Center Left vs. Center Right - Not the Issue

I tend to agree with this commentary. However, I think the following is missing from EJ’s discussion (as well as all the other discussions I’ve heard on this topic since Tuesday).

I don’t believe the question is framed correctly by asking are we center-right or center-left as a proxy for whether Americans want more or less government. The reality is both Obama and McCain (and Bush, Kerry, & Gore before them) promised more activist government. What Obama’s victory represents in my mind is that Americans want more COMPETENT government. This is why two stories of McCain’s campaign struggles resonated so well. First, McCain’s flailing during the first days of the financial collapse did not inspire confidence that his leadership of the government would be an improvement over the current administration’s. Second, the commonly stated perception that the Palin pick was a cynical political choice (reinforced by her terrible interviews with Katie Couric), rather than a serious governing choice, was (likely) the straw that broke the camel’s back for McCain’s pitch to be a competent steward of the federal government.

Oh Hell Yeah.

hat tip: Talking Points Memo | The Golden Speech

Holy Moly!

Did McCain Plagiarize His Speech on the Georgia Crisis? - Political Insider

McCain on Anbar Awakening

Coupled with Maliki's "endorsement" of Obama, I think this has the potential to be a one-two punch for McCain's campaign.

Note to self: if I ever run for President and decide to stake everything on my understanding of one thing, I should familiarize myself with the basic facts about it. I should be especially careful to do this before I say something like this about someone who got it right: "I don't know how you respond to something that is such a false depiction of what actually happened."
The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

Not only is this factually wrong, the "Anbar Awakening" was not only not because of the increase in troops, IT WAS A JUSTIFICATION FOR THE SURGE. In the text of the surge speech from January 2007:

Our military forces in Anbar are killing and capturing al Qaeda leaders, and they are protecting the local population. Recently, local tribal leaders have begun to show their willingness to take on al Qaeda. And as a result, our commanders believe we have an opportunity to deal a serious blow to the terrorists. So I have given orders to increase American forces in Anbar Province by 4,000 troops. These troops will work with Iraqi and tribal forces to keep up the pressure on the terrorists. America's men and women in uniform took away al Qaeda's safe haven in Afghanistan -- and we will not allow them to re-establish it in Iraq.

Full text of the Troop Surge Speech

Ego-stroking JibJab

Send a JibJab Sendables® eCard Today!

Indeed

Matthew Yglesias (July 01, 2008) - Who Is Barack Obama? (Miscellaneous)

Now of course it's possible -- likely, even -- that many Americans
don't know what road Obama would go down as president. But he's
unveiled a fairly detailed policy record, and assembled a fairly
consistent record in public life. It's John McCain, by contrast, who was against the Bush tax cuts before he was against them it's McCain who sponsored an immigration reform bill and then said he would have written against it. It's McCain who wants credit for tackling climate change but opposes all legislation aimed at curbing carbon emissions. It's McCain who's trying to run on an appealing biography while leaving cloudy impressions of his policy agenda.

Good Lord.

In Bush's defense, if I were president, I might have shown my connection to the Phillipines with "I cook for a fillipino..."

Talking Points Memo | Makes You Proud to be an American

Appeasement-gate

Bush's thinly-veiled attack on Obama as the reincarnation of Chamberlain has largely been a bust. However, it's never too late for a little context:



Hat tip: Andrew Sullivan.

“Would bin Laden get habeas rights?”

Excellent discussion at Crooks and Liars » Osama bin Laden and habeas corpus.

Holy Crap

Marc Ambinder (June 17, 2008) - Images Of The Election: A Pin In Dallas

wow

The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

A Very Good Sign

Hmm.

McCain’s Senate office contacted Obama’s office Monday night asking to sign on to a bill opening federal government contracts to public scrutiny, according to three knowledgeable sources.

Before the call, Obama had been working on the measure primarily with Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), an ardent proponent of eliminating wasteful government spending and an early supporter and longtime Senate ally of McCain’s.

After learning that Obama and Coburn were introducing the bill without his backing, McCain’s staffers immediately contacted Coburn to express concern and a desire to be named as an original co-sponsor of the update. They then called Obama’s office.

Obama staffers were happy to comply with McCain’s request to sign on, an Obama adviser said, because they knew support from the two presumptive nominees could propel the legislation to passage in the final months of a packed legislative schedule.

McCain’s Senate office and campaign did not return calls for comment on the matter. Coburn, however, acknowledged that the request had occurred and blamed himself for not being more aggressive in contacting McCain about becoming an original co-sponsor when the bill was introduced.

Coburn said it was his fault that McCain was not involved in developing the bill. “I didn’t keep him informed,” Coburn remarked. “I’m not good at politics—I never have been.”

More: TheHill.com - Rivals Obama and McCain work together behind scenes

Good description of the Obama Team

AP: Obama's Political Team Out-Organized Clinton - Politics on The Huffington Post

Democrats find their Voice

So far it appears that the happy side-effect of Bush's incompetent foreign policy is that it's allowed Democrats to find their voice on foreign policy, and step out of the shadow of Vietnam.


Republicans and Our Enemies - WSJ.com

al jazeera english coverage of obama and appallachia

Matthew Yglesias (May 22, 2008) - Obama and Appallachia (Politics)

It's amazing to have an election driven by issues...

Good discussion at HuffPo regarding McCain's view of Iranian political structure. What's so amazing is how the media appears to be performing the role of the media, and challenging political leaders.

McCain Confronted With New Iran Gaffe, Gets Facts Wrong Again (VIDEO) - Politics on The Huffington Post

General Election Map

Ambinder General Election Map

Now Interactive.

Super/Pledged Delegate Comparisons by State

Obama Claims He's Visited 57 States

See what happens when you're a sleeper agent trained in a madrassa? Only someone who doesn't love America would make this sort of mistake!!!!

Either that or he's courting the "Annex Canada" crowd and is already assuming we've added the 10 provinces.

Candidate Superdelegate Support by State

Blue = Obama, Red = Clinton

The darker the shade, the more wider the margin.

Green indicates a tie between committed supers.

Oh John...

You know, for a guy who just yesterday seemed to show some backbone on this issue, he surely disappoints today. I can't wait until the primary is over and the MSM will have the attention to focus on this sort of hypocrisy.

Updated: McCain calls Hagee views nonsense, takes jab at Obama

spin-central

Wow.

Debate Wierdness

The more I think about it, the more I'm bothered by the debate. On the one hand Obama needs to be ready to respond to ridiculous questions. On the other hand, it's really disturbing to see the lengths to which ABC seemed to go in questioning him.

The lapel pin question, one of the more inane, is a good case in point: Josh Marshall has a good overview of this. What strikes me is how either dishonest or lazy ABC's reporting is here. If they believe it's such a big issue because of a quote from Ms. McCabe, then I would think ABC would have been able to find another citizen questioner. Instead, they have the same person who made the original quote without even validating that others are as bothered.

Bitter redux

I agree with Josh's assesment of this clip of Obama 4 years ago discussing the same underlying point as his recent bitter remark, but with better word choice. This is exactly what I thought he meant -- In times of fear and uncertainty, people go to their comfort zones. Clinton is smart to hammer him on this, as it's all she's got, and it was poor word choice. That being said, if this is the "big disaster" she's been waiting for, then I feel much better.

100 years

I think Obama should be careful with the warmonger and 100 years talk. That being said, it's nice to see a thoughful discussion, summarized here by Andrew Sullivan, of why even in McCain's formulation of "like Japan and Germany" it's a problem.

Also, we probably should mention that our troubles in Okinawa suggest Japan may not even want us for 100 years!

Super Delegate Charts

via DemConWatch

Obama on Patriotism via Andrew Sullivan

via Andrew Sullivan:

I love this country not because it's perfect, but because we've always
been able to move it closer to perfection. Because through revolution
and slavery; war and depression; great battles for civil rights and
women's rights and worker's rights, generations of Americans have shown
their love of country by struggling and sacrificing and risking their
lives to bring us that much closer to our founding promise. And as long
as I live, I will never forget that I am only standing here because
they did... That is the country I love. That is the promise of America. (Obama)

Indeed

Rasmussen Daily Tracking Poll

On the Media

Linkins' post includes stats from Glenn Greenwald that put things in real perspective, and belie the argument that Obama gets a free pass from the MSM.

One might argue that the poor MSM coverage of the Yoo torture memo merely reflects a recognition that we're all so sick and cynical about the depravities of the Bush administration that this sort of revelation is just no longer topical. Look on the bright side, at least the media's focus on "Obama and bowling" was slightly edged out by the always topical search term "Clinton and Lewinsky"

I'm just waiting for someone to interview Monica Lewinsky to see if she's endorsing Clinton or Obama!

Fully Vetted?

I'm not sure if this is true or not, but either way it certainly belies Hillary's claim that she's been fully vetted:

..Certainly, he could not have known in 1974 that diary entries about a young lawyer named Hillary Rodham would be of interest to anyone 34 years later.

But they show that the pattern of lies, deceit, fabrications and unethical behavior was established long ago – long before the Bosnia lie, and indeed, even before cattle futures, Travelgate and Whitewater – for the woman who is still asking us to make her president of the United States.

Hitch on Tuzla-gate

"Hillary Clinton's Bosnian misadventure should disqualify her from the presidency, but the airport landing is the least of it."

The real harm Hillary Clinton inflicted on Bosnia. - By Christopher Hitchens - Slate Magazine

Lou Dobbs

Good Lord. When will CNN dump Dobbs, Beck, Grace and their other idiots.

Talking Points Memo | Oops

Hillary in Tuzla: The Tale of Bosnian Sniper Fire (TRAILER)

I've read numerous reports chastising Hillary for this account over the last week, but one thing I've not heard discussed is the "Too small, too poor, or too dangerous" comment. Does anyone else have a problem with all three of those qualifiers? Particularly the last one. Personally, I don't know if I share the viewpoint that says, if it's too risky send my wife (and in the case of Tuzla, my daughter as well).

Obama's Foreign Policy

Read Spencer Ackerman's analysis of Obama's foreign policy team. It's a thoughtful and comprehensive reminder that no one comes to the White House with all the relevant experience:

When considering any presidential hopeful's foreign-policy promises,
it's important to remember that what candidates say is, at best, an
imperfect guide to their actions in office. What proves to be a more
reliable indicator of presidential behavior is a candidate's roster of
advisers. (If the press had paid better attention, the country would
have seen through Bush's pitch about a humble foreign policy and
realized that many of his advisers, including Paul Wolfowitz and
Richard Perle, were conspiracy-minded warmongers.) Obama's
foreign-policy advisers come from diverse backgrounds. They are former
aides to Democratic mandarins like Tom Daschle and Lee Hamilton (Denis
McDonough and Ben Rhodes, respectively); veterans of the Clinton
administration's left flank (Tony Lake and Susan Rice); a human-rights
advocate who helped write the Army's and Marine Corps' much-lauded
counterinsurgency field manual (Sarah Sewall); a retired general who
helped run the air war during the invasion of Iraq (Scott Gration); and
a former journalist who revolutionized the study of U.S. foreign policy
(Samantha Power). Yet they form a committed, intellectually coherent,
and surprisingly united foreign-affairs team. (Shortly before this
piece went to press, Power resigned from the campaign after making an
intemperate remark to a reporter.)

Faustian Bargain

There have been many discussions over the last few weeks about what it would take for Hillary to win the nomination. Perhaps some evidence of her end game?

Media Matters on MSM misstatements about Obama's race speech.

Nice detail around what is sure to be the new anti-Obama meme about this speech since the content itself is so hard to attack.

For, to quote Jon Stewart's take on the speech: "So at 11am on a Tuesday a Politician talked to Americans about race as if they were adults."

McCain "Gaffe." Screw-up or Refreshing Candor?

I'm not surprised to see coverage of this McCain verbal slip being aired today. What is interesting, to me, is not that he made the mistake of lumping together al-Qaeda and other extremists under one umbrella. That's been one of the more deceptive underpinnings of Bush Administration policy in the war on terror.

What impresses me, and why I think McCain may be a really difficult guy to paint as a Bushite, is not only did he apologize and correct his misstatement, but that he did it DURING the speech, and at the prompting of a (nominally) cross-party advisor. That's not the sort intellectual honesty we've come to expect from Republicans in the last few years.

A McCain Gaffe in Jordan | The Trail | washingtonpost.com

Speaking to reporters in Amman, the Jordanian capital, McCain said he and two Senate colleagues traveling with him continue to be concerned about Iranian operatives "taking al-Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them back."

Pressed to elaborate, McCain said it was "common knowledge and has been reported in the media that al-Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran, that's well known. And it's unfortunate." A few moments later, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, standing just behind McCain, stepped forward and whispered in the presidential candidate's ear. McCain then said: "I'm sorry, the Iranians are training extremists, not al-Qaeda."

Obama on Race in America

I'm not sure yet if this speech is going to help or further draw divisions around race. I do know that it was a damn good speech.


Barack Obama : : Change We Can Believe In | Sam Graham-Felsen's Blog: "A More Perfect Union"

The profound mistake of Reverend Wright’s sermons is not that he spoke about racism in our society. It’s that he spoke as if our society was static; as if no progress has been made; as if this country – a country that has made it possible for one of his own members to run for the highest office in the land and build a coalition of white and black; Latino and Asian, rich and poor, young and old -- is still irrevocably bound to a tragic past. But what we know -- what we have seen – is that America can change. That is true genius of this nation. What we have already achieved gives us hope – the audacity to hope – for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

In the white community, the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination - and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past - are real and must be addressed. Not just with words, but with deeds – by investing in our schools and our communities; by enforcing our civil rights laws and ensuring fairness in our criminal justice system; by providing this generation with ladders of opportunity that were unavailable for previous generations. It requires all Americans to realize that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams; that investing in the health, welfare, and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper.

Tracy Morgan on Obama

For a full roundup, see: SNL Shows Blatant Anti-Spitzer Bias, Endorses Obama - Media on The Huffington Post

Cass Sunstein on Obama

Living in Chicago, I used to greatly engoy listening to Prof. Cass Sunstein on public radio. His take on Obama, seems to match what I see when I watch him in interviews like this.

Wow. His lead is far more substantial than I thought.

Good analysis of delegate situation if you look at FL/MI options.

2008 Democratic Convention Watch: Florida and Michigan: By the numbers

In all scenarios, FL is not enough by itself to help her. Bottom line is that the ONLY way for Hillary to take a delegate lead is to count as a "victory" an uncontested election. That'll go over well.

Clinton on NPR

 

Just listened to Hillary on NPR.  I think I just figured out what drives me so nuts about her comments about McCain vs. Obama on national security.  It’s not that she’s saying she and McCain have experience and Obama has none that bothers me the most.  It’s that she’s arguing this: because McCain is going to try to make the election about national security therefore the Democrats need to put up the best national security candidate.  I don’t think I got just how depressing this perspective is until today.  Given how successful the Clintons were in 1992 reframing the decision away from what the GOP wanted the election to be about, it’s just sad that she is cedeing the fundamental choice of this election to John McCain’s strong suit.  Make this election about economy in general or healthcare in particular, and what does McCain’s lifetime of experience yield?  Argh!

 

C-n-C Threshold

Wow. I think I could cross that threshold -- Clinton Camp

why they stay

Wow. Someone does something out of self interest. I feel like a great cloud of doubt has been lifted from my eyes. Wash . Post 's Quinn suggested "personal ambition" led Clinton and Silda Wall Spitzer to "stand by her man" because "there was something in it for her"

His Blackness

Delicious! His Blackness

Finally

It's about time someone pierced the absurdity of the big state claims: Pro-Obama Governors Challenge Hillary "Big State" Spin

Ferraro "Gaffe"

I actually think Ferraro may have inadvertently been on to something – but for the exact opposite reason she identified. Saying that Obama is in the situation he’s in because he’s black requires a restatement of what situation he’s finds himself. At this point in the race, he’s ahead in votes, states won, and delegates, and his white opponent has virtually no chance of overtaking him on any of those measures of success. Yet, she continues on. Consider Eugene Robinson's ruminations on what sorts of questions Barack would be having to answer if he were behind in states, delegates, and the popular vote. Surely, even the Clintons’ would have dropped out by now if John Edwards was in Obama’s position. Don’t you think waiting around for some sort of catastrophic blunder or arguing to superdelegates that you’re more “electable” than your opponent would be laughable were Obama a white guy with a “normal” name?

On the other hand, I suspect that it is highly unlikely for the party elders to swing the nomination to Clinton given what it would indicate if the first major party African-American candidate for president did NOT get the nomination because party elders deemed him “unelectable” in spite of winning more elections (by all meaningful metrics of vote count, delegates, and contests) than his Caucasian opponent.

General McPeak Speaks

Obama Meets With Retired Admirals, Generals - The Caucus - Politics - New York Times Blog

“Senator Obama was up in Iowa, maybe not so up in New Hampshire, but he was the same Barack Obama,” General McPeak said. “Steady, reliable, ‘No shock, Barack. No drama Obama.”

Subliminal Racism?

Given that the Clinton campaign's most notable racially suggestive comments were the rather ham-fisted marginalizing of Obama's win in South Carolina by comparing it to Jesse Jackson's victory in 88, I'd probably assume that this is more an oversight than incredibly subtle subliminal word play. That being said, bunnys or lambs would have been more associative of a child's vulnerability, so if any thought was put into the selection of pajamas, it was pretty stupid.

Clinton's Plagiarism

Well, I guess Walter Mondale is a Hillary supporter, so it must be ok to use his stuff.

The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

Bill Clinton Endorses Obama

Very Nice

Hypocrisy 101.b

Good Lord!!!!

Clinton Declines To Reject Supporter's Controversial Obama Comments - Politics on The Huffington Post

Hypocrisy 101

Best...Ever

Dan Abrams Nails Rep. Jack Kingston On 'Lapel Pin' Hypocrisy - Politics on The Huffington Post

Milbank: Team Clinton: Down, and Out of Touch

Holy Crap. I'm sure that this is all silly season stuff, but holy crap. I hope that this level of confusion, panic, and general disorder translates in the debate tonight.

who went negative first

This transcript (with audio) is laughable.

Quite Dave, don't give away the secret!

Nice and succinct encapsulation of the state of the blogging union, from one of my favorites, Dave Pell. I wish he didn't give away the secret sauce with number two. Also, I'd add a 4th bullet - that our favorite images are of pets, naked people, injuries and wierd food.

Yowzers.

I love Kimchi. However, not when I'm going to be in an enclosed space for weeks at a time.

Are you kidding me?

I fail to see how this photo is meant to discredit Obama. That being said, Shame On You, Hillary Clinton.



Update: Nice photos of Bill, Hillary and W in local attire at the bottom of Drudge's original post.

The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

Andrew Sullivan has an interesting, if prematurely gleeful, commentary on the failures of the Clinton campaign

How did they come this close to losing this? They had all the money, all the contacts, all the machine levers, the entire establishment, the biggest Democratic name in decades, and they've been forced into a humiliating death-match by a first-term black liberal with a funny name. It seems obvious to me that the Clintons blew this because they never for a second imagined they could. So they never planned to fight it. Once put in a fair contest, they turned out to be terrible campaigners, terrible politicians, bad managers, useless executives, wooden public speakers. If you're a Democrat, that's good to know, isn't it? All that bullshit about Day One and experience? In retrospect: laughable.

What If?

Eugene Robinson's ruminations on what sorts of questions Barack would be having to answer if roles were reversed.

What would the conventional wisdom say? That it was over, of course [Hillary's chances]. That Obama was toast. That staking everything on the March 4 primaries in Ohio and Texas was a starry-eyed hope, not a plan, and that it was time to smell the coffee.

My take is that he's probably right, but given that the superdelegates are valid voters in the nominating process, a last ditch effort to shift momentum before any of them have to make a choice probably makes some sense given that she's, arguably, the "establishment" candidate.

Star Wars according to a 3 year old.

This is hilarious, looks like Mira in 2 years.

Best line: "Don't talk back to Darth Vader. He'll get ya."

Runner up: "... like a garage sale for robots."

Huckabee on SNL