Interior Alaskans For Obama

Organizing For America (OFA) in Alaska

Jonathan Teeters — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 20:20:21 EDT

Good afternoon,

I just wanted to get active again with my blog, and I wanted to find out if anyone out there is interested in helping me to learn what is going on in Alaska with Organizing For America. I am pretty sure there are things happening...

I am eager to get involved here again continuing all the great work that we accomplished together.

What's going on where you are?

Please leave me a comment, or send me an email to get.at.jonathan@gmail.com.

Talk to you soon!

Jonathan

Where to go from here?

akmk — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 23:02:30 EST

The question of the moment is where do we go from here? As Alaskans? As a nation? As my.barackobam.com participants?

For my part, I have updated my profile, dropped some groups, maintained some groups, and altered E-mail settings on some groups. Would like to continue to build alliances among Alaskans and others for a more healthy, just, peaceful, and sustainable planet, peoples, and all our relations.

We've built some invaluable alliances here and it will be interesting to see if this site remains active and influential in the future for building upon the movement of change and mutual support begun here.

What does everyone think about the best ways to move ahead from here? In Alaska and elsewhere?

In Memory of Paul Wilson

akmk — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 14:46:21 EDT

A beloved Tlingit elder in our rural community passed away this weekend. Paul Wilson, Kadashaan, embodied love, kindness, and compassion. He practiced his cultural traditions and always put his wife and family first.

Paul was a member of our Obama family. He came to the caucus on a cold, snowy evening last winter where with 77 folks (100 total) cast his primary vote for Obama and stated with a bit of awe. "All these people for Obama, I can't believe it."

There is a photo of Paul (that he gave me permission to post) illustrating the "Rural Alaskans for Obama" group on the my.barackobama.com site. In the photo, Paul is in his backyard stringing hooligan for the smokehouse. Hooligan (eulachon) are small smelt-like fish rich in healthy oil that return to many Alaskan rivers from their mostly ocean life for a few days each spring to renew their life cycles.

I chatted with Paul on the street just a week ago or so. He was still an Obama supporter, though his family and the local tribal community are not united in this. He also spoke of the place he loved above else, a beautiful valley above Skagway where he used to hunt goats. "When I win the lottery, we'll fly over there and get a picture of that place so I can look at it when my mind starts drifting away," he told me.

To have a look at Paul's photo and to join the "Rural Alaskans for Obama" group (rural Alaskans and anyone anywhere), here is the link.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/RuralAlaskansforObama

Paul, I hope your spirit can feel the love surrounding your spirit coming back to ya.

McCain's rage make him unfit to be President......Watch!

LuAnn in Indiana — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 09:51:41 EDT

Watch this and think if this man could talk to foreign leaders or make rational cool headed decisions. This is so scary. He could blow up and not work with anyone he did not like. OMG he even shoved a woman in the hallway and has called his wife the c word in public!

You have watched how hateful and condescending he has been towards Barack and even the media now. He is out and out lying and will do anything to win.We need this out there viral and let people see the REAL McCain.......not the kind of PRESIDENT we need in this time of crisis!

Watch the video and send it to friends: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAyK-enrF1g

LuAnn

Tell everyone including the media!

Troopergate - National Republican Party Should Let Alaska Solve Its Own Problems

Vicki from Gakona, AK — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 15:03:07 EDT

http://www.adn.com/troopergate/

This link with take you the the Anchorage Daily News Coverage of "Troopergate", the investigation into whether or not Gov. Palin abused her powers when she fired Walt Monegan, Public Safety Commissioner in Alaska.

Many Alaskans weren't that concerned about the investigation. It seemed odd that Monegan was fired seemingly out of the blue, but Governors make changes to staff, especially those appointed by a predecessor. There was a huge outcry in support of Monegan seemed to fade away - especially when his replacement appointed by Palin had to resign after two weeks because of sexual harassment charges filed against him while Chief of Police in Kenai, AK. Talk shifted from Monegan to questions about how could Palin's staff have missed such a glaring red flag. People I talked to thought that it was inappropriate of Palin to use her position to carry on a family feud but there didn't seem to be clear consensus about whether or not she had abused her power. The investigation undertaken by the legislature seemed like a good idea. Palin promised transparency, here you go.

Following the surprise announcement of Palin as McCain's running mate, Troopergate went from a bipartisan investigation with Palin promising to cooperate, into an all out attempt on the part of Alaska Republican Legislators, the Alaska Attorney General (who also serves as Gov. Palin's pleasure) and the McCain campaign to stone wall, if not block it entirely.

This about face on Palin's part and lack of cooperation by the Alaska Attorney General is a clear indication of what happens when an unknown Governor hits the big leagues and has to play ball with the big boys. I am incredulous whenever I hear her portray herself as one of the everyday, ordinary Americans with so much at stake in this election. She certainly has a lot at stake but it's her own political career. When she and McCain are defeated and she has to come home and go back to being a Govenor from a small state, I think people here will remember the stretched truths and misrepresentations of what has happened during her tenure.

We should know more in the next two days about troopergate. In the big picture, maybe it doesn't really matter if a VP candidate has this type of problem. But it is clearly within the big picture that Palin and McCain have tried to derail the investigation making her admiration of VP Cheney even more of a concern. That McCain has allowed this to happen shows that he is after all one of Washington's establishment and certainly no maverick, and is further evidence of his eratic, unpredicatble behaviour by choosing Palin as a running mate in the first place.

Enough of the hate and smears! Palin has skeletons of her own!

LuAnn in Indiana — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 15:18:07 EDT

McCain, Palin and the GOP want to talk about Bill Ayers and terrorists.......well it looks like they a Major problem. Please get this out there.

If Palin gets VP talk about anti American! She is stirring up hate wherever she goes. We have to say Enough!

This is not acceptable!

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2008/10/07/palins_unamerican/index.html

We don't not need hate and partisanship stirred up. Palin is stirring it and McCain is letting her run free with whatever she wants to say. This country needs to work together to get us out of this mess we are in. Barack is the only one who has the intelligence, knowledge, temperament and vision for that great future.Let's all help Barack and make sure all the slurs and hate stops!

Enough!

LuAnn

Gallup "Drills Down" To Younger Voters; A Generational Shift

Elstun — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:54:56 EDT

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- America's youngest voters are mindful of history and the impact on their own lives as they prepare to cast ballots on Nov. 4. Among 18- to 29-year-old registered voters surveyed for a USA Today/MTV/Gallup poll, 61% support the Obama-Biden ticket, versus 32% who prefer the McCain-Palin ticket, with Obama's voters being far more likely to be certain about their vote than McCain's.

Obama's strong appeal to younger voters is apparent in that he outperforms McCain by double digits on every single character dimension tested in the poll of more than 900 18-29 year olds nationwide, conducted by Gallup for USA Today and MTV Sept. 18-28, 2008. The 47-year-old Obama swamps 72-year-old McCain, 71% to 12%, on understanding the "problems of people your age" and even wins on what is a McCain strength among the broader electorate, being a "strong and decisive leader," 46% to 36%.

While only a minority (37%) of young adults have qualms about McCain's age, a majority (55%) do have concerns about his running mate Sarah Palin's qualifications to step in as president if necessary. In contrast, a majority are satisfied with both Obama's experience and running mate Joe Biden's qualifications. (The poll was conducted before the Oct. 2 vice presidential debate.)

Obama also beats McCain on several lighter dimensions tested in the poll. A majority of 18- to 29-year-olds would choose Obama over McCain as a teacher, boss, drinking buddy, or advisor. McCain's only appeal on this level with young adults appears to be his personal life story as young adults are more likely to be interested in reading McCain's private diary than Obama's. While such items may seem trivial, basic likeability can be a key indicator of a presidential candidate's ability to win votes.

When asked in an open-ended fashion to name the single most important issue affecting their vote for president this year, 18- to 29-year-old registered voters most often cite the economy (30%), followed by the war in Iraq (13%), healthcare (5%), energy and gas prices (4%), and international issues (4%). These issues are, in a broad sense, little different from those listed by all voters, regardless of age. Asked which candidate they think would do a better job on their top-priority issue, 58% say Obama versus 27% who say McCain, again echoing their basic candidate choice.

On the Outcome

The poll results make it clear that young Americans perceive that the outcome of the election really does matter, both to the country and to their own lives. Nearly-two thirds (64%) of 18- to 29-year-olds surveyed say they have already given the election a lot of thought. Nearly half (44%) consider this election to be the most important of the last 50 years, and another 37% consider it more important than other elections.

When asked about the consequences of the two possible election outcomes, 84% say an Obama victory would have a great deal (47%) or moderate amount (37%) of impact on their lives and 72% say the same about McCain (36% great deal, 36% moderate amount).

Going a step further, the survey asked those who said an Obama or McCain victory would impact them "a great deal" or "not at all" to explain in their own words why they feel that way. In Obama's case, nearly one in four (24%) volunteered that good or positive changes would take place, while in McCain's case, the most common responses were negative or pertained to the War in Iraq.

Asked in a separate question how a McCain administration might compare to the Bush administration, 55% said they would view a McCain victory as "four more years of the Bush administration" versus 37% who said they would view it as "real change from the Bush administration."

The two tickets this year also carry the distinction of the first major party black nominee in U.S. history, and only the second major party female vice presidential nominee. In the eyes of young voters, victory for the Obama-Biden ticket would be much more of an historical event than victory for the McCain-Palin ticket. A majority (53%) agree that if Barack Obama is elected president, it would be one of the most important advances in racial equality over the past 100 years. By contrast, only one-third (32%) agree that if Sarah Palin becomes vice president, it will be one of the most important advances in gender equality in the past 100 years.

Bottom Line

A majority of 18- to 29-year-olds are registered to vote in this election and have given it a lot of thought. They prefer Barack Obama, both as an alternative to John McCain, but also as the candidate who is the most likely to understand their problems and to bring positive change to their own lives. Casting a ballot for Obama also carries the excitement of making history. Nearly 8 in 10 consider this election to be more important than other elections, if not the most important in the past 50 years. What remains to be seen is how many of this highly sought-after demographic will in fact turn out and vote on Election Day, and thus help to determine the winner.

Survey Methods

Results are based on telephone interviews conducted September 18-28, 2008, with 903 U.S. adults between the ages of 18 and 29, 633 respondents of whom were randomly selected from a national sample of landline and cellular telephone numbers, and 270 respondents of whom had participated in earlier national Gallup polls and agreed to be re-interviewed for a future poll. For results based on the total sample, which is weighted for demographic information to be representative of 18- to 29-year-olds nationwide, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points. For results based on the sample of 742 registered voters, the maximum margin of sampling error is ±5 percentage points.

In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

First Gallup 3-Day Running Average Incorporating Palin Attacks: Obama Up By 9!

Elstun — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 14:21:54 EDT

>Note. This 3 day running average goes back to the start of Sarah Palin's "heels on, gloves off" campaign. While it appeals to the 18% of the electorate that constitute her die-hard base, it appears to be turning off the independents. This is the first time any candidate has gotten a 51% posting on the Gallup Daily Tracking Poll.

PRINCETON, NJ -- The latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking poll shows registered voters preferring Barack Obama to John McCain for president by 51% to 42%.

The nine percentage point lead in Oct. 4-6 tracking matches Obama's highest to date for the campaign, and the highest for either candidate. Obama led McCain by 49% to 40% near the tail end of his international trip in late July. (To view the complete trend since March 7, 2008, click here.)

Obama has now held a statistically significant lead since Sept. 24-26 polling and has not trailed McCain since Sept. 13-15, roughly coinciding with the intensification of the financial crisis.

McCain has an opportunity to try to reverse Obama's momentum at tonight's town hall style debate in Nashville. -- Jeff Jones

Facts about John McCain that need to be shared ASAP!

LuAnn in Indiana — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 08:04:50 EDT

These are facts about McCain, his family, his life and all the mistruths that he likes to brag about. Please take the time to watch these and you may be shocked.People everywhere have the right to know these things about John McCain.He is no maverick. He would be a disaster as President. He is strictly out for John McCain and has proven he will say or do anything to get elected.Please help Barack and share these facts. McCain’s campaign is getting nastier.

Thanks, LuAnn

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06zsn5BuL3Y

http://www.politicalbase.com/profile/jnail/blog/&blogId=4588

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/make_believe_maverick_the_real_john_mccain/page/1

Fox News Delivers For McCain-Palin's Scorched Earth Politcs

Elstun — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 23:13:57 EDT

Fox news has launched its all out assault on Barack Obama, just in time (Probably in close coordination with) the RNC and an army of 527 groups.

I got a sample of it over the last couple of days of watching Fox.

My first peek came on Fox and Friends with anti-Obama hatchetman Stanley Kurtz, from a right-wing opnion-factory named The Ethics and Public Policy Center. Kurtz was given several minutes of free air time to paint a picture of Barack Obama and William Ayers' relationship implying two things: that they were frequently in the same room together, along with scores of other people, and that Barack Obama "funneled" (Kurtz's term) money to one of Ayers' project. Obama was, in fact, on a board that recieved grants and Ayers' project was one of the grant recipients. That is what Kurtz meant by 'funneling' money. Kurtz is obviously confused. "Funneling Money" is what happens when Right-Wing millionaires want to discredit Barack Obama and they make a donation to a 501 (c)(3) called...oh, I don't know, say...The Ethics and Public Policy Center so a slack-jawed bottom-feeder like Stanley Kurtz can provide 'unbiased' information to its viewers. Anyway...By the end of the piece, if one was an uncritical viewer of Fox and Friends, one would certainly have the impression that the so-called "Main Stream Media" was trying to 'cover up' something.

Comes now Sean Hannity. A special entitled "Obama and Friends: A History of Radicalism" was launched today. In this so-called documentary, Hannity spends several minutes created dark sounds about Saul Alinsky, a widely read and much beloved community organizer of the 1950s and 1960s. By the end of the Alinsky discussion, he is characterized as a communist who launched the 'community organizing' movement as a means to manipulate well-meaning people; whatever that means. And Fox News certainly knows something about manipulation. Hannity then draws a line connecting a horrible patch-up inlcuding grainy newsreels of radical islamists leading to Barack Obama and an extreme subculture of Chicago.The racist subtext is undeniable, inspersing images of Jerimiah Wright and Malcolm X and other black nationalists and Barack Obama, they are saying in essence--this guy is black, folks and so are these radicals.

Then Fox has also dredged up one of the police officers wounded by the Weather Underground when Barack Obama was all of 8 years old and we can expect to see his recollections of pain to be used by Fox to attack Obama.

Expect the worst kind of McCarthyesque attacks and distortions that have EVER been seen in an American election over the next 30 days. The decision by the RNC-Fox-McCain camp is a political scorched earth policy. If they can't win this election, they will so poison the well of American Opinion so as to make it ungovernable.

penny hansen's Blog

PENNY IN NORTHEAST — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 00:13:44 EDT

i think we can can change the furture. for better everyone plz help us .. get him in white house .. he did great

Thank God McCain-Palin Were Not In Charge of Social Security!

Elstun — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 15:10:24 EDT

> note, we can all be grateful that McCain's 'private accounts/private management' scheme for Social Security was not in place before this latest tanking on Wall Street. Point THIS out to McCain-leaning Seniors when you have an opportunity to do so....

John Neffinger

Hello? If McCain Had His Way, That'd Be Our Social Security Money Wall Street is Losing

What do we democrats have to say about the mess on Wall Street?

Today Obama said it proves that the Republican economic philosophy has failed, and I heard him mock McCain for calling for a commission because "we know how we got into this mess." Now some people think about things like "economic philosophy" a lot, and many have at least a general notion of how we got into this mess. But even though everybody cares about how much money ends up in their pockets, most people are understandably a little fuzzy about all the policies and philosophies and market forces behind our very complex economy.

And to further confuse the issue, McCain is also saying something about reform, and taking on "fat cats," and accusing Obama of being just as cozy with these Wall Streeters as anyone else. The upshot so far is that slightly more voters trust John McCain to handle the economy than trust Barack Obama.

As it happens, though, not that long ago we had a rare political moment in this country, a moment where the public sat up and took notice of economic policy -- and spoke out and made its voice heard too. When George W. Bush made it to term #2, he decided to try to privatize social security to reward his supporters on Wall Street with a new source of capital, customers, and fees. (Those would be the same people whose firms are now cratering under the weight of the bad debt they recklessly took on while Republican regulators looked the other way).

But as it turned out, we Americans were not about to let our elected representatives turn over our social security taxes to Wall Street financiers to gamble with if it meant losing the guaranteed income that has allowed millions upon millions of American seniors to live out their sunset years with at least a basic measure of dignity.

But while ordinary Americans spoke out, John McCain stood with Bush (hugged him awkwardly in public, even), against the American people. In fact, just six months ago, McCain again let slip his fondness for privatization.

I have been scratching my head why this has not been talked about more, especially since Obama has been having trouble winning votes among seniors. There may well be some good reason I'm missing why it hasn't been a top argument thus far.

But now that you can't look at a newspaper or TV screen without seeing the mayhem on Wall Street, it's time to remind Americans what the world would look like if John McCain was in charge of our economic policy. Plenty of people are losing plenty of their retirement savings as it is.

But if we had let Bush and McCain privatize social security, some of those people would be losing a lot more. And a lot of other people with less retirement savings would be hurting even more, because they depend on social security to cover basic needs.

This is something Americans understand: social security is secure, and the stock market is anything but. There are few more personal or dramatic ways to illustrate McCain's terrible judgment than to imagine the nightmare scenario so many Americans would face if McCain and Bush had gotten their way on this -- or if McCain were to get his way as President.

Support Obama/Biden and Wolves in Alaska

akmk — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 19:31:46 EDT

Please donate to my fundraising page to support Obama/Biden and wolves in Alaska http://my.barackobama.com/page/outreach/dashboard/main/AlaskanWolves

Comments from AK Dem Chair, Patti Higgins

akmk — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 21:51:13 EDT

The following comments from AK Dem Chair, Patti Higgins, are worthy of consideration:

"While we can appreciate the attention to Alaska, Governor Palin is not the reformer that McCain claims she is. When she was Mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbying firm to secure federal earmarks. As Governor she has continued to seek and accept federal earmarks, the very practice that McCain has fought, despite her claims that she now opposes them. Palin is under investigation for abuse of power, and now it appears she is stonewalling the Legislature's investigation of Troopergate, after she previously said she would cooperate. In Alaska, and in the nation, it is Democrats who have led the way to reform and change. Ultimately, the national race is about the choice between McCain and Obama, about who will be the better leader for our country, and what direction our country will go in. Will we have change or more of the same? Barack Obama will focus on the needs of middle class and working people, not special interests and the wealthy. Obama has empathy with the thousands of Alaskans are struggling to get by, because he has been there himself. John McCain can't remember how many houses he owns. At the Republican convention this week, McCain and Palin didn't offer any solutions to help families meet the challenges of high prices and rising costs of everything. They didn't offer any solutions for jump-starting the economy, making health care more affordable, or keeping good jobs here in America. The Bush/McCain agenda has brought us an endless war in Iraq, the highest gas prices in the country, and companies getting big tax breaks to move American jobs overseas. John McCain thinks we've made great economic progress. Sarah Palin fully supports his agenda. Alaskans, and the country as a whole, are ready for change. John McCain won't give us the change we need. We can't afford four more years of the same failed policies of George Bush. For these reasons, I hope you will join me in voting for Democrats at every level."

Important Talking Point: Military Donors to Obama.

Elstun — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 16:20:32 EDT

The following from military.com

Military Donations Favoring Obama

August 15, 2008Associated Press

WASHINGTON - U.S. Soldiers have donated more presidential campaign money to Democrat Barack Obama than to Republican John McCain, a reversal of previous White House campaigns in which military donations tended to favor Republicans, a nonpartisan group reported Aug. 14.

Troops serving abroad have given nearly six times as much money to Obama's presidential campaign as they have to McCain's, the Center for Responsive Politics said.

The results also are striking because they favored Obama, who has never served in the military. McCain meanwhile, is a decorated war veteran who spent nearly five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. The Arizona senator graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and had a 22-year career as a naval aviator.

Obama has opposed the war in Iraq and says he would withdraw combat troops within 16 months. McCain has been a steadfast supporter of the war, saying he would withdraw the troops only when conditions on the ground warrant it.

"Obama will work tirelessly to uphold this nation's sacred trust with its veterans, to ensure they are not forgotten after they return home and he will provide our troops with the leadership they deserve, as well as the support they and their families need," Obama spokesman Nick Shapiro said.

McCain's campaign played down the significance of the donations.

"John McCain has been endorsed by more retired admirals and generals than Barack Obama has military donors," McCain spokesman Michael Goldfarb said in a statement.

"We feel confident that many U.S. troops stationed overseas will support John McCain in the election this fall, but we suspect most are too busy doing the important work of defending this country than to make political contributions," Goldfarb said.

The report tracked donations of $200 or more. It found that 859 members of the military donated a total of $335,536 to Obama. McCain received $280,513 from 558 military donors.

Among Soldiers serving overseas at the time of their donations, 134 gave a total of $60,642 to Obama while 26 gave a total of $10,665 to McCain. That was less than the amount received by Republican Ron Paul, who collected $45,512 from 99 Soldiers serving abroad, the report said.

My Solo Protest This Morning

Elstun — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 13:35:00 EDT

Sarah Palin was the star attraction at a Republican rally this AM at the Dena'ina Center. Several Tribal leaders had complained about this use of the facility because this was being done before the Center was properly smudged (cleansed) and blessed. The facility, named for the First Peoples of Cook Inlet, was supposed to be opened under the ceremonial protocol of those people. But what Sarah wants, Sarah seems to get in Alaska and the brightly lit sidewalks, traffic control barriers and troopers heralded the first event to ever be held in our new convention center-- remember this fact if you are playing Trivial Pursuit (The Alaska Edition) 30 years from now.

While I had texted scores of people--hoping for some companionship in my endeavor-- I was the only one foolish enough to show. So I stood there with my sign facing the Palin fans who had begun lining at the front doors before I arrived at 7AM. The State Troopers and the Center's security staff actually defended my right to stand by the front door with my NO MORE MCCAIN-PALIN LIES sign as the Palin fans filed in. One loud, hyper woman tried to have me removed. One fellow nodded at me and said: "I will admit that you've got guts". As luck would have it, I found myself standing by the media queue, so I had several interviews while they were waiting to be let in. One interviewer with a cameraman began her interview by calling me "The Oddball..." I tried to deflect that. She must have been from Fox. I tried to speak in sound bites, but it really is hard to do. While I was standing there, a big, shiny vehicle pulled up to the front door and the intense looking driver ran up to the security desk and told them that he has a VIP that he wanted to get escorted in to the VIP-Section. "What's his name?" Security asked, "Oliver Leavitt", the man said. Leavitt is on the Board of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation. Finally, security signaled it was time for the media to go in and...as most of the crowd had filed past me and it was already past 8AM (I made a commitment to myself to be there from 7AM-8AM), I bid everyone a good morning and returned home.

I have a friend who is on a Spiritual Path and he likes to say that difficulty "...is a meditation". For him, the goal in living is learning to take Right Action and if something is both right AND difficult, we learn from that. After a while, the folks at the front of the line with whom I spent the most time, seemed get used to my presence and even warm up to me. I certainly warmed up to them as they seemed to be decent, nice folks. When I shouted to them to enjoy themselves as they entered the Center, they waved and smiled at me.

So what did I accomplish? I offered an alternative perspective to the new media, I got to meet some nice people, and I have calmed that anxious knot in the pit of my stomach telling me to do something, take some action that stands up to the national Right-Wing machinery now rolling through our state. It was not much, I admit, but it was something and I am glad I did it!

Obama and the Palin Effect by Deepak Chopra

Elstun — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 07:20:37 EDT

(Herman Hesse's Siddhartha, A Jungian Fantasy at the Berkshire Theatre Festival, Jill Michael and Joe Jung)

Sometimes politics has the uncanny effect of mirroring the national psyche even when nobody intended to do that. This is perfectly illustrated by the rousing effect that Gov. Sarah Palin had on the Republican convention in Minneapolis this week. On the surface, she outdoes former Vice President Dan Quayle as an unlikely choice, given her negligent parochial expertise in the complex affairs of governing. Her state of Alaska has less than 700,000 residents, which reduces the job of governor to the scale of running one-tenth of New York City. By comparison, Rudy Giuliani is a towering international figure. Palin's pluck has been admired, and her forthrightness, but her real appeal goes deeper.

She is the reverse of Barack Obama, in essence his shadow, deriding his idealism and turning negativity into a cause for pride. In psychological terms the shadow is that part of the psyche that hides out of sight, countering our aspirations, virtue, and vision with qualities we are ashamed to face: anger, fear, revenge, violence, selfishness, and suspicion of "the other." For millions of Americans, Obama triggers those feelings, but they don't want to express them. He is calling for us to reach for our higher selves, and frankly, that stirs up hidden reactions of an unsavory kind. (Just to be perfectly clear, I am not making a verbal play out of the fact that Sen. Obama is black. The shadow is a metaphor widely in use before his arrival on the scene.) I recognize that psychological analysis of politics is usually not welcome by the public, but I believe such a perspective can be helpful here to understand Palin's message. In her acceptance speech Gov. Palin sent a rousing call to those who want to celebrate their resistance to change and a higher vision.

Look at what she stands for:

* Small town values - a nostalgic return to simpler times disguises a denial of America ' s global role, a return to petty, small-minded parochialism.

* Ignorance of world affairs - a repudiation of the need to repair America's image abroad.

* Family values - a code for walling out anybody who makes a claim for social justice. Such strangers, being outside the family, don't need to be needed.

* Rigid stands on guns and abortion - a scornful repudiation that these issues can be negotiated with those who disagree.
*Patriotism - the usual fallback in a failed war.

* "Reform" - an italicized term, since in addition to cleaning out corruption and excessive spending, one also throws out anyone who doesn't fit your ideology.

Palin reinforces the overall message of the reactionary right, which has been in play since 1980, that social justice is liberal-radical, that minorities and immigrants, being different from "us" pure American types, can be ignored, that progressivism takes too much effort and globalism is a foreign threat. The radical right marches under the banners of "I'm all right, Jack," and "Why change? Everything's OK as it is." The irony, of course, is that Gov. Palin is a woman and a reactionary at the same time. She can add mom to apple pie on her resume, while blithely reversing forty years of feminist progress. The irony is superficial; there are millions of women who stand on the side of conservatism, however obviously they are voting against their own good. The Republicans have won multiple national elections by raising shadow issues based on fear, rejection, hostility to change, and narrow-mindedness.

Obama's call for higher ideals in politics can't be seen in a vacuum. The shadow is real; it was bound to respond. Not just conservatives possess a shadow - we all do. So what comes next is a contest between the two forces of progress and inertia. Will the shadow win again, or has its furtive appeal become exhausted? No one can predict. The best thing about Gov. Palin is that she brought this conflict to light, which makes the upcoming debate honest. It would be a shame to elect another Reagan, whose smiling persona was a stalking horse for the reactionary forces that have brought us to the demoralized state we are in. We deserve to see what we are getting, without disguise.

Everybody Calm Down! Obama Is Hitting Back

Elstun — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 21:31:35 EDT

Quit your whining, Democrats. If Obama loses this election, it won't be because he didn't fight back.

Tim Fernholz | September 11, 2008 |

There's a picture being sent around e-mail lists and posted on blogs that many a Democrat ought to bear in mind -- and no, it's not another anonymous smear. It's a picture of an assertive Sen. Barack Obama with a LOL-style caption promising, "I GOT THIS!"

Of course, few political observers are quite that confident. In light of Sen. John McCain's post-convention bounce in the polls and the media obsession with Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin, Democrats are starting to panic prematurely. Now they're armchair-quarterbacking Obama's campaign: He should attack! He should attack creatively! Why isn't he more populist/more personal/more disciplined? Obama-supporting friends outside of the realm of political journalism are now asking me to allay their fears.

This is what I tell them: Quit the hand-wringing, Democrats, and don't believe the hype. Barack Obama is a lot of things, but he isn't John Kerry and he's not Al Gore. Obama's campaign has been the most disciplined and aggressive Democratic effort of the last eight years. If he loses, it won't be because he didn't hit back.

Even the Prospect staff is not immune to the paranoia about a return to 2004; each poll jump sends my colleague Adam Serwer into inspired anxiety. Just yesterday, founding co-editor Bob Kuttner wrote that Obama's campaign isn't doing enough to go after McCain on issues. As an example, he cited the government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, suggesting that Obama base a major policy speech or advertisement around explaining that these entities, wrongly privatized, were at the root of the unnecessary sub-prime mortgage crisis and that this crisis exemplifies why conservatism is a failed ideology and liberalism a better one. All true, as far as the economic analysis goes. But a campaign commercial? It took an entire article -- a good one at that -- for Kuttner to explain that in these pages.

Instead, Obama is making a simple case, one that he has been making for a while now: John McCain is George W. Bush. Each of his recent ads reflects this message. And look at his stump speeches and the remarks of his running mate, Joe Biden. Obama has carefully cultivated his campaign themes of change and reform since 2007, with specific examples of what that change would be, while forcefully demonstrating that John McCain represents more of the same. If Obama switched tactics now, no doubt the same folks criticizing him for his lack of reaction would criticize him for his lack of message discipline.

At the Republican National Convention, McCain adopted Obama's rhetoric and has promised that he and Palin would be the true agents of change, though he declines to specify exactly which Bush-era policies he would change. Ironically, a common castigation of Obama is that he isn't setting the narrative of the race -- that the debate isn't on his terms. But it should be clear by now that this isn't true: The race is about change and who can bring it to Washington. Obama's campaign is betting that its message will be the one that resonates with voters, and McCain's will be seen for what it is: pure rhetoric. Maybe that's a bad bet, but nonetheless Obama's story has set the frame, and McCain is the one who's had to work within it. Obama should not get nasty because that undermines the entire narrative of his candidacy.

The McCain campaign's stream of personal attacks against Obama, and its emphasis that Palin has been victimized by the media, has the day-to-day news cycle focused on foolish back-and-forths instead of the issues. Make no mistake: This is part of the McCain team's strategy. Rick Davis, a senior McCain aide, explicitly said that they don't want the election to be about the issues; they want it to be about personality. It's a cynical ploy, but it's one that Democrats see working against Obama's message. Liberals and reporters alike recognize that low-information voters are likely to hear accusations louder than rebuttals, or simply assume that both candidates are slinging the same kind of mud.

Obama has responded, however, with vigor, straightforwardly denouncing the attacks and turning the conversation back to the issues important to Americans. Following yesterday's laughably false accusation from the McCain campaign that Obama called Palin a "pig," he accused McCain of not taking the issues -- or the country -- seriously, and his spokespeople turned the charge around on McCain. When McCain falsely accused Obama of supporting sex-ed for kindergarteners, Obama's campaign rightly questioned McCain's honor. When they mocked his work as a community organizer, he laughed off the accusation and asked who, exactly, the Republicans were working for. When Sarah Palin attacked the Constitution, he said in no uncertain terms that she was attacking the fabric of this country. Each time the McCain campaign comes out with a negative, misleading advertisement, Obama publicly sets the record straight, often within hours. Remember how long it took John Kerry to respond to the Swift Boat accusations? And Obama does more than simply correct the lies -- he calls out McCain for his dirty tactics.

Is it enough? Liberal blogger Steve Benen observes that only thing Obama hasn't done so far is fight fire with fire and use the same dishonest tactics as McCain. For instance, Benen suggests, they could argue that McCain wants to cut U.S. military aid to Israel, since that aid is an earmark and McCain claims he wants to eliminate them. Of course, Obama knows that McCain doesn't actually want to cut aid to Israel. But McCain also knew that Obama doesn't want to give sex tips to kindergarteners. Others argue that Obama needs to attack McCain's character. The Obama campaign has gone so far as to call McCain and Palin liars and flip-floppers and to call their attacks dishonorable -- which they are. But some Democrats would have Obama mount a character attack against McCain for abandoning his first wife and family, for instance.

Obama won't do that, though, because his message is change, and because he has more integrity than McCain does. This is not "naïve" and "idiotic," as Terence Samuel at The Root calls Obama's response to the "lipstick affair" -- it is part of a larger strategy. Obama has shown as well as anyone that he is a rough-and-tumble politician who doesn't shy from a fight. But his campaign has made central his commitment to changing the way we do politics. That doesn't mean he's a wimp, but it does mean he can't buy into the Bush-Rove politics that McCain now espouses. Obama remembers, to recall the old adage, it's not worth wrestling a pig: You get dirty, and the pig likes it.

Samuel argues that Obama needs to get down in the mud, but doesn't offer even a single example of an attack that would work -- one that would tar McCain's reputation without sullying Obama's. This is a great example of my favorite kind of liberal armchair-quarterbacking: "We need to hit back harder … but not by saying something I can't print here." As Samuel waxes rhapsodic over Palin insulting Obama, he forgets that just two weeks ago John Kerry and Joe Biden were going after McCain at the convention. This is part of the problem. Even liberal journalists who should know better spend more time giving nonsensical advice to the Obama campaign rather than looking at McCain's shortcomings.

It's not that it's wrong to criticize a campaign, or that some criticisms don't ring true. The Obama campaign and its surrogates need to stop saying that McCain is such a great man before they tear him apart. (Joe Biden, for one, has already gotten the message.) They could be doing a better job sending out rapid responders on the state level, but it's clear they're not in a bubble. They understand the concerns of their supporters. Still, they are on the offensive -- that sex-education smear by McCain was actually a response to an Obama attack ad that ran that morning. The Obama campaign, day-in and day-out, is extraordinarily disciplined about delivering its message.

Obama is essentially tied in the polls with McCain, even as the Republican senator experiences his convention bounce. These numbers will change with events, especially with the debates, and as the sheen wears off Palin. (A reminder: She has been known nationally for less than two weeks.) Obama has invested in a much larger field operation than McCain. The press seems to be developing a spine, if these comments criticizing the media's "outrageous" cowering before the McCain campaign from conventional wisdom apparatchik Mark Halperin are any indication.

But it certainly doesn't help to have Democrats wringing their hands and complaining about problems Obama doesn't have. Enthusiasm is the big indicator in an election that will ride on turnout, and Democrats have every reason to be enthusiastic.

Howard Wolfson, Hillary Clinton's spokesperson during the primary campaign, has made this point on his new blog. During the primary race, many counted Obama out, didn't understand his campaign's strategy, didn't think he could keep himself in the race. Clinton adopted Obama's change rhetoric and attacked him the same way McCain has -- on experience and for his eloquence. But Obama and his team hewed to their strategy and pulled out the win. The senator from Illinois is known as a closer, and there is plenty of time left. Keep the faith.

Barack was great on Letterman! Please watch, read and share to help Barack!

LuAnn in Indiana — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 14:05:22 EDT

I am not sure if you got to see Barack on the Letterman show last night but he was fantastic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hf6qd8b65s

I just posted this video on the DIGG site and really would appreciate you going there and digging it.

I took a swipe at McCain and how his VP pick was strictly a political move and how Barack vetted Joe and made "HIS OWN DECISION".

If we can get enough Diggs on it it will possibly be in the top 10 of the day and everyone will see it.

It would be super exposure for Barack as he commented on the stupid "lipstick on a pig" controversy and made some other great comments on several things. He showed both Humor and also made some great POLITICAL points!

Please take a minute, watch the video and PLEASE go to DIGG.com and digg it. The Republicans have been burrying some of our good stories on the DIGG site so PLEASE help!

Number-crunching pollster sees decisive Obama win

Elstun — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 20:28:17 EDT

A pollster whose mathematical model has correctly predicted every winner of the White House popular vote since 1988 is banking on a decisive victory for Democrat Barack Obama in November.

Emory University political scientist Alan Abramowitz said Wednesday that according to his "time for change" model, Obama would secure 54.3 percent of the popular vote against 45.7 percent for Republican John McCain.

That margin would virtually guarantee a crushing victory for the Democrat in the state-by-state electoral college that actually selects the next president, Abramowitz said.

He said unknown variables, such as the nation's bitter partisan divide and resistance to Obama's African-American race among some white voters, may result in a slightly smaller popular vote margin for the Democratic nominee.

But, "the combination of an unpopular Republican incumbent in the White House, a weak economy and a second-term election make a Democratic victory in November all but certain," he writes in the October issue of the journal "PS: Political Science and Politics."

"The good news for Democrats is that 2008, unlike 2004, is a time-for-change election -- one in which the president's party has controlled the White House for two or more terms," Abramowitz said.

His model evaluated Republican President George W. Bush's dismal approval ratings, the change in economic output in the second quarter of the election year, and above all an anti-incumbency mood against the White House party.

"Regardless of the popularity of the president or the state of the economy, it is simply much more difficult for the president's party to retain its hold on the White House," the pollster said.

Abramowitz said his model had correctly forecast the popular vote winner within two percentage points or less in every presidential election since 1988.

That includes the 2000 election, when Democrat Al Gore carried the popular vote. But Bush came ahead in the electoral college after his Supreme Court-mandated win in Florida.

And the model faces a complication this year with the wild-card presence of two third-party candidates, independent Ralph Nader and Libertarian Bob Barr, on the ballot for the November 4 election.

Copyright © 2008 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AFP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Agence France Presse.

Right-Wing NewsMax AntiObama Rhetoric

Elstun — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 02:45:09 EDT

>Note. Do you have friends who subscribe to NewsMax? Tell the to cancel...NOW! Also, check out the namew of the Executive Director of the Republican Majority Campaign PAC: Gary Kreep...true story!

Dear Newsmax Reader:

Please find an urgent message from one of our sponsoring advertisers, the Republican Majority Campaign PAC. They are seeking to defend Sarah Palin from vicious media attacks and expose Barack Obama. Please read their important letter below.

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They will do anything to destroy Sarah Palin.

They will do anything to elect Obama President — the most leftwing candidate in history.

Only you can stop them.

Dear Fellow American:

As I write this letter, the far Left — the Obama campaign, the Democratic Party headed by Howard Dean and the major (liberal) media—are all working in overdrive to destroy and smear Sarah Palin.

They believe if they can destroy this courageous young woman and popular governor, they will end John McCain's bid for president.

Just this week, commentator Bill Maher ridiculed Sarah's baby son who has Down's syndrome. These people are absolutely despicable.

They have one goal: Put Barack Obama — the most radical left-winger ever nominated by the Democratic Party — in the Oval Office.

Because of this, I am urgently writing you on behalf of the Republican Majority Campaign PAC, one of the nation's largest and most influential PACs.

We are fighting to expose Barack Obama's radical agenda and defend Sarah Palin and John McCain from the liberal media.

We have plans to launch a multi-million dollar TV and online ad campaign to reach millions in the next two weeks, but we need your financial help.

We need it more than ever because Barack Obama will likely spend more money than any candidate in history to get control of the White House.

Make no mistake about it: Barack Obama has very powerful backers.

Obama promised he would abide by campaign finance limits, as John McCain has agreed to.

He lied. This week alone, Obama raised $8 million! He could easily spend $500 million during his whole campaign to buy the White House.

Worse, John McCain and Sarah Palin have their hands tied with public financing limits.

That's why the Republican Majority Campaign needs your urgent help in our major national TV ad campaign to help John McCain and Sarah Palin.

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We will also reveal the sordid truth about Barack Obama:

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His despicable association with his friend William Ayers, who was on the FBI's Most Wanted list for over 10 terrorist attacks.

The fact that at age 25, Obama was backed by a radical Muslim activist close to the Saudi royal family when he applied to Harvard Law School.

HELP US REVEAL THE FACTS ABOUT OBAMA! CLICK HERE

The Ayers Connection

William Charles Ayers and Barack Obama have been friends for decades.

There is clear evidence that their lives and dealings have been intertwined for many years.

We have reason to believe that Obama and Ayers were friends way back in 1986.

They even served together in 1995 on the Annenberg Challenge, overseeing the distribution of about $50 million to area schools.

That same year, Ayers hosted Obama in his own home and donated to his campaign.

What does the association between Ayers and Obama say about Obama's political views and perspective?

Ayers was an anti-American, traitorous radical who will stop at nothing to push his hateful communist agenda.

In the 1960s and 70s, he was a leader in the notorious underground terrorist group, the "Weathermen."

The Weathermen declared war on the United States government and they bombed over 30 establishments (leading to multiple fatalities, including police officers).

Obama's friend Bill Ayers

"Kill all the rich people. Break up their cars and apartments. Bring the revolution home, kill your parents, that's where it's really at."

William Ayers

Ayers is unapologetic about his terrorist activities.

Incredibly, on Sept. 11, 2001, Ayers is quoted by The New York Times as saying, "I don't regret setting bombs … I feel we didn't do enough."

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The major media have already decided who their candidate is: MSNBC host Chris Matthews says Barack Obama makes a "thrill" go up his leg when he hears him speak.

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Please share this VIDEO to help Barack fight the Republicans!

LuAnn in Indiana — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 11:10:39 EDT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=955Y3NJTRIE

The Republicans are going to try and destroy Barack the next 60 days! WE can not let them do it!

PLEASE everyone HELP SHARE THIS AND PROMOTE BARACK!

Join STOP THR SMEARS on this BARACK site on the HOME page. It gives US things to COUNTER the attacks that are coming!

It gives us the TRUTH!

Please go there today and join!

LuAnn

Donate Your Frequent Flyer Miles for Obama! TravelforChange.org

Alisa W — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:43:23 EDT

There are hundreds of volunteers who want to work for Barack Obama this fall in the swing states, but a lot of these volunteers, students and recent college graduates like myself (Stanford 2008), don't have the resources to get where they are needed.

If you have 25,000 miles on any airline, you likely have enough miles to sponsor a verified volunteer's trip to work in a swing state! Registering new voters and talking to undecided voters face to face is the best way to fight all the smear campaigns and attack ads we are facing.

In the primaries one woman with a phone line raised 2 million miles for Obama! For the general election we can raise even more!

To get involved as a sponsor or volunteer please email alisa@travelforchange.org or just visit TravelforChange.org and please pass this on!

The Stock Market Has Already Voted.

Elstun — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 02:15:19 EDT

MARK HULBERTCommentary: By Mark Hulbert,

A Poor market in September bodes ill for incumbent party and a big clue as to how it is voting is provided by Thursday's dismal stock market, in which the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 345 points. For the still-young month of September, the Dow is now down by 3.1%. This points to an increased likelihood that the Democrats will reclaim the Presidency in this coming November's election.

The reason I can even attempt to draw these conclusions from the stock market's recent behavior is an analysis conducted by Ned Davis Research, an institutional research firm based in Venice, Fla. Specifically, the firm constructed two market averages out of how the Dow has performed in past Presidential election years (back to 1900, in fact).

The first of these two benchmarks tracked the market's average performance during years since then in which the incumbent political party eventually won the White House, while the other reflected average returns when the incumbent party lost.

Upon comparing these two benchmarks, Ned Davis earlier this week noted that, "There does not seem to be a lot of difference in election years between those years where the incumbent party wins or loses, except in the month of September where the divergence is striking."

How big a divergence? During Septembers of years in which the incumbent party goes on to win the White House, the Dow has produced an average gain of 0.32%.

During Septembers in which the incumbent party lost, in contrast, the Dow has produced an average loss of 0.71%. That difference, which totals just over one percentage point, may not appear to be that big.

But on an annualized basis it works out to around 13%. Good statistician that he is, Davis realizes that correlation is not the same as causation. One needs to couple the raw statistics with a plausible theory as to why the stock market would perform differently when the incumbent party wins the White House than when it loses.

"Perhaps it is the uncertainty over change," Davis speculates, "or perhaps the stock market predicts or reflects the election results." Another qualification that Davis emphasizes: "The sample sizes are relatively small." So we can't be as confident in drawing any conclusions as we would if there were lots more data points. Regardless, however, the stock market's losses this week can't be good news for John McCain's campaign.

Mark Hulbert is the founder of Hulbert Financial Digest in Annandale, Va. He has been tracking the advice of more than 160 financial newsletters since 1980.

This video is from Arizonia. Let's rally all DEMS and Independants...SHARE this and DIGG it too!

LuAnn in Indiana — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 13:06:04 EDT

Please take the time to watch this video and then one more minute to go to Digg and digg it. I had it posted on DIGG this morning.We need to get the Dems to rally NOW.GREAT news.....I just heard Barack is at 50% in the GALLUP poll for the first time.MSNBC just said it....actually Chuck Todd did!Obama is our only HOPE!Please share this with every one and ask them to please go to DIGG. We can make it rise to the top today!

http://mybarackobama.com/page/communityblog/luanninindiana

From: mail@bennyskyn.com
To: ArizonansforObama@groups.barackobama.com
Sent: 9/3/2008 9:03:59 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: [ArizonansforObama] Take It Back...Right Now!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMSsm_B8iaE
or
http://www.bennyskyn.com/songlist.html

This land belongs to you
no not just a few
and you can take it back
right now

Vote responsibly, not traditionally.
Benny Skyn

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Thoughts On Palin's Family Being "Off Limits"

Elstun — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 12:34:24 EDT

Finally it has happened to the Republicans. The politics of personal destruction from HR Haldeman and Lee Atwater through Karl Rove has finally splashed its filthy bilge back on the GOP. Remember when the Republicans destroyed Eagleton because it was learned that he had had psychological counseling? Or the Rumor-mongering about Hillary Clinton’s alleged lesbianism and so on. Or even the Rove’s defeat of John McCain in 2000 through a push poll just before the South Carolina primary that asked whether their vote would be affected if they learned that John McCain had fathered a black baby. In fact, McCain had adopted a racially mixed child. So now the bleating bloggers and the journalistic jackals are turning their talents to Sarah Palin and her private life. Her daughter Bristol is unmarried and pregnant. Family should be off-limits, that is true. Senator Obama said the right thing when he called on everyone to stop this intrusive form of Fox News journalism. But the problem is when you are running for the second highest office in the land based upon your perceived championing of family values, it seems fair to ask, “what are those values?” We know, for example, that Sarah Palin opposes birth control, family planning, and sex education in the schools. Such intimate matters, she and her ilk say, are the responsibility of the parents, not the school or government. So Sarah and Todd took their hormonally raging 16 year old out of small town Wasilla and moved to a new big city school to live with an Aunt. Willow yearns to fit in. She had to be relocated because Mom and Dad were never home in Wasilla. Mom has a job in Juneau and Dad has a job on the Slope. Meanwhile, they have given Bristol the “abstinence only” doctrine, and hoped that that and prayer and love from her family would protect her from the wiles of a predatory hunk named…what? Levi Johnson? According to one story about Levi Johnson’s Facebook page (which has since been scrubbed by the Republican Janitors), he really had a terrifically high regard for himself and his “crew” and none of the things he cared about included Bristol. Did Todd really need that job on the slope? Well, he does race high-performance snow machines and has a lot of other toys that must cost a lot of money to operate and maintain. Can’t do that on a governor’s salary. I guess a caring aunt is no substitute for a Mom AND Dad. Yes, family should be off-limits. But she is rallying the Focus on the Family crowd to vote for the McCain-Palin. As the Obama campaign frequently points out-- poverty is anti-family, lack of health care is anti-family, a war launched on lies is anti-family and the economic crisis including bankruptcy, foreclosure and predatory credit practices are all anti-family, high energy prices are anti-family. All of these anti-family issues affecting the lives of The Born but are trumped in Sarah’s mind by the lives of the Unborn. The Book of James informs us that it is not by faith alone, but by our actions that we shall be judged. So how should we judge Sarah with respect to family values? If Sarah Palin is installed as the next vice-president, one beat of a 72-year old heart away from being the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces and the leader of the free world, maybe I will be wishing that we were harder on her instead of kinder and gentler—everything that the Republicans WOULDN’T be if this had been a 17 year old daughter of Michelle and Barack Obama.

Barrow blog

Jonathan Teeters — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 21:08:19 EDT

My first trip to the top of the world was, to say the least, eye opening. Barrow is about as far off the road system as you can get in Alaska. The largest of Alaska’s Inupiaq villages at about 4,000 people, Barrow is a very interesting mix of western culture laid over an Inupiaq lifestyle that still includes hunting bowhead whales, seals and caribou—being the primary sources of food. Perhaps the best illustration of this precarious juxtaposition of cultural influences: I was walking over to the AC (local general store) and a big ford truck pulled into the parking lot. The door opened and Toby Keith came blaring out from the trucks sound system. A young man in a traditional kuspuk jumped out and hollered at someone in the parking lot—in Inupiat. Country music and Inupiat—two things that I did not expect to see together…

One of the first things that we did was get some grub. We hit the Northern Lights restaurant—Chinese and American cuisine. As we shared a meal with one of Lena’s cousins who was in Barrow as a teacher, we talked to her about the realities of the energy crisis in Rural Alaska. She had been living in the village of Ruby in the interior where fuel was even more expensive than in Barrow. She also started talking about the challenges of teaching in a community like Barrow. Some of the biggest challenges were not the kids or the culture—the biggest frustration as a teacher in the Bush is No Child Left Behind, a broken system that tears apart an already fractured educational system throughout Rural Alaska. She talked about the 55.5% graduation rate that schools had to demonstrate as one part of reaching the AYP standards set by the law. In Rural Alaska, some high schools have a senior class of 2. Guess what—one student fails, has to leave school for family reasons—and now the school has a graduation rate of only 50%, 5.5% short of AYP. This leads to schools that regularly miss AYP and lose funding based on this “lack of performance”. Furthermore, 3 years missing AYP and the entire teaching staff at that school are required to move to another school. The lack of continuity makes it a challenge to connect with students, many of whom have unique learning challenges—and in my opinion tells these students that if you cannot perform we are gonna take away your teachers, making it even harder for you to perform adequately in the future. It was a very interesting discussion, and when I mentioned that Barack Obama knows that there are no “one size fits all” solutions to challenges of life in Rural Alaska and that he wants to reform NCLB to make it fit certain on the ground realities—she smiled and said something to the effect of “it’s about time someone realize things are just different here”.

Jeff Giertz, Lena and myself spent the late evening driving around in a borrowed truck, Lena our tour guide, as she lived there for several years. I stood in the bed of the truck, video camera rolling. The air temperature was something like 38 degrees when we got off the plane earlier in the day—so you can imagine how friggin’ freezing it was standing in the back of the truck…but I loved it. It reminded me that I really am a country kid who was reaised in the city.

We drove down past NARL, the Native Arctic Research Laboratory, and we stopped right next to Barrow’s blue-turf football field—the furthest north turf football field. It looked a little out of place, on the edge of the Chuchki Sea, but I had to smile thinking how fun it would be to strap up and play one more football game at the top of the world.

The “sunset” was incredible. It barely set, but we were treated to a sunset that lasted almost an hour as it took it’s sweet time setting, dropping just below the horizon and the sea ice—some 200 miles off in the distance.

Jeff jumped out of the truck and started snapping pictures as I let the camera roll. Curiosity got the best of him and he walked to the edge of the water to dip his hand in. I followed, but got caught by the surf and ended up wet up to my shins. Yep folks. That water be frig-id!

We spent a few minutes talking about how cool it was ther we were, in all reality, probably the first campaign staff from a presidential campaign to every visit Barrow, Alaska—the northernmost edge of the United States. At every turn, this campaign is making history and allowing others like myself to be swept up in the magnificence of it all.

Our entire trip to Barrow was memorable. Lena and myself met with seniors at the Senior Center. I say “seniors”, but the appropriate term is elders. The entire meeting was conducted in Inupiat and Rex Okakok was our interpreter. Rex, a retired whaling captain, was making his final plans to head south to Denver with his family for the National Convention. We spoke with the elders about Barack Obama and why we are in Barrow. They too were surprised to learn that a candidate for president had sent people to Barrow to talk and listen to their concerns.

This is no small issue. Every day I am surprised by how much it means to people to just know that someone is listening. That come what may, the next President of the United States will have a little more understanding of life in Barrow, or Akiak, or Dillingham.

We did so much in Barrow that is seems difficult to write eloqurntly about everything. Most significantly for me though was the Obama rally and potluck that was organized. We had over 60 people in attendance, and everyone was excited to be participating in an event such as this—to send a message that even in Barrow people are Fired up & Ready to go!

People always remark on Barack Obama’s ability to connect with new voters across all sorts of political lines and levels of engagement. What I saw in Barrow was no different: lifelong Republicans, elders who had not voted in decades, young people chomping at the bit to be able to vote—for Barack Obama! I have worked in politics as an operative for several years and it is often easy to forget that there is a huge percentage of people living right in my own community, and in almost any community—who do not feel compelled to act upon their right to cast a vote and to be heard. It is a bit of a shame that conventional politics conditions operatives like myself to focus all our efforts on people who will or may vote, essentially marginalizing those who for some reason or another do not vote. Politics, like life often comes across as a market-driven system governed by supply and demand rather than an inaleable responsibility to engage each and every person at their level, and on the other hand to use that right to vote in a manner that recognizes the contributions of the people who take the time to bring the system to you.

Barack Obama gives me hope because his very candidacy is getting at that point—that no voter is less important-that every voice is essential if, as Dr. Martin Luther King says “we are to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood”.

The fight is on our doorstep--the fierce URGENCY of NOW

Jonathan Teeters — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:12:55 EDT

Now more than ever we need you, in every corner of this great state, to take action.

Do not believe the hype. We know that the change that we have worked for is within our grasp and we must fight harder than ever to deliver the promise of a new direction for America and Alaska.

Please feel free to call me at 677-6052 if you have questions or if you are, like me, more determined than ever to show the world that Alaska is ready for change--not more of the same.

Jonathan Teeters

Rural Field Director

GOP Magick: The 'Expectations' Ritual

Elstun — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 22:40:05 EDT

> Note. One of the press/public relations games that is played by the campaigns is called "managing expectations". This is related to the maxim that it is far better to under-promise and over-deliver that the other way around. So the way this works for the Republicans going into Convention Week is to predict a massive "bump" for Obama and, when it doesn't quite materialize--rush out the talking heads to wonder aloud what "went wrong".

So this little piece of work (thank you, Jonathan Martin of Politico) is the product of Sarah Simmons, one of McCain's Karl Rove school graduate. Here she is telling the media to look for a 15 point bump for Obama out of Denver. http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/

My next post is going to wonder aloud just how the Bush Administration and the McCain camp will manipulate events to keep that "bump" low.

Beginning Monday, I will be posting from the DNC in Denver.

***********************************************************************************************************

TO: Interested Parties
FROM: Sarah Simmons, Director of Strategy
RE: Obama’s Convention Bounce
DATE: August 22, 2008

Monday marks the beginning of the Democratic National Convention in Denver. A combination of factors makes this particular convention historic on many levels. Democrats have just completed an incredibly compelling primary cycle that has both energized and divided the Democratic Party. Because of the unique nature of the Democratic primary, we believe Obama will receive a significant bump from his convention.

This cycle mirrors Bill Clinton’s Democratic convention in 1992: A historic 16-point bump. Barack Obama is more similarly situated to Bill Clinton in 1992 than any other candidate in recent history. Bill Clinton was a new candidate on the national scene; he was running in a "change" oriented election cycle and the economy was voters’ top issue -- a dynamic he was able to capitalize on. He received a 16-point bump coming out of his convention. Obama is also a "new" candidate in a change-oriented environment. And, like Bill Clinton, he will spend the convention presenting himself as the agent of change who will fix the economy.

Obama will ride his VP bump. In addition to Obama taking advantage of the political environment, he will announce his Vice Presidential candidate late this week. This announcement typically gives a candidate a 5-point temporary bump that dissipates. However, Obama’s timing allows him to maximize his Vice Presidential bump and sustain press attention for the course of the week. He will ride the wave of an announcement from late this week (announcement expected by Saturday) through his speech on Thursday. This means that whatever bump he gains from the announcement has the potential to be lasting.

Obama will correct his underperformance with Hillary Clinton’s primary voters and emerge with a much more cohesive base. This convention gives Obama a platform to unite his base. There continues to be a divide in the Democratic base: Between 10-15% of Democrats are voting for McCain or sitting on the fence. In target states, that number is even higher, between 15-20% in many surveys. The Obama campaign knows that winning or losing in states like Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania depends on Obama’s ability to bring these voters home. If his convention successfully showcases Hillary Clinton and heals the wounds from the primary, he will move large groups of voters in those key places.

Obama’s stadium address on Thursday -- the 45th anniversary of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s "I Have A Dream" speech -- will result in effusive and overwhelming press coverage. On Thursday, Obama will give a great speech, as has been his trademark. The press will sing his praises and remark on his historic address and Obama’s place in history. For example, The Associated Press today published an article comparing the historic nature of the addresses – a week before Obama’s speech. This coverage will be impenetrable and will undoubtedly impact the polls.

We believe Obama will see a significant bump, and believe it is reasonable to expect nearly a 15-point bounce out of a convention in this political environment.

Giuliani and Romney to crash Democrats' Denver party

Elstun — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:40:07 EDT

--Rudy singing along with Julie Andrews in 1997.

Here are some signs to wave in their faces when they arrive:

"WHEN ARE YOUR SONS GOING TO IRAQ, MITT?"

Remember, when he was challenged to explain why his several strapping, healthy sons are not over in Iraq fighting in the war he so staunchly supports, Mitt answered that "... have chosen to serve their country in another way: getting me elected..." Well, he didn't get past Florida, that was several months ago...have they signed up yet, Mitt"

"CAN I BORROW ONE OF YOUR DRESSES FOR THE PARTY, RUDY?"

Comedian Bill Maher has made a point of torturing Giuliani on his multiple cross-dressing outings whilst a denizen of New York City.

Here's part of the story....

By Andy Sullivan 43 minutes ago

When Democrats gather in Denver next week to nominate Barack Obama for president, they'll be joined by such uninvited guests as Republicans Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney.

The two former presidential candidates will be among two dozen or so Republicans in the city hoping to get their party's message out during a week dominated by Democratic festivities.

Their slogan? "Not Ready '08: A Mile High and an Inch Deep," a play on the nickname for the high-altitude city in the western United States.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain, Obama's rival for the November 4 election, is expected to keep a relatively low profile that week, though he is scheduled to appear as a guest on "The Tonight Show" talk show on Monday.

His surrogates will set up shop within walking distance of the Democrats' convention hall, hoping to catch the attention of the 15,000 reporters gathered there.

"With all the hype of the actual convention and all the Obama fans gathered in one spot, we're going to get beyond the glitz and the celebrity and talk about the facts of his record," said Matt McDonald, a McCain staffer overseeing the effort.

"Hurry Up And Get Iraq Solved In Time For The Election..."

Elstun — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 10:42:55 EDT

Gee...all it takes is a little presidential campaign with Barack Obama challenging idiotic war policies to get things moving in the right direction. I guess the Worst President in History wants to help McSame get elected by moving Iraq off the table. The right thing for the wrong reason; but what can we expect from this bunch? Am I cynical? You're damned right I am!

Here is the article

Blah-blah-blah...

"We have agreed that some goals, some aspirational timetables for how that might unfold, are well worth having in such an agreement," Rice told reporters after meeting with Iraqi officials, including Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The two sides had come together on a draft agreement earlier this week and Rice made an unannounced visit to Baghdad to press officials there to complete the accord.

More blah-blah-blah...

U.S. officials have resisted committing firmly to a specific date for a final pullout, insisting that it would be wiser to set a target linked to the attainment of certain agreed-upon goals. These goals would reflect not only security improvements but also progress on the political and economic fronts.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080821/ap_on_re_mi_ea/us_iraq;_ylt=AsBCy2FTPy7oVAJBA3o07UwUewgF

McCain not sure how many houses he and wife own

Elstun — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 10:19:11 EDT

Days after he cracked that being rich in the U.S. meant earning at least $5 million a year, Republican presidential candidate John McCain acknowledged that he wasn't sure how many houses he and his wealthy wife actually own.

"I think — I'll have my staff get to you," McCain responded to a question posed by Politico, according to a story Thursday on the publication's Web site. "It's condominiums where — I'll have them get to you."

Later, the McCain campaign told Politico that McCain and his wife, Cindy, have at least four in three states, Arizona, California and Virginia. Newsweek recently estimated the two owned at least seven properties.

On the campaign trail, McCain doesn't refer to his wife's wealth, estimated by some at $100 million and based on her late father's Arizona beer distributorship.

Democratic rival Barack Obama's campaign has been trying to make their wealth more widely known to blunt criticism that Obama is an elitist out of touch with ordinary Americans.

According to her 2006 tax returns, Cindy McCain had a total income of $6 million. She has not released her 2007 returns, which she files separately from her husband. McCain's tax returns showed a total income of $405,409 in 2007.

In a forum last week with the Rev. Rick Warren, McCain was asked to define the word "rich" and to give a figure. After promoting his tax policies, McCain said: "I think if you are just talking about income, how about $5 million?" The audience laughed, and he added: "But seriously, I don't think you can — I don't think seriously that — the point is that I'm trying to make here, seriously — and I'm sure that comment will be distorted — but the point is that we want to keep people's taxes low and increase revenues."

Obama, asked the same question at the forum, said those making $250,000 and higher are in the top 3 to 4 percent and "doing well." Obama and his wife, Michelle, reported making $4.2 million in 2007.

Barrow Butterflies

Jonathan Teeters — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:41:39 EDT

I am a pretty cool, level-headed guy, but i gotta admit that I have a pretty serious case of the Barrow Butterflies. I have been on lots of trips to different places in Alaska to organize Democrats; Fairbanks, Juneau, Kodiak...well actually, that's about it, but I have done the Fairbanks/Juneau gig numerous times.

Anyhow, there is a certain level of seriousness to this trip to Barrow that just makes me feel nervous. Maybe it is that I will be more than 1,400 miles from my base of operations, knowing that if we forgot something or if anything goes wrong--too darn bad. Maybe it is that I am headed to the heartland of the Inupuat people, whaling country, and a culture that is vastly different than anything i have experienced before. Oh well, at least I am brown! Maybe the butterflies are from the fact that there will be a reporter traveling with us in Barrow who will be watching and writing what we do. The last time I was in the New York Times I caught mad flack from the DNC for being real and such.

Yep. Organizing at the top of the world has it's inherent challenges.

I am excited by the fact that I have been working for the DNC for almost 3 years and this is the first time I get to go waaaaaaay out.

Lena brought in muktuk (whale blubber with a nice thick hunk of skin attached). Mmmmm. Kinda. with salt it ain't that bad, but the aftertaste--like licking the inside of a container of herring bait, or like really fishy sardines. Much like deer or elk, you can tell what those whales spent their time eating.

Now I can say with a straight face that I have eaten muktuk!

More fanciful tales of a traveling Democrat in a few. Now it is time to get on the plane.

Peace out.

Dear Saddleback Church,

JaneHaigh — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:41:26 EDT

Here is a post from my on-line friend Frank Smith, a very good response to the Saddleback Church question and answer session. Frank posted it to Dem-AK list serve:

Dear Saddleback Church,

I heard most of the forum which Rev. Warren held and was disturbed because
at points in the questioning of Senator McCain, it was clear that he had
heard Senator Obama's answers before the same questions were put to him.

Also, while I was listening, I was disturbed when Senator McCain pandered to
the assembled when he repeated and emphasized the specious claim that "al
Qaida" had used developmentally disabled women as bombers and their belts
had been detonated by "remote control." Had that been true, it certainly
would have been more reprehensible than ordinary suicide bombings.

Now I don't know if they were detonated by remote control or not, but this
administration claim about Down Syndrome was disputed almost immediately
after the fact. It took me about two minutes while I was listening to the
live debate to come up with this story, written two weeks after the
bombings:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/21/world/middleeast/21iraq.html?_r=1&ref=world&oref=login

The two tragic bombings were never tied to al Qaida.

So Senator McCain's claims were false and were known to be false more than
half a year ago.

I was disappointed to hear both candidates, but particularly Senator McCain,
who has historically opposed it, indicate their approval of offshore
drilling. Experts have concluded that the effect of increasing U.S.
production might not be felt for 20 years and that the reduction in gasoline
prices would effectively be inconsequential. Senator McCain, however, has
contended that drilling, which would take years just to get permits for,
would increase production in a matter of months.

His contentions got a big hand from the church's audience. But had they
bothered to read the newspapers, they would have realized they were being
deceived.

The oil industry has consistently downplayed the danger in offshore drilling
on the Outer Continental Shelf. About six weeks ago I heard the incoming
head of the American Petroleum Institute claim, on NPR's "Fresh Air" that
there hadn't been a serious spill in the U.S. since the Santa Barbara spill
in 1969. There have been countless oil spills from pipelines and shore
facilities since the '69 spill. When the effects of the massive Exxon
Valdez spill were evaluated in the early 1990s, the damage done by the 1964
Prince William Sound tsunami was surprisingly found to be widespread and
persistent. A shore refinery at Valdez had been inundated by the wave. On
December 24, 2006, a substantial spill from a Gulf of Mexico pipeline only
30 miles southeast of Galveston polluted wide stretches of beaches and
seabed. On June 3, 1979, the Mexican Ixtoc I well blew out. It took until
1980 to staunch the flow and not before 140 million gallons had been
spilled, fouling Texas beaches. This was 14 times as many gallons as were
spilled by the Exxon Valdez and was the biggest spill in world history.
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Oil_spill_reported_in_Gulf_of_Mexico
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001451.html

The Coast Guard estimated that seven million gallons of oil were spilled
into the Gulf during Hurricane Katrina alone, though the industry pretended
that never happened.

Because of the dangers, particularly the dangers of tsunamis emanating from
earthquakes off the California, the moratorium on OCS drilling was extended
by executive order by President G.W.H.Bush and supported during his tenure
as Florida's governor by his son Jeb Bush.

So while talking with Senator McCain, Reverend Warren listened without
comment as McCain complained that the problem was that the Democrats had
gone on vacation in time of crisis. This crisis didn't arise in the past
month or six months or decade. It has been building since the Nixon
administration, including when the Republican Congress and White House
vigorously resisted the institution of fuel economy standards. Jimmy Carter
is the only president who has tried to deal with the issue, and he was
fought and derided by the industry for his efforts. McCain no doubt heard
Bush complain shortly before his Saddleback appearance about that vacation,
ironically from his post-Olympic vacation in Crawford, Texas. Bush has
spent over 2 years and 3 months on vacation just in Crawford and Camp David
combined, has attended 95 sports events and made 327 fund raising trips and
campaign events for fellow Republicans, all at taxpayers' expense. Senator
McCain has missed 407 of all the roll call votes taken in this, the 110th
Congress, 63.8%, and vastly more than any other member. These are the two
individuals in our government who have the least to complain about, when it
comes to dereliction of duty.

Lastly, Senator McCain made remarks about Georgia that were virtually
channeling spin generated by his chief foreign advisor, Randy Scheunemann,
who until long after joining McCain's campaign was a registered lobbyist for
that country. His firm continues to do so. There is considerable suspicion
that the Georgian invasion of South Ossetia that went so badly was in fact
provoked in party by Scheunemann, who had a similar role in engineering the
invasion and occupation of Iraq.

When I speak to politicians of any status I'm insulted and sometimes angered
by their reliance in spin in disregard of the facts. Senator McCain sat
there at Saddleback for the better part of an hour, spinning and telling
lies without any of his statements being challenged. What ever happened to
the Eighth Commandment?

Sincerely yours,.

Frank Smith
Bluff City, Kansas
(620)967-4616

Did McCain Cheat At Saddleback?

Elstun — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 22:14:12 EDT

>Note. First, we have a story of the McCain Camp whining about NBC's Andrea Mitchell coverage of Pastor Rick Warren's Saddleback Church colloquy bertween McCain and Obama. Apparently she found it odd, as did many others, including the blog Pensito Review, that McCain seemed to have prescience about the questions when his turn came. Fox is so biased against Obama that we don't even bother to complain any more. Pure objectivity is the goal that trolls use to beat media with contrary opinions. McCain was prepped; Obama was sandbagged. Either quit pretending it was otherwise or shoot those Rove attack dogs you employ, McCain.

McCain camp accuses NBC of partisan coverage

Mon Aug 18, 2008 8:52pm EDT

By Paul J. Gough

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - The John McCain campaign fired off an angry letter to NBC News criticizing Andrea Mitchell's comments regarding the "cone of silence" at Saturday night's presidential candidates' forum at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California.

Campaign manager Rick Davis cited Mitchell's comments on NBC's "Meet the Press" that the Barack Obama campaign had said privately that they believed McCain "may have had some ability to overhear what the questions were to Obama. He seemed so well prepared."

Pastor Rick Warren on Saturday sat down first with Obama and asked him the same questions he would later ask McCain.

Davis denied what he called "a completely unsubstantiated Obama campaign claim that John McCain somehow cheated." While Obama was being interviewed, McCain was driving to the event and then in a green room without TV, Davis said.

In a letter to NBC News president Steve Capus, Davis said that the network's "level of objectivity ... has fallen so low that reporters are now giving voice to unsubstantiated, partisan claims in order to undercut John McCain." He requested a meeting with Capus to discuss news standards and objectivity.

"We are concerned that your news division is following MSNBC's lead in abandoning nonpartisan coverage of the presidential race," Davis wrote.

In a statement Monday, NBC News said that it welcomed an opportunity to speak with officials from both campaigns and said it is in daily contact with the McCain camp.

"With all due respect to the campaign leadership, they are viewing our coverage through a political prism," NBC News said. "We stand by our reporting, our journalism and our journalists."

It's not the first time that NBC has been the subject of accusations during the presidential campaign. MSNBC and NBC News were cited several times during the primary campaign over perceived mistreatment of Democratic hopeful Hillary Clinton.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

Cheating at Saddleback: McCain Appparently Knew Question About Supreme Court
in Advance

POSTED: Monday, August 18, 2008

FROM BLOG: Pensito Review - News and Opinion on Politics, Culture and Media

The following blog post is from an independent writer and is not connected with Reuters News. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not endorsed by Reuters.com.

MCCAIN: Could I — are we going to get back to the importance of Supreme Court Justices or should I mention –
WARREN: We will get to that.
MCCAIN: OK. All right. OK.
WARREN: You’re jumping ahead…

The McCain campaign is fighting hard against charges that McCain cheated on the rules of debate at a rightwing evangelical forum in a California megachurch over the weekend by cribbing the questions in advance. They are so desperate, apparently, that a McCain operative even played the POW card, citing McCain’s imprisonment by the Vietnamese 40 years ago as evidence somehow that he did not cheat Saturday night.
What’s suspicious here is that the topic of the Supreme Court had not come up in McCain’s interview, so it was not a topic to go "back" to.
Even "Pastor Rick" Warren, the multimillionaire evangelist who hosted the event — and who clearly favored McCain in the questioning — has admitted that McCain was not sequestered during the live session with Obama.

Warren told the live audience in the hall and on CNN that McCain was in a "cone of silence" to prevent him from having the advantage of hearing the questions in advance. In fact, McCain was in his car during much of Obama’s session, where he certainly could have listened to the interview.

And this exchange from the forum appears to indicate that McCain knew that Warren was going to ask him a very specific question about the Supreme Court. Notice how McCain asks if he can go "back" to a question about the court:

WARREN: Let’s deal with abortion. I, as a pastor, have to deal with this all the time, every different angle, every different pain, all of the decisions and all of that. Forty million abortions since Roe v. Wade. Some people, people who believe that life begins at conception, believe that’s a holocaust for many people. What point is a baby entitled to human rights?

MCCAIN: At the moment of conception. (APPLAUSE). I have a 25- year pro-life record in the Congress, in the Senate. And as president of the United States, I will be a pro-life president. And this presidency will have pro-life policies. That’s my commitment. That’s my commitment to you.

WARREN: OK, we don’t have to beleaguer on that one. Define marriage.

MCCAIN: A union — a union between man and woman, between one man and one woman. That’s my definition of marriage.

Could I — are we going to get back to the importance of Supreme Court Justices or should I mention –

WARREN: We will get to that.

MCCAIN: OK. All right. OK.

WARREN: You’re jumping ahead…

(CROSSTALK)

MCCAIN: When we speak of the issue of the rights to the unborn, we need to talk about judges. But, anyway, go ahead.

What’s suspicious here is that the topic of the Supreme Court had not come up in McCain’s interview, so it was not a topic to go "back" to. On the other hand, Obama had been asked a question about the Supreme Court during his earlier session, which McCain supposedly had not heard:

McCain Overplayed The Georgia Hand...

Elstun — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:37:05 EDT

> Note. The Conservative and timid MSM blabberclass were all about McCain gaining the 'leadership' initiative during the Georgia Crisis. Lou Dobbs hissed through his abundant teeth that "...McCain stepped up while Senator Obama golfed"...or something to that effect, I paraphrase.Well, as any politician, jounalist or ex-beauty queen will tell you, what events may give you, Time can take away. So it is with McWhatever; from today's HuffPost.

*******************************************

Crisis in Georgia Beginning to Turn Into a Big Political Liability for McCain

Robert Creamer: At first the unfolding conflict between Russia and its neighbor the Republic of Georgia seemed to be just what the McCain candidacy needed: a foreign policy crisis that would allow him to demonstrate a "tough, decisive, experienced" mastery of foreign affairs, and a new rationale for why Americans should choose experience over change in a dangerous world. But it hasn't taken long for the developments in the Caucuses to become a growing political liability instead. Click here to read more.

Alaska Selected To Join Barack Obama Backstage At Convention-Profile

Elstun — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:14:37 EDT

Holly Miowak Stebing of Anchorage, Alaska
Holly, a 20-year-old Alaska Native Inupiaq, is spending her summer break from Stanford University at the First Alaskans Organization interviewing native elders about their experiences with segregation. Holly is passionate about improving healthcare access for Native Americans, and protecting Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from drilling. The 2008 presidential election is Holly's first as a voter. She says: "This was the first campaign I felt I needed to support. I don't have a lot of money, but I donate what I can because I believe in [Barack]." She will attend the convention with her mother who is the first Native American woman to pass the Alaska bar.

Congratulations, Holly!

On the tarmac, wheels are rollin'

Jonathan Teeters — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 21:49:34 EDT

Today is Sunday the 17th and it is about to tick past the noon-hour.

The enormity of what it is we are in the process of undertaking is really setting in--and there are so many places where wheels could get stuck, or even derailed.

We have an ambitious schedule that takes us to Barrow, Kotzebue, Nome, Bethel, Dillingham, Kodiak, Cordova, Yakutat andHaines...for round 1!

Between all three of us working on Rural Alaska we will hit a majority of the large hubs in the state, engaging the public via rallies & volunteer orientations, one-on-one meetings, and maybe even some drumming and dancing at the evening events!

This is shaping up to be a dream come true, really. After all the logistical headaches and challenges that come with coordinating events and travel in the Bush, it will all be well worth it once we get the wheels up on the plane to Barrow, realizing full well that we can't go back from there.

I am looking forward to keeping you all up to date on our travels and or mission to take Barack to the Bush. We will have video and pictures of our interactions.

See ya later!

Thousands of Doors Knocked

Emily Bokar — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 20:34:50 EDT

Hundreds of Alaska Campaign for Change volunteers came out in force today to knock on thousands of doors across the Last Frontier!

The unprecedented statewide canvass involved about 30 locations in 16 cities, including Anchorage, Eagle River, Fairbanks, Homer, Juneau, Kodiak, Palmer, Sitka, Soldotna, Talkeetna, Wasilla, Willow and more.

Volunteers went through a brief training at their meet up locations and then headed out to spread Barack's message of change to fellow Alaskans.

Here are a few photos from the field. Keep them coming!

Want to get involved with our next big event? On Thursday, August 28th Alaskans across the state will be gathering to watch Barack's speech at the Democratic National Convention. Find a party near you or sign up to host your own!

Fair and balanced? The news you need?

Tim — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 23:30:32 EDT

Here's a thought:

Let's say that John McCain was found to have had an affair, accepted money for votes, or committed crimes or other acts that would be devastating to his campaign. Would the press (not just FOX) focus on coming up with/making up some "balancing" information about Barack Obama? Would the radical, unfounded accusations of a conservative wing nut be given equal consideration?

The Campaign of Hope and Faith Come Together

Elstun — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:24:26 EDT

>Note. John McCain is being challenged on traditionally Republican ground, on nearly all fronts, by Barack Obama's remarkable movement of hope and change. As noted in the previous post, the Military rank-and-file seem to be enlisting in the Obama army. Four developments out today on the "Faith Front". A Washington Post story today:"GOP Loyalty not a given for Young Evangelicals"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/14/AR2008081403446.html?hpid=topnews

Another commentary published in the Huffpost, with links, is pasted below, "Will the Real Pro-Life Party Please Stand Up?" Zack Exley makes the case, which those on the Christian Left have known all along, that the Republican Party exploited virtue to deliver Mammon. Neither compassion nor life was really part of the K street agenda.

Finally, two other important developments on the Faith-based front: The launching of the Mathew 25 initiative. Mathew 25, based on Mathew 25:40 (dust off your Bibles and look it up) speaks to compassion and asserts a real faith component in this campaign. I am excited about www.matthew25.org .

And this Saturday there will be a forum hoted by Reverend Rick Warren on the Saddleback Church. Rachel Zoll, AP Religion writer notes:

"Warren is an anti-abortion Southern Baptist who is nonetheless part of a shift away from the religious right's strict focus on abortion and marriage. The environment, poverty and education have also become pressing concerns, especially for younger evangelicals.

Warren is best known for building Saddleback Church into a 23,000-member megachurch in Lake Forest, Calif., and for writing the multimillion-selling book "The Purpose-Driven Life."

But he and his wife, Kay, are also leading advocates for HIV/AIDS victims worldwide. They have invested enormous resources in their PEACE Plan, now under way in Rwanda, which aims to combat corruption, illiteracy and other social problems through church partnerships with government and business..."

Senator Obama is much more comfortabler discussing matters of faith than is Senator McCain and I see this as a real opportunity to resonate with younger evangelicals. Keep watching for stories on this event.

***************************************************************************

Will the Real Pro-life Party Please Stand Up?

AP/Alex Brandon

Zack Exley: Many Christians are finally getting fed up with the complete failure of the GOP to reduce abortions, even with 20 years of Republican presidency since the rise of the Christian right. If Obama can boldly articulate a pro-life platform to reduce abortion, care for children and families, reduce arms and prevent war then he could bring about a seismic shift in electoral politics that makes the "Reagan Democrat" phenomenon look like nothing. Click here to read more.

Mayor Whitaker Endorses Obama

Emily Bokar — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 19:21:08 EDT

Good news from Fairbanks today. Mayor Jim Whitaker -- a registered Republican -- has endorsed Barack Obama!

Support from Alaskans from all backgrounds and political affiliations is one of the things that makes our movement so special. There is so much at stake in this election, and we need a president who can heal old partisan divisions and renew America's promise.

If you're a Republican who supports Barack, please take a moment to join our Alaska Republicans for Obama group.

We'll keep you updated on ways you can help Barack as an Alaska Republican. You can read more about Mayor Whitaker's endorsement in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner or in the press release below.

REPUBLICAN MAYOR OF FAIRBANKS-NORTH STAR BOROUGH ENDORSES OBAMA

Jim Whitaker has served as mayor since 2003

FAIRBANKS, AK – The Barack Obama campaign in Alaska today announced the endorsement of Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor Jim Whitaker. Whitaker is a registered Republican.

Whitaker said, “Barack Obama has the unique ability to bring people together from all political backgrounds—Democrats, Republicans, and independents. Partisan business-as-usual has crippled Washington. It’s time for a president who will work to unite our country and bring about the change we need.

“Barack Obama will stand up for Alaska’s families. As president, he’ll support the Alaska natural gas pipeline and work to lower the skyrocketing fuel prices that have caused an energy crisis here in Fairbanks. He has a plan to move this country forward and will be a president who is as independent as Alaskans are.”

Barack Obama said, “I’m grateful for Mayor Whitaker’s support. Fairbanks residents are paying some of the highest energy prices in the country. Mayor Whitaker knows firsthand the importance of solving our energy crisis. He believes as I do that we need to bring people together in order to solve the many challenges our country is facing right now, from energy to the economy.”

Jim Whitaker was elected mayor of the Fairbanks-North Star Borough in 2003. He served as a Republican member of the Alaska House of Representatives from 1999 to 2003. From 1999 to 2000, Whitaker served as Chair of the Special Committee on Oil and Gas.

# # #

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 12, 2008

New Hays Research Group Results in Alaska: Obama 45; McCain 40

Elstun — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 14:46:17 EDT

From Hays Research Group:

"...Our first published Presidential election poll of this campaign has yielded some very interesting results. This month Hays Research Group asked 400 Alaskan Voters who they intended to vote for in the upcoming presidential election.

As always, the results of this scientific survey are free for you to view online at:

http://www.haysresearch.com/080708.htm

If you know anyone else who you think might like to receive our monthly newsletter and free 'Opinion Counts' survey results, please encourage them to sign up for our newsletter at http://www.haysresearch.com/

And finally, if you have any questions about this survey, or any of the public opinion research services Hays Research Group provides, please feel free to contact me!

Anne Hays

Research Director

Hays Research Group

P.O. Box 110183

Anchorage, AK 99511-0183

(907) 277-1025

anne@haysresearch.com

Answered by 400 out of 400

Question 1

"Thinking about the election for President of the United States, if the

election were held today and the candidates were Democrat Barack Obama,

Republican John McCain or Independent Ralph Nader, for whom would you vote

or are you undecided?"

Obama - strong 138/400 35%

Obama - not so strong 28/400 7%

Undecided - lean Obama 15/400 4%

Total Obama 181/400 45%

McCain - strong 127/400 32%

McCain - not so strong 26/400 7%

Undecided - lean McCain 8/400 2%

Total McCain 161/400 40%

Nader - strong 6/400 1.5%

Nader - not so strong 2/400 <1%

Undecided - lean Nader 1/400 <1%

Total Nader 9/400 2%

Other 8/400 2%

Undecided / Don't Know 41/400 10%

Our Obama House Party

Elstun — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 15:35:29 EDT

August 7, Harriet and I hosted a houseparty for Obama. Galen is the Field Coordinator for District 25 and she provided the "official" campaign presence at the meeting. We sent out scores of emails, leafleted out neighborhood and made calls and, in the end, we had about a dozen folks show up over the evening. The three people who signed up via the website did not show up. There may have been discouragement because of a thunderstorm/hail/shower that immeidately preceded the event. Afterwards, the sun broke through and our freshly-mown backyard became the venue for much of the discussion that evening until around 7 when a little sprinkle sent us scrambling inside. We had lots of food contributed by the folks who came and the discussion was wide-ranging, in fact, so much so that a couple of times it was necessary to pull us back on track.

We watched a DVD of the South Carolina Victory Speech, which, while an excellent and inspiring speech also contained a couple of identifiable jabs at the Clinton Campaign which, at this time of party unity, might not be the best video for these purposes. There were a couple of clinton supporters present at the houseparty and both made note of those comments, while expressing overall support and positive feelings from the evening.

We went around the room and each of us talked about why we were supporting Barack. I will confine myself to the comments of Harriet and me, although many great comments were shared by everyone. Harriet spoke of her own political experience this year as a local government candidate. She saw a perceptible "shift" in the mood of the electorate: liberal/progressive voters are much more motivated than conservatives. She senses an opportunity for real change at the most local level and Barack has the capacity to galvanize that mood at the national level.

I spoke of how cynical I have become over the years. The Rove image machine had twice pushed a toady press corp and the corporate media into twisting the finest qualities of our presidential candidates into deficits. Al Gore, a brilliant policy leader was turned into a muddle-headed exaggerator; John Kerry, a genuine hero became a "coward". I faced 2008 with some trepidation. Despite the excellent field of candidates presented by the Democrats last Fall. I could not help but wonder how the political machinery of personal destruction would work this year. And then Barack Obama emerged.

Hunter Thompson is his book "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail" wrote about his struggles in covering the 1972 McGovern campaign for the Rolling Stone Magazine. Everything about the McGovern campaign seemed muddled and unconnected to the voter. Thompson couldn't identify the quality that was missing from the campaign until, one evening, around 4 am, driving around the streets of Chicago, Thompson heard a radio spot by the DNC that used an old clip of Bobby Kennedy's voice. Thompson had a journalistic apotheosis: he likened Kennedy's voice in the midst of the 1972 campaign to a sudden shot of the Rolling Stone's "Let It Bleed" in the middle of a recital by the Norman Luboff Choir. Kennedy's clear, nasal-accented, rapid-fire challenge to Americans to believe in themselves again was exactly what was missing from the 1972 campaign and...bring it up to date...it is exactly what is needed in 2008.

Incredibly and fortuitously, Barack Obama has come along to deliver that message and that energy and I am able to set aside my cynicism and...yes...hope again.

I recommend that everyone who can, host or participate in a house party...its a great way to bring together like-minded neighbors and be part of this time of historic change.

Where is the Media on McCain and Adultry?

Elstun — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 01:51:47 EDT

This comment posted to Ben Smith's Politico Blog summarizes what I have been wondering for a long time. The MSM wallows in tabloid journalism, the Edwards infidelity story being the latest example. The Edwards story has become a black hole of the political news galaxy, sucking in all the matter and letting out no light. Okay...given the MSM's pursuit of Joe Sixpack's endless fascination with gossip--feed him this one.

********************************************************************************

It will be interesting to see if any enterprising reporter asks John McCain point blank: "Have you ever committed adultery?" It is a germane question because (1) Edwards adultery is big news and (2) McCain has made "moral character" the main issue of his campaign. McCain may not be too keen to answer yes or no because the truth won't please the family values crowd. While he was a P.O.W. in Vietnam, his first wife, model Carol Shepp, was seriously injured in a horrific traffic accident in which she was thrown through the windshield. She didn't mention this in her letters to him in Vietnam to keep his morale up. When he got back and saw her 4 inches shorter, seriously overweight, and on crutches, he began having affairs. One piece of indisputable evidence is the fact that he obtained a license to marry wealthy beer heiress Cindy Hensley on March 6, 1980, while still legally married to Carol. If you type: McCain adultery to Google, you'll get 500,000 hits. Journalistic standards ought to require that if Edwards cheating on his sick wife is an indication of a deep moral flaw, then McCain cheating on his sick wife ought to be the same thing. And McCain is a candidate for President; Edwards is not.
Posted By: From electoral-vote.com | August 09, 2008 at 10:20 AM

Vote for Change

Anne Marie — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 20:14:07 EDT

Today's Washington Post on the Obama Campaign in Alaska

Elstun — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:00:11 EDT

>Note. Hooray For FAIRBANKS! The REAL Alaskan City! Great pic above from Flickr. Pay attention to the comments at the end from McHugh Pierre, spokesman for the Alaska Republican Party, holds out hope that McCain will change his position on drilling in the refuge. He also batted aside japes from his Democratic rivals -- who issued a series of news releases suggesting vacant office space that McCain's campaign might rent -- by suggesting the influx of Obama staffers amounted to carpetbagging.

"Obama is trying to take advantage of our situation," Pierre said. "Obama has a lot of East Coast liberal staffers in Alaska" while McCain, he said, "has a real grass-roots effort, Alaskans talking to Alaskans.

McHugh Pierre's Telephone Number is (907) 276-4467. Give him a call and ask him to identify the "east coast staffers in Alaska". I did. I'm still waiting for his return call.

**************************************************************************

By Karl Vick
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 5, 2008; A04

ANCHORAGE -- In what might be the fullest realization of Barack Obama's pledge to run hard in parts of the country largely untouched by presidential campaigning, the Democrat's Alaska operation is making plans for organizers to hopscotch the state's vast and sparsely populated interior by bush plane, knocking on doors in remote outposts for their candidate.

"Go around, put up signs, shake some hands, see some of the important people in the village," said state representative and professional pilot Woodie Salmon (D), describing his own campaign tactics in a legislative district that includes 94 villages, 70 of which can be reached only by air. "Get things stirred up and leave again."

Conservative and quirky, Alaska last went for a Democratic presidential candidate 44 years ago. No nominee from either party has even visited since Richard Nixon's journey to glad-hand in Anchorage on the last weekend of the 1960 campaign, a stop that some argue cost him the razor-thin election.

Obama, who often boasts of having visited the other 49 states, has yet to commit to a stop here. But his vibrant campaign operation here is stoking expectations and mounting the most prodigious presidential effort Alaska has seen.

While the John McCain campaign has yet to open an office anywhere in the state, Obama has dispatched dozens of paid staffers here over the past month; the latest batch arrived over the weekend. It is assigning field coordinators in each of the state's 40 legislative districts and has been buying television ad time since June.

"The campaign is treating Alaska as a key battleground state," said Jeff Giertz, the campaign's communications director in Alaska, who arrived in Anchorage from Iowa, the scene of Obama's first victory of the Democratic nominating contest.

With only three electoral votes, Alaska may seem a low-stakes prize. But by pouring time and money into traditionally Republican Western states such as Montana and Colorado, the Obama campaign is trying to make good on its vow to redraw the electoral map and force the McCain campaign to watch its flanks -- all the while reinforcing Obama's overarching claim of nurturing a politics of inclusion.

"It's a tough state to move, but we're making a play," Giertz said. "If there's any year where a Democrat can win Alaska, this is the year."

Public surveys consistently have McCain ahead, but by single-digit margins that reflect the Republican's tepid support here.

"Obama's really holding his own," said Andrew Halcro, a former Republican state lawmaker and independent gubernatorial candidate who termed the Obama effort "amazing."

"I think they could come pretty close," said David Dittman, the state's leading pollster, who works primarily with Republicans. He added: "I don't think Obama would win."

In a state where Ross Perot drew 28 percent in 1992 and Ralph Nader banked every tenth vote eight years later, an array of circumstances offers encouragement to the underdog Democrat, starting with McCain's last-place finish in the Republican caucus in February behind Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul.

The Arizona Republican faces a tough sell here. Though McCain's military credentials resonate with Alaska's veteran and active-duty residents, he is also known here for railing against the "earmark" appropriations that bring Alaskans more federal money per capita than any other state.

But McCain's most dubious distinction is as the first GOP candidate in memory to oppose oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The position, which McCain reiterated even while reversing his opposition to off-shore drilling, puts him at odds with the overwhelming majority of Alaskans.

"There's a sense of betrayal with McCain in the fact that he doesn't support it," Dittman said. "There's the sense that he's not any better than a Democrat."

And this year, being a Democrat may not be such a bad thing. Every Republican on the November ballot can expect to suffer from the corruption scandal that has tarred Alaskan politics. Last week's indictment of Ted Stevens, the U.S. Senate's longest-serving Republican, follows the federal convictions of three state GOP lawmakers in cases that featured surveillance videos starring the oil executive who prosecutors say remodeled Stevens's modest Girdwood home.

Public revulsion at the continuing torrent of revelations fueled the upset election of Republican Sarah Palin as governor in 2006, on a platform of Alaskan pride and cleaning up government.

"I think Obama's message is similar to Sarah's two years ago," said Halcro, who lost his third-party bid to Palin. "People want to believe that these really complex public policy questions are going to be solved by what I call glittering generalities."

Alaskans may also appreciate being noticed.

"We've always voted up here. Just nobody's paid much attention," said Jim Schultz, 71.

Snowy-bearded and cheerful, the federal retiree worked the phones in Obama headquarters on a rare sunny evening during a cold and cloudy summer. Across the table sat a beaming Celine Gammond, 18.

"It gives us legitimacy," she said of the campaign's effort. "It's like we're a real state."

The youthful enthusiasm that powers the famous Obama ground operation first became apparent here on caucus night: The 8,800 who jammed into caucus sites represented more than ten times the turnout four years earlier, with 70 percent for the Illinois senator.

"I hope America doesn't disappoint these young people," Schultz said. But working the phones reminded him that in the great north, more than the weather can be harsh: "I think what surprises me is the animosity or the rudeness. If they're Republican they say, 'I'm not even going to talk to you.' Or they hang up."

Still, political professionals say the sheer force of effort is bound to produce dividends.

"They really appreciate that people would come to your town and talk to you. That's a big thing," said Salmon, who uses his two Cessnas for "campaigning, hunting, and odds and ends."

Fuel will be expensive, though, especially if the pilot refuels in the bush, where prices reflect the expense of delivering it there by barge or even air. "Arctic villages' last reported gas price was about $10 a gallon, and they live right next to ANWR," Salmon said.

McHugh Pierre, spokesman for the Alaska Republican Party, holds out hope that McCain will change his position on drilling in the refuge. He also batted aside japes from his Democratic rivals -- who issued a series of news releases suggesting vacant office space that McCain's campaign might rent -- by suggesting the influx of Obama staffers amounted to carpetbagging.

"I don't think the views or opinions of Alaskans have changed, and the views of the Republican Party still represent the views of most people.

"Ronald Reagan didn't even have an office here," Pierre said. "This is the normal deal."

Despite Media Narrative, Obama Leads By Over 100 Electoral Votes

Elstun — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:42:49 EDT

> Note. Mark Nickolas' Blog reports that the MSM has itr wrong not only in the little things, but in the biggest picture of all...the electoral trend.

SEE the original post at

http://www.politicalbase.com/profile/Mark%20Nickolas/blog/&blogId=2974blog/&blogId=2974

by Mark Nickolas on Aug 4, 2008

With all the breathlessness over the minute movements in the irrelevant national polls, the one thing no one seems to be noticing is that the electoral map is still trending very poorly for John McCain (R).

I realize that it cuts against the media narrative right now to focus on anything that doesn't suggest a dead-heat, but it's quite instructive to see how the independent groups (and even right-leaning ones) currently see the state of the race through the only prism that matters -- the Electoral College:

                   Obama McCain    Margin
Real Clear Politics   322    216    Obama +106
Electoral-Vote.com    316    209    Obama +107
FiveThirtyEight.com   303    235    Obama + 68
Pollster.com          284    147    Obama +137
AVERAGE               306    202    Obama +104

If you think about the reporting of the fluctuating state polls lately that show a tight race, all of them involve red states that McCain can't afford to lose: Colorado, Montana, Virginia, Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, Alaska, Georgia, etc.

Despite the media narrative that a number of blue states are competitive, the truth is none of the recent polling shows McCain making any significant inroads in the blue states. Consider:

In Michigan, McCain had not led in any poll since May;
In Pennsylvania, McCain has not led in any poll April, and a Republican poll released last week showed McCain trailing by 9, in line with the current Pollster.com average;
In New Hampshire, McCain has not led in any poll since April;
In Minnesota, while one recent poll showed McCain within the margin of error, no other poll in the past month (including one poll taken more recently) has him within 12 points.

So, while the media breathlessly reports the national tracking polls which shows a close race, the state polling is still showing a pretty significant Obama lead.

P.S. -- Again reminding us how big of a joke CNN's political reporting has become, their current electoral map has it Obama 221, McCain 189. What a farce.

Big Oil Bundling For McCain

Elstun — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 19:54:02 EDT

>Note. Veco provided home improvements for Ted Stevens and the Justice Department indicts him; what do they think of THIS? No quid pro quo here, right?

Multiple Oil Company Executives Gave Huge Contributions To Electing McCain Just Days After Offshore Drilling Reversal

By Greg Sargent and Eric Kleefeld

- August 4, 2008, 12:47PM
Ten senior Hess Corporation executives and/or members of the Hess family each gave $28,500 to the joint RNC-McCain fundraising committee, just days after McCain reversed himself to favor offshore drilling, according to Federal Election Commission reports.

Nine of these contributions, seven from Hess executives and two from members of the Hess family, came on the same day, June 24th, the records show. The total collected in the wake of McCain's reversal for the fund, called McCain Victory 2008, from Hess execs and family is $285,000.

We were alerted to the contributions by Campaign Money Watch, a non-partisan group that tracks campaign contributions. The contributions were given a quick mention deep in a report the group issued late last week, but with no names or other details provided. The Hess contributions are clearly newsworthy on their own.

The Washington Post reported last week that campaign contributions from oil industry execs rose in a big way in the last half of June, after McCain drew a huge amount of attention by reversing his opposition on June 16th to the federal ban on offshore drilling.

These Hess contributions, however, hadn't been reported until now, and they will give more ammo to those arguing that McCain is being rewarded by campaign contributions in exchange for pro-industry positions. Here's a table detailing the contributions:

24-Jun J. Barclay Collins Hess Corp.Attorney $28,500
19-Jun John B. Hess Hess Corp.Executive $28,500
24-Jun Susan K. Hess Homemaker $28,500
24-Jun Norma W. Hess Retired $28,500
24-Jun John J. O'Connor Hess Corp.Executive $28,500
24-Jun Lawrence Ornstein Hess Corp.Senior VP $28,500
24-Jun John Reilly Hess Corp.Executive $28,500
24-Jun Alice Rocchio Hess Corp.Office Manager $28,500
24-Jun John Scelfo Hess Corp.Senior VP of Finance $28,500
24-Jun F. Borden Walker Hess Corp.Businessman $28,500
Norma W. Hess is the widow of oil magnate and company founder Leon Hess, and Susan K. Hess is the wife of Hess chairman and CEO John Hess.

Neither a spokesperson for Hess nor the McCain campaign immediately responded to requests for comment. More on this in a bit.

Late Update: It turns out that $28,500 is the maximum that can be given to the RNC, but because this particular victory fund collects money via various channels, an individual donor can actually give more than that to it. I've edited out "maximum" from the headline. Obviously this doesn't change the story in any way.

Late Late Update: A Hess office manager and her husband, an Amtrak worker, each chipped in $28,000 apiece, too.

Late Late Late Update: Turns out that the office manager and her Amtrak husband rent their home in Flushing, Queens.

McCain Vs 'Uppity' Barack Obama

Elstun — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:40:40 EDT

>Note. Paul Jenkins--the Huffpost Blogger, not the Anchorage Times curmudgeon, had a post a couple of days ago that goes right to the heart of the narrative that the GOP, Rove and McCain are weaving about Obama being a phenomenon of shallow celebrity: Barack Obama doesn't know 'his place'. Oh, of course they don't actually SAY that, silly rabbit. That would be too...inappropriate. But what they DO say is this: how else can you explain this candidate's success? If he is an empty suit, without experience or ability, how else can you explain the fact that his has raised more money than any political campaign in US history, drawn record-breaking crowds in the US and abroad, and has been ahead of John McCain since widespread general election polling began four months ago? People of America...the subtext of this narrative goes...this 'boy' doesn't know his placed and it is up to us good ol' Amuricunz to teach him! Doesn't it just 'feel' better to have a grumpy old white man who lives in a world where Iraq and Pakistan share a common border in the oval office?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-jenkins/obama-still-does-not-know_b_115671.html

The Slime Behind The Pentagon-Germany Visit & McCain Attacks!

Elstun — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:11:38 EDT

>Note. Some breaks just happen because you are right. For example, Senator Obama benefitted from the al-Malaki support of his 16 month withdrawal 'horizon'; he benefitted from the realignment of 'official' U.S. policy toward Zimbabwe (-over a year after Senator Obama framed the issue); and Senator Obama's declaration that he would use the tools of engagement toward Iran has also been proven right by Secretary of State Rice struggling mightily to salvage some sort of legacy for the Bush Administration. Other breaks happen not because you are right, but because you are manipulative. John McCain, the Man-With-The-Angry-Voices-In-His-Head, benefitted from the manipulations of a Bush political operative embedded in the Pentagon. Here is the story from the Strategy08 Blog. Copy and paste this on all the sites you subscribe to—especially the MSM ones like CNN--this needs to get out! http://strategy08.wordpress.com/2008/07/28/the-slime-behind-the-pentagon-germany-visit/#more-289
Robert Wilkie, Assistant Secretary of Defense Legislative Affairs
This is the guy who began the sliming of Barack Obama’s planned visit to Landstuhl, the military hospital in Germany, and helped the McCain campaign get their political ad out–this is downright coordination between the Pentagon and the McCain presidential campaign. For more information on this explosive story, please continue to read below:

Robert Wilkie’s biography reads like a Republican’s wet dream of gaining access to power, first starting with his career on Capitol Hill in working for Senator Jesse Helms, the famed racist, and then his appointment to his current position by President George W. Bush in 2006 and subsequent confirmation by the U.S. Senate in 2006.
Here’s the beginning of the story, starting with the briefing by Robert Gibbs, the Obama press secretary, here:
Senior strategist Robert Gibbs said the visit to the military hospital in Germany had been in the works for about three weeks, with Gration serving as the campaign’s contact with the Pentagon.
The Pentagon cleared the Obama plan to land at the base on either July 15 or 16, Gibbs said. The plane needed the clearance because of restrictions on landing nonmilitary aircraft there, he said.
But then on Wednesday, Gration told Obama aides that the Pentagon had informed him that the visit could be viewed as a campaign stop.
“They cited a regulation,” Gibbs said of their point of contact, described as legislative affairs in the office of the secretary.
It seems that Robert Wilkie likes to cite regulations for political reasons, given a previous Boston Globe story in 2007:
Robert L. Wilkie , a former Bush administration national security official who left the White House to become assistant secretary of defense for legislative affairs last year, has outlined a half-dozen guidelines that prohibit most officers below the rank of colonel from appearing in hearings, restricting testimony to high-ranking officers and civilians appointed by President Bush.
The guidelines, described in an April 19 memo to the staff director of the House Armed Services Committee, adds that all field-level officers and enlisted personnel must be “deemed appropriate” by the Department of Defense before they can participate in personal briefings for members of Congress or their staffs; in addition, according to the memo, the proceedings must not be recorded.
…
Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress see the move as a blatant attempt to bog down investigations of the war. But veterans of the legislative process — who say they have never heard of such guidelines before — maintain that the Pentagon has no authority to set such ground rules.
The one way to stop slime like this, is to make the story ABOUT the slime, particularly the origin of the slime. Thus, the focus of the outrage is now on the origin of the slime, Robert Wilkie, and the Bush White House by default. This helps in creating more support for Barack Obama from the general populace when they realize that it was the White House and the Pentagon that worked in coordination with John McCain’s campaign to politicize this visit to wounded troops.

Vice President Tim Kaine?

Elstun — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:39:38 EDT

>NOTE. Tim Kaine is Governor of Virginia and, because of that, he is often referred to by the Talking Heads as a "Centrist". After all, a "progressive" could never get elected Governor of the cusp state, right? Wrong. Tim Kaine is popular, he's populist and he's progressive. Too often in the Post-Reagan America, liberal/progressive politicians are not 'comfortable in their skin'; Kaine is. And, like Barack Obama, he's got brainpower. Let the Democratic Leadership Council keep their Evan Bayhs; we need a solid progressive with fire in his belly That's Tim Kaine. Here's a profile by Larry Sabato.

***********************************

By Larry Sabato

We have no earthly idea if Virginia Governor Tim Kaine is Obama's choice for Vice President. All we know is that distinguished reporters who claim to have good sources are calling and saying that Kaine is on the short-short list.

Since the Crystal Ball is based in Virginia, and since we have followed Tim Kaine's career since it began on the Richmond City Council in 1994, we'll offer our readers a brief precis on what Kaine would add to the ticket, and what he would not, should the rumors prove accurate.

As with all potential Veep picks, there are pluses and minuses. Let's start with Kaine's advantages:

1. Personal Chemistry

There can be little doubt that this is the main reason why Obama is looking at Kaine. The first state governor outside Obama's Illinois to endorse Obama for President, Kaine was immediately drawn to the Illinois senator because they are two peas in a political pod. Both Harvard Law graduates with Kansas roots, both attorneys with a central focus on civil rights, and both relatively new to the big leagues, Obama and Kaine clearly like one another and enjoy each other's company.

Obama has realized that a modern Vice President practically lives with the Chief Executive, especially in times of crisis, and he wants someone he can trust completely. One other similarity that some see is less flattering. Obama and Kaine are both supremely self-confident, and their adversaries (and even some of their friends) occasionally detect a hint of hubris and arrogance. On the other hand, we have never known a President or governor who was genuinely humble. That special quality possessed by the meek doesn't go hand in hand with high political office.

2. Emphasis on Domestic Policy

The foremost issue in the minds of voters isn't Iraq or foreign affairs anymore; it's the sour economy and domestic policy. A governor focuses daily on the key components of domestic concern--jobs, education, transportation, health care, and the like. Kaine could speak with self assurance in these fields. Not only has he served as governor, but he was on the Richmond City Council from 1994 to 2001 (when he was elected lieutenant governor), and the Council-elected mayor of Richmond from 1998-2001. As an ambassador to the urban areas of America, Kaine would have credibility.

3. Out-of-Washington Change

It has not escaped anyone's notice that the President is at 25 percent approval, the Congress is around 15 percent, and even the Supreme Court has fallen below 50 percent in some polls. Since Obama has been in Washington barely long enough to learn the street layout, he can avoid the awful, prevailing D.C. taint. Kaine adds emphasis to the 'change' theme since he has no Washington experience of any kind.

4. Virginia

For decades, analysts prematurely proclaimed that the Old Dominion had become the New Dominion, and in the twenty-first century it's finally true. Among the most improbable of 2008's toss-up states, Virginia is on the knife's edge. It is not unreasonable to expect the sitting Governor to add a couple of points to Obama's total. Kaine is popular (mid-50s in most surveys), though not wildly so, as was his predecessor, Mark Warner, who is currently cruising to a big U.S. Senate victory in the state.

Oh, it almost goes without saying that John McCain would have a very difficult time finding the 13 electoral votes he might lose in Virginia. Keep in mind that Virginia has voted Republican in thirteen of the last fourteen presidential contests (save only LBJ's in 1964), and the state is tied for the best GOP record in the nation. Even Georgian Jimmy Carter, who won all the other states of the South, couldn't take Virginia. Defeat in the New Dominion would be a major and perhaps decisive blow to McCain. Could Tim Kaine be the first VP nominee since Lyndon Johnson in 1960 to deliver a critical, toss-up home state for his ticket?

5. Special Qualities

Kaine is Roman Catholic, often described as "devout" even though he is pro-choice in effect while projecting a pro-life image and accepting of the death penalty despite personal opposition to it. Catholics are a swing vote in 2008, and Kaine's Christian religious orientation matches Obama's. This might help with the campaign's much publicized outreach to church-going Americans. Kaine is a former missionary to Honduras and he speaks fluent Spanish, which can only assist in the effort to woo Hispanics.

Kaine is more national than real Virginian (as a native of Virginia, this author can snobbishly suggest this), having been born in Minnesota, having grown up in Kansas, and having attended colleges in Missouri and Massachusetts. Therefore, Kaine has ties to three swing states (MN, MO, and VA). Kaine has a bipartisan dimension, since his father-in-law is Linwood Holton, Virginia's first Republican Governor of the 20th century, who served from 1970 to 1974. Republicans will be quick to add that Holton has long since left the party--Holton says the party left him--and he recently told this author that the only Republican he has voted for in recent times is retiring U.S. Sen. John Warner, a moderate.

Kaine is highly articulate, young (age 50, close to Obama's 46 years), and an accomplished campaigner. As a team, they will look good and make sense, much as the youthful team of Bill Clinton and Al Gore produced synergy for 1992's Democrats. Finally, fulfilling the oldest VP mandate of "first, do no harm", Kaine is squeaky clean and scandal-free, as even his enemies admit, and he is unlikely to commit gaffes or deflect attention from the presidential nominee.

There are no perfect people, and that goes double for VP picks. So Kaine brings certain disadvantages and baggage to Obama, too:

1. Lack of Experience Where It Is Most Needed

Other than the possibility of racial leakage at the polls--the chance that many white voters who would otherwise vote Democratic this year will be unable to cast a ballot for an African-American--there is no greater threat to Obama's victory than his inexperience. With fewer than four years in Washington as a senator, most of which has been spent running for president, plus a stint in the Illinois State Senate, Obama's public office resume is undeniably thin. His recent successful Magical Mystery Tour of eight European and Middle Eastern countries notwithstanding, Obama has little or no foreign policy, military, and national security experience.

Unless one counts foreign trade missions, Kaine has even less knowledge of these areas than Obama. Survey after survey has shown that Americans have a hard time, at least so far, seeing Obama in the role of commander-in-chief. A VP pick with solid background in the military or international arena would be reassuring. Kaine provides no comfort there, and it may cost Obama. Overall, Kaine has executive experience as a mayor and governor that perhaps balances Obama's purely legislative resume. Yet this would be a team whose elective resume is rather skimpy, beginning only in the mid-1990s, with just one truly consequential office each--and not a full term in it for either.

2. The Hillary Factor

Few insiders believe there is a chance Obama will pick Hillary Clinton, despite her near-tie with Obama in popular votes and delegates. The reasons are well known, including lack of personal chemistry and the potential campaign and White House role of Bill Clinton. But given continuing reluctance among some Hillary voters to back Obama, is it a risk for Obama to form a ticket with Kaine, one of his earliest and most ardent backers? Might it not make more sense for Obama to select a former strong Hillary backer--though someone of pleasant personality with whom Obama could forge a working partnership? The obvious name is Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh, who some say is also on Obama's short-short list.

3. Kaine's Governorship

Few nonpartisan observers in Virginia regard Kaine's tenure in the Governor's Office as particularly successful. Having known every governor since Albertis Harrison (1962-1966) and having studied the records of the dozen most recent governors, I would characterize Kaine's term to this point as belonging to the bottom quartile. To be fair, he has a year and a half to go, and sometimes a Virginia governor can make a final push that raises his grade considerably.

So far, Kaine has had one shining moment after the Virginia Tech massacre in April 2007, when he handled the tragedy with aplomb--easily on a par with Gov. Frank Keating's management of the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 or Gov. Haley Barbour's skill in bringing Mississippi back from the brink of chaos after Hurricane Katrina. But otherwise, his executive tenure has recorded few significant successes and one giant, overriding failure in the transportation field where Kaine hoped to make his mark. Is Kaine solely responsible? Absolutely not.

The Republican House of Delegates, controlled by social conservatives and anti-tax partisans, has been determined not to give Kaine a major achievement. "No more Mark Warners" has been their slogan, believing that the GOP's willingness to work with Kaine's Democratic predecessor to pass a large tax hike created a political juggernaut in Warner, and deeply alienated the right-wing Republican base. Still, even Democratic legislators friendly to Kaine say privately that he is often a distant governor, certainly compared to Warner, inclined to give orders without thorough follow-up and flexibility. Whether Kaine's record as Governor would matter much to a national audience is doubtful, so this may not be much of a threat to Obama.

4. The Aftermath in Virginia

Naturally, Obama would not be especially concerned about the post-Kaine era in Virginia, and given the frustrations of his governorship, one could hardly blame Kaine for grabbing a chance to move up and out--and eventually perhaps have his own shot at the presidency. However, many Virginia Democrats are privately unhappy at the prospect of Kaine leaving in mid-term, potentially the first Virginia governor not to complete the single four-year term since it was established beginning in 1852. That is because Kaine would be succeeded by a deeply conservative Republican lieutenant governor, Bill Bolling.

Undoubtedly and appropriately, Bolling would quickly move to put his own stamp on state government with a new Cabinet, agency heads, and board appointments. Under an agreement previously reached with the now-presumptive 2009 GOP gubernatorial nominee, Attorney General Bob McDonnell, Bolling would be the Republican nominee for a full term. (The election is in November 2009.) Bolling had side-stepped a divisive GOP primary with a grateful McDonnell in order to run for reelection to the lieutenant governorship, but part of their gentleman's agreement--confirmed by both men to me at the time--guaranteed Bolling the nomination if he should succeed to the top spot before the June 2009 nominating deadline. Thus, for the first time since 1852, an incumbent Governor, Bill Bolling, would seek reelection.

While mistakes in office could always deny him the prize, the presumption would be that Virginians would not want three governors in one year. Thus, Kaine's departure could deliver a five-year Bolling governorship, quite possibly followed by a term of McDonnell. (The modern Virginia tradition has been to give a party at least two consecutive terms in the governor's chair, even though the one-term-and-out rule means that different people would be elected every four years.) The Bolling term would include the redistricting year of 2011, possibly enabling Republicans to tenure in their state legislative and U.S. House incumbents for another decade. The Senate of Virginia, narrowly controlled by the Democrats (21 to 19) and dependant upon the good health of an eighty-something incumbent, could also go Republican in 2011, with a GOP governor leading the charge. This would wipe out Democratic momentum in Virginia.

We're jumping way ahead, and perhaps this nightmare scenario for Democrats would be short-circuited somewhere along the way--but it is very much in the minds of senior Virginia Democrats as they contemplate an early Kaine departure for the Vice Presidency. And the top Republicans will hardly believe their luck, if this comes to pass. In all states, gaining the governorship is the key to expanding a party's political control. The Virginia GOP has been deep down and virtually out since 2001, but they may well owe their comeback to a Democratic presidential candidate and a Democratic governor. By the way, this same situation could develop even if Kaine is not chosen VP. A President-Elect Obama would almost certainly offer Kaine a Cabinet post. Were Kaine to take it, Republicans would begin their roll.

Democrats will happily absorb the first half of this essay, while Republicans will eagerly focus on the second half. As always, the Crystal Ball tries to walk in the middle of the road--that six-inch-wide yellow line where you get hit from both sides.

This entire piece of prose is pure speculation, of course. But hasn't it been fun?

Dr. Sabato, the Robert Kent Gooch Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia, founded the Center for Politics in 1998.

More On Stevens Indictment

JaneHaigh — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:55:52 EDT

This is from the Wall Street Journal,

"Mr. Stevens could also do his party a favor by dropping his re-election bid"

I post this here, because it is the Republican Culture of Corruption that we are running against here in Alaska.

The Stevens Indictment
July 30, 2008; Page A14

Yesterday's seven-count indictment of Alaska Senator Ted Stevens is another blow to the Republican Congressional reputation for honest government -- as well as the party's chances of avoiding big losses in November. Minority parties don't typically defeat a majority when more of their own Members are being indicted for corruption.

Mr. Stevens deserves the presumption of innocence, but his indictment only underscores how much the GOP lost its way in its final years running Congress through 2006. The 84-year-old Senator was the king of Appropriations, legendary for ensuring spending earmarks for his state. The pork made him popular at home, but it also undermined the GOP's fiscal credibility -- most notoriously with his Bridge to Nowhere. If the criminal charges are proven in court, Mr. Stevens also crossed the line to using his power for personal enrichment.

Senate Republicans are already facing losses this fall, enough so that they will have to fight to hold 41 seats to maintain a filibuster; they now have 49. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell needs to think about a political quarantine, beyond Mr. Stevens forfeiting his ranking status on Appropriations as per Senate rules. Mr. Stevens could also do his party a favor by dropping his re-election bid, which is now a very long shot.

If Mr. Stevens insists on running again, Alaska Republicans will have a chance to render their own verdict in an August 26 Senate primary. Some political hygiene would seem to be in order.

My First Organizing Trip for Obama

Jonathan Teeters — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 14:34:40 EDT

My first organizing trip with Barack Obama’s Campaign for change began as many trips in Alaska do—in a small 20-seat twin engine turbo-prop. Let me tell you—my 6’3 315lb frame, as you can imagine, is not easily folded and twisted into a small…no tiny plane—but by this time I am getting used to it. The planes are only going to get smaller the further I get off the beaten path; I can’t wait!

Rain and wind pelted the small plane as we got to altitude, and our co-pilot was gracious enough to warn us that it was going to be a little bumpy going up and coming down. Hmmm, not what I really wanted to hear before the wheels left the ground—but after he turned around and grabbed the yoke I knew that he was in it for as much as I was—and I quickly fell asleep.

Flying in Alaska is an amazing treat, no matter how often you do it. When I awoke from my short catnap I looked out the window to see the green expanse of interior Alaska extend to the horizon, in every direction braided rivers reflected the blue skies breaking above, contrasting the green velvet below.

Almost imediately after hitting the ground, after refilling my caffeine tanks, I was whisked away by my friend Mike to meet with elders in the Fairbanks Native community who are connected throughout all the Interior Villages. It was an eye-opening whirlwind, and after 4 hours if impromptu meetings and hand-shaking I was left asking myself some big questions, and feeling good about the ones that had just been answered by the folks I met with. Most of all, I came away with an increased appreciation for everyone before me who has organized statewide campaigns—for candidates or issues—in rural Alaska.

Shortly after my morning of meetings I was able to pick up the old dodge pickup that would get me around during my visit. Now, this is the same kind of truck that I always wanted as a young man, so I took to the truck like a fish to water. I decked it out in First Americans for Obama stuff and hit the road, chug-a-luggin’ along. I felt like a Farbanksian in no time, as small cars and timid drivers moved over for the 12 miles per gallon Obamamobile.

On Saturday morning I accepted an invitation to join the Interior Democrats and volunteers from all the other candidates in the Golden Days Parade. I have not marched in a parade since I was 5 and dressed as a Care Bear, so I was cautiously optomnistic that it would be worth my time. It was!

I joined a grop of 78 Interior Democrats and candidates for the parade, but not before having plenty of time to snap some pictures of the fun before we hit the streets.

The parade route was packed with local Fairbanksians who turned out for the small window of sunshine that greeted us, and for the candy. Next to Halloween, I think that the Golden Days Parade is the next biggest sugar consumption time for children in the Golden Heart City!

Along the route I carried a sign with Obama and First Americans for Obama rally signs on it. Now and then I asked those on the route if they would take a picture with the signs for my blog and many people jumped at the opportunity, including my friend Sarah. Now, for just a little background: Sarah left Anchorage over a year ago for the Peace Corps in Vanuatu in the South Pacific. I recall getting periodic myspace updates on her experiences there—so I thought that I was trippin’ when I saw her waving back at me from the bed of a truck parked along the parade route. Nope, indeed my friend who was in th South Pacific just a few days prior was indeed enjoying the parade with her family along the route. She was in town on account of a death in the family and was headed back to Vanuatu in a day. Wow…small world. I was sure glad to see her. Sarah has worked with me in the past to connect young Alaska Native leaders to opportunities in politics, and I am sure missing her now.

Later that afternoon after the parade and a delicious pit-stop at Big Daddy’s barbeque joint fill my BBQ tank, I went to the World Eskimo Indian Olympics (WEIO) with the Fairbanks Regional Field Director Brian McGrane.

I had a great conversation with the former Mayor of Wainwright. He is the owner of one of the stores there in Wainwright and we talked about village politics and organizing in Inupiaq Country. I hope that he will help make this campaign a success on the North Slope. We both agreed that this campaign offers and excellent opportunity to enagee the next generation of young Alaska Native leadership who are ready to lead Alaska into the next 50 years of our future.

Finally, as I was talking to my friend Lena who was at WEIO when I heard that more men over 150 pounds were needed to help with the Mens Final Blanket Toss. I looked quickly at Lena and she looked back with the affirmitive indication that indeed—I could go help throw the competitors up in the air. My feet made haste and I found my position around the heavy hide blanket. I think it is probably caribou hide, but it could be moose. Either way it is a lot of hide and it is really durable. I called to Brian who was in the stands watching, and with only a few points and yells I got him to come down and help too.

This was one of those “only in Alaska” experiences, and I am glad that I had a chance to participate and to share this with Brian who is much newer to Alaska than I. He remarked that it was a great experience too and he was glad that I pulled him down there to participate.

My visit to Fairbanks ended on Sunday with the first Camp Obama training, and I knew that we were on the right track with this campaign when I saw over 20 great Obama supporters spend a solid 6-hours learning the Tao of Obama. Getting anyone in Fairbanks to stay inside on a moderately nice summer day for even a few hours is a challenge—so we must be doing something right!

Counterattacking A Viral Attack

Elstun — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 22:51:43 EDT

>NOTE. The letter referenced in my letter to the Richmond Times-Dispatch is reproduced below. The Obama blog doesn’t support fancy fonts so you do not have the benefit of seeing the dizzying array of colorful fonts that gilded the words of Mr. Alvarez. Maybe the newspaper will print my response, maybe not. I am sharing it with you so that maybe you can share it with others who drop this piece of rhetorical “mierda” in your email box. Google "Manuel Alvarez, Jr. Sandy Hook" and you will see the extent that the echo chamber has spread this thing.

An open letter to Manuel Alvarez, Jr. Sandy Hook (Sent to the Richmond Times-Dispatch).

Dear Manuel,

Your thinly-veiled attack on Barack Obama has been making the rounds of the Right-Wing echo chamber from the FreeRepublic.com to Fox Network News.

Your insinuations were forwarded to me by a friend who had received them from an conservative acquaintance. Your words were enhanced with colored fonts and highlights by someone along the way, perhaps anticipating an audience without the intellect to grasp your thrusts in their original form. After reading your words, I decided to write to you. As an Obama supporter and an advocate for change, I am one of the ‘dupes’ that you are targeting with your letter. Not having your address, I am submitting this to the source of your comments, the Richmond Times Dispatch in hopes that they might run it.

I, like you, am a citizen of the United States. Unlike you I am not an immigrant with an ax to grind. I have to judge things here in the United States simply as they have been and how they are now and how I hope things will be in the future. Before George W. Bush this country was more united than it was divided. Before George W. Bush this country was respected in the world. Before George W. Bush this country had a buoyant economy. Before George W. Bush our national guard existed to help combat American disasters. Before George W. Bush we were welcome partners in this hemisphere, North and South. Before George W. Bush our Constitution was the foundation of our freedom. Manuel, many of the great things that once were have been diminished under eight years of George W. Bush and I am looking for a leader who will work to reverse the disasters of the Bush era. So, yes, "Change" is important to me. You see, Manuel, those of us who only know the United States as the great and compassionate country that it once was will work for change and support change because we no longer will accept leadership that diminishes, trivializes and undermines this great country. While I am sure that you look forward to returning to a Free Cuba one day, I am focused only on strengthening the institutions of freedom here in the United States. That is why I see Barack Obama as my choice for change.

Respectfully,

Elstun W. Lauesen II

Letter from a Cuban, READ VERY SLOWLY………

“C H A N G E”

From Richmond Times-Dispatch, Monday, July 7, 2008 ~

Dear Editor, "Times-Dispatch",

Each year I get to celebrate Independence Day twice. On June 30 I celebrate my independence day, and on July 4 I celebrate America ’s. This year is special, because it marks the 40th anniversary of my independence.

On June 30, 1968, I escaped Communist Cuba , and a few months later, I was in the United States to stay. That I happened to arrive in Richmond on Thanksgiving Day is just part of the story, but I digress.

I’ve thought a lot about the anniversary this year. The election-year rhetoric has made me think a lot about Cuba and what transpired there. In the late 1950s, most Cubans thought Cuba needed a change, and they were right. So when a young leader came along, every Cuban was at least receptive.

When the young leader spoke eloquently and passionately and denounced the old system, the press fell in love with him. They never questioned who his friends were or what he really believed in. When he said he would help the farmers and the poor and bring free medical care and education to all, everyone followed. When he said he would bring justice and equality to all, everyone said, “Praise the Lord.”

And when the young leader said, “I will be for change and I’ll bring you change”; everyone yelled, “Viva Fidel!”

But nobody asked about the change, so by the time the executioner’s guns went silent, the people’s guns had been taken away. By the time everyone was equal, they were equally poor, hungry, and oppressed. By the time everyone received th eir free education, it was worth nothing. By the time the press noticed, it was too late, because they were now working for him. By the time the change was finally implemented, Cuba had been knocked down a couple of notches to Third-World status. By the time the change was over, more than a million people had taken to boats, rafts, and inner tubes. You can call those who made it ashore anywhere else in the world the most fortunate Cubans. And now I’m back to the beginning of my story.

Luckily, we would never fall in America for a young leader who promised change without asking, what change? How will you carry it out? What will it cost America ?

“C H A N G E”

Would we?

Manuel Alvarez, Jr. Sandy Hook

MEDIA'S 'LIBERAL BIAS' BIAS: Study Says Media Tougher on Obama

Elstun — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 17:24:01 EDT

>NOTE. The L.A. Times has published a study and, as I pointed out earlier, the media has been 'McWhipped' into being tougher on Senator Obama than the Man-With-Angry-Voices-In-His-Head.

In study, evidence of liberal-bias bias Cable talking heads accuse broadcast networks of liberal bias -- but a think tank finds that ABC, NBC and CBS were tougher on Barack Obama than on John McCain in recent weeks.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-onthemedia272008jul27,0,2066363,full.story

Obama's Prayer

Elstun — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 16:08:21 EDT

By ARON HELLER, Associated Press WriterFri Jul 25, 4:26 PM ET

An Israeli newspaper's decision to publish a handwritten prayer left by Barack Obama in the cracks of Jerusalem's Western Wall drew criticism Friday as an invasion of his privacy and his relationship with God.

In the note, placed at Judaism's holiest site Thursday, Obama asks God to guide him and guard his family.

"Lord — Protect my family and me. Forgive me my sins, and help me guard against pride and despair. Give me the wisdom to do what is right and just. And make me an instrument of your will," reads the note published in Maariv.

See the rest of the story:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080725/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_obama_s_note

McCain's Prayer:

"Lord, quiet those angry voices in my head and PUL-EEEZE help me keep it together long enough to get through this campaign..."

Bush's Prayer:

"Lord, grant me unconditional immunity from prosecution for abuse of power, war crimes and crimes against humanity...Oh and throw in a new iPhone while you're at it..."

Fox News (Britt Hume) asking a panel of "experts" about Obama's Prayer: "...Don't you find that the prayer revealed a selfish preoccupation with his own safety when we have a world facing threats from terrorism?"

Rush Limbaugh: THERE IT IS FOLKS...IN BLACK AND WHITE...OBAMA THINKS HE TALKS TO GOD...OBAMA THINKS THAT HE IS DOING GOD'S WILL! THIS IS SCARY FOLKS..."

James Dobson: "...Did you hear any mention of Jesus, the Son of God, who Senator Obama 'Claims' as his Savior? I think we can now put to rest who his REAL lord is: the Lord of Abraham who is, must I say it, friends, worshipped by the Muslims as well as the Jews..."

FreeRepublic.Com: "...This is another example of Obama's manipulations of the media...they paid somebody to 'leak' that prayer to the Liberal Media!"

Okay...enough of this silliness.

My point is this: sometimes things are exactly as they appear. Maybe...just maybe, folks...Barack Obama is a spiritual person with a highly evolved consciouosness and no spin is called for.

The Promise Land Eludes The McCainaanites...

Elstun — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:10:00 EDT

They burn hecatombs to the gods of the Media. The Lords of the Waste and their Minions have accepted their presumptive leader as their own, albeit begrudgingly. Treasure is offered and the Trolls of the Limbaugh Region have joined the battle. But why, O why hath the Path to the Promised Land thus far eluded them? They accuse the Obamanites of treachery, they rattle their spears toward the heavens and unto the gods with anger: are chimeras released against them? Djinn? Sprites?

What, O what can be the source of their misfortune? Perhaps the McCainaanites should look within.

******************************************************************************

McCain fighting the label 'old and confused'

By DOUGLASS K. DANIEL, Associated Press Writer

Fri Jul 25, 6:04 AM ET

Thomas Nast's political caricatures in the early 1870s so bedeviled New York City's corrupt Boss Tweed that he once bellowed: "Stop them damn pictures! I don't care what the papers write about me. My constituents can't read. But, damn it, they can see pictures."

Not only can most of us read these days, almost everyone has a TV set. And our late-night comedians provide the exaggerated portraits — fair or not — of our political leaders.

Jimmy Carter? Inept bean counter. Ronald Reagan? Genial dope. George H.W. Bush? Clueless wimp. Bill Clinton? Randy redneck. George W. Bush? Clueless incompetent.

John McCain's caricature is being set: old man. He wisely goes along with the joke — why deny the obvious? — and tries to turn it into a plus. After all, "old" means experienced, especially when compared with a 46-year-old upstart.

But McCain must fight against those who'd add another word to the shorthand: "confused." For a Republican on the verge of turning 72 and campaigning to be commander in chief, being tagged as a confused old man could be an electoral disaster.

A series of gaffes, taken in such a context, has moved McCain toward that danger zone:

• McCain was in Jordan with Sen. Joe Lieberman on March 18 when he asserted that Iranian operatives were aiding al-Qaida fighters in Iraq. Lieberman whispered to him, and McCain corrected himself: Iran was aiding extremists, not al-Qaida.

That distinction — al-Qaida is a Sunni Muslim group while Iran is a predominantly Shiite Muslim nation — had tripped up McCain a day earlier in a radio interview. The next month, during a Senate hearing on April 8, McCain stumbled again by referring to al-Qaida in Iraq as "an obscure sect of Shiites."

• In an interview with a Pittsburgh TV station on July 9, McCain recalled how he had resisted his Vietnamese captors by refusing to give up the names of his fellow Navy pilots. Instead, he said, he recited the defensive line of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Actually, McCain gave the names of Green Bay Packers. At least that's what he claimed in a 1999 memoir.

• McCain has had trouble discussing the Czech Republic. In New Mexico on July 15 for a town-hall meeting he discussed energy supplies in Czechoslovakia. But that country hasn't existed since 1993 when it became the Czech Republic and Slovakia. He had made the same mistake the previous day — and back on April 2.

• In an interview with ABC News on July 21, McCain said of Afghanistan, "We have a lot of work to do, and I'm afraid that it's a very hard struggle, particularly given the situation on the Iraq-Pakistan border." In fact, Iraq doesn't border Pakistan.

• McCain told CBS News on July 22 that the additional troops sent to Iraq by President Bush led to "the Anbar awakening," calling it "a matter of history." Actually, the "awakening" — in which Sunnis turned against al-Qaida — began before Bush announced the so-called surge. His defense of the inaccurate statement, delivered in front of the cheese section at a supermarket, didn't help.

All presidential contenders misspeak, of course, and they are amplified by a 24-hour media world. It's what reasonable people make of their mistakes that counts.

For example, Barack Obama's erroneous anecdote, related May 26, about a great-uncle who helped liberate Auschwitz — in reality, it was a subcamp of Buchenwald — suggested some confusion of his own, not a false statement designed to deceive.

More troublesome for Obama was his remark July 23 about how "we" in "my banking committee" approved a Senate bill calling for divestment from Iran. Not true — Obama doesn't serve on the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee and thus didn't vote on the bill even though he sponsored it. McCain's campaign sought to use the overstatement to further the charge that Obama is eager to take credit for the work of others because he has achieved so little himself.

Because of his age, future fumblings by McCain are likely to draw more attention, especially if they are about the Iraq war, his signature issue. The tipping point would come only if he were to make a mistake when it mattered — during a major speech, a key interview, a presidential debate.

In June 1975, President Ford slipped and fell while getting off Air Force One — nothing serious, an accident that could happen to anyone. Then he stumbled two more times on the same European visit and again, a month later, while climbing the stairs of Air Force One. In spite of Ford's lifetime of athletics, comics began to depict him as a klutz.

A year later, when Ford asserted during a debate with Carter that the Soviet Union didn't dominate Eastern Europe, particularly Poland, the caricature of Ford as a lightweight bumbler seemed all too true. And he lost a close election.

For Obama, the caricature is not quite set. Is he an inexperienced wannabe? A smooth-talking elitist? A naive flip-flopper? As with McCain, age is a part of the portrait — not too many years but too few.

McCain aides would be happy to see Obama depicted as all of the above. But they have to hope their own candidate doesn't suffer more mental stumbles akin to the physical ones that badly bruised Gerald Ford.

___

EDITOR'S NOTE — Douglass K. Daniel is a writer and editor in the Washington bureau of The Associated Press.

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The McMedia, McCain and the McWhine Strategy is McWorking!

Elstun — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:56:33 EDT

There are four narratives being pushed by the Right-Wing and their echo-chamber about Barack Obama’s trip to Europe. Each has achieved traction that has served to diminish what should be a remarkable and positive moment for America. Instead of framing his trip, as many Europeans have, as emblematic of the promise of an historic change of direction in American leadership; the Irony Curtain of American Media is casting it as manipulative, dangerous and slyly subversive.

The first and most important narrative tells us that the media coverage of Obama is biased in his favor. Hence any positive images that feed through to us should be suspect. If he screws up, that has extra-impact because the mistake magically made it through the gauzy lens of an adoring media.

Bonnie Erbe of U.S. News sniffs that the Obama campaign has manipulated the media to an extent not witnesses in a recent presidential campaign. Gee, Bonnie…does the Campaign of 2004 and 2000 count as ‘recent presidential campaigns? Does the ‘swift boating’ of Kerry and the now discredited reporting of Al Gore’s ‘love canal’ comments by the New York Times that lead to a stream of false media representations of Gore fed by the Bush campaign qualify as media ‘manipulation’? I cannot resist reminding Bonnie of the latter.

In December, 1999, the news media generated dozens of stories about Gore's supposed claim that he discovered the Love Canal toxic waste dump. "I was the one that started it all," he was quoted as saying. This "gaffe" then was used to recycle other situations in which Gore allegedly exaggerated his role or, as some writers put it, told "bold-faced lies."

But behind these examples of Gore's "lies" was some very sloppy journalism. The Love Canal flap started when The Washington Post and The New York Times misquoted Gore on a key point and cropped out the context of another sentence to give readers a false impression of what he meant.

The error was then exploited by national Republicans and amplified endlessly by the rest of the news media, even after the Post and Times grudgingly filed corrections.

So if we are to believe critics like Ms Erbe, Obama’s campaign out-manipulates the two Bush campaigns?

If you believe her, I have some yellow cake from Niger to sell you.

The second narrative is the dark magic of suggestive failure. Like the critical Aunt who chastises us to not leave the yard because we will have an accident, get lost or get abducted by a stranger, this narrative talks darkly of ‘risk’ and ‘failure’ and the dire consequence of a ‘mistake’. Blogger Bob Cesca documents the following:

On Tuesday's edition of Morning Joe, Mika Brzeznski, Andrea Mitchell and Very Serious Mark Halperin (who publicly encouraged Senator McCain to convince people that Senator Obama is a terrorist) agreed that after three days of reporting the actual news that Senator Obama's overseas visit was successful, they should deliberately attempt to "trip him up" -- to "hold him accountable."

The third narrative tells that Barack Obama’s trip overseas is "presumptuous". This is the ‘how DARE he…" narrative.

Again, Cesca:

AP: "In a speech that risked being seen as presumptuous..."

TIME Magazine: "capable to become the Commander in Chief of a superpower -- without seeming presumptuous..."

The National Journal: "He is well aware voters here at home might see that as presumptuous..."

Washington Post: "Whether by the end of this week he will be seen as presumptuous or overly cocky..."

Chicago Tribune: "That means walking the fine line between looking presidential and appearing arrogant and presumptuous..."

Boston Globe: "plus the growing sense in some quarters that the presumptive Democratic nominee is getting a little presumptuous..."

Finally, the fourth narrative is the Xenophobic Narrative. There is something subversive about a candidate campaigning in Europe. This plays into the dry tinder of the wooden minds that still call their French fries ‘freedom fries’. It might spark a fire as the Rush wind blows between their ears. Lou Dobbs bares his oversized teeth as he growls his question to the panel of talking heads, "Why is he campaigning over there…Isn’t he running for president of the United States?"

Media commentator Paul Janench finds it ironic that McCain’s people whine about the swooning of the news media over Obama. …In the past, journalists did a lot of swooning over McCain – the war hero and political maverick on his Straight Talk Express. What about the scant coverage of McCain’s visits to other countries in the Western Hemisphere earlier in the year?
They were hardly as significant as Obama’s week-long trip. In just the first few days, Obama was in two war zones. Sure, the video footage and the photos of him with the troops were great public relations. But his trip also is generating real news. For example, the prime minister of Iraq seemed to agree with Obama’s time table for the redeployment of U.S. troops by the middle of 2010.

What the overseas trip of Senator Obama reveals is less about him than the media and less about his ability to manipulate the media than the capacity for the media to manipulate itself. Ironically, the current capacity for self-manipulation derives from a consciousness of those employed by the media of past failures. Besides the manipulations mentioned in the presidential races above, the failure of the media to be more critical of the manipulations of the Bush White House after 9-11, leading up to the war in Iraq is part of the new journalistic consciousness. The 'media' is so determined not to be fooled again that they are falling for the criticism on the Right like a bunch of McFools.

Anti-Obama 'Skepticism' Is The New "Political Correctness"

Elstun — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:49:23 EDT

>NOTE.

For the last two days I have been trying to follow the progress of Senator Obama's trip abroad. What I have seen mostly, however, is a concerted effort by the talking heads in the media to "tamp down" and diminish the historic character and spirit of this mission. Perhaps in an effort to be "fair and balanced" a la Fox News, Lou Dobbs, for example, bared his teeth through a half-hour panel discussion by a trio of skepical panelists who emphasized the potential for 'disaster' and virtually called upon the reporters to ferret out the weaknesses, stumbles and mistakes that may occur. But Lou Dobbs is not alone. Of Course there is Fox and their panelists--almost to a person grousing about the pro-Obama media bias. It is sickening to see this snarling and spitefulness chewing at the heels of what should be viewed as the emergence of a American renewal on the world stage after 8 years of demonic possession by the Dark Priests of the Bushniks. McCain would make more points with Independents if he made supportive sounds rather than attacking Senator Obama...there will, after all, be plenty of time for attacks later.

In this sense, I really do appreciate Arianna Huffington's contrarian piece that appeared today.

Arianna Huffington: Tell Me Again, Why Is Obama Being Popular With Our Allies a Bad Thing?

I understand why John McCain's campaign is desperately looking for negatives in Obama's overseas trip, claiming "people in Missouri" aren't "going to like seeing tens of thousands of Europeans screaming" for Obama. But why have so many in the media internalized this claptrap? People like Gloria Borger, who said on CNN that Obama doesn't "want to be seen having too many adoring people after him in Europe," and the Baltimore Sun's Paul West, who warned: "European adulation for Obama will make him the continent's poodle." Of course, at no point does the McCain campaign or anyone in the media point out what, exactly, is the danger to America if our closest allies actually, you know, don't hate us. Click here to read more.

Paul Krugman

JaneHaigh — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 02:38:05 EDT

Let's not get complacent, but:

Here is what Paul Krugman says today:

"If you ask me, there isn’t much suspense in this year’s election: barring some extraordinary mistakes, Mr. Obama will win. Assuming he wins, the real question is what he’ll make of his victory."

"An anecdote: This week a passing motorist shouted at a crowd waiting outside a branch of IndyMac, the failed bank, “Bush economics didn’t work! They are right-wing Republican thieves!” The crowd cheered.

"But what the economy gives, it can also take away. If the current slump follows the typical modern pattern, the economy will stay depressed well into 2010, if not beyond — plenty of time for the public to start blaming the new incumbent, and punish him in the midterm elections."

"To avoid that fate," Krugman writes, "Mr. Obama — if he is indeed the next president — will have to move quickly and forcefully to address America’s economic discontent. That means another stimulus plan, bigger, better, and more sustained than the one Congress passed earlier this year. It also means passing longer-term measures to reduce economic anxiety — above all, universal health care."

If you ask me, Obama should go beyond a Bush style stimulas plan that is just a one-time cash give-away. He must restructure the budget, to focus on real priorities, like education, and infrastructure. He must focus America on developing alternative energy sources, to wean us off of imported oil. We have to repair highways, fix bridges, and build rapid-transit.

A photo-voltaic array on every rooftop would be a good place to start.

Alaskans suffer nation's highest gasoline prices

Elstun — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 16:28:33 EDT

>Note: I just returned from a great meeting with Donna Brazile who is traveling to Alaska in behalf of the Obama Campaign. The small conference room at CIRI was packed and there was terrific audience participation. What a stellar group of 'opinion leaders' as they called us--it made me proud to be an Alaskan! One of the points made by Georgiana Lincoln was that there was a need for Ms Brazile and Senator Obama, if he comes to the state, to visit a village. This Reuters popped up on the newsfeed today...

By Yereth Rosen

Fri Jul 18, 11:51 AM ET

Think you're feeling pain at the gas pump? Consider the residents of Lime Village, Alaska, an isolated Denaina Athabascan Indian community where gasoline prices have hit $8.55 a gallon.

The price is severely curtailing movement around the interior Alaska village, where four-wheelers are sitting idle, said Ursula Graham, administrator for the Lime Village Traditional Council.

"Nobody's going on joy rides, that's for sure," Graham said.

Alaska, despite its status as a major crude oil producer, has the highest average gasoline prices of all U.S. states, according to the American Automobile Association. Alaska prices averaged $4.65 a gallon for regular gasoline on Friday, compared with a national average of $4.10, according to AAA.

Neal Fried, an economist with the Alaska department of labor, said the ironic situation reflects the hard reality that the state's small population hinders economies of scale and market competition.

"Even if you take all of Alaska into account, it's a pretty small marketplace," he said.

High oil prices have helped the state government, which relies on oil taxes, royalties and fees for at least 80 percent of its general operating revenue. Alaska reaped more than $10 billion in oil revenue in the just-completed fiscal year, double the oil revenue of the previous fiscal year.

Fried noted that North Slope oil development is bustling, which would not be the case if oil were $30 a barrel.

"There are more people working on the Slope than we've ever counted before," he said.

But high fuel prices pinch individual Alaskans, especially in rural areas with no outside road access, where shipments of petroleum products require extraordinary and costly efforts.

DOG SLEDS

Fuel that goes to Lime Village is sent 1,800 miles by barge from Anchorage to the southwestern Alaska hub of Bethel, transferred to another barge for a trip up then Kuskokwim River and then flown by small plane to its final destination. Of a representative sample of Alaska communities, Lime Village had the highest fuel prices, according to a recent University of Alaska Anchorage study.

Gov. Sarah Palin has proposed using some of Alaska's fat budget surplus to send one-time $1,200 energy-relief checks to all state residents, to suspend the state's 8 cent-per-gallon gasoline tax and other measures for immediate assistance.

The legislature is considering her request in an ongoing special session.

Meanwhile, in Lime Village, boat trips on the Stony River are fewer and more carefully planned. Villagers combine tasks such as checking fish nets and collecting firewood, Graham said.

One man even moved his fish camp, smokehouse and all, from an outer area to the midst of the village so that he could avoid the boat trip entirely.

Residents like the idea of a $1,200 payment from the state, Graham said. But long-term solutions remain elusive.

"Going back to dog teams is an option," she said. "It's kind of a joke, but not a joke."

(Reporting by Yereth Rosen; Editing by David Gregorio)

Copyright © 2008 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

GOP 'SOFTEN UP' THE MAIN STREAM MEDIA BEFORE BARACK'S EURO TRIP

Elstun — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 20:23:29 EDT

So let me see if I've got this straight. The Republicans are "up in arms" because Barack Obama is visiting Europe and the trip is "political". Close coordination between the Bush-friendly German Prime Minister Merkel and American counter-parts have already infected the media with a Right-Wing virus about her "concern" over a planned Obama speech at Brandenberg Gate.

All this breast-beating on the Right about Senator Obama's European trip is targeting one audience: the American media. With three news Anchors set to roll with the Obama Trip, the GOP hounds are howling that this will be undeserved coverage and that the trip is "entirely" political. They are blasting the three networks as "sycophantic".

Oh my, a foriegn trip by a candidate for president is political? As he has always demonstrated, John McCain never, ever does what he is accusing his oppponent of doing.

In February, the McCainaanites cancelled a planned trip to meet with Gordon Brown and address a German security conference so McCain could "wrap things up" in the Republican primary. He had not yet dispatched Romney and that pesky Huckabee.

There were no political considerations affecting his travel plans in this case; just unfinished business.

In March, McCain took a well-publicized trip to Europe and Iraq. As the March 15 Washington Post reported: "Strategists for Sen. John McCain, here speaking in Springfield, Pa., say his meetings with Middle Eastern and European leaders will show voters his foreign policy experience..."

Nothing political about that.

Then, earlier this month, McCain took off to visit Columbia in South America along with an embedded Fox News reporter. And, as reported by Fox's Fin Gomez, the purpose of the trip was to: "...further contrast himself, and his extensive foreign policy record against, what the McCain campaign considers an Obama weakness."

Nothing political there either.

Here's what the real strategy is: To beat up the MSM anchors so much that they will be falling all over themselves to be "fair and balanced"--that is, criticising the hell out of the Obama campaign to pre-empt criticism by the Right.

This strategy will probably work.Which is why the MSM is no longer active newsies source of info; unfortunately, the intellectually lazy mental fatasses (ILMFs) who are traditionally late to the election game do rely on the MSM. And the ILMFs are the collateral in the so-called battle for the middle. Bottom Line: McCain and the GOPPERZ may be marginally effective in their preemption of what promises to be an overwhelmingly powerful media event when Barack rocks Europe.

Mars and Alaska

Elstun — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:26:29 EDT

Question: when will we turn the Red Planet Blue?

************************************************************************

Lee Pullen
Astrobiology Magazine
SPACE.com 50 minutes ago

Little did Bucknell University geology professors Craig Kochel and Jeffrey Trop know, as they were working in Alaska, that they would soon predict one of the most important planetary observations ever made.

The pair was in Alaska for an eight-day trip in July 2006, studying geological features and the processes that create them. As they studied photographs taken of the surrounding area, some features caught Kochel's eye. He thought they were strangely familiar, and then realized they reminded him of images he'd seen when working on the Viking missions to Mars in the 1970s.

Kochel and Trop trekked to where the shots were taken overlooking a glacier. Spotting triangle-shaped landforms called "fans" sealed the deal: They looked strikingly similar to photographs taken of features on Mars.

Mystery solved

Although geologists can usually tell what shapes the landscape around us, it was a mystery what formed the Mars-like features found in Alaska.

The conditions on Mars are quite different than anything experienced on Earth. For example, Mars is much colder than even the Arctic — the average martian temperature is -81 degrees F (-63 degrees C) — and the planet's atmospheric pressure is lower than Earth's. Still, for the same features to be present on Earth and Mars, the two professors suspected similar processes would have made them.

They had just over a week in Alaska to discover what created the glaciers and fans.

During this time they managed to see an impressive 289 events, including rock falls and floods. The vast majority of these events were snow and ice avalanches. The frequency of these avalanches astounded the scientists, who reasoned that climate change was the most likely culprit. As temperatures rise, the glaciers pull back, creating large areas where ice has been separated. Material can fall down these cracks and lead to avalanches. This was creating the features seen in Alaska, and perhaps the same thing had happened on Mars.

An astounding prediction

Realizing the importance of this discovery, Kochel and Trop presented their findings to a NASA lunar and planetary science meeting. Their comparisons were based on older photographs of Mars, but the HiRISE camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was sending back new pictures which further confirmed the idea of avalanches on Mars.

Kochel and Trop explained that with a bit of luck and good timing, it would be possible to snap photographs of martian avalanches.

Amazingly, soon afterwards the orbiter sent back images of an ice flow avalanche in action on Mars. Pieces of ice, dust and possibly rocks crashed down from high, steep areas, sending clouds of fine material billowing upwards. The cloud itself was about 590 feet (180 meters) across. The exact cause of the avalanche isn't known with certainty, but it could be because the sun warmed layers of ice.

This was the first time an avalanche had been observed on another world, and was the perfect confirmation of Kochel and Trop's ideas.

Valuable research

Studies like this help us understand the changes that take place during periods of climate variation. They also show that although planets like the Earth and Mars are very different places, in many ways they can be astoundingly similar.

The details of this paper will also be of interest to astrobiologists. Searching for water on other worlds is thought to be a key step toward finding life, and understanding how the water cycle takes place on Mars will help scientists make more accurate predictions. Couple water with a dynamic world experiencing changes to its landscape, and Mars looks all the more promising for life.

Kochel and Trop's research paper was published in the July issue of the journal Icarus.

101 Amazing Earth Facts Martian Poles in the Swiss Alps Earth vs. Mars: Polar Opposites Original Story: How Mars and Alaska Are Alike

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Is McCain A Luddite?

Elstun — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 21:50:45 EDT

>Note. The article below the cartoon is from a Silicon Valley blog. The author expresses disbelief at Senator McCain's lack of technological savvy. The cartoon I found when I googled 'luddite'. Please click 'view full post' to see the article.

Send THIS to your Republican Friends and Neighbors!

Elstun — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 10:48:53 EDT

Illustration by André Carrilho (c) New York Times Magazine

McCain Math
A budget-balancing plan that won't work

Monday, July 14, 2008; A12

SEN. JOHN McCain says that President McCain would balance the federal budget by 2013. The plan is not credible.

The Congressional Budget Office projects a deficit of $443 billion in 2013 if President Bush's tax cuts are extended, as Mr. McCain wants, and the alternative minimum tax is merely patched to make certain it does not hit growing numbers of taxpayers. But Mr. McCain is proposing far more tax cuts. The only way he avoids having them add hundreds of billions more to the deficit in 2013 is by phasing them in and adding other caveats. Mr. McCain says on the campaign trail that he would repeal, rather than merely adjust, the alternative minimum tax, slash the corporate tax rate, now 35 percent, to 25 percent, and double the exemption for dependents. It turns out that none of that would be fully implemented by the end of the first McCain term. The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center estimates the extra cost of the scaled-back plan at $47 billion in 2013, bringing the deficit to a daunting $490 billion. Sen. Barack Obama's campaign claims it would be far higher, somewhere between $650 billion and $750 billion.

The McCain campaign says it will fill the hole with spending cuts. It would "reclaim billions" by rooting out existing earmarks and prohibiting new ones; impose a one-year freeze on discretionary spending other than for defense and veterans; and "reserve all savings from victory in the Iraq and Afghanistan operations" to use toward deficit reduction. These claimed savings are illusory. The campaign assumes $150 billion in savings by cutting in half deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. But the Congressional Budget Office says that even reducing troops to 30,000, far beyond Mr. McCain's estimate, would save just $55 billion in 2013 beyond the costs that the CBO projects as part of its deficit calculation. The campaign assumes an additional $160 billion in cuts to the Pentagon procurement budget and other discretionary spending. But eliminating every procurement program that the CBO has identified as a potential budget target would save perhaps $30 billion in 2013.

In any event, Mr. McCain has called for billions more in new spending: increasing the size of the military, launching a new energy independence project, fully funding the No Child Left Behind law. Where's the savings? Mr. McCain says that he would limit overall growth in discretionary spending to 2.4 percent annually. History suggests that this would not be easily achievable: Discretionary spending has grown an average of 6.9 percent over the past seven years.

Mr. McCain's campaign says that he would rein in the growth of entitlement spending, saving another $160 billion, but it does not explain how. His campaign cites "excessive agricultural and ethanol subsidies," but eliminating all farm subsidies would trim less than $15 billion in 2013. Mr. McCain's opposition to the pending Medicare bill does not offer comfort on his willingness to deal with entitlements. He's willing to reverse $13 billion in scheduled cuts to doctors but opposes paying for it by reducing overpayments to the private Medicare plans. These overpayments -- the plans cost, on average, 13 percent more -- are just about the lowest-hanging fruit in tackling Medicare. In fact, Mr. McCain's chief economic adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, told USA Today in May that the plans should have to "compete on a level playing field" with traditional Medicare. Mr. McCain sells American voters short -- and he does himself a disservice -- with his implausible claim.

RealClearPolitics: 'Dems Aim For Last Frontier '

Elstun — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 18:09:32 EDT

Reid Wilson

Thu Jul 10, 2:45 PM ET

"...Democrats hoping to make big strides in the state are looking for help from an unlikely source. Even though Republicans have won almost every single electoral vote the state has ever cast, Barack Obama has offered at least early indications that he intends to compete in the state. Recent polls have shown him trailing John McCain by a small margin, and the Illinois Senator has already run two advertisements in Alaska. Such an advertising buy is a drop in the bucket for a candidate who, according to conservative estimate, could spend $200 million in the general election. A week-long saturation ad buy in the state's three markets costs just $88,800, according to one estimate. Obama isn't skimping on staff resources, either. In addition to the two Democratic National Committee-financed staffers who were sent to Alaska under Howard Dean's Fifty State Strategy, the presidential campaign will send a number of staffers, including a state director and a press officer, to the region, according to one source inside the Obama campaign. The source would not comment on the exact number of additional staffers expected to head to Alaska, but characterized the campaign's forthcoming effort as 'robust.'..."

Read the whole thing at:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/07/dems_aim_for_last_frontier.html

Senator Obama's Quote of the Day...

Elstun — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:41:05 EDT

...referring to McCain Economic Advisor Phil Graham's reference to the "mental recession" and to Americans as a "nation of whiners", Senator Obama, campaigning in Fairfax, Va today, cautioned that America already has one Dr. Phil and, when it comes to the economy, it certainly doesn't need another.

In "Dr. Phil" Graham's defense, he is an ex-U.S. Senator who is wrapped in a golden safety net so his powers of empathy are understandably fuzzy.

This was relayed by Ben Smith of Politico:

Obama slams Gramm in Fairfax

Carrie Budoff Brown reports that Obama brought up the comments by McCain economic adviser Phil Gramm, who said the economy was in a "mental recession":

Now, Sen. McCain is an honorable man, and we all deeply respect his service to our country. But when you look at our records and plans on the economic issues that matter most for women, it becomes very clear that he won’t bring the change we need — while I will.

That starts with acknowledging the economic difficulties so many women are facing right now. Sen. McCain, however, has said that we’ve made “great progress” on the economy. And Sen. Phil Gramm, a top economic adviser to Sen. McCain, just recently said that this is merely “a mental recession.” Sen. Gramm then deemed the United States — and I quote — “a nation of whiners.” This comes after Sen. McCain recently admitted that his energy proposals will have mainly “psychological” benefits.

Well, you know, America already has one Dr. Phil. When it comes to the economy, we don't need another.

Joan Blades On The Media Trolls

Elstun — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:40:31 EDT

> Joan Blades is one of my favorite commentators regularly featured on the HuffingtonPost.com.Here she nails an easy target: the corporate media and their treatment of the non-issue of the day: Jesse Jackson's off-the-on-mike comments about Senator Obama. The fact that it was in the studios of "Fox and Friends" gives me pause to wonder how much of a 'mistake' the hot mike was.

****************************************************************************

I was on Jet Blue yesterday and had the time to watch the news -- CNN, ABC, FOX and I can only begin to tell you how much the news folks were nattering about Rev. Jackson's remark about Sen Obama -- talking in shocked or righteous tones about what was said,"I can't even put it on the air!", interviewing this person and that asking loaded questions "Does the Black community...". I'm feeling angry about this use of prime media time because this is a pure media issue creation. Rev. Jackson thought he was off the air and speaking privately when he spoke. He apologized as soon as he realized what had happened. In a world with responsible media this would not have been the top story of the day.

The media is manufacturing its own headline news and I don't like it. I feel manipulated. You are not going to tell me that a whispered comment was the most important thing that happened yesterday. These folks are working to stir up a fight for their own purposes. That is irresponsible and self serving. Worse, this is business as usual in American news. I bet most folks viewing thought this was news because this is what they have become used to. No wonder so many people watch the Daily Show instead of the news or turn to other trusted sources to become informed. Yesterday's coverage of Rev. Jackson's aside sure didn't cause me to understand national or world events better. It was more of a brain twist -- is there a more devious underlying motivation behind this media circus? Are the media trying to manipulate the election? or are they just craven lovers of discord? Hard to say.

I want to propose a new term for news people that are purveyors of negative personal gossip rather than hard news -- Media Trolls. The "reporters" lurk near prime public figures intent upon digging for media gossip that is salacious. The newscasters are seeking the emotional and shocking. Their work lacks the underlying motivation of keeping the public informed about key issues. This used to be the territory of the supermarket tabloids. News outlets that have historically been our serious news providers are now right in there with the tabloids. This is death to democracy.

Obama Campaign's Unprecedented Rural Alaskan Push

Elstun — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 03:19:00 EDT

Last night, I had a chance to hear Jonathan Teeters explain the plan for rural engagement by the Obama campaign and I am impressed! Not since the effort to defeat an anti-subsistence ballot initiative in 1982 have I seen such a plan to reach out and engage rural Alaska. All the tools to build active networks are going to be available to villages, Each village will be treated like a precinct and the power of social networking, which many young rural Alaskans already are familiar with through Facebook and Myspace, will be harnessed through the MyBo network.

I have been involved in rural and Village Alaska poltiics and development for over 30 years and what is being proposed by Teeters and the Obama campaign could usher in a generational change in rural politics. Why do I say that? Because when the campaign is over and Senator Obama is elected president, the politics of Alaska will have changed and the network that made it happen will still be stay in place.

This is a peaceful revolution, folks; but a revolution all the same!

Jonathan will be discussing the plan for the Rural Campaign at one of the conference rooms kindly donated by the IBEW tomorrow (Thursday) night at 6PM. The address:

3333 Denali Street Anchorage AK 99503-4038

I plan to be there and I hope any of you with family in or a commitment to rural Alaska will join us.

Miigwetch and quyana cakneq!

IRAQ'S PRIME MINISTER APPEARS TO AGREE WITH BARACK OBAMA...

Elstun — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 16:44:48 EDT

...and rejects the foundation principle of McCain-Bush: "We can't set a timetable for withdrawal"

Somebody send al-Malaki a donation envelope, please...

Iraq raises idea of timetable for US withdrawal

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA and SEBASTIAN ABBOT, Associated Press Writers1 hour, 32 minutes ago

Iraq's prime minister said Monday his country wants some type of timetable for a withdrawal of American troops included in the deal the two countries are negotiating.

It was the first time that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has explicitly and publicly called for a withdrawal timetable — an idea opposed by President Bush.

He offered no details. But his national security adviser, Mouwaffak al-Rubaie, told The Associated Press that the government is proposing a timetable conditioned on the ability of Iraqi forces to provide security.

In Washington, the State Department declined to comment on the ongoing negotiations and said officials in Washington were not yet entirely sure what al-Maliki had said.

"This falls in the category of ongoing negotiations, and I'm not going to talk about every single development, every single development in the negotiations," spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.

Al-Maliki said in a meeting with Arab diplomats in Abu Dhabi that his country also has proposed a short-term interim memorandum of agreement rather than the more formal status of forces agreement the two sides have been negotiating.

The memorandum "now on the table" includes a formula for the withdrawal of U.S. troops, he said.

"The goal is to end the presence (of foreign troops)," al-Maliki said.

Some type of agreement is needed to keep U.S. troops in Iraq after a U.N. mandate expires at year's end. But many Iraqi lawmakers had criticized the government's attempt to negotiate a formal status of forces agreement, worried that U.S. demands would threaten the country's sovereignty.

U.S. officials have said little publicly about the negotiations. Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, did not comment directly on the specifics when asked about it on a trip to Baghdad.

"We'd all like to see U.S. troops get out of here at some point in time," Mullen said. "However, from a military perspective I need the laws and the regulations and the agreements from the government of Iraq in order to continue operations beyond the 31st of December of this year."

With the latest moves, Iraq's government appeared to be trying to blunt opposition in parliament to any deal.

Al-Maliki also could be trying to avoid parliament altogether. He has promised in the past to submit a formal agreement with the U.S. to the legislative body.

But his spokesman indicated Monday that the government might feel no need to get approval from parliament for a shorter-term interim deal.

"It is up to the Cabinet whether to approve it or sign on it, without going back to the parliament," said spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh.

Legal experts said the form of the deal was less significant than its substance.

"You could theoretically include everything in a memorandum of understanding that you could in a formal status of forces agreement," said Michael Matheson, an expert on international law at George Washington University Law School.

The Bush administration has said it doesn't need congressional approval even for a full status of forces agreement — a position criticized by some U.S. lawmakers.

The contentious issues have been U.S. authority to carry out military operations in Iraq and arrest the country's citizens, along with legal immunity for private contractors and control of Iraqi air space.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said last week after a visit to Washington that the U.S. had agreed to drop immunity for private contractors and give up control of Iraqi air space if Iraq guaranteed it could protect the country's skies.

But those concessions, never confirmed by the U.S. side, were apparently not enough to cement a formal agreement, leading Iraq instead to pursue the memorandum.

Iraq's government has felt increasingly confident in recent weeks about its authority and the country's improved stability.

Violence in Iraq has fallen to its lowest level in four years. The change has been driven by the 2007 buildup of American forces, the Sunni tribal revolt against al-Qaida in Iraq and crackdowns against Shiite militias and Sunni extremists.

Despite the gains, frequent attacks continue.

A roadside bomb killed four people and injured three others Monday close to the Iranian border near Khanaqin, 90 miles northeast of Baghdad, said border guard Capt. Sarchel Abdul-Karim.

Another bomb near a dress shop in Baqouba killed one woman Monday and wounded 14 other people, police said. Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, and the surrounding Diyala province remain one of the country's most violent regions.

Also Monday, gunmen killed a member of the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party in Tal Afar, 260 miles northwest of Baghdad, said police, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

Progressives Must Guard Against Helping to Promote Republican Narrative That Alleges Obama "Flip Flops"

Elstun — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 16:35:29 EDT

>NOTE. Time and again, progressives have shown a willingness to politically cannibalize their own. Litmus tests cause the fragmentation of the whole; this one is not pure, therefore he must be destroyed. I am on the Left and I despise The Middle just as strongly as my counterpart on the Right does. Our tension makes the Middle the arbiter of the national agenda. We might understand this better if we had a parliamentary system with proportional respresentation and dozens of "litmus" parties that come together in a "Center-Left" coalition. But we don't. We have the Democratic and the Republican parties. Let's make the best of this opportunity for a Democratic victory.

Robert Creamer

Posted July 6, 2008 | 07:53 PM (EST)

The Republican spin machine is locked and loaded to promote the notion that Barack Obama is a "flip flopper." Four years ago it was their principal line of attack against Kerry and it worked like a charm.

In 2004, the goal of this narrative was to convince swing voters that Kerry had no core values -- that his positions and commitments were blown by the winds of public opinion just as he was blown right and left in the notorious campaign ad of Kerry wind-surfing.

Not long after the 2004 election, I was in a New Jersey taxicab. The driver was a typical male New Jersey cabbie. "So what do you think of Corzine?" I asked. "Oh, Corzine, tough guy. Like him," he replied about the then-Senator.

"What do you think of Bush?" I asked. "Like him too. Tough guy. Stands up for what he believes," came the answer.

"What about Kerry?" I asked. "Kerry? Can't stand him. Flip-flopper."

People want leaders who are firmly committed to their values. The key thing that affected the New Jersey cabbie's view wasn't the positions or views of the candidates. It was whether they stood up for what they believed. There are many independent voters just like him.

I believe that John Kerry has very clear values, but he left himself open to be defined to swing voters as if he didn't.

Barack Obama is firmly committed to progressive values that contrast sharply with the values implicit in necon foreign policy and dog-eat-dog, survival-of-the-fittest Bush-McCain economic policies.

Obama is much less likely than Kerry was to allow himself to be characterized as a flip-flopper without core values, because his entire campaign is rooted in the discussion of values. It has drawn very sharp distinctions with Republicans on the critical symbolic questions of Iraq, the economy and health care. But that won't keep Republicans from doing everything they can to try to make Obama look like he is a "typical politician" without a moral core the same way they did with Kerry.

Last week's near-frenzy in the media over Obama's alleged "move to the center" on Iraq had no substance whatsoever. It was fed, virtually entirely, by the Republican National Committee and the McCain campaign that simply asserted that his statements on Iraq represented a "change " from earlier positions. That narrative was picked up and parroted by various media pundits as if it were true.

Unfortunately, some Progressives fell prey to the media wave and actually gave credence to this non-story, when the fact is that Obama has consistently supported ending the war in Iraq and withdrawing all combat troops within 16 months, at a pace that is responsive to the situation on the ground.

Progressives have to remember that the Republicans don't care about the nuances of these issues. Their goal is simple: make Obama look like he is changing his position.

All Progressives don't agree with every position Barack Obama has taken, but the fact is that very few of his positions have changed since the campaign began.

Progressives who disagree with Barack Obama but at the same time don't want to help Republicans usher in a third Bush term need to remember three things:

1). Go right ahead and disagree with an Obama position or statement -- but disagree on the substance. Don't impute some venal motive. Remember that even when you disagree with him on an issue or policy, Obama shares our progressive values.

2). Don't reinforce the Republican narrative that Obama is a "flip flopper." Disagreeing with an Obama position is very different from arguing that he agreed with you once, but now has changed positions just to win favor with the voters. First, that is generally wrong. Second, if Obama emphasizes one aspect of a position instead of another in order to attract a particular group of voters, that does not mean he "changed" his position. Third, remember that the Republicans are desperate to get Progressives to confirm their narrative and convince guys like my New Jersey taxi driver to elect John McCain.

3). Remember that there is a huge gulf between the values of Obama and McCain. Obama stands clearly in the progressive tradition of giving every human being equal opportunity to fulfill their potential. McCain stands squarely on the side of ultra-conservative values that protect the power and prerogatives of the wealthiest among us.

Obama stands firmly against the neocon foreign policies of preemptive war and unilateral action that lay at the root of the worst American foreign policy disaster in a generation. McCain stands just as firmly for the neocon vision and the Bush approach to the rest of the world.

Obama believes that economic growth happens from the bottom up and doesn't trickle down on the rest of us. He supports the rights of workers to organize to defend their standard of living, and a world where we're all in this together, not all in this alone. McCain intends to continue Bush's economic policies that have assured that all of the economic growth in the last seven years has gone to the wealthiest 1% of Americans.

Obama understands that our world faces the greatest environmental crisis in history as we seek to prevent human beings from altering our climate. First and foremost, John McCain's loyalties lie with the oil industry.

We need to remember that John McCain's campaign is managed by lobbyists from the biggest special interests in America, while Barack Obama understands the need to mobilize tens of millions of Americans to change Washington from the ground up.

Progressives should go right ahead and question Obama's positions on issues -- and they should continue to hold him accountable when he is elected president. But remember that the Republicans are desperate to convince independent voters that Obama is "just another politician" whose values flow from the latest poll instead of his own commitment to principle. Don't help them. If you do you will be wrong, and you will also help the Republicans fulfill their unthinkable fantasy of a third Bush term.

Robert Creamer is a long time political organizer and strategist, and author of the recent book "Stand Up Straight: How Progressives Can Win," available on Amazon.com.

Senator Obama & Media Silliness

Elstun — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 17:45:24 EDT

It's probably because he is new, fresh and interesting that every comment and every phrase is examined with the weight of consequence in disproportion to what was intended. Take the case of his comments about Iraq. Senator Obama dared to suggest that he comes to the issue ofg Iraw with flexibility based upon what he learns on the ground and in light of new circumstances as they arise. Oh my...you would have thought that he had become a holocaust denier or something. Oh the hand-wringing by the Left and the face-spitting screaming by the Right.

Give it an effing rest, folks.

Here are his comments on the airplane today with reporters.

Earlier in the day as he flew from Montana to Missouri, Obama told reporters he was surprised at how the media has "finely calibrated" his recent words on Iraq, and reaffirmed his commitment to ending the war if elected.

"I was a little puzzled by the frenzy that I set off by what I thought was a pretty innocuous statement," he said. "I am absolutely committed to ending the war."

On Thursday in North Dakota, Obama said that "I'll ... continue to refine my policy" on Iraq after an upcoming trip there. With a promise to end the war the central premise of his candidacy, the Obama campaign has struggled over the past two days to push back against Republicans and others who say his recent statement could be a softening or change in policy.

Obama has always said his promise to end the war would require consultations with military commanders and, possibly, flexibility.

"The tactics of how we ensure our troops are safe as we pull out, how we execute the withdrawal, those are things that are all based on facts and conditions," he said. "I am not somebody — unlike George Bush — who is willing to ignore facts on the basis of my preconceived notions."

Alaskans for Obama website is now online

Neal Laugman — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 22:26:00 EDT

Greetings Everyone!

I hope that what I have will be a useful device for closing the gap on the Republicans.

http://alaskansforobama.org

It's been my thought that we Alaskans need a place to gather (and gather our numbers) to share what we already know with those who might be considering the possibilities of their vote in November. Please stop by the website and sign up. What the website becomes is up to all of you (well, and me too:)

One other thing - Obama's ad playing in Alaska today can be seen on the website.

Contact the Alaskan Superdelegates!

Atilladabum — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 22:16:07 EDT

Fellow Alaskans,

It is time to start contacting our Superdelegates. Julie Waterbury has made an event for us: "Citizens of AK write your super delegates." I urge all of you to sign-up for this event. In hopes of making it easier for all I have included my first draft of the letter I will send. You can modify it as you see fit and/or give me feedback in the comments of this post.

Alaskan Democratic Superdelegate

c/o Democratic National Committee

430 S. Capitol St. SE

Washington, DC 20003

Dear Sir/Madame,

As an Alaskan, I feel the need to contact you regarding your vote in the Democratic National Convention. Hopefully, as most of us wish, your vote will not be required to determine the Democratic Party’s Presidential Candidate. However, it seems more and more likely that the superdelegate votes will finalize the winner in this process. I strongly urge you to use your vote in the best interest of the Democratic Party. In my opinion, that would be to vote for Sen. Barack Obama.

My opinion is not only based on political but also personal standings that Sen. Obama has taken. Sen. Obama is a progressive thinker that inspires, unites and motivates people across all spectrums of this great country. He has won more states, more delegates and more of the popular vote. He has a greater capacity to stand-out as an alternative to “politics as usual” in the White House; therefore, as shown in the polls, he has a better chance of defeating Sen. Mc Cain and the Republican Party. He has more experience in foreign affairs than either Pres. Clinton or Pres. Reagan had when they entered their terms; furthermore, I believe he shows better judgement than either of these men. He has also received endorsements of flag officers from the Army, Navy, and Air Force in his ability to lead as Commander in Chief. Therefore, again making him a qualified candidate against Sen. Mc Cain. Sen. Obama embodies the principles of the Democratic Party and has given our country a new sense of hope that we are better than the last eight years have made us out to be. Aside from the War in Iraq, Sen. Obama and Sen. Clinton have similar political stances on various issues, only differing on the finer points. Therefore, I urge you to look at their characters.

It was Sen. Obama who initiated the stance to minimize the mud slinging in 2007 and pay attention to the issues. Sen. Clinton agreed initially, until it became clear that she was no longer the forerunner, then her tactics shifted into what has been compared to Republican Party Smear Campaigning or kitchen sink politics. Additionally, Sen. Clinton’s character is illuminated by how her campaign is handling the FL and MI delegate fiasco. While I believe the votes of FL and MI should not be seated because the clearly stated rules were not followed, Clinton's delegation would like to push the party to seat the votes at any cost to the party. I find her actions are more Clinton-centric than DNC-centric and that she is willing to sacrifice driving a wedge into the middle of the Democratic Party and, in turn, sacrifice a party victory if she is not on top of the ticket. In my opinion, this shows weak character. I admire Sen. Obama’s decision to, not only, stop campaigning in these states, but to also remove his name from the ballot. This shows character and character is what wins elections.

I believe the Democratic Party must band together behind Sen. Obama at this time, to ensure that the Republican Party does not maintain power in the White House. It is a serious time for our country and the world is watching, wondering if the United States of America has any remaining dignity and reason to be regarded as world leaders and the best run government for the people, by the people. The people have spoken and they want CHANGE from politics as usual!

I implore you to vote for Senator Barack Obama and help our country heal from eight years of bad decisions and policies. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

We need help in Ohio!

Christopher Farrell — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 11:23:31 EST

Greetings everyone! Sorry I have been a little distant but we are in a real battle here in Ohio. We have great folks down here, but we need your help! We have a new "Virtual Phone bank" tool that is so easy to use, and I need my veteran callers in Alaska! We have MILLIONS of people to reach out too, and with this new program we can do it, but we need all of our supporters around the country. I definitely miss Alaska, and hope that you all can help us out down here in Southeast Ohio. Please e-mail me back if you would like to help me and the crew down here reach out to all of our potential supporters. I will e-mail you back with instructions, and set you up with a username and password. I still have the same number, call me anytime 319-371-8180.

Thank You

Christopher Farrell — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 15:59:38 EST

Please everyone go to the State Convention, and if you have pledged to go, please go. Jesse Jackson lost the State Convention in '88 even though he won the intial caucus. So please go to Palmer.

I know some of you may have recieved this e-mail, but I wanted to share my feeling s with everyone, and say Thank You to everyone,

I want you all to know something as well, you all gave me a second wind, you have all inspired me. After Iowa I was burnt out. I could not imagine making another call, knocking on another door, going to another meeting, and then I came to Alaska. After the first meeting I had with the Democratic Party I knew something was different in the air here. After the first organizational meeting, I began to realize something, a movement has not only just started, there is an army behind it that is FIRED UP and READY TO GO! And you all were, and we did, but now we must carry the torch just as high as we carried it into our caucus sights last night. There will be an absence of the staffers here, but to be honest we only equated to 2 of the thousands last night! You all have the power, you all have the direction, you all have the organization, because you all ARE the organization, and you must carry this torch all the way through November. There are going to be many things to do, and the Democratic Party in Alaska is at a turning point, and all of you have the power to lead the charge. You all are going to have 2 great candidates for Senate and for the House, and they are going to need the best organization around, and the best organization around is not going to come from Washington DC, the best organization around is YOU. You all are better organized than almost any coordinated campaign from DC I have ever witnessed! You all have what it takes, you are all Organizers, you all have the tools, you all have the talents, you all have the skills, and you all need to continue sharpening them, and training them, because when I return here I am going to need every single last one of you all and more to turn this state BLUE, and WE CAN DO IT.....YES WE CAN!!!! Please, not just for me, but for the your State, your beautiful State that is bustling with passion, with hope, and on the verge of drastic change. I am 10000% confident that if you all work, and take all of this passion, of your skills, all of your beautiful energy and help your Democratic Party this State will be not only the Last Frontier, but the Pinnacle of The United States. Please stay involved, please contact the Democratic Party right away, do not let the Fired Burn Out, 907-258-3050, and thank you all, form the depths of my soul, I Love You All....Thank you, you all have inspired me and I WILL BE BACK.....I PROMISE!!!!

Let Us Begin!!

Christopher Farrell — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 01:41:43 EST

On the eve of this historic day I wanted to pause for a moment this eveing and say Thank You. Not just for your tireless work, but for your passion to not just see things and say "why", but to be able to dream of things that never were and make those dreams come true....here in Alaska!

Tomorrow, we work, we work tirelessly, we do not let up until the final vote is tallied, and we Change The World. Our Voices will not only shake the Mountaintops, but we will rock the nation!!

I was thinking we should do a Big Rally outside of our Caucus Locations Tomorrow right before our Caucuses around 4pm unitl 5:30pm and show our cities that it's Obama's night! So Let Us Begin our Journey Tomorrow, and it will not end until we are all watching the Barack Obama being inaugaurated in January!

Warming Up for Feb. 5 in Alaska

Michael Negron — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 08:45:37 EST

These days, Anchorage's town square is alive with ice skaters and science fiction fans drawn by the Gallery of Ice and its frozen renditions of Darth Vader, E.T., and other copyrighted likenesses from sci-fi films of yore. But over the course of these final five days before the February 5th Democratic Caucus, the center of energy in the Last Frontier will be a few miles away at our Alaska headquarters on 2602 Fairbanks Street.

The front door reminds us: in five days, Alaskans can play their part in our growing movement for change. Inside, you're likely to find a busy call room filled with volunteers working the phones to bring new caucus-goers into the process.

Over the past week, their hard work has paid off. In a state where the 2004 caucuses attracted only 600 attendees, organizational meetings across Alaska drew over 200 Barack supporters.

Anchorage

Fairbanks

I couldn't end this blog post without giving you a glimpse of the Gallery of Ice.

Don't phone home yet, phone potential caucus-goers!

Important Caucus Information from Alaska Headquarters

Christopher Farrell — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 23:22:53 EST

If you can not get to your Caucus location because it is too far away, or not accessible you can set up your own Caucus with all of your Obama supporting friends and neighbors. All you have to do is check the Caucus Locator, and if the location is too far away you can schedule a Caucus in your house, or at a nearby location. All you have to do is call 907-258-3020 or toll free at 1-866-258-3020.

Chris Farrell

319-371-8180; 907-258-3020

Caucus Director For Alaska

2602 Fairbanks St.

Disregard the Media, Change comes from the streets not the TV!!

Christopher Farrell — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 23:05:10 EST

Fellow supporters and change agents, the time has come and we knew it would. The rival campaigns are trying to knock us down. They are trying to taint "Hope" because they see something happening. The people who have never had an influence before, the voices that have never stood up and shouted out are coming out in scores and the Washington Establishment is worried. They will try and knock him down, throw mud on his name, say anything, and twist his words or splice statements together to make something up. They will do anything at this moment, because people are noticing that this movement has gained steam and is taking off and it is going to be hard, nearly impossible to stop. It is time folks, to put our heads down, bond together, and scratch out every inch, gather every person we know, go to our local caucus and STAND UP for Hope, STAND UP for Change, STAND UP for a President who understands the true power that the people have! We have to bring our family members, friends, and neighbors with us to our neighborhood Caucus and it is easy to find out where it is. Just go to the main page and click on the Caucus Locator Tool. If the location is too far away, we can organize a caucus in our homes, or at a local hall. We need to organize, the time is now, the moment is at hand. Let;s Go Change The World on February 5th!! Please call me with any questions.

Chris Farrell

Caucus Director for Obama For Alaska

319-371-8180; 907-258-3020

2602 Fairbanks St.

Great going in IOWA

Arctickane — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 04:07:40 EST

Thank you IOWA. You have set the high stakes. Let's keep this going. It took us a year to build the ladder to climb. Let's not stay on the first step;let's keep climbing all the way. We still have long way to go, but I notice in the last week or so many folks have come out of their "undecidedness" and suddenly started realizing that the rest of us were on to something. We need to keep the momentum going. Iowa set the wave in motion; it is up to the rest of us to keep the surf up. Oh! We caught the wave in Alaska too.

Update....I have time!

Interior Alaskans for Obama — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 01:02:49 EDT

Hey everyone,

I am taking some time off from work! Can't wait to host some events

and meet up with everyone. My e-mail is akangelee@gmail.com please

contact me if you are interested in helping or hosting! Let's get Fairbanks

organized! I also have stickers, signs and buttons, contact me if you want any!

March 31st Kickoff Party photo!

Interior Alaskans for Obama — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 02:24:24 EDT