Janice Soderquist's Blog

THIS MUST BE AN AD ON TV

Janice S — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 09:30:12 EST

Where are Sarah Palin's medical records?

What is she hiding?

... This will get people thinking...

Sorry, Sarah is so Sad

Janice S — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 15:17:17 EDT

I am so sick of hearing Sarah making a joke out of Obama on all her stump speeches recently. She belittles him, not on his issues, but as a candidate. She smiles and makes snide remarks the whole time. She loves it. She is the most scary person I have seen in politics. She will say anything to win. God, I hope Obama wins this so she can go back to Alaska.

She is saying Obama is scaring the retired people now..... so sad.

I AM SOOOOOOOOO MAD

Janice S — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 09:42:35 EDT

Yesterday was the deadline for Sarah Palin's medical records. She either won't show them at all or she will show them too late for anyone to challenge anything in them that is against what she has told the public.

Why does this women get by with this and where is the media on it?

Sarah Palins Medical Records

Janice S — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 21:29:06 EDT

Her medical records were due this week. Today was the deadline.

Is she going to show them Monday afternoon so that if there is something in there that needs explaining, it will be too late to get it out to the press?

Sarah's Secret Rally

Janice S — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 13:43:51 EDT

Sarah had a secret rally yesterday at Penn State with over 7,000 students. The president of the college, a Democrat, was not allowed to attend. Was there press there? What is she telling these students and will Barak lose some of these students votes?

McCain-Palin Snubbed Penn State Prez At Campus Speech

Gov. Palin spoke Tuesday night before about 7,000 people at a "closed" event at the school's Rec Hall that was open only to people invited by the campaign.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=6142173&page=1

Sarah Really Vile Today Against Obama

Janice S — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 15:54:01 EDT

Two things came out about Obama today.

In Sarahs rally, she told everyone the LA Times is holding a story about Obama relationship with another really shady person. She really made it sound like it was a really bad relationship. Sarah is out to kill the race these next few days.

Then today McCain had an ad with a women who survived an abortion and lived and said Obama voted against her. She said she would not be alive if Obama had his way.

Well, Obama better get out his guns. It is going to get really dirty now. He better not hold back on anything or it could cost him votes.

Senator Obama's Cabinet

Janice S — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 14:44:11 EDT

When will Obama name his cabinet?

I am dying to hear who he has chosen for posts.....

AP: PALIN’S "SIGNATURE ACCOMPLISHMENT" FLAWED, UNFAIR, MAY NOT BE BUILT

Janice S — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 15:45:44 EDT

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Gov. Sarah Palin's signature accomplishment _ a contract to build a 1,715-mile pipeline to bring natural gas from Alaska to the Lower 48 _ emerged from a flawed bidding process that narrowed the field to a company with ties to her administration, an Associated Press investigation shows.

Beginning at the Republican National Convention in August, the McCain-Palin ticket has touted the pipeline as an example of how it would help America achieve energy independence.

"We're building a nearly $40 billion natural gas pipeline, which is North America's largest and most expensive infrastructure project ever, to flow those sources of energy into hungry markets," Palin said during the Oct. 2 vice presidential debate.

Despite Palin's boast of a smart and fair bidding process, the AP found that her team crafted terms that favored only a few independent pipeline companies and ultimately benefited the winner, TransCanada Corp.

And contrary to the ballyhoo, there's no guarantee the pipeline will ever be built; at a minimum, any project is years away, as TransCanada must first overcome major financial and regulatory hurdles.

In interviews and a review of records, the AP found:

_Instead of creating a process that would attract many potential builders, Palin slanted the terms away from an important group _ the global energy giants that own the rights to the gas.

_Despite promises and legal guidance not to talk directly with potential bidders, Palin had meetings or phone calls with nearly every major candidate, including TransCanada.

Continued...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/25/palins-pipeline-deal-flaw_n_137825.html

WHY IS SARAH DOING THIS?

Janice S — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 15:31:57 EDT

Sarah is ready to speak in Des Moines. Her entrance song is "Signed, sealed and delivered" by Stevie Wonder. She used another one of his songs the other day at her rally.

Does she have his permission to use this song, or is she just trying to piss off Obama and Biden.

Where Are Sarah Palins's Medical Records?

Janice S — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 12:16:23 EDT

Is she getting another pass? Man, this woman stalls everything.

Obama and McCain Breakdancing

Janice S — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 23:35:59 EDT

Click on the picture

WATCH: 'Unbelievable McCain Vs. Obama Dance-Off' WATCH: 'Unbelievable McCain Vs. Obama Dance-Off'

MUST SEE - Obama and McCain Breakdancing

Janice S — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 23:29:01 EDT

Video...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/24/breakcoms-unbelievable-mc_n_137751.html

MAKE AN AD - McCain Featured In Iran-Contra Group's Newsletter

Janice S — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 21:59:09 EDT

A newsletter from 1984 provides more embarrassing evidence of John McCain's relationship with the U.S. Council on World Freedom, a group that was involved in funding militant anti-communists and espoused some anti-Semitic views.

McCain's face graces the front page of the group's "World Freedom Report," published on Dec. 15, 1984, a copy of which was obtained from the research library at the University of Kansas. The front page also features a reprint of an article McCain penned that same month for Reader's Digest.

In the early 1980s, McCain served on the advisory board of the Council on World Freedom, which funded and provided arms to what the Associated Press described as "ultra-right-wing death squads in Central America." The group also "aided rebels trying to overthrow the leftist government of Nicaragua," which landed it "in the middle of the Iran-Contra affair and in legal trouble with the Internal Revenue Service, which revoked the charitable organization's tax exemption."

McCain Featured In Iran-Contra Group's Newsletter

When McCain's connection to the council received its first blast of press attention earlier this month, his campaign told Politico that McCain "disassociated himself" from the group in 1984 "when questions were raised about its activities."

But the group's tax filing in 1985, covering the previous year, lists McCain as a member of the advisory board. And in October 1985, a States News Service report placed McCain "at a Washington awards ceremony staged by the council."

Moreover, in 1986, McCain himself told the Phoenix New Times that his reason for leaving the group merely had to do with a lack of time.

Asked by the AP this year about McCain's alleged efforts to distance himself from the council in both 1984 and 1986 (when McCain had to ask to have his name removed from the group's stationary), founder John Singlaub said: "That's a surprise to me. ... I don't ever remember hearing about his resigning."

Though the group's founder also said it was possible that McCain had asked to resign and he hadn't heard about the "housekeeping" details, the Council's unearthed newsletter from late 1984 would seem to support Singlaub's -- and not McCain's -- memory of the events.

MAKE AN AD AGAINST JOHN MCCAIN

Janice S — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 21:49:58 EDT

. Without PRECONDITIONS.....

McCain's Private Visit With Chilean Dictator Pinochet Revealed For First Time

John McCain, who has harshly criticized the idea of sitting down with dictators without pre-conditions, appears to have done just that. In 1985, McCain traveled to Chile for a friendly meeting with Chile's military ruler, General Augusto Pinochet, one of the world's most notorious violators of human rights credited with killing more than 3,000 civilians and jailing tens of thousands of others.

The private meeting between McCain and dictator Pinochet has gone previously un-reported anywhere.

According to a declassified U.S. Embassy cable secured by The Huffington Post, McCain described the meeting with Pinochet "as friendly and at times warm, but noted that Pinochet does seem obsessed with the threat of communism." McCain, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee at the time, made no public or private statements critical of the dictatorship, nor did he meet with members of the democratic opposition in Chile, as far as could be determined from a thorough check of U.S. and Chilean newspaper records and interviews with top opposition leaders.

At the time of the meeting, in the late afternoon of December 30, the U.S. Justice Department was seeking the extradition of two close Pinochet associates for an act of terrorism in Washington DC, the 1976 assassination of former ambassador to the U.S. and former Foreign Minister Orlando Letelier. The car bombing on Sheridan Circle in the U.S. capital was widely described at the time as the most egregious act of international terrorism perpetrated on U.S. soil by a foreign power.

At the time of McCain's meeting with Pinochet, Chile's democratic opposition was desperately seeking support from democratic leaders around the world in an attempt to pressure Pinochet to allow a return to democracy and force a peaceful end to the dictatorship, already in its 12th year. Other U.S. congressional leaders who visited Chile made public statements against the dictatorship and in support of a return to democracy, at times becoming the target of violent pro-Pinochet demonstrations.

Senator Edward Kennedy arrived only 12 days after McCain in a highly public show of support for democracy. Demonstrators pelted his entourage with eggs and blocked the road from the airport, so that the Senator had to be transported by helicopter to the city, where he met with Catholic church and human rights leaders and large groups of opposition activists.

Mark Schneider, a foreign policy aide and former State Department human rights official who organized Kennedy's trip, said he had no idea McCain had been there only days before. "It would be very surprising and disappointing if Senator McCain went to Chile to meet with a dictator and did not forcefully demand a return to democracy and then to publicly call for a return to democracy," Schneider said.

McCain's visit with Pinochet took place at a moment when the Chilean strongman held virtually unrestricted dictatorial power and those involved in public, democratic opposition were exposed to great risk.

McCain's presence in Chile was apparently kept as quiet as possible. He and his wife Cindy arrived December 27 and traveled immediately to the scenic Puyehue area of southern Chile to spend several days as the guest of a prominent Pinochet backer, Marco Cariola, who later was elected senator for the conservative UDI party.

The trip was arranged by Chile's ambassador to the United States, Hernan Felipe Errazuriz. According to a contemporary government document obtained from Chile, Errazuriz arranged for a special government liaison to help McCain while in Chile for the "strictly private" visit, and described him as "one of the conservative congressmen who is closest to our embassy."

Errazuriz also arranged the invitation for the McCains to stay at the farm of his wealthy friend, Marco Cariola, according to Cariola, who did not know McCain previously. The McCains spent the three and a half days fishing for salmon and trout and riding horses. The area is one of Chile's most beautiful tourist attractions, with dozens of crystal clear lakes and rivers surrounded by luxurious estates such as the Cariola farm where the McCains were staying.

On December 30, McCain traveled back to Santiago for a 5 pm meeting with dictator Pinochet, followed by a meeting with Admiral Jose Toribio Merino, a member of the country's ruling military junta.

McCain's meeting with Pinochet in 1985 are described in a U.S. embassy cable, based on McCain's debriefing with embassy officials:

"Most of his 30-minute meeting with the president, at which foreign minister [Jaime] Del Valle and a ministry staff member were present, was spent in discussing the dangers of communism, a subject about which the president seems obsessed. The President described Chile's recent history in the fight against communism and displayed considerable pride in the fact that the communist menace had been defeated in Chile. The President stressed that Chile had stood alone in this battle, and complained that United States Foreign Policy had left them stranded. The congressman added that talking to Pinochet was somewhat similar to talking with the head of the John Birch Society."

Other than to describe the warmth of the encounter, the cable does not contain any account of what McCain said to Pinochet. There is no indication that the subject of human rights or return to democracy was raised with Pinochet. At this time in history, Pinochet was overtly ostracized by most world democratic leaders because of his refusal to move toward a restoration of democratic, civilian rule.

A second declassified U.S. diplomatic cable refers to a letter from then-U.S. Ambassador Harry Barnes giving further detail of McCain's meeting with Pinochet.

From his meeting with junta member Merino, however, McCain passed on an tidbit of political intelligence that the embassy found useful. "The most interesting part of the conversation, according to the congressman, was Merino's statement that he and other members of the Junta had recently told Pinochet that he should not expect any support from the junta if he should decide to be a candidate for president in 1989."

In fact, three years later Pinochet was defeated in a plebiscite in which he was the only candidate, and free elections a year later restored democratic government. A healthy list of U.S. congressmen traveled to Chile in support of the transition to democracy, including Republican Senator Richard Lugar. McCain, by then a first term senator, did not return to Chile.
In addition to the Chilean document and the U.S. cable cited above, at least four other declassified documents refer to McCain's meeting with Pinochet and his interest in Chile.

McCain campaign press office said no one was available to comment on the story.

Former ambassador Errazuriz, reached by phone, said repeatedly "it is not true" that McCain met with Pinochet, that he would have known about it if it had, and that the state Department cable was possibly a fabrication.

On September 11, 1973, Army General Pinochet led a bloody coup that overthrew the democratically elected government of President Salvador Allende. The four-man military junta that seized power bombed the presidential palace, padlocked the congress, outlawed all political activity and actively persecuted its opponents. Pinochet remained in power until 1990 and in 2006 he was charged with 36 counts of kidnapping, 23 counts of torture and one count of murder. He was spared a trial for health reasons and died at age 91 in December 2006.

CONFRONT SARAH PALIN... MAKE AN AD ON THIS

Janice S — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 21:45:52 EDT

Sarah is hitting the road now saying her main role as VP will be special needs for children. She says they come first....

"To the families of special needs children all across this country, I have a message for you. For years you've sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters and I pledge to you that if we're elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House".

-Sarah Palin

I heard this on CNN tonight and also found it in a blog...

Don't you guys feel she is being a bit exploitative of her baby and using him as a political prop? In her speech she said we would have a friend in the White House, but looking at her history as the governor of Alaska, the state budget for special needs education were cut 62% under her leadership. Actions speak louder than words.

RNC appears to shell out $150K for Palin fashion

Janice S — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 22:27:30 EDT

The Republican National Committee appears to have spent more than $150,000 to clothe and accessorize vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her family since her surprise pick by John McCain in late August.

According to financial disclosure records, the accessorizing began in early September and included bills from Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis and New York for a combined $49,425.74.

The records also document a couple of big-time shopping trips to Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, including one $75,062.63 spree in early September.

The RNC also spent $4,716.49 on hair and makeup through September after reporting no such costs in August.

Politico asked the McCain campaign for comment, explicitly noting the $150,000 in expenses for department store shopping and makeup consultation that were incurred immediately after Palin’s announcement. Pre-September reports do not include similar costs.

Spokeswoman Maria Comella declined to answer specific questions about the expenditures, including whether it was necessary to spend that much and whether it amounted to one early investment in Palin or if shopping for the vice presidential nominee was ongoing.

Slideshow

Palin Fashion

“The campaign does not comment on strategic decisions regarding how financial resources available to the campaign are spent," she said.

The business of primping and dressing on the campaign trail has become fraught with political risk in recent years as voters increasingly see an elite Washington out of touch with their values and lifestyles.

In 2000, Democrat Al Gore took heat for changing his clothing hues. And in 2006, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) was ribbed for two hair styling sessions that cost about $3,000.

Then, there was Democrat John Edwards’ $400 hair cuts in 2007 and Republican McCain’s $520 black leather Ferragamo shoes this year.

A review of similar records for the campaign of Democrat Barack Obama and the Democratic National Committee turned up no similar spending.

But all the spending by other candidates pales in comparison to the GOP outlay for the Alaska governor whose expensive, designer outfits have been the topic of fashion pages and magazines.

What hasn’t been apparent is where the clothes came from – her closet back in Wasilla or from the campaign coffers in Washington.

The answer can be found inside the RNC’s September monthly financial disclosure report under “itemized coordinated expenditures.”

It’s a report that typically records expenses for direct mail, telephone calls and advertising. Those expenses do show up, but the report also has a new category of spending: “campaign accessories.”

September payments were also made to Barney’s New York ($789.72) and Bloomingdale’s New York ($5,102.71).

Macy’s in Minneapolis, another store fortunate enough to be situated in the Twin Cities that hosted last summer’s Republican National Convention, received three separate payments totaling $9,447.71.

The entries also show a few purchases at Pacifier, a top notch baby store, and Steiniauf & Stroller Inc., suggesting $295 was spent to accommodate the littlest Palin to join the campaign trail.

An additional $4,902.45 was spent at Atelier, a high-class shopping destination for men.

Obama Up +9 Points

Janice S — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 20:28:30 EDT

Date released:
October 21, 2008

Date conducted:
October 16-20, 2008

The national general election Poll of Polls consists of six surveys: Pew (October 16-19), CNN/ORC (October 17-19), ABC/Washington Post (October 16-19), Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby (October 18-20), Gallup (October 18-20) and Diageo/Hotline (October 18-20). The data represents likely voters. The Poll of Polls does not have a sampling error.

John McCain 42%

Barack Obama 51%

Undecided 7%

Our Love And Prayers for Senator Obama & Family

Janice S — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 05:42:43 EDT

One of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's campaign ads featured testimonials from the women in his life. Among those was his grandmother Madelyn Dunham, who is ill, the campaign said.

Obama coming home to visit ailing grandmother

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama will cancel his presidential campaign stops and return home to Honolulu Thursday and Friday to visit his maternal grandmother who raised him, the woman he calls "Toot," whose health has suddenly deteriorated.

Madelyn Dunham, 85, recently had to be hospitalized after a fall and "things have taken a serious turn," said U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, (D-Hawai'i), an Obama supporter. "It's an accumulation of several difficulties. She's faced a lot of challenges.

"Things have taken a serious enough turn for Sen. Obama to come home," Abercrombie said. "It's his family. Everyone understands what's going on. The campaign is secondary. The campaign has its own velocity, its own trajectory."

Dunham has already voted for Obama through absentee balloting, "which she was very happy about," Abercrombie said. "She's very, very strong willed. We have every confidence she's putting up a good struggle. Obviously, we wish Sen. Obama was coming back home under a little bit different circumstance. But any time in Hawai'i will strengthen his resolve."

After her hospitalization, Dunham last week returned to the Beretania Street apartment where she raised Obama.

Obama regularly speaks about the important role that Madelyn Dunham plays in his life. During an August family vacation in Honolulu, Obama told reporters that his grandmother was "sharp as a tack" but struggling with osteoporosis that limits her mobility.

"She is somebody who helped raise me, and she's the last person of the generation ahead of me who's still living, so it means a lot to me to spend time with her," he said.

Obama grew up calling Dunham "Toot," short for "tutu," the local word for grandparent. Her osteoporosis prevented Dunham from joining Obama on the campaign trail, but she does appear in a campaign video.

Obama's decision to cancel campaign stops comes just two weeks before the Nov. 4 presidential election.

"His suspension of his campaign is indicative of his strong affection and love for his grandmother," said state Sen. Clayton Hee, D-23rd, (Kaneohe, Kahuku), an early Obama supporter. "The circumstances obviously are very different from the vacation he took in the summer, no question about that. If there are people who think this is some kind of campaign ploy, it's a statement that says more about them than Sen. Obama. Anytime someone is seriously ill, it's a time for prayer and a time for privacy. I would expect that local people will rally silently and spiritually to support him at this time."

This week's unexpected trip to visit Obama's grandmother will carry a decidedly different tone than the week-long family vacation that Obama spent in August after he clinched the Democratic Party presidential nomination.

Pictures circulated around the world of Obama bodysurfing at Sandy Beach, sharing shave ice with his two daughters in Kailua and dropping a lei at Halona Blowhole — the same spot where he scattered his mother's ashes after her death of cancer in 1995.

During their vacation, Obama and his family visited Dunham at her apartment nearly every day. On the sixth day, Obama also left a lei at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl, where Obama's maternal grandfather, Stanley Dunham, — a World War II veteran — is buried.

State tourism officials, at the time, said Obama's Hawai'i vacation generated priceless publicity for the Islands as Hawai'i's No. 1 industry — tourism — continued to stagnate.

But on this week's visit, "I think the residents of the state, the people of Hawai'i, should definitely respect Sen. Obama and his family's privacy and leave him alone," said State Senate Majority Leader Gary Hooser, D-7th (Kaua'i, Ni'ihau). "My heart and prayers go out to Barack Obama and his family at this difficult moment."

During her professional life, Dunham was a role model for women professionals in Hawai'i and a female banking trailblazer in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

In December 1970, Hawai'i's top bank at the time — Bank of Hawai'i — made Dunham one of two female vice presidents.

"Recently, his grandmother has become ill, and in the last few weeks, her health has deteriorated to the point where her situation is very serious," Robert Gibbs, the campaign's communications director, said in a statement. "It is for that reason that Senator Obama has decided to change his schedule on Thursday and Friday so that he can see her and spend some time with her. He will be returning to the campaign trail on Saturday."

He added: "Senator Obama's grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, has always been one of the most important people in his life. Along with his mother and his grandfather, she raised him in Hawai'i from the time he was born until the moment he left for college. As he said at the Democratic Convention, she poured everything she had into him."

Campaign events originally planned for Madison, Wis., and Des Moines, Iowa, on Thursday will be replaced with one in Indianapolis before he makes the long flight to Hawai'i.

On Friday, Obama's wife, Michelle, will sub for Obama at rallies in Akron and Columbus, in Ohio, said campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki. Obama return to the campaign somewhere in the West, she said.

Obama, the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas, attended Punahou School while Dunham helped raise him on Beretania Street. Obama's mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, was helping craftsmen in Indonesia and Africa get small loans to improve their lives and their villages as she pursued her master's and doctoral degrees through the University of Hawai'i.

In a campaign ad this year, Obama described Madelyn Dunham as the daughter of a Midwest oil company clerk who "taught me values straight from the Kansas heartland" — things like "accountability and self-reliance. Love of country. Working hard without making excuses. Treating your neighbor as you'd like to be treated."

He referred to Dunham — and her views on race — in a March 18 speech in Philadelphia designed to both denounce and defend his former, controversial pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

In his speech, Obama linked Wright and Dunham when he said, "I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother — a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed her by on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe."

Obama made a similar reference to Dunham in his memoir, "Dreams from My Father," in which he recalled an argument when he was in high school at Punahou between Dunham and her husband, Stanley.

Dunham rode a bus to get to her bank job, and one day had been approached by a man who pressured her for money.

"I gave him a dollar and he kept asking," Obama quoted his grandmother in the book. "If the bus hadn't come, I think he might have hit me over the head."

Obama wrote that he offered to drive her to the bank, telling his grandfather, "It's really no big deal."

"It's a big deal to me," Stanley told his grandson. "She's been bothered by men before. You know why she's so scared this time? ... (S)he told me the fella was black."

Obama then wrote, "The words were like a fist in my stomach, and I wobbled to regain my composure. In my steadiest voice, I told him that such an attitude bothered me, too, but assured him that Toot's fears would pass and that we should give her a ride in the meantime."

In March, several Bank of Hawai'i co-workers told The Advertiser they were stunned by Obama's words and had never heard Dunham make comments about anyone's ethnicity.

State Sen. Sam Slom, R-8th (Kahala, Hawaii Kai), was a Bank of Hawaii economist while Dunham was being promoted at Bankoh.

Slom said, "I wish her the best. I think she was a very professional woman who broke many barriers here in the state. I have the utmost respect and Aloha for her. It was an honor to work with her and be in her presence."

Slom said, "my prayers go to the family. They've been the beneficiaries of her kindness."

Obama and Clinton Rally Today, 50,000

Janice S — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:59:02 EDT

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Both presidential candidates know Florida could be a key state this election.Sen. Barack Obama is in Orlando along with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton for a rally at Amway Arena on Monday.

The event began at 3 p.m., but supporters showed up early.A crowd had already started to form before noon.Obama was in Tampa first on Monday afternoon, before traveling to Orlando.Set-up for the rally was tricky because it is going on at the same time the wildly popular AST Dew tour is breaking down after hosting the finals inside the arena Sunday.Space is virtually unlimited outside the arena for the Obama-Clinton event. It marks the first time the two have appeared together on stage, since her endorsement of Obama in June.One early arrival said Obama brings her hope."It's not just that he is an African-American. It's about the issues. It's about important issues. We have a family with five children. Health care is killing us. I think he's the answer. It sounds better than McCain's plan," Obama supporter Latasha Jones said.There was no admission charge for the rally.Clinton attended an event in Broward County before traveling to Orlando.Florida, and specifically Orlando, is important to Obama's campaign because the I-4 corridor is home to one third of all statewide voters -- many of them independents and undecided.Central Florida is also home to a fast-growing Puerto Rican and Hispanic population and Obama needs those votes to win the election.Obama supporter Frank Webb arrived at the event at 4 a.m."We're looking forward to seeing the future president," Webb said.Rusti Burrows and her daughter traveled here from The Villages in Marion County, which has been a strong pocket of support for Republican John McCain."This election in this part of the state is going to be crucial to who sits in the White House," former Clinton Florida campaign chair Ana Cruz said.Obama took the stage at 6 p.m. to a crowd of about 50,000.

Giuliani: Press Needs To Cover Obama's Drug Use

Janice S — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 17:56:30 EDT

How low can they go?

On Saturday, the New York Times published an investigative piece on Cindy McCain that delved into, among other things, her past addiction to painkillers. Responding with outrage, the McCain campaign called the article “gutter journalism at its worst” and released a pre-publication letter from McCain lawyer John Dowd that invoked Sen. Barack Obama’s youthful drug use:

It is worth noting that you have not employed your investigative assets looking into Michelle Obama. You have not tried to find Barack Obama’s drug dealer that he wrote about in his book, Dreams of My Father. Nor have you interviewed his poor relatives in Kenya and determined why Barack Obama has not rescued them. Thus, there is a terrific lack of balance here.

In an interview with Fox News today, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani continued the assault on the Times, claiming that the paper has had unbalanced coverage of the two candidates and that “there shouldn’t be two different rules for Republicans and Democrats.” Giuliani, unprompted, also brought up Obama’s past drug use:

GIULIANI: You can’t even — you can’t even raise these issues. And, you know, God forbid somebody would do some reporting on Barack Obama’s use of drugs. I guess that was the point that Mrs. McCain’s lawyer made.

After raising the issue of drugs, however, Giuliani then claimed, “I don’t think the Time[s] should” report on Obama’s drug use. Watch it:

Giuliani accused the Times of “not reading their own newspaper” when they claim to have balanced coverage. But God forbid that Giuliani actually read the Times, considering that the paper has already investigated Obama’s past drug use. In February 2008, the paper published an article that relied on “three dozen interviews” and found that to his friends and associates, Obama “did not appear to be grappling with any drug problems and seemed to dabble only with marijuana.”

Transcript:

KELLY: You know, the Times has come out saying, look, we’ve reported vigorously on the backgrounds of both candidates.
GIULIANI: Yeah, like heck they have.

KELLY: And those who influence them, including both prospective first ladies. They claim that they’ve about just as tough on Michelle Obama.

GIULIANI: Well, they’re living — they’re living in their own bubble if they think that. I mean, in fact, they — it’s even worse than that. If you raise legitimate issues about Barack Obama, his connection with Ayers, his connection with Reverend Wright, his connection with Rezko who bought the house for him and went off to jail — you’re accused of being some kind of a mean, vicious, narrow- minded person.

You can’t even — you can’t even raise these issues. And, you know, God forbid somebody would do some reporting on Barack Obama’s use of drugs. I guess that was the point that Mrs. McCain’s lawyer made.

KELLY: Right. Mrs. McCain’s lawyer wrote to the Times saying — just so our viewers know — it’s worth noting that you’ve not employed your investigative assets looking into Michelle Obama. You have not tried to find Barack Obama’s drug dealer that he wrote about having in his book, Dreams of My Father, nor have you interviewed his poor relatives in Kenya, et cetera.

GIULIANI: Now, I don’t think the Time should do that. I think, you know, the presidential campaigns have gotten bad enough. They shouldn’t do that.

But if they’re not going to do it do Obama, they shouldn’t do it to McCain. And they shouldn’t do it, certainly, to Cindy McCain. And there shouldn’t be two different rules for Republicans and Democrats. And if they don’t think they have two different rules for Republicans and Democrats, then they’re not reading their own newspaper.

Looks Good

Janice S — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 17:47:46 EDT

Oct. 20 Obama 364 McCain 171 Ties 3 Senate Dem 58 GOP 41 Ties 1 House Dem 249 GOP 185 Ties 1

Strong Dem (264) Weak Dem (22) Barely Dem (78) Exactly tied (3) Barely GOP (19) Weak GOP (15) Strong GOP (137) 270 Electoral votes needed to win

Rick Davis: We May Play The Wright Card -- Because Of John Lewis

Janice S — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:10:43 EDT

Good, bring on Reverand Wright and we will bring on the Witchdoctor...

John McCain's campaign manager says he is reconsidering using Barack Obama's relationship with Reverend Jeremiah Wright as a campaign issue during the election's closing weeks.

In an appearance on conservative Hugh Hewitt's radio program, Davis said that circumstances had changed since John McCain initially and unilaterally took Obama's former pastor off the table. The Arizona Republican, Davis argued, had been jilted by the remarks of Rep. John Lewis, who compared recent GOP crowds to segregationist George Wallace's rallies. And, as such, the campaign was going to "rethink" what was in and out of political bounds.

"Look, John McCain has told us a long time ago before this campaign ever got started, back in May, I think, that from his perspective, he was not going to have his campaign actively involved in using Jeremiah Wright as a wedge in this campaign," he said late last week. "Now since then, I must say, when Congressman Lewis calls John McCain and Sarah Palin and his entire group of supporters, fifty million people strong around this country, that we're all racists and we should be compared to George Wallace and the kind of horrible segregation and evil and horrible politics that was played at that time, you know, that you've got to rethink all these things. And so I think we're in the process of looking at how we're going to close this campaign. We've got 19 days, and we're taking serious all these issues."

McCain has reportedly avoided discussion of Wright because of its racial implications. Apparently, since he already stands accused of stoking crowd anger akin to the South in the 1960s, his campaign just might be willing to walk down that slippery slope and risk justifying Lewis' proclamation.

Even before Davis took to the Hugh Hewitt Show, it was clear that members of McCain's inner circle were pining for him to use some of Wright's more inflammatory quotes to hammer away at Obama. Vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin told New York Times columnist Bill Kristol that she didn't know "why that association isn't discussed more, because those were appalling things that that pastor had said."

Certainly there are Democrats operatives who have long anticipated the Wright card being played and are shocked, to a certain extent, that McCain has avoided the topic. One high-ranking strategist told the Huffington Post that he thought the Republican ticket could have gained far more traction by going after Obama's pastor "as opposed to some neighborhood association" -- referencing former Weather Underground member Bill Ayers. McCain, he added, didn't have to even do it himself. He could pass the task over to a 527 organization or outside group. But with the money woes facing the Republican Party, the fundraising and infrastructure for such an effort has not been built. The decision to bring up Wright is left firmly in McCain's hands.

Palin Stars In McCain Robocall Day After Calling Them Irritating

Janice S — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:08:05 EDT

Sarah Palin may have condemned robocalls yesterday as intrusive and a drain on people's attention spans, but that didn't stop her from recording her own robocall on behalf of the McCain campaign.

Carol Johnson, a retiree from Spooner, Wisconsin, and a second reader from Nevada, report to us that they received robocalls starring Palin herself.

Palin's robocall touted both her and McCain as "mavericks" who have a feel for people's economic suffering, vowed that they would reform Wall Street and Washington, and hit Barack Obama and Joe Biden for not "listening" to the American people.

Click To Play

Here's the script:

Hi, this is Sarah Palin. One of our local campaign volunteers just called you, and I wanted to follow up and ask for your support. You know our opponents may talk a lot, but they haven't done much listening. I know what it's like to be a hard-working mom. I know how hard it is to make ends meet during tough times like this. John McCain and I know our country is hurting, and we know how to turn it around. We'll get our economy back on track. we'll cut your taxes and lower prices at the pump and at the grocery store. John McCain and I are the mavericks who will reform Washington, Wall Street., and all the wasteful government in between. I hope John McCain and I can count on your support on November 4. We won't let you down. Paid for by McCain-Palin 2008 at 703-418-2008.

Palin's call would seem to be at odds with her own public statements about the tactic. In a Q and A with reporters late yesterday, she said she'd prefer that the campaign not resort to such calls at all, describing them as "kind of draining in terms of Americans' attention span."

"They get a bit irritated with just being inundated," Palin added.

Palin: "We Haven't Heard" Any Violent Anti-Obama Invective At Rallies

Janice S — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 10:18:50 EDT

In a one-on-one interview with The Brody File, Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin says she has not personally heard vicious attacks directed at Barack Obama at her rallies. If she ever were to hear any, she says she would put an end to it.

I interviewed Gov. Palin this weekend for 20 minutes in Lancaster, Pa. My full report can be seen Tuesday on The 700 Club. Check The Brody File for other clips regarding her faith, media scrutiny and much more.

Watch her answer above. The transcription is below.

Brody: Let me ask you a little bit about some of these rallies. I know that some, some people, John McCain have called them fringe out there who has said some things out there about Barack Obama at his rallies. Do you feel a responsibility when those are said to say enough of this type of talk?

Palin: Absolutely. But what we have heard through some mainstream media is that folks have hollered out some pretty atrocious and unacceptable things like "kill him" or some, we have not heard that. If I ever were to hear that standing up there at the podium with the mic, I would call 'em out on that, and I would tell these people, no, that's unacceptable, let's rise about that please. We haven't heard that. What I have heard though is even in the other camp though some negativity that has been injected in the campaign with the candidate himself, with Barack Obama telling his supporter to get out there and quote "get in their face, argue with them." That, you know, that's kind of inciting and a bit negative and John McCain and I will have nothing to do with that, but it is unacceptable if we were ever to hear the shout outs that are so negative that we have heard being reported, if I were to hear that I would say no, we don't stand for that.

McCain Camp: What Does Colin Powell Know?

Janice S — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 10:14:31 EDT

McCain Camp Manager: Colin Powell Not Equipped To Make Political Predictions

When asked on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program Monday for his reaction to Colin Powell's endorsement of Barack Obama, John McCain campaign manager Rick Davis called into question the political acumen of the former Joint Chiefs chairman and Secretary of State.

"Look, I doubt if Colin Powell is equipped to do a whole lot of political prognostication," Davis said, dismissively, adding: "That's what you guys do, right?"

It was perhaps a snarky throwaway line, but it could be seen as a slight to the man McCain himself has described as one of the "most credible, most respected" men in the world.

Davis was certain to add the de rigeur testimony to Powell's service, saying: "He is a great American and served this country with great distinction. What his views are on the political scene are completely up to him."

McCain's campaign manager also addressed the issue of bringing up Bill Ayers, which Powell has criticized as "demagoguery."

"John McCain tried to point out how people should be informed about Barack Obama's background, including his relationships with domestic terrorists like William Ayers. People are going to form these judgments. It's great fodder for us to debate every day. I think it's fun," Davis said.

When asked about Powell's sharp criticism of McCain's handling of the economy, Davis oddly lumped in Joe Scarborough with the "Joes" trying to carve out a middle class living. "I think John McCain has continued to talk about it -- where working class people all around the country, the Joes of the world, whether they are Joe like the Talk Show Host or Joe the Plumber -- but the Joes around the country are working hard, earning a living and trying to be the generators of economic progress in this country."

Davis did give the Obama campaign some credit for their $150 million fundraising haul in September. "That is a 'wow' moment. No question about that. It's an enormous amount of money," Davis said.

Then he alleged, however, that "enough questions have been raised by the media" that all of Obama's small donors should be disclosed online. "He's got great geeks working on the website. They ought to have them get to work saying I'll put up on a website all my donations."

Palin "Declined To Be Interviewed Or Provide Any Health Records"

Janice S — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 07:40:02 EDT

I guess this is another thing she is blocking.

What is she hiding. Why is she allowed to refuse when it is a campaign law.

STRANGE

Janice S — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 02:27:14 EDT

Where did the Palins get all their money. A couple years ago she was mayor and her income was not that high compared to Governor. They built their home a couple years ago. Where did they get the money for the home and all the property they own? If Todd built the house, did he take time off workand where did the materials come from, his wallet? How can a young man in his early 40s receive a big pension. Does not add up. Do not forget the plane and boats and her designer clothes.

They have five children, so that would take up anyones money.

The small town common folk tag that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has been touting across the American political landscape while introducing her family, is not true.

Anchorage (Alaska, US), Sept.30 : The small town common folk tag that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has been touting across the American political landscape while introducing her family, is not true.

A check of the financial records shows the Palins live anything but a common life when compared with their fellow residents of their hometown of Wasilla.Their combined income of nearly a quarter-million dollars last year was five times the median household income for Wasilla's 7,000 residents.

They own a single-engine plane, two boats, two personal watercraft and a half-million-dollar, custom-built home on a lake that is worth three times the average of other homes in town.

For the future, they also have a 401(k) retirement account compliments of Todd Palin's years as an engineer with oil giant BP.

According to the Washington Times, the Palins have been hugely successful by most standards in both their public and their private lives, according to the records.The couple's house was appraised this year at 552,100 dollars, which, according to Alaska magazine, was designed and built by Todd Palin.Mr. Palin, known in Alaska as the "First Dude," is a longtime commercial fisherman who maintains a highly sought-after commercial-fishing permit that has been handed down in his family from generation to generation.

A native of Dillingham, Alaska, his mother is one-quarter Yup'ik Eskimo and his maternal grandmother is a member of the Curyung tribe, which is the source of the permit.

In a state known as "The Last Frontier," where only about 1 percent of the land is privately owned and the rest is controlled by a distrusted federal bureaucracy, however, Sarah Palin enjoys a near 90 percent approval rating and more property than nearly all her neighbors.

Palin lives with her husband and their five children - Track, 19; Bristol, 17; Willow, 14; Piper, 7; and Trig, 4 months - in a two-story house built in 2002 and located on more than 2 acres overlooking Lucile Lake in Matanuska Susitna County, about 40 miles north of Anchorage.

The couple also own four lakeside parcels, described in county records as "recreation" sites. They encompass 35 acres of forest along Trapper Creek near Safari Lake, north of Wasilla, and were appraised this year at 102,700 dollars.

The total tax bill on the couple's five properties, according to the records, was 7,662 dollars. The Palins reported no debts in disclosure documents filed by the governor other than the mortgage on their home.

Sarah Palin's Health Records

Janice S — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 02:17:41 EDT

I just read that Sarah refused to send in her health records.

Obama, Biden and McCain all presented theirs.

Sarah has stalled her tax records till the end, blocked Troopergate, trying to hide emails from public and now refusing to show her medical records.

How does this lady get by with it and why are not people demanding her records?

Freddie Mac Paid GOP Consulting Firm $2M To Kill Legislation

Janice S — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 18:34:43 EDT

WASHINGTON — Freddie Mac secretly paid a Republican consulting firm $2 million to kill legislation that would have regulated and trimmed the mortgage finance giant and its sister company, Fannie Mae, three years before the government took control to prevent their collapse.

In the cross hairs of the campaign carried out by DCI of Washington were Republican senators and a regulatory overhaul bill sponsored by Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb. DCI's chief executive is Doug Goodyear, whom John McCain's campaign later hired to manage the GOP convention in September.

Freddie Mac's payments to DCI began shortly after the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee sent Hagel's bill to the then GOP-run Senate on July 28, 2005. All GOP members of the committee supported it; all Democrats opposed it.

In the midst of DCI's yearlong effort, Hagel and 25 other Republican senators pleaded unsuccessfully with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., to allow a vote.

"If effective regulatory reform legislation ... is not enacted this year, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system and the economy as a whole," the senators wrote in a letter that proved prescient.

Unknown to the senators, DCI was undermining support for the bill in a campaign targeting 17 Republican senators in 13 states, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. The states and the senators targeted changed over time, but always stayed on the Republican side.

In the end, there was not enough Republican support for Hagel's bill to warrant bringing it up for a vote because Democrats also opposed it and the votes of some would be needed for passage. The measure died at the end of the 109th Congress.

McCain, R-Ariz., was not a target of the DCI campaign. He signed Hagel's letter and three weeks later signed on as a co-sponsor of the bill.

Continued..............

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/19/freddie-mac-paid-gop-cons_n_135995.html

Republicans Jump Ship

Janice S — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 17:11:56 EDT

Colin Powell (Sun Oct 19):
Colin Powell, former 4-star general, Reagan national security adviser, Bush Sr. chairman of the joint chiefs, and secretary of state, gave a full throated endorsement of Barack Obama and indictment of the McCain campaign and the Republican party.

Frank Luntz (Sat Oct 18):
Frank Luntz, GOP pollster and language expert, states bluntly: "I think Barack Obama is going to be the next president of the United States." He adds: "John McCain cannot communicate. Stevie Wonder reads a teleprompter better than John McCain."

Susan Collins (Fri Oct 17):
Embattled Republican Sen. Susan Collins is calling on John McCain to stop paying for automated phone calls which describe Barack Obama as having "worked closely" with "domestic terrorist Bill Ayers". "These kind of tactics have no place in Maine politics," said Collins spokesman Kevin Kelley. "Sen. Collins urges the McCain campaign to stop these calls immediately."

Michael Smerconish (Fri Oct 17):
On his talk show on WPHT today, conservative Philadelphian Michael Smerconish endorsed Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

Chicago Tribune Editorial Board (Fri Oct 17):
For the first time in the 161 year history of the Chicago Tribune, the paper has endorsed a Democratic presidential nominee: Barack Obama.

Peter Spaulding (Fri Oct 17):
McCain's New Hampshire state chairman slams the campaign's tactic of launching robocalls accusing Obama of links to terrorists.

Kathleen Parker (Fri Oct 17):
National Review writer Kathleen Parker takes another big step away from the GOP, declaring that Republicans "do not, in fact, deserve to win this time, and someone [Chris Buckley] had to remind them why."

Richard Lugar (Wed Oct 15):
Richard Lugar, the seniormost Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, came close to a full endorsement of Obama by endorsing his approach to foreign policy - specifically, his emphasis on diplomacy.

RNC (in Wisconsin) (Wed Oct 15):
The RNC is giving up on McCain in Wisconsin. TV stations report that they've stopped airing ads attacking Obama, and won't comment on the pullout.

Rush Limbaugh (Tue Oct 14):
Rush Limbaugh all but accepted the fact that John McCain had lost this election, asking Sarah Palin "have you even thought about a political future beyond this campaign?" Obviously, if Limbaugh thought McCain could win...her political future would be as Vice President.

Heather Mac Donald (Tue Oct 14):
Conservative pundit Heather Mac Donald systematically disassembles McCain's VP pick and concludes that "conservatives should not sacrifice standards for political advantage."

Matthew Dowd (Tue Oct 14):
Matthew Dowd, a former Bush strategist, let the cat out of the bag: "They didn't let John McCain pick the person he wanted to pick as VP...[McCain] knows, in his gut, that he put somebody unqualified on the ballot. He knows that in his gut, and when this race is over that is something he will have to live with... He put somebody unqualified on that ballot and he put the country at risk, he knows that."

Dennis Hopper (Mon Oct 13):
Loyal Republican actor-director Dennis Hopper is giving up on his party, at least for this election, complaining of the "lies" of the current administration and saying "I voted for Bush, father and son, but this time I'll vote for Obama."

Mickey Edwards (Mon Oct 13):
Republican Mickey Edwards, formerly a congressman from Oklahoma, distances himself from McCain, saying "today, thanks to a campaign apparently managed by Moe, Curly, and Larry, he comes across as erratic (Obama's word, but it fits), impulsive, befuddled, and ill-tempered, and apparently unable to utter any words other than 'surge' and 'earmarks.'" Edwards also plays the blame game very explicitly: "If Obama gets a big win, it will be McCain himself, and the Three Stooges calling the shots at his headquarters who will deserve whatever blame is attached for transforming a viable and energetic Obama campaign into a steamroller grinding the Republican Party into the ground."

David Frum (Mon Oct 13):
David "axis of evil" Frum gets his "I told you so" ready at the National Review and rebukes his critics who complain that he isn't cheerleading for McCain enough. He concludes: "Perhaps it is our job at NRO is tell our readers only what they want to hear, without much regard to whether it is true. Perhaps it is our duty just to keep smiling and to insist that everything is dandy - that John McCain's economic policies make sense, that his selection of Sarah Palin was an act of statesmanship, that she herself is the second coming of Anna Schwartz, and that nobody but an over-educated snob would ever suggest otherwise."

There are tons more..... http://www.jedreport.com/shipjumpers/

Polls

Janice S — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 16:56:34 EDT

RCP Average10/12 - 10/18----48.843.8Obama +5.0

Rasmussen Reports10/16 - 10/183000 LV2.05145Obama +6

Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby10/16 - 10/181210 LV2.94845Obama +3

Hotline/FD10/16 - 10/18795 LV3.54841Obama +7

Gallup (Traditional)*10/16 - 10/182590 LV2.04946Obama +3

Gallup (Expanded)*10/16 - 10/182277 LV2.05144Obama +7

IBD/TIPP10/14 - 10/181072 LV3.04742Obama +5

GWU/Battleground10/12 - 10/16800 LV3.54945Obama +4

New CNN Polls

Janice S — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 11:52:31 EDT

October 19, 2008 Poll update: Obama lead at 6

CNN Electoral Vote Estimate »

Barack Obama 277 174 John McCain

192 Safe | 85 Leaning 122 Safe | 52 Leaning 270 to win

Pelosi: 100% Barack's Gonna Win

Janice S — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 11:12:12 EDT

There are only 15 days left until Election Day, which means that pundits and pols will be busy predicting who will win come November 7.

We caught up with Speaker Nancy Pelosi at Georgetown's Café Milano Friday night and she didn't pull any punches.

"100% Barack Obama is going to win!" she told Yeas & Nays. "He's going to be our next president and a great president at that. We're all excited to work him."

But that's not what Rudy Giuliani thinks. We found him palling around with Yogi Berra at the Washington Hilton Saturday night and he's still got his money on John McCain.

"He's going to do great," the Hizzoner told us. "He's looking strong for November 7."

But conservative pollster Frank Luntz -- begrudgingly -- thinks Pelosi's correct. On Friday's "Real Time with Bill Maher" on HBO, Luntz said, "I believe Barack Obama is going to be the next president of the United States. … John McCain cannot communicate. Stevie Wonder reads a teleprompter better than John McCain."

This Is Just The Begining

Janice S — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 11:09:04 EDT

A record 100,000 people rallied with Barack in St. Louis yesterday, and another 75,000 in Kansas City last night.

McCain Defends Calls: Legitimate And Truthful"

Janice S — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 11:07:17 EDT

On Fox News Sunday, whose transcript the Obama campaign just sent reporters, McCain was forced to defend himself from the charge of hypocrisy for waves of negative robocalls. It's a mark of how the public fascination with this race has made issues of process -- robocalls are a tactic meant to go under the radar -- instantly front and center.

WALLACE: But Senator back, if I may, back in 2000 when you were the target of robo calls, you called these hate calls and you said--

MCCAIN: They were.

WALLACE: And you said the following: "I promise you I have never and will never have anything to do with that kind of political tactic." Now you've hired the same guy who did the robo calls against you to, reportedly, to do the robo calls against Obama and the Republican Senator Susan Collins, the co-chair of your campaign in Maine, has asked you to stop the robo calls. Will you do that?

MCCAIN: Of course not. These are legitimate and truthful and they are far different than the phone calls that were made about my family and about certain aspects that -- things that this is -- this is dramatically different and either you haven't -- didn't see those things in 2000.

WALLACE: No, I saw them.

MCCAIN: Or you don't know the difference between that and what is a legitimate issue, and that is Senator Obama being truthful with the American people. But let me tell you what else I think you should be talking about and the American people should be talking about. In the debate the other night, I asked Senator Obama to repudiate a statement made by John Lewis, a man I admire and respect and have written about that connected me and Sarah Palin --

WALLACE: This is the congressman, civil rights leader.

MCCAIN: Civil rights leader, American hero. That connected me and Sarah Palin to segregationists, to the campaign of George Wallace, and even alluded to the bombing of a church where four children, four children were killed, and I asked him to repudiate that statement. I have repudiated every statement made by any fringe person in the Republican Party. And it has come up from time to time, and it probably will. The fact that Senator Obama would not repudiate that statement I think is something the American people will make a judgment about. That robo call is accurate. It’s totally accurate. And there is no comparison between it and the things that were done and said in South Carolina.

McCain: Obama fundraising hurts public financing-McCain: "Very Dangerous"

Janice S — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 11:04:12 EDT

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The vast sums of money Barack Obama is raising for the presidential campaign risk the post-Watergate financing reforms, Republican rival John McCain charged Sunday.

Speaking a few hours after Obama's campaign reported raising a record $150 million in September, McCain said the overall sum the Democrat has raised for his campaign _ $605 million _ showed the "dam has broken" for future White House races.

He also complained that the identifies of people who contributed more than $200 million of Obama's total take have not been reported, although that is allowable under federal law because the individual donations fall under the $200 reporting limit.

"I'm saying it's laying a predicate for the future that can be very dangerous," McCain said on "Fox News Sunday." "History shows us where unlimited amounts of money are in political campaigns, it leads to scandal."

The Arizona senator has been limited to spending $84 million for the general election campaign after accepting federal funds under a program created after the Watergate scandal. Obama initially indicated he would adhere to the same limit, but reversed course and became the first post-Watergate candidate to finance a general-election campaign with private funding.

McCain, a former Vietnam prisoner of war, also sloughed off Obama's endorsment by one of the country's best known black Republicans and military leaders, Colin Powell, who was President Bush's first secretary of state.

Appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press," Powell chastised his longtime friend for the type of campaign he has run against Obama, who is black.

McCain said: "I've always admired and respected Gen. Powell," before noting his endorsement by four other former secretarys of state.

When host Chris Wallace suggested Powell's endorsement undercut McCain's stance that Obama is not ready to lead the country, McCain said: "We have a respectful disagreement."

Thank You-Must See Video Of Obama's Numbers

Janice S — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 10:59:47 EDT

Thanks to you, our campaign continues to make history.

We got this far because Barack put his faith in the power of ordinary Americans coming together and building a movement for change from the bottom up.

We’ll need you in the next 16 days. We can’t slow down now.

https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/septembernumbers1?source=20081019_DP_Standard

Colon Powell Endorced Obama

Janice S — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 09:17:21 EDT

CNN just confirmed that Colon Powell has endorced Obama and he will hit the campaign trail in the next two weeks to help Obama.

Wow, Obama is John Travolta, Ha Ha

Janice S — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 19:13:55 EDT

Dallas paper endorses McCain; Miami picks Obama

Janice S — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 19:09:39 EDT

The Dallas Morning News endorsed McCain on Oct. 18:

In better times, America could afford to consider entrusting the White House to an appealing newcomer like Mr. Obama and giving control of the presidency and Congress to the same party.

But in this time of great anxiety, the American people need a leader of experience guiding the ship of state. Mr. McCain offers the continuity, stability and sense of authority people want, as well as a decisive break from the Bush years.

The Democrat talks about change, but only the Republican has made change happen. Only one candidate has a solid record of standing up to his own party on principle and working hand in hand with legislators from the opposing party to get things done.

That candidate is John McCain, a progressive conservative we recommend.

---

The Kansas City Star endorsed Obama on Oct. 17:

We believe Sen. Barack Obama is the right person to lead the country forward. He is a man of strength, empathy, energy and intelligence.

The Illinois Democrat understands the challenges that await George Bush's successor. A gifted public servant whose roots extend to his mother's birthplace in Kansas, Obama has a rare ability to encourage hope among the dispirited and to inspire young people.

Obama's sound judgment is reflected in his choice for a running mate. Sen. Joe Biden is a passionate advocate of ordinary Americans and a foreign-policy expert who would be prepared to assume the Oval Office on a moment's notice ...

McCain has been a less impressive candidate this year than when he ran for president in 2000. Although claiming to be a change agent, he is following in Bush's footsteps on everything from the war in Iraq to tax breaks that favor the wealthy over the middle class.

Despite his age and previous health problems, McCain chose a vice presidential candidate who is so clearly unqualified for high office that the thought of her stepping into the presidency is frightening.

---

The Tampa (Fla.) Tribune endorsed McCain on Oct. 17:

Hard economic times, a disappointing Republican administration and the seductive promises of a master orator are pushing America toward a European-style social democracy. If you don't want that to happen, vote for Republican Sen. John McCain. ...

McCain brings a lifetime of useful experience, including his grueling captivity in Vietnam and long Senate service. He believes in federalism, a strong defense and disciplined self-interest.

McCain has been willing to cross party lines to work on tough problems. He co-authored a campaign finance law that failed to fulfill its objective, but he did muster the bipartisan support needed to try to control the buying and selling of public office. ...

(Barack) Obama's vision of hope shines like a rainbow, appealing but just out of reach. McCain's call to freedom and responsibility is less exciting, but you know it works. The Tribune encourages voters to vote what they believe, not what they wish were true. The nation needs a stable leader in these unpredictable times.

---

The Denver Post endorsed Obama on Oct. 18:

It's time to change course.

Frankly, neither Obama nor McCain has a comprehensive plan to end the economic crisis, or to even calm our jittery nerves. But Obama's promise to surround himself with this country's top economic thinkers, such as Warren Buffet, is at least somewhat comforting.

In unsteady times, it may seem obvious to gravitate toward the veteran politician, but in this campaign, it's been the newcomer who has had the steady hand. ...

If Americans were only worried about foreign affairs, McCain's stalwart service in the military and experience on the national stage would make him the more credible commander in chief. But our eyes have turned homeward and, in this hour, Obama has the eloquence and vision to bring us back together.

As novelist Christopher Buckley said in endorsing Obama, the Illinois senator "has a first-rate intellect and a first-rate temperament."

With the help and prayers of the American people, we believe those talents can also make Barack Obama a great president.

---

Salt Lake (Utah) Tribune endorsed Obama on Oct. 17:

Out of nowhere, and without proper vetting, the impetuous McCain picked Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. She quickly proved grievously underequipped to step into the presidency should McCain, at 72 and with a history of health problems, die in office. More than any single factor, McCain's bad judgment in choosing the inarticulate, insular and ethically challenged Palin disqualifies him for the presidency. ...

The country desperately needs a new and well-defined road map for the 21st century and leadership that can unite the country behind it.

We believe that Barack Obama can give us both.

---

The (Portland) Oregonian endorsed Obama on Oct. 18:

Obama has the best chance, and the best abilities, to rebuild an American economy that has grown dangerously unstable, with government, consumers and the nation itself spiraling deeply into debt and selling off the national future to pay for daily expenses. He is the best choice to rebuild the American position in the world, to restore our ties with traditional allies, to re-make the American argument to the rest of the world.

Crucially, Barack Obama can recall the United States to its own highest principles and priorities. He can change course after an administration that has often cut constitutional and legal corners, and frequently stumbled into policy and philosophical embarrassment.

---

The Miami Herald endorsed Obama on Oct. 18:

The way the two candidates responded to the economic meltdown offers a lesson in contrasting styles of leadership. Both have put forth a series of worthwhile policy options, but where Sen. Obama was calm, Sen. McCain was frantic. He first put his campaign "on hold" and suggested he would cancel the first debate, and then suddenly decided to take part even as the first bailout deal cratered. He said the fundamentals of the economy were strong, then a few days later vowed to "name the names" of those responsible for the financial crisis.

In other elections, voters have complained of having to make a choice between two bad candidates. That is not the case this time. The nation is fortunate to have good candidates and a clear choice. Sen. Obama represents the best chance for America to make a clean break with the culture wars and failed policies of the past, and begin to restore the hope and promise of America as the world's greatest democracy.

---

The Philadelphia Inquirer endorsed Obama on Oct. 18:

If America is going to fight its way out of a worldwide economic crisis that has people fearful of losing not only their homes but also their jobs, and fearful of unending war, then it must have better leadership than it has had the past eight years. ...

Both major candidates are trying to avoid association with Bush's failed policies. But only one does so successfully. On every issue important to America, Barack Obama offers a plan that would pull this nation from the precipice built by bad Bush decisions. The Inquirer endorses Barack Obama for president.

While John McCain also promises "change," it's hard to believe that's possible from someone who, by his own admission, has voted with Bush 90 percent of the time. ...

More troubling was McCain's selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. This blatant overture to women voters and evangelical Christians who share her views on abortion backfired when Palin in interviews proved she is not prepared to be a heartbeat away from the presidency. ...

There's another reason to vote for Obama. It would tell the world that the melting-pot America of legend has finally become a reality. ... With his eloquent oratory, Obama has already taken big steps to bridge America's racial divide.

Thanks CNN

Janice S — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 14:24:34 EDT

CNN's Ali Velshi: Obama "Absolutely" Stronger On Economy Than McCain

Yes We Can

Janice S — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 14:19:10 EDT

Obama Rally Draws 100,000 in Missouri

Barack Obama attracted 100,000 people at a Saturday rally here, his biggest crowd ever at a U.S. event.

The crowd assembled under the Gateway Arch on a sunny Saturday afternoon to hear Obama speak about taxes and slam the Republicans on economic issues.

Lt. Samuel Dotson of the St. Louis Police Department confirmed the number of attendees piled into the grassy lawn flanked by the Missouri capital and the Missouri River.

To be sure, big crowds don’t always signal a big turnout on Election Day. But Obama’s ability to draw his largest audience yet in a typically red state that just weeks ago looked out of reach, could signal a changing electoral map.

For months Missouri polls put Obama as much as ten percentage points behind Republican John McCain. It was widely believed that McCain’s pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate would have won over the state’s conservatives and boosted his chances there. So far, that hasn’t happened.

A Rasmussen poll released on Friday shows Obama leading in Missouri 52% to 46% for McCain.

Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill had harsh words for Palin when she introduced Obama on Saturday. Referring to comments Palin made earlier this week in North Carolina about “pro-America” states, McCaskill said “We have reached a new low in America politics when a candidate dares to say that one part of America is pro-America and another part is anti-America.”

She also took a dig at McCain for selecting a vice presidential nominee with limited experience. “One [candidate] picked one of the strongest candidates for vice president he could’ve picked in the United States and well, the other didn’t.”

Recognizing that big rallies don’t always result in cast ballots, the Obama campaign has dispatched thousands of field organizers and volunteers to Missouri to knock on doors in a statewide get out the vote effort. (Photo: Associated Press)

Shake A Leg

Janice S — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 14:10:04 EDT

How To Add A Picture

Janice S — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 12:43:33 EDT

I completely forgot how to add a picture to a post, duh?

Can someone help me, thanks...

Sarah Stole Stevie Wonders Song

Janice S — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 11:12:57 EDT

At Sarah's rally today, her theme song was "Isn't She Lovely" by Stevie Wonder.

Did she get permission to use that song? Stevie is endorsing Obama.

The Republicans Have No Choice

Janice S — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 22:32:42 EDT

The Republicans are stuck with Palin. I bet half or more think of her the same way we do, but what can they do. They are scared to death of losing a lot of their seats and the Democrats getting the majority in the House and Senate.

Their hands are tied. We cannot blame the Republicans for all this. McCain chose Palin at the last minute and I bet it was a shock to them.

They have to stick together to try to hold on to their seats, but you can bet if McCain loses, they will tell him off big time. You will see a ton of them coming out of the closet against him.

What A Shame

Janice S — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 22:26:58 EDT

Here we have a woman who comes out of the great state of Alaska, who probably 95% of our population never heard of and comes on the campaign trail saying the most horrible stuff imaginable against McCains running mate. She has publically called him on his patriotism, called him a friend of a terrorist, brought up his minister again, etc.

I have never heard a politican in the US with such guts to say anything she wants with a big smile on her face.

The worse part is she is dividing the country with her rallies, always smiling and urging her rallies on. She has people introduce her who use the name Hussein as his middle name. He does not tell anyone to stop. Everyone leaves those rallies fired up with calling Obama every name in the book.

Is this what she thinks she and McCain will do to unite the country and work across party lines.

Sarah is an embarrassment to our country. I cannot recall another American as low as she has gone.

Yes, she will do anything to win.

Alaskan Independence Party: The Last Refuge of a Scoundrel

Janice S — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 22:12:27 EDT

When Sarah and McCain bring up Obama's patriotism, why don't they bring this to everyones attention...

In 2004, America's malleable mainstream media allowed itself to be manipulated by artful Republican operatives into devoting weeks of broadcast attention and drums of ink to unfairly desecrating John Kerry's genuine Vietnam heroics while obligingly muzzling serious discussion of George W. Bush's shameful wartime record of evasion and cowardice.

Last week found the American media once again boarding Republican swift boats against this season's Democratic candidate armed with unfair and hypocritical attacks artfully designed by GOP strategists to distract attention from the cataclysmic outcomes of Republican governance. Vice Presidential hopeful Sarah Palin has taken to faulting Senator Barack Obama for his casual acquaintance with a respected Illinois educator Bill Ayers, who forty years ago was a member of the Weathermen, a movement active when Obama was eight and which he has denounced as "detestable." Palin argues that the relationship proves that Obama sees "America as being so imperfect that he is palling around with terrorists who would target their own country."

The Times dedicated a page one article to Obama's relations with Ayers and CNN's Anderson Cooper obliged Palin by rewarding her reckless accusations about Obama's patriotism with a major investigative report. Fox, meanwhile, is still riveting its audience with wall to wall coverage of this pressing irrelevancy.

But if McCarthy-era guilt-by-association is once again a valid political consideration, Palin, it would seem, has more to lose than Obama. Palin, it could be argued, following her own logic, thinks so little of America's perfection that she continues to "pal around" with a man--her husband, actually--who only recently terminated his seven-year membership in the Alaskan Independence Party. Putting plunder above patriotism, the members of this treasonous cabal aim to break our country into pieces and walk away with Alaska's rich federal oil fields and one-fifth of America's land base--an area three-fourths the size of the Civil War Confederacy.

AIP's charter commits the party "to the ultimate independence of Alaska," from the United States which it refers to as "the colonial bureaucracy in Washington." It proclaims Alaska's 1959 induction as a state "as illegal and in violation of the United Nations charter and international law."

AIP's creation was inspired by the rabidly violent anti-Americanism of its founding father Joe Vogler, "I'm an Alaskan, not an American," reads a favorite Vogler quote on AIP's current website, "I've got no use for America or her damned institutions." According to Vogler AIP's central purpose was to drive Alaska's secession from the United States. Alaska, says current Chairwoman Lynette Clark, "should be an independent nation."

Vogler was murdered in 1993 during an illegal sale of plastic explosives that went bad. The prior year, he had renounced his allegiance to the United States explaining that, "The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government." He cursed the stars and stripes, promising, "I won't be buried under their damned flag...when Alaska is an independent nation they can bring my bones home." Palin has never denounced Vogler or his detestable anti-Americanism.

Palin's husband Todd remained an AIP party member from 1995 to 2002. Sarah can be described in McCarthy-era palaver as a "fellow traveler." While retaining her Republican registration, she attended the AIP's 1994 convention where the party called for a draft constitution to secede from the United States and create an independent nation of Alaska. The McCain Campaign has reluctantly acknowledged that she also attended AIP's 2000 Convention. She apparently found the experience so inspiring that she agreed to give a keynote address at the AIP's 2006 convention and she recorded a video greeting for this year's 2008 convention. In other words, this is not something that happened when she was eight!

So when Palin accuses Barack of "not seeing the same America as you and me," maybe she is referring to an America without Alaska. In any case, isn't it time the media start giving equal time to Palin's buddy list of anti-American bombers and other radical associates?

Expect McCain to Gain Ground These Final Weeks

Janice S — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 20:40:36 EDT

As we head into the home stretch, it is going to be important for those analyzing the election not to confuse McCain gaining a few points with him once again having the opportunity to win the election.

The Pollster.com national polling average this morning is 50 Obama, 43 McCain. Where will the movement be in these final three weeks? If the election ends up 4-6 points for Obama, this means we end up 52-48, 53-47, or something like that. My sense now is that McCain is likely to gain 4-5 points in this these final few weeks and return to a respectable level for a credible GOP candidate. Part of what may drive this movement in the next few weeks is McCain bouncing back up from his current below-the-floor position. I mean 43 percent for a major GOP candidate in a two-way race? No way we are going to end up there.

McCain's gains these coming weeks will be because he had been so dramatically underperforming since his successful convention. His erratic performance in the debates, his very public confusion during that first week of the financial crisis, the cratering of Sarah Palin, have all combined to leave him several points below where he should be at this point. In these next few weeks he will in all likelihood regain ground he should have been occupying all along but lost due to his disappointing campaign. So in many ways, McCain's likely uptick is more a sign of his current weakness than any newfound strength.

Getting back up to 46, 47, 48 is not the same as winning. My guess is there will be a lot of confusion about this in the chattering classes in the next few weeks.

Looking at the Kos am roundup, what we are seeing is a slight uptick in the McCain number with no decline in the Obama number. The real trend line to watch now is Obama's -- if he holds at 49,50,51 -- he will win. If he starts dropping below that, we may have a race on our hands.

I've always believed the main issue in the general election was whether Obama could give enough people enough comfort about him and his views to take the ground the American people were ready to give him. The debates, his strong performance during the financial crisis, a series of direct-to-camera ads have done a lot to give people more comfort about this new kid with a funny name whom we all have just gotten to know. My sense now is that the Obama campaign's positive TV tracks must stay relentlessly direct-to-camera, and they would be wise to replicate in some form the three direct-to-camera ads about our economic future and the struggle of everyday people run during the financial crisis (similar to the great two-minute close he made in Iowa) as the main way they close in the home stretch.

I have also always believed that Obama's final 2-3 points would come late, at the very end, as they often do for a challenger against a better known candidate. Which means we could see some kind of a McCain surge now with Obama closing it out in the final week or so -- if he performs well.

Or not....

It is hard to believe we are at the end of this historic campaign. But we are, and like all campaigns, the final 18 days is at least one political lifetime left to go.

New Polls

Janice S — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 20:29:03 EDT

General Election: McCain vs. Obama
Poll Date Sample Obama (D) McCain (R) Spread
RCP Average 10/09 - 10/16 -- 49.5 42.6 Obama +6.9
Rasmussen Tracking 10/14 - 10/16 3000 LV 50 46 Obama +4
Reuters/C-Span/Zogby Tracking 10/14 - 10/16 1210 LV 49 44 Obama +5
Hotline/FD Tracking 10/14 - 10/16 804 LV 50 40 Obama +10
Gallup Tracking (Traditional)* 10/14 - 10/16 2155 LV 49 47 Obama +2
Gallup Tracking (Expanded)* 10/14 - 10/16 2314 LV 51 45 Obama +6
GW/Battleground Tracking 10/12 - 10/16 800 LV 49 45 Obama +4
IBD/TIPP Tracking 10/12 - 10/16 1020 LV 46 41 Obama +5
LA Times/Bloomberg 10/10 - 10/13 1030 LV 50 41 Obama +9
CBS News/NY Times 10/10 - 10/13 699 LV 53 39 Obama +14
USA Today/Gallup (Traditional)* 10/10 - 10/12 761 LV 50 46 Obama +4
USA Today/Gallup (Expanded)* 10/10 - 10/12 1030 LV 52 45 Obama +7
Pew Research 10/09 - 10/12 1191 LV 49 42 Obama +7
Ipsos/McClatchy 10/09 - 10/13 1036 RV 48 39 Obama +9

More Polling Data | Chart | News

PALIN: I LOVE VISITING "PRO-AMERICA AREAS OF THIS GREAT NATION"

Janice S — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 16:21:34 EDT

Is Sarah saying that all our kids, etc. and their families and friends who fought and died in Iraq and wars who live in other areas are not patriotic or pro-America?

Sarah

Janice S — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 15:22:02 EDT

I think this is getting scary.

Has Sarah opened a pandora's box with her Obama/Ayers connection?

Looks like her rallies may be drawing some supremitists.

I think she is feeding a big fire.

When she invites people, policeman, etc. to introduce her and they refer to Barak Osama Obama, and encourages hateful yellings in her crowd and does not respond to them, is this her plan.

Could she be held liable if something horrible happened?

It appears that when you hear people leaving their rallies, a ton of them are hateful and say horrible things about Obama.

Joe The Plumber A Fake

Janice S — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:52:24 EDT

Was this a set up by McCain? Joe does not even make over $50,000 a year and is not a certified plumber.

Supreme Court Rejects GOP's Ohio Vote Challenge

Janice S — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:41:12 EDT

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court sided Friday with Ohio's top elections official in a dispute with the state Republican Party over voter registrations.

The justices overruled a federal appeals court that had ordered Ohio's top elections official to do more to help counties verify voter eligibility.

Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat, faced a deadline of Friday to set up a system to provide local officials with names of newly registered voters whose driver's license numbers or Social Security numbers on voter registration forms don't match records in other government databases.

Ohio Republicans contended the information for counties would help prevent fraud. Brunner said the GOP is trying to disenfranchise voters.

In a brief unsigned opinion, the justices said they were not commenting on whether Ohio is complying with a provision of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 that lays out requirements for verifying voter eligibility.

Instead, they said they were granting Brunner's request because it appears that the law does not allow private entities, like the Ohio GOP, to file suit to enforce the provision of the law at issue.

About 200,000 of 666,000 voters who have registered in Ohio since Jan. 1 have records that don't match. Brunner has said the discrepancies most likely stem from innocent clerical errors rather than fraud but has set up a verification plan.

McCain campaign manager Rick Davis said lower court rulings have clearly said the HAVA regulations require the secretary of state to match against the list, find where there's been fraud and inconsistencies and report them to counties.

"Why in the world would that not happen? We have the technology, the budget, the means and the manpower to make that happen. Do we really want to have to find out after the fact that we had counties that would have been decided one way or another because the secretary of state didn't bother doing the job the HAVA required?" Davis told reporters on a conference call. "I think the secretary of state ought to do her job," he added.

Please Senator Obama

Janice S — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:07:47 EDT

If you would get a lot of crap out there, like Sarah and the Witchdoctor, then the media would stop talking about Ayers and Acorn.

You need to shift the crap on them.

Acorn and Ayers are in the news every hour and on robo calls.

Give the media something else to talk about or we will hear Acorn and Ayers till election day and I am sick of it.

Please fight back.

You can talk about the economy, but the devil will do his work on the side against you.

Sarah Palin and John McCain

Janice S — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:03:55 EDT

Do we want this baggage in the White House?

Sarah was charged with abuse of power of her office in Troopergate.

McCain and the Keeting 5..

Senators John Glenn and John McCain were cleared of having acted improperly but were criticized for having exercised "poor judgment".

Can you really trust these people? Sarah blocked her investigation on Troopergate, she is trying to hide her emails till the election is over, she refuses to talk to reporters and bans them from getting close to her.

Can these two be trusted?

Obama, Please Fight

Janice S — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:53:54 EDT

There are 19 days left, McCain is fighting hard against you, and he will stop at nothing because he has nothing to lose.

There are no do-overs in this race.

Bring up Sarah and the Witchdoctor and all other negatives against both.

Now, Sarah is campaigning on the stump today saying you are working with voter fraud with Acorn and the country needs to know all about your connection.

They are sending out tens of thousand of robos telling them you are affilaited with Ayers a terrorist.

You better jump in and not just defend yourself on these two matters, but put some fresh trash out on them. Don't just stand back and watch them, do something about it.

Polls

Janice S — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:04:04 EDT

How did the polls get so close?

AP/YAHOO Poll of 873 Democrats; 650 Republicans shows OBAMA 44%, MCCAIN 42%...

Obama's lead falls two points in new CNN Poll of Polls

Colon Powell

Janice S — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 10:56:29 EDT

Who will he endorse?

McCain's Dirty Robo Calls

Janice S — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 18:39:13 EDT

McCain is now sending out tens of thousands of Robo calls to people in several states referring Obama to terrorist.

The time is running out.

Obama better get an ad up about Sarah and the Witchdoctor and kick back.

This is not a do over game. We have to fight.

"HELLO. I'M CALLING FOR JOHN MCCAIN AND THE RNC..."

Janice S — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 17:18:20 EDT

The McCain-Palin campaign and the Republican National Committee launched a massive robocall campaign on Thursday designed to alarm voters about Barack Obama's past association with former radical Bill Ayers. The committee may be violating state law in the process.

The call begins: "Hello. I'm calling for John McCain and the RNC," before telling recipients that they "need to know that Barack Obama has worked closely with domestic terrorist, Bill Ayers, whose organization bombed the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon, a judge's home, and killed Americans."

More remarkable than the message (coming after a presidential debate in which John McCain said he didn't care about a "washed up terrorist") is the reach of the campaign itself. The Huffington Post received dozens of emails from voters who had either received the call or gotten a voice mail with a recording. Reports came from Ohio, Colorado, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Missouri, North Carolina, Florida, Texas and Maine.

Two readers in Minnesota also reported receiving the call, which could be a violation of that state's laws. Explains Shaun Dakin, CEO & Founder of the National Political Do Not Contact Registry:

"Most robocalls are supposed to have two things, "paid for by X" and a phone number of the group making the call. Most do that. Now, that being said, there are some states that have their own robocall laws and they are much stricter. Minnesota pretty much bans robocalls entirely unless they are introduced by a human voice. And that pretty much never happens because it defeats the point."

The RNC did not immediately return request for comment. Here's audio of the call:

The majority of responses from the Democratic and independent readers who received the Ayers robocall were sharply (perhaps not surprisingly) negative.

Vic from New Mexico wrote: "l just received [a robocall] from McCain and the RNC, calling Obama a 'terrorist' after McCain's claim last night that he's not running a negative campaign."

Ali in Missouri wrote: "I have already received two McCain calls. The one yesterday was relatively benign but the one today linked Obama directly to the 'terrorist Bill Ayers,' describing Ayers' violent activities."

Kimberly in Virginia writes: "I would like to feel shocked by the offensive nature of the message, but can't say that I am that surprised, given the Republican tactics of the last month, and the last eight years."

Kirk in Wisconsin emailed: "My guess is it will cost McCain 2 votes for each one he gets."

Multiple readers wrote that they had been receiving robocalls from Republican sources well before the recent wave, and that those calls were mild in comparison. A reader in Colorado said he recently received a call about Obama's association with ACORN. A self-described independent in Colorado said she has been receiving "an average of about 10 calls a week- almost exclusively from Republicans." Others recalled getting calls about Obama and his Hollywood friends.

Again, if you hear these things, feel free to contact the Huffington Post.

Milbank: Secret Service Blocking Reporters At Palin Rallies

Janice S — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 17:15:30 EDT

Via Romenesko, the Washington Post's Dana Milbank reveals in an online chat that the Secret Service is stopping people reporters from interviewing people at Palin rallies:

Arlington, Va.: The Secret Service has now labeled the "kill him" report as unfounded. Why isn't The Post giving this report as much coverage as the original false report received?

Dana Milbank:

Glad you asked, because I saw this earlier. This is actually about the incident in Scranton, not the one in Clearwater, Fla, that I wrote about here.

I wasn't at the Scranton event, but I have to say the Secret Service is in dangerous territory here. In cooperation with the Palin campaign, they've started preventing reporters from leaving the press section to interview people in the crowd. This is a serious violation of their duty -- protecting the protectee -- and gets into assisting with the political aspirations of the candidate. It also often makes it impossible for reporters to get into the crowd to question the people who say vulgar things. So they prevent reporters from getting near the people doing the shouting, then claim it's unfounded because the reporters can't get close enough to identify the person.

HOW CAN THIS BE?

Janice S — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 17:12:55 EDT

GALLUP SHOCK: 49 OBAMA, 47 MCCAIN WITH LIKELY VOTERS

GALLUP's 'traditional' likely voter model shows Obama with a two-point advantage over McCain on Thursday, 49% to 47%, this is within poll's margin of error... Developing...

Developing on Drudge..............

Bye Bye Sarah

Janice S — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 09:56:15 EDT

It was fun while it lasted. Now on to change and Senator Obama as our President.

GREAT Obama Family Photos - A Must See

Janice S — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 09:51:23 EDT

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/16/the-obamas-greatest-famil_n_132339.html

Bye Bye Sarah

Janice S — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 00:54:18 EDT

Yes We Can

On McCains Website

Janice S — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 00:50:43 EDT

Can you believe this?

John McCain Wins Debate

ARLINGTON, VA -- McCain-Palin 2008 Communications Director Jill Hazelbaker issued the following statement on tonight's Presidential Debate:

"John McCain won tonight's debate with strong, clear straight talk about setting a new direction for our country and fighting for working families. He outlined a specific, bold plan for creating jobs, helping those near retirement, keeping people in their homes, curbing spending, lowering health care costs and achieving energy independence. He vowed to fight for 'Joe the Plumber' every day he is President and he affirmed his belief that we shouldn't raise taxes just to 'spread the wealth.' While Barack Obama is measuring the drapes and campaigning against a man not even on the ballot, John McCain demonstrated that he has the experience, judgment, independence and courage to fight for every American."

EVEN MCCAIN'S BROTHER TRASHES CAMPAIGN

Janice S — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 17:08:31 EDT

John McCain has few stronger supporters than his younger brother Joe, who recently got himself into hot water when he described the fiercely contested Northern Virginia suburbs as "communist country." But that remark pales beside Joe's latest blast, in a new email to friends, that criticizes the conduct of those piloting McCain's campaign as it sails into shoals and makes a desperate plea for the campaign to change course.

It's only the latest attack on the leadership of the campaign from McCain supporters (and follows closely on Bill Kristol's column in Monday's New York Times calling on McCain to fire his campaign). But it's the first from a member of McCain's family, someone who has been actively campaigning on the candidate's behalf.

Joe McCain, portraying himself as a sailor ringing a warning bell, describes the campaign team "poring over plans and maps and high-minded thoughts" while his brother's presidential ship steams toward treacherous waters.

Joe is particularly critical of top campaign officials (unnamed) who "so tightly 'control the message'" that they have cut the press off from those who know the candidate best (presumably including his brother). Joe McCain, who notes that he once was a reporter and has worked in campaign press shops, calls these news-management efforts "counter-intuitive, counter-experiential, and counter-productive."

Joe goes on to say that the decision to clamp down on press contact with intimates of the Arizona senator is "causing gangrene. It has gradually bled away all the good will that this great man had from the press, for he alone among politicians would talk to them openly, without finesse, without guile."

Reporters, he notes, once returned the affection "regardless of their political lean . . . they loved him nonetheless."

Joe--who did not respond immediately to a request for further comment--urges the campaign to allow him and others to talk to reporters about "the John McCain we know. Some reporters will get it wrong, most will not get it perfectly, but almost all will appreciate the reopening of the gates of information and reward us for it."

Joe says he and others "were muzzled by those (running the campaign) without the understanding that you cannot control the media by keeping them from information, but you can lose all their good will."

Joe urges his brother's campaign to "Let John McCain be John McCain, a Great Warrior and Leader of Men and Women . . . "

He also pleads with the campaign's top managers to "let us talk to these reporters and tell them of the John McCain we know. Some reporters will get it wrong, most will not get it perfectly, but almost all will appreciate the reopening of the gates of information and reward us for it."

Joe McCain's plea is an echo of Kristol's call for McCain to become an "open and accessible candidate" again. "Provide total media accessibility on their campaign planes and buses. Kick most of the aides off and send them out to swing states to work for the state coordinators on getting voters to the polls," he wrote.

No immediate reaction from the McCain camp to Joe's missive.

Below is a copy of the entire email--

Great article continued... Posted on the Huffington Post

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/10/let_john_mccain_be_john_mccain.html

Palin: "I've Got Nothing To Lose" In Attacking Obama

Janice S — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 17:04:14 EDT

In an interview with conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin explained her reasoning in going on the attack against Barack Obama. Asked why she was more "forceful" than her running mate, she said: "Rush, I've got nothing to lose in this and I think America's got everything to gain by understanding the differences, the contrasts here between Obama and McCain."

Palin also argued that the media wants her to "sit down and shut up," before making an unprompted assault on Obama and ACORN.

Limbaugh: "The media is covering up for him. That is why there's so much admiration for you. The New York Times said you were a great speaker....your forcefulness and your opinions are driving away moderates. This is just an attempt to get you to stop."

Palin: "Well, yes, I guess that message is they do want me to sit down and shut up, but that's not gonna happen. I care too much about this great country. ... Speaking of some of those associations...lets talk quickly about ACORN and the unconscionable situation that we are facing right now with voter fraud, given the ties between Obama and ACORN and the money his campaign has sent them...Obama has a responsibility to reign in ACORN and prove that he is willing to fight voter fraud....for shame if the mainstream media were to cover this one up."

Asked if she had a political career beyond this election, Palin said, "That's a good question. No, because I am thinking about November 4th, and I am just so absolutely passionate about the job that we have in front of us from now to November 4th."

WATCH: Conservative Columnist Says White House Officials Want Palin Off Ticket

Janice S — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 17:02:24 EDT

Parker: White House Officials Agree That Palin Should Be Off GOP Ticket»

Last month, conservative columnist Kathleen Parker wrote a scathing column saying that Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) is “way out of her league” as the GOP’s vice presidential candidate and called on the Alaska governor to “bow out” of the race in order to “save McCain, her party, and the country she loves.”

Parker has subsequently noted angry responses from conservatives around the country. “To the GOP base, predictably, I’m a traitor,” Parker wrote.

Last night on the Colbert Report, Parker reiterated her belief that Palin is not qualified for the GOP ticket, but she also revealed that some White House officials have told her that they secretly agree:

COLBERT: Now but you said you got emails from people in the White House who secretively –

PARKER: Did I say that?

COLBERT: Yes you did. You said you secretly got emails from people in the White House but you wouldn’t name who they were, who said that they agreed with you.

PARKER: That’s correct.

Indeed, Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) choice of Palin as his running mate has stirred the conservative establishment. New York Times columnist David Brooks has said that Palin is “a fatal cancer” on the GOP and said he prefers someone “who’s read a few more books.”

After calling the race “over” in response to Palin’s selection, Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan has offered only tepid praise of Palin, saying she mainly shows a “great and natural competence about the show business of politics.”

Responding to Palin’s critics on the right, McCain said, “Now if there’s a Georgetown cocktail party person who quote calls himself a conservative and doesn’t like her, good luck, good luck, fine.”

tBush-Supporter Dennis Hopper: "I Pray" Obama Wins

Janice S — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 15:53:35 EDT

One of Hollywood's few Republicans has switched his vote. Dennis Hopper, 72, told reporters in France that he's praying for an Obama victory, despite decades as a Bush supporter.

"I voted for Bush, father and son, but this time I'll vote for Obama," he told journalists at the opening of a show on his life and work.

"I was the first person in my family to have been Republican," he added. "For most of my life I wasn't on the left."

"I pray God, Barack Obama is elected," he said, calling the current administration's many "lies."

Hopper stars in "An American Carol," a conservative comedy that spoofed Michael Moore and last donated money, in 2004, the RNC.

French Culture minister Christine Albanel also named Dennis Hopper as Commander of the 'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres' medal on Monday night.

Palin And The Alaska Independence Party - Video

Janice S — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 15:46:16 EDT

The Alaska Independence Party calls itself the third largest organization in the United States. Its platform calls for the defense of "states rights," to "seek the complete repatriation of the public lands, held by the federal government, to the state and people of Alaska in conformance with Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17, of the federal constitution."

Basically, the AIP wants a vote on secession. According to the organizations' website. "[T]hough it is widely thought to be a secessionist movement, the Party makes great effort to emphasize that its primary goal is merely a vote on secession, something that Party advocates say Alaskans were denied during the founding of the state."

The AIP says that Gov. Sarah Palin used to be a member of the party. Earlier this year, Palin recorded a welcoming address to the AIP's convention

Continued below with videos of her.....

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

EXCLUSIVE... MCCAIN'S TRANSITION CHIEF AIDED SADDAM HUSSEIN

Janice S — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 15:40:58 EDT

William Timmons, the Washington lobbyist who John McCain has named to head his presidential transition team, aided an influence effort on behalf of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to ease international sanctions against his regime.

The two lobbyists who Timmons worked closely with over a five year period on the lobbying campaign later either pleaded guilty to or were convicted of federal criminal charges that they had acted as unregistered agents of Saddam Hussein's government.

During the same period beginning in 1992, Timmons worked closely with the two lobbyists, Samir Vincent and Tongsun Park, on a previously unreported prospective deal with the Iraqis in which they hoped to be awarded a contract to purchase and resell Iraqi oil. Timmons, Vincent, and Park stood to share at least $45 million if the business deal went through.

Timmons' activities occurred in the years following the first Gulf War, when Washington considered Iraq to be a rogue enemy state and a sponsor of terrorism. His dealings on behalf of the deceased Iraqi leader stand in stark contrast to the views his current employer held at the time.

John McCain strongly supported the 1991 military action against Iraq, and as recently as Sunday described Saddam Hussein as a one-time menace to the region who had "stated categorically that he would acquire weapons of mass destruction, and he would use them wherever he could."

Timmons declined to comment for this story. An office manager who works for him said that he has made it his practice during his public career to never speak to the press. Timmons previously told investigators that he did not know that either Vincent or Park were acting as unregistered agents of Iraq. He also insisted that he did not fully understand just how closely the two men were tied to Saddam's regime while they collaborated.

But testimony and records made public during Park's criminal trial, as well as other information uncovered during a United Nations investigation, suggest just the opposite. Virtually everything Timmons did while working on the lobbying campaign was within days conveyed by Vincent to either one or both of Saddam Hussein's top aides, Tariq Aziz and Nizar Hamdoon. Vincent also testified that he almost always relayed input from the Iraqi aides back to Timmons.

Talking points that Timmons produced for the lobbyists to help ease the sanctions, for example, were reviewed ahead of time by Aziz, Vincent testified in court. Proposals that Timmons himself circulated to U.S. officials as part of the effort were written with the assistance of the Iraqi officials, and were also sent ahead of time with Timmons' approval to Aziz, other records show.

Moreover, there was a major financial incentive at play for Timmons. The multi-million dollar oil deal that he was pursuing with the two other lobbyists would only be possible if their efforts to ease sanctions against Iraq were successful.

Vincent, an Iraqi-born American citizen with whom Timmons worked most closely, pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges in January 2005 that he had acted as an unregistered agent of Saddam Hussein's regime. Tongsun Park, the second lobbyist who Timmons worked closely with, was convicted by a federal jury in July 2006 on charges that he too violated the Foreign Agent Registration Act.

As part of a plea bargain agreement with the Justice Department, Vincent agreed to testify against Park and others in exchange for a reduced prison sentence. He was the government's chief witness against Park during Park's trial. Park was sentenced to five years in prison after his conviction.

A U.N commission headed by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker conducted an exhaustive investigation of the oil-for-food program, in which various individuals were found to have paid illegal kickbacks to Saddam Hussein. The findings of the Volcker Commission detail the roles of Vincent, Park and Timmons in trying to ease the sanctions.

* * * * *

Timmons testified that he first introduced Vincent to Tongsun Park and encouraged him to hire Park to work on the deal.

At the time Timmons introduced the two men, Park's notorious background was well known:

In the 1970s, Park had admitted to making hundreds of thousands in payments and illegal campaign contributions to U.S. congressmen on behalf of the South Korean government. Park was indicted on 36 counts by a federal grand jury, but fled to South Korea before he could face trial. All of the charges were later dismissed in exchange for Park providing information about which public officials received funds from the South Korean government.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, not long after Timmons suggested that Vincent hire Park to assist their influence, lobbying, and back-channel diplomatic efforts on behalf of Saddam Hussein's government, much of that effort became increasingly bizarre, corrupt, and - on occasion - illegal.

Vincent testified that Park covertly received millions of dollars from Saddam's government that was supposed to be used to bribe then-U.N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali to ease international sanctions against Iraq. But both men simply pocketed the money, according to Vincent. (There is no evidence that Boutros Ghali even knew of Iraq's intention to bribe him.)

Investigations by the Justice Department and the Volcker commission disclosed that Park also served as the middleman for a million dollar payment that investigators believed was a bribe for another senior United Nations official. That official in fact admitted receiving the money from Park, but said he did not know that the funds originated with Saddam's regime.

Timmons told federal investigators that he was unaware of these particular activities, and investigators were unable to uncover any evidence to contradict that claim.

Timmons also claimed that he was motivated to push forward with the lobbying campaign with Vincent and Park not only to assist Saddam's regime but also because he believed that his actions would serve U.S. interests, that they would help the people of Iraq obtain needed medicine and food being denied them by sanctions, and would serve to facilitate a rapprochement of relations between Hussein and the U.S. that would be beneficial to both countries.

But there was a financial incentive in play as well. During the same period, Vincent was hard at work obtaining contracts with Iraq to purchase and resell Iraqi oil allowed under international sanctions; Timmons would have stood to benefit financially from those contracts.

Timmons claimed to investigators that any contracts offered to him, Vincent, and Park would be awarded solely on merit, and had nothing to do with their lobbying efforts.

But Vincent told investigators that their work clearly gave them an inside track. And in other instances, in which Timmons was not involved, Vincent profited from lucrative oil-for-food contracts awarded by Iraq as compensation for his effort to buy influence in the U.S. and at the U.N. for Saddam's regime.

Continued...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/14/mccain-transition-chief-a_n_134595.html

IMPORTANT

Janice S — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 14:08:42 EDT

John McCain brought up three things yesterday he may challenge Obama with in the debate. I hope Obama is ready with a clear answer. 1. Why did Obama change his mind on public financing when he told McCain publically he would accept it. 2. McCain said Obama would put a fine on employers regarding insurance and wants to know the exact amount of the fines. 3. He wants Obama to explain his relationship with Ayers. These will come up in the debate.

IMPORTANT.......

Janice S — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 05:39:44 EDT

John McCain brought up three things yesterday he may challenge Obama with in the debate. I hope Obama is ready with a clear answer.

1. Why did Obama change his mind on public financing when he told McCain publically he would accept it.

2. McCain said Obama would put a fine on employers regarding insurance and wants to know the exact amount of the fines.

3. He wants Obama to explain his relationship with Ayers.

These will come up in the debate.

Obama's Cabinet

Janice S — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 21:35:15 EDT

When will Obama start naming his cabinet, like Secretary of State and the rest?

Sarah and Todd's Tax Returns

Janice S — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 18:38:32 EDT

The tax returns look a little fishy.

Will the Obama camp and IRS check them out?

Palin's Tax Return Mystery: Where Are The Per Diems?

Janice S — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 19:40:27 EDT

What about the thousands of big prize money Todd made winning his races.....

In typical news-dump fashion, the McCain campaign put out the last two years of Sarah Palin's tax returns late Friday afternoon.

The information contained a few interesting revelations in what was, otherwise, a fairly mundane filing. Palin, it appears, did not pay taxes on the more than $60,000 of travel reimbursements that she and her family members reportedly billed the state during her 18 months as governor. There is a fairly wonky debate over whether she should have been charged for these trips or whether it was accounted for in her salary. John Bogdanski, a tax professor at the Lewis and Clark Law School, told the Huffington Post's Seth Colter Walls that they did qualify as taxable income.

It does not appear that such deductions would have been allowable for any amounts attributable to travel by her husband and children. Section 274(m)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code strictly forbids deductions for bringing spouses and dependents along on business travel unless the spouses and dependents (a) are employees of the taxpayer (here, the taxpayer is the governor), (b) are traveling for a bona fide business purpose, and (c) would otherwise be entitled to deduct the travel on their own tax returns. Unless Palin's spouse and kids are also her employees and she can show that they were away on their own businesses, their expenses would not be deductible by the governor. And therefore she cannot exclude from income any per diems attributable to any of them. (By the way, since she's the employee, the income would be required to be reported on her own return, not her kids'.)

Overall, the Palins reported a gross income of $127,869 in 2006, and paid taxes amounting to $11,944 (an effective rate of 9.3 percent). In 2007, the family reported earning a gross income of $166,080 ($107,987.00 of which came from Gov. Palin) and paid taxes totaling $24,738, for a rate of 14.9 percent.

But there is some discrepancy with the latter number. According to an accompanying 2007 personal financial disclosure report, Palin's "income" as governor of Alaska was $196,531.50, well above the $107,987.00 that was noted on her W2 form from that same year. An email was sent to the McCain campaign for clarification. And this story will be updated should aides reply.

Palin's personal financial disclosure form also showed a moderate amount of assets. The family has ownership or interest in several properties, including tracts on several Alaska fishing spots. And Todd made between $50,000 and $100,000 from British Petroleum's retirement plan.

Palin's Tax Return Mystery: Where Are The Per Diems?

Janice S — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 19:36:20 EDT

Also, what about the thousands of dollars Todd received as big prize money for his racing.

Palin's Tax Return Mystery: Where Are The Per Diems?

In typical news-dump fashion, the McCain campaign put out the last two years of Sarah Palin's tax returns late Friday afternoon.

Palin's Taxes are in......

Janice S — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:28:42 EDT

Why were her taxes prepared in September 2008. Isn't that a little late?

Also, she received income for living in her home the whole year instead of living at the governors mansion.

I read where they have a fishing business and Todd has income too.

I also read they earn about $250,000 together, have 5 properties, two boats and a plane. Did Todd receive money when he survied land for Alaska?

These forms do not make sense.

http://www.johnmccain.com/palinfinancial/

I FOUND THE PHONE NUMBER

Janice S — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 17:57:52 EDT

Duh, I am so stupid, I looked at my husbands last call and there is the number

312-348-3696... I called and no one answered, it is a Chicago area

I just received a telephone call from someone who said he was from the Obama campaign. He said he noticed I made a contribution back in December. I told him I made several donations. He said he just saw one. Anyway, he said for financial reasons, finance comittee needed to verify I was a US Citizen. I said yes. He said he needed my passport number and I should email it to him. I said no.

Who called me?

STRANGE CALL FROM OBAMA CAMPAIGN

Janice S — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 17:25:06 EDT

Who called me?

Obama and Biden In Virginia

Janice S — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 13:38:59 EDT

Does anyone have a link that shows the rally in Virginia yesterday? I missed the whole thing and would love to hear both speak as it rained..... Yes We Can, 26,000 attendees.

NY TIMES: MCCAIN'S GAMBLING PROBLEM

Janice S — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 21:45:51 EDT

McCain and Team Have Many Ties to Gambling Industry

Over 40 Current Campaign Fundraisers, Top Advisers Tied To Gambling Industry... Senior Aides Worried McCain Gambled Too Much... Casino Lobbyists In McCain's Inner Circle Pushed Abramoff Probe To Pick Off Clients, Settle Scores

Senator John McCain was on a roll. In a room reserved for high-stakes gamblers at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut, he tossed $100 chips around a hot craps table. When the marathon session ended around 2:30 a.m., the Arizona senator and his entourage emerged with thousands of dollars in winnings.

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

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

As a two-time chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee, Mr. McCain has done more than any other member of Congress to shape the laws governing America’s casinos, helping to transform the once-sleepy Indian gambling business into a $26-billion-a-year behemoth with 423 casinos across the country. He has won praise as a champion of economic development and self-governance on reservations.

“One of the founding fathers of Indian gaming” is what Steven Light, a University of North Dakota professor and a leading Indian gambling expert, called Mr. McCain.

As factions of the ferociously competitive gambling industry have vied for an edge, they have found it advantageous to cultivate a relationship with Mr. McCain or hire someone who has one, according to an examination based on more than 70 interviews and thousands of pages of documents.

Mr. McCain portrays himself as a Washington maverick unswayed by special interests, referring recently to lobbyists as “birds of prey.” Yet in his current campaign, more than 40 fund-raisers and top advisers have lobbied or worked for an array of gambling interests — including tribal and Las Vegas casinos, lottery companies and online poker purveyors.

When rules being considered by Congress threatened a California tribe’s planned casino in 2005, Mr. McCain helped spare the tribe. Its lobbyist, who had no prior experience in the gambling industry, had a nearly 20-year friendship with Mr. McCain.

In Connecticut that year, when a tribe was looking to open the state’s third casino, staff members on the Indian Affairs Committee provided guidance to lobbyists representing those fighting the casino, e-mail messages and interviews show. The proposed casino, which would have cut into the Pequots’ market share, was opposed by Mr. McCain’s colleagues in Connecticut.

Mr. McCain declined to be interviewed. In written answers to questions, his campaign staff said he was “justifiably proud” of his record on regulating Indian gambling. “Senator McCain has taken positions on policy issues because he believed they are in the public interest,” the campaign said.

Mr. McCain’s spokesman, Tucker Bounds, would not discuss the senator’s night of gambling at Foxwoods, saying: “Your paper has repeatedly attempted to insinuate impropriety on the part of Senator McCain where none exists — and it reveals that your publication is desperately willing to gamble away what little credibility it still has.”

Over his career, Mr. McCain has taken on special interests, like big tobacco, and angered the capital’s powerbrokers by promoting campaign finance reform and pushing to limit gifts that lobbyists can shower on lawmakers. On occasion, he has crossed the gambling industry on issues like regulating slot machines.

Perhaps no episode burnished Mr. McCain’s image as a reformer more than his stewardship three years ago of the Congressional investigation into Jack Abramoff, the disgraced Republican Indian gambling lobbyist who became a national symbol of the pay-to-play culture in Washington. The senator’s leadership during the scandal set the stage for the most sweeping overhaul of lobbying laws since Watergate.

“I’ve fought lobbyists who stole from Indian tribes,” the senator said in his speech accepting the Republican presidential nomination this month.

But interviews and records show that lobbyists and political operatives in Mr. McCain’s inner circle played a behind-the-scenes role in bringing Mr. Abramoff’s misdeeds to Mr. McCain’s attention — and then cashed in on the resulting investigation. The senator’s longtime chief political strategist, for example, was paid $100,000 over four months as a consultant to one tribe caught up in the inquiry, records show.

Mr. McCain’s campaign said the senator acted solely to protect American Indians, even though the inquiry posed “grave risk to his political interests.”

As public opposition to tribal casinos has grown in recent years, Mr. McCain has distanced himself from Indian gambling, Congressional and American Indian officials said.

But he has rarely wavered in his loyalty to Las Vegas, where he counts casino executives among his close friends and most prolific fund-raisers. “Beyond just his support for gaming, Nevada supports John McCain because he’s one of us, a Westerner at heart,” said Sig Rogich, a Nevada Republican kingmaker who raised nearly $2 million for Mr. McCain at an event at his home in June.

Only six members of Congress have received more money from the gambling industry than Mr. McCain, and five hail from the casino hubs of Nevada and New Jersey, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics dating back to 1989. In the presidential race, Senator Barack Obama has also received money from the industry; Mr. McCain has raised almost twice as much.

In May 2007, as Mr. McCain’s presidential bid was floundering, he spent a weekend at the MGM Grand on the Las Vegas strip. A fund-raiser hosted by J. Terrence Lanni, the casino’s top executive and a longtime friend of the senator, raised $400,000 for his campaign. Afterward, Mr. McCain attended a boxing match and hit the craps tables.

For much of his adult life, Mr. McCain has gambled as often as once a month, friends and associates said, traveling to Las Vegas for weekend betting marathons. Former senior campaign officials said they worried about Mr. McCain’s patronage of casinos, given the power he wields over the industry. The officials, like others interviewed for this article, spoke on condition of anonymity.

“We were always concerned about appearances,” one former official said. “If you go around saying that appearances matter, then they matter.”

The former official said he would tell Mr. McCain: “Do we really have to go to a casino? I don’t think it’s a good idea. The base doesn’t like it. It doesn’t look good. And good things don’t happen in casinos at midnight.”

“You worry too much,” Mr. McCain would respond, the official said.

A Record of Support

In one of their last conversations, Representative Morris K. Udall, Arizona’s powerful Democrat, whose devotion to American Indian causes was legendary, implored his friend Mr. McCain to carry on his legacy.

“Don’t forget the Indians,” Mr. Udall, who died in 1998, told Mr. McCain in a directive that the senator has recounted to others.

More than a decade earlier, Mr. Udall had persuaded Mr. McCain to join the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. Mr. McCain, whose home state has the third-highest Indian population, eloquently decried the “grinding poverty” that gripped many reservations.

The two men helped write the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 after the Supreme Court found that states had virtually no right to control wagering on reservations. The legislation provided a framework for the oversight and growth of Indian casinos: In 1988, Indian gambling represented less than 1 percent of the nation’s gambling revenues; today it captures more than one third.

On the Senate floor after the bill’s passage, Mr. McCain said he personally opposed Indian gambling, but when impoverished communities “are faced with only one option for economic development, and that is to set up gambling on their reservations, then I cannot disapprove.”

In 1994, Mr. McCain pushed an amendment that enabled dozens of additional tribes to win federal recognition and open casinos. And in 1998, Mr. McCain fought a Senate effort to rein in the boom.

He also voted twice in the last decade to give casinos tax breaks estimated to cost the government more than $326 million over a dozen years.

The first tax break benefited the industry in Las Vegas, one of a number of ways Mr. McCain has helped nontribal casinos. Mr. Lanni, the MGM Mirage chief executive, said that an unsuccessful bid by the senator to ban wagering on college sports in Nevada was the only time he could recall Mr. McCain opposing Las Vegas. “I can’t think of any other issue,” Mr. Lanni said.

The second tax break helped tribal casinos like Foxwoods and was pushed by Scott Reed, the Pequots’ lobbyist.

Mr. McCain had gotten to know Mr. Reed during Senator Bob Dole’s 1996 presidential campaign, which Mr. Reed managed. Four years later, when Mr. McCain ran for president, Mr. Reed recommended he hire his close friend and protégé, Rick Davis, to manage that campaign.

During his 2000 primary race against George W. Bush, Mr. McCain promoted his record of helping Indian Country, telling reporters on a campaign swing that he had provided critical support to “the Pequot, now the proud owners of the largest casino in the world.”

But Mr. McCain’s record on Indian gambling was fast becoming a difficult issue for him in the primary. Bush supporters like Gov. John Engler of Michigan lambasted Mr. McCain for his “close ties to Indian gambling.”

A decade after Mr. McCain co-authored the Indian gambling act, the political tides had turned. Tribal casinos, which were growing at a blazing pace, had become increasingly unpopular around the country for reasons as varied as morality and traffic.

Then came the biggest lobbying scandal to shake Washington.

Continued..

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/28/us/politics/28gambling-web.html?hp=&pagewanted=all

Did You Notice?

Janice S — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 02:07:41 EDT

Sarah is done and the VP debates will finish her off.

The news media is not reporting on her anymore unless it is bad.

Her 15 minutes of fame is gone.

Bye bye, Sarah....

Good Judgement, McCain

Debate Reviews: OBAMA WON

Janice S — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 00:08:18 EDT

Front page of Huffington.................Yes We Can

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/politics/

Sarah vs Biden

Janice S — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 23:17:21 EDT

Boy, this debate will put the icing on the cake for McCain.

I bet he finds some way to cancel it... Maybe Sarah will come up sick...

A Tie

Janice S — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 22:52:37 EDT

Most people on CNN are saying it is a tie.

That is ok. McCain needed to win and he didn't.

Hurry

Janice S — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 22:46:19 EDT

Vote for Obama, McCain is 15,000 points ahead of Obama...

http://www.drudgereport.com/

McCain Not Wearing Flag Pin At Debate

Janice S — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 22:18:40 EDT

Obama is....................Yes We Can

Obama Is Winning The Debate

Janice S — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 22:00:22 EDT

Obama is answering questions, McCain is talking about talking to people on the campaign trail, wearing a bracelet...

Obama is doing great............................

Can't Wait.... Yes We Can

Janice S — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 20:43:58 EDT

30 MINUTES AWAY DEBATE UPDATES: Focus On Foreign Policy... Reporters: McCain Camp Atmosphere "Utter Confusion"... Obama Lowers Expectations... Aide: McCain Prepped For Several Hours Last Night... National Review: "Everyone At Ole Miss Now Hates" McCain...

Report: McCain Aides Complain That Palin Is "Clueless"

Janice S — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 20:40:47 EDT

Radio talk show host Ed Schultz reports:

Capitol Hill sources are telling me that senior McCain people are more than concerned about Palin. The campaign has held a mock debate and a mock press conference; both are being described as "disastrous." One senior McCain aide was quoted as saying, "What are we going to do?" The McCain people want to move this first debate to some later, undetermined date, possibly never. People on the inside are saying the Alaska Governor is "clueless."

On Friday, conservative columnist Kathleen Parker said that after seeing Palin in interviews, she thinks the vice presidential nominee should drop out.

Obama Camp: It's A Debate About Judgment

Janice S — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 20:36:56 EDT

John McCain may think he's already won the debate, and Jim Lehrer may ask a lot of questions about the economy, but as this Obama campaign memo shows, the Obama team isn't shying away from questions over foreign policy or national security.

As Obama has consistently argued, it's a question of judgment -- not a question of experience.

Although this memo doesn't focus on temperament, I think that's the other key contrast in this debate: Obama's steady-hand versus McCain's erratic, gambling nature.

TO: Interested Parties
FR: The Obama Campaign
RE: Obama's Good Judgment Proven Right; McCain's Bad Judgment Proven Wrong
DA: September 26, 2008
On the biggest foreign policy questions of the last 8 years, Barack Obama has made the right judgment, and John McCain sided with George Bush in making the wrong one. Those Bush-McCain judgments have been a disaster for our security and standing, leading to the most catastrophic foreign policy record in generations. As time has proven Obama right and McCain wrong, events have repeatedly forced the Bush Administration in the direction of Obama. In some cases, McCain has shifted his positions; in others, he has stubbornly clung to his failed policies. So in John McCain, the American people will get four more years of the worst parts of the Bush foreign policy. With Barack Obama, we will get change, and judgment we can trust.
Iraq
Judgment: In 2002, Obama opposed going to war in Iraq. He warned of an "occupation of undetermined length, with undetermined costs, and undetermined consequences." McCain was George Bush's biggest cheerleader for war, and said we'd be "greeted as liberators." Now, we've spent over five years, lost over 4,000 lives, and spent nearly a trillion dollars fighting a war against a country that had no WMD, and nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks. Obama was right about Iraq. McCain was wrong.
Plans: Obama has consistently called for a timetable to responsibly remove our combat brigades from Iraq, and to succeed by transitioning control to the sovereign Iraqi government. McCain called any timetable "surrender." The Iraqi Prime Minister then endorsed Obama's timetable, forcing the Bush Administration to agree to a "time horizon," and leaving McCain alone in his stubborn refusal to end this war. Obama has a plan to succeed in Iraq and to end the war. McCain has a plan for staying.

Afghanistan
Judgment: For years, Obama has called for a focus on Afghanistan, which is the central front in the war on terror. McCain said we could "muddle through" in Afghanistan, and said in 2005 that we'd "already succeeded" in Afghanistan. Now, seven years after 9/11, Afghanistan is sliding into deeper violence and chaos. Obama was right about Afghanistan. McCain was wrong.
Plans: Obama called over a year ago for at least 2 combat brigades, more training for Afghan security forces, and increased non-military assistance. McCain followed Obama's call for more troops by a year, but couldn't say how many troops or how we could get them without ending the war in Iraq. The Bush Administration - responding to military commanders - announced a modest plan to shift troops from Iraq to Afghanistan that doesn't go far enough. Obama has led on Afghanistan with a plan to win. McCain has followed and has no plan to win.
Osama bin Laden / al Qaeda
Judgment: Obama said in 2002 that we should "finish the fight with bin Laden" instead of shifting our focus to Iraq. McCain said in 2002 that catching bin Laden was not that important. Now, bin Laden is still on the loose. Obama was right about bin Laden, McCain was wrong.
Plans: After al Qaeda established a safe-haven on the Afghan-Pakistani border, Obama said last August that we should take out high level terrorist targets like bin Laden if we have actionable intelligence about their whereabouts, and Pakistan cannot or will not act. McCain called that position "naïve." Now, as al Qaeda has built up its sanctuary and launched more attacks, the Bush Administration has been forced by events to embrace the Obama position. McCain stands alone in his stubborn refusal to take out bin Laden if he is in Pakistan. Obama will take out bin Laden if we have him in our sights, McCain won't.
Iran
Judgment: Obama has consistently said that we must use all tools of American power - including tough, direct American diplomacy - to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. McCain supported the Bush policy of not talking to Iran, and saber rattling in Washington. Now, after 8 years of Bush-McCain policy, Iran has advanced its nuclear program, increased its influence in the region, continued its support for terror, elected Mahmoud Ahmadinejad President, and Israel is more endangered. Obama was right about Iran, McCain was wrong.
Plans: Obama's call for pressure on Iran through direct diplomacy without preconditions has been endorsed by five Secretaries of State - including Republicans Colin Powell, Henry Kissinger, and James Baker. Even the Bush Administration relented, and sent a high-ranking diplomat to participate in direct talks with Iran and our European allies. McCain stands alone in unconditionally ruling out diplomacy. Obama will use the strength of American diplomacy to pressure Iran, McCain offers no alternative to more of the same or a war with Iran
Georgia
Judgment: Obama called for a solution to the crises in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and said last spring that we need intensive international engagement to preserve Georgia's territorial integrity. McCain has belligerently called for Russia's expulsion from the G-8, breaking with our European allies, and antagonizing Russia. Obama was right, McCain was wrong.
Plans: Both Obama and McCain called from the outset of the conflict in Georgia for Georgia's territorial integrity to be respected. Obama and Joe Biden proposed $1 billion in humanitarian assistance for the people of Georgia, and McCain offered belligerent rhetoric. The Bush Administration has embraced the Obama-Biden proposal. Obama has a plan to stand with Georgia. McCain has empty tough talk and dangerous saber rattling.
Alliances and NATO
Judgment: Obama supports strong alliances to advance American interest, including a greater NATO contribution to Afghanistan. McCain has marched in lockstep with the Bush rhetoric, with the kind of cowboy bluster that has shredded our alliances and alienated us in the world. In the run-up to the Iraq War, he called key European allies "vacuous and posturing" even as they had troops serving alongside us in Afghanistan. Obama is respected around the world, McCain's approach has squandered our standing.
Plans: Obama will meet with our NATO ally Spain, which currently has troops serving in Afghanistan. Secretary Rice has described our relations with the Zapatero government as "warm." McCain refuses to meet with the Prime Minster of Spain. Obama will restore relations with our allies and seek greater contributions to the mission in Afghanistan. McCain won't even meet with a NATO ally.

Is McCain Afraid Of Palin?

Janice S — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 20:32:00 EDT

"PATHETIC"
McCain Camp Won't Let Palin Spin Debate http://www.huffingtonpost.com/politics/

McCain and Palin

Janice S — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 20:24:31 EDT

McCain knows Sarah will crash at the VP debate.

If McCain does not come out tonight as the real victor, not a tie, he will be left with little respect and Sarah.

Can he have her step down and bring in a new VP choice to try to strengthen his ticket or is it too late?

Reformer" Palin Accepted $25,000 In Gifts As Governor

Janice S — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 07:51:25 EDT

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who has made a crackdown on gift-giving to state officials a centerpiece of her ethics reform agenda, has accepted gifts valued at $25,367 from industry executives, municipalities and a cultural center whose board includes officials from some of the largest mining interests in the state, a review of state records shows.

The 41 gifts Palin accepted during her 20 months as governor include honorific tributes, expensive artwork and free travel for a family member. They also include more than $2,500 in personal items from Calista, a large Alaska native corporation with a variety of pending state regulatory and budgetary issues, and a gold-nugget pin valued at $1,200 from the city of Nome, which lobbies on municipal, local and capital budget matters, documents show.

About a quarter of the entities bestowing gifts on the governor are represented by one of Alaska's most influential mining lobbyists, who said in an interview that she was not involved in the tributes. The lobbyist, Wendy Chamberlain, has a relationship with the governor's family through the friendship of their teenage daughters.

On forms disclosing the gifts, Palin, who is the Republican vice presidential nominee, routinely checked "no" when asked whether she was in a position to "take official action that may affect the person who gave me the gift," and a spokeswoman for Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign said the gifts had no undue influence on her.

In response to e-mailed questions, Meghan Stapleton, who is based in Alaska for the McCain-Palin campaign, wrote: "Throughout her career Governor Palin has stood for the highest standards of ethics. She spearheaded new ethics reforms in Alaska and took on her own party and entrenched interests to return Alaska's government to its people."

Records show that 23 of the gifts were offered during Palin's early months in office, when she was pushing the legislature to address a state corruption scandal by passing a package of ethics reforms. She accepted 18 gifts after the law passed in July 2007. Among other provisions, the law forbade executive branch officials from taking gifts from lobbyists or from interests with pending state business.

Gift rules for elected officials vary among states, with some such as Wisconsin banning all gifts and others with no applicable rules other than anti-bribery statutes. When former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee (R) ran for president this year, he faced questions about his acceptance of more than $150,000 in gifts during a decade in office.

The Alaska attorney general's office contends that gifts to a governor must be evaluated on "a case-by-case basis," Assistant Attorney General Judy Bockman said. Some are offered as "a courtesy," she said, to newly elected officials and are not considered an ethical issue.

Palin has noted that passage of the tough ethics law was a proud accomplishment. She took office amid a widespread federal investigation of influence-peddling by Veco, a now-defunct oil pipeline services and construction company, that had led to indictments of prominent state legislators and eventually to charges against Ted Stevens, the state's senior Republican senator, who is now on trial in Washington.

Palin forwarded her ethics proposals to the legislature in January 2007, her first month in office. That month, she accepted three gifts from Calista's chief executive, Matthew Nicolai: a $2,200 ivory puffin mask, a woven grass fan worth $300 and a $150 ivory necklace. Nicolai, who did not return phone calls, runs the large corporation, which profits from a multibillion-dollar gold-mining operation on its land.

Palin, who holds significant sway over budgetary issues affecting cities, also accepted for "personal use" the gold-nugget pin from Nome. Mayor Denise Michels said the memento was meant to remind the governor that "Nome is a historic mining community." Palin approved about $6 million in funding this year for a public safety building in the city. "Anything our state can do to help us in capital projects, we're very grateful," Michels said.

Palin has also reported as gifts two fact-finding trips that mining companies sponsored for her husband, Todd. The trips were among several sponsored by mining companies for state officials.

Continued...............http://www.huffingtonpost.com/politics/

Is It Too Late

Janice S — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:00:23 EDT

It is possible to replace McCain and Sarah.

The Republicans have to know they are both losers and will definately lose the race.

Is there a way they can choose a new candidate? Is it legal?

The VP Debate

Janice S — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 23:53:00 EDT

After hearing Sarah with Katie interview, Biden needs to do nothing at the debates. Just smile and let her talk on and on. Anything he says will be intellitual and people will notice that.

Biden does not need to push her, insult her or challenge her. He has it made. He can answer the questions right. I hope he has all his facts backed up.

Palin is a riot.... she talks like a fifth grader on topics. "Well, Kathie, you know....."

"I live next to Russia and can see Putin's planes fly overhead."

" I don't know McCains record, but I will get back to you".

Can you believe this woman?

Palin Gets Extra Time For Financial Disclosure

Janice S — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 12:45:23 EDT

WASHINGTON — Sarah Palin requested and received an extension of the deadline for revealing her personal finances, until the day after her only debate with Democrat Joe Biden.

The Republican vice presidential candidate received a four-day extension Thursday from the Federal Election Commission.

The federal financial disclosure report was initially due next Monday. Now, Palin has until Oct. 3, the day after her debate in St. Louis with Biden, the Democratic vice presidential nominee.

Earlier this month, Biden released a decade of personal financial records that showed the veteran U.S. senator from Delaware earned less than many of his congressional colleagues. For example, Biden and his wife, Jill, earned $319,853 in 2007. On Thursday, Biden submitted an updated report to the Federal Election Commission

Presidential, vice presidential and congressional candidates must all file ethics reports outlining their assets and liabilities. That includes such things as sources of income, real estate held for investment purposes, stocks and debt.

Trevor Potter, general counsel for the McCain-Palin campaign, told the FEC that the campaign initially thought it had until Oct. 4 to file the report, but then learned the FEC set an earlier due date.

"Most importantly, because Governor Palin has not previously run for federal office, it is clear to us that additional time is required to compile and prepare Governor Palin's financial information," Potter wrote. "As you are well aware, the Executive Branch financial disclosure form is vastly more complex than most state disclosure forms, and requires the assemblage of a quantity and level of detail far beyond that reported previously by the governor in Alaska and therefore readily available."

In granting the extension, the FEC said that if Palin requests still more time, the last possible due date would be Oct. 6.

Palin's federal financial disclosure report will provide the most complete look yet at her assets and liabilities.

For example, it will show whether she and her husband Todd hold any mortgages for real estate investments, and roughly how much any property held for investment purposes is worth. The financial reports that Sarah Palin filed as Alaska governor list property the couple held at that point, but not how much it was worth; how much, if any, profit they made on real estate sales; or how much, if any, mortgage debt they held.

Such information is a standard part of the personal financial disclosure reports that members of Congress, administration officials and federal candidates must file each year. The reports allow the public to see whether politicians may be receiving favorable financial treatment from people with issues before government or have any potential conflicts of interest. They also offer a glimpse of their ability to manage their personal finances.

The financial reports that Palin has filed in Alaska over the years show the Palins have often had several sources of income.

Last year, for example, Sarah Palin earned $125,000 as governor. Her husband took in $46,790 as a part-time oil production operator for BP Alaska in Prudhoe Bay, $46,265 commercial fishing for salmon from June to July in Bristol Bay, and $10,500 in Iron Dog snow machine race winnings.