Check out the numbers in Miami-Dade this year alone, from January to August:
January 1, 2008:
Total Dem Rep White 263,649 119,026 85,021 Black 217,371 178,878 9,278 Hispanic 535,188 138,622 252,896
Total 1,083,720 459,370 360,458
August 1, 2008 (PDF):
Total Dem Rep White 271,244 123,603 86,406 Black 239,486 200,666 9,358 Hispanic 581,069 164,529 260,222
Total 1,169,252 515,545 369,771
Of 85,532 new registered voters in the south Florida county, 56,175 were Democrats, only 9,313 were Republican. That is, 66 percent of new registration were Democratic, only 11 percent were Republican (the rest were third party and "no party affiliation").
Even more incredible is the shift in the Latino voter away from the GOP. Of the 45,881 new Hispanic voters, only 7,236, or 16 percent, registered Republican. 25,907, or 56 percent, registered Democratic. The ranks of registered African American has grown by over 10 percent. And sure, Republicans picked up 80 of them, but another 22,035 of them slotted in with the Democrats.
Want to see how far Democrats have come? Let's go back to January 2000:
Total Dem Rep White 269,642 133,719 92,191 Black 160,934 139,114 6,921 Hispanic 354,009 86,682 203,403
Total 811,599 370,404 309,915
In 2000, Democrats had a roughly 60,000-vote advantage in the region. Today, it's 146,000. In 2000, 57 percent of Latinos (mostly Cuban Americans) registered Republican, while only 24 percent registered Democratic. That gap has closed significantly today, to 48 percent Republican, 28 percent Democratic. I'd bet quite a bit that the swelling ranks of Latino "no party affiliation" are full of closeted Democrats too ashamed to tell their hard-core Republican parents of their true party sympathies.
This obviously has huge repercussions in several races this fall. At the top of the ticket, Obama will obviously benefit from the increased Democratic performance in the region, and his continued voter registration efforts in Miami-Dade are epic. The campaign plans to squeeze out every last Democrat possible. But lower on the ballot, these numbers have benefits to our three South Florida Democratic challengers in FL-18, FL-21, and FL-25. None of these districts reside entirely within the boundaries of Miami-Dade, but the bulk of their voters do live in that county. Let's see how those district have changed from January 2008 to August 2008 (PDF):
In FL-18, O2B Democrat Annette Taddeo is taking on Illeana Ros-Lehtinen in an R+4.3 district (Bush won it 54-46 in 2004):
Republican 107,295 109,562 Democrat 89,289 102,433
Total R+18,006 R+7,129
In FL-21, Democrat Raul Martinez is taking on Lincoln Diaz-Balart in the toughest district of the lot -- R+6.2 (Bush won it 57-43 in 2004).
Republican 107,536 110,278 Democrat 76,491 85,635
Total R+31,045 R+24,643
And in FL-25, O2B Democrat Joe Garcia is taking on Mario Diaz-Balart in a R+4.4 district (Bush won it 56-44 in 2004).
Republican 110,925 114,048 Democrat 97,577 110,424
Total R+13,348 R+3,624
In a series of elections were every vote will count, the GOP's rapidly eroding voter registration numbers are a telling harbinger of what's to come. All three of these House elections will be close, as will Florida's presidential contest. Every voter registration gets us one step closer to victories that would be game-changing, truly epic.
Corsi on Islam: "a worthless, dangerous Satanic religion"
John McCain's reaction to Corsi's Book: "Gotta keep your sense of humor"
On the other hand, in case you missed Senator Obama's must-see interview on Larry King Live last month, please check it out here:http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/politics/2008/07/15/lkl.obama.long.cnn?iref=videosearchTo quote Obama from the transcript: "One last point I want to -- I do want to make about these emails, though. And I think this has an impact on this 'New Yorker' cover. You know, this is actually an insult against Muslim Americans, something that we don't spend a lot of time talking about. And sometimes I've been derelict in pointing that out. You know, there are wonderful Muslim Americans all across the country who are doing wonderful things. And for this to be used as sort of an insult or to raise suspicions about me I think is unfortunate. And it's not what America is all about."Corsi and his right-wing backers are counting on you not to fight back. Spreading these lies about Barack Obama and Muslims is their best chance to elect John McCain and continue George Bush's failed policies for another four years.>>>>> Forward this message to your friends and family or use this online form to push back with the truth: http://my.barackobama.com/bookoflies
The latest research on Jerome Corsi's writings:HATRED AND INTOLERANCE TOWARD ISLAM
On Islam and Arabs
CORSI: Let's see exactly why it isn't the case that Islam is a worthless, dangerous Satanic religion? Where's the proof to the contrary? (04/24/2004)
CORSI: Islam is like a virus -- it affects the mind -- maybe even better as an analogy -- it is a cancer that destroys the body it infects... No doctor would hesitate to eliminate cancer cells from the body. (11/26/02)
CORSI: Islam is a peaceful religion as long as the women are beaten, the boys buggered, and the infidels killed. (11/22/2002)
CORSI: How's this as an analogy -- the Koran is simply the "software" for producing deviant cancer cell political behavior and violence in human beings. (02/15/2002)
CORSI: Think the liberal press will ever let out that these 2 were lovers -- typical Islamic boy-buggering -- older man, younger man -- black Muslims? I doubt it. Not a pretty picture, but one certain to be hidden by PC media. (11/08/2002)
CORSI: Isn't the Democratic Party the official SODOMIZER PROTECTION ASSOCIATION of AMERICA -- oh, I forgot, it was just an accident that Clintoon's first act in office was to promote "gays in the military." RAGHEADS are Boy-Bumpers as clearly as they are Women-Haters -- it all goes together. (11/18/2001)
TOO CRAZY EVEN FOR SWIFTBOAT LIARSCorsi Was Dropped From Unfit for Command Promotions Because of His Anti-Muslim, Anti-Catholic Comments. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote in an editorial, "Corsi not only considers Muslims to be pederasts, but he took the trouble to slam Catholic priests and refers to the pope as senile. Rather than wonder whether a book written by such a man can be trusted, the marketing tactic has shifted to pretend Corsi doesn't exist." [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pennsylvania), 9/19/04]
John McCain's reaction to Corsi's Book:
What was McCain's reaction when a journalist asked him today about Corsi's book? As CNN reports:
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/08/15/mccain-meets-with-t-boone-pickens/#more-12728
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/15/mccain-on-anti-obama-book_n_119203.html"Gotta keep your sense of humor," McCain responded, before his aides shuttled reporters away.
Corsi and his right-wing backers are counting on you not to fight back. Spreading these lies about Barack is their best chance to elect John McCain and continue George Bush's failed policies for another four years.Check out some facts about Corsi and his desperate fabrications in the DNC research document below. Forward this message to your friends and family or use this online form to push back with the truth:http://my.barackobama.com/bookofliesTogether we'll show Corsi and the right-wing smear machine that we won't back down from a fight.Thanks,Obama Action Wire.
Contact Jerome Corsi: jcorsi@worldnetdaily.com
When contacting the media, please be polite and professional. Express your specific concerns regarding that particular news report or commentary, and be sure to indicate exactly what you would like the media outlet to do differently in the future.
A wonderful letter posted on the “Our Story” wall
Whoa! Visitors including local volunteers, members, and state representative candidates showed up in the hundreds for the outstanding opening of Orlando’s Obama for America office; crowds even overflowed in the hall at one point. Gustavo Rivera, a Florida director from “Campaign for Change,” sent out email invitations and the response was overwhelming. And yes, even a few interested Republicans stopped by. Ashley Ball, Obama staffer, graciously presented the local campaign strategy that will help Barack Obama win Florida.
After the presentation, visitors had the opportunities to reach out to others and share their stories. “Unless we make the change in direction, things will never change for this county,” Dr. Sultan Rahaman, a local resident who has been living in Central Florida for over twenty years. Dr. Rahaman has never volunteered for a political campaign until Barack Obama came along; he recently hosted the “United for Change” meeting.
Another visitor who has never volunteered for a political campaign before was Horace Dawson. He has opened up his home for Obama staffers to lodge in. “Excited...great opportunity for the country. Barack impresses our dreams so well,” Horace is a local member of the Metropolitan Orlando Urban League who helped put together the recent National Urban League Conference in Orlando. Geraldine F. “Geri” Thompson, current state representative of District 39, Scott Randolph current state representative of District 36, Jim Martin, candidate for Orange County Tax Collector, Lonnie Thompson, candidate for state representative, 38th District, were all on hand for the opening.
By Bob CescaPosted August 7, 2008 | 04:36 PM (EST) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-cesca/protecting-mccains-ignora_b_117565.html
Senator Obama on Tuesday said of the McBush Republicans, "It's like these guys take pride in being ignorant." After eight years trapped aboard this dark ride, finally hearing a Democratic presidential candidate publicly and forcefully refer to the Republicans as ignorant liars ought to be enough to coax even the most indecisive leaner into the Obama column.
But let's take the senator's remark even further. The McBush Republicans don't just take pride in their ignorance -- their entire electoral strategy depends on it.
This is obviously a risky strategy given the existence of things like "reason", "facts" and "truth" -- each readily available to anyone who's industrious enough to seek them out. Fortunately, though, for the McBush Republicans, there's an outside collaborator working in their favor: the barbecue media whose success also depends greatly upon both ignorance and disingenuousness (Olbermann and others excluded). Paraphrasing Woody Allen, ignorance and disingenuousness are, collectively, their various breads and various butters. So the Republicans have a convenient and sizeable zero-barrier of protective stupid surrounding their golf courses and mansions and trophy wives, shielding them from reality. Let's call it the Great Wall of Duh.
To wit: Paris Hilton and Toby Keith have occupied above-the-fold placement in our national political discourse this week.
Barbecue media players like TIME's Mark Halperin are somehow taken seriously even though he's on record having recommended to Senator McCain that he frame Senator Obama as a "Manchurian Candidate" (read that: Islamic terrorist), while also recommending that Senator McCain allow his surrogates to engage in race-baiting. Very serious!
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal told us this week that Senator Obama's thin physique might make him unelectable in a nation of fatties.
Professional television broadcasters from Dan Rather to Chris Matthews can't stop confusing Senator Obama with Osama Bin Laden; and that's only after they wonder out loud whether or not Senator Obama is capable of speaking "mumble talk" in a diner.
And then of course there are the four horsemen of lying ignoramuses: O'Reilly, Hannity, Doocy and Kilmeade. The entire success of FOX News Channel depends on its audience accepting everything at face value.
Suffice it to say, the awful bricks that form the Great Wall of Duh are practically too numerous to list.
It's no wonder that, with such an airtight cocoon, Senator McCain -- after repeatedly being debunked by numerous experts, and after personally conceding the argument -- can go around saying things like this today:
"[Senator Obama is] claiming putting air in your tires is the equivalent of new offshore drilling," McCain said. "That's not an energy plan, my friends -- that's a public service announcement."
Yes, it's a lie. Yes, it's ignorant. But most importantly, it's disingenuous -- deliberately ignorant with the intention to deceive. Not unlike FOX News Channel, Senator McCain is not just exploiting the ignorance of his supporters -- he's counting on it. He and his cynical strategists are counting on their own supporters to be unaware of the verifiable fact that if we maintain proper tire pressure, we would conserve more oil than would be attained with the McCain plan for offshore drilling. And he's counting on his supporters to blindly ditto this line -- a line that's specifically designed to be easily repeated for the sake of painting Senator Obama as weak and ineffectual. Ironic, isn't it.
The entire Bush administration, as well as the modern Republican movement before it, was built upon exploiting the naiveté and ignorance of its supporters. Start with the Southern Strategy during the Nixon years, fast forward to Reaganomics and do the list on down to "freedom fries" and "nobody anticipated the breach of the levees."
Four years ago, Karl Rove and the Republicans, protected by a patriotically narcoleptic corporate media, successfully painted Senator Kerry -- a decorated war hero -- as a gay coward who barely deserved a purple Band-Aid, much less the three Purple Hearts he earned in blood. Without this ignorant, disingenuous framing, Senator Kerry would have surely been running for reelection today. Without this strategy, there probably wouldn't have been the invasion and occupation of Iraq. And, by the way, CNN hosts like Glenn Beck wouldn't be on television -- without equal time given to a liberal talk show host -- comparing George W. Bush to Batman.
This week's episode of AMC's Mad Men reminded us that tobacco companies for years told us that cigarettes were healthy. Likewise, FOX News Channel tells us every damn day that their network is fair and balanced. Cheneybots tell us that torture yields solid intelligence. Senator McCain's entire campaign is predicated upon obfuscating the facts about everything from his support for President Bush to Senator Obama's patriotism and energy plan -- all the while painting Senator Obama (a product of a broken home and who just recently paid off his college loans) as an elitist despite Senator McCain's own wealth, heiress wife and celebrity status. And this ignorance strategy will continue to work as long as the barbecue media maintains its protective Great Wall of Duh.
So as Senator McCain continues to "surge ahead" in the polls with a huge 39 percent, we can count on him to work this ignorance strategy at every level. A month from now we can count on seeing tire-pressure gauges at the Republican convention. We can count on repeated remarks claiming that Senator Obama wants to "lose" in Iraq and, to that point, we can count on Senator McCain continuing to conflate leaving -- now, next year or many years from now -- with losing.
Here's to hoping that more Democrats will step up for a change and call Senator McCain on his disingenuousness, lying and ignorance with the same clarity and strength that we heard from Senator Obama this week.
Prior to joining CNN Business News in March 2003, Gerri Willis was the senior financial correspondent for Smart Money magazine. She attended Columbia Business School as a Knight-Bagehot Fellow in 1991-92 and was the winner of the Excellence in Retirement Savings Reporting award for 2001, which is given by the American University School of Communication and the Investment Company Institute's Education Foundation.
Her feature story, The Stock that Ate Cincinnati, was excerpted in Marshall Loeb's book, Best Business Stories of 2001. Her first book, The SmartMoney Guide To Real Estate Investing, was released in 2003; her second, Home Rich, examines how to manage home ownership into the best possible return and and was released this spring.
One of the miracles of this Presidential election campaign is that John McCain still has a chance to win, notwithstanding his best attempts to kick it away. In his latest random policy improvisation, the Arizona Senator tried to give up the tax issue.
On ABC's "This Week" Sunday, Mr. McCain was asked to draw distinctions between his and the current Administration's economic policy. Given an easy opening, the Senator came back with his usual hodgepodge of new child-tax credits, promises to "veto every single pork barrel bill" and close wasteful government agencies, cut dependence on foreign oil and introduce a gas-tax holiday.
Then host George Stephanopoulos raised Social Security. "You're a longtime supporter of the private accounts, as President Bush called for them." Wishing to further distance himself from President Bush, when he could have drawn an equally useful contrast with Barack Obama, Mr. McCain didn't even own up to his support for private retirement accounts, simply saying, "I am a supporter of sitting down together and putting everything on the table and coming up with an answer."
Mr. Stephanopoulos pressed, "So that means payroll tax increases are on the table, as well?" Here came the words that have caused the McCain campaign well deserved grief: "There is nothing that's off the table. I have my positions, and I'll articulate them. But nothing's off the table."
So given a chance to reiterate his opposition to tax increases -- and underscore a main contrast with his opponent -- Mr. McCain punted. Democrats were quick to pounce, with the Democratic National Committee issuing a press release headlined, "McCain Tax Pledge? Not so much." It provided citations of the presumptive GOP nominee asserting that "Senator Obama will raise your taxes. I won't." Expect the "nothing's off the table" line to show up in Democratic TV spots this fall.
The wandering candidate also put his chief economic adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, in an uncomfortable spot. Back in June, the McCain campaign went after Mr. Obama's proposal for a Social Security payroll tax increase on income above $250,000. A President McCain, his adviser then said, wouldn't consider a payroll tax increase "under any imaginable circumstances." So much for that.
Economics has never been Mr. McCain's strong suit, but with Iraq receding as a crisis the economy is the ground where the Senator will have to fight and win. And the tax issue provides him with a potent opening, given Mr. Obama's pledge to raise taxes on incomes, dividends and capital gains. In proposing to raise the payroll tax cap, the Democrat is to the left even of Hillary Clinton. Mr. McCain's Sunday blunder will make that issue that much harder to exploit.
Such mistakes also help explain the continued lack of enthusiasm for Mr. McCain among many conservatives. Meeting with us last December, before the primaries, he declared that "I will not agree to any tax increase," repeating the phrase for emphasis. He did not say any tax increase with the exception of Social Security. If Mr. McCain can't convince voters that he's better on taxes than is a Democrat who says matter-of-factly that he wants to raise taxes, the Republican is going to lose in a rout.
“He made time to go to the gym, but cancelled a visit with wounded troops. Seems the Pentagon wouldn’t allow him to bring cameras.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49hC9TpP_rY
Watch it above.
Read script here.
The ad will air in select markets in Colorado, Pennsylvania, and the D.C. market.
MORE: McCain also hammers the issue home in an interview with ABC’s “This Week.”
According to an early excerpt of the interview: “If I had been told by the Pentagon that I couldn’t visit those troops, and I was there and wanted to be there, I guarantee you, there would have been a seismic event.”
Obama camp responds: “John McCain is an honorable man who is running an increasingly dishonorable campaign.” Full statement here.
FLASHBACK – Senator McCain in 2007: “How can we possibly find honor in using the fate of our servicemen to score political advantage in Washington? There is no pride to be had in such efforts. We are at war, a hard and challenging war, and we do no service for the best of us-those who fight and risk all on our behalf-by playing politics with their service.” [Congressional Record, 5/24/07]
John McCain's campaign went further on Wednesday, claiming that the major figures that turned around Anbar province would have been killed had the surge policy not been in place. "If Barack Obama had had his way, the Sheiks who started the Awakening would have been murdered at the hands of al Qaeda," said spokesman Tucker Bounds. Sadly, that murder took place even with the surge underway. In September 2007, Abdul Sattar Abu Risha, the sheik widely credited with persuading Sunni leaders to turn against al Qaeda in Iraq, died in a bomb attack in Anbar.
This video clarifies the issue: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8s_NpaQGC8
Please Share.
(CNN) — Barack Obama's campaign is seizing on a incorrect assertion by rival John McCain that the surge of troops in Iraq was responsible for spurring the so-called "Anbar Awakening" — in which Sunni leaders stepped up their efforts to battle Al Qaeda operatives.
The McCain campaign responded that Democrats are attempting to diminish the role U.S. troops have played in stabilizing the country over the last 18 months.
McCain's initial comments came in an interview with CBS Tuesday night, during with the Arizona senator was asked about Obama's argument that a Sunni revolt against Al-Qaeda and the addition of U.S. troops both played a vital role in diminishing violence in the country.
"I don't know how you respond to something that is as — such a false depiction of what actually happened," McCain said. "Colonel MacFarland was contacted by one of the major Sunni sheiks. Because of the surge we were able to go out and protect that sheik and others. And it began the Anbar awakening. I mean, that's just a matter of history."
But Obama's campaign noted McCain's timeline is off. It has been well documented that the “awakening” he referred to got under way in September of 2006, close to four months before the surge policy was implemented. McCain himself used the in-progress Sunni uprising in January of 2007 to advocate the surge policy.
Responding to charges McCain had misspoken, spokesman Tucker Bounds reiterated the campaign’s position that the surge was "responsible for the reduction in violence we have seen over the last year and a half."
"Democrats can debate whether the Awakening would have survived without the surge, or whether the Shiite militias would have unilaterally disarmed without US troops and our Iraqi allies disarming them by force, but that is a transparent effort to minimize the role of our commanders and our troops in defeating the enemy, because to credit them would be to disparage the judgment of Barack Obama and praise the leadership of John McCain," Bounds also said.
"If Barack Obama had had his way, the Sheiks who started the Awakening would have been murdered at the hands of al Qaeda, and US forces would have already left Iraq in defeat," he added.
Gordon Brown today paved the way for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq, promising a "fundamental change" of mission in the first half of 2009.
In a Commons statement, the prime minister heaped praise on the work of British soldiers and insisted the security situation in Basra had been "transformed".
"We will continue to reduce the number of British troops in Iraq," Brown said.
"Just as last year we moved from combat to 'overwatch', we would expect a further fundamental change of mission in the first months of 2009 as we make the transition to a long term bilateral partnership with Iraq, similar to the normal relationships which our military forces have with other important countries in the region."
Brown said that violent incidents across Iraq were at their lowest since 2004.
Britain currently has around 4,000 troops based on the outskirts of the southern city of Basra.
Brown previously postponed plans to withdraw 1,500 soldiers due to a spike in militia violence.
Parliament's defence select committee has urged Brown to keep a core of troops in Iraq for years to come to continue training Iraqi police and soldiers.
Today Brown held back from giving an "artificial timetable" for troop withdrawals but gave the impression that progress is such that a withdrawal is possible within two years.
His Commons statement came as a glowing report from the defence select committee, published today, claims "a high degree of security has been restored in Basra", the centre of UK operations in Iraq.
"The preconditions are in place for political progress and economic recovery," the committee says, in a report that is far more optimistic than some of its recent assessments.
Brown, who visited Iraq at the weekend, said Britain was making progress in training Iraqi security forces, and establishing the ability of those forces to employ sophisticated counter-insurgency tactics.
The select committee was told by British and Iraqi security forces that operations against Basra militias largely loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr in March had "resulted in a seismic shift in the balance of power" and that "a large part of its importance lay in the fact that it had been conducted with Iraqi forces in the lead".
The select committee also says that although parts of Basra are not yet under government control, it will be hard for Sadr to regain political dominance since his movement cannot participate in the provincial elections while he runs an avowed militia movement.
The committee also warns that the influence of Iran remains a major factor, adding that the border "remains porous, allowing military and weaponry to flow easily from one country to another".
The Tory leader, David Cameron, today welcomed the announcement but warned against "making premature announcements about troop withdrawals which cannot be met".
Photos Here: http://thepage.time.com/photos-of-obama-in-baghdad/
By Dan BalzAMMAN -- Toward the end of his interview on CBS's "Face The Nation" on Sunday, Barack Obama was asked by correspondent Lara Logan how much his foreign trip is aimed at allaying doubts about his readiness "to lead a country at war as commander in chief from day one."
The candidate quickly brushed aside the question. The foreign policy experts and U.S. soldiers he had encountered in Afghanistan seemed not to have any doubts, he said. And then he added something far more revealing about how he sees his trip and his own prospects of winning the presidency.
"The objective of this trip was to have substantive discussions with people like [Afghan] President Karzai or [Iraqi] Prime Minister Maliki or [French] President Sarkozy or others who I expect to be dealing with over the next eight to 10 years [italics added]. And it's important for me to have a relationship with them early, that I start listening to them now, getting a sense of what their interests and concerns are."For a politician just four years out of the Illinois state Senate and a presidential candidate who has not yet officially accepted his party's nomination, it was a telling moment. Others may see foreign policy as a potential weakness in his candidacy, particularly in a contest against John McCain. Obama is not among them. That was revealed even more clearly when Obama expanded on the value of his trip.
"One of the shifts in foreign policy that I want to execute as president is giving the world a clear message that America intends to continue to show leadership, but our style of leadership is going to be less unilateral, that we're going to see our role as building partnerships around the world that are of mutual interest to the parties involved," he said. "And I think this gives me a head start in that process.""Do you have any doubts," Logan asked him "Never," the candidate replied.A veteran of former president Clinton's administration, someone who understands both politics and foreign policy, described this week's seven-nation trip as one of the four most important events for Obama between now and Election Day -- the others being his selection of a vice presidential running mate, his convention and his debates with McCain.What struck this person was the boldness of Obama's decision to spend more than a week abroad in the middle of a campaign. Not, of course, for the reasons Obama outlined, but no less an example of Obama's self-confidence. "This is a big-league move to directly address a concern that the American people are going to have" about his candidacy, he said.What is striking is how Obama's campaign differs from past Democratic campaigns. In earlier years, Democratic candidates couldn't wait to move off of foreign policy and onto domestic issues, aware that their party more or less owned the domestic debate, while Republicans generally held the high ground on national security. The more time they could spend focusing the contest on domestic issues, the better their chances of winning. That was true certainly for John F. Kerry against President Bush four years ago, and it's clear that the polls currently show that national security issues are McCain's one key area of strength against Obama. Obama's advisers believe the economy will dominate the fall campaign, but the candidate shows no indication that he will try to avoid engagement with McCain over foreign policy. The journey Obama began when he left Washington last Thursday is one wholly unique in the annals of presidential politics. Everything smacks of a presidential trip. The credentials issued to the traveling press corps on Sunday in Chicago -- reporters will catch up with Obama in Jordan later this week -- say "The visit of Senator Obama to the Middle East and Europe," mimicking the language of a presidential sojourn. Once he is out of Iraq and Afghanistan, Obama will join up with the press and travel on his newly configured campaign charter, a Boeing 757 that carries the words "Change We Can Believe In" along the fuselage and the distinctive Obama logo on the tail. Never has a presidential candidate been overseas with such visibility. It long has been said that Karl Rove looked for ways to go directly at the strengths of an opposing candidate, believing that was more effective than concentrating on his or her weaknesses. Obama has turned that around by dealing directly with his own perceived weaknesses is part of his modus operandi. One of his foreign policy advisers -- he has a stable of nearly 300 -- said the explicit message for the American audience back home will be: "I can be president. I can talk to world leaders. They won't eat me up." The implicit message is equally important: "When President Bush goes abroad, there are big crowds protesting. When I go abroad, there are big crowds cheering."Whether by the end of this week he will be seen as presumptuous or overly cocky, or ready enough to sit in the Oval Office to satisfy the doubters, is the overriding political question. Newt Gingrich, the former Republican House speaker, is watching with some fascination as Obama travels this week. He may disagree with Obama but nonetheless called him "one of the smartest people we've ever seen run for president." Obama may have "huge structural challenges on cultural and other issues," he added, "but I think he's very smart ... very formidable."But for Gingrich, who is no less lacking in self confidence than Obama, two questions arise about Obama -- one short-term and the other longer term. First, to Gingrich, one measure of the trip will be the degree to which Obama is willing to acknowledge that what he has seen has changed his thinking. In Gingrich's formulation, no one as bright as Obama can spend 10 days overseas and not come away with insights he didn't have when he started. "If he encounters realities different than he expected, is he willing to actually share that with the American people?" Gingrich wondered.The second measure for Gingrich is any hint of how Obama would react upon discovering that what he has been talking about won't work. From Pakistan to Iran to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Gingrich said, Obama may well discover that the ideas he enunciated during the campaign fall short. "The core principle is, 'so what do you do if the world's harder than you think it is?'" he said.This is not a matter of projecting humility so much as acknowledging the possibility of errors in judgment or the intractability of problems that have eluded resolution for decades. When Obama says "never" about doubts as to his capacity to handle these problems, he projects the same confidence that has carried him through a difficult campaign. But voters may be looking to see what else he reveals about himself and the world during his week abroad.
And it was McCain who owns the first big gaffe of the trip -- appearing to confuse Iraq and Afghanistan. Asked by ABC's Diane Sawyer Monday morning whether the "the situation in Afghanistan in precarious and urgent," McCain responded:"I think it's serious. . . . It's a serious situation, but there's a lot of things we need to do. We have a lot of work to do and I'm afraid it's a very hard struggle, particularly given the situation on the Iraq/Pakistan border," said McCain, R-Ariz., said on "Good Morning America. WATCH VIDEO HERE: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/21/mccain-owns-first-foreign_n_114013.html
Asked by ABC's Diane Sawyer Monday morning whether the "the situation in Afghanistan in precarious and urgent," McCain responded:
"I think it's serious. . . . It's a serious situation, but there's a lot of things we need to do. We have a lot of work to do and I'm afraid it's a very hard struggle, particularly given the situation on the Iraq/Pakistan border," said McCain, R-Ariz., said on "Good Morning America.
WATCH VIDEO HERE: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/21/mccain-owns-first-foreign_n_114013.html
We've been listening to John McCain and George Bush talk about the economy, and we've noticed a pattern: they keep saying the problems are all in our heads.
McCain's campaign co-chair Phil Gramm had to step down because of controversy over his comment that we were in the middle of a "mental recession." But the truth is, John McCain threw Phil Gramm under the bus for saying, less artfully, what he himself has said repeatedly. See it by clicking the video on the link below. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lu4dcxl4GY
Once you've watched the video, read the article below then pass them on!
THE best thing to happen to John McCain was for the three network anchors to leave him in the dust this week while they chase Barack Obama on his global Lollapalooza tour. Were voters forced to actually focus on Mr. McCain’s response to our spiraling economic crisis at home, the prospect of his ascension to the Oval Office could set off a panic that would make the IndyMac Bank bust in Pasadena look as merry as the Rose Bowl.
“In a time of war,” Mr. McCain said last week, “the commander in chief doesn’t get a learning curve.” Fair enough, but he imparted this wisdom in a speech that was almost a year behind Mr. Obama in recognizing Afghanistan as the central front in the war against Al Qaeda. Given that it took the deadliest Taliban suicide bombing in Kabul since 9/11 to get Mr. McCain’s attention, you have to wonder if even General Custer’s learning curve was faster than his.
Mr. McCain still doesn’t understand that we can’t send troops to Afghanistan unless they’re shifted from Iraq. But simple math, to put it charitably, has never been his forte. When it comes to the central front of American anxiety — the economy — his learning curve has flat-lined.
In 2000, he told an interviewer that he would make up for his lack of attention to “those issues.” As he entered the 2008 campaign, Mr. McCain was still saying the same, vowing to read “Greenspan’s book” as a tutorial. Last weekend, the resolutely analog candidate told The New York Times he is at last starting to learn how “to get online myself.” Perhaps he’ll retire his abacus by Election Day.
Mr. McCain’s fiscal ineptitude has received so little scrutiny in some press quarters that his chief economic adviser, the former Senator Phil Gramm of Texas, got a free pass until the moment he self-immolated on video by whining about “a nation of whiners.” The McCain-Gramm bond, dating back 15 years, is more scandalous than Mr. Obama’s connection with his pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Mr. McCain has been so dependent on Mr. Gramm for economic policy that he sent him to newspaper editorial board meetings, no doubt to correct the candidate’s numbers much as Joe Lieberman cleans up after his confusions of Sunni and Shia.
Just two weeks before publicly sharing his thoughts about America’s “mental recession,” Mr. Gramm laid out equally incendiary views in a Wall Street Journal profile that portrayed him as “almost certainly” the McCain choice for Treasury secretary. Mr. Gramm said that the former chief executive of AT&T, Ed Whitacre, was “probably the most exploited worker in American history” since he received only a $158 million pay package rather than the “billions” he deserved for his success in growing Southwestern Bell.
But no one in the news media seemed to notice Mr. Gramm’s naked expression of the mind-set he’d bring to a McCain White House. And few journalists have vetted the presumptive Treasury secretary’s post-Senate history as an executive at UBS. The stock of that banking giant has lost 70 percent of its value in a year after its reckless adventures in the subprime lending market. It’s now fending off federal investigation for helping the megarich avoid taxes.
Mr. McCain made a big show of banishing Mr. Gramm after his whining “gaffe,” but it’s surely at most a temporary suspension. When the candidate said back in January that there’s nobody he knows who is stronger on economic issues than his old Senate pal, he was telling the truth. Left to his own devices — or those of his new No. 1 economic surrogate, Carly Fiorina — Mr. McCain is clueless. Even Arnold Schwarzenegger, a supporter, said that Mr. McCain’s latest panacea for high gas prices, offshore drilling, is snake oil — and then announced his availability to serve as energy czar in an Obama administration.
The term flip-flopping doesn’t do justice to Mr. McCain’s self-contradictory economic pronouncements because that implies there’s some rational, if hypocritical, logic at work. What he serves up instead is plain old incoherence, as if he were compulsively consulting one of those old Magic 8 Balls. In a single 24-hour period in April, Mr. McCain went from saying there’s been “great economic progress” during the Bush presidency to saying “Americans are not better off than they were eight years ago.” He reversed his initial condemnation of mortgage bailouts in just two weeks.
In February Mr. McCain said he would balance the federal budget by the end of his first term even while extending the gargantuan Bush tax cuts. In April he said he’d accomplish this by the end of his second term. In July he’s again saying he’ll do it in his first term. Why not just say he’ll do it on Inauguration Day? It really doesn’t matter since he’s never supplied real numbers that would give this promise even a patina of credibility.
Mr. McCain’s plan for Social Security reform is “along the lines that President Bush proposed.” Or so he said in March. He came out against such “privatization” in June (though his policy descriptions still support it). Last week he indicated he isn’t completely clear on what Social Security does. He called the program’s premise — young taxpayers foot the bill for their elders (including him) — an “absolute disgrace.”
Given that Mr. McCain’s sole private-sector job was a fleeting stint in public relations at his father-in-law’s beer distributorship, he comes by his economic ignorance honestly. But there’s no A team aboard the Straight Talk Express to fill him in. His campaign economist, the former Bush adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin, could be found in the June 5 issue of American Banker suggesting even at that late date that we still don’t know “the depth of the housing crisis” and proposing that “monitoring is the right thing to do in these circumstances.”
Ms. Fiorina, the ubiquitous new public face of McCain economic policy, adds nothing to the mix beyond her incessant display of corporate jargon, from “trend lines” to “start-ups.” Before she was fired at Hewlett-Packard, its stock had declined 50 percent during her five-plus years in charge. She missed earning projections — by 23 percent in one quarter — much as she now misrepresents both the Obama and McCain records. This month she said Mr. McCain wanted to require insurance plans to cover birth control medications along with Viagra, when in fact he had voted against it.
Ms. Fiorina received a $42 million payout (half in cash) from H.P., according to a shareholders’ subsequent lawsuit. With this inspiring résumé, she now aspires to be Mr. McCain’s running mate. So does the irrepressible Mitt Romney, who actually was a business whiz before serving as Massachusetts’s governor. Beltway wisdom has it that the addition of such a corporate star will remedy Mr. McCain’s fiscal flatulence.
But Mr. Romney, while more plausible than Ms. Fiorina, is hardly what America wants at this desperate time. His leveraged buyout dealings as co-founder of Bain Capital induced plant closings, mass layoffs and outsourcing. If Mr. McCain truly intends to “put our country’s interests” above politics and reach across the aisle to move the nation forward, as he constantly tells us, why not go for a vice president who’s the very best fit for the huge challenges at hand?
The obvious choice would be Michael Bloomberg — who, as a former Republican turned independent, would necessitate that Mr. McCain reach only halfway across the aisle, and to someone who is his friend rather than a vanquished rival he is learning to tolerate.
Romney vs. Bloomberg is not a close contest. Bloomberg L.P. has roughly three times the revenues and employees of Bain & Company, where Mr. Romney ultimately served as chief executive. Mr. Romney rescued the Salt Lake City Olympics while running it in 2002, but Mayor Bloomberg revitalized New York, the nation’s largest metropolis, after the most devastating attack in our history. The city he manages has more than twice the budget of Mr. Romney’s state.
Yes, Mr. Bloomberg is a closet Democrat and an alpha dog who doesn’t want to be a second banana. And his views on gay civil rights and abortion would roil the G.O.P. base. But Mr. Romney shared some of those same views before he flip-flopped, and besides, these are not ordinary times. Millions of Americans are losing their homes and jobs. Whole industries are going belly up. The national crisis at hand, not yesterday’s culture wars, should drive the vice-presidential pick.
Mr. McCain reminds us every day how principled he is. That presumably means he’d risk a revolt by his party’s dwindling agents of intolerance and do everything in his power to persuade Mr. Bloomberg to join his ticket in the spirit of patriotic sacrifice. The politics could be advantageous too. A Bloomberg surprise could impress independents and keep the television audience tuned in to a G.O.P. convention that will unfold in the shadow of Mr. Obama’s address to 75,000 screaming fans in Denver.
But this is fantasy political baseball, not reality. Mr. McCain, sad to say, hung up his old maverick’s spurs the day he embraced the Bush tax cuts he had once opposed as “too tilted to the wealthy.” And Mr. Bloomberg? It’s hard to picture a titan who built his empire on computer terminals investing any capital, political or otherwise, in a chief executive who is still learning how to do, as Mr. McCain puts it, “a Google.”
July 14: John McCain admitted to the New York Times that he is finally “learning to get online myself.” Comedian Michael Ian Black talks about McCain’s introduction to that daunting series of tubes and other political funnies.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/vp/25681659#25681659
(CNN) – For the second time in two days, John McCain has referred to current events in “Czechoslovakia” – a country that officially ceased to exist in January of 1993.
“And I regret some of the recent behavior Russia that has exhibited, and I’ll be glad to talk about that later on including reduction in oil supplies to Czechoslovakia after they agreed with us on a missile defense system, etcetera,” said the presumptive Republican nominee at a New Mexico town hall Tuesday.
More than fifteen years ago, Czechoslovakia officially split into two nations – the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
On Monday, the Arizona senator made virtually the same statement about recent Russian moves that troubled him, citing that country’s attempt to reduce “the energy supplies to Czechoslovakia.”
Later that evening, McCain’s campaign sent reporters a statement on the issue, which quoted the Arizona senator calling the nation “the Czech Republic” twice.
MCCAIN'S SUNNI-SHIITE FAUX PAS
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/03/18/780688.aspx
From NBC's Mark Murray
As one of my NBC colleagues just asked: What if Clinton or Obama had made this mistake?
The Washington Post: "Sen. John McCain, traveling in the Middle East to promote his foreign policy expertise, misidentified in remarks Tuesday which broad category of Iraqi extremists are allegedly receiving support from Iran. He said several times that Iran, a predominately Shiite country, was supplying the mostly Sunni militant group, al-Qaeda. In fact, officials have said they believe Iran is helping Shiite extremists in Iraq."
More: "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.'"
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More...........
http://thepage.time.com/message-from-obama-spokesman-gibbs/
The self-professed candidate of “straight talk” and “experience” spent today changing his position on gay adoption, adopting Senator Obama’s position that we need more troops in Afghanistan after having resisted taking that position, flip flopping on whether he’d send U.S. or NATO troops (he actually offered three different explanations on where those additional troops would come from), and referring to a country that hasn’t existed since 1992 for the second time in two days.
Here are some clips, in case you missed them:
Afghanistan
LAST WEEK: Christian Science Monitor Reported that McCain “Has Resisted Calls For More Troops In Afghanistan.” “McCain has resisted calls for more troops in Afghanistan and has rejected criticism that the Iraq war is detracting from efforts to secure Afghanistan. He labeled Barack Obama ‘naïve’ for saying he’d strike terrorist targets in Pakistan with or without the cooperation of President Pervez Musharraf. … Aides to the Arizona senator said Wednesday that he continued to view success in Iraq as the best chance for victory in the global war on terror. ‘As on many things, Senator Obama is not listening to our commanders, and Senator McCain is,’ says Kori Schake, a senior policy adviser to McCain. ‘General David Petraeus believes Iraq is the central front in the war on terror. Al Qaeda has even said it is.’ … Ms. Schake’s comments came about two hours after Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said additional troops were needed in Afghanistan but that too many were tied down in Iraq to send more.” [Christian Science Monitor, 7/7/08]
TODAY (MORNING): McCain Called for Sending Three Additional Brigades to Afghanistan and Suggests They Would Come From Iraq. According to a press release issued by the McCain campaign on Tuesday morning, McCain would announce in a speech that he now supports sending at least three additional brigades to Afghanistan: “The status quo in Afghanistan is unacceptable, and from the moment the next President walks into the Oval Office, he will face critical decisions about Afghanistan. … John McCain Supports Sending At Least Three Additional Brigades To Afghanistan. Our commanders on the ground say they need these troops, and thanks to the success of the surge, these forces are becoming available, and our commanders in Afghanistan must get them.” [McCain press release, 7/15/08]
TODAY (AFTERNOON): McCain Clarifies His Proposal On Increasing the Number of Troops, Saying They Could Come From NATO.
“Speaking to reporters on his bus after today’s speech, McCain indicated that he’d be open to those additional troops coming from NATO.” [MSNBC, 7/15/08]
TODAY (EVEN LATER IN THE AFTERNOON): McCain Campaign Further Clarifies Proposal, Saying The Troop Increase Would Be Comprised Of Both NATO And US Forces. “McCain spokeswoman Nicolle Wallace said later that U.S. troops will compose some of the additional brigades McCain would send to Afghanistan, but not all of them. ‘Will we contribute? Of course we will,’ she said.” [Washington Post, 5/15/08]
Czechoslovakia
For the Second Day In A Row, McCain Refers to Czechoslovakia – A Country That No Longer Exists. As MSNBC noted, “For the second time in two days, McCain has made a reference to ‘Czechoslovakia.’ His answers were about contemporary events, not history. McCain did not use the current name Czech Republic, the country formed in January 1993 when Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The first instance was yesterday during a media news availability and the second today during a town hall meeting.” [MSNBC’s
First Read, 7/15/08, http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/07/15/1200003.aspx]
ABC News Noted That This Isn’t The First Time McCain Has Mistakenly Referred to Czechoslovakia. “In early 2000, then-Gov. George W. Bush told Roger Simon, then with U.S. News & World Report, that he was befuddled by how soft the media was on Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. ‘I don’t think there is any plot; I hope there isn’t,’ Bush said. “But it’s an amazing phenomenon, I’ll tell you that. It’s like the flap over the foreign-leader deal. A guy gets up and quizzes me — it’s my fault for trying to answer — but John McCain says something about the ‘ambassador to Czechoslovakia.’ Well, I know there is no Czechoslovakia (there’s a Czech Republic and a Slovakia), but yet it didn’t make the nightly national news. I’m not going to gripe about it, but the media question is starting to pop up.’ Apparently that Czechoslovakia lesson never took, because McCain keeps making that mistake, eight years later.” [ABC News’ Political Punch, 7/15/08, http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/07/mccain-keeps-me.html]
Politico: McCain Campaign Released Statement Yesterday “Cleaning Up” The Reference to Czechoslovakia. As the Politico noted, “yesterday, McCain’s campaign sent out a statement pointedly referring to the ‘Czech Republic,’ cleaning up his latest reference to the defunct state of Czechoslovakia.” [Politico, 5/15/08, http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0708/Jeste_jednou_Czechoslovakia.html]
Nay : 30 Members
John McCain (R-AZ)
"At a time when doctors are facing double digit increases in the costs of providing care, I am proud to have joined with my colleagues to stop a devastating cut in physician reimbursement that would have caused them to shut the door to many Medicare and Tricare beneficiaries. John McCain has said that he would have opposed this bill, demonstrating yet again that he’s more than willing to put the interests of the health insurance industry over our nation’s 44 million seniors and 9 million uniformed service members." From: valarie@prusiampc.comTo: vprusia05@yahoo.comSent: 7/15/2008 1:01:03 P.M. Eastern Daylight TimeSubj: FW: Medicare bill vetoed-tell Congress to override!Please take immediate action – See email link below as well as phone number – We need the House and Senate to vote in our favor to over-ride the veto.ThanksValarieValarie Prusia, R.N., B.S.Prusia Medical Practice Consulting, Inc.Phone - 321-277-6441From: AMA Grassroots [mailto:grassroots@ama-assn.org] Sent: Tuesday, July 15, 2008 12:17 PM!Dear:Both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives passed a bill (H.R. 6331) to stop the 10.6 percent Medicare physician payment cuts that took effect July 1. Unfortunately, the president just vetoed this important legislation.Congress can override a presidential veto—so call today and tell Rep. Ric Keller, Sen. Bill Nelson and Sen. Mel Martinez to vote to override the president’s veto of H.R. 6331! Use our hotline: (800) 833-6354. Or click here to send an e-mail. Either way, make your voice heard!Points to make: This bill passed with overwhelming, bipartisan support in the House and the Senate. This bill provides an 18-month Medicare physician payment fix, extending the June 2008 rates through Dec. 31 and providing an additional 1.1 percent update for 2009. This bill preserves access to health care for seniors, the disabled and military families. Ask lawmakers to stand up and do what is right—vote to override the H.R. 6331 veto. See how the cuts will impact physicians and patients in Florida if the veto stands. We’re only one step away from this bill becoming law—Congress just has to do the right thing and vote to override the veto. Please, call (800) 833-6354 today and tell Rep. Ric Keller, Sen. Bill Nelson and Sen. Mel Martinez to overrule the president’s veto! Or click here to send an e-mail—because together we are stronger! Take Action Now! Tell a FriendRegister to VoteCongress TodayVoting RecordsTrack LegislationCapitol Hill BasicsFor moreinformation,please visit:
From: valarie@prusiampc.comTo: vprusia05@yahoo.comSent: 7/15/2008 1:01:03 P.M. Eastern Daylight TimeSubj: FW: Medicare bill vetoed-tell Congress to override!Please take immediate action – See email link below as well as phone number – We need the House and Senate to vote in our favor to over-ride the veto.ThanksValarieValarie Prusia, R.N., B.S.Prusia Medical Practice Consulting, Inc.Phone - 321-277-6441From: AMA Grassroots [mailto:grassroots@ama-assn.org] Sent: Tuesday, July 15, 2008 12:17 PM!Dear:Both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives passed a bill (H.R. 6331) to stop the 10.6 percent Medicare physician payment cuts that took effect July 1. Unfortunately, the president just vetoed this important legislation.Congress can override a presidential veto—so call today and tell Rep. Ric Keller, Sen. Bill Nelson and Sen. Mel Martinez to vote to override the president’s veto of H.R. 6331! Use our hotline: (800) 833-6354. Or click here to send an e-mail. Either way, make your voice heard!Points to make: This bill passed with overwhelming, bipartisan support in the House and the Senate. This bill provides an 18-month Medicare physician payment fix, extending the June 2008 rates through Dec. 31 and providing an additional 1.1 percent update for 2009. This bill preserves access to health care for seniors, the disabled and military families. Ask lawmakers to stand up and do what is right—vote to override the H.R. 6331 veto. See how the cuts will impact physicians and patients in Florida if the veto stands. We’re only one step away from this bill becoming law—Congress just has to do the right thing and vote to override the veto. Please, call (800) 833-6354 today and tell Rep. Ric Keller, Sen. Bill Nelson and Sen. Mel Martinez to overrule the president’s veto! Or click here to send an e-mail—because together we are stronger! Take Action Now! Tell a FriendRegister to VoteCongress TodayVoting RecordsTrack LegislationCapitol Hill BasicsFor moreinformation,please visit:
Please take immediate action – See email link below as well as phone number – We need the House and Senate to vote in our favor to over-ride the veto.
Thanks
Valarie
Valarie Prusia, R.N., B.S.
Prusia Medical Practice Consulting, Inc.
Phone - 321-277-6441
From: AMA Grassroots [mailto:grassroots@ama-assn.org] Sent: Tuesday, July 15, 2008 12:17 PM!
Dear:
Both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives passed a bill (H.R. 6331) to stop the 10.6 percent Medicare physician payment cuts that took effect July 1. Unfortunately, the president just vetoed this important legislation.
Congress can override a presidential veto—so call today and tell Rep. Ric Keller, Sen. Bill Nelson and Sen. Mel Martinez to vote to override the president’s veto of H.R. 6331! Use our hotline: (800) 833-6354. Or click here to send an e-mail. Either way, make your voice heard!
Points to make:
See how the cuts will impact physicians and patients in Florida if the veto stands.
We’re only one step away from this bill becoming law—Congress just has to do the right thing and vote to override the veto. Please, call (800) 833-6354 today and tell Rep. Ric Keller, Sen. Bill Nelson and Sen. Mel Martinez to overrule the president’s veto! Or click here to send an e-mail—because together we are stronger!
Take Action Now!
Tell a FriendRegister to VoteCongress TodayVoting RecordsTrack LegislationCapitol Hill Basics
For moreinformation,please visit:
