Dear Obama Supporters:
In recent days, McSame has been going after Obama with new fervor, painting him as not ready to lead and too liberal for the country. It's an aggressive approach reminiscent of GOP operative Karl Rove, who orchestrated Bush's back-to-back victories in part by tearing down Democratic opponents. Obama has entered the building according to McSame. John McSame's new ad states Obama is nothing more than a celebrity like Paris and Britney. I am confounded by this approach and wonder what his campaign organization is thinking. The NY Times yesterday had an article on a familiar battle cry:The Press Likes the other Guy Better. "They have done statistical studies and it shows when broadcaster expressed opinions about Mr. Obama, 72 percent of the comments were negative as opposed to 57 percent negative for McSame. Yet, McSame's group continues to cry fowl with the press. McSame launched this advertisement with a story line about Obama that he is cocky and presumptuous, which was all about trying to downplay his sparkling tour abroad.It looks to be that these ads are indicating that Obama is nothing more than a "star" but mentioning those two air heads in comparison to the brilliance of Obama is a disgrace.
I saw an article from AOL to subscribers that was a continuation of the discussion: "Opening a new front Wednesday, the GOP campaign rolled out a hard-hitting commercial that uses pictures of 20-something stars Britney Spears and Paris Hilton to suggest that Obama is little more than a media darling who is unqualified to be president. "He's the biggest celebrity in the world, but is he ready to lead?" the ad asks. Obama's campaign countered with its own ad that called McCain's charges "baloney" and "baseless." In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Thursday, Obama steered clear of race as he chided McSame, saying: "So far, all we've been hearing about is Paris Hilton. I do have to ask my opponent: 'Is that the best you can do? Is that what this election is really all about? Is that worthy of the American people?'"
At campaign headquarters in Chicago, Obama's campaign unveiled a new Web site that accuses McCain of "negative attacks and false charges. He is not going to let them distract the American people from the issues! We can see that the GOP is up to its same old same old and I don't think it will work this time. Everyone is on to the Rovian way of politics, and his attempt to distract from issues at hand. We have seen this movie before, said Barack Obama. "The MCSame campaign is very good at negative campaigning and distracting the voters from things like another 50,000 jobs lost this last week. Barack Obama wants to talk about the economy, issues and how he'll make the American people's lives better. His talk in Union MO suggesting he didn't come out of central casting is nothing different than he has been saying all along and certainly not playing the "race card". He is young, lived in Indonesia, moved around alot, and not been on the scene as long as someone like McSame. McSame is trying to paint him as risky since he has no ideas to fix the mess of W. He in his own words stated he his not so good on the economy, and so this is a wonderful distraction for him, to go negative and scare you that Obama is a risk. In answering McSame is Obama negative as well, I don't think so. For example, was responding to four salvos delivered by the GOP in the last few weeks. Here they are, that he would rather lose the war than the campaign , he was not willing to visit troops without reporters, he was and is full of himself(presumptuous) I believe the word was, and nothing more than an empty headed celebrity. HOw would you expect him to take these attacks? He was not "swift boated" and responded to these attacks just as he promised me a year and half ago at Kenny Leher's apartment when I first met him! He will not allow the GOP to distract him or describe him. He promised to stay focused on the issues at hand and he is doing just that.
I agree with Mira in her commentarty and wonderful response to the news agency to this absurd ad by McSame. Your coverage tonight of John McCain's ad trying to create a link between Senator Obama and celebrities like Britney Spears and Paris Hilton came on a day where the New York Times had a fascinating article about Senator Obama's twelve years teaching law at the University of Chicago Law School (“Teaching Law, Testing Ideas, Obama Stood Slightly Apart,” by Jodi Kantor, page 1, -- the impressive and challenging reading lists for his courses can be found online) and I happened to be reading the chapter on the Constitution in his book The Audacity of Hope. Against such a background of serious intellectual accomplishments, the McCain ad is scurrilous, but your superficial coverage of it is equally problematic. Indeed if the press is not vigilant and responsive to these lies (8 out of 9 ads accusations against Obama by McSame were not correct on www.factcheck.com) we in this group will be. I say thank you to all of you who have pointed out the ludicrous e-mails and articles that the Rovian GOP is trying to throw at Obama. WE and he is ready for this attack and the truth shall be known.
Yes We Can and will win this election for Barack Obama who will bring change from poliltics as they have been.
Love,Sunny
A Mama 4 Obama
From Linda in FL:
It is so ironic. McSame plays the race card, Obama responds. Obama is "playing the race card" because he responded. He is really in a bind.
From Dani in Brooklyn:
Thanks for the update on The Boss - good to know he's still out there, although he must be exhausted defending Obama - I hope he gets an infusion of energy from his loyal Obama fans. Also important to remember that many people who are patriotic and suffering economically are NOT Obama supporters... yet... and have to be reached out to (go Lilli!). Every time we talk about the economy tanking and its worldwide reverberations, we must connect it to the corrupt regime (still earning a hefty profit off of oil vis a vis the stock market) and the need to get Barack in the White House before more people lose their jobs, homes, retirement savings and hopes for education. Before we all go down the tubes for good. Anyone who's seen NYC lately will attest to the observation that this summer in particular it looks all pretty for the tourists while the natives are losing their livelihoods. Get on a train away from the usual points of interest and see the mold and decay on the platforms, blights which the MTA can not afford to fix. Not that I object to tourists, but the metaphor is downright ironic.
When Camp Obama is attacked for invoking his personal history, we could refer to his comments in this week's Newsweek: his biography has embedded his politics in his mind and heart and he also hopes by speaking of himself as a human being, Americans will get to know him better. When he is attacked for being ambitious, comment "And a good thing too - we need someone whose ambition is to make a postive mark on this nation. We need an ambitious leader with energy and the will of the people to help get us out of this economic mess. FDR wasn't exactly plucked from the heavens either, but in 1933 he was the right man at the right time. Ditto Obama.
Also worth remembering that each time the Bushies are called on the carpet or blocked (which happens all too rarely), it's a potential wedge for regime change, not to mention Democratic activism in Congress. For example:
"A federal district judge appointed by President George W. Bush to the bench has done the right thing, ruling definitively this morning that the President's claim of absolute immunity for his advisors from Congressional oversight and subpoena is "entirely unsupported by existing case law."
The ruling by Judge John Bates is as important as much because of who issued it as it is for its impact upon Congressional investigations into presidential wrongdoing."
http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/lindorff/124
Yes folks, the Constitution lives!
From Kathy in KCMO:
All of this negative crap is coming out in rapid succession and getting all of the air time so that the real problems and issues are not getting discussed! The news makes me furious. They keep playing McSame's horrible attack ads so they can discuss them ad nauseum and all it is doing is giving him free air time. They say some of these he only bought air time in a few places and they are getting national play. They are slicing and dicing everything Obama says even accusing him of "playing the race card" like McCain is the one under attack! Unbelievable! McCain has become Bush and adopted any slime tactics that Rove and company have to offer! This is going to be a very long 3 months. We need to write the media every single day about how they are ignoring the fact that McCain's ads are low and full of lies and never discuss what McCain will do for the country. They are promoting these lies by playing the ads over and over. They are depriving the people of hearing about the issues that are so important to us. McSame has no programs or policies. All he can do is bloody up Obama! I had not seen the money ad but I did see the Moses one! Unbelievable. They are coming out with one crap ad after another because they know they can get free air time!
I hate this!
From Helen Older Women for Obama:
I know how it is, I"ve been working on spreading the word, discussing him and the issues with email pals of pals who were not, before I got ahold of them, willing to look at him.
I can't understand why everyone who backs him isn't working on the campaign every minutes they are not actually in the bathtub. ( I so love this statement!!!)
Great breakfast meeting with Harold Ford, Jr., yesterday, courtesy of Business Women for Obama and Leonore Blitz. Crazy busy!
From Marcelline and David in NY:
The Republican right wing elite is terrified because they're staring defeat in the face. They have a lackluster candidate who's old, not coherent and doesn't get anybody excited. They spent the last year thinking they were going to run against Hillary and they thought they knew how to do that. But they didn't get Hillary. Instead they got Obama, who's getting people excited, getting new people into the game, and they don't know what to do about it. So they're doing the one thing they can do, given that he is relatively new on the scene. They're trying to define him in the worst possible light before he can define himself. Obama's weakness is that he is not well known, not well defined, so he's open to having perceptions of him defined by the opposition. They're hitting him where they think it will stick -- he's high falutin, unconnected, a celebrity persona.
They cannot attack on the issues. The economy? People think the Democrats will do better. Health care? People want a universal health care plan and McCain is nowhere on this issue. Iraq? Obama was right all along on Iraq. Appeasement? The Bush administration is now talking to Iran. Energy? People may think we should be drilling but they know it's not the answer, that it will only take us so far. Sleaze? Obama isn't sleazy, but there's a pretty long list of Republicans who are. Inexperience? People have said they care less about experience and more about change. Would we rather have a candidate who can attract an audience of 200,000 people in Berlin, waving our flag instead of burning it, or one who goes abroad and is despised in almost every country, not to mention the gaffes. They want to tear Obama down but the list of things they've got to use is limited. They can't even attack him personally because he's viewed universally as a pretty likable guy. So, what's left? They will attack him for being TOO popular and try to translate that into narcissism, pretension, whatever.
Bottom line: Nothing much we can do about the Krauthammers of the world who will continue to spew. Obama needs to hammer (pun intended) on substantive solutions to issues. Pare down, choose several, put them into memorable prescriptions. And get out the surrogates to write op/ed pieces. This, more than anything, will prove that he has his feet solidly on the same ground as the American people.
Marcelline and David
From Susan in NC:
Susan here in North Carolina. Wanted to say I was on HuffingtonPost and saw an article or video that John McCain had on his web page.
Why is that important? Take a look....keep in mind the McCain now saying "Obama played the race card"...
When Obama said, "You don't see someone like me on a dollar bill."
WELL...McCain has his face morphed on to a dollar bill, YES he does and take a look at it.
THAT needs to be brought out.......interesting and I am sure McCain somehow thinks his web page (how is is now distributing his poison - new ad with Obama as the Messiah) and then mainstream media plays and plays and plays the ads.
We have to bring this to someone's attention...like Olberman, get it out.
Even Andrea Mitchell on Harball tonight is saying that McCain shows distain towards Obama. Ron Brownstein too.
HELP....how do we get this photo of Obama being morphed out there?
Oh yes and McCain says the Obama campaigned apologized...........NO they did not and NO ONE challenges him!
#2 Thanks Sunny, we need a 'watch' list to be able to report in to and make sure we flood the MSM TV shows, blogs, etc. That does work!
This is sickening and I loved Ron Brownstein and Andrea Mitchell standing up for business ethics.
Thanks Sunny, this is horrible and when I saw that photo being morphed on to a dollar bill and then distorted I thought, "Who can I tell?.
Yes I will write to the News and Observer in Raleigh.
From Linda in FL;
when you wrote "black and white," you expressed the essence of the problem. I am guessing that 99% of the "fear" of Obama is the strange-unknown"ness" by whites for blacks and black culture. Many Jews really believe that deep inside all blacks there is a hatred for Jews (and same with all whites)...which is ridiculous.
From Justy in DC:
Obama IS the race card. Always there with his black wife and kids ready to be the model first family for white Americans to identify with.......makes me nervous. Oprah, for example, lost 30+% of her advertising revenue since endorsing Obama; People magazine had "At Home with Obama Family" on its cover last week - picture of all four of them - and was the lowest selling issue of the entire year, by far.
So......confronting McCain's projections is important, but addressing peoples fears is more important. And doing so regularly without dismissing them.
Taking them seriously - after all, the anthrax thing was REALLY scary to lots of people. So the need for reassurance is great in PA and OH and God knows where else.
#2From me to him ,However, we are all damned and the courts as well with McSame!
Totally.
I think - oh, btw good morning - that people, most all of us at times, are not used to a politician who actually thinks. We confuse thinking with doing - whether because of a sound-bite culture and now the blog world, or because little kids hear their parents threaten them, or god knows what.
But having someone listen who isn't a psychoanalyst is unheard of in public life.
From Rice in Staten Island:
This has been the most ridiculous week in the media AGAINST Barack and for McCain. I almost threw up when I heard a pundit on MSNBC express disappointment at Barack supporters for booing those obviously planted hecklers at the town hall meeting yesterday. I was furious and truly sick when I heard a pundit on CNN say that McCain handles his hecklers "beautifully" while barack did "OK". Anyone who has been following knows that Mcinsane has a tradition of throwing out hecklers as he has so many, while Barack handled the situation with class and integrity as he does everything else.
This is terribly frustrating. The MSM is attempting to steer this election to maintain the status quo. I was not here for the last 2 elections, so I don't know how they got away with it before. I for one will continue to write to editors and producers in complaint, and I will also continue to write their advertisers to let them know that I will not purchase their products ( whether I do or do not already). They must all be held accountable for truth in journalism.
We must all keep up the good fight and show our support where ever we go. No more behaving like we are afraid or ashamed to support Barack out loud. Know his policies, be prepared to educate and confront when and if necessary( in our way of course, which is in the same tone of the campaign and Barck- with honesty and kindness).
It may feel like bizarro world sometimes, but it is not. This nonsense is over and we will take back the WH and support Barack's presidency for 2 terms and beyond.
Your help and our support of each other will get us through. Like Barack, we must keep our eyes on the prize.
From Elizabeth in Mamaroneck:
from reality Based Community at www.samefacts.com. or www.markarkleiman.com
Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.
« LA Times on the McCain payroll | Main
July 31, 2008
Obama's record: what Ambinder missed
Posted by Mark Kleiman
Marc Ambinder, who has my respect for what I take to be his good-faith effort to maintain his objectivity in the race for President, and who has hit John McCain some pretty good licks recently, repeats what seems to me an egregious error he made way back in May: Ambinder quotes an attack on Obama premised on the claim that Obama has no record, and treats that as a legitimate claim.
In this case, Ambinder simply asks his readership to name Obama's accomplishments, against the background of a story reported (or invented) by that blue-ribbon fool Richard Cohen in which an unnamed Democrat, asked to mention one of Obama's accomplishments, lists his speech to the 2204 Democratic Convention, the implication being that Obama didn't do anything noteworthy before and hasn't done anything noteworthy since.
That strongly implies that Ambinder, who after all is attentive to public affairs, can't himself name any of Obama's accomplishments. Maybe that's true, but if so all it means is that Ambinder hasn't bothered to do some basic Googling.
A short list of Obama's deeds, counting only his time in elected office, would include, in Illinois:
* Children's health care.
* The earned income tax credit.
* Ethics reform.
* Videotaping of police interrogations (an anti-torture measure, since imitated elsewhere, which required Obama to win the support of law enforcement groups who started out hostile to it).
In Washington:
* More ethics reform.
* Work on "loose nukes" with Richard Lugar.
Of course no legislator ever does anything alone, but that's not a bad record; year-for-year, it's much stronger than McCain's, even counting the parts of McCain's legacy he has already trashed, such as campaign finance reform and opposition to torture.
Details on Illinois are in this Charles Peters article; details on DC are in two long posts by Hilzoy, one on Obama's legislative record and one on Obama's style of bipartisanship. Really, this stuff isn't hard to find, though those of Ambinder's readers he chooses to quote don't seem to have found any of it. To ask "What's Obama's record?" without looking it up, like asking "What are Obama's specific proposals?" without checking his website, is journalistic malpractice, because asking those questions that way reinforces the impression carefully created by Obama's opponents that he doesn't have a record or detailed positions. And that is simply false, just like the claim that he didn't want to visit wounded soldiers if he couldn't bring cameras.
It's already clear that McCain is working from the Rove playbook: tell lots of lies about your opponent, gambling that some of them will stick and that the press won't have the gumption to call "bullsh*t." I bet it won't work this year; with Ambinder, Joe Klein, and Andrea Mitchell all off the reservation this early, it looks to me as if McCain is going to lose his gamble on the supinity of the press. Still, it's sad to see a good reporter contribute to a bad line of argument.
#2 From Elizabeth:
... of questions for John McCain.-
http://WWW.samefacts.com/archives/john_mccain_/2008/08/i_have_a_little_list_.php
From Dudley in NYC:
You ask what can we do....I hope we will hear more from Obama about education. The website says all the right things, but the teachers union is powerful. There was a terrible editorial in WSJ portraying him against giving parents choice in the education of their kids/charter schools. This is a key issue for young adults and for the future of our country. So I ask how can his stance on this issue be clarified and expanded so as to grab the attention of voters? xox
From Carolyn in Mamaroneck:
How could this be and what are people thinking of when looking at candidate McSame?
McCain is more centerist-right, while Obama comes off as being way left. If Obama moved more toward the center politically (especially fiscally), he would attract more of those people, plus some in our party who might defect.
From Allison in NJ:
Hi there! thanks for adding me to this list again. Go BARACK and Sunny!!!
From Val in Ohio:
Obama has become a full time job for you. It's people of your ilk who will usher him into the White House. Ohio is still iffy and the staff on the ground in my area is not from his A-list. There's a bit of "drama" underway as they decide who will become part of the paid staff vs. volunteer status. I'm between Philly and Fulton, MD this week. I did see the boots on the ground in downtown Philly working for the DNC. I stopped to ask them about the Obama Hdq. but they didn't have much information. I find it interesting that the DNC is totally separate from the Obama campaign. I think it all boils down to fund raising.
No, Michelle was not the speaker at the convention. What a bummer.
Here's something for your blog:
http://www.236.com/blog/w/alec_sokolow/middie_mccain_more_moron_than_5544.php
From Gwynneth in White Plains:
by the way, for anyone who is still so angry (and rightfully so) at the new yorker, be sure to read this week's hendrik hertzberg article re obama's travels. it will make you feel good!!!!!
and also, indefensible is all i can say about pilfering obama's private comments at the wall. but as usual, he will take the high road on this event.
From Marcelline:
The wife John McCain callously left behind
Crippled by a car accident when he was a PoW, she’d lost her looks and her health. But soon her husband found himself a beautiful young heiress instead.
Full Story:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1024927/The-wife-John-McCain-callously-left-behind.html
01 August 2008
www.dailymail.co.uk
#2 in response to Rachel's plea about help on article:
Further to the subject, one wonders what a psychiatrist would make of
John McCain? The lock step military career or all in the family, the
humiliations of prison camp, the aftermath with the throwing over of
the no-longer glamorous first wife for the trophy second, who just
happened to be rich, and all the womanizing to prove he got his macho
back, the temper and the tantrums, the potty mouth, his own feelings
of entitlement.
But we don't go there because we're too polite.
K'hammer, if memory serves, became a neo-con, with, therefore, a
neocon's huge investment in the "riightness" of the Iraq blunder.
From Rachel: This is being sent every where...Please advise...Rachel NYC
Krauthammer lives in suburban Washington with Robyn, an artist. Their son, Daniel, is a student at Harvard University.
Article by Charles Krauthammer
Washington Post
The Audacity of Vanity
By Charles Krauthammer
Friday, July 18, 2008; A17
Barack Obama wants to speak at the Brandenburg Gate. He figures it would be a nice backdrop. The supporting cast -- a cheering audience and a few fainting frauleins -- would be a picturesque way to bolster his foreign policy credentials.
What Obama does not seem to understand is that the Brandenburg Gate is something you earn. President Ronald Reagan earned the right to speak there because his relentless pressure had brought the Soviet empire to its knees and he was demanding its final "tear down this wall" liquidation. When President John F. Kennedy visited the Brandenburg Gate on the day of his "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech, he was representing a country that was prepared to go to the brink of nuclear war to defend West Berlin.
Who is Obama representing? And what exactly has he done in his lifetime to merit appropriating the Brandenburg Gate as a campaign prop? What was his role in the fight against communism, the liberation of Eastern Europe, the creation of what George Bush the elder -- who presided over the fall of the Berlin Wall but modestly declined to go there for a victory lap -- called "a Europe whole and free"?..
From Gwynneth in response to what to do about article and its attacks on Obama European trip:
What an outrageous article!
But can you imagine McCain having tried to do the same?
As we found out in yesterday's Jewish leadership call, the European leg of the trip was financed by campaign funds, so Obama had every right to speak in Germany, and what Krauthammer fails to grasp, is that the personal connections that Obama made to the German people, to all Europeans, government and populace, are beginning to heal very sore wounds all caused by our inept current prez. He is giving them hope, which is so valuable it cannot be measured.
Why don't we just respond to him directly?
From Elizabeth in Mamaroneck:
Check this!
Sent: 7/30/2008 10:55:34 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time
((((( The RBC Update: "Old age is second childhood": Aristophanes )))))
And John Weaver thinks John McCain's latest ad is "childish."
http://WWW.samefacts.com/archives/john_mccain_/2008/07/old_age_is_second_childhood_aristophanes.php
From Helen in NY ,Older Women for Obama:
Courtesy of Leonore Blitz and Women Business Leaders for Obama, a small group of us met for breakfast with The Honorable Harold Ford, Jr., former five-term Tennessee Congressman and Obama surrogate. He is now chair of the Democratic Leadership Council, which generally takes the more centrist positions in the Party.
Congressman Ford spoke informally about policy choices Obama faces, and his own vision of how to campaign in this most challenging year. It was a distinct pleasure for all the political junkies in the room to hear the ideas of so gifted an analyst of retail politics, of how you win on the ground. He spoke eloquently of the importance of each of us reaching out to every persuadable voter we can find, calling, going to swing states; that many Republicans do not like John McCain but will come out on Election Day and pull the lever for him; how important it is for all of us to be mindful of how high the stakes are this year. It was also noted that the Democrats who could not bring themselves to vote for Hubert Humphrey in 1968 gave Richard Nixon a narrow victory, and that, in 2000, Democrats who 'just didn't like Al Gore' gave us George W. Bush. This must not happen again.
From Judy in Mamaroneck:
July 31, 2008
Editorial Observer
A Tale of Three (Electronic Voting) Elections
By ADAM COHEN
Electronic voting has made great strides in reliability, but it has a long way to go. When reformers push for greater safeguards, they often argue that future elections could produce the wrong result because of a computer glitch or be stolen through malicious software. That’s being too nice.
There have already been elections in which it is impossible to be certain that the right candidate was declared the winner. Here are three such races. It is not just remarkable that these elections were run so badly, but also that the flaws are still common — and could easily create havoc in this fall’s voting.
1. The 2002 Georgia Senate and Governor Races — Senator Max Cleland, who lost three limbs in Vietnam, was defeated for re-election and Gov. Roy Barnes, a Democrat, was unseated. Polls had suggested that both men would win.
The votes were cast on Diebold A.T.M.-style machines. A whistle-blower who helped prepare the machines reported that secret “patches” — software intended to fix glitches — were installed late in the process without being certified by the state, as the law required.
The unexpected outcomes were likely because of heavy turnout by rural whites, prompted by a Confederate flag dispute, not faulty voting machines. Still, skeptics wonder if the patches contained malicious software that changed votes. Because the Diebold machines did not produce paper records, there is no way to put those doubts to rest.
Lesson: Electronic voting makes large-scale vote theft easy. A patch slipped onto voting machines or centralized vote tabulators can change an election’s outcome. Every piece of software must be scrutinized by neutral experts. If there is not enough time, election officials need a backup plan, such as conducting voting entirely on paper ballots.
2. The 2006 Congressional Race in Florida’s 13th District — The machines said that Republican Vern Buchanan defeated Democrat Christine Jennings by 369 votes. But in Sarasota County, a Democratic area, up to 18,000 ballots, about 13 percent of the total cast, did not record a vote for Congress. That is extraordinarily high; in Republican Manatee County, only 2 percent of ballots didn’t contain a vote for Congress.
Sarasota’s low vote may have been because of a bad ballot design, which made the Buchanan-Jennings race hard to find. But the Jennings campaign said it received hundreds of complaints that the machines would not accept a vote for Ms. Jennings, or recorded a vote for her as a vote for Mr. Buchanan.
Did Ms. Jennings lose a seat in Congress because of a glitch? Could there have been sabotage? We’ll never know, because there are no paper records.
Lesson: Electronic voting machines must produce a voter-verifiable paper trail for each vote so voters can see that their choices register properly. In a disputed election, the paper, not the machine tallies, should decide who wins.
More than half the states require votes to be recorded on paper, but many still don’t. These include battleground states like Virginia.
3. Alabama’s 2002 Race for Governor — Former Gov. Don Siegelman has been in the news because it appears that federal prosecutors may have put him in prison for political reasons. The controversy has brought attention to the odd way he lost the governorship.
Mr. Siegelman went to sleep on election night thinking he had won. But overnight, Republican Baldwin County reported that a glitch had given Mr. Siegelman, a Democrat, about 6,000 extra votes. When they were subtracted, Republican Rob Riley won by roughly 3,000 votes.
James Gundlach, a professor at Auburn University, crunched the numbers and concluded that Mr. Siegelman lost because of “electronic ballot stuffing,” possibly by an operative who accessed the computers and “edited” the results, though others dispute his analysis.
Baldwin County used paper ballots that were then read by an optical scan machine. Mr. Siegelman says local officials gave him permission to count the paper ballots by hand, but the attorney general threatened to arrest anyone who did. No count was done.
Lesson: Paper ballots alone are not enough. There must be strong audit laws that mandate comprehensive hand recounts when an election is close.
After the 2000 election debacle, Americans demanded a better system of voting. What we have gotten is new technology with different flaws. If the presidential race is close, this year’s “hanging chad” could be a questionable result on electronic voting machines that cannot be adequately investigated...(Read rest on line Click here: Editorial Observer - A Tale of Three (Electronic Voting) Elections - Editorial - NYTimes.com )
From Kathy in KCMO:
Lately, we all have been getting bizarre emails about Obama. He has been called everything from the Antichrist to a closet Muslim who is trying to infiltrate the government to blow us all up! Yesterday I got two more. One looked pretty convincing because it was about raising taxes and gave all kinds of facts and figures about how much Obama was going to raise your taxes. When I fact checked it, I found that it was all false. Here is the link so you can read for yourself. http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/taxes.asp
The other one I got was really disturbing. It was supposed to be written by a military guy in Afghanistan who "saw" Obama being rude and disrespectful to soldiers. You know it is particularly convincing to have a "military man" dissing the candidate. Again I fact checked it and found the exact email and every bit of it was labeled as false. Here is the link: http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/afghanistan.asp It even has a retraction from the soldier whose name was used saying his facts were wrong!
Obama has a fact checking site where they are trying to debunk this junk http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/fightthesmearshome/. However, I think it is better to send these spreaders of hate to non-partisan, neutral sites like www.snopes.com or www.factcheck.org These sites really analyze the facts fairly on both sides.
Whenever I get these emails, my first reaction is to curse them out. My calm, level-headed husband, however, thinks it is better to educate them so I am taking a more benign approach. I explained to the sender that I was shocked by this information and decided to fact check it, then I sent them the articles that exposed the falsehoods. I told them that they might want to pass this information along to their friends and family who had received this email because I was sure they would not want to be spreading lies.
I also told them that it looked like they needed more information about Barack Obama instead of just reading the smears and lies so I sent them the link to www.barackobama.com so they could read his policies. I also attached the above document that my friend Sunny in NYC and I put together that gives a brief list of some of the important issues on Obama's agenda. (This is NOT an official document from the Obama campaign.) We felt that people needed some ammunition at their fingertips when talking about Obama and what he stands for. You can ask these people if any of these issues are important to them.
I just wanted to pass these tools along in case you are getting the same kind of junk in your inbox! Maybe for a few who are gullible and belief everything they see in print, being confronted with the truth will help.
Kathy
Where Senator Obama Stands
Barack Obama has developed an extensive agenda for restoring America’s moral authority and sense of well-being. Specific details are available on his website, www.barackobama.com. Here are some of the high points.
Economy
Create jobs with special emphasis on helping low-income workers achieve self-sufficiency
Invest in American transportation and communication infrastructure
Simplify the tax code, providing relief to middle-income Americans and ending Bush’s tax breaks for wealthiest Americans
Reward companies for keeping jobs here and close tax loopholes for those exporting jobs overseas
Raise minimum wage to make it livable
Foreign Policy
End the war in Iraq through carefully phased withdrawal of troops
Support our troops in Afghanistan
Restore America’s standing in the world as a moral leader
Emphasize diplomatic solutions for difficult international issues
Close Guantanamo and restore traditional habeas corpus rights
Focus our energies on causes of support for Al Qaeda
Health Care
Ensure affordable health care for all Americans
Require that all children have adequate health care
Support stem cell research
Reduce health risks due to mercury pollution
Environment
Limit the causes of global warming
Implement market-based cap-and-trade system
Decrease oil consumption
Increase energy efficiency
Increase domestic production, distribution, and use of biofuels for energy independence
Preserve the Great Lakes
Protect national parks and forests
Domestic Policy
Protect civil liberties
Maintain FISA courts
Strengthen support for public schools
Revise No Child Left Behind
Stress support for pre-school education
Make college affordable through tuition support in exchange for public service
Women’s Issues
Improve child support collection and fathers’ responsibility
Fight gender violence in this country and in developing countries
Achieve equal pay for women
Invest in women-owned small businesses
Ensure women’s right to self-determination with respect to reproductive health care
Assure access to comprehensive contraceptive care and health information
Combat domestic violence through new legislation
Provide early screening to protect women from cancer and other diseases
Empower women to prevent HIV/AIDS
Provide care for women veterans who have been largely overlooked and undervalued by the Department of Veterans Affairs
Westchester Women for Obama
From Andy T of the DNC:
So your $5,000 now gets you:
1. A share in winning back the White House
2. An afternoon cruise on a 101-foot yacht (there could be umbrella drinks and shrimp)
3. A memorable experience with just 24 other $5,000 donors including:
> Governor Howard Dean, who, with your help, has totally revitalized the Democratic Party
> former U.N. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke (the only person ever to have held the Assistant Secretary of State post for two different regions of the world -- Asia and Europe)
> three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Edward Albee (and that doesn't even count WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF, over the non-winning of which several Pulitzer judges resigned)
> C-SPAN co-founder -- and *owner* of the 101-foot yacht -- John Evans in Sag Harbor NY
It's next Saturday afternoon, August 9.
Just reply to this email to RSVP. atobias@aol.com
Thanks!
Andy
From Hank in NYC:
Sent: Thursday, July 31, 2008 8:03 AM
To: 'letters@nytimes.com'
Subject: To The Editor
“McCain Trying To Define Obama As Out Of Touch” – Front Page – July 31, 2008
We should all take Senator McCain seriously when he talks about being “out-of-touch”. John McCain takes that expression to new heights. Even Brittany Spears would have voted for higher college tuition benefits for our veterans. Paris Hilton understands that a “gas tax holiday” and offshore drilling are idiotic ideas. While Obama has indeed attained “rock star” status, it does not detract from his judgment (voting against the Iraq war and seeing that Afghanistan and Pakistan are the centers of terrorist activity in the world).
McCain’s own supporters are saying that his comments are ridiculous, and that his negativity may cost him dearly in the fall election. John McCain is the product of Bush, Cheney and Karl Rove politics, and if anything is “out-of-touch” for the American people it is attack dog ads from a tired old man with nothing new to offer.
From Women for Obama:
Dear Friends,
Our next National Women for Obama leadership call will be held on Monday, August 4 at 6:30pm central. As usual, we will be updating you on our recent WFO activities, including Senator Obama’s new Plan to Support Working Women and their Families, unveiled this week at a luncheon in Chicago with Michelle Obama and 800 women. We are thrilled to have Melody Barnes joining us as our special guest speaker on the call. She has just joined the campaign as the Senior Domestic Policy Advisor.
Prior to joining Senator Obama’s policy team, Melody Barnes was the Executive Vice President for Policy at the Center for American Progress where she coordinated and helped to integrate all of the Center’s policy work, from the policy departments, fellows, and the Center's network of outside policy experts. From December 1995 until March 2003, Ms. Barnes served as chief counsel to Senator Edward M. Kennedy on the Senate Judiciary Committee. As Senator Kennedy’s chief counsel, she shaped civil rights, women’s health and reproductive rights, commercial law, and religious liberties laws, as well as executive branch and judicial appointments. Ms. Barnes’ experience also includes an appointment as Director of Legislative Affairs for the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and serving as assistant counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights.
The call will run approximately 30 minutes. You must RSVP to join the call. Please reply to this email by 11:00 am Central on Monday, August 4. We will then forward you the dial-in information.
We look forward to speaking with you on Monday.
Thank you for everything you do,
Becky Carroll
National Women’s Vote Field Director
Visit our website at: women.barackobama.com
Join the National WFO MYBO group by clicking here: http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/WomenforObama
To receive WFO newsletters and updates, email us at: women@barackobama.com
From Randy in CA:
I don't know how you can keep up your optimism. the campaign is just
getting uglier and uglier and i am beginning to get really depressed
about it. mc cain's camp is really doing a number on obama's and i am
beginning to think his negative attacks are beginning to rub off. his
campaign is nothing more than negative attacks and that's because he has
nothing to say about himself.
i'm beginning to withdraw.
From Elizabeth in Mamaroneck:
Sunny, all of these are terrific, but this one is your best ever!!! I really don't know how you keep up the pace of work and he quality of these blogs, but thank you!
love,
Dear Obama Supporters:
Monday night was a highlight for me, I saw Bruce Springsteen perform for three hours uninterrupted with my daughter who got the tickets . I have been going to see The Boss since the 80's and each time I see him it is better than the last time. Each concert is meaningful and he plays his heart out never leaving his fans disappointed...
From True Blue Women:
August 5th
Primary Election
Click Here to Download TBW's Primary Election Guide!
Take our election guide with you to the polls next
Tuesday, August 5th.
Be sure to check our website for election news and upcoming events.
Click here to become a financial supporter of True Blue Women
From Move On and Judy:
MoveOn members in action
In response to the news of John McCain's big influx of oil company cash, MoveOn members posted "For Sale" signs on McCain headquarters in 10 battleground states yesterday. Here are a few photos.
Dear MoveOn member,
Standing before a room of oil company executives in June, John McCain flip-flopped and declared support for coastal oil drilling. Now the Washington Post is reporting that, within days, oil and gas execs ponied up nearly $1 million to elect McCain.1 It's another piece of evidence that in a McCain White House, oil companies will call the shots—just as they have with President Bush.
Yesterday, MoveOn members jumped into action in response to the Post story, placing "For Sale" signs on McCain headquarters in 10 battleground states to call public attention to it.2 At the same time, McCain made our point for us, holding a photo-op yesterday in front of a California oil well and renewing his push for offshore drilling.3
McCain's hoping to use gas prices as a wedge issue to win the election. That's why it's so critical that we keep spreading the message that McCain's been heavily influenced by the oil companies—and so we can't count on him to solve the energy crisis. When people think of Bush, they think "oil," but that's not true of McCain yet—even though his energy policy is almost identical to Bush's and his campaign is literally run by oil lobbyists!4
Here's a video that makes the case, from our friends at Progressive Accountability. Please check it out, then forward it to a few friends, post it on a blog, or stick it on your Facebook page.
Click here to watch the video:
Click here
The energy crisis is shaping up to be a decisive issue in the election. MoveOn's ongoing campaign on the energy crisis has two goals: 1) highlight the progressive solution—a huge plan to shift our economy to clean energy, prevent climate change, and create millions of jobs, and 2) work together to block McCain and the Republicans from pushing gimmicks like drilling to win votes.
Please forward this email to your friends and family to spread the word about John McCain's ties to big oil companies.
Thanks for all you do.
–Noah, Daniel, Tanya, Karin and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "Industry Gushed Money After Reversal on Drilling," Washington Post, July 27, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3985&id=13350-1678364-_PAPA4x&t=3
2. "Activist group protests at McCain headquarters," WHP CBS 21 Harrisburg, July 28, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3986&id=13350-1678364-_PAPA4x&t=4
3. "Offshore Drilling is Something We Have to Do," Time Magazine, July 28, 2008
http://thepage.time.com/2008/07/28/oil/
4. "Oil Money: John McCain's Close Ties to the Petroleum Industry," Campaign Money Watch, July 11, 2008
http://www.campaignmoney.org/mccainoil
Want to support our work? We're entirely funded by our 3.2 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.
From Val in Ohio:
I watched Senator Obama's press conference on the ABC website. He's such an impressive figure and having Hagel and Reed as a backdrop gave me renewed hope for intelligence reentering public policy. I heard Andrea Mitchell complaining about a news "blackout" on a program last night. It didn't surprise me to find her jumping up to ask the first question at the news conference. Her one question turned into multiple inquiries with Obama patiently responding to all of her efforts to "trip him up."
Has Bush's constant reference to how he will listen to General Petraeus left you wondering just who is Commander-In-Chief? Well, Senator Obama addressed that issue by saying General Patraeus has the military as his sole interest whereas the Commander-In-Chief has to balance the interest of the military with the well being of the country as a whole (my words not his). He also spoke of how he would bring India into his diplomatic efforts to quell the unrest with Pakistan. Never hear our current administration pointing out the global aspects of regional conflicts.
I read the concerns mentioned by one of your readers about how many will vote for McSame no matter how much more qualified his opponent presents himself. Guess it's my job to find new voters to neutralize those old codgers.
Michelle Obama is one of the invited speakers at my husband's dental convention this weekend. I'll let you know if she accepts the invitation so I will have a chance to "experience" her wisdom.
From Move on:
Drilling won't help lower gas prices, but that won't stop John McCain and the Republicans from doing everything they can to convince voters they have a quick fix for our energy woes. In our new ad, called "Gimmick," we set the record straight: Offshore drilling is a scam that won't do anything to bring down gas prices.
Can you help counter McCain's ads promoting drilling and attacking Obama by supporting our new ad?
Watch the ad
Dear MoveOn member,
Last month, conservatives led by Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh sent over a million messages to Congress calling for offshore oil drilling. Then John McCain joined the push for drilling. Now he's running ads saying Obama's responsible for high gas prices, because Obama's energy plan focuses on alternative energy—not drilling.
It's a scam. Offshore drilling won't save any money at the pumps for years (although it will boost oil company profits). But some senior Democrats are showing signs of caving under all this pressure—and polls show McCain's attacks may be hurting Obama.
Here's the truth: Right now, progressives are losing this argument. We all need to fight back. If we don't, we could end up losing the election AND the fight for clean energy.
We've got a simple, powerful new ad that tells the truth about the Republicans' drilling scam. Will you check it out, and chip in $100 to help get it on the air right away?
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3996&id=13370-4046455-aHWriXx&t=4
McCain is so focused on drilling because he knows people are anxious enough about energy costs to make this the issue of the 2008 elections. When you're worried about how you're going to afford the drive to work, or how you're going to get your kids to school, and you have no other short-term options—you'll be open to anything that might help. McCain is preying on that anxiety by offering offshore drilling as a quick fix.
Offshore drilling won't fix gas prices or our dependence on foreign oil. There simply isn't enough oil offshore or in the Arctic, and it will take up to a decade to get what little is there. Even then, we would only save 3 or 4 cents a gallon!1
Offshore drilling is a gimmick—but it will be the gimmick that works for John McCain if we don't push back now. Our new ad has a regular-looking guy telling the truth straight into the camera. Isn't that the best thing for people to hear right now?
If you can, contribute to help get the ad up in more cities—so more people see McCain's drilling gimmick for what it is:
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3996&id=13370-4046455-aHWriXx&t=5
Thank you for all you do.
From Nancy in NYC:
I spoke to a few of my friends and we discussed the issues. A lot of them feel the same way about the economic situation. In some way we should address this because many seniors are still old fashioned in their thinking. I don't know how that would work in a fundraiser, but it would help address the sceptics. You are so great. A true inspiration with that blog and your enthusiasm.
From Margot in Hamptons in response to my 10 friends e-mail:
I have gotten more than 10 people involved and on Sue's mailing list. Their organization is very impressive. Between book clubs and bridge, I have an email group of over 10 in NY to get involved - who is the contact in NYC?
From Obama Campaign:
Sunny --
A few hours ago John McCain, the same man who just months ago promised to run a "respectful campaign," said he is "proud" of his latest attack ad.
That's the one attacking your enthusiasm, comparing me to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, and making false claims about my energy plan.
Now, we're facing some serious challenges in this country -- our economy is struggling, energy costs are skyrocketing, and families don't have health care.
Given the seriousness of these issues, you'd think we'd be having a serious debate. But instead, John McCain is running an expensive, negative campaign against us. Each day brings a desperate new set of attacks.
And they're not just attacking me. They're attacking you.
They're mocking the desire of millions of Americans to step up and take ownership of the political process.
They're trying to convince you that your enthusiasm won't amount to anything -- that the people you persuade, the phone calls you make, the donations you give, the doors you knock on are all an illusion. They believe that in this election the same old smears and negative attacks will prevail again.
They're wrong.
And right now, we have a few hours left to prove them wrong in a very concrete way.
Can you make a donation of $500 or more right now before the July fundraising deadline at midnight tonight?
Show the strength of our movement for change.
Thank you,
Barack
From Susan In Mamaroneck:
Is this useful to you at all…Racial profiling issue below?
Friends, whatever it takes, let’s do it. Best, Sally
PS Please pass this on!
Subject: Time for action....
Dear Friends and Family,
I've just returned from a very successful luncheon for Obama here in Washington. He was, as usual, intelligent, dignified, and charismatic all at the same time. The audience consisted mostly of Asian-American-Pacific Islanders and because of nature the audience he spoke mostly about the contribution made by AAPI'ers to our country. He cited their concerns but made it clear that their issues are shared by most Americans except for the problem of racial profiling. Those who introduced him reminded us that we have fewer than 100 days until the election and that every last one of us is needed if we want to be present at the inauguration of Barack Obama in January 2009. This is the most important election of my lifetime -- perhaps yours too -- and if that sounds like hyperbole, think John McCain and the Supreme Court!
Many of you have contributed beyond your means to the campaign, slogged through the snows of Iowa to register voters, done phone banking from home, and lots more. If you think that was enough, don't even consider resting now. You're needed now more than ever.. And if you've watched from the sidelines as events have unfolded and think you're too old, too tired, too busy to be actively involved in this effort, consider the latest poll numbers. The spread between Obama and Mcain is very small. An article in today's WPost talks about the continued dissatisfaction of Clintonites despite all efforts to bring them into the Obama campaign fold. Their defection could be determinative.
The point is that we're all going to have to work our hearts out for the next less-than-hundred days. A small investment of two hours a week might make a big difference. If you're moved to action, here are a few things you might consider doing:
o Send a letter like this to your e-list
o Contribute money yet again to the campaign
o Sign up to do voter registration. In the metropolitan D.C. area there's a big push to register voters in Virginia to boost Obama's voter base AND to help elect Mark Warner to the Senate.
o Volunteer to do phone banking to de termine which issues are most important to voters at this stage
o Write letters to the editor if you see unfair coverage
o Talk to young people and/or newly-registered voters about Obama. Help them see how crucial this election will be.
o Create your own list of things to do and circulate it among your correspondents
Anything which produces one more voter for Obama is a good thing to do!
You're all savvy enough to know how to do any of the above but if you want me to connect you with campaign people so you can get started, just let me know. Get moving!!
From Women for Obama:
Dear Friends,
This week was a special one for Women for Obama. Over 800 women gathered in downtown Chicago on Monday to listen to Michelle Obama talk about the critical role of women in this election, and to help launch Barack’s comprehensive Blueprint for Working Women and Families. She talked about Women for Obama's core principle -- women talking to women all over this country, sharing their stories, telling people about Barack, educating one another on the issues, and talking about the world and our place in it. Senator Obama’s Plan will provide a way for women across the country to start that conversation with their friends who may not yet be familiar with his stance on issues they care about.
Please take a moment to read over Senator Obama’s plan, and share it with everyone you know – men and women! Click here to check it out: http://www.scribd.com/doc/4194155/Barack-Obamas-Plan-to-Support-Working-Women-and-Families
Also, you can check out a video of Michelle’s remarks by clicking here! http://women.barackobama.com/blueprintvideo
Stay tuned for action items, including major voter registration efforts getting underway. To see what voter registration activities are already happening in your state and get plugged in, click here: http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/vfchome
Thank you for all that you are doing to elect Senator Obama. We’re now less than 100 days out – we’re counting on all of you!
Becky Carroll,
National Women’s Vote Field Director
WFO Updates
· Michelle Obama at Women for Obama Luncheon – Video, Photos and More
· Barack Obama’s Blueprint for Women & Families
· Obama Keeps Focus on Women Voters, Building Unity
· Remarks of Sen. Obama in Cedar Rapids, IA on Energy Policy
· Susan Eisenhower Joins Campaign Manager David Plouffe to Launch “Low Road Express” to Push Back Against McCain Tactics
· VIDEO: Women Governors Town Hall in PA – One Coming Soon to a City Near You!
VIDEO: MICHELLE OBAMA SPEAKING IN CHICAGO
Click here to watch Michelle addressing several hundred women at the Chicago luncheon: http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/amandascott/gGxYst
READ MICHELLE’S REMARKS
Remarks of Michelle Obama - As Prepared for Delivery
Women for Obama Luncheon
Monday, July 28, 2008
[Barack] carries our stories – and the stories of women he’s met all across America – with him every day.
And that’s why as President, Barack will change Washington so that instead of just talking about family values; we actually have policies that value families. That’s why today, we’re unveiling what I call the Blueprint – our plan to support working women and families. There’s not enough time today to go through it all, but I encourage you all to read through it and share it with others.
It lays out my husband’s policies that make it easier for working parents to support, care for, and raise their families; policies that encourage healthy families; policies that no longer force working women to choose between their kids and their careers…
To read Michelle’s full remarks, click here: http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/amandascott/gGx9g8
Click here to check out photos of supporters at the Women for Obama luncheon: http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/amandascott/gGxYsy
BARACK OBAMA’S PLAN TO SUPPORT WORKING WOMEN & FAMILIES
Michelle’s Message Introducing the Plan…
For working families trying to balance jobs and kids and maybe even aging parents of their own, the American Dream can feel like it's slipping away.
Over the course of this campaign, I've had the chance to sit down with so many working women across the country. I've talked with mothers struggling to make ends meet because their salaries aren't keeping up with the cost of groceries or the price of gas. I've listened to the moms who are nervous about taking time off to care for a sick child, and the moms-to-be who are scared of getting fired if the boss finds out they're pregnant.
Then there are women who work hard every day doing the same jobs as men, but earning less. And the military families, who struggle to make ends meet with one paycheck where there used to be two. They welcome their loved ones home with full hearts but little support from their government for their service.
These struggles – the struggles of working women and families across America – aren't new to me or to any of us. And they're certainly not new to Barack.
As President, Barack will expand the Family and Medical Leave Act, so that millions of additional Americans will be able to take time off to care for a baby or an elderly parent – or just to have a few hours to attend a school play or a parent-teacher conference or take a child to the doctor. Barack will require employers to provide all their workers with at least seven paid sick days a year, and ensure that women are paid fairly for their hard work.
This agenda is about helping women reclaim their dreams for themselves and their families. It's about giving them a helping hand, not a handout. The subjects here are near to my heart, and they're at the center of this campaign. But the policies will only succeed if they address your needs. So please let us know what you think.
Best,
Michelle Obama
Click here to read the Plan: http://www.scribd.com/doc/4194155/Barack-Obamas-Plan-to-Support-Working-Women-and-Families
OBAMA KEEPS FOCUS ON WOMEN VOTERS
Obama seeks to overcome doubts among women
By Christopher Wills
July 29, 2008
CHICAGO (AP) - After Hillary Rodham Clinton lost the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, one of her delegates wanted to send a message. So Mary Beth Pyle wore a Clinton T-shirt to a unity dinner meant to build support for Barack Obama.
Then she pulled it off to reveal an Obama T-shirt underneath—a symbol of her support for the party's new candidate for president.
"We were there to get over it. We had a sip of wine—goodbye, Hillary—and another sip—hello, Obama," said Pyle, chairwoman of the Democratic Party in Mesa County, Colo.
But many of Clinton's supporters aren't so willing to embrace Obama, at least not yet. Independents and moderate Republican women remain a question mark, too.
So Obama is working fiercely to win their votes.
He has put out a report explaining what his economic plans would mean for women, reinforcing the message with town hall meetings devoted to the subject. He talks frequently about being raised by a single mother, her economic struggles (including a period on food stamps) and her worries about health insurance as she was dying of cancer.
Click her to read more: http://women.barackobama.com/page/community/post/emmalowry/gGx9JP
OBAMA SPEAKS ON ENERGY POLICY IN CEDAR RAPIDS, IA
Remarks of Senator Barack Obama (as prepared for delivery)
Town Hall on Energy
Cedar Rapids, Iowa - Thursday, July 31, 2008
It's great to be back in Cedar Rapids, where we've made so many friends throughout this campaign…. I've seen the flood damage here in Iowa and I've visited communities that have been devastated in my home state of Illinois. Now is the time for America to stand by those who have suffered so much, while helping them get back on their feet…We know that Cedar Rapids needs more than immediate assistance, because the problems that you're facing in your daily lives go beyond this year's storms.
Given the seriousness of the issues, you'd think we could have a serious debate. But so far, even the media has pointed out that Senator McCain has fallen back on predictable political attacks and demonstrably false statements. But here's the problem. All of those negative ads that he's running won't do a thing to lower your gas prices or to lift up the debate in this country. The fact is, these Washington tactics do the American people a disservice by trying to distract us from the very real challenges that we face.
That starts with energy. For decades, Washington has failed the American people on energy, and that failure has led directly to our current crisis. George Bush's approach was to let the oil companies write his energy policy. Now, we can't afford four more years of more of the same. We can't afford to let dictators hold our national security hostage because of our energy dependence. We can't afford to endanger our planet because we can't shake an addiction to oil. And we can't afford more tax breaks for oil companies while they make record profits and you pay $4 for a gallon of gas.
Click here to read the full remarks and see photos from the Cedar Rapids Town Hall: http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/stateupdates/gGxYrp
DAVID PLOUFFE & SUSAN EISENHOWER DISCUSS McCAIN TACTICS; LAUNCH THE “LOW ROAD EXPRESS”
Obama campaign manager: Buckle up
By John McCormick
The Swamp (Chicago Tribune Washington Bureau) - July 31, 2008
Obama campaign manager David Plouffe charged today that Sen. John McCain's Straight Talk Express has taken a "nasty turn into the gutter" with a new ad that features pop stars Britney Spears and Paris Hilton.
"It seems like we hit another low note every day from this campaign," Plouffe said on a conference call with reporters... The conference call was pegged to the release of yet another campaign web site. This one, called "Low Road Express," is sponsored by Obama's campaign and claims a mission of documenting and fact-checking McCain attacks. Plouffe said McCain's campaign is using Republican operative Karl Rove's playbook, but has taken it to a "further extreme." He was joined on the call by Susan Eisenhower, a lifelong Republican and granddaughter of the former president.
"I don't think that these kinds of comments and innuendoes have any place in a presidential campaign of this importance," she said. "I also think that ordinary voters are tired of the kind of swift-boating attempt to bring out the negative side of -- the twisted ways -- that they can create negativity about people."
Click here to read more:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/annebrewer/gGxYqf
VIDEO: GOVERNORS SEBELIUS AND GRANHOLM IN PENNSYLVANIA
Governors Sebelius and Granholm discussed issues at a recent Women’s Economic Townhall in Plymouth Meeting, PA, where five women governors from across the country convened to meet and talk with voters.
Check out the video here: http://women.barackobama.com/page/community/post/amandascott/gGxyGD
Visit our website at: women.barackobama.com http://www.women.barackobama.com/
From Andy Borowitz:
Britney, Paris Air Savage Anti-McCain Ad
Party Gals Slam Mac in Negative Spot
One day after Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz) broadcast an anti-Obama ad in which he compared the presumptive Democratic nominee to celebrities Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, the two tabloid mainstays fought back with an eviscerating anti-McCain spot of their own.
While Mses. Spears and Hilton said they had planned to remain on the sidelines during the 2008 presidential campaign, Sen. McCain's negative ad "left us no choice," the notorious party gals said today.
"We don't mind John McCain going after us if he sticks to the facts," Ms. Spears said at a New York press conference. "But we are sick of the distortions about our record."
Ms. Hilton said that the McCain ad appeared to link herself and Ms. Spears to Sen. Obama, leading the casual viewer to conclude that the three of them had "the same energy policy."
"Nothing could be further from the truth," said Ms. Spears. "Both of us strongly favor off-shore drilling to reduce our dependence on foreign oil."
Ms. Hilton said she was also "offended" by the implication that she and Ms. Spears favor a tax on electricity: "We have both been very clear on that issue."
In their anti-McCain spot, the two starlets fight fire with fire, comparing Sen. McCain to the Joker from the smash-hit film "The Dark Knight."
"It's perfectly fair," Ms. Spears said of the ad. "They both have pasty white faces and totally creepy smiles."
Elsewhere, Chinese Olympic officials confiscated the poles of the pole vaulting team to prevent athletes from going over the wall.
From Kathy in KCMO:
The Britney ad was just plain stupid. All of the Rovian ads this week have been dumb. The McLame campaign is looking more and more desperate every day. I liked Obama's remarks today where he said he doesn't really know what McCain stands for except to attack him. Even McSame's campaign manager from 2000 said these were awful ads and beneath McCain. He doesn't think it can help him to win while projecting such a negative image. Plus it makes a mockery of the "clean campaign that the American people want and deserve"!!!! He and his creepy wife were trumpeting that lie in the last couple of months. Now all of the wheels have come off the Double Talk Express!!!!
From Obama for America:
As we face the fundraising deadline at midnight tonight, I want you to know what we are up against.
Less than 24 hours ago, the McCain campaign launched the latest and lowest in a series of misleading attack ads.
This Karl Rove-style ploy misleads people about Barack's energy plan and even mocks his ability to inspire voters and bring Americans back into the political process.
Watchdogs in the media are calling McCain's accusations "bogus," "desperate," "wrong," "misleading," "ugly," "offensive," "reckless," and "a nasty turn into the gutter."
Some of McCain's own supporters agree. One senior Republican strategist quoted by the Washington Post called the latest ad a "wild swing at Obama" that reflects his campaign's "increasing bitterness" and the lack of "any coherent strategy to elect McCain."
Even John Weaver, a strategist who worked for McCain's presidential campaign in 2000 and on his current campaign last year, called the ad "childish," adding that this negative strategy "diminishes John McCain" and "needs to stop."
But we will not let any attack stand. Barack himself responded quickly and forcefully, and within hours our campaign created a response ad to take their smear tactics head-on.
As one of our most generous supporters, you can help show the McCain campaign that there is a cost to this kind of negative politics. Our records indicate that you have given the maximum amount for the primary and $1,125.00 in the general election, which means you are only $1,175.00 away from reaching the individual contribution limit.
Can you go All-In for Barack with a donation of $1,175.00 and help get our response on the air?
With the election less than 100 days away, media pundits and Washington insiders will be watching our fundraising numbers more closely than ever.
In the face of these new attacks, you can help demonstrate that a movement funded by grassroots supporters giving only what they can afford is ready to take on the Republican fundraising machine and its onslaught of negativity.
Your support will also give this campaign a crucial boost in momentum as we build our organization to compete in all 50 states.
There are only hours left to make an impact in July.
Watch the new ad and make a donation of $1,175.00 before the midnight deadline.
Thanks,
David
David Plouffe
Campaign Manager
From Brave New Films:
1. Watch the video
2. Sign the petition
"What's worse than John McCain's dishonest ad? Finding out he had another, equally dishonest ad ready to air if Obama DID visit the hospital. He just wasn't going to be honest with American voters no matter what happened, and now everybody knows it, even the press he calls his "base." He'll never live it down." -- Kagro X, Daily Kos
Dear sunny,
The traditional press is up in arms over John McCain's latest dishonest ad attacking Barack Obama. MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell called the ad "completely wrong, factually wrong!" The New York Times said it was "a false account of what occurred." And The Washington Post said the ad offered "no evidence" to support McCain's claims.
McCain must disavow this ad and make sure it never airs again. We won't let this race degenerate into ad distortions like the last election; we won't be silent in the face of lies. That's why we created this video entitled When McCain Attacks.
Watch the video and sign the petition.
Help end McCain's campaign of dishonesty. Sign our petition to compel McCain to disavow this ad and yank it from the air. Then send it to all your friends, family members, and colleagues. Tell them to spread it to everyone they know, and Digg it!
Hurry, because we're already seeing McCain's lies insidiously spread by other news outlets. Join us in declaring that we've had enough lies and dishonesty, we're ready for a new kind of politics.
Yours,
Robert Greenwald
and the Brave New team
From Nancy in NYC and Judy in Westchester: An article about treating animals humanely that was pointed out to me because of our family's devotion to animals, and Brad's work on this Propositon 2 coming up for a vote in CA, that we hope our like minded caring friends and family will support! Please pass this on to anyone you know in CA !
July 31, 2008
Op-Ed Columnist
A Farm Boy Reflects
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
YAMHILL, Ore.
In a world in which animal rights are gaining ground, barbecue season should make me feel guilty. My hunch is that in a century or two, our descendants will look back on our factory farms with uncomprehending revulsion. But in the meantime, I love a good burger.
This comes up because the most important election this November that you’ve never heard of is a referendum on animal rights in California, the vanguard state for social movements. Proposition 2 would ban factory farms from raising chickens, calves or hogs in small pens or cages.
Livestock rights are already enshrined in the law in Florida, Arizona, Colorado and here in Oregon, but California’s referendum would go further and would be a major gain for the animal rights movement. And it’s part of a broader trend. Burger King announced last year that it would give preference to suppliers that treat animals better, and when a hamburger empire expostulates tenderly about the living conditions of cattle, you know public attitudes are changing.
Harvard Law School now offers a course on animal rights. Spain’s Parliament has taken a first step in granting rights to apes, and Austrian activists are campaigning to have a chimpanzee declared a person. Among philosophers, a sophisticated literature of animals rights has emerged.
I’m a farm boy who grew up here in the hills outside Yamhill, Ore., raising sheep for my F.F.A. and 4-H projects. At various times, my family also raised modest numbers of pigs, cattle, goats, chickens and geese, although they were never tightly confined.
Our cattle, sheep, chickens and goats certainly had individual personalities, but not such interesting ones that it bothered me that they might end up in a stew. Pigs were more troubling because of their unforgettable characters and obvious intelligence. To this day, when tucking into a pork chop, I always feel as if it is my intellectual equal.
Then there were the geese, the most admirable creatures I’ve ever met. We raised Chinese white geese, a common breed, and they have distinctive personalities. They mate for life and adhere to family values that would shame most of those who dine on them.
While one of our geese was sitting on her eggs, her gander would go out foraging for food — and if he found some delicacy, he would rush back to give it to his mate. Sometimes I would offer males a dish of corn to fatten them up — but it was impossible, for they would take it all home to their true loves.
Once a month or so, we would slaughter the geese. When I was 10 years old, my job was to lock the geese in the barn and then rush and grab one. Then I would take it out and hold it by its wings on the chopping block while my Dad or someone else swung the ax.
The 150 geese knew that something dreadful was happening and would cower in a far corner of the barn, and run away in terror as I approached. Then I would grab one and carry it away as it screeched and struggled in my arms.
Very often, one goose would bravely step away from the panicked flock and walk tremulously toward me. It would be the mate of the one I had caught, male or female, and it would step right up to me, protesting pitifully. It would be frightened out of its wits, but still determined to stand with and comfort its lover.
We eventually grew so impressed with our geese — they had virtually become family friends — that we gave the remaining ones to a local park. (Unfortunately, some entrepreneurial thief took advantage of their friendliness by kidnapping them all — just before the next Thanksgiving.)
So, yes, I eat meat (even, hesitantly, goose). But I draw the line at animals being raised in cruel conditions. The law punishes teenage boys who tie up and abuse a stray cat. So why allow industrialists to run factory farms that keep pigs almost all their lives in tiny pens that are barely bigger than they are?(Read the rest on lineClick here: Op-Ed Columnist - A Farm Boy Reflects on Animal Rights - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com)
From Judy in Mamaroneck:
August 1, 2008
Op-Ed Columnist
Can This Planet Be Saved?
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Recently the Web site The Politico asked Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House, why she was blocking attempts to tack offshore drilling amendments onto appropriations bills. “I’m trying to save the planet; I’m trying to save the planet,” she replied.
I’m glad to hear it. But I’m still worried about the planet’s prospects.
True, Ms. Pelosi’s remark was a happy reminder that environmental policy is no longer in the hands of crazy people. Remember, less than two years ago Senator James Inhofe — a conspiracy theorist who insists that global warming is a “gigantic hoax” perpetrated by the scientific community — was the chairman of the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee.
Beyond that, Ms. Pelosi’s response shows that she understands the deeper issues behind the current energy debate.
Most criticism of John McCain’s decision to follow the Bush administration’s lead and embrace offshore drilling as the answer to high gas prices has focused on the accusation that it’s junk economics — which it is.
A McCain campaign ad says that gas prices are high right now because “some in Washington are still saying no to drilling in America.” That’s just plain dishonest: the U.S. government’s own Energy Information Administration says that removing restrictions on offshore drilling wouldn’t lead to any additional domestic oil production until 2017, and that even at its peak the extra production would have an “insignificant” impact on oil prices.
What’s even more important than Mr. McCain’s bad economics, however, is what his reversal on this issue — he was against offshore drilling before he was for it — says about his priorities.
Back when he was cultivating a maverick image, Mr. McCain portrayed himself as more environmentally aware than the rest of his party. He even co-sponsored a bill calling for a cap-and-trade system to limit greenhouse gas emissions (although his remarks on several recent occasions suggest that he doesn’t understand his own proposal). But the lure of a bit of political gain, it turns out, was all it took to transform him back into a standard drill-and-burn Republican.
And the planet can’t afford that kind of cynicism.
In themselves, limits on offshore drilling are only a modest-sized issue. But the skirmish over drilling is the opening stage of a much bigger fight over environmental policy. What’s at stake in that fight, above all, is the question of whether we’ll take action against climate change before it’s utterly too late.
It’s true that scientists don’t know exactly how much world temperatures will rise if we persist with business as usual. But that uncertainty is actually what makes action so urgent. While there’s a chance that we’ll act against global warming only to find that the danger was overstated, there’s also a chance that we’ll fail to act only to find that the results of inaction were catastrophic. Which risk would you rather run?...(Read rest on line,Click here: Op-Ed Columnist - Can This Planet Be Saved? - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com )
#2 From Judy:
July 31, 2008
McCain Tries to Define Obama as Out of Touch
By JIM RUTENBERG
WASHINGTON — After spending much of the summer searching for an effective line of attack against Senator Barack Obama, Senator John McCain is beginning a newly aggressive campaign to define Mr. Obama as arrogant, out of touch and unprepared for the presidency.
On Wednesday alone, the McCain campaign released a new advertisement suggesting — and not in a good way — that Mr. Obama was a celebrity along the lines of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. Republicans tried to portray Mr. Obama as a candidate who believed the race was all about him, relying on what Democrats said was a completely inaccurate quotation.
The Republican National Committee began an anti-Obama Web site called “Audacity Watch,” a play on the title of Mr. Obama’s book “The Audacity of Hope.” And, in a concerted volley of television interviews, news releases and e-mail, campaign representatives attacked him on a wide range of issues, including tax policies and energy proposals.
The moves are the McCain campaign’s most full-throttled effort to define Mr. Obama negatively, on its own terms, by creating a narrative intended to turn the public off to an opponent.
Although Mr. Obama has been under an intense public spotlight for the last year, he is still relatively new on the national scene, and polls indicate that for all the enthusiasm he has generated among his supporters, many voters still have questions about him, providing Republicans an opening to shape his image in critical groups like white working-class voters between now and Election Day.
Mr. McCain’s campaign is now under the leadership of members of President Bush’s re-election campaign, including Steve Schmidt, the czar of the Bush war room that relentlessly painted his opponent, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, as effete, elite, and equivocal through a daily blitz of sound bites and Web videos that were carefully coordinated with Mr. Bush’s television advertisements.
The run of attacks against Mr. Obama over the last couple of weeks have been strikingly reminiscent of that drive, including the Bush team’s tactics of seeking to make campaigns referendums on its opponents — not a choice between two candidates — and attacking the opponent’s perceived strengths head-on. Central to the latest McCain drive is an attempt to use against Mr. Obama the huge crowds and excitement he has drawn, including on his foreign trip last week, by promoting a view of him as more interested in attention and adulation than in solving the problems facing American families...(Read rest on line:Click here: McCain Tries to Define Obama as Out of Touch - NYTimes.com )
From Charlie in Larchmont:
This looks like the thing for you...
http://www.prankplace.com/obamakey.htm?KBID=3644&sub=july29
From Gwynneth in White Plains:
Fw: humor: political
>Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:27:16 -0500
>
>
>One sunny day in 2009, an old man approached the White House from
>>>>across Pennsylvania Avenue , where he'd been sitting on a park bench.
>>>>
>>>> He spoke to the U.S. Marine standing guard and said, "I would like
>>>>to go in and meet with President Bush."
>>>>
>>>> The Marine looked at the man and said, "Sir, Mr. Bush is no longer
>>>>president and no longer resides here."
>>>>
>>>> The old man said, "Okay" and walked away.
>>>>
>>>> The following day, the same man approached the White House and
>>>>said to the same Marine, "I would like to go in and meet with
>>>>President Bush."
>>>>
>>>> The Marine again told the man, "Sir, as I said yesterday, Mr. Bush
>>>>is no longer president and no longer resides here."
>>>>
>>>> The man thanked him and, again, just walked away.
>>>>
>>>> The third day, the same man approached the White House and spoke
>>>>to the very same U. S. Marine, saying "I would like to go in and meet
>>>>with President Bush."
>>>>
>>>> The Marine, understandably agitated at this point, looked at the
>>>>man and said, "Sir, this is the third day in a row you have been
>>>>here asking to speak to Mr. Bush. I've told you already that Mr.
>>>>Bush is no longer the president and no longer resides here. Don't
>>>>you understand?"
>>>>
>>>> The old man looked at the Marine and said, "Oh, I understand. I
>>>>just love hearing it."
>>>>
>>>> The Marine snapped to attention, saluted, and said, "See you
>>>>tomorrow."
>>>>
>>>>
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