From Progressive Accountability. Video link follows:
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Senator McCain I truly hope you get the opportunity to chase Bin Laden right to the gates of hell and push him in as you stated on your forum. I do have a question though. Disabled veterans, especially in this state, have horrible conditions [...] My son is an officer in the Air Force, and I am a vet and I was raised in a military family. I think it is a sad state of affairs when we have illegal aliens having a Medicaid card that can access specialist top physicians, the best of medical and our vets can’t even get to a doctor. These are the people that we tied yellow ribbons for and Bush patted on the back. If we don’t reenact the draft I don’t think we will have anyone to chase Bin Laden to the gates of hell.
JOHN MCCAIN: Ma’am let me say that I don’t disagree with anything you said and thank you and I am grateful for your support of all of our veterans.(Town Hall; Las Cruces, NM 08/20/08)
Video on their home page: http://progressiveaccountability.org/
It's easy to denounce smear tactics when they are being used on you, harder when they are being used on an opponent. John McCain is up against an opponent who can easily clean his clock in almost every way, what else does he have left to use but more of the same smear tactics that have been successful so often against the better candidate? We can't really blame John McCain for trying to win, we just have to be able to counter his smear campaign.
Never be weak, never retreat from the truth, never stoop to his level, never allow a lie to stand.
The polls are up - the polls are down - who knows what a poll means at this stage of the game. Can't wait until the conventions are over and the real campaign begins. That's when the other 90% of America starts to pay attention.
I'm looking forward to seeing effervescent Obama onstage with doddering old McCain. Obama may not have been as dynamic a debater as Ms. Clinton, but he's going to make McCain eat dirt. The first polls after that first debate should be entertaining.
I am very disappointed by the fact that Barack Obama - and a fairly large share of other Democratic Senators - voted in support of the FISA bill. I don't understand why he would do so. There are a lot of editorials analyzing his motives. He's said that he thinks this is a good bill. But it just doesn't make sense to me.
That isn't going to change my support.
He might be wrong on this issue. It might turn out that he's wrong on a lot of issues, at least according to my liberal perspectives. That doesn't matter. I still believe in Obama's vision of bottom-up government. I believe in his decency and honesty and his commitment to what Bush 8 years ago referred to as "restoring honor and dignity to the White House." Barack Obama will provide those things and John McCain won't.
I don't know how "liberal" Obama really is. He's always claimed to be a centrist. He seems to think in terms outside of traditional left-right divides. I do know that John McCain is a conservative and a political opportunist who campaigns as a maverick, while courting the Bush neo-con base. I don't trust the Republicans a bit. Actually, I have great faith in their consistency, it's just that I trust them to be unrelentingly evil and short-sighted.
Barack Obama is our only choice at this moment. I don't have any buyer's remorse. I don't wish Clinton or Edwards had won instead. I do wish he'd agreed with me, but that doesn't matter.
Obama is still the right choice for the country right now.
Thanks to Vice President Gore for endorsing Barack. It would have been nice to have him on board earlier in the primary, but at least now there isn't any drama about disrespecting the wife of the man under whom he served.
I doubt if many people will be swayed by the endorsement, but having Al Gore on the trail is like getting a rock star to campaign for you. People will turn out to see him.
At long last we can quit fighting fellow Democrats and move on to the general election. It has never been more important to put a Democrat in the White House, and we need also to elect Democrats all across the political spectrum. The Bush Administration has committed crimes of every sort imaginable and a Republican administration will sweep those under the table. Democrats need to investigate and reverse his worst misdeeds, perhaps even prosecute those responsible for things like Abu Ghraib. Barack Obama has acknowledged that he will look at things as a Constitutional lawyer and reverse signing orders and other illegal practices.
We also need a new way to look at the economy, at climate change, at international trade, and at foreign policy. John McCain has promised to do exactly the same things as the Bush Administration. Barack Obama has promised to change the whole game. It's a tall order, and a lot of people have made those claims, but done little. But there is something about Obama that makes me believe him when he promises to restore decency to government. When he speaks, he carries the gravitas of truth. That is quite a relief from our current president.
One of the most exciting things about the Obama campaign was that it was financed by individuals. I gave him a few bucks, and I bet most of you on this website have contributed as well. I didn't give much because I don't have a whole lot I can contribute, and most of his contributors have given less than $100. This is the way to finance a candidate, not corporate contributions and lobbyist money. Even bundling from individuals, the preferred way to pay for Republican candidates, only means that a bunch of people contribute the limit, and one more powerful individual packages those contributions together and kicks them upstairs. The biggest bundlers have then bought access to the candidate. Obama takes $5 and $50 contributions over the website and has collected more contributions than any other candidate in history. We the people have financed him. He doesn't have to answer to lobbyists, corporate interests or anyone except the American people. This is a tidal wave change in campaign financing.
And his first act after securing the nomination? To pass this mandate along to the Democratic National Committee. “I sent a strong signal in this campaign by refusing to take contributions from federal registered lobbyists and from PACs. And today, today as the Democratic nominee for president, I am announcing that going forward, the Democratic National Committee will uphold the same standard,” Obama announce. “We will not take a dime from Washington lobbyists or special interest PACS -- we’re going to change how Washington works.”
more from MSNBC FirstRead
The news says Senator Clinton is prepared to concede the nomination and endorse Senator Obama on Friday.
I'll believe it when the words pass her lips in the required form and not a moment before. Someone with more class would have conceded on Tuesday. Someone with more savvy would have conceded after Obama won 11 straight in February. But Hillary is all about the fight.
Guess I'm bitter.
I meant my last post to be about today's races, but sidetracked myself. Montana and South Dakota put a finish on the longest primary campaign ever. I will be glad to see this contentious fight end and move on to the general election.
Go 'Bama!
Reflecting on my experiences with volunteering here in Northern Kentucky, I find it mostly rewarding, except in the one area that really counts, which is winning more votes for Barack. We put in a lot of work and turned out the voters in support, but there were just more people who supported our opponent. Knocking on doors and phone calls didn't really change minds. It probably did great in terms of getting supporters to the polls, though.
I wonder how volunteers in the community can be used to change public opinion?
Perhaps if the community saw the depth of support for Obama, they'd feel more comfortable voting for him. If we could show strong presence in the community somehow, that might be enough to generate more positive opinion. With race being used as a wedge, I think some white people are being turned off by the idea that Obama is the candidate only for black people and "elitists." Maybe if we organized demonstrations of presence in neighborhoods dominated by what Clinton likes to call "hard-working white people," we'd show cross-race support and let people know that it's ok to support Obama.
Things that I've seen used to good effect are tables at little festivals and fairs, or any place with large community turnout. Another action that isn't popular in the Midwest, but which might serve Obama well are pockets of supporters waving signs at intersections.
We need to work hard to build support through the off-season and turn Clinton supporters into Obama supporters
It was a hard fight, and if effort and hard work could have carried the day, we'd have beat Clinton 90-10. But that wasn't to be. I am so appreciative of the field staff who came to Northern Kentucky and got us organized. I know they worked 12, and 16 or even 22 hour days over and over again, for little or no pay. And they did an awesome job. We identified and called on every supporter in the cities and many of those in the rural areas, too. Kentucky has never had this much attention from any presidential candidate in the general election, let alone a primary. Things don't change overnight, but we've started something that I think will carry over to the future. Again, thanks to the hard work of Nick, Dan, Angie, Sheila, Dave, Moe, and others I never did get to know.
Thanks guys! You're the best.
Our president has once again embarrassed himself, this time by flogging his own partisan anger in front of the Israeli Knesset. While I do not support this man at home, when he goes overseas, he represents all of America, not just part of it. All of America includes Democrats, so we stand by him and hope that he does well in his representation. Calling the Democrats "appeasers" to terrorists disgraces himself more than his opponents.
Still, the right wing noise machine picked up on the talking point and flogged it all over the airwaves. Thanks to Chris Matthews who at least managed to confront one such idiot and discovered that the man had no idea what he was talking about. Neville Chamberlain stood by while Nazis rolled into Czechoslavakia. Barack Obama wants to engage in dialog with Iran. The two stances have nothing in common.
No wonder Bush's popularity among Republicans is dropping below 50%.
The biggest endorsement of this primary season was just made, at least unless Al Gore weighs in. John Edwards is not just the #3 guy who got knocked out early, he is the candidate of choice of the group that Hillary is touting as her own. The working class (of either color) have a real champion in John Edwards. His career is undebatedly about helping poor working people get a voice in government. John Edwards' constituency is the group that Barack needs to woo over if he's going to win Kentucky.
I also have to admire the timing. Hillary Clinton won West Virginia on Tuesday night. She got probably an 11 delegate advantage out of the state, which didn't much hurt Obama's 172 delegate lead. In fact. 27 super delegates signed on to support Obama during the week before WV, so he actually improved his position during the week when he took a real thumping in a small state. But mathematics does not drive news, and the media was jumping all over Clinton's victory as proving that Obama couldn't appeal to white voters. She had interviews scheduled for the nightly news on all 3 networks. And those interviews were eclipsed - and sometimes interrupted - because of Edwards' endorsement. Good move John!
