressured to deny a Wooten workers comp claim. Rather, these lawmakers are considering whether the mere act of instructing witnesses to ignore a subpoena constitutes witness tampering. . . .

Alaska Republicans are “raging” over the Palin/McCain shutdown of the Troopergate investigation

http://community.adn.com/adn/node/131724
Senate President Lyda Green is pursuing options that might allow the state Senate to convene and deal with Troopergate.

Calling herself a "raging Republican," Green says, she is "absolutely disgusted, embarrassed, and ashamed" by the McCain-Palin campaign's intervention in the Troopergate probe.

Green is alarmed by the McCain squad's use of hardball tactics and "the length to which they're going to impede and delay" the investigation. The local press conferences held by McCain-Palin aides, she adds, "are vile. They're attacking nice people, saying things that are not true. Walt Monegan has been respected in all circles. To see him used as a scapegoat is very disheartening."

Green said she is making calls and exploring whether she could call the Senate back into session to either instruct the attorney general to change his position, or to order those subpoenaed under the Legislative investigation to honor that call. Whether the Republican-controlled House would go along is another question.

More: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/ak_lawmakers_fire_back_on_gop.php

Even the partial report coming on October 10 could have some bombshells

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/23/155838/984/362/607814

http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/23/palins-wootengate-coverup-falls-apart/

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/09/19/two-tidbits-on-troopergate/

Palin’s backwards thinking on global warming, conservation. Even McCain can't defend it

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/22/AR2008092202894.html

“Mean Girl” (don’t miss it)

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/23/8519/15644/894/607290

More: http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/09/23/palin/index.html

Palin is HURTING McCain in some parts of the country now

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/23/131259/495/588/607596

Chopper politics

http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/23/mccain-to-put-palin-on-chopper-raise-hell-in-washington/
When Sen. John McCain campaigned at a motorcycle rally last month in Sturgis, S.D., he joked that he'd urged his wife, Cindy, to enter the semi-nude "Miss Buffalo Chip" beauty contest.

The burly bikers gathered there gunned their engines loudly in appreciation.

On Monday, McCain offered to pack his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, onto a custom chopper and drive her to Washington to “raise hell.” The response this time was applause and laughter. . . .

“Sarah and I are going to get on that chopper and ride it right to Washington and raise hell when we get there.”

Getting inside McCain’s head

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/09/20/obamas-getting-into-mccains-contemptuous-head/
[Marcy Wheeler] Both Jonathan Chait and Daniel Larison have great columns noting the how his contempt for his opponents always fuels John McCain's campaigns. . . .

[Larson] McCain exploits the concept of honor and frames every disagreement in terms of honor and dishonor, so it is particularly revealing that he is willing to launch dishonest and dishonorable attacks, because this drives home how much his concept of honor is intertwined with his own visceral reactions to opponents and with his self-interest. Contrary to the conventional pundit interpretation that McCain has “sold his soul” and abandoned his once-honorable former self, the thing to understand about McCain’s lies in this campaign is that he invests these misrepresentations with his utter contempt for his opponents. From McCain’s perspective, this infusion of contempt seems to transform shoddy, baseless attacks that disgrace him into indictments of the other politicians (e.g., Romney wants to surrender in Iraq, Obama would rather lose a war than lose an election). If McCain thinks he is always honorable, resistance to him and his ideas must ultimately be villainous and vicious, and we have seen him deploy his perverse, solipsistic ends-justify-the-means concept of honor against Romney and now against Obama. . . .

In any public confrontation that McCain has, he strives to show that he has kept faith with the public and his opponents have betrayed the public trust. This isn’t because McCain is actually some devoted servant of the public interest, but because he has an irrepressible self-righteous streak that he thinks permits him to impugn the integrity of anyone who gets on his nerves or gets in his way. . . . [read on]

McCain advisor heads up firm that is STILL being paid by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Still want to attack Obama for his Fannie and Freddie ties, John?

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/nyt-mccain-lied-about-campaign-manager.html
NYT: McCain lied about campaign manager Rick Davis' ties to Fannie and Freddie . . . [read on]

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/219153.php
[Josh Marshall] Roll Call is now reporting [that] campaign manager Rick Davis' lobbying firm, Davis & Manafort, still has a $15,000 per month contract with Freddie Mac. . . .

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=aQIOOr9klOnE
McCain Transition Head Lobbied for Freddie Mac Before Takeover
The lobbying firm of the man Republicans say John McCain has chosen to begin planning a presidential transition earned more than a quarter of a million dollars this year representing Freddie Mac, one of the companies McCain blames for the nation's financial crisis.

Timmons & Co., whose founder and chairman emeritus is William Timmons Sr., was registered to lobby for Freddie Mac from 2000 through this month . . . .

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/is-anybody-on-mccains-staff-not-being.html
[John Aravosis] Is anybody on McCain's staff NOT being paid by Fannie Mae? . . . [read on]

More: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/218942.php
[Bloomberg] McCain has labeled Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae as prime culprits in creating the financial storm that has roiled Wall Street and Washington.

“At the center of the problem were the lobbyists, politicians, and bureaucrats who succeeded in persuading Congress and the administration to ignore the festering problems at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,'' he said last week in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

[Josh Marshall] Honestly, I expect a lot of hypocrisy of all politicians, of both parties. But John McCain is really in a class of his own.

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/9/24/4721/31403
[Todd Beeton] What this means is that either John McCain was blatantly lying in his interview with Harwood on Sunday or had no idea what his campaign manager was up to. Pick which is worse.

As MaryScott says, this should be absolutely devastating to McCain's bid for the presidency. At the very least, I really don't see how Davis continues on as McCain's campaign manager after tomorrow. . . .[read on]

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/24/03335/7784/864/608313

Please, more Tucker Bounds on tv. Please

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2008/09/the_mccain_budget_2.php
Contessa Brewer asks Tucker Bounds how, exactly, John McCain plans to balance the budget consistent with his tax promises (huge cuts) and commitment to endless war in Iraq. Bounds has no idea . . . [watch]

A tale of two press conferences

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/9/23/232122/646

Obama talks to us like grownups

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/218990.php
[Josh Marshall] Sen. Obama is saying his spending programs may have to be delayed in light of the massive bailout bill. A few questions though, What about McCain's high income tax cuts that would go to the CEOs who created the mess? Any word on that? Still full speed ahead on that? . . .

Obama ad not only bashes McCain for his thirteen cars – more damagingly, it hits him for the hypocrisy of saying he “only buys American”

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/09/new_obama_ad_demagoges_foreign.php

A while back we had an item about conservative “journalist” Stanley Kurtz, digging around in the files of the Annenberg Challenge grant to Chicago Public schools, which are held up at UI Chicago. His goal was to find, or fabricate, some kind of connection between Obama and Bill Ayers. Well, he got access to the files, and here is the piece of crap he published out of it

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122212856075765367.html
Obama and Ayers Pushed Radicalism On Schools . . . [read on]

http://deweycsi.blogspot.com/2008/09/obama-education-radical.html
[Kathleen Knight Abowitz] Schools working with communities, educators fighting racism -- this is radicalism?

http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_plank/archive/2008/09/23/kurtz-s-obama-ayers-fishing-expedition-comes-up-empty.aspx
[Jason Zengerle] Well, lo and behold, Kurtz finally gained access to those 70 linear feet of material, and, judging by the op-ed he's produced in today's Wall Street Journal, it looks like he found less an inch worth of damning material. Not that Kurtz would admit as much. His WSJ article is titled "Obama and Ayers Pushed Radicalism on Schools," but the evidence for that consists largely of scare quotes ("leadership," "organized," "external partners," etc) and leaps of logic designed to substitute for actual evidence. . . .

So Kurtz spends days wading through 70 linear feet of material, suffers lord knows how many paper cuts, and the best he can come up with is that Ayers was part of a five-person "working group" that signed off on Obama joining CAC's board? That's pretty weak.

Phony press “balance” – both Biden and Palin have made “gaffes,” you see

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/this-has-got-to-stop-by-digby-shiny.html

“A tale of two headlines”

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/a_tale_of_two_headlines.php

I think this is an excellent question

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/dept_of_good_questions.php
[Jay Rosen] "At what point does an extreme attempt to de-legitimate the press actually de-legitimate the candidate as an extremist in the eyes of the press? If the McCain campaign says the Times is not a legitimate news source, why does the Times have to treat McCain as a legitimate candidate?" . . . [read on]

Whoa – not sure I’m ready to believe this, but . . .

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/24/0935/53783/882/608295
ABC/WaPo: Obama Takes Clear Lead, 52-43 Over McCain
[DemFromCT] In a major shift in the polls, Barack Obama has brought Democrats home, and now leads McCain by a clear majority. If borne out by other surveys, this will represent a tectonic shift in the electorate. According to this new poll, Obama has done something Gore and Kerry could not... reach 50% in an ABC/WaPo pre-election poll.

John McCain, otoh, is leaking enthusiasm from virtually all sub-groups. . .

More: http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/09/abcpost_poll_suggests_gains_fo.php

A current electoral vote analysis

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/09/atlantic_electoral_map_923.php

Swing states: http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/9/23/113731/134

The tipping point? http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2008/09/23/tip_states/index.html

Part of Obama’s strategy was to aggressively go after red states to force McCain to spend money in places he thought he could take for granted. (It’s working)

Indiana: http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2008/09/23/mccain_indiana/index.html

More GOP voter suppression, in Wisconsin

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/wi_attorney_general.php

The kind of people they are

http://www.eschatonblog.com/2008_09_21_archive.html#6893750607488059455
[AP] Residents in one New Jersey town are disturbed after receiving fliers over the weekend that question Barack Obama's candidacy on racial grounds.

Roxbury resident Elizabeth Corsetto says a flier was left in her driveway asking, "Do You Want A Black President?" and showing a doctored photo of Obama with a long beard and turban. . . .

Bonus item: Zoom!

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/environment/2008-09-22-EPA-fuel_N.htm?csp=34
EPA won't limit rocket fuel in U.S. drinking water

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 8:13 AM

 
A NATION OF WHINERS

The bailout trap?

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/218880.php
[Josh Marshall] I think Kos, Digby and Kilgore have this about right. The Republican/McCain plan is to get the Democrats to bail out the GOP's Wall Street friends and then run against them for doing it.

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/22/15256/2632/465/606678

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/opening-for-maverick-by-digby-ed.html

http://www.thedemocraticstrategist.org/strategist/2008/09/the_gops_bottomless_crack_pipe.php

http://www.eschatonblog.com/2008_09_21_archive.html#3312904511454422316

Will the Right oppose a bailout, and will McCain lead the charge?

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/09/22/paulson/index.html

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/09/mccain_lays_groundwork_for_bai.php

Train wreck coming?

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/garbage_pail_/2008/09/train_wreck_coming.php

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/michaeltomasky/2008/sep/23/congress.wallstreet

The blame game

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/218775.php
[Josh Marshall] Republicans have decided that their argument on the credit crisis will be to argue that Democrats created the crisis by forcing banks to give too many loans to black people and other minorities.

More: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014833.php

It’s not working: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/22/cnn.poll/index.html
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 . . .

The Dems seem to be getting their act together

Chris Dodd has a bill: http://publicmarkup.org/bill/dodds-legislative-proposal-treasury-department-aut/1/

http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/22/what-the-dodd-bill-needs-in-order-to-be-complete/
[Ian Welsh] As much as I think the Dodd bill is a significant improvement over the Paulson power grab, and I do, it is missing a number of important things. . . .

http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/22/chris-dodd-stares-down-paulson/

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/22/daddy-doesnt-know-best/
[Paul Krugman] I’ve had more time to read the Dodd proposal — and it is a big improvement over the Paulson plan. The key feature, I believe, is the equity participation: if Treasury buys assets, it gets warrants that can be converted into equity if the price of the purchased assets falls. This both guarantees against a pure bailout of the financial firms, and opens the door to a real infusion of capital, if that becomes necessary — and I think it will. . . .

http://calculatedrisk.blogspot.com/2008/09/report-paulson-agrees-on-equity-stake.html

More: http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/22/hey-look-spinal-columns/
Spines are sprouting all over in the Democratic Party, it seems. . . . [reda on]

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/source_pelosi_focusing_bailout.php
[Zachary Roth] Speaker Nancy Pelosi is likely to insist that any Wall Street bailout bill contain two specific items from the Democrats' wish-list: limits on executive compensation, and a measure to protect homeowners by allowing mortgages to be renegotiated in bankruptcy proceedings.

Focus on Hank Paulson

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/22/paulsons-conflicts-of-int_n_128476.html
[Sam Stein] As the financial markets took a turn for the worse over the past few weeks, conventional wisdom on Wall Street and Washington was that Hank Paulson, the Treasury Secretary, was the right man for the difficult job. A seasoned hand on financial matters, the former Goldman Sachs head had an acute understanding about how markets work, and had earned accolades from both political parties for his willingness to take a level-headed approach on these matters.

Now, however, confidence in Paulson is eroding, with critics questioning whether the Treasury Secretary's Wall Street connections have impacted his approach to the current crisis. Both progressive and conservatives and sounding the alarm. . . .

Why the Keating Five scandal is still relevant

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/218903.php

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=8430

The McCain gang tries to bully the press into not calling them “liars” (Guys – I have a very easy way to get the press to stop calling you liars. Stop lying.)

One problem: their argument . . . is full of lies

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13747.html
[Ben Smith] Sen. John McCain’s top campaign aides convened a conference call today to complain of being called “liars.” They pressed the media to scrutinize specific elements of Sen. Barack Obama’s record.

But the call was so rife with simple, often inexplicable misstatements of fact that it may have had the opposite effect: to deepen the perception, dangerous to McCain, that he and his aides have little regard for factual accuracy. . . [read on]

Steve Schmidt, MAJOR LEAGUE whiner: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HabIoeqzL40

The “change” candidates

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/21/AR2008092101608.html
From Mark Wallace, a Bush appointee to the United Nations, to Tucker Eskew, who ran strategic communications for the Bush White House, to Greg Jenkins, who served as the deputy assistant to Bush in his first term and was executive director of the 2004 inauguration, Palin was surrounded on the trip home by operatives deeply rooted in the Bush administration.
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The clutch of Bush veterans helping to coach Palin reflects a larger reality about Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign: Far from being a group of outsiders to the Republican Party power structure, it is now run largely by skilled operatives who learned their crafts in successive Bush campaigns and various jobs across the Bush government over the past eight years. . . .

More of the same

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/218794.php
[Josh Marshall] Here's Rick Davis explaining that he didn't lobby for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae for $2 million. He only headed up the lobbying organization. He didn't lobby, just ran the lobbying organization.

This is from the McCain conference call this morning. And following Davis, here's McCain enforcer Steve Schmidt. He realizes Davis's answer is laughable. So he doesn't even try to defend Davis and launches off on the Times . . .

Yeah, that lousy worthless New York Times: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/mccain_campaign_slams_new_york.php
[Eric Kleefeld] The McCain campaign is going on the attack against the New York Times for reporting that campaign manger Rick Davis was paid almost $2 million as head of a lobbying organization that represented Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and others, claiming that the paper is not "by any standard a journalistic organization." . . .

THAT New York Times: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/22/mccain-was-for-the-nyt-be_n_128397.html
[Sam Stein] For a party that rails against the New York Times, the Republicans sure depend on the Grey Lady to score political points.

Since the end of the primary, John McCain's campaign has sent at least 60 emails to its rapid response list that reference the New York Times. . . .

More: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/obama_campaign_hits_mccain_adv.php

More of the same

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/218755.php
[David Kurtz] This morning in an interview with John McCain on Today, Meredith Viera reasonably enough pointed out that, while McCain has been railing against golden parachutes for CEOs, his adviser and surrogate Carly Fiorina received a $40-million-plus severance package when she was fired from H-P.

McCain said he didn't know anything about Fiorina's compensation, but was back at it soon after, railing against golden parachutes at a rally later this morning . . .

More: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/mccain_calls_for_end_to_the_ty.php

More of the same

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/218684.php
[Josh Marshall] Is [WP columnist] Ruth Marcus really so desperate to 'even the scales' that she's claiming that the phrase "privatizing Social Security" is "incendiary" language that amounts to deception? Is she so ignorant of this debate that she doesn't know that it was the preferred language of the advocates of privatization for more than two decades until they found out it wasn't polling well enough during the first two years of the Bush administration?

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2008/09/privatization_is_privatization.php
[Matt Yglesias] New York Times article mentions John McCain’s support for “an approach that Democrats call ‘privatization’.” As Brendan Nyhan points out, Democrats call it “privatization” because the architects of the privatization policy proposal called it “privatization” and continued to call it “privatization” until some time in 2005 when polling showed that people reacted poorly to the word.

More of the same

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/21/13302/4455/618/598405
John McCain Hopes You're Stupid
[DarkSyde] The McCain campaign released more newspeak recently, created in part to reassure moderates he hasn't compromised his past promises on embryonic stem cell research. . . [read on]

More of the same in the Middle East

http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/news/article/2008092220080922bootdanzig.html
Two McCain advisers told participants in a weekend retreat that his administration would discourage Israeli-Syrian peace talks and refrain from actively engaging in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. . . .

Questions that answer themselves

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/20/AR2008092001763.html
Why is Sarah Palin granting so few interviews? . . . [read on]

Have McCain/Palin succeeded in burying the Troopergate investigation?

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/218719.php

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/troopergate_for_now_gop_missio.php

How Palin became mayor

http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/22/sarah-palins-wasilla-base-a-unhealthy-dose-of-far-right-extremism/

We’re still learning about Palin’s past

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/22/111758/142/760/606399
[Salon] In 1996, evangelical churches mounted a vigorous campaign to take over the local hospital's community board and ban abortion from the valley. When they succeeded, Bess and Dr. Susan Lemagie, a Palmer OB-GYN, fought back, filing suit on behalf of a local woman who had been forced to travel to Seattle for an abortion. The case was finally decided by the Alaska Supreme Court, which ruled that the hospital must provide valley women with the abortion option.

At one point during the hospital battle, passions ran so hot that local antiabortion activists organized a boisterous picket line outside Dr. Lemagie's office, in an unassuming professional building across from Palmer's Little League field. According to Bess and another community activist, among the protesters trying to disrupt the physician's practice that day was Sarah Palin.

Who is Todd Palin?

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014834.php

Tough girl Sarah Palin thinks the mean old bloggers are being too hard on her

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/palin_claims_obamabiden_democr.php
“Friends, in the course of a few weeks, the Obama-Biden Democrats have launched attack after attack on me, my family and John McCain. They're desperate to win . . .” [read on for examples]

More: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014835.php

Oh really? http://www.newsweek.com/id/156190
Palin talked about what women expect from women leaders; how she took charge in Alaska during a political scandal that threatened to unseat the state's entire Republican power structure, and her feelings about Sen. Hillary Clinton. (She said she felt kind of bad she couldn't support a woman, but she didn't like Clinton's whining.)

John McCain’s very, very bad week

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/218760.php

McCain has definitely lost George Will

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/22/AR2008092202583.html
Under the pressure of the financial crisis, one presidential candidate is behaving like a flustered rookie playing in a league too high. It is not Barack Obama. . . .

Obama’s lead stabilizes

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/9/22/141041/782

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/9/22/163559/696

The GOP just can’t run an election without stealing people’s votes

http://news.racinepost.com/2008/09/gop-absentee-ballot-mailings-called.html

Rush: Obama’s not an African-American – he’s an “Arab”

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2008/09/rush_obama_is_arab.php

Remember him? Mr. 19%

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/09/22/bush_approval_falls_to_19.html

Bonus item: Paulson has a new version of his bailout plan (don’t miss it)

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/begging-your-kind-attention-by-digby-it.html
Dear American:

I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.

I am Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America. My country has had crisis that has caused the need for large transfer of funds of 800 billion dollars US. If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be most profitable to you. . . .

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:46 AM

 
MELT DOWN

Here is the lay of the land: the Bush gang wants to rush through their version of the Paulson proposal, which gives them maximum powers and minimum oversight, as quickly as possible. The Dems are starting to coalesce around a reasonable set of modifications they will insist upon. The coming elections put tremendous pressure on both sides to get a deal done as quickly as possible

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2008/09/hurry_hurry.php
[Matt Yglesias] Bush and Paulson say congress needs to rush and give them a blank check — no time to think about it, change anything, or scrutinize anything. . . .

Worse and worse

http://www.cnbc.com/id/26808715
The U.S. Treasury Department is working through the weekend with Congress to craft a plan to spend as much as $700 billion to absorb bad mortgages and other assets from bank or other institution balance sheets to keep the financial system from collapsing. . . .

The Treasury plan, which follows a new federal guarantee for money market fund holdings, would push Washington's potential bailout tab to $1.8 trillion. . .

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aYXtwpG9mw9g
The Bush administration widened the scope of its $700 billion plan to avert a financial meltdown by including assets other than mortgage-related securities.

The U.S. Treasury submitted revised guidance to Congress on its plan a day after first submitting it, as lawmakers and lobbyists push their own ideas. Officials now propose buying what they term troubled assets, without specifying the type, according to a document obtained by Bloomberg News and confirmed by a congressional aide.

The change suggests the inclusion of instruments such as car and student loans, credit-card debt and any other troubled asset. That may force an eventual increase in the size of the package . . .

Here comes the fight

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/22/business/22paulson.html
Congressional Democrats began to set their own terms on Sunday for a plan to rescue the nation’s financial institutions, including greater legislative oversight of the Treasury Department, more direct assistance for homeowners and limits on the pay of top executives whose firms seek help.

The Democrats’ demands came as Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. blanketed the Sunday talk shows to promote the Bush administration’s $700 billion bailout package, emphasizing that it was needed not just for Wall Street, but for all Americans. He urged Congress to move swiftly to approve a “clean” rescue plan without tacking on extra programs. . . .

Still, competing interests were already complicating the negotiations, as Democrats pushed for assistance for distressed homeowners and for oversight authority of the bailout program. Some lawmakers also said they did not want to be rushed into approving extraordinary new powers for the Treasury secretary and the government without full consideration of the consequences.

Both presidential nominees, who face the prospect of inheriting an enormous new program, said there had to be more oversight of the Treasury Department than the Bush administration had proposed. . . .

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2008/09/regulatory_reform.html
[Kevin Drum] * Option A: Republicans will filibuster, Democrats will wither, and basically nothing much will get passed at all. In other words, suckered again.

* Options B: There will be some kind of panic and we'll end up with a gigantic snarl of regulation that sounds tough but doesn't really do anyone any good, sort of like Sarbanes-Oxley.

* Option C: Everyone will take a deep breath, Democrats will stand up to the financial industry, and some reasonable set of new regulations will be hammered into place.

I'd put the odds at about 60% for Option A, 35% for Option B, and 5% for Option C. My only reservation is that maybe I'm being a little too optimistic about all this . . .

What should the Democratic response be?

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2008/09/the_legislative_chess.php
[Matt Yglesias] The only way to avert disaster is for a substantial block of progressive lawmakers to say — as soon as possible — that they will note vote for any bailout that does not:

* Preserve substantial financial upside for taxpayers in the event that the bailout works (I think in practice this requires an equity stake in the bailed out firms, but I’m not sure).
* Meaningful steps to restructure mortgages and keep most people in their houses.
* A real second stimulus package.
* Controls on executive pay for bailed out firms.

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2008/09/buy_the_companies_not_the_assets_2.php
[Matt Yglesias] I said this yesterday citing Doug Elmendorf and now Paul Krugman’s saying the same thing. It seems that it’s genuinely necessary for the government to give a large sum of money to financial services firms in exchange for something. But the issue is: In exchange for what? Under the Paulson Plan, in exchange for public money the taxpayers will get distressed assets. In a better plan, in exchange for public money the taxpayers will get equity in the bailed out firms . . . [read on]

More: http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/21/why-shouldnt-those-who-benefitted-from-the-financial-mess-and-any-bailout-pay-for-it/

http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/21/the-government-and-the-people-need-to-be-the-insurer-of-last-resort-not-the-idiot-of-last-resort/

What the Dems REALLY think (from unattributed, but authentic, emails)

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=8374
"Paulsen and congressional Republicans, or the few that will actually vote for this (most will be unwilling to take responsibility for the consequences of their policies), have said that there can't be any "add ons," or addition provisions. Fuck that. I don't really want to trigger a world wide depression (that's not hyperbole, that's a distinct possibility), but I'm not voting for a blank check for $700 billion for those mother fuckers. . . ." [read on]

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=8376
"Here's the industry's play: progressives will approach Nancy with ideas for reform, and she'll agree to push for their proposals, and she'll really mean it. Then industry lobbyists will go to Dennis Moore, Melissa Bean and a few other Democrats, and tell them how dire the consequences of the proposals would be, and that the members who understand how the economy works need to step up to stop Nancy and the crazy liberals from doing something rash. Then those Democrats will go to Steny and tell him how terrible Nancy's crazy ideas would be, and how we can't rush into something like that without much, much more thought. Maybe Barney will try to talk to Dennis or Melissa, but it will become apparent quickly that they have no idea what they're talking about; they're just repeating by rote what the lobbyists told them to say. . . ." [read on]

More: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/insane-by-digby-matt-stoller-is.html

Of course we should believe that the Bush people will use these extraordinary powers wisely and not abuse them, right? Right?

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/21/bush-legacy-taxpayer-funds/

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/schlock-doctrine-by-digby-jack-balkin.html

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/thoughts-on-sunday-bobbleheads-by.html
[Tristero] I just have to add that when I heard Paulson say this bail out was actually going to make money for the government, I couldn't help but remember Paul Wolfowitz assuring us that the Iraq war would pay for itself.

Where is Obama?

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/that-700-billion-could-parlay-into.html
“As of now, the Bush Administration has only offered a concept with a staggering price tag, not a plan. Even if the U.S. Treasury recovers some or most of its investment over time, this initial outlay of up to $700 billion is sobering. And in return for their support, the American people must be assured that the deal reflects the basic principles of transparency, fairness, and reform.

First, there must be no blank check when American taxpayers are on the hook for this much money.

Second, taxpayers shouldn't be spending a dime to reward CEOs on Wall Street.

Third, taxpayers should be protected and should be able to recoup this investment.

Fourth, this plan has to help homeowners stay in their homes.

Fifth, this is a global crisis, and the United States must insist that other nations join us in helping secure the financial markets.

Sixth, we need to start putting in place the rules of the road I've been calling for for years to prevent this from ever happening again.”

More: http://www.samefacts.com/archives/garbage_pail_/2008/09/obama_on_the_garbage_pail_no_blank_check.php

http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/21/obama-draws-a-line-in-the-sand-no-paulson-deal/

Heh: http://www.eschatonblog.com/2008_09_21_archive.html#7988228822104091146
[Obama advisor] There is more information on the back of a box of Froot Loops than on what they've presented.

Where is McCain?

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/218582.php
[Josh Marshall] Has John McCain done or said anything so far beside ask for advice from former Sen. Phil Gramm, the guy more singly responsible for creating the mess than anyone else?

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/218534.php
[JS] You would never know it from watching the news, but one of the candidates in this race happens to have been previously implicated in a national scandal involving pressuring regulators to back off of a bank making risky moves with its assets, leading to disaster for investors and an expensive government bailout. . . . [read on]

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/john-mccain-still-proud-of-his-vote-to.html
[60 Minutes] Scott Pelley: In 1999, you were one of the senators who helped pass deregulation of Wall Street. Do you regret that now?

John McCain: No, I think the deregulation was probably helpful to the growth of our economy.

An EXCELLENT question

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/218587.php
[Josh Marshall] The New York Times reports this evening that "foreign banks, which were initially excluded from the [Wall Street bailout] plan, lobbied successfully over the weekend to be able to sell the toxic American mortgage debt owned by their American units to the Treasury, getting the same treatment as United States banks."

The Times further reports that two of the biggest foreign banks in need of such relief are Barclays and UBS. In fact, my understanding is that UBS is more on the line here than any other foreign bank.

Let's add this up.

John McCain's top economics advisor, who is widely believed to be his choice for Treasury Secretary, should he win in November, is former Sen. Phil Gramm. (Indeed, just last night his spokesman refused to say Gramm wouldn't be McCain's choice for Treasury Secretary.)

Gramm is both vice chairman of UBS's US division and a lobbyist for UBS.

If UBS successfully lobbied over the weekend to get in on the bailout, what was Gramm's role in the lobbying?

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/mccain-refuses-to-rule-out-appointing.html
McCain refuses to rule out appointing Phil "Nation of Whiners" Gramm as Treasury secretary . . .

We saw no economists analyzing the bailout on the Sunday talk shows. Well, here’s what some of them think

A sampling: http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=8373

More from Paul Krugman: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/paul-krugman-and-epic-of-gilgamesh-by.html

More from Robert Reich: http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/21/what_wall_street_should_do_to/index.php
The frame has been set, the dye cast. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, presumably representing the Bush administration but indirectly representing Wall Street, and Fed Chief Ben Bernanke, want a blank check from Congress for $700 billion or possibly a trillion dollars or more to take bad debt off Wall Street's balance sheets. Never before in the history of American capitalism has so much been asked of so many for (at least in the first instance) so few. . . [read on]

And the execs who ran these companies into ground?

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2008/09/key-lehman-employees-to-get-25-billion.html
Key Lehman Employees to Get $2.5 Billion in Bonuses . . .

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/i-agree-with-barney-frank-no-bailout.html
I agree with Barney Frank - no bailout while bonuses are flowing . . .

The New Old New McCain (he’s new!)

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/us/politics/19mccain.html
[Adam Nagourney] For years, Mr. McCain has struck a different kind of cloth as a presidential candidate: as a politician capable of defying his party or embracing it; holding a world view that defied any easy ideological setting; having an ironic detachment as he observed himself on the campaign trail, combined with a sly sense of humor that leavened his occasional bursts of temper.

These days, Mr. McCain sounds less like his old self than Bob Dole, another Republican senator who ran for president in 1996, sounded in the closing days of his campaign — speaking louder or repeating statements that he thinks might be overlooked. “The American economy is in a crisis!” Mr. McCain said. “It’s in a crisis!” . . .

http://www.time-blog.com/swampland/2008/09/the_truth_will_out.html
[Joe Klein] One of the big differences between the old John McCain and the current edition is that the old one (1) would admit error and (2) would admit there were things he didn't know. That was a good part of his charm. The current edition--a parody of the worst sort of political flim-flam artist--not only lies about his own positions, but attempts to camouflage those lies by mischaracterizing his opponent's positions. . . .

McCain gets beaten up by the ABC This Week panel – as thoroughgoing a thrashing as you’re likely to see on network television

Watch: http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/21/this-week-panel-shreds-mccain-on-the-economy-unpresidential-mixed-up-he-doesnt-get-it/
[Blue Texan] When you've lost George Will and Cokie Roberts, you're pretty much screwed. . .

What we have wrought: Was the horrific Marriott bombing in Islamabad retribution for the missiles the US has been firing into tribal areas of Pakistan?

http://www.juancole.com/2008/09/islamabad-bombing-puts-pressure-on-us.html
[Juan Cole] Bloomberg argues that Saturday's bombing of the Marriott in Islamabad will likely put pressure on US/ Pakistani relations. The bombing was a clear signal from militants that the Pakistani government must back away from its American alliance.

Newly elected president Ali Asaf Zardari gave an address to the parliament in which he called for the uprooting of terrorism and the prevention of cross-border raids on Pakistan by Pakistani militants. He also demanded, however, that Pakistani sovereignty be respected, veiled reference to US military incursions into his country. . .

More: http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/21/sovereignty-in-what-respect/

http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/21/our-allies-uh-huh/
Apparently, a few Marine officers have noted and reported that Pakistani helicopters are running resupply missions for Taliban fighters inside Afghanistan. . . .

What we have wrought: in Afghanistan

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/19/AR2008091903980.html
Just one year ago, the Taliban insurgency was a furtive, loosely organized guerrilla force that carried out hit-and-run ambushes, burned empty schools, left warning letters at night and concentrated attacks in the southern rural regions of its ethnic and religious heartland.

Today it is a larger, better armed and more confident militia, capable of mounting sustained military assaults. Its forces operate in virtually every province and control many districts in areas ringing the capital. Its fighters have bombed embassies and prisons, nearly assassinated the president, executed foreign aid workers and hanged or beheaded dozens of Afghans.

The new Taliban movement has created a parallel government structure that includes defense and finance councils and appoints judges and officials in some areas. It offers cash to recruits and presents letters of introduction to local leaders. It operates Web sites and a 24-hour propaganda apparatus that spins every military incident faster than Afghan and Western officials can manage. . . .

Why the court injunction to prevent Dick Cheney from destroying government records was necessary

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=8371

Bonus item: How many cars do YOU own?

Thirteen: http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/john-mccain-has-13-cars-barack-obama.html
2004 Cadillac
2005 Volkswagen convertible
2001 Honda sedan
2007 half-ton Ford pickup truck
vintage 1960 Willys Jeep
2008 Jeep Wrangler
2000 Lincoln
2001 GMC SUV
three 2000 NEV Gem electric vehicles
Lexis

Plus a Prius: http://www.newsweek.com/id/160091

Slideshow: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/21/mccain-owns-13-cars-obama_n_128047.html

The big lie: http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/update-mccain-lied-about-only-buying.html
McCain lied about only buying American cars all his life . . .

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 6:56 AM

 
ON THE ROPES

You tell me if this sounds like a winning campaign. Because the chief candidate can’t avoid blurting out gaffes, especially where foreign policy topics (his supposed area of strength) are concerned, and because his handlers are frantic that he might lose his temper in public, press availability in uncontrolled situations has been strictly limited.

The second person on the ticket can hardly be trusted to speak to the press at all – and even on campaign stump speeches is forced to use a teleprompter. Her unscripted comments show a remarkable incidence of gaffes and/or intentional untruths.

The campaign’s pattern of running ads or repeating applause lines which they know are false has become a topic of open scorn and disapprobation among the national press. The word “lie,” normally off limits by the rules of press and pundit civility, is appearing more frequently. Even long-time supporters say they are ashamed.

Now that the novelty of the VP nominee has worn off, and real scrutiny has begun, people are realizing that she really doesn’t know very much about anything. She is under active investigation for abuses of office in her home state and has responded by withholding evidence and trying to shut the investigation down.

The lead candidate is the oldest person ever to run for a first term as president, with disabling war injuries and recurrent melanoma – but picked an untested short-term governor who was unknown on the national stage to succeed him if necessary. Now he’s forced to argue that she’s the most dynamic, qualified person he could have chosen.

She was not properly vetted before being selected, and now is hiding her extremist religious and political affiliations under a very heavy blanket. She’s barely ever been outside of the country, and is running to be potentially the Leader of the Free World.

After hiring the most vicious attack squad in the business, the lead candidate expresses dismay that the campaign has gotten so negative – and then goes on to attack his opponent for causing it.

They won’t criticize or oppose the current administration on any major policy, but they are desperate to present themselves as the candidates of “change,” not continuing more of the same.

And now, issue after issue is breaking against McCain

On the economy: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/09/20/obama_attacks_mccain_on_regula.html
The Democratic presidential nominee used McCain's own words to attack him as an opponent of federal regulation of the banking industry . . .

McCain wrote, "Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation."

"So let me get this straight -- he wants to run health care like they've been running Wall Street," Obama told the audience. "Well, Senator, I know some folks on Main Street who aren't going to think that's such a good idea." . . .

McCain has attacked Obama this past week for ties to former executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, including in two television ads. But he said it's McCain whose campaign is replete with current or former lobbyists for the mortgage giants. He cited comments by the former head of Fannie Mae's government relations office, who was quoted in Politico as saying, "When I see photographs of Sen. McCain's staff, it looks to me like the team of lobbyists who used to report to me."

"Folks," Obama said, "you can't make this stuff up." . . .

On Social Security, Obama said, McCain's support for privatization would leave senior citizens at risk at a time when the stock market has plummeted. "I know Senator McCain is talking about a 'casino culture' on Wall Street -- but the fact is, he's the one who wants to gamble with your life savings . . .

More on Social Security: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/now-he-puts-his-foot-down-by-digby.html

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014810.php

On women’s issues: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014807.php

On his newfound commitment to regulation: http://www.eschatonblog.com/2008_09_14_archive.html#5090026163665223844
[Atrios] Aside from his brief flirtation with campaign finance reform, McCain has never shown any interest in regulation of any kind.

We are gonna hear that health care quote again and again and again. In the words of “Presumed Innocent,” what a colossal blunder . . .

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/218296.php
[Josh Marshall] If the Obama folks are smart -- and they are -- they'll ride this one all the way to the election. . . .

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014809.php
[Steve Benen] The McCain campaign probably never even saw it coming . . .

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/9/20/18824/2992
“The American people don't trust John McCain with their pensions and they don't trust him with their healthcare.”

Ouch!

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/wash-post-headline-says-it-all.html
[WP] On Economy, Obama Offers Ideas, McCain Blames Rival

Does McCain (who bragged that he chaired the Senate committee that “oversighted” the entire economy) understand what the Federal Reserve does? Apparently not

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014805.php

Another goofy McCain gaffe, in a supposed area of expertise

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003853033
"McCain said this near the end of the clip below, as he's talking up Palin's foreign policy/national security credentials:

'I also know, if I might remind you, that she is commander of the Alaska National Guard. In fact, you may know that on Sept. 11 a large contingent of the Alaska Guard deployed to Iraq and her son happened to be one of them. So I think she understands our national security challenges....'

"The ceremony Palin attended at Fort Wainwright last week didn't involve the Alaska National Guard. Palin's son is in the Army, and his unit - 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division - deployed to Iraq."

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014806.php
[Steve Benen] It's just one of those sloppy examples of McCain's near-constant confusion that contributes to the larger problem.

But the underlying point of this mix-up is that McCain is still struggling to convince people that Sarah Palin is a credible voice on foreign policy and national security issues. His arguments thus far have been a) Alaska is near Russia; b) Palin is the ostensible head of the Air National Guard; and c) Palin's son is a soldier.

Of course, the first is absurd to the point of being insulting; the second overlooks the fact that Palin has no national security responsibilities with the Guard and has never had to make a command decision in her brief gubernatorial tenure; and the third does not constitute knowledge or background on national security issues.

At this point, McCain just ought to stop trying. The whole pitch isn't going well.

http://www.democracyarsenal.org/2008/09/does-john-mccai.html
[Moira Whelan] To some, confusing the Army National Guard and the Army would seem a small thing, but to someone with John McCain’s family history, this is a pretty big slip up. Culturally in the military, there’s a tremendous difference between Guard and regular Army, and John McCain must know that.

You add to this McCain professing to understand the impact of deployments on our force structure and it’s a bit confusing as to how he actually could manage to conclude this. He claims he talks frequently to commanders on the ground and is constantly monitoring the well being of our forces. If this is the case, you’d know the Stryker Brigade. If you were Senator who had to vote on the funding for this and really paid attention, “Stryker” isn’t something you’d forget about…

Finally, it's pretty obvious that when your running mate is a governor, you'd know if she was sending a unit off, or simply telling her son goodbye. If you are a governor, you don't really confuse these two things.

BREAKING NEWS: Cheney ordered to preserve records (well, it shouldn’t have to be said, but in his case you can’t take anything for granted)

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/washington/AP-Cheney-Lawsuit.html
A federal judge on Saturday ordered Dick Cheney to preserve a wide range of the records from his time as vice president.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly is a setback for the Bush administration in its effort to promote a narrow definition of materials that must be safeguarded under by the Presidential Records Act.

The Bush administration's legal position ''heightens the court's concern'' that some records may not be preserved, said the judge. . . .

Yes, it has to be ordered: http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/200601030_shredding_truck_was_heading_to_cheneys/

A little trip down memory lane: remembering the Keating Five scandal (thanks to Ahmad S. for the link)

http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/1989-11-29/news/mccain-the-most-reprehensible-of-the-keating-five/1
McCain: The Most Reprehensible of the Keating Five
[November 29, 1989] You're John McCain, a fallen hero who wanted to become president so desperately that you sold yourself to Charlie Keating, the wealthy con man who bears such an incredible resemblance to The Joker.

Obviously, Keating thought you could make it to the White House, too.

He poured $112,000 into your political campaigns. He became your friend. He threw fund raisers in your honor. He even made a sweet shopping-center investment deal for your wife, Cindy. . . .

Nothing was too good for you. Why not? Keating saw you as a prime investment that would pay off in the future. . . . [read on]

What’s wrong with the Paulson bailout proposal

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/microeconomics_and_policy_analysis_/2008/09/_paulson_channels_cheney.php
[Mark Kleiman] Below is the text of the legislation the Treasury has submitted to the Congress to authorize the Garbage Pail. It looks as if Paulson has been spending too much time around Cheney. The bill gives him unrestricted authority and only the vaguest guidance, and forbids any judicial review.

It also lists as goals only protecting financial institutions and taxpayers. No mention of preventing housing abandonment, for example. I think our friends in Congress have some work to do. Given the history of Iraq, giving the dying Bush Administration $700 billion worth of unreviewable power seems a bit extreme. . . [read on]

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2008/09/mallaby_this_deal_stinks.php
Sebastian Mallaby strikes me as a pretty business-friendly, establishment-oriented type so when he says this bailout package stinks I suddenly go from thinking “this smells fishy to me, but maybe these guys know what they’re doing” to “oh shit.” . . . [read on]

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2008/09/buy_the_companies_not_the_assets.php
Doug Elmendorf, senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution is not, I take it, a Communist of some sort. But he says that instead of buying financial institutions’ bad assets, we should be buying the institutions . . .

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2008/09/fetters.php
[Matt Yglesias] The administration is requesting “unfettered authority” to buy whatever with the $700 billion worth of bailout money they’re asking for. And of course that’s what they want. If you were to give me authority to do something, I’d prefer to get the unfettered kind. But you almost certainly wouldn’t give it to me. And you especially wouldn’t give it to me if the problem the authority was meant to resolve had occurred under my watch. If this scale of funds is going to be spent. . . . [read on]

More fetters: http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2008/09/a_modest_proposal_4.php

Oh-oh

http://www.eschatonblog.com/2008_09_14_archive.html#2982717022308519670
Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/218341.php
[BC] Why do I have the feeling that this bail out of the financial system is going to be the market equivalent of the Patriot Act? We're in a crisis which gives the Bush Administration an opportunity to push legislation through Congress with little or no debate. In six months from now, how many "little surprises" are we going to find out about? . . .

[CR] Why are there no [details], because it will be a pig in a poke. There will be a bums rush just like when Bush tried to pressure Congress into passing the Protect America Act. They will wait until right before the election and try and jam the Democratic party up and say that if they do nothing then we are all going to Hell in a hand basket. There will be nothing good about this plan unless you are a big banking and insurance CEO. What a surprise!

While the Resolution Trust Corporation was a moderately well regarded solution to the 80's S&L scandal, this proposed idea does not, and almost certainly will not be similar, though its proponents will claim it is. The RTC took over failed banks and sold off the banks' assets. Very simple. It was simply an enormous bankruptcy trustee.

The crucial difference here is that this bailout will not be taking over failed banks, just taking over the bad debts of the failed banks. So the banks will be able to live on and be free to do the exact same thing all over again. I cannot think of a worse philosophical, policy, or practical solution than this.

You have banks and investment houses that lobbied Congress to remove restrictions on their activities and now their own activities have loaded them down with the crushing weight of bad debt . . .

More: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/218423.php
[Josh Marshall] There are subjects I know a lot about and others I know very little about. And the high-wire financial mess we're currently in falls clearly into the latter category. But I know enough to be troubled that we appear ready to give upwards of a trillion dollars in unfettered and unreviewable spending authority to the ... let's face it, the Bush administration . . .

http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/20/more-and-more-surreal-paulson-can-buy-non-american-non-mortgage-assets/
[AP] The Treasury Department said on Saturday that its financial rescue plan could permit it to buy assets beyond those backed by mortgages and potentially buy them from foreign holders. . . .

[Ian Welch] Or to put it more simply, he can buy any damn thing from any damn one he wants to with this money, with no oversight at all. . . .

A few more perspectives . . .

Krugman: http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/20/no-deal/
I hate to say this, but looking at the plan as leaked, I have to say no deal. Not unless Treasury explains, very clearly, why this is supposed to work, other than through having taxpayers pay premium prices for lousy assets.

As I posted earlier today, it seems all too likely that a “fair price” for mortgage-related assets will still leave much of the financial sector in trouble. And there’s nothing at all in the draft that says what happens next; although I do notice that there’s nothing in the plan requiring Treasury to pay a fair market price. So is the plan to pay premium prices to the most troubled institutions? Or is the hope that restoring liquidity will magically make the problem go away?

Here’s the thing: historically, financial system rescues have involved seizing the troubled institutions and guaranteeing their debts; only after that did the government try to repackage and sell their assets. The feds took over S&Ls first, protecting their depositors, then transferred their bad assets to the RTC. The Swedes took over troubled banks, again protecting their depositors, before transferring their assets to their equivalent institutions.

The Treasury plan, by contrast, looks like an attempt to restore confidence in the financial system — that is, convince creditors of troubled institutions that everything’s OK — simply by buying assets off these institutions. This will only work if the prices Treasury pays are much higher than current market prices; that, in turn, can only be true either if this is mainly a liquidity problem — which seems doubtful — or if Treasury is going to be paying a huge premium, in effect throwing taxpayers’ money at the financial world.

And there’s no quid pro quo here — nothing that gives taxpayers a stake in the upside, nothing that ensures that the money is used to stabilize the system rather than reward the undeserving.

Atrios: http://www.eschatonblog.com/2008_09_14_archive.html#3685743921764222799
I Suppose I Appreciate The Honesty . . . They could've released a complicated plan which appeared to have controls and oversight but which would be hard to decipher from the language. Instead they made it plain for all to see that what they want is to be able to take money from you and give it to Wall Street firms.

http://www.eschatonblog.com/2008_09_14_archive.html#8823343971502842491
Again, the problem is that lots of bad loans were made, lots of people made highly leveraged investments in those bad loans, and still more people bet on those loans by insuring them. The loans are bad. The mortgages are not going to be repaid in full. Housing prices are not going to magically shoot up 50% over the next 6 months.

http://www.eschatonblog.com/2008_09_14_archive.html#4526144579879927693
I really don't get where the fantasies that the US Gov. could actually make money by buying up these crappy assets then reselling them. The only way this kind of bailout can work is if they're bought for highly inflated values, as all of the players made highly leveraged bets. A 50% haircut won't bail anyone out. This is just the liquidity problem fantasy. It just isn't what's going on here. People lost lots of money.

Kevin Drum: http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2008/09/solvency_vs_liquidity.html
The purpose of the bailout, then, isn't to recapitalize the banks, it's to put a firm value on the toxic sludge once and for all. Maybe it's a dime on the dollar, maybe it's 50 cents on the dollar. Whatever. When that's done and the feds have purchased the sludge, some banks will turn out to be insolvent, and perhaps they'll be allowed to fail. Others will turn out to be in bad shape but still solvent, and they'll continue doing business. Once that's sorted out, the commercial paper market will loosen back up since everyone will know who it's safe to loan money to and who it's not.

Now, there are obviously all sorts of problems here. . . .

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2008/09/after_the_bailout.html
Following on to my post this morning about the Wall Street bailout, you might be wondering what happens after Hank Paulson buys up all the toxic waste that U.S. banks are currently holding on their balance sheets. If the feds pay some kind of halfway reasonable price for this stuff (whatever that might be), and after everything is cleaned up it turns out that — surprise! — everyone is insolvent after all — what then? Hell if I know. . . . [read on]

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=8367
[Matt Stoller] Specifically, it's designed to handcuff progressive priorities for the next generation, to ensure that Barack Obama, though he may be President in name, will spend his term paying off George Bush's debt. . . .

More criticism: http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/09/20/bailout/index.html

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=8362

http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/20/paulsons-blank-check/

http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/20/hank-paulsons-raid-on-the-treasury/

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2008/09/bailout_reax.html

Where are the Democrats?

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13676.html
Democrats are drafting a joint House-Senate bill to expedite action on the Treasury Department’s $700 billion rescue plan for the financial markets but want the government to use its new leverage to slow foreclosures and cap compensation for the Wall Street chiefs whose companies are being bailed out.

There will be provisions as well in either the core bill or side deals asking the White House to accept new economic stimulus spending and bankruptcy court relief for homeowners. . . .

In this spirit, the Treasury draft bill is short and to the point: authorizing purchases of up to $700 billion in mortgage-related assets at any given time and giving the department sweeping authority for at least two years to carry out the enterprise.

Frank will clearly add more to the dozen sections penned by Paulson’s legislative office and delivered to Capitol Hill early Saturday morning. How far he and fellow Democrats can go and not drive off Republican conservatives will be a critical question in the week ahead.

“The Administration has requested that Congress authorize, in very short order, sweeping and unprecedented powers for the Treasury Secretary to confront a financial crisis of historic proportions,” Pelosi said in a statement late Saturday. “Democrats will work with the Administration to ensure that our response to events in the financial markets is swift, but we must insulate Main Street from Wall Street and keep people in their homes by reducing mortgage foreclosures . . .”

Frank said there is a strong sense that the government should use its leverage to prod investors to be more willing to write down mortgages rather than pursue foreclosures. The massive housing bill approved by Congress this summer held out the promise that the Federal Housing Administration could help a homeowner find government-insured refinancing and such write-downs. But the relief will never be realized unless the financing industry is more willing to come forward and negotiate reductions.

Frank, who has been in phone discussions with Paulson, said the secretary appeared receptive to adding some foreclosure-relief language. The second Democratic proposal — to impose compensation limits on Wall Street executives — is meeting more resistance.

“Hank says it’s a poison pill,” Frank said. “I say I don’t think it’s very patriotic for someone to not give up his golden parachute when we’re trying to save the markets.” . . .

Apart from the price tag, the bill is striking in the authority that would be vested in the Treasury Department. . . . [read on]

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/218444.php
[Josh Marshall] Also, according to the Journal, finance industry lobbyists are already giving orders to Republican hill staffers not to allow any meaningful reforms or protections for taxpayers. So, just the money. No strings attached. . . .

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2008/09/the_crisis.php
[Matt Yglesias] The plan is bad. But bad policies get enacted all the time. But we’re at a point now where congress is, allegedly, in the hands of progressive leadership. Simply put, if congressional Democrats manage to acquiesce in a plan that spends $700 billion on a bailout while doing nothing for average working people and giving the taxpayer virtually no upside in a way that guarantees that even electoral victory would give an Obama administration no resources with which to implement a progressive domestic agenda in 2009 then everyone’s going to have to give serious consideration to becoming a pretty hard-core libertarian.

It’d be one thing for a bunch of conservative politicians to ram a terrible policy through. Then we could say “well, if some progressives win the next election things will be different.” But if this comes through an allegedly progressive congress then the whole enterprise starts looking pretty hollow.

More: http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/20/hank-paulson-to-dems-not-allowing-ceos-to-keep-multi-million-dollar-salaries-is-a-poison-pill/

Palin says Obama hasn’t authored any major legislation in the Senate. OK, fair enough. But McCain’s been there 22 years – and what has he produced, aside from McCain-Feingold (which he is busily rendering irrelevant)?

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2008/09/caving_on_torture.html

We’re still getting the best coverage of the Palin scandals from the Alaskan press

http://www.adn.com/opinion/view/story/531725.html
Gov. Sarah Palin has surrendered important gubernatorial duties to the Republican presidential campaign. McCain staff are handling public and press questions about actions she has taken as governor. The governor who said, "Hold me accountable," is hiding behind the hired guns of the McCain campaign to avoid accountability.

Is it too much to ask that Alaska's governor speak for herself, directly to Alaskans, about her actions as Alaska's governor?

A press conference Thursday showed how skewed Alaska's relationship with its own governor has become.

McCain-Palin campaign spokesman Ed O'Callaghan announced that Todd Palin will not comply with a subpoena to testify about his role in Troopergate, the Legislature's investigation into whether Palin abused her power in forcing out former public safety commissioner Walt Monegan.

O'Callaghan also announced that Alaska's governor is "unlikely" to cooperate with the investigation by the Alaska Legislature about questionable conduct by Alaska's chief executive.

Monday, he and campaign sidekick Meg Stapleton stood before Alaskans and defended the official personnel decision by Alaska's governor to fire Alaska's public safety commissioner. ABC News reported that Gov. Palin's official press secretary, Bill McAllister, paid by the state of Alaska, didn't even know the McCain staffers were meeting the press . . .

http://www.adn.com/palin/story/530493.html
McCain-Palin presidential campaign spokesman Ed O'Callaghan announced today that Todd Palin would not appear, because he no longer believes the Legislature's investigation is legitimate. . . .

[NB: Because HE BELIEVES it isn’t legitimate? Who the HELL cares what he thinks, “First Dude” or not? It’s an official subpoena, and it’s illegal to ignore it.]

http://www.adn.com/opinion/view/story/529587.html
Gov. Sarah Palin’s handling of Troopergate is getting more and more troubling. She has reneged on her pledge, made before becoming the Republican vice-presidential nominee, to cooperate with the Legislature’s investigation. . . . Whatever happened to the “open and transparent” administration she promised Alaskans?

TWO BASIC QUESTIONS

What Alaskans and the rest of the country need from Gov. Palin is simple. They need an honest accounting on two questions:

• Did Gov. Palin force out public safety commissioner Walt Monegan because he would not fire her ex-brother-in-law from the troopers?

• In pursuing Gov. Palin’s concerns about trooper Mike Wooten, did she, Todd Palin or her staff improperly obtain confidential information about him? . . .

Palin’s road to nowhere

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/palin_/2008/09/the_road_to_nowhere.php
[Mark Kleiman] The road, with $26 million of your money in it, is almost done. That's about half a million dollars for each of the residents of the island, but it's not as if they're going to be using it, since it goes to an empty beach. As the mayor of Ketchian points out, you could use it for a 10k: a nice flat paved surface with no risk of traffic.

More: http://www.newsweek.com/id/159421

“The Palin plunge”

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=8359

Obama really seems to be enjoying himself

Don’t miss it! http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/obama-really-was-on-fire-today.html

Obama pulls ahead in all the major tracking polls, reaching the crucial 50% mark

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/9/20/135442/357

Our national press tries to reassert the authority and relevance it has squandered

http://mediamatters.org/columns/200809160015
[Eric Boehlert] As John McCain's manufactured "lipstick on a pig" story was taking flight last week, Matthews, host of MSNBC's Hardball, kicked off the hour by teeing up the story. In a note to viewers that telegraphed his disdain for the lipstick controversy, he announced that during the show, he'd share his own thoughts "about how, with a troubled economy, crumbling bridges, rail and roads, a failing educational system, a war that is now going on for five years, and an uncertain American economic future, we're sitting here talking about lipstick."

Later, he complained the story was "an insult to the intelligence of our democracy."

Did you hear the media are mad? According to Howard Kurtz at The Washington Post, the press is angry at McCain for his patently untrue lipstick attack ("It's false. It's ridiculous"), and they're seething over how Sarah Palin keeps telling her demonstrably false Bridge to Nowhere tale even after members of the media pointed out her stump-speech applause line was a lie. (A "whopper.")

During the past week, virtually every major news outlet has produced welcomed, hard-edged fact-checking pieces about how the Republican ticket goes far beyond bending the truth and just plain snaps it out on the campaign trail.

In the past, that kind of truth-telling would have embarrassed campaigns and likely caused a dramatic change in the rhetoric. But what do McCain and Palin do in response? They pretty much ignore the press and its critiques. . . .

Instead of recoiling, the Republican ticket seems to have adopted a post-press approach to campaigning in which the candidates simply don't care what the press does or says about their honesty. More to the point, the candidates don't think it will matter on Election Day.

They may be right. And that's the media's fault. They've reported their way right into the margins. Submerged in trivia and tactics for the past 18 months, the press, I think, has damaged its ability -- its authority -- to referee the campaign. . . . [read on!]

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/natural-consequence-by-digby-eric.html
[Digby] These pundits are so lacking in authority, that even when they are doing their jobs, it no longer matters. It's all part of the same entertainment program whether it's over lipstick on pigs or Fannie Mae collapsing or blow jobs or weapons of mass destruction. They've managed to debase information itself and turn it into just another commodity. I don't know how you fix that. . . . [read on]

Debate formats announced – and the McCain camp fought hard to shield Palin from exposure

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/us/politics/21debate.html
At the insistence of the McCain campaign, the Oct. 2 debate between the Republican nominee for vice president, Gov. Sarah Palin, and her Democratic rival, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., will have shorter question-and-answer segments than those for the presidential nominees, the advisers said. There will also be much less opportunity for free-wheeling, direct exchanges between the running mates.

McCain advisers said they had been concerned that a loose format could leave Ms. Palin, a relatively inexperienced debater, at a disadvantage and largely on the defensive.

A typology of Presidential liars

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=8353

Sunday talk show line-ups

http://www.eschatonblog.com/2008_09_21_archive.html#2634694640294373986
ABC's "This Week" — Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson; Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn.; Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio.

CBS' "Face the Nation" — Paulson; Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass.; Sen. Richard Shelby, R- Ala.

NBC's "Meet the Press" — Paulson; New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

CNN's "Late Edition" — Douglas Holtz Eakin, adviser to John McCain; former Rep. Rob Portman, R-Ohio.

Bonus item: Brilliant!

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014801.php
[McCain] "Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation."

[Paul Krugman] "McCain, who now poses as the scourge of Wall Street, was praising financial deregulation like 10 seconds ago -- and promising that if we marketize health care, it will perform as well as the financial industry!" . . .

[Anonymous Liberal] "[I]f we bring the same approach to health care that we brought to the banking industry, maybe in eight years or so, our health care system will completely collapse and the government will have to step in and take over. Voila! A national health care system. Brilliant."

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

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- posted by Nick Burbules @ 6:31 AM

 
A TIME FOR LEADERSHIP

Nice catch from Joe Sudbay: McCain’s people have been calling the current economic collapse a “crisis.” But how does McCain show leadership in this crisis? By pointing the finger of blame at everyone but himself and using it as an opportunity to attack Obama

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/in-crisis-we-saw-stark-difference.html

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/mccains-economic-plan-attack-obama.html
[NYT] Senator John McCain gave a few new details of his economic proposals at a speech here Friday morning, but the address seemed as much a political shot at Senator Barack Obama as a policy prescription. . . .

[WP] Republican presidential candidate John McCain offered few new details this morning on how he would respond to the crisis in the nation's financial markets, instead renewing his criticism of Democratic rival Barack Obama . . .

His call to “fire” SEC Chair Chris Cox didn’t go over very well – so now it’s on to attacking the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac execs who have supported Obama’s campaign

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/09/mccain_fannie_freddie_coddling.php
“There are certainly plenty of places to point fingers, and it may be hard to pinpoint the original event that set it all in motion. But let me give you an educated guess. The financial crisis we're living through today started with the corruption and manipulation of our home mortgage system. At the center of the problem were the lobbyists, politicians, and bureaucrats who succeeded in persuading Congress and the administration to ignore the festering problems at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. . .

Two years ago, I called for reform of this corruption at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Congress did nothing. The Administration did nothing. Senator Obama did nothing, and actually profited from this system of abuse and scandal. While Fannie and Freddie were working to keep Congress away from their house of cards, Senator Obama was taking their money. He got more, in fact, than any other member of Congress, except for the Democratic chairmen of the committee that oversees them. And while Fannie Mae was betraying the public trust, somehow its former CEO had managed to gain my opponent's trust to the point that Senator Obama actually put him in charge of his vice presidential search.”

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2008/09/it_has_to_make_sense_before_you_can_call_it_sleazy.html
“My friends, this is the problem in Washington. People like Senator Obama have been too busy gaming the system and haven't ever done a thing to challenge the system. That isn't country first, that's Obama first.”

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/nonpartisanship-for-dummies-by-digby.html
[Digby] I don't think anyone besides kool-aid drinking GOP base voters will buy this, but you never know. McCain sounded like a cheap huckster this morning, trying to say that the man he has relentlessly belittled for being an empty suit is simultaneously pulling the strings that led to an epic financial crisis. I don't think it tracks for anyone who isn't reflexively tribal. You can say that both parties failed or you can say that Democrats are no better, but to try to pretend that they led this rapacious deregulation bonanza is truly laughable. . . [read on]

More: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/mccain_ad_blasts_obama_for_tie.php

Fact check: http://www.washingtonindependent.com/6469/mccain-lays-wall-st-crisis-at-obamas-feet
[Matthew DeLong] Let’s examine these comments. Politifact recently addressed McCain’s claims to have been at the forefront in calling for action on the impending Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac implosion — but his warnings came only “after a widely read report” sounded the alarm . . . [read on]

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/paper_that_was_basis_for_mccai.php
Now The Washington Post's very own fact-checker has declared that the McCain campaign is "exaggerating wildly," dismissing the Raines claim as "particularly dubious." . . .

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/mccain_again_says_fannie_mae_c.php
McCain cast himself as the activist reformer on the economy by citing his call for reform at Fannie and Freddie, and again hit Obama by claiming that its former CEO, Frank Raines, advised Obama on housing, even though Raines himself has denied it . . .

Another little problem there, John: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014796.php
[Steve Benen] Like most of McCain's attacks, I get the sense he hasn't thought this one through.

First, McCain insists that Raines is an advisor to the Obama campaign. As we discussed earlier, McCain simply isn't telling the truth.

Second, if getting advice from officials at troubled financial institutions is a sign of bad judgment, McCain way want to explain why two of his top advisors include John Thain, from Merrill Lynch, and Martin Feldstein, who serves on AIG's board of directors.

Third, and most importantly, all McCain's attacks do is offer people like me a chance to remind folks about his own connections to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. . . .

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/mccain-campaign-manager-rick-davis-paid.html
McCain campaign manager Rick Davis [was] paid several hundred thousand dollars to lobby for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac against federal regulation . . .

Obama: the McCain campaign is panicking

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014797.php
[Steve Benen] In an odd turn, John McCain this morning blamed Barack Obama for the crisis on Wall Street, saying it was Obama's judgment that "contribut[ed] to these problems," and it was Obama who was "busy gaming the system," whatever the hell that's supposed to mean.

Soon after, Obama delivered a speech in Miami where I think he struck the right note: he accused McCain of feeling "a little panicked."

"This morning Senator McCain gave a speech in which his big solution to this worldwide economic crisis was to blame me for it," Obama said.

"This is a guy who's spent nearly three decades in Washington, and after spending the entire campaign saying I haven't been in Washington long enough, he apparently now is willing to assign me responsibility for all of Washington's failures. . . .”

Watch: http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/obama-mccain-is-little-panicked-right.html

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/in_statement_on_economy_obama.php
[Greg Sargent] Barack Obama just delivered a sober and somber statement on the economic crisis, stressing the need for "bipartisan spirit" and calling for he and McCain to "come together" -- implicitly contrasted his own call for unity with McCain's attacks this morning.

While saying a detailed blueprint is inappropriate at this time, Obama laid out broad principles and called for emergency measures for working families. . . .

The Wall Street Journal (!) trashes McCain’s economic posturing

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/19/wall-street-journal-editorial-board-skewers-mccain/
"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," the editorial also said.

Consistency is for wimps! http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/218155.php

Everyone’s got the mantra now about “privatizing wealth and socializing losses,” which is a pretty good summary of what’s been going on with these huge corporate bailouts – but what would a better policy look like?

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2008/09/the_other_bailout.html

http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/19/how-to-bail-out-ordinary-mortgage-holders-and-not-just-banks/

More: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/society-of-pwned-by-dday-this-has-been.html

Where have you gone, Johnny boy?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/20/us/politics/20donate.html
Senator John McCain toiled for years to push a campaign finance overhaul through Congress. After the measure finally passed, Trevor Potter, a lawyer and vigorous advocate for reforming the system, was instrumental in defending the law from challenges and pressing for strict enforcement.

Now, as Mr. McCain makes his final sprint for the White House, Mr. Potter is again helping Mr. McCain, but this time by maneuvering to wring the maximum out of campaign finance laws in ways that some contend are at odds with the spirit of the reforms they championed. . . .

McCain gives one of his vintage fake contrition acts, saying that he really, really regrets how negative the campaign has been, without citing any personal responsibility for it – and while promising that even worse is yet to come

Watch: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/218179.php

http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/19/john-mccain-regrets-letting-steve-schmidt-destroy-his-chances-of-winning-the-white-house/
[Swopa] Apparently unwilling to let the Washington Redskins dominate today's news of awkward backtracking all by themselves, John McCain has taken a look at the latest polls and realized a strategy of nonstop lying might not have been such a stroke of genius after all. . . . [read on]

Yes, worse is on its way. As McCain gets more and more desperate, watch for the full panoply of fear attacks in the closing weeks of the election. Somebody is laying the groundwork, sending out free DVD’s about “radical Islam” to newspapers across the country

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/who_is_funding_distribution_of.php

Every campaign test-markets slogans and strategies, which come and go depending on how well they stick. But “Country First” seemed like a pretty central aspect of McCain’s branding. Where did it go?

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014799.php

Hiding from the press

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/ny-times.html
[NYT] There are now not one but two drawn curtains on Mr. McCain’s plane separating his spacious quarters from the press corps. Left idle is the couch that was built in the front of the plane — called “Straight Talk Air” — to reproduce at 30,000 feet the freewheeling chats with reporters that were the stock-in-trade on his bus; the other morning it was covered with newspapers. Mr. McCain, who promised to hold weekly news conferences if elected president, has not held one in more than a month. . . .

Remember when McCain actually thought he could leverage Latino support? Well, his immigration flip-flops sure killed that idea

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/19/0432/96137/672/603420

Unions (remember them?) are starting to weigh in

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/union_drops_big_mail_blitz_ham.php
In the latest effort by the big unions to try to fill the gap left behind by the absence of third-party spending on the left, the AFL-CIO is hitting the Rust Belt states with a massive mail blitz hammering John McCain over his claim that the "fundamentals" of the economy are "strong." . . .

I agree – this is a good time to trash the Bush-McCain idea of privatizing Social Security

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gwHGMYappR5eiPj4JoZ8L-7YUacAD93A2BIO1
Wall Street turmoil left John McCain scrambling to explain why the fundamentals of the U.S. economy remained strong. It also left him defending his support for privately investing Social Security money in the same markets that had tanked earlier in the week. . . .

More: http://www.washingtonindependent.com/6586/dnc-to-mccain-how-you-like-privatization-now

Let’s talk about his health care plan too -- what lousy timing THIS was

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/218296.php
[McCain] "Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation." . . . [read on]

More: http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2008/09/mccain_ill_make_health_care_as_deregulated_as_banking.php

It must be nice going on Fox News as a Republican – you can say ANYTHING and nobody will question you

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/218085.php
Palin: I Killed the Bridge to Nowhere

http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/19/on-hannity-palin-repeats-lie-about-obama-sending-mini-army-of-oppo-research-lawyers-to-alaska/
Palin Repeats Lie About Obama Sending “Mini-Army” Of Oppo Research Lawyers To Alaska

Palin is now saying that she had perfectly good reasons for firing Walt Monegan that had NOTHING to do with his refusal to fire the trooper brother-in-law Palin had it in for. No connection at all. But if that’s true, then why is painting the trooper as a really, really bad guy (which he apparently was) still part of her defense?

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/218140.php

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/palin_still_badmouthing_troope.php

The national press seems to have lost interest, but back in Alaska Palin is getting savaged for her investigation stonewalling and cover-up

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/palin_under_fire_at_home_for_t.php

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/18/224216/809/779/603329
[Kagro X] Here's Palin's bet, broken down for you:

1. The penalty for blowing off your subpoena is a contempt charge
2. Charging a witness with contempt requires a majority vote of at least one house of the state legislature
3. The legislature is officially out of session until January

The investigation will move forward nevertheless and still issue a final report on October 10

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/french_troopergate_report_will.php

And today, THIS

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/abc-palin-may-have-lied-in-court.html
ABC: Palin may have lied in a court document re Troopergate

More: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5844710&page=1

In for a penny . . . . McCain repeats Palin’s energy lie

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/19/mccain-hannity-energy/

Palin’s “pay cut”

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/confirmed_palins_pay_as_mayor.php
[Greg Sargent] One thing Palin has frequently claimed as proof of her reform credentials is that she "took a pay cut" as Wasilla mayor. As I reported here yesterday, however, local Alaska press clippings seemed to show that this is only true in a very narrow sense.

The clippings indicate that while she did pass a pay-cut ordinance upon taking office, her pay actually went up during her overall tenure.

Now we have records from the city of Wasilla that confirm this . . .

More and more people are picking up on the Palin/rape kit story (which we raised here a week ago)

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/palin_/2008/09/palin_and_rape_kits_more_right_to_life.php

Turns out Palin’s gun-totin’ wolf-huntin’ image hurts her with as many people as it helps her

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/going-for-gut-by-digby-i-cant-honestly.html

Palin, sinking fast in the favorability polls

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2008/09/19/palin_favs/index.html

http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/stumper/archive/2008/09/16/palin-s-favorability-ratings-begin-to-falter.aspx

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/politicalinsider/2008/09/why-palin-was-a-bad-pick.html
Why Palin Was a Bad Pick . . .

In some regions, Palin is becoming a NEGATIVE

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/sarah-palin-is-scaring-bejeesus-out-of.html

A Republican campaign has to go pretty far to tick off Fox News – but McCain’s geniuses have managed to do that

http://www.washingtonindependent.com/6554/fox-news-to-mccain-camp-cease-and-decist
Fox News sent a tersely-worded “cease and desist” letter to the McCain campaign today, demanding the removal of Fox correspondent Major Garrett’s voice from a campaign ad . . .

[NB: Yes, if you’ve been noticing, they’ve done this sort of thing repeatedly.]

A small victory for democracy in Mississippi

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014794.php
[Steve Benen] There's a surprisingly competitive Senate race in Mississippi this year, with appointed Sen. Roger Wicker (R) facing a credible challenge from former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove (D). Recent polling suggests Wicker is in the lead, but in the low to mid single-digit range.

Mississippi's Republican governor, former RNC chairman Haley Barbour, came up with an idea to help give Wicker an edge -- he decided to move the Senate race to the bottom of the state ballot, below state and local races, where he'd hoped voters might overlook it. Mississippi election law clearly makes it clear that federal elections must go at the top of ballots, but Barbour and his Republican secretary of state, Delbert Hosemann, decided to pursue this anyway, arguing that the Wicker-Musgrove race is a special election to fill the remainder of Trent Lott's term.

The state attorney general's office explained that this is illegal, but Barbour didn't care. Yesterday, the state Supreme Court also ruled that Barbour's ballot violated the law, and soon after Barbour agreed to reverse course. . . .

And in Michigan: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/conyers_calls_on_mccain_to_hal.php
Rep. John Conyers, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, called on Sen. John McCain to "step forward now and halt the Republican Party's efforts to profit politically from the economic misery of others."

"The Republican Party has had a long record of blocking eligible voters from voting," Conyers wrote. "In the past two Presidential elections, the country witnessed appalling efforts to limit voter participation in Ohio, Florida and throughout the country. It is beyond disgraceful that the Republican Party now seems to be targeting those who are suffering the most. . . It should surprise no one that the people who gave us the worst economy since the Great Depression would now want to prevent those victimized by this economy from voting in the coming elections." . . .

Taking the offense: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/218095.php

We hear a lot about the “Wilder effect” or the “Bradley effect,” that people won’t tell pollsters they have no intention of voting for a black man, inflating the apparent vote strength of black candidates – until voting day comes. There are a lot of problems with this theory in the present context, but here’s one. The very length of this campaign has made Obama a familiar face and voice – people are getting used to him, and used to the idea that they could be seeing him every day as President. Of course many people will never vote for a black man – but for the majority, I suspect, he’s become less a generic “black man,” and more THIS black man. He’s reasonable, funny, smart, engaging, photogenic. He doesn’t fall into stereotypes. McCain, as noted, will still try to make people fear him – but it’s much harder now than it was when nobody knew anything about him but his name. In this context, time is on Obama's side

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/09/has_the_wilder_effect_disappea.php

Bonus item: Palin’s pastor problem (thanks to AG for the link)

http://shannynmoore.wordpress.com/2008/09/19/keith-olbermann-shannyn-moore-pastor-problem/

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

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- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:25 AM

 
TOUGH GUY

The master of false machismo, McCain talks tough about “firing” somebody who can’t be fired – but it's good to have a scapegoat. Any scapegoat will do

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/09/mccain-blasts-o.html
At a joint rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Thursday, Republican John McCain slammed the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) for being "asleep," saying that if he were president, he would fire Chris Cox, the chairman of the SEC since 2005 and a former Republican congressman. . . .

But while the president nominates and the Senate confirms the SEC chair, a commissioner of an independent regulatory commission cannot be removed by the president.

http://www.washingtonindependent.com/6399/mccain-adviser-revises-comments-on-sec-chair
[Matthew DeLong] This afternoon, McCain campaign economic adviser Doug Holtz-Eakin hosted a conference call with reporters to reiterate McCain’s pledge to create the MFI, promising that McCain will provide more details in a speech tomorrow. Holtz-Eakin also took the opportunity to finesse another of McCain’s statements, in which McCain said that if he were president, he would “fire” Chris Cox, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. It has now been widely reported that the president lacks the constitutional authority to fire the head of an independent regulatory commission. During the call, Holtz-Eakin revamped McCain’s comments, saying instead that McCain would demand Cox’s resignation . . Holtz-Eakin was repeatedly asked what, specifically, Cox had done wrong. . . . [read on]

http://paul.kedrosky.com/archives/2008/09/18/fire_the_secs_c.html
[Paul Kedrosky] [I]t is the height of irresponsibility for a politician to grandstand so clumsily when the market is as fragile as it is right now. It shows a remarkable lack of financial sophistication and market smarts on the part of John McCain . . . [read on]

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014779.php
[Steve Benen] I suppose this shameless grandstanding is preferable, at least politically, to explaining why the fundamentals of the economy are "strong" and why McCain was against the AIG bailout before he was for it, but only marginally. . . . [read on]

No, the President CAN’T fire the SEC chair (he can ask for a resignation, but because the SEC is supposed to be an INDEPENDENT regulatory commission, even going that far is highly questionable). But sensing that McCain has flubbed an issue that Obama can exploit, the McCain gang tries a new trick: a pre-emptive, anticipatory slam at Obama for something HE HASN’T EVEN SAID YET

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/mccain_campaign_falsely_attack.php
[McCain spokesman Brian Rogers] “In his rush to score political points on economic disaster, we've heard that at his next event in New Mexico, Senator Obama is about to distort the facts and attack John McCain's call for removing the Chairman of the SEC...

The President of the United States has the power to remove the chairmanship, and always reserves the right to request the resignation of an appointee and to maintain the customary expectation that it will be delivered. Perhaps Barack Obama isn't strong enough to change Washington, but John McCain is.”

[Greg Sargent] The line about Obama's supposed coming attack on McCain for his "call for removing" the SEC chair is a reference to McCain's claim earlier today in which he said: "If I were president today, I would fire him."

As you can see, the McCain campaign misrepresented what McCain actually said. He didn't "call for removing" him. He said he'd fire him. Presidents can't unilaterally fire the SEC chair.

Hmmm. Are we seeing the birth of a new McCain campaign doctrine of preemptive lying?

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014783.php
[Steve Benen] In other words, the McCain campaign line is, "Obama might point out how McCain screwed up earlier, and if he does, he's being totally unfair.”

McCain was right. He really DOESN’T know anything about the economy

http://www.washingtonindependent.com/6336/mccains-fundamental-problem
[Ari Melber] Sen. John McCain knows as much about the economy as Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin knows about the Bush Doctrine. . . . [read on]

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014778.php
[Steve Benen] John McCain's metamorphosis on economic matters has been a sight to behold. He was, literally just days ago, fiercely opposed to regulation of the financial industry and an opponent of government bailouts. As of yesterday, he's the exact opposite. It led ABC News to do this fairly devastating report last night.

It's almost as if McCain doesn't realize the networks have tapes of his public comments. On Tuesday morning, McCain told NBC, "We cannot bail AIG or anybody else." A few hours later, McCain told CNBC that we "have to" let AIG fail. The very next day, McCain reluctantly concluded that the AIG bailout was the only responsible thing to do. On Tuesday morning, he told NBC, "Of course I don't like excessive and unnecessary government regulation." The same morning, he told CBS, "Do I believe in excess government regulation? Yes."

The New York Times' Gail Collins, in a very sharp column, said, "Really, if McCain is going to keep changing into new people, the campaign should send out notices. (Come to a rally for the next president of the United States. Today he's a vegetarian!)... The whole transformation was fascinating in a cheap-thrills kind of way. It's not every day, outside of 'Incredible Hulk' movies, that you see somebody make this kind of turnaround in the scope of a few hours."

Confronted with the reality that McCain has been flip-flopping all over the place, seemingly with no economic message at all, the McCain campaign has responded by insisting that Barack Obama is "indecisive" on the Wall Street crisis, and "refusing" to take a firm stand. Seriously, that's the new argument. "Indecisive." . . .

More from Gail Collins: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/18/opinion/18collins.html
On Monday in Jacksonville, Fla., McCain made his now-famous reassurance that the fundamentals of the economy were still good. It’s a longstanding line of his, but this was perhaps not the best week to dredge it up. So the handlers went to work, and by the time McCain arrived in Orlando a few hours later he was reprogrammed. And angry!

“We’re going to put an end to the abuses on Wall Street! Enough is enough! We’re going to put an end to the greed!” he told a town hall meeting crowded with Hispanic Republicans. It was a rather jumbled message, but the new story line was firm. The fundamentals were not things like employment rates or trade statistics. The fundamentals were the workers.

We are the fundamentals!

And, naturally, the humble, hard-working fundamentals are good. Who could doubt it? Was Barack Obama trying to say that he didn’t think the American working man and woman was good? Was this the sort of thing they talked about at those fancy-schmancy Hollywood fund-raisers? . . .

But wait! The fundamentals are in danger! At risk because of “greed.” Which John McCain was shocked to discover has been running rampant in the canyons of Wall Street.

Now in an election like this, you expect a certain amount of tactical reimagining. McCain used to like reporters, and now he treats them as if they were carrying the Ebola virus. Fair enough, although given the fact that he’s terrible at speeches, and the famous town halls have now become Republican-only lovefests, the campaign really should invent some new method of communication. . . . [read on!]

Deeply confused

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/john_mccain_/2008/09/is_glossolalia_infectious.php
LAUER: So if we get to the point middle of the week as we heard in that report where AIG might have to file for bankruptcy, they're on their own?

McCAIN: Well...quote, "on their own"...we have to - we cannot have the taxpayers bail out AIG or anybody else...this is something we're gonna have to work through - there's too much corruption, there's too much access, we can fix it, I believe in America - we can have a 9/11 commission such as we had after 9/11, 'cause this is a huge crisis and we can come up with fixes and we can make sure that every American has a safer future and that is to make them know that their bank deposits are safe and insured.

Obama is having a field day

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/obama_keeps_hitting_mccain_as.php
‘He has consistently opposed the sorts of common sense regulations that might have lessened the current crisis. When I was warning about the danger ahead on Wall Street months ago because of the lack of oversight, Senator McCain was telling the Wall Street Journal -- and I quote -- "I'm always for less regulation."

Except now, with the magnitude of the crisis apparent even to the Bush White House, John McCain wants to reverse course. Now, all of a sudden, he's unleashed an angry tirade against all the insiders and lobbyists who've supported him for twenty-six years -- the same folks who run his campaign.

On Monday, he said the economy was fundamentally sound, and he was fundamentally wrong. . .” [read on]

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/obama_ad_just_look_at_mccains.php
The Obama campaign already has a new ad out, set to begin airing on national cable tomorrow, responding to John McCain's ad that alleged Obama was being advised on the economy by former Fannie Mae head Franklin Raines.

This ad goes after John McCain for his professed lack of economic knowledge, and his economic advisers . . . [watch]

The return of the Resolution Trust Corporation can only mean the return of attention to the Keating Five scandal – and that’s very bad news for McCain

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/paulson-taxpayers-actually-now-planning.html

By the way: http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/how-many-times.html
[John] How many times do we have to hear:

We don't have ENOUGH MONEY to fix Social Security.
We don't have ENOUGH MONEY to fix Medicare.
We don't have ENOUGH MONEY to provide health care to ALL Americans.
We don't have ENOUGH MONEY to help out Americans losing their homes.
We don't have ENOUGH MONEY to help all our veterans returning from war.
We don't have ENOUGH MONEY to rescue "no child left behind".

BUT...

We DO HAVE ENOUGH MONEY to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
We DO HAVE ENOUGH MONEY to bail out Bears Stearns.
We DO HAVE ENOUGH MONEY to bail out AIG.
We DO HAVE ENOUGH MONEY to pay for an unnecessary TRILLION DOLLAR war.

Deeply, deeply confused

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/217802.php
[Josh Marshall] John McCain either doesn't know who the Prime Minister of Spain is, thinks Spain is a country in Latin America, or possibly both.

In case, you haven't seen our updates from last night, yesterday John McCain was interviewed on the Florida affiliate of Spanish radio network Union Radio. And in the interview McCain appeared not to know who the Prime Minister of Spain was and assumed he was some anti-American leftist leader from South America.

After the interviewer presses him a couple times on the point and tries to focus him on the fact that Prime Minister Zapatero isn't from Mexico and isn't a drug lord either McCain comes back at her saying, "All I can tell you is that I have a clear record of working with leaders in the Hemisphere that are friends with us and standing up to those who are not. And that's judged on the basis of the importance of our relationship with Latin America and the entire region."

Then there's a moment of awkward pause before she says. "But what about Europe? I'm talking about the President of Spain."

McCain: "What about me, what?

Interviewer: "Are you willing to meet with him if you're elected president?"

McCain: "I am wiling to meet with any leader who is dedicated to the same principles and philosophy that we are for humans rights, democracy and freedom. And I will stand up to those who do not."

Another effort to spin a McCain gaffe after the fact

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/217833.php
[Josh Marshall] The Washington Post has gotten hold of McCain's Spain goof. And McCain advisor Randy Scheunemann has sent the Post an email suggesting that McCain knew exactly who Zapatero was and was simply repeating the neocon anti-Zapatero line.

Now, I was away Tuesday and Thursday, so I still want to come back to whether Scheunemann was working with bamboozler Amir Taheri on his made-up Obama-Iraq piece. So we'll get back to that.

But on this, nice try, Randy. I don't doubt that Scheunemann and his neocon pals still have it in for Zapatero for pulling his troops out of Iraq. I admit it is difficult to believe that McCain either doesn't know who Zapatero is or doesn't know which continent Spain is currently a part of. And we can question the wisdom of a major party presidential candidate suggesting that a major NATO ally might be part of his Axis of Evil -- along with Hugo Chavez. But Randy's attempted save here does not add up. If McCain knew who Zapatero was, why did he repeatedly refer to him as a Latin American leader? Spain is not in Latin America. I'm certain of it.

I mean, maybe McCain did know exactly who he was talking about and just got confused about Spain being a country in Latin America. But I'm not sure that's much better.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/217881.php
[Josh Marshall] Okay, a moment to take stock on the embarrassing McCain gaffe. As noted earlier, despite the fact that McCain repeatedly suggests that Spain is a country in Latin America, McCain's foreign policy advisor Randy Scheunemann, insists that McCain wasn't confused, knew exactly who Zapatero was and meant every word of what he said. So with the McCain campaign sticking to its guns, let's review the possibilities of what happened here.

Option #1: McCain is so addled he not only doesn't know who Zapatero is but doesn't even know where Spain is located.

Option #2: McCain was not confused but actually meant his very belligerent comments about Spain and the Zapatero government (Scheunemann's line).

Option #3: Through some mixture of confusion and inability to understand the interviewer's accent, McCain was confused about who he was talking about and decided to wing it, assuming that the person he was being asked about was some other left-wing strong man from Latin America and answering with the standard boilerplate about standing up to America's enemies.

So let's run through the options. . . .

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/217860.php
[EM] On a cynical level, can you imagine if this had been said by either Obama, Biden--or for that matter, Palin? . . .

http://www.eschatonblog.com/2008_09_14_archive.html#3969778147065630328
[Atrios] The dirty little secret about John McCain is that he really knows nothing about anything. He's as incurious and ignorant as George Bush, with less excuse. So, yes, it makes sense that his people would rather suggest and end of relations with our NATO ally than reveal the truth about their woefully inadequate candidate.

More: http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/mccain-would-rather-lose-nato-ally-than.html

http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/tapped_archive?month=09&year=2008&base_name=viva_prime_minister_zapatero

Later, the McCain gang tries an even less plausible answer

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/yet-another-bizarre-non-answer-from.html
“In this week's interview, Senator McCain did not rule in or rule out a White House meeting with President Zapatero, a NATO ally. If elected, he will meet with a wide range of allies in a wide variety of venues but is not going to spell out scheduling and meeting location specifics in advance. He also is not going to make reckless promises to meet America's adversaries. It's called keeping youtr options open, unlike Senator Obama who has publically committed to meeting some of the world's worst dictators unconditionally in his first year in office.”

[John Aravosis] That wasn't the question. The question was why McCain today thinks he shouldn't rule in or out any such meeting, but last April he offered such a meeting to the Spanish leader. If it's called "keeping your options open," then why didn't McCain "keep his options open" last April? And for that matter, why did McCain respond to a question about Spain - four questions about Spain, in fact - by answering with a non sequitur about Mexico and Latin America?

The press isn’t buying it

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/217906.php

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/218038.php
[Josh Marshall] In any case, a consensus appears to be emerging that the really shocking lapse was not the original gaffe but how the campaign chose to deal with it. Rather than copping to the goof, they decided to stick to the nonsensical statements and risk, should McCain win in November, significant damage to our relations with a major NATO ally. Coming to basically similar conclusions are Newsweek, Joe Klein in Time, Chris Orr at The New Republic and many others.

So to restate, I think the simplest explanation is that McCain didn't understand what he was being asked. And instead of trying to clarify, he assumed the interviewer, who had already asked him about Chavez and Castro, must be quizzing him on some other Latin American strongman who was up to no good. As so often with McCain, he tried to wing it. I think the available evidence is consistent which much less generous readings of the event. But this read is plausible. And Scheunemann, whose lack of experience in press work was painfully on display today, acted with characteristically knuckle-headed aggression and doubled-down on McCain's nonsensical statement.

And whatever the misunderstanding, let's face it. When a president or presidential nominees gets confused in an interview, appears to say that a European country is in the Western Hemisphere and inadvertently makes highly belligerent statements toward a major ally, that's a big problem.

McCain’s long track record of foreign policy gaffes

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014775.php
[Steve Benen] Let's also not lose sight of the broader pattern. McCain thinks the recent conflict between Russia and Georgia was "the first probably serious crisis internationally since the end of the Cold War." He thinks Iraq and Pakistan share a border. He believes Czechoslovakia is still a country. He's been confused about the difference between Sudan and Somalia. He's been confused about whether he wants more U.S. troops in Afghanistan, more NATO troops in Afghanistan, or both. He's been confused about how many U.S. troops are in Iraq. He's been confused about whether the U.S. can maintain a long-term presence in Iraq. He's been confused about Iran's relationship with al Qaeda. He's been confused about the difference between Sunni and Shi'ia. McCain, following a recent trip to Germany, even referred to "President Putin of Germany." All of this incoherence on his signature issue.

I'm curious. What do you suppose the reaction would be from the political establishment if Barack Obama had made these mistakes over the course of the campaign? What would reporters, pundits, and Republicans have to say about Obama's ability to lead a complex world in a time of war and uncertainty?

I think an intellectually honest person would agree that if Obama had made these same mistakes he'd be labeled "clueless" on foreign policy. So, why the double-standard?

More: http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2008/09/top_ten_mccain_foreign_policy_gaffes.php

I certainly hope that the full-court cover-up of Troopergate and this heavy-handed squelching of press reports is going to backfire. Palin doesn’t have any residual store of press cred or good will to fall back on. She’s acting like a guilty thug (well, more precisely, the McCain legal team is making her LOOK LIKE a guilty thug) – and that should keep this story going and going

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/mccain_press_aide_calls_alaska.php
[Zachary Roth] Here's a little more evidence that the McCain-Palin campaign is playing the hardest of hardball on Trooper-Gate -- especially in regard to press relations.

Jason Moore, a reporter with Anchorage-based KTUU-TV, just confirmed to TPMmuckraker that Megan Stapleton, a spokeswoman for the McCain-Palin campaign in Alaska, called his home to complain about one of Moore's news reports . . . [read on]

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/ak_lawmaker_on_troopergate_i_d.php
Alaska Lawmaker on Trooper-Gate: "I Don't Think This Is Gonna End Quietly." . . .

Explain to me why, when people are SUBPOENAED to testify, news stories make it sound like an invitation they can just decline

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/todd_palin_refuses_to_testify.php
Todd Palin, who was subpoenaed just last week in the Trooper-Gate investigation, has said he will not testify . . . .

Earlier this week, Talis Colberg, the Alaska attorney general wrote a letter to state legislators, informing them that the state employees who were subpoenaed in the investigation would not be testifying. . . .

Mark Kleiman agrees: http://www.samefacts.com/archives/campaign_2008_/2008/09/first_dude_lawbreaker.php
I think we've had about enough of contempt for the rule of law on the part of executive-branch officials, haven't we? . . . [read on]

[Michael O’Hara] I must apologize to our gentle readers for Mark's lapse here; he's not entirely embedded in the new reality, though he means well. A subpoena to a Democrat is what he said. A subpoena to a Republican is in no way coercive, more of an opportunity to show maverickness and unitary-executive-privilegeness . . .

Palin does a town hall, and is asked, “Give us the specific [foreign policy] skills that you think you have to bring to the White House . . .” Watch her answer. Just watch it . . .

Watch: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/217862.php
It should be noted that McCain quickly stepped in . . .

More idiocy from Palin – who “knows more about energy than anybody else in America”

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2008/09/palin_without_a_prompterpart_7.html
"Of course, it's a fungible commodity and they don't flag, you know, the molecules, where it's going and where it's not. But in the sense of the Congress today, they know that there are very, very hungry domestic markets that need that oil first. So, I believe that what Congress is going to do also, is not to allow the export bans to such a degree that it's Americans who get stuck holding the bag without the energy source that is produced here, pumped here. It's got to flow into our domestic markets first."

Doh!

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/18/palins-transparency-proposal-already-exists-in-dc/
Sarah Palin likes to tell voters around the country about how she “put the government checkbook online” in Alaska. On Thursday, Palin suggested she would take that same proposal to Washington. . .

There’s just one problem with proposing to put the federal checkbook online – somebody’s already done it. His name is Barack Obama. . . .

Another chunk taken out of the Palin myth

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/did_palin_really_take_a_pay_cu.php
[Greg Sargent] One thing Sarah Palin cites as proof of her reform credentials is a pay cut she says she took when she became Mayor of Wasilla in 1996.

"As mayor I took a voluntary pay cut, which didn't thrill my husband; and then as governor I cut the personal chef position from the budget, and that didn't thrill my hungry kids," Palin said recently, repeating a frequent refrain.

But did she really get an overall pay cut as mayor? The record suggests a more complex story. . . .

I won’t say I told you so

http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2008/09/18/john-mccains-human-shield-sarah-palin-starting-to-crack/
[Jane Hamsher] Sarah Palin's negatives are skyrocketing. . . . a 21 point shift in 8 days. No wonder Rove is throwing her under the bus.

Rove (who pushed hard for Romney): http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2008/09/18/rove-tells-the-truth-palin-not-the-most-qualified/
In a rare candid moment, Karl Rove admitted that Sarah Palin "is not the most qualified candidate" and that she was a "political pick." . . .

Chuck Hagel (R-NE), the last honest Republican

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2835&u_sid=10435997
"She doesn't have any foreign policy credentials," Hagel said Wednesday in an interview. "You get a passport for the first time in your life last year? I mean, I don't know what you can say. You can't say anything. . . .

I think they ought to be just honest about it and stop the nonsense about, 'I look out my window and I see Russia and so therefore I know something about Russia,'" he said. "That kind of thing is insulting to the American people." . . .

I’ve said it here before, but the Republican machine LIKES doltish, malleable candidates (Palin, GW Bush, Quayle, Reagan) – they can package and remake them in the desired image. It’s the old pros (Dole, McCain, GHW Bush) who give them trouble – they're stubborn because they actually think they have positions and a reputation to protect

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/dog-ate-their-homework-by-digby-more-i.html
[Digby] The more I see of Sarah Palin, the more she reminds me of George W. Bush . . .

Andrew Sullivan’s top ten big hits against Palin

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=8332

Theocracy warning: “anointed by God”

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2008/09/18/palin_email/index.html
[From an email currently in circulation] "Sarah is that standard God has raised up to stop the flood. She has the anointing ... Back in the 1980s, I sensed that Israel's little-known Benjamin Netanyahu was chosen by God for an important end-time role. I still believe that. I now have that same sense about Sarah Palin."

Well, I suppose we should have expected this: now she’s calling it the “Palin/McCain ticket” (Really, she did)

Watch: http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/palin-puts-herself-on-top-of-ticket-its.html
[Radio Iowa] I look up, about five minutes into McCain's address and see a steady stream of people walking out of the rally. They just came to see Palin apparently.

Palin and the John Birch Society

http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/18/is-sarah-palin-a-closet-john-bircher/

McCain’s Bush dilemma

http://www.washingtonindependent.com/6417/mccains-bush-problem
[Matthew DeLong] Huffington Post’s Sam Stein has a nice score, which lays this problem bare. Stein got his hands on an early draft of a McCain campaign statement on the Wall Street crisis that was very critical of the Bush administration — or, at least, of some unnamed “Administration.” The draft was circulated Tuesday evening among advisers and some high-level donors. Here’s an excerpt:

I am also concerned that the Administration has been inconsistent with the way they have dealt with each crisis. Taxpayer money was used for Bear Stearns, it was not used for Lehman Brothers and now it is used again for AIG. The American people need to know the thinking and the standards behind using taxpayers money to support these private sector institutions. American workers see their businesses suffering and many are going out of business but there is no bailout for them. We also should know why the Administration did not deal with the problems at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac sooner.

When the campaign released an official statement Wednesday morning, this passage was removed . . .

All the polls are headed in the same direction

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/obama_expanding_his_lead_in_th.php

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/another_poll_gives_obama_the_n.php

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2008/09/things_change.php

Here’s why: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/michaeltomasky/2008/sep/18/uselections2008.barackobama

Obama goes right after the abortion issue. Good

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014774.php
[Steve Benen] For reasons that defy reason, a lot of voters are under the mistaken impression that John McCain is pro-choice, or at a minimum, moderate on abortion rights. The Obama campaign is taking steps to educate voters on the subject. . . . [read on]

More evidence that the Bush Justice Dept isn’t taking threats against Obama seriously enough

http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/18/can-bushs-justice-department-do-its-job-when-it-comes-to-protecting-barack-obama/

The incredible invisible President

Alice, Wednesday: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/09/20080917-5.html
Q [T]he President has been careful in his public statements this week. He did speak about the economy the other day. Those reassurances didn't seem to reach the market. And I'm wondering why we haven't heard from him since, if we're likely to hear him speak directly on these issues?

MS. PERINO: . . . Yes, you did hear from the President yesterday. There are times, believe it or not, when policymakers actually need to, like, work on making some policy. Everyone was very busy yesterday making sure that all the I's were dotted and T's were crossed before they moved forward with action last night. So you didn't hear from the President yesterday. I will keep you as updated as I possibly can. I don't expect you'll hear from the President today on this, either. . . .

Q The President, I don't think, has had a news conference in about two months. Does he feel that kind of forum doesn't really have much use for him now to communicate his ideas, especially on the financial developments?

MS. PERINO: I'm sure he misses you all greatly . . .

Q Well, but in fairness, Dana, right now you've had an unprecedented week of economic financial news. He still is President of the United States --

MS. PERINO: I hear you on that. . . .

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/business/19bush.html
On Thursday, the president spoke.

It was brief, two minutes. His brow was furrowed, and his words were careful: “The American people can be sure we will continue to act to strengthen and stabilize our financial markets and improve investor confidence.” Then, having imparted no specifics, he once again slipped out of sight.

In the increasingly surreal world of the White House, the appearance was a sign that all pretense of normalcy is gone. . . .

Alice, Thursday: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/09/20080918-3.html
Q Thanks, Dana. The President ended his remarks this morning by saying that the government will continue to act to strengthen and stabilize our financial markets and improve investor confidence. Can you talk about what that means . . .

MS. PERINO: I think what -- I'm not able to talk about any specific future actions that may or may not be rumored or not rumored to be under consideration by the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve. But what I can tell you, what the President meant by that is that clearly there is a market correction going on. Clearly these are challenging times. And the federal government, at his direction, is focused on making sure that we look at the system as a whole, that we work to prevent any broader economic damage . . .

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2008/09/18/BL2008091801645.html
[Dan Froomkin] Briefly emerging from his near-invisibility during the nation's terrifying financial crisis, President Bush this morning offered brief, unsubstantive and unpersuasive assurances.

"The American people are concerned about the situation in our financial markets and our economy," he said, in a dazzling statement of the obvious. "And I share their concerns." . . .

I don’t even pretend to understand all this, but the move to ban short selling could have disastrous repercussions

http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/18/sec-panics-and-considers-banning-all-short-selling-making-a-major-market-meltdown-more-likely/

http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2008/09/sec-ban-all-sho.html

Simple truths

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/18/1002/91379/970/602121
[DarkSyde] The American economy is being wrecked by conservatism. . . . [read on!]

Put down your coffee cup – if you spew your beverage all over the computer screen, don’t blame me. Karl Rove helpfully suggests that Obama is being. . . . too negative!

http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/18/karl-rove-helpfully-warns-obama-against-negative-political-attacks-linking-mccain-to-bush/
“It is a mistake for Mr. Obama to spend a lot of time attacking Mr. McCain.”

[NB: Of course he says this, now that it's working.]

Dogs that haven’t barked

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2008/09/look_over_there_a_puma.php
Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD) decides to break with the GOP and endorse Barack Obama . . .

[Ryan Grim] I can’t help but notice that Gilchrest’s endorsement of Obama/Biden came the same day as Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild’s endorsement of McCain/Palin. One is a sitting Republican member of Congress, one is a member of the DNC’s platform committee. Why is the former treated as less significant than the latter?

[Matt Yglesias] Maybe it’s because the vast majority of the campaign press consist of immoral and incompetent people, but that’s just a guess. At any rate, it also seems noteworthy to me, at least, that neither Ron Paul, Chuck Hagel, Colin Powell, nor Condoleezza Rice has yet endorsed John McCain.

[NB: I am expecting Powell to endorse Obama. In fact, I think the deal has already been struck, and they are just waiting for the right timing to announce it. It will be a blockbuster, for sure, if it happens that way.]

Bonus item: Haw, haw

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/mccain-event-becomes-obama-rally.html

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

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- posted by Nick Burbules @ 6:53 AM

 
FEELS GOOD, DOESN’T IT?

Obama goes on the offensive

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/this-is-what-fighting-back-feels-like.html
This is what fighting back feels like . . .

Watch: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/obama_the_oldboy_network_is_a.php
[Obama] “The ol' boy network? In the McCain campaign, that's called a staff meeting.”

More: http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/17/politics-is-personal-and-obama-ad-hits-that-note-on-economy/

McCain’s effort to catch up with economic events has put him into a frenzy of self-contradiction – sometimes even within 24 hours

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2008/09/against_aig_bailout_before_he_was_for_it.php
[Tuesday] MCCAIN: No, I do not believe that the American taxpayer should be on the hook for AIG and I’m glad that the Secretary Paulson is apparently taking the same line.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014760.php
[Wednesday] This morning on "Good Morning America," McCain took a far different line on the bailout. "I didn't want to do that. And I don't think anybody I know wanted to do that. But there are literally millions of people whose retirement, whose investment, whose insurance were at risk here," McCain said. . . . [read on]

More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/16/AR2008091603732.html
McCain Embraces Regulation After Many Years of Opposition
"Government has a clear responsibility to act in defense of the public interest, and that's exactly what I intend to do," a fiery McCain said at a rally in Tampa yesterday. "In my administration, we're going to hold people on Wall Street responsible. And we're going to enact and enforce reforms to make sure that these outrages never happen in the first place." . . . [read on]

http://www.washingtonindependent.com/6171/mccain-suddenly-shifts-gears-on-regulation
[Wednesday] “We should never again allow the United States to be in this position. We need strong and effective regulation, a return to job-creating growth and a restoration of ethics and the social contract between businesses and America.” . . . [read on]

“I don’t think anyone who wants to increase the burden of government regulation and higher taxes has any real understanding of economics and the economy and what is needed in order to ensure the future of this country.” [McCain Town Hall in Inez, Kentucky, 4/23/08]

“When you’ve got a bad economy, the worst thing you can do is increase people’s tax burden. Let’s reduce it. Let’s reduce regulation.” [CNN, "Ballot Bowl," 3/15/08]

“We need to return to the Reagan years. We need to have fiscal conservatism. We need less government. We need less regulation. . . .” [PBS, "Washington Week," 1/25/08]

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/17/113427/976/504/601570

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/abc-news-slams-mccain-flip-flops-on.html

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/217556.php

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=8297

Biden nails it

http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/17/biden-smacks-mccain-around-on-regulating-wall-street-where-was-he-a-week-ago/
“All of a sudden it’s my goodness there’s greed on Wall Street, my goodness we need common sense regulation,” Biden said. . . .

“Look, if John cares so much about this now, where was he a week ago?” Biden asked. “Where was he a month ago? Where was he 5 years ago? I’ll tell you where he was, he was bragging to the folks on Wall Street, to the executives who now he calls ‘greedy.’ He was bragging to them how we’re going to shred the regulation that fetters them, that ties them down.”

“Free market phonies”

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/where-are-free-market-phonies-hiding.html

The gurus who brought us this mess . . .

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/gurus-by-digby-newsweeks-michael-hirsch.html

. . . Now we’re supposed to trust the same zealots with health care policy . . . .

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/17/10426/8714/56/601001

. . . . and Social Security?

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/social-security-anyone-by-dday-i-dont.html

Foresight

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014765.php
[Steve Benen] To hear John McCain tell it, when it comes to the Wall Street crisis, he deserves credit, not for taking steps to prevent it, but for knowing it was coming. . . .

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/09/despite-claims.html
[Jake Tapper] "Two years ago, I warned that the oversight of Fannie and Freddie was terrible, that we were facing a crisis because of it, or certainly serious problems," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told CBS this morning. "The influence that Fannie and Freddie had in the inside the Beltway, old boy network, which led to this kind of corruption is unacceptable and I warned about it a couple of years ago.”

How does this claim of foresight square with this interview that McCain gave to the Keene (NH) Sentinel, discussing the subprime mortgage crisis, in December 2007?

Q: “Well the dimension of this problem may be surprising to a lot of people, but to many people, to many others there were feelings that there was something amiss, something was going too fast, something was a little too hot. Going back several years. Were you one of them? Or, I mean you’re a busy guy, you’re looking at a lot of things, maybe subprime mortgages wasn’t something you focused on every day. Were you surprised?

McCain: “Yeah. And I was surprised at the dot-com collapse and I was surprised at other times in our history. I don’t know if surprised is the word, but...

I’d like to tell you that I did anticipate it, but I have to give you straight talk, I did not.”

Oversight

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/16/143640/948
“The point is, I was chairman of the commerce committee. Every part of America's economy, I oversighted.”

[NB: Now, apart from the fact that McCain might not want to claim “oversight” over the economic policies that led us to today, this is also a factual misrepresentation of what the Commerce Committee actually does. It’s not the Banking Committee or the Finance Committee.]

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2008/09/mccain_lies_about_commerce_committee_jurisdiction.php
[Matthew Yglesias] Since McCain really did chair the Commerce Committee he presumably has some familiarity with its actual jurisdiction, namely:

1. Coast Guard.
2. Coastal zone management.
3. Communications.
4. Highway safety.
5. Inland waterways, except construction.
6. Interstate commerce.
7. Marine and ocean navigation, safety, and transportation, including navigational aspects of deepwater ports.
8. Marine fisheries.
9. Merchant marine and navigation.
10. Nonmilitary aeronautical and space sciences.
11. Oceans, weather, and atmospheric activities.
12. Panama Canal and interoceanic canals generally, except as provided in subparagraph (c).
13. Regulation of consumer products and services, including testing related to toxic substances, other than pesticides, and except for credit, financial services, and housing.
14. Regulation of interstate common carriers, including railroads, buses, trucks, vessels, pipelines, and civil aviation.
15. Science, engineering, and technology research and development and policy.
16. Sports.
17. Standards and measurement.
18. Transportation.
19. Transportation and commerce aspects of Outer Continental Shelf lands. . . .

The Commerce Committee is important, but it doesn’t come close to overseeing the entire economy.

The return of the Keating Five

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/17/senate-dem-raises-keating_n_127088.html

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/keating-five-is-back.html

Doh!

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/217681.php
[Josh Marshall] Did John McCain really just suggest that the Prime Minister of Spain might be one of America's enemies? One of those international leaders he'd refuse to meet with? . . .

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/217744.php
All of the Spanish language speakers I've heard from who've listened to the interview think there's no doubt that McCain just got confused and didn't know who Zapatero was or possibly didn't even know where Spain was. . . .

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/217702.php

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/election_2008_/2008/09/the_rain_in_spainnews_to_john_mccain.php

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/john-mccain-just-forget-where-spain-was.html

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2008/09/mccain_unsure_if_hell_meet_with_the_prime_minister_of_spain.php

En espanol: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/217710.php

So McCain and Palin (ha!) are going to crack down on those earmarks. They’re gonna put an end to business as usual in Washington. So you might think they have an opinion about returning this guy to office. But what do we hear? . . . [crickets]

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/ted_stevens_is_this_years_earm.php
[Greg Sargent] It seems that Alaska Senator Ted Stevens is by one measure this year's king of the earmarks. Will anti-earmark warriors John McCain and Sarah Palin say word boo about it? . . .

Palin’s Attorney General appointee now says NO state employee will cooperate with the Troopergate investigation

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/subpoenaed_state_employees_wil.php
Attorney General Talis Colberg requested the subpoenas be withdrawn and spoke for the employees, stating their refusal to testify unless compelled by the full state Senate or the entire legislature. . . . [read on]

We’ve been here before: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/16/233624/270/872/601202

Who is Talis Colberg? http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/troopergates_attorneygeneral_p.php
[Kate Klonick and Zachary Roth] Colberg is no independent player in this case. In fact, he's a Palin appointee, who was personally involved in the effort to pressure Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan to terminate Trooper Mike Wooten, and who has already led an investigation into the matter at Palin's behest.

When the legislature announced that it would hire an independent investigator, Stephen Branchflower, to look into charges that the governor had wrongfully terminated Monegan, Palin revealed that she had already requested that Colberg conduct his own parallel investigation. Colberg had begun gathering documents and evidence in late July, weeks before Branchflower had even begun his probe.

At the time, legislators raised questions about Colberg's involvement and the possibility of witness tampering. . . . [read on]

http://www.propublica.org/article/palins-office-rebuffs-investigators-press-917
[Eric Umansky] Efforts from Gov. Palin's office and others to fight the investigation into "Troopergate" are heading into overdrive. Alaska's attorney general said yesterday that state employees won't honor the subpoenas to testify that have been issued in the probe. The attorney general is a Palin appointee. Meanwhile, five Republican lawmakers in Alaska filed a lawsuit and asked a judge for an emergency order to stop what they called the legislature's "McCarthyistic investigation."

The Associated Press notes that McCain's campaign is taking a more active role. According to the AP, the campaign has "dispatched a former top U.S. terrorism prosecutor from New York, Ed O'Callaghan, to assist Palin's personal lawyer working to derail or delay" the investigation.

The strategy also extends to dealing with the press. As the AP notes, this week Palin "effectively turned over questions about her record as Alaska's governor to John McCain's political campaign."

National reporters are essentially no longer allowed to speak with Alaska officials, including those in the governor's office . . .

More: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080917/ap_on_go_pr_wh/palin_mccain_operatives

You can’t say it better than this

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/217609.php
[Josh Marshall] Presidential candidates usually have to wait until they're elected to start obstructing investigations into their own wrong-doing. But ready on day one as he is, John McCain and Sarah Palin are getting a jump on this front too. I'm not sure I've ever seen an instance of a president, let alone a presidential candidate, quite this nakedly doing everything in his power to shutdown an investigation. And look closely -- Palin herself has at this point entirely turned the obstruction over to the McCain campaign. They're even the ones who make the announcements. (I won't get into the battery of lawyers (plumbers) up in Alaska getting all the small fry to clam up and digging up dirt on all Palin's accusers.)

Meanwhile, the claim that the Obama camp has 'tainted' the trooper-gate investigation is truly risible. This investigation was well underway and already looking bad for Palin and her husband well before John McCain picked her as his running mate. (We know: we were already covering it.) What I do not think that many people know is that this investigation up in Alaska has actually been authorized and is being run by Republicans. They make up a majority in the state senate. . . .

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/217583.php
[TR] Let's assume for a minute that Palin, McCain and all of their collective cronies are right about the trooper-gate investigation being 100% a partisan witch hunt, notwithstanding the original vote. So freakin' what? In the US, congress and state legislatures are tasked with investigating actions of the executive offices. The executives can then present evidence to defend themselves, and their evidence can include displays of outright partisanship if they find it. They cannot legally, however, just ignore the legislative bodies. They are legally required to cooperate. This is theoretically what makes us different from countries like North Korea, Musharraf's Pakistan, Zimbabwe, etc.

On a second point, how is McCain's campaign legally able to insert itself into an issue that is solely about Alaska? The investigation has nothing to do with anything outside of Alaska and it predates Palin's VP candidacy, so it seems to me like some kind of obstruction or interference from a legal point of view.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014766.php
[Steve Benen] I'm not sure why Sarah Palin's "Troopergate" scandal isn't getting more play right now. The still largely unknown Republican VP nominee is in the midst of a fairly serious ethics controversy, and after giving her word to cooperate as part of a transparent process, Palin and her team are acting like they have a lot to hide. Usually, for the national media, this would be like waving red meat in front of a hungry dog. . . [read on]

More: http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2008/09/21468.php

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=8287

Vetting, after the fact

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014768.php

Road kill

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/michaeltomasky/2008/sep/17/sarahpalin.uselections2008
[David Talbot] Although Carney says he no longer has documentation of the expenditures, in his recollection Palin paid for the office face-lift with money from a city highway fund that was used to plow snow, grade roads and fill potholes -- essential municipal services, particularly in weather-battered Alaska.

Carney confronted Mayor Palin at a City Council hearing, and was shocked by her response.

"I braced her about it," he said. "I told her it was against the law to make such a large expenditure without the council taking a vote. She said, 'I'm the mayor, I can do whatever I want until the courts tell me I can't.'"

http://www.propublica.org/feature/palin-admin-oversaw-26-million-road-to-nowhere-917
[Paul Kiel] When Lois Epstein approached Gov. Sarah Palin during a July 2007 meeting, she says she had a simple request: pull the plug on the construction of a $26 million dead-end gravel road that she saw as a waste of federal money. The road was part of the $398 million project to link Ketchikan and its airport on Gravina Island known as the "Bridge to Nowhere," and an earmark inserted by Alaska's congressional delegation had provided the funding. But construction had begun in June, and it didn't seem to matter that the infamous bridge -- to which the road would have led -- would never be built. Every dollar spent on the project was a dollar wasted, Epstein thought.

Epstein, director of the nonpartisan Alaska Transportation Priorities Project, told ProPublica she handed Palin an editorial that had run the prior month in the Anchorage Daily News. The editorial, by Heritage Foundation fellow Ronald Utt, called the road a "wasteful" project with "little to no measurable benefit." It urged Palin to be "responsible and ethical" and "return the money to Washington" so it could be redirected to hurricane-ravaged Louisiana and Mississippi. Utt's piece reflected the consensus in Washington, D.C., and Alaska that no more money would be earmarked for the bridge project, which had become a symbol of pork-barrel spending. . . .

I have to tell you, I’m not happy with people’s private email being hacked. But if you were going to do it, I can’t think of much better reasons than this

http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2008/09/17/hackers-expose-palins-legally-questionable-correspondence/
[Lindsay Beyerstein] The contents of the inbox confirm that Palin was using her private account for government business. We already knew that Palin's advisers urged her to use private accounts, a la RNC email accounts, in order to circumvent FOIA requests and skirt subpoenas. . . . [read on]

http://wikileaks.org/wiki/VP_contender_Sarah_Palin_hacked
Subsequently tests by Wikileaks reveal that both Palin's "gov.palin@yahoo.com" and her unrelated "gov.sarah@yahoo.com" account have now been deleted, almost certainly by Palin herself. . . .

“Oops. . . I did it again”

http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/17/did-sarah-palin-not-blink-or-did-she-ask-the-kids/

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2008/09/17/palin_interview/index.html

Oh, brother: Hillary backer Lynn Forester de Rothschild (yes, of THE Rothschilds) says she is backing McCain because Obama is too much of an “elitist.” Yes, she did

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/17/prominent-clinton-backer-and-dnc-member-to-endorse-mccain-2/

He can have her: http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/new-mccain-royalty-surrogate-lady-de.html
"The people out, you know, who are the rednecks or whoever, are bitter."

The campaign of cool

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/campaign_2008_/2008/09/patience_rewarded.php
[Mark Kleiman] One of the bad habits of Democratic candidates and campaign consultants is backing off too fast when a message doesn't seem to be connecting. It takes a cool nerve to be able to keep saying something that at first blush the voters aren't buying, and good judgment to figure out which messages will get through if you're patient enough.

That's one of the things I like about the Obama campaign. . . .

http://www.slate.com/id/2200301
[John Dickerson] When this election is over, the Obama campaign's cool demeanor will either be seen as its signature genius ("They kept their heads about them") or its signature flaw ("They failed to respond to their opponent's strategy"). . . .

Why are they so calm in Obama-land? I can't find an account of the candidate yelling at anyone during the entire campaign, and it's not just the candidate who seems calm. . . [read on]

The polls show a significant shift

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/09/17/tracking_polls_momentum_shifts_to_obama.html

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/cbsnyt_poll_obama_jumps_back_t.php

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/9/17/123813/221

Another WP columnist jumps off the tire swing

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/16/AR2008091602874.html
[Ruth Marcus] Ideological differences aside, John McCain's campaign has been more dishonest, more unfair, more -- to use a word that resonates with McCain -- dishonorable than Barack Obama's.

Both candidates are guilty of playing trivial pursuit in a serious season, campaigning from gotcha to gotcha. Obama also has eagerly taken every cheap shot -- McCain wants to stay in Iraq for 100 years, doesn't get the economy, can't count his own houses. Neither candidate is running the honest, confront-the-hard-questions campaign he promised.

McCain's transgressions, though, are of a different magnitude. His whoppers are bigger; there are more of them. He -- the easy out would be to say "his campaign" -- has been misleading, and at times has outright lied, about his opponent. He has misrepresented -- that's the charitable verb -- his vice presidential nominee's record. Called on these fouls, he has denied and repeated them. . . .

Are there any corners left for McCain? Is there any reason to trust that a man running this campaign would go on to be an honest president?

More: http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=71BBF99A-18FE-70B2-A864E9E1EC671646
How John McCain lost me
[Elizabeth Drew] I admired John McCain as a man of principle and honor. He had become emblematic of someone who spoke his mind, voted his conscience, and demonstrated courage in bucking his own party and fighting for what he believed in. He gained a well-deserved reputation as a maverick. He was seen as taking principled positions on such issues as tax equity (opposing the newly elected Bush’s tax cut), fighting political corruption, and, later, taking on the Bush administration on torture. He came off as a man of decency. He took political risks. . . .

While McCain’s movement to the center was widely popular (if not on the right) – and he even flirted with becoming a Democrat – there’s now strong reason to question whether it was anything but a temporary, expedient tactic. (In his 2002 memoir, “Worth the Fighting For,” he wrote, revealingly, “I didn’t decide to run for president to start a national crusade for the political reforms I believed in or to run a campaign as if it were some grand act of patriotism. In truth, I wanted to be president because it had become my ambition to be president. . . . In truth, I’d had the ambition for a long time.”)

When he decided to run for president in 2008, he felt he couldn’t win without the support of the right, so he adapted. . . .

When the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law, widely opposed by Republicans, began to seem a liability during the 2008 primaries, his reforming zeal gave way to political exigencies. . . .

When Bush, issued a “signing statement” in 2006 on McCain’s hard-fought legislation placing prohibitions on torture, saying he would interpret the measure as he chose, McCain barely uttered a peep. And then, in 2006, in one of his most disheartening acts, McCain supported a “compromise” with the administration on trials of Guantanamo detainees, yielding too much of what the administration wanted, and accepted provisions he had originally opposed on principle. Among other things, the bill sharply limited the rights of detainees in military trials, stripped habeas corpus rights from a broad swath of people “suspected” of cooperating with terrorists, and loosened restrictions on the administration’s use of torture. (The Supreme Court later ruled portions of this measure unconstitutional.)

McCain’s caving in to this “compromise” did it for me. This was further evidence that the former free-spirited, supposedly principled, maverick was morphing into just another panderer – to Bush and the Republican Party’s conservative base. . . .

Bonus item: Sarah Palin, in her own words (NOT)

http://www.newyorker.com/humor/2008/09/22/080922sh_shouts_saunders

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:11 AM

 
BONE HEADS

(1) Remember Gore’s supposed claim that he “invented the Internet”? He never said that, of course, but he was savaged for it throughout the 2000 campaign, Now we have this

http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0908/HoltzEakin_McCain_helped_create_BlackBerry.html
[Jonathan Martin] Asked what work John McCain did as chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee that helped him understand the financial markets, the candidate's top economic adviser wielded visual evidence: his BlackBerry.

"He did this," Douglas Holtz-Eakin told reporters this morning, holding up his BlackBerry. "Telecommunications of the United States is a premier innovation in the past 15 years, comes right through the Commerce Committee. So you're looking at the miracle John McCain helped create and that's what he did."

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/217239.php
[David Kurtz] Isn't Research in Motion, the maker of the Blackberry, a Canadian company? . . .

More! http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/16/63238/2462
“I am the former chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. The Committee plays a major role in the development of technology policy, specifically any legislation affecting communications services, the Internet, cable television and other technologies. Under my guiding hand, Congress developed a wireless spectrum policy that spurred the rapid rise of mobile phones and Wi-Fi technology that enables Americans to surf the web while sitting at a coffee shop, airport lounge, or public park.”

Snarky version: http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/john-mccains-driver-talks-about-how.html

“We never said what we said”

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014753.php
"He would not claim to be the inventor of anything, much less the BlackBerry. This was obviously a boneheaded joke by a staffer," the aide said. . . . [read on]

(2) McCain surrogate (and disastrous former CEO of Hewlett Packard) Carly Fiorina shows you don’t have to be TOO smart to be the head of a major corporation

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/key_mccain_adviser_admits_pali.php
[Eric Kleefeld] McCain surrogate and economic adviser Carly Fiorina made a stunning admission today, the Huffington Post reports. Appearing on the McGraw Milhaven radio show in St. Louis, Fiorina said Palin wouldn't be qualified to run her old company Hewlett Packard -- but that's okay . . .

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/217309.php
[David Kurtz] Defending her remarks that Sarah Palin is not qualified to run a Fortune 500 company, top McCain adviser and former HP CEO Carly Fiorina says she doesn't think John McCain (or Obama or Biden) could run a major corporation either. . . .

Fiorina at HP: http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/16/carly-fiorina-couldnt-run-a-major-company-either/

Obama pounces: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/mccain_adviser_i_dont_think_jo.php

Heh: http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/16/mccain-reportedly-furious-with-fiorina-campaign-adviser-says-she-will-disappear-from-tv/
McCain reportedly ‘furious’ with Fiorina, campaign adviser says she will ‘disappear’ from TV. . . .

(3) Thanks John, this will go perfectly in our next campaign ad

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/16/143640/948
“The point is, I was chairman of the commerce committee. Every part of America's economy, I oversighted.”

McCain’s faux populism

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/217351.php

From his web site: http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=8273
“You tell us how to fix the economy!

To get our supporters more involved, we’re giving you the chance to create our economic plan.”

HE DOESN’T KNOW WHAT HE’S TALKING ABOUT

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/declaring-war-on-economic-meltdown-by.html
[Digby] McCain is babbling incoherently about the economy. I'm not surprised. He isn't interested in the economy. It's complicated. He doesn't like complicated. . . . [read on!]

Watch: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/message-not-snark-by-tristero-josh.html

http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/16/mccains-incoherent-babbling-on-the-economy/

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/17/us/politics/17mccain.html
McCain Laboring to Hit Right Note on the Economy . . .

Here comes The Maverick. Here comes change. He’s gonna shake up Washington! He’s gonna . . . form a commission?

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/mccains-ultimate-inside-beltway.html

Obama responds: http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/obama-lets-mccain-have-it-on-economy.html
Calls McCain's commission idea " the oldest Washington stunt in the book" . . . [read on]

McCain versus McCain

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/16/05357/7553

Economic reformer? Not so much

http://www.propublica.org/article/mccains-record-contrasts-with-promises-of-reforming-wall-st-916/
McCain "has never departed in any major way from his party's embrace of deregulation." Indeed, the Times says, McCain "has no history prior to the presidential campaign of advocating steps to tighten standards on investment firms." . . .

More: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/16/us/politics/16record.html

The “fundamentals are strong” – nine times

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/mccain_fundamentals_are_strong.php

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/fundamentals-by-dday-people-are-having.html

[NB: Actually, Chris Matthews came up with 22 different McCain uses of the phrase.]

People are noticing: McCain’s numbers are in a nose dive on the crucial economy issue

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/9/16/135853/534

Sensing a momentum shift, Obama hits back hard on the economy

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014748.php

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/in_twominute_ad_obama_directly.php

McCain’s disastrous health care policies – can we talk about these, please?

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/mccain-lied-rather-massively-about-his.html

After promising full cooperation with the Troopergate investigation, Palin now says she won’t testify at all. Beyond that, her McCain-appointed legal team is trying to get the entire investigation shut down

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/palin_wont_testify_in_trooperg.php
Palin had initially pledged her cooperation with the probe. After lawmakers voted unanimously to investigate her firing of former public safety commissioner Walt Monegan, she said: "We have absolutely nothing to hide, and so certainly we would never prohibit or be less than enthusiastic about any kind of investigation. Let's deal with the facts and you do that via an investigation." . . .

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080916/ap_on_el_pr/palin_troopergate
[AP] Alaska's investigation into whether Gov. Sarah Palin abused her power, a potentially damaging distraction for John McCain's presidential campaign, ran into intensified resistance Tuesday from state Republican lawmakers who want to end it or delay it past the election.

Alaska's House speaker, a Republican who supported the "Troopergate" investigation two months ago, openly questioned its impartiality and raised the possibility of delaying the findings.

The surprise maneuver by Rep. John Harris reflected deepening resolve by Republicans to spare Palin embarrassment or worse in the final weeks of the presidential campaign.

And it marked a further fraying of a bipartisan consensus, formed by a unanimous panel before Palin became McCain's running mate, that her firing of the state's public safety commissioner justified the ethical investigation. . . .

More: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/gop_legislators_enlist_rightwi.php

Sound familiar?

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/09/how-transparent.html
“E-mails from the Palin administration are being withheld from the public and the governor is citing executive privilege," reported Alaska TV station KTUU last month. "With subject lines like ‘Fagan,’ ‘Andrew Halcro’ and even ‘Alaska Ear,’ it makes some wonder how those topics could possibly be policy related; especially since those same e-mails were copied to the governor's husband...Officials say the private e-mails within the Palin administration won't be released.”

“Palin routinely uses a private Yahoo e-mail account to conduct state business," the Anchorage Daily News reported a few days ago. "Others in the governor's office sometimes use personal e-mail accounts too. The practice raises questions about backdoor secrecy in an administration that vowed during the 2006 campaign to be ‘open and transparent.’…

"Where you've got a governor apparently using a Yahoo account for state business, that's kind of a complete inversion of what ought to be happening in terms of public records,’ said Charles Davis, executive director of the National Freedom of Information Coalition and a Missouri journalism associate professor. ‘E-mail that's public business ought to be done on public accounts that can become public record,’ he said.”

Using a personal email account to conduct official business is what officials of the Bush administration -- perhaps most notoriously Karl Rove -- in an apparent attempt to circumvent any subpoenas.

More: http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/16/palin-takes-her-troopergate-notes-from-cheney-and-rove/

Why did she fire Monegan? The story keeps changing

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/troopergate_palins_shifting_st.php
[Zachary Roth] There's a moment in a lot of political scandals when the contradictions and inconsistencies in the story being put out by the figure accused become so glaringly obvious that they themselves turn into an important part of the story. . . .

More: http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=8264

The latest excuse

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/217381.php
[Josh Marshall] But now, with help from the McCain campaign, she's come up with a new justification for what is again being called a firing: insubordination.

And what, you ask, did he do that was supposedly insubordinate? He was too aggressive in trying to go after sex offenders, specifically child molesters. Seriously. . . .

Sounds like SOMEBODY needed to be more aggressive: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5804581
Gov. Sarah Palin has not addressed the rampant sexual abuse, rape, domestic violence and murder that make her state one of the most dangerous places in the country for women and children.

Alaska leads the nation in reported forcible rapes per capita, according to the FBI, with a rate two and a half times the national average – a ranking it has held for many years. Children are no safer: Public safety experts believe that the prevalence of rape and sexual assault of minors in Alaska makes the state's record one of the worst in the U.S. And while solid statistics on domestic violence are hard to come by, most – including Gov. Palin – agree it is an "epidemic." . . .

Rush Limbaugh’s new-found feminism

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/situational-feminism-by-digby-im-pretty.html

The Palin “Truth Squad”

http://thepalintruthsquad.com/

In defense of tanning beds

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/217330.php

Palin’s popularity/unpopularity lines are about to cross

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2008/09/palins_popularity.php

Meta-lying

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/michaeltomasky/2008/sep/17/johnmccain.sarahpalin
[Michael Tomasky] McCain-Palin don't just lie, they lie about the lies and then play victim. How do you fight that? . . . [read on]

More: http://www.samefacts.com/archives/campaign_2008_/2008/09/excuses_excuses.php

Updates on key House and Senate races

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/16/153944/144

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/16/133041/624

Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), take a bow

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/15/24439/0289
[Meteor Blades] The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources organized a Bipartisan Energy Summit Friday morning. Numerous Senators and experts showed up, as did a standing-room-only crowd of hundreds.

During the hearing, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island asked a question:

WHITEHOUSE: Gentlemen, we’re in the middle of a near total mortgage system meltdown in this country. We have a health care system that burns 16 percent of our GDP, in which the Medicare liability alone has been estimated at $34 trillion. We’re burning $10 billion a month in Iraq.

This administration has run up $7.7 trillion in national debt, by our calculation. And there is worsening evidence every day of global warming, with worsening environmental and national security and economic ramifications. In light of those conditions, do any of you seriously contend that drilling for more oil is the number one issue facing the American people today?

(Long silent pause during which nobody answers.)

WHITEHOUSE: No, it doesn’t seem so.

The Big Lie making the wing-nut circuit: Obama is interfering with US foreign policy in Iraq

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/217250.php

http://www.juancole.com/2008/09/obama-smeared-by-taheri-on-iraq-troop.html

Candy Crowley is the embodiment of all we hate in the smug, cynical, and lazy national media – always bending over backwards to argue “they all do it,” even when they DON’T all do it

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/cnns_candy_crowley_not_my_role.php

CNN, hard-hitting as always

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/09/16/holt.obama.waffles.wkrn
Some find 'Obama waffles' offensive . . .

[NB: A little Aunt Jemima there, don’t you think?]

Bonus item: A little item that is making the e-mail rounds

http://commentsfromleftfield.com/2008/09/narratives
I’m a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight…..

* If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you’re “exotic, different.”

* If you grow up in Alaska eating moose burgers, you’re a quintessential American story.

* If your name is Barack, you’re a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.

* If you name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, you’re a maverick. .

* If you graduate from Harvard law School, you are unstable.

* If you attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you’re well grounded. . . . [read on]

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 8:23 AM

 
COWS, PIGS, DOGS, DINOSAURS, AND VULTURES

Dow down more than 500, unemployment over 6%, and what does Sally Sunshine keep saying?

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/mccain_this_morning_the_fundam.php
[McCain] "You know that there's been tremendous turmoil in our financial markets and Wall St. And it is -- people are frightened by these events. Our economy, I think still -- the fundamentals of our economy are strong. But these are very, very difficult times."

Obama hits him, but not hard enough

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/obama_to_mccain_senator_what_e.php
“Today offers more evidence that too many folks in Washington and on Wall Street weren't minding the store. For eight years, we've had policies that have shredded consumer protections, loosened oversight and regulation, and encouraged outsized bonuses to CEOs while ignoring middle-class Americans. The result is the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression.

I certainly don't fault Senator McCain for these problems. But I do fault the economic philosophy he subscribes to . . .”

Biden shows how it is done

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/biden_uncorks_tough_populist_h.php
Senator McCain has confessed, quote, "It's easy for me to go to Washington and frankly, be somewhat divorced from the day-to-day challenges people have." And he's right, if all you do is walk the halls of power, all you hear are the wants of the powerful.

I believe that's why Senator McCain could say with a straight face, as recently as this morning, and I quote "the fundamentals of our economy are strong." That, "We've made great progress economically" during the Bush years. But friends, I could walk from here to Lansing, and I wouldn't run into a single person who thought our economy was doing well, unless I ran into John McCain.

John McCain just doesn't seem to understand what middle class people are going through today. I don't doubt that he cares. He just doesn't think that we have any responsibility to help people who are hurting. . . .

Eight years ago, a man ran for President who claimed he was different, not a typical Republican. He called himself a reformer. He admitted that his Party, the Republican Party, had been wrong about things from time to time. He promised to work with Democrats and said he'd been doing that for a long time.

That candidate was George W. Bush. Remember that? Remember the promise to reach across the aisle? To change the tone? To restore honor and dignity to the White House?

We saw how that story ends. . . .

Watch: http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/biden-jumps-on-mccains-fundamental.html

“The fundamentals of our economy are strong” – wait a second, that sounds so familiar . . . wait a second . . .

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/9/15/135219/992
Bush, August 2007: "The fundamentals of our economy are strong”

Bush, September 2007: "I say that the fundamentals of our nation's economy are strong"

Bush, February 2008: "The fundamentals are strong, we're just in a rough patch . . .”

. . . . no, that’s not it, give me a minute here. THERE we go:

http://www.dragongoose.com/LewHisDepression.html
Herbert Hoover, 1931: “The economy is fundamentally sound”

Sensing the “fundamentals are strong” line didn’t go over well, the McCain tries to give it a laughable post-facto spin and turn it into an attack on Obama

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/15/182816/562
[Time] The Arizonan pushes back against Democratic criticism for his saying in Jacksonville that the "fundamentals of the economy are strong," suggests he was referring to American workers.

Says during a town hall in Orlando that the working class is the backbone of the U.S. economy, and their industry, skill and competitiveness can help keep the economy afloat.

"My opponents may disagree, but those fundamentals of America are strong.... Our workers have always been the strength of our economy, and they remain the strength of our economy today."

Obama smashes him good: http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/obama-hit-mccain-hard-today.html

Who does McCain want to make Sect’y of the Treasury?

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/216912.php
[Josh Marshall] The man most responsible for the financial services and banking deregulation that made today possible, fmr. Sen. Phil Gramm, is the man John McCain wants to put in charge of the whole economy.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/217149.php
[Josh Marshall] Let me get this straight. John McCain's top economic advisor, former Sen. Phil Gramm, is the guy who authored the deregulation law that most agree is the ultimate cause of today's financial meltdown. Tomorrow's and probably next week's too. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. John Thain, CEO of Merrill Lynch, which swirled into brokerage oblivion today, is one of McCain's top economic advisors too. And now McCain says he's going to clean up the mess by putting in tighter regulations and oversight even though he's always supported lax oversight and his top economics guy is the one who loosened the rules in the first place.

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/15/124633/517

Support the troops!

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/public_management_/2008/09/why_wont_the_va_provide_service_dogs_for_wounded_warriors.php
Why won't the VA provide service dogs for wounded warriors? . . . [read on]

“Brave New PAC” goes where others fear to tread – right at McCain’s POW claims. Tough stuff

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/new_ad_stars_fellow_mccain_pow.php

Equal pay

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/9/15/233118/977

McCain: I don’t think Obama ever called Palin a “pig.” Gee, where would anyone get that idea?

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D937BC880
McCain says Obama didn't call Palin a pig . . .

http://cbs5.com/campaign08/mccain.palin.lipstick.2.814013.html
The McCain campaign contended that the comments were directed at Palin. . . Just moments after Obama's comments, the Republicans held their first ever "Truth Squad" call to condemn the remarks . . . Former Massachusetts Gov. Jane Swift interpreted Obama's remarks to mean that he called Palin a "pig" . . .

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/706/
On Wednesday, the McCain campaign released a Web ad called “Lipstick.” It begins with a clip of Palin delivering her lipstick line, then text flashes on the screen saying “Barack Obama on: Sarah Palin.” A moment later, the ad plays a small portion of Obama’s “lipstick on a pig” remark, but not enough of his quotation to make clear what he was talking about. The ad concludes with a clip of CBS anchor Katie Couric soberly remarking on sexism on the campaign trail. . .

More: http://www.washingtonindependent.com/5903/mccain-flip-flops-on-pig-lipstick

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/9/15/17422/5741

“Vile lies”

Watch: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/not-enough-by-tristero-this-is-fine-as.html

McCain seems to acknowledge that his (and Palin’s) repeated claims that Palin never asked for federal earmarks or supported the Bridge to Nowhere were, uh, shall we say, goddamn lies. But it doesn’t matter, you see, because she also vetoed a half a billion dollars in earmarks. OK, except . . .

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D937BC880
[AP] McCain cut off a question about the "Bridge to Nowhere," which Palin claims to have killed in Alaska even though Washington pulled back money for the project before she turned against it.

"The important thing is she's vetoed a half a billion dollars in earmark projects—far, far in excess of her predecessor and she's given money back to the taxpayers and she's cut their taxes, so I'm happy with her record," McCain said.

In addition to her current requests, state budget documents show Alaska requested 52 earmarks worth $256 million for 2008.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/a_new_frontier_in_mccains_dish.php
[Kate Klonick and Zachary Roth] The notion that Palin "vetoed earmarks" has become a fully-fledged GOP talking point in recent weeks. Here, for instance, is Republican congressman Jeb Hensarling repeating the claim at a news conference 12 days ago.

But governors don't "veto" federal earmarks. . . . [read on]

Ted, who?

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/09/14/for_palin_political_issues_still_unresolved_in_alaska/
The governor leaves behind several unresolved issues that could force her in coming weeks to renegotiate the tenuous political divorce from the state's Republican establishment that she has used to cast a "maverick" silhouette as a vice-presidential candidate.

"What she's saying on the national stage is not at all what she'd say in Alaska," said Ivan Moore, an Anchorage pollster unaffiliated with any state or national campaigns.

While Palin brags outside Alaska that she battled the state's "old politics-as-usual . . . big good-old-boys network," she will likely share a ballot in November with two of its charter members: Senator Ted Stevens and Representative Don Young, erstwhile rivals both struggling in their bids for reelection due to related corruption scandals.

Palin has so far not said whether she would endorse - or even vote for - either of her fellow Republicans. A McCain campaign spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment on the subject. . . .

How she governed

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/former_palin_backer_state_ag_d.php
[NYT] [W]hen there was a vacancy at the top of the State Division of Agriculture, [Palin] appointed a high school classmate, Franci Havemeister, to the $95,000-a-year directorship. A former real estate agent, Ms. Havemeister cited her childhood love of cows as a qualification for running the roughly $2 million agency. . . .

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/15/131435/753

Trooper-Gate: the cover-up is worse than the crime, part 492

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080916/ap_on_el_pr/palin_troopergate_7
Alaska - Gov. Sarah Palin is unlikely to speak with an independent counsel hired by Alaska lawmakers to review the firing of her public safety commissioner, a spokesman for Republican presidential candidate John McCain said Monday.

Spokesman Ed O'Callaghan initially said Palin, the Republican nominee for vice president, would not testify as part of the probe "as long as it remains tainted." He later clarified his statement to say Palin is "unlikely to cooperate" with the inquiry.

O'Callaghan also said he did not know whether Palin's husband, Todd, would challenge a subpoena issued last Friday to compel his cooperation. Thomas Van Flein, the Palins' lawyer, who has accepted service of the subpoena, did not return messages seeking comment. The governor herself has not been subpoenaed, but the Legislature's investigator, Steve Branchflower, has said he hopes to speak with her. . . .

Palin initially said she welcomed the inquiry. . . .

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/217156.php
[David Kurtz] Who would you expect to announce that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin won't cooperate with the Alaska Legislature's probe into whether she abused the power of her office in Trooper-Gate?

Not Palin herself. Nor the spokesperson for the Governor's Office. Nor the lawyer the state is paying to represent her in her official capacity in the case.

Instead, that announcement was made today by a spokesperson for John McCain's presidential campaign.

Just keep that in mind as this case unfolds.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/official_at_center_of_trooper.php
[Kate Klonick] Former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan, whose firing is at the center of Trooper-Gate, says the Sarah Palin lied in her interview with ABC when she told Charlie Gibson that she dismissed Monegan based on poor job performance and said she "never pressured him to hire or fire anybody." . . .

Palin claims she ad-libbed parts of her Republican convention speech. That, too, turns out to be a lie

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/09/palin-and-the-t.html

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/15/212231/278

“Taking the pale out of Palin”

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/217097.php
Gov. Palin's spokesman confirms to TPMmuckraker that she installed a tanning bed in the Governor's Mansion.

More: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/its_sunny_all_year_round_at_th_1.php

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2008/09/the_tanning_bed_factor.php

Theocracy warning: She’s a nut

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/michaeltomasky/2008/sep/15/sarahpalin.uselections20083
[Salon] Another valley activist, Philip Munger, says that Palin also helped push the evangelical drive to take over the Mat-Su Borough school board. "She wanted to get people who believed in creationism on the board," said Munger, a music composer and teacher. "I bumped into her once after my band played at a graduation ceremony at the Assembly of God. I said, 'Sarah, how can you believe in creationism -- your father's a science teacher.' And she said, 'We don't have to agree on everything.'

"I pushed her on the earth's creation, whether it was really less than 7,000 years old and whether dinosaurs and humans walked the earth at the same time. And she said yes, she'd seen images somewhere of dinosaur fossils with human footprints in them."

More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/michaeltomasky/2008/sep/16/sarahpalin.evolution

The thrill is gone

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/9/15/124053/592
[MSNBC] At his first rally without Palin since selecting her as his running mate, McCain attracted roughly 3,000 people at an arena here with 16,000 seats. . . .

Look: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/15/132644/490
No wonder John McCain has been bullying Barack Obama to do "town hall meetings". . . .

Of course these things are transient and could turn again, but McCain has had a pretty good run since the GOP convention and the celebrity bounce Sarah Palin gave him – and even now the national picture is at best a tie. This could be their high water mark

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/9/15/162751/471
Have McCain/Palin Peaked?

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/09/15/mccain_loses_bounce.html
McCain Loses Bounce

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2008/09/15/mccain_bounce/index.html
Has McCain peaked?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/michaeltomasky/2008/sep/15/sarahpalin.uselections20081
Down, down, down

One more time

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/216960.php
[Josh Marshall] [T]he big press story of the campaign is shaping up to be how reporters are and will react to McCain's deliberate strategy of full-court-press lying. The corrupt, though normal, approach is for reporters to try to dig up whatever Obama exaggerations they can find to try to balance the coverage. If that doesn't work, then they will try to hang the charges on Democrats -- i.e., "what Democrats are calling 'lies'" etc. And of course using the dictionary term -- "lies" -- for repeated and intentional misstatements of fact is almost always forbidden.

But the lying is so extreme in this case that a few reporters are beginning to actually report the story accurately. . . .

I certainly think something has changed – yesterday Karl Rove (!) called out the McCain campaign for their lies. Today, Fox News. What is the world coming to?

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014726.php

US News and World Report (leftist rag): http://www.usnews.com/blogs/john-farrell/2008/9/15/john-mccains-journey-from-maverick-to-liar.html
John McCain's Journey From Maverick to Liar . . .

On the other hand . . . .

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/216937.php
[Josh Marshall] Of all the shortcomings of the establishment press today, none is more central to the corruption of the profession than the decision to prioritize balance over accuracy. That corruption is visibly on display in the current coverage of the McCain campaign's policy of deliberate lies. And you won't find a better example than Cathleen Decker's piece in yesterday's LA Times.

Read into the article and you'll see numerous instances of McCain's repeated use of false claims and lies and one instance Decker is able to dig up of an Obama campaign claim that arguably leaves out some information.

But the conclusion and packaging of the article is that both candidates deceive equally and that they do so because it works . . .

This is what gives liars a clear strategic advantage over non-liars. And it's an open question whether McCain's level of dishonesty turns out to be so great that it overwhelms reporters' unwillingness to report accurately on it.

Whoa. Richard Cohen, McCain apologist no more

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/15/AR2008091502406.html
"I broke my promise to always tell the truth," McCain said. Now he has broken that promise so completely that the John McCain of old is unrecognizable. He has become the sort of politician he once despised.

The precise moment of McCain's abasement came, would you believe, not at some news conference or on one of the Sunday shows but on "The View," the daytime TV show created by Barbara Walters. Last week, one of the co-hosts, Joy Behar, took McCain to task for some of the ads his campaign has been running. One deliberately mischaracterized what Barack Obama had said about putting lipstick on a pig -- an Americanism that McCain himself has used. The other asserted that Obama supported teaching sex education to kindergarteners.

"We know that those two ads are untrue," Behar said. "They are lies."

Freeze. Close in on McCain. This was the moment. He has largely been avoiding the press. The Straight Talk Express is now just a brand, an ad slogan like "Home Cooking" or "We Will Not Be Undersold." Until then, it was possible for McCain to say that he had not really known about the ads, that the formulation "I approve this message" was just boilerplate. But he didn't.
ad_icon

"Actually, they are not lies," he said.

Actually, they are. . . .

McCain has turned ugly. His dishonesty would be unacceptable in any politician, but McCain has always set his own bar higher than most. He has contempt for most of his colleagues for that very reason: They lie. He tells the truth. He internalizes the code of the McCains -- his grandfather, his father: both admirals of the shining sea. He serves his country differently, that's all -- but just as honorably. No more, though.

I am one of the journalists accused over the years of being in the tank for McCain. Guilty. . . . [read on]

David Brooks jumps off the Palin bandwagon

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/16/opinion/16brooks.html
Palin is the ultimate small-town renegade rising from the frontier to do battle with the corrupt establishment. Her followers take pride in the way she has aroused fear, hatred and panic in the minds of the liberal elite. . . .

And there’s a serious argument here. In the current Weekly Standard, Steven Hayward argues that the nation’s founders wanted uncertified citizens to hold the highest offices in the land. They did not believe in a separate class of professional executives. They wanted rough and rooted people like Palin.

I would have more sympathy for this view if I hadn’t just lived through the last eight years. For if the Bush administration was anything, it was the anti-establishment attitude put into executive practice.

And the problem with this attitude is that, especially in his first term, it made Bush inept at governance. It turns out that governance, the creation and execution of policy, is hard. It requires acquired skills. Most of all, it requires prudence.

What is prudence? It is the ability to grasp the unique pattern of a specific situation. It is the ability to absorb the vast flow of information and still discern the essential current of events — the things that go together and the things that will never go together. It is the ability to engage in complex deliberations and feel which arguments have the most weight.

How is prudence acquired? Through experience. The prudent leader possesses a repertoire of events, through personal involvement or the study of history, and can apply those models to current circumstances to judge what is important and what is not, who can be persuaded and who can’t, what has worked and what hasn’t. . . .

Sarah Palin has many virtues. If you wanted someone to destroy a corrupt establishment, she’d be your woman. But the constructive act of governance is another matter. She has not been engaged in national issues, does not have a repertoire of historic patterns and, like President Bush, she seems to compensate for her lack of experience with brashness and excessive decisiveness.

The idea that “the people” will take on and destroy “the establishment” is a utopian fantasy that corrupted the left before it corrupted the right. Surely the response to the current crisis of authority is not to throw away standards of experience and prudence, but to select leaders who have those qualities but not the smug condescension that has so marked the reaction to the Palin nomination in the first place. . . . [read on]

I want to encourage the McCain campaign to keep whining over popular shows like SNL, just because they run a little satire against them

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014731.php
"[T]he portrait [on "SNL"] was very dismissive of the substance of Sarah Palin, and so, in that sense, they were defining Hillary Clinton as very substantive and Sarah Palin as totally superficial," Fiorina argued. "I think that continues the line of argument that is disrespectful in the extreme and yes, I would say, sexist, in the sense that just because Sarah Palin has different views than Hillary Clinton does not mean that she lacks substance." . . . [read on]

Bonus item: By the same twisted reasoning that led the McCain people to accuse Obama of calling Palin a “pig,” didn’t Cindy McCain (nice picture, hon) just call the women on The View “vultures”?

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/15/cindy-mccain-tough-interviewers-picked-our-bones-clean-2/
Cindy McCain, wife of Republican presidential nominee John McCain, criticized the media at a weekend fundraiser, telling supporters that the hosts of The View “picked our bones clean.”

"In spite of what you see …in the newspapers, and on shows like The View — I don't know if any of you saw The View yesterday, they picked our bones clean — in spite of what you see, that's not what the American people are saying and what they are believing," said McCain, in a recording obtained by ABC News. "They are now seeing a clear difference with these candidates, and they are seeing who is going to make the best president, and that's why we're pulling ahead." . . .

John McCain had a tough exchange with the hosts of The View during a recent appearance, during which he was pressed on the credentials of running mate Sarah Palin, claims in his campaign ads that co-host Joy Behar called “lies,” and how many houses he and his wife own.

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

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- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:34 AM

 
COGNITIVE DISSONANCE

McCain, meet McCain

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2008/09/mccain_ill_cut_taxes_for_everybody.php
[Matt Yglesias] John McCain said yesterday that he’d go beyond promising to avoid raising taxes on anyone making less than $250,000: “Not only that, I’m going to cut taxes for literally everybody.”

It’s too bad John McCain doesn’t seem to be familiar with John McCain’s health care proposals which involve a large tax increase on everyone who gets health insurance through an employer . . .

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/defense_mccain_FCS_091208/
Has Sen. John McCain renounced his longtime antagonism toward the Army’s Future Combat Systems?

On Sept. 8, the Republican presidential candidate told a rally crowd in Lee’s Summit, Mo., about an Obama video message to a liberal advocacy group.

“He promised them he would, quote, ‘slow our development of Future Combat Systems,’” McCain said, according to wire reports. “This is not a time to slow our development of Future Combat Systems.”

Flashback to July, however, when his campaign furnished McCain’s economic plan to The Washington Post, declaring that “there are lots of procurements — Airborne Laser, [C-17] Globemaster, Future Combat System [sic] — that should be ended and the entire Pentagon budget should be scrubbed.”

In fact, McCain has long criticized the over-budget, behind-schedule FCS program . . .

Another McCain advisor: what’s so bad about the economy?

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/mccain-economic-adviser-quit.html

Yeah, really?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/15/business/15lehman.html
In one of the most dramatic days in Wall Street’s history, Merrill Lynch agreed to sell itself to Bank of America for roughly $50 billion to avert a deepening financial crisis, while another prominent securities firm, Lehman Brothers, hurtled toward liquidation after it failed to find a buyer, people briefed on the deals said.

The humbling moves, which reshape the landscape of American finance, mark the latest chapter in a tumultuous year in which once-proud financial institutions have been brought to their knees as a result of tens of billions of dollars in losses because of bad mortgage finance and real estate investments. . . .

http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/aig-seeks-fed-aid-to-survive/index.html
The American International Group is seeking a $40 billion bridge loan from the Federal Reserve, as it faces a potential downgrade from credit ratings agencies that could spell its doom . . .

More: http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2008/09/economic_meltdown_update.html

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/15/7117/12048

The McCain “bubble.” One of the things that always struck me about the presidency of Bush was not only how they created a protective bubble around him and limited his exposure to news and information that might complicate his unidimensional and cocksure view of the world. But really at times it seemed as if they had to actively pump up his confidence and sense of certainty, as policy after policy failed, especially his bloody little adventure in Iraq. Now I am beginning to imagine something similar with McCain. I don’t doubt for a second that he understands exactly the kind of campaign that is being run on his behalf, and has broadly approved it. But these comments at the recent “service forum” made me wonder what stories his advisors are telling him to convince him that it’s okay to run such a dishonest and vicious campaign

http://www.clipsandcomment.com/2008/09/11/transcript-servicenation-presidential-forum-at-columbia-university/
WOODRUFF: Senator, at the Republican convention, a couple of speakers, most notably your running mate, vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, made somewhat derisive comments about Senator Obama’s experience as a community organizer. I’ve heard you say you haven’t taken that tone. So I guess my question is, are you saying to others in your campaign and your supporters that that’s not the kind of language you want to hear?

MCCAIN: Well …

WOODRUFF: How do you — how are you approaching that?

MCCAIN: First of all, this is a tough business. Second of all, I think the tone of this whole campaign would have been very different if Senator Obama had accepted my request for us to appear in town hall meetings all over America . . . .

STENGEL: But now, we’re in the midst of a campaign between two parties. And the tone of the campaign has gotten pretty ugly. You’ve talked from the beginning about running a different kind of campaign . . .

MCCAIN: Has it been rough? Of course. And again, it isn’t the final recipe or the only answer. . . .

And again, I hope that Senator Obama will accept my request. Let’s go around America. Let’s listen to hopes and dreams and aspirations of the American people and respond to them. I think that’s the best and most effective way of getting everybody involved in this campaign.

WOODRUFF: Do you think it’s naive of people to expect that politics could be a little less rough and tumble and even nasty?

MCCAIN: The people make the final judgment with their votes. They make the final judgment about campaigns and how we present ourselves to the American people. And I think that that will be the ultimate test of what kind of campaigns do we run. . . .

[NB: Does he really believe the tone of his campaign would be more high-minded if Obama had agreed to his town hall proposal? Does he really believe that it’s only the judgment of voters that determines the principles and standards of a campaign? Or is this the line his advisors are feeding him – it might be “tough” and “rough,” but as long as voters accept it, it doesn’t matter if it’s true, or fair, or decent. As long as his poll numbers are climbing he KNOWS (by this logic) that he’s doing the right thing.]

More: http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=8222
[JC] In a way, it's a very pragmatic, scientific, style of campaigning.

We do X - does X move the polling numbers? No? Do Y!!

We do Y - does Y move the polling numbers? No? Do Z!!

We do Z - does Z move the polling numbers? Yes!!

KEEP GOING WITH Z!!!

Now, it just so happens that Z means, what works to MOVE POLLING NUMBERS, is a lying, smearing, campaign, that focuses on myths about the McCain campaign, and lies about the Obama campaign.

But - from a practical standpoint - IT IS WORKING. . . . [read on]

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0908/Brian_Rogers_doesnt_care_what_you_think.html
McCain spokesman Brian Rogers . . . who hung tough with McCain through the dark days of the primary and has lived through every high and low of this turbulent and unpredictable race, argues that they tried to run a high-ground campaign and sought to keep the candidate in front of the media in the fashion he enjoys. His point: No one paid any attention.

“We ran a different kind of campaign and nobody cared about us. They didn’t cover John McCain. So now you’ve got to be forward-leaning in everything,” he said.

Rogers concedes that they were understandably overshadowed by the historic Democratic primary through June, but contends that even after the general election began they could get attention only when McCain committed a gaffe.

“When he’s sitting in back of a bus and getting questions about Viagra, I think we understand at that point you’ve got to make some tactical adjustments,” he said, recalling a particularly awkward gotcha-of-the-day moment on McCain’s bus in early July. . . .

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/mccain-campaign-we-got-sleazy-to-get.html
[John Aravosis] A fascinating admission from the McCain campaign, that they chose to leave the high road, to chuck overboard John McCain's "maverick" status, because the McCain campaign thought that they could get more media coverage by being sleazy, dishonorable liars. Hell of a thing for a campaign to admit, especially a campaign centered around the honor of a former POW. Apparently when the going gets tough, the first thing John McCain sacrifices is his honor. A disturbing pattern is emerging of McCain chucking the high road, abandoning his morals and ethics, when instant gratification comes knocking . . .

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2008/09/selling_his_soul.html
[Kevin Drum] As near as I can tell, McCain, deep in his gut, has convinced himself that Barack Obama is flatly unfit to the president. He's too inexperienced, he's an empty suit, he's naive, and he'll end up surrendering a weakened and declining America to Islamic extremism without a fight. The campaign corollary to this is obvious: the truly honorable course if you love your country is to do whatever it takes to make sure Obama never gets near the Oval Office. If that means running a campaign that sullies your own reputation — well, you just have to suck it up and pay that price. History will eventually exonerate you. In McCain's mind, the fact that he's willing to sacrifice his own reputation is a sign of just how deeply he loves his country.

Theocracy warning: what McCain gave the evangelical right

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/right-genuflection-by-digby-eleanor.html

Going negative

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/216770.php
[Josh Marshall] The Obama campaign has now clearly taken the leap into openly attacking John McCain for the series of lies and fraudulent statements he and his campaign have now told over the previous two weeks. The evidence is beyond question and even mainstream news organizations which place balance over accuracy in reportage have confirmed his deceptions. Presumably they will soon move to the obvious and more consequential corollary. If voters can't trust John McCain to tell the truth about even the most basic facts of the campaign, how can they trust him when he says he's going to bring change?

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=8226
[Matt Stoller] I'm seeing consistent themes coming from the Obama campaign. McCain is the same as Bush. McCain is hiding from the issues. McCain is lying. McCain's campaign is run by lobbyists. Obama will bring change from eight years of bad policies. Seriously, go through his youtube channel and check out his speeches. They are thematically unified. And whatever you think of what he's saying, Obama is on message. And he's also going incredibly 'negative', critical of McCain's policy ideas and his dirty campaign. . . . [read on]

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/09/14/obama_hits_mccain_hard_on_lobbyists.html
"His campaign is run by lobbyists. Now we find out McCain's White House will be lobbyist-run too... Does that sound like change to you?"

“Disgraceful and dishonorable” http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/obama_campaign_launches_ad_hit.php

More: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014717.php

How bad is it – I mean truly, how BAD is it – when a campaign is called too sleazy and dishonest by Karl Rove?

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/mccains_lying_has_gone_too_far.php
“McCain has gone in some of his ads -- similarly gone one step too far, and sort of attributing to Obama things that are, you know, beyond the 100-percent-truth test.”

But of course it is in the context of saying “both sides do it” – calling for greater amity just when Obama is starting to hit back hard

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/not-dimes-worth-of-difference-by-digby.html

Steve Chapman, conservative Chicago Tribune columnist

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-oped0914chapmansep14,0,4287762.column
Why does McCain insist on running such a mendacious campaign? There is plenty an honest conservative might say in opposition to Obama: He's wrong about Iraq. He's wrong about Iran. He's wrong about offshore oil drilling. He wants to raise taxes. He favors abortion on demand. He would appoint liberal judges. He would impede school reform.

But McCain has concluded that a fact-based case about Obama isn't enough to prevail in November. So he has chosen to smear his opponent with ridiculous claims that he thinks the American people are gullible enough to believe.

He has charged repeatedly that his opponent is willing to lose a war to win an election. What's McCain willing to lose to become president? Nothing so consequential as a war. Just his soul. . . .

Editorial pages across the country speak out against McCain’s campaign of lies

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/lies.html

I try not to be alarmist here, but this IS rather alarming

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/14/mcgamble_n_126308.html
[Thomas Edsall] The McCain campaign, in running TV ads which defy prior political standards, is gambling that the traditional rules governing what is permissible in presidential contests -- as defined by the mainstream media -- can safely be discarded this year.

The normally cautious and even-handed Associated Press on Thursday declared, "Even in a political culture accustomed to truth-stretching, McCain's skirting of facts has stood out this week." . . .

So far, based on polling over the past two weeks, McCain's roll of the dice has paid off. Not only has McCain made substantial gains, pulling modestly ahead in most national polls, but his assaults on Obama appear to have damaged the Democratic Party as well, raising Republican hopes of minimizing House and Senate losses.

There are 50 days left until November 4, and the outcome remains unpredictable. The public could become hostile to McCain's negativity; the Obama campaign could find a way to reverse current trends; or McCain's candidacy could simply fail to thrive, as happens to all losing presidential nominees.

If, however, the current Republican strong-arm approach to this year's contest proves effective, not only will Democratic expectations be crushed, but the triumph of image over substance, of playing to bias, and of coded rhetoric will mark a significant advance of the dominance in politics of advertising "ethics." . . .

The McCain strategy is based on a series of major premises. These include, first, that what many thought was the fading salience of wedge issues -- evoking stereotypes of liberals as 'weak on terror' and 'sexually permissive' - can be revived; second, that Obama is particularly vulnerable to these stereotypes, in part because he is African American; third, that standards of accuracy and truthfulness in political competition have eroded; and fourth, that the traditional authority of the national media as arbiter of what is legitimate in political discourse has disappeared.

Preliminary evidence suggests the McCain wager to abandon restraint is paying off. . . .

As people really start getting to know Sarah Palin and what she stands for, her poll numbers come back to earth

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=8233

“Quietly”

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-05-23-bush-mccain_N.htm
Bush quietly raising money for McCain . . .

Is this what a failing campaign looks like? Obama raises $66 million in August, gains half a million NEW donors

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/obama_raised_more_than_66_mill.php

http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/obama-raised-record-66-million-in.html

Fair and balanced?

http://mediamatters.org/items/200809130005
Over the five-day period from September 5 through September 9, Fox News spent far more time airing unfiltered clips -- that is, clips of the candidates talking at campaign events uninterrupted by journalists' voice-overs -- of the Republican presidential ticket and its surrogates than of the Democratic presidential ticket and its surrogates, also airing a far greater number of Republican clips. Moreover, all three cable networks devoted more airtime (significantly more in the cases of Fox News and MSNBC) to, and broadcast a significantly greater number of clips of, the Republican candidates and their surrogates campaigning than of the Democratic candidates and their surrogates on both Fridays after the two national conventions. . . .

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- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:26 AM

 
A BRIDGE TOO FAR

I’d like to think it was the relentless pressure of the blogosphere that shamed the media into taking a more objective stance toward the McCain/Palin pattern of lying over and over again. But really, the credit has to go to John and Sarah – they trusted in the idea that they could get away with anything, and they’ve simply gone too far. No one can ignore it any more

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/09/13/wheels_come_off_the_straight_talk_express.html
[Taegan Goddard]