McCain contradicts himself

McCain contradicts himself

By Mark Mellman

Posted: 09/09/08 06:02 PM [ET]

John McCain offers America a welter of contradictions in both character and policy — contradictions so profound they call into question the fundamental premises of his campaign. McCain’s brash display of those contradictions suggests at best a total absence of self-awareness and at worst an even more dangerous condition. For example, what does it mean for John McCain to tell us he wants to end the “rancor” in Washington while presiding over a convention now infamous for its rancor? No one watching that convention in full possession of their faculties could have listened to the personal invective heaped upon vituperative attack, layered with scurrilous lies, leaned back and said, “There is a guy who will end the rancor in Washington and extend the hand of cooperation across the aisle.” More fundamental is the contradiction between a man who self-righteously expresses his desire to reform Washington by kicking out lobbyists and limiting special interest influence, but who has been deeply enmeshed in that system from his days as a member of the Keating Five until today, employing the very lobbyists he decries to run his campaign. McCain revels in telling Americans he has “never done any favors for anybody — lobbyist or special interest group,” an assertion as bold as it is absurd. When Charles Keating, a savings and loan magnate who used government-insured accounts to make risky real estate investments that eventually cost taxpayers nearly $3.5 billion, asked McCain to intercede with regulators, introduce legislation to benefit him and secure the nomination of a Keating associate to a regulatory board, McCain readily complied. More recently, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission publicly rebuked McCain for attempting to interfere with commission decisions on behalf of a lobbyist. McCain backed some $16 billion in tax breaks for big oil companies as they rack up record profits. Was that the national interest speaking to him, or were the million dollars in contributions from oil executives doing the talking? Perhaps most appalling is the contradiction between McCain’s call for change and his embrace of George Bush’s policies on the core issues of Iraq and the economy. Yes, there have been times when McCain visibly clashed with his own party, but on most of those issues — immigration and tax policy, for example — he has publicly recanted, begging to be readmitted to the band of loyal followers. For McCain to suggest he is an agent of change on Iraq policy is positively Orwellian. An early cheerleader for Bush’s war who has never, for even a second, entertained the possibility that it was a mistake, McCain wants to keep sending our soldiers and spending our tax dollars there, indefinitely. Of course, he wants the situation on the ground to improve (so does George Bush), but John McCain supports a long-term, even permanent, U.S. military presence in Iraq. That is not change. Throughout Bush’s second term, McCain has also steadfastly supported every single plank of Bush’s economic policy. Tax breaks for Big Oil and the wealthiest individuals — he is for them. An increase in the minimum wage — he is against it. Healthcare? McCain put forward George Bush’s healthcare plan as his own — a plan that would end the tax deduction for employer-paid health insurance, leaving millions uninsured with a $5,000 tax credit to pay for a $12,000 insurance policy. McCain lauds Sarah Palin for “taking on oil companies.” What did she do? Palin instituted a windfall profits tax, distributing the proceeds to taxpayers. But McCain explicitly rejects the very economic policy for which he lionizes Palin. McCain’s contradictions would tear a lesser man apart, but should give the rest of us great pause. Mellman is president of The Mellman Group and has worked for Democratic candidates and causes since 1982, including Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) in 2004.

What Economy ARE You Talking About, John McCain?

McCain says the economy is fundamentally sound. Alan Greenspan, a Republican, says today that this is the worst he's seen in HIS career, and that the economy is in a once-in-a-hundred-year financial crisis. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080914/bs_afp/useconomygreenspan_080914181841

Is John McCain really that detached from reality? Ya THINK?!

Candidates on Wall Street Turmoil

By Jeff Zeleny

Senators John McCain and Barack Obama on the campaign trail Monday. (Photo: John Raoux/Associated Press; Emmanuel Dunand/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images)

Updated: GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Hours after Senator John McCain said “the fundamentals of our economy are strong,” Senator Barack Obama seized upon the remark on Monday and offered a blistering critique of the Republican Party’s stewardship of the economy as the Wall Street turmoil created ripples in the presidential campaign.

“We just woke up to news of financial disaster and this morning and he said that the fundamentals of the economy are still strong?” Mr. Obama told voters at an afternoon rally here. “Senator McCain, what economy are you talking about?”

As he campaigned in Florida on Monday, Mr. McCain cautioned against panic as the stock market fell, Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy protection and Merrill Lynch was abruptly acquired. He acknowledged “tremendous turmoil in our financial markets” but said taxpayers should not be forced to pay for a government bailout.

“People are frightened by these events,” Mr. McCain said at a rally in Jacksonville. “Our economy, I think still, the fundamentals of our economy are strong. But these are very, very difficult times.”

Mr. Obama’s campaign pounced on the remarks, pointing to them as the latest evidence that Mr. McCain did not appreciate the severity of the crisis.

“I could walk from here to Lansing and I wouldn’t run into a single person who thought our economy was doing well, unless I ran into John McCain,” Mr. Obama’s running mate, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., said during a campaign stop in St. Clair Shores, Mich.

At Mr. McCain’s next campaign stop in Orlando, he opened a town meeting by clarifying what he meant when he said the fundamentals of the economy are strong, saying he was referring to workers and small business owners.

“My opponents may disagree, but those fundamentals – the American worker, the innovation, the entrepreneurship, the small business – are the fundamentals of America and I think they are strong,” Mr. McCain said. “But today, are being threatened today – those fundamentals are being threatened today because of the greed by some based in Wall Street and we have got to fix it.”

With 50 days remaining before Election Day, the disturbance in the nation’s financial markets shaped the debate, and the points of disagreement, between the two presidential candidates as they campaigned in different regions of the country.

Mr. Obama, who began a three-day Western campaign swing on Monday, was already intending to focus on the economy. But the news of Wall Street – and Mr. McCain’s remarks in Florida – added a fresh measure of intensity to a speech here in Grand Junction.

Mr. Obama characterized the situation on Wall Street as “the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression,” blaming the policies employed during the last eight years of a Republican-controlled White House for the upheaval.

“I certainly don’t fault Senator McCain for these problems, but I do fault the economic philosophy he subscribes to,” Mr. Obama told several hundred people who gathered for an outdoor rally on the Western Slope of the Rocky Mountains. “It’s a philosophy we’ve had for the last eight years – one that says we should give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else.”

He added, “This country can’t afford another four years of this failed philosophy.”

While both presidential contenders released statements, advertisements and comments about the financial downturn on Wall Street, neither offered immediate solutions or new proposals.

“The challenges facing our financial system today are more evidence that too many folks in Washington and on Wall Street weren’t minding the store,” Mr. Obama said. “Eight years of policies that have shredded consumer protections, loosened oversight and regulation, and encouraged outsized bonuses to C.E.O.’s while ignoring middle-class Americans have brought us to the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression.”

The McCain-Palin campaign released a television commercial earlier Monday, titled “Crisis” that focused on the troubled economy, citing foreclosures and job losses. It also repeated the candidate’s pronouncement that there would be no “special interest giveaways,” were the Republicans elected, as the site of Lehman Brothers in downtown Manhattan flashed upon the screen. In the advertisement, he promised to shore up protections for voters’ savings.

Bill Burton, a spokesman for the Obama campaign, responded to the advertisement in a statement: “John McCain has been in Washington for twenty-six years and hasn’t lifted a finger to reform the regulations that could’ve prevented this crisis. In fact, his campaign is run by some of the very same lobbyists who fought against these regulations and worked to put special interest giveaways in our federal budget. Now he’s proposing $200 billion in tax breaks for the biggest corporations in America but not one penny of relief to more than 100 million Americans who are worried about their life savings and their ability to make their mortgage payments.”

While the Obama campaign sought to keep the conversation trained on the economy, Mr. Obama also unveiled a new television commercial called “Honor” that is intended to challenge his Republican rival’s credibility by pointing a series of editorials that have scolded Mr. McCain for recent statements and charges made against Mr. Obama.

“What happened to John McCain?” an announcer says at the beginning of the commercial. “It seems deception is all he’s got left.”

Tucker Bounds, a spokesman for Mr. McCain, said the advertisement was inappropriate “as Americans face economic uncertainty.”

“This latest ad by Barack Obama is a desperate effort to move away from talking about his thin, but alarming record on the issues,” Mr. Bounds said, “and it isn’t going to reform Washington or strengthen our economy.”

Deception and Lies as John McCain's Main Weapons

John McCain's Idea of a Clean Campaign

Received by email.

Swiftboating 2.0 -- Spread the word and stop the smears <http://mediamattersaction.org/swiftboating/?src=swift-2>

Dear Friend,

Swiftboating 2.0 <http://mediamattersaction.org/swiftboating/?src=swift-3>

<http://mediamattersaction.org/swiftboating/?src=swift-4>

The thematic structure of the right-wing smear campaign against Sen. Barack Obama <http://mediamattersaction.org/swiftboating/?src=swift-5>

I'm sure you've heard some of the many lies about Sen. Barack Obama that have been circulating over the last year or so, both online and in the mainstream media. The truth is that Obama is a Christian, not a Muslim; he was born in the United States; he doesn't refuse to recite the Pledge of Allegiance; he wasn't endorsed by Fidel Castro; the list goes on and on. While many of the attacks on Obama are outright lies, other attacks are outrageous distortions with just a kernel of truth at their core.

Many of these right-wing attacks have been spread in emails and reported in the echo chamber that is the mainstream media. While they may seem disconnected, the truth is that these attacks work together, like separate voices combining to form a chorus of fear and resentment. The claims that Obama is a Muslim or somehow foreign; that he represents a black radicalism more at home in the 1960s than today; and that he is a liberal elitist with a radical, even socialist agenda work to reinforce an overarching narrative that Obama is alien and threatening -- that he is "not one of us."

Click here to see how the right-wing narrative is being tailored to make you think Obama is "not one of us." <http://mediamattersaction.org/swiftboating/?src=swift-6>

We saw what happened when the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth unleashed their dossier of lies about Sen. John Kerry in 2004 -- lies that were repeated ad nauseam in the media. We call the 2008 version "Swiftboating 2.0" not only because it is the latest model of a political smear campaign, but also because it shares features of "Web 2.0" sites like Facebook and MySpace, where significant portions of the content are generated by ordinary people and are spread from peer to peer

You can fight back using the same channels of information. Share our graphic illustrating the smears about Obama on Facebook, post it on your MySpace page, talk to your friends and family about the information contained at mediamattersaction.org/swiftboating <http://mediamattersaction.org/swiftboating/?src=swift-7> to fight the lies. When you see or hear media figures repeating these smears, call or send them an email to let them know you're watching and that they got it wrong.

You can start right now by forwarding this email to your friends and family. The only way to keep this round of Swiftboating from succeeding is for everyone who knows the truth to stand up for media accountability and stop the smears.

<http://mediamattersaction.org/swiftboating/email?src=swift-8>

<http://mediamattersaction.org/static/img/waldman_signature.jpg>

Paul Waldman

Senior Fellow

Media Matters Action Network

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking here <http://mediamattersaction.org/users/unsubscribe?u=60fde5e4eec3be6475fde5a3528a7439>

Media Matters Action Network is a partner project of Media Matters for America.

© 2008 Media Matters Action Network

1625 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Suite 300, Washington, D.C. 20036

John McCain: Her Story

McCain/Palin - NO CHANGE FROM GEORGE BUSH

Campaigns Voice Support for Rescue of Fannie and Freddie

• E-MAIL
• PRINT
• REPRINTS
• SAVE
• SHARE

By ELISABETH BUMILLER and JEFF ZELENY

Published: September 6, 2008

ALBUQUERQUE — Both presidential campaigns expressed support on Saturday for the planned government takeover of Fannie Mae andFreddie Mac as a necessary step to protect homeowners from further distress.

The Caucus

The latest political news from around the nation.Join the discussion.

• Election Guide | More Politics News

Senator Barack Obama, in comments to reporters in Terre Haute, Ind., said that although he supported the concept of a takeover, he would withhold final judgment until the Treasury Department released a detailed outline of the plan.

“Any action we take has to be focused not on the whims of lobbyists and special interests worried about their hourly fees,” said Mr. Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, “but on whether it’s going to strengthen our economy, whether it’s going to help strengthen the housing market and help struggling homeowners who are also being hit by lost jobs and stagnant wages.”

Senator John McCain, the Republican nominee for president, said at a rally in Albuquerque that “we need to keep people in their homes, but we can’t allow this to turn into a bailout of Wall Street speculators.”

His chief economic adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, said in a telephone interview that Mr. McCain saw the takeover as distasteful but essential. “You’ve got to do what they’re doing today,” Mr. Holtz-Eakin said. “You make every effort to insulate the mortgage and financial markets from financial distress so there’s no further harm to homeowners and businesses in general.”

Mr. McCain’s running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin, went further and called for the mortgage giants to be scaled back.

“They’ve gotten too big and too expensive to taxpayers,” Ms. Palin said in Colorado Springs. “The McCain-Palin administration will make them smaller and smarter and more effective for homeowners who need help.”

Ms. Palin’s statement, among her first on domestic policy, reflects longtime Republican criticism of the management and size of the companies, which own or back $5.3 trillion in mortgages. But Democrats have countered that scaling back the companies in the midst of a housing crisis would make mortgages more difficult to obtain.

Mr. Obama said he had a “lengthy conversation” late Friday with Treasury SecretaryHenry M. Paulson Jr. but declined to discuss details.

“There is no doubt that what was taking place in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was in many instances irresponsible — it may have been illegal,” Mr. Obama said.

Elisabeth Bumiller reported from Albuquerque, and Jeff Zeleny from Terre Haute, Ind.

What Conservatives Ignored

ELECTION '08

What Conservatives Ignored

With Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) pick of Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) as his vice presidential running mate, excitement and anticipation were running high for the Republican National Convention, which wrapped up yesterday. Hurricane Gustav stormed into the Gulf Coast, however, disrupting the GOP's plans. The McCain campaign tried to act aggressively and decisively, sending McCain and Palin to Missisippi for a hurricane briefing. All of this action was supposed to show that the policies in a McCain administration would be different than those of the Bush administration. But what was most evident during the convention was how similar the two men's policies were. Superficially, convention organizers tried to put distance between the two men. According to an analysis by The Progress Report, Bush's name was mentioned just once during the entire convention; Cheney was never mentioned. But substantively, no new ideas or solutions for the country's current problems were put forth. Even on national security, which was a prominent topic, conservatives refused to engage in any introspection. They referenced Guantanamo Bay once, Osama bin Laden once, and never uttered Afghanistan or the name of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

THE ECONOMY: The American public views the struggling economy as the most important issue facing the country. But as AFP observed, "The economy may be the number one issue in the White House race, but the Republican National Convention has yet to dwell on the troubles of Americans trying to make ends meet." On Wednesday, CNBC said its reporters were "darned to find much at all" about the economy in the convention speeches. In fact, housing was mentioned just once and the term "middle-class" was used only twice. Rep. Adam Putnam (R-FL) claimed that Palin explained McCain's "economic message" in her address, but when CNBC asked him "in your words, what is that economic message," Putnam couldn't put forward any specifics. McCain did mention the economy several times in his acceptance speech last night, declaring, "I know some of you have been left behind in the changing economy and it often seems your government hasn't even noticed. ... That's going to change on my watch." However, his prescriptions would continue Bushonomics. McCain has repeatedly expressed pride in Bush's failed economic policies. In April, he told Bloomberg TV, "You could make an argument that there's been great progress economically" during the Bush administration. During a January primary debate, McCain claimed that Americans "overall are better off" than they were eight years ago.

HEALTH CARE: At a town hall event last month, McCain declared, "There is a health care crisis in America. We would be, if it were not for the energy crisis, we'd be talking a lot more about health care issues." But despite skyrocketing health care costs and millions of uninsured and underinsured Americans, nearly every prominent speaker at the Republican National Convention ignored this crisis. Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK), Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR), Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R-NY), and Sen. Fred Thompson (R-TN) never addressed health care. Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA) only discussed "health insurance" in passing. On Tuesday, Huckabee, a long-time advocate of wellness and fitness, "said his health care remarks were cut for time restrictions." McCain devoted just one sentence to the topic, giving no specifics: "My health care plan will make it easier for more Americans to find and keep good health care insurance." But McCain believes that Americans would be better off finding health care on their own, in the private market. As Center for American Progress Action Fund Senior Fellow Elizabeth Edwards has noted, this system would bar more Americans from receiving coverage. "A recent study showed that nearly nine out of every ten people seeking individual coverage on the private insurance market never got it," wrote Edwards. "People who have had cancer are denied coverage and those who get cancer run the risk of simply being dropped by their insurer for any excuse that can be found."

GLOBAL WARMING: Hurricane Gustav threatened to overtake coverage of the GOP convention. Recognizing the potential destruction and severity of the crisis, the McCain campaign made sure to address the crisis by changing the theme of the first day to "service." However, after that first day, the hurricane was rarely mentioned again. Republicans never said "Katrina" and the word "hurricane" was actually used only seven times in convention speeches. Republicans also ignored the obvious link between global warming and the increasing intensity of storms: the terms "global warming" and "climate change" were each mentioned just once. A new study published in the journal Nature this week found that "the strongest of hurricanes and typhoons have become even stronger over the past two and a half decades." James Elsner, a professor of geography at Florida State University and lead author of the paper, said that the findings indicated "a climate signal." Despite McCain's claims that he believes global warming is real, the GOP platform -- which McCain has promised to run on -- is loaded with caveats about the uncertainty of science and the need to 'resist no-growth radicalism' in taking on climate change." Palin has said she doesn't believe that global warming is man-made, a position with which the majority of the American public disagrees.

ADMINISTRATION -- WOODWARD BOOK SAYS BUSH SPIED ON IRAQI PRIME MINISTER: According to a new book by investigative journalist Bob Woodward, "The Bush administration has conducted an extensive spying operation on [Iraqi] Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, his staff and others in the Iraqi government." "We know everything he says," explained one of the sources in "The War Within: A Secret White House History, 2006-2008," which is scheduled to be released on Monday. In the book, Woodward also "portrays an administration riven by dissension, either unwilling or slow to confront the deterioration of its strategy in Iraq during the summer and early fall of 2006." He reports on the "discord" between Bush and Gen. George Casey, then-commander of forces in Iraq, and says that in October 2006, "Bush asked his national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, to carry out a review of the Iraq war," which "was kept secret for fear of jeopardising the Republican party's popularity in the mid-term congressional elections." Woodward also claims that "groundbreaking surveillance techniques -- and not the much-trumpeted surge by 30,000 additional troops -- were the main reason for the reduction in violence in Iraq during the past 16 months." MILITARY -- SOLDIER SUICIDE RATE MAY SET RECORD AGAIN: Yesterday, Army officials said that soldiers suicides this year "could surpass the record rate of last year." There were 62 confirmed suicides among active duty soldiers and Guard and Reserve troops as of the end of last month, with another 31 suspected to be suicides but still under investigation. If those 31 are confirmed, "the number for 2008 could eclipse the 115 last year -- and the rate per 100,000 could surpass that of the civilian population." In April, CBS News reported that the Department of Veterans Affairs deliberately withheld information about the suicide risk among veterans. One internal department e-mail about the subject began with, "Shh!" and wondered how to control the alarming statistics "before someone stumbles on it." Days after attacking CBS for supposedly inflating the numbers of veteran suicides, the VA's head of Mental Health sent an internal e-mail admitting the rate of suicides "is supported by CBS numbers." A recent survey found that "about 12% of combat troops in Iraq and 17% of those in Afghanistan are taking prescription antidepressants or sleeping pills to help them cope." RADICAL RIGHT -- GINGRICH CLAIMS U.S. HAS MORE OIL AND GAS SUPPLIES THAN VENEZUELA OR SAUDI ARABIA: During an appearance on the Tavis Smiley show earlier this week, former House speaker Newt Gingrich -- stumping for his "Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less" campaign funded by right-wing billionaires to sell the Big Oil agenda -- claimed that "if you used America's energy resources and you didn't have to buy oil from Venezuela or Saudi Arabia it'd be a lot less expensive." Yet what Gingrich didn't mention is that the United States has only 2 percent of the world's oil and gas reserves but uses 24 percent of production. This isn't the first time Gingrich has showed his ignorance on energy issues. He has previously said that inflating car tires properly in order to save energy is "loony tunes" even though both the Department of Energy and the auto industry advocate such practices. A few days later he made the astonishing claim that inflating your tires somehow enriches Big Oil's profits.

The U.S. unemployment rate rose to a five-year high of 6.1 percent in August, "heightening the risk that the economic slowdown will worsen." "Payrolls fell by 84,000 in August, and revisions added another 58,000 to job losses for the prior two months," while "the number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits jumped by 15,000 last week."

Pentagon leaders have "recommended to President Bush that the United States make no further troop reductions in Iraq this year." The plan "calls for extending a pause in drawdowns until late January or early February" when up to 7,500 troops will be redeployed to Afghanistan.

In August, high energy and food prices led consumers to shop at retail stores in high numbers, "leaving department stores and other sectors struggling." "Demand for necessities helped chains such as retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. perform above expectations."

Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) "has earned more than $75,000 in rental income from a villa he has owned in the Dominican Republic since 1988, but never reported it on his federal or state tax returns." Rangel will "most likely file amendments to his tax returns for the years in question," pay back taxes in New York City and state but "will probably have no federal tax liability."

"Aid to poor nations has slumped even as higher food and energy prices and slowing global economic growth have made such assistance more urgent," the UN reported. Aid dropped 8.4 percent last year, and though the Group of 8 nations in 2005 pledged $25 billion to Africa by 2010, "just $4 billion has actually been delivered."

And finally: MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell was almost buried by balloons on the floor of the RNC last night. Host Keith Olbermann advised her to "flee," and ended her segment saying she had been "reporting from the political equivalent of a Chuck E. Cheese, apparently."

Springtime for Hitler - "The Producers" 1968

With some temporal, costume and minor political and economic changes, we could adapt this to 2008 America. McCain would look great in a basic black and lederhosen, and Sarah Palin would make a great Eva Braun, no? We could give her natural sexy librarian porno-star look a little makeover to reflect her Aryan roots and her evident goal of repopulating America: perhaps some long blond braided locks would do nicely for her. What do you think?

Randy Shiner

Iranian U.S. Expert Praises Obama and Democrats, Describes McCain as 'Absentminded' and Palin as 'Inexperienced'

In TV Interview, Iranian U.S. Expert Praises Obama and Democrats, Describes McCain as 'Absentminded' and Palin as 'Inexperienced'


Following are excerpts from an interview with Iranian political science professor and expert on U.S. affairs Mohammad-Ali Fardanesh of Shahid Behshti University. The interview aired on IRIB/Jaam-E Jam 2 TV on September 2, 2008.

To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1843.htm.

Americans "Don't Understand That [Obama's] Education Would Enable Him to Serve Them Better"

Mohammad-Ali Fardanesh: "The difference between Mr. McCain and Mr. Bush is that McCain steps harder on the gas, but he is driving down the same path, and so there is no difference between them.

[...]

"The problem with Mr. Obama is his education. He is a Harvard graduate. The Americans cannot accept him because they consider him an elitist – someone who thinks he is above others, because he is better educated. They don't understand that his education would enable him to serve them better."

Interviewer: "So they will have more money..."

Mohammad-Ali Fardanesh: "This would improve the situation in America in general. The flaw they see in Mr. Obama – which they don't admit – is that he is highly educated and very eloquent. What does he speak so eloquently for?! Mr. McCain, who considers himself such an expert in international politics, still says 'Czechoslovakia.'"

Interviewer: "He doesn't know that Czechoslovakia was divided?"


McCain "Doesn't Know Anything, Poor Thing"

Mohammad-Ali Fardanesh: "He doesn't know anything, poor thing. He is terrible. Let me tell you, he's awful. He doesn't know the difference between Shiites and Sunnis, yet he wants to resolve the problems in Iraq? He doesn't know whether Iran is Shiite or Sunni, or the difference between the two."

[...]

Interviewer: "Many experts believe that the crises in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine are the Achilles' heel of America. Therefore, we should ask whether there is any difference between the Democratic and Republican parties with regard to the issue of Iraq. Is there any difference between them?"


"Biden... Is Respectable and Healthy"

Mohammad-Ali Fardanesh: "Yes. Mr. Obama's perspective is more clear. Only yesterday, they transferred control of the Al-Anbar province to the Iraqi government, on the first day of Ramadhan. This is something Mr. Obama has been saying. Mr. Obama has said several times: 'Al-Qaeda operates in 80 countries, but we got ourselves entangled in Iraq. Our presence in Iraq is what led Al-Qaeda to begin operating there.' That's why Mr. Obama and his team...

"Mr. Biden is a very respectable man. He has a good reputation, and he is respectable and healthy. He has been in the Senate for 36 years, since he was 29. They are more knowledgeable in foreign affairs. True, Obama has no experience, but McCain not only has no experience, but doesn't even know where 'abroad' is. The poor guy is very absentminded."

Interviewer: "McCain has declared that if he is elected, American forces will stay in Iraq 100 years. Based on this, can we draw any conclusion about which party is more likely to win?"

Mohammad-Ali Fardanesh: "My problem is that McCain is a war hero, a veteran pilot, whose plane crashed in Vietnam and who spent eight and a half years at war. He is a respectable, humane, honest, and patriotic man, but when it comes to foreign policy and domestic affairs, he has nothing to offer."

[...]

Interviewer: "Is the fact that [Palin] is a woman likely to appeal to women, and to arouse feminist sentiment in American society?"


Ms. Clinton "Is One of the Strongest Women in American History"; Ms. Palin Has No Experience

Mohammad-Ali Fardanesh: "Definitely. Dr. Kamrava mentioned the question of her experience. I don't think her husband knows about her experience either. She doesn't have any experience."

Interviewer: "She spent two years as governor of Alaska."

Mohammad-Ali Fardanesh: "Sixteen months. She was the mayor of a town of 10,000 residents. The previous governor of Alaska was a very corrupt man, and anybody running against him would have won. That's how she won.

"No. My answer is 'no.' Just like Obama is a phenomenon, as I said, Ms. Clinton, with her academic record, her determination, and her expertise in various issues, was outstanding and prominent. She is one of the strongest women in American history. Now, Ms. Palin – whose name they don't even pronounce correctly... Will she manage to attract Clinton's voters? No."

God Speaks to Republicans: "Get It Right the First Time"

As I looked this morning at the New Orleans Times-Picayune website, a feeling of relief came over me: while Hurricane Gustav has apparently made landfall west of New Orleans, it was not the fierce category four or five that was predicted yesterday and the day before. While water has gone over the Industrial Canal flood wall that is near the upper ninth ward of New Orleans, it has not collapsed. Local officials are breathing a temporary sigh of relief. I am too. http://www.nola.com/hurricane/index.ssf/2008/09/report_water_coming_over_indus.html

But fear not. In this election year, unlike 2005, the Republican response was swift and true: no party today in MSP. What kind of picture would it have been if the Republican fat-cats and "social conservatives" had been seen in split-screen partying while New Orleans lay vacant or under water, again, for the second time in three years? Not a good one. Though I am by nature a political animal, which is to say that I can be impolitic at times, even I would not wish yet another horrific biblical-scale disaster on anyone just for cheap political theater. Not me. Instead, I see some other lessons here that should be instructive, stemming from the notion that, in many circumstances, there's no chance to get it right a second time: BushCo had the chance to get it right the first time and, to put it mildly, didn't.

So the RNC will be put on hold. Mr. McCain and Ms. Von Schtupp, his running mate, will tour and feign interest in the lives of the truly poor on the Gulf Coast, undoubtedly chaperoned by Cindy McCain spying from her Learjet and the Predator Drone she bought for this purpose from Northrop Grumman. Though it was unreported by any major news organization, I have it on good authority from a reliable source that will remain nameless that the foregoing purchase was a condition of Mrs. McCain allowing frisky Johnny to be alone and within 10 feet of Ms. Von Schtupp and therefore allowing her to be his running mate.

When the hurricane is over, the McCain/Von Schtupp juggernaut can go back to situation normal. That is to say, they will resume the comforting predictability of what this country has come to know over the past eight years: talking a good game, feigning interest, and going back to business as usual. The ownership society will go back to work: when the chips are down, you're on your own.

While storm patterns are unpredictable, government response to disaster has to get it right the first time. This is the lesson for the country. We cannot afford another troupe of Bowery Boys (accompanied by Ms. Von Schtupp for entertainment and comfort) to come to power in this country to run a great experiment at the cost of the lives and fortunes of our countrymen and women who have the right to rely upon their government to get it right the first time. As is proven by Hurrricane Katrina, you only get one chance to make a first impression. Thank God the Bushies, McCain and Von Schtupp will not have the chance to show the country what they cannot do.

Sarah Palin?

This answers the question of whether John McCain was watching the Democratic National Convention. Clearly he was so moved by the major speakers there, especially Mr. Biden, his long-time friend and Senate colleague, that he wanted to just raise the white flag then and there, and so picked the 44 year old governor of the State of Alaska, whose only other representative office to which she had been elected was as the Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, population 5,000. I haven't checked Google Earth to see exactly where that is as it doesn't matter.

McCain has turned this election into a referendum on Mr. Obama - solely. He is going to measure just how much people distrust a young Black man to lead their country. To the extent that Ms. Palin is a completely unknown quantity, she is truly irrelevant to the McCain campaign. She is nothing of what McCain himself has said are the qualifications to be President: not ready to lead on day one, no experience in being the leader of anything larger than a state the population of which is the size of San Bernardino, never mind commander-in-chief of the US Armed Forces, and no other relevant experience that would otherwise qualify her to be President. That is, unless Mr. McCain is going to tell the country, "look, I nominated the only other person in the world older than 35 that is even less qualified to be President that Barack Obama. So vote for me."

If this is the strategy by his crack campaign staff, it will be an abysmal failure. Abysmal. I fell in love with that word - abysmal - during Joe Biden's speech Tuesday night as he described the last eight years of the Bush administration. Abysmal is the most apt word to describe the Bush administration's policies on nearly everything, that is, up until the last couple of months when it has come around to the Obama view of the world which he, Bush, categorized only last May before the Israeli Knesset as "appeasement", by talking to Iran and setting a timetable for the orderly withdrawal of troops from Iraq. Regardless of those things, Bush has left the country on the edge of an abyss from which, if McCain is elected, the country will fall into. We are not in just a ditch. We are, again, on the edge of an abyss.

Who would you rather have one heartbeat (or lack of it) away from the Presidency of the United States? A guy whose 72nd birthday is today, August 29? Who has none of the "maverick" from his 2000 campaign left in him? Who arguably still suffers from PTSD? Who has sold his soul to special interests and the Republican base (or what is left of it)? Or would you rather have Joe Biden, the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who knows how to communicate broad themes as well as policy minutiae? I am confident that Sarah Palin has her good points: she is the devoted mother of a Down's Syndrome child, so she undoubtedly has the patience of Job and her heart in the right place. But Presidential timber? Not a chance.

I have to believe that Mr. McCain watched and listened to the positions of the Democrats, listened to the collective howl that went up among people who do not own 11 homes, and said to himself: "Let's see. Between me and Mitt Romney, we'll have 24 homes between us; that ain't gonna play well in Peoria, Detroit or Cleveland, where people are trying to hang on to their only homes. Mitt's probably not a good choice to keep up the charade that I've been playing to try to appear to understand what problems ordinary Americans are facing. So let's get someone whom no-one knows anything about, other than her recent election to one of our least populated states to keep the focus away from me and on Obama."

If McCain's staff is so stupid to think that angry Hillary supporters who can't get past her defeat will vote for John McCain because of the fact that they might share the same sex organ and other features as Ms. Palin, I hope that those Hillary supporters are smart enough to realize that they are being shamelessly pandered to, if indeed that is the point of this nomination.

Regardless of the point behind it, this pick dooms the McCain ticket. Even before this VP pick, I could not think of a single reason to vote for McCain as opposed to reasons not to vote for Obama. Not one. Why would anyone want John McCain, who turns 72 today, to be President at this point in American history?

As a Jew, I know that a strong America is essential to peace in the world. A strong American economy is necessary to the safety of minorities in the United States, including, sadly, Jews. We are the first ones to be gone after when economies go to hell; 2000 years of history tells me that we are the proverbial canaries in the coal mine. And this economy has gone to hell. It is de rigueur to blame "the Israel lobby" for the world's ills. This is transparently anti-Semitic. If that is not your perspective, I'd suggest that you do some more reading and research to confirm for yourself that that is the case. An economically strong America is essential because strength is a necessity in this globalized, interconnected and increasingly morally and politically unstable world to ensure that the rest of the freedom-loving world, including Israel, is safe, too. Without a strong America, the rest of the world and her inhabitants suffer. Just ask the Georgians.

If America does not reassert herself economically and morally, and soon, this country will have fallen into an abyss from which there is no return. That is what is at stake in this election. Nothing less. A McCain/Palin ticket is a sick joke on the American people at a time that it needs true vision and true leadership. In my view, only the Obama/Biden ticket is worth even considering as qualified to meet the challenges that we all face.

The Official TPM Tally: The McCains Own Eight To Eleven Houses

View from a booth:

I have absolutely nothing against wealthy people. Nothing. But if it's your campaign mantra that you are not a latte sipping, arugula-eating, pencil-headed intellectual, in touch with Joe Lunchbucket, and you are running for President of the United States, somebody ought to give a clue to Mr. McCain that you should be able to know the number of homes he owns. The answer is embarrassing for him, and illuminates the fact that there are two different economies at work in the US: the one for people who are above the vicissitudes of the economy and those of us who have to ride it out like holding onto an angry bull. That would describe most people that I know.

Sadly, there is no Friday night news dump today. Mr. Obama has not announced his VP choice. I'm betting on Biden, as I have from the beginning. He brings closure to Obama's "experience" issue and will stuff both John McCain and Mitt Romney (McCain's eventual choice, I am guessing) like Michael Jordan did a basketball, flying in from the free-throw line.

Randy Shiner

The Official TPM Tally: The McCains Own Eight To Eleven Houses

By Eric Kleefeld and Lila Shapiro - August 22, 2008, 10:05AM

Here it is: The official TPM tally of precisely how many homes the McCains own. Everyone -- apparently including McCain himself -- has been working feverishly since yesterday to nail down this elusive number, with varying results.

And the grand total of houses the McCains own is...

...anywhere from eight to eleven homes, depending on how you count it.

The McCain campaign claims the Arizona Senator has four residences: Condos in Arlington, VA., and Coronado, CA., the main McCain residence in Phoenix, AZ., and a ranch in Sedona, AZ. A McCain adviser says the rest of the McCain properties are "some investment properties and things like that."

Not so much.

Here's our official list:

Arlington, VA: The McCains have a three-bedroom condo in Arlington, Virginia, for when McCain is in the DC area. It is valued at nearly $850,000. Total: One.

Arizona: Here's an example of how hard it is to keep track of how many houses McCain owns: The Arizona Republic reported in 2006 that the McCains bought two adjacent condominiums for $4.66 million, so they could combine them into a single mega-condo of over 6,000 square feet, for use as their main residence in Arizona. That's either one or two more. Total: Two to three.

Arizona: Cindy's corporation later bought another condo in the same building as the mega-condo, only on a different floor. Total: Three to four.

Coronado, CA: Then there are the two vacation condos they own in Coronado, California, which total $4.7 million. They initially just bought the first one, but Cindy decided to buy a second when her children began using the first one much more frequently. "So I bought another one," Cindy told Vogue. Total: Five to six.

Sedona, AZ: The McCains own a lot of three houses in their "Hidden Valley Ranch" area of Sedona, totaling over $1,081,000 in value, according to county records. This is the rustic location where McCain often entertains reporters and other guests. You can count this as anywhere from one to three houses -- one of them is a main residence, and the others are for guests and servants. Total: Six to nine.

La Jolla, CA: There's also their property in La Jolla, California, valued at over $1 million, where Cindy's aunt reportedly lives. (Fun fact: This is the same property for which the McCains were delinquent on their property taxes.) Total: Seven to 10.

Phoenix, AZ: Cindy's family trust also owns a $700,000 loft in Phoenix, which was purchased for use by their daughter Meghan after she graduated from college. As GQ put it, "the interior looks like a spaceship furnished by West Elm." Total: Eight to 11.

As it happens, there's still more. Cindy also owns other properties through her family corporations. But many of these are rental properties for homes and businesses. We've decided to take the conservative road, and not count rental properties towards the total, as they aren't really homes -- they're investments or sources of income.

So, depending on how you count it, the grand total of homes owned by the McCains is...

Eight to 11. At a combined value of $12,991,000.

Obama Leads Better Than 3:1 in Field Offices

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Obama Leads Better Than 3:1 in Field Offices

As Sean has been writing in recent days, it has become increasingly apparent that the McCain campaign has no intention of matching the Obama campaign's formidable presence on the ground. This becomes especially clear upon reviewing the status of field operations in each state.

The table below represents my best estimate of the number of field offices that each campaign presently has open in each state, or plans to open in the immediate future. I say "estimate" because there is no hard-and-fast source for this information. Each campaign has listing of its field offices on the respective state-by-state pages within its website (Obama example) (McCain example), however, in certain cases, the offices appear to be relics of the primary campaign that have since shut down. In states where the number of offices appeared to be dubious, or the listing did not appear to have been updated recently, I spot-checked the numbers by randomly calling a couple of offices in each state. It appears that all or almost all of the McCain campaign's offices in California are inactive. But this was a larger problem for Obama, where offices in a large number of states that were important in the primaries, like Kentucky or any number of Super Tuesday states, have long since been shut down.My best estimate of the current state of the ground game follows. States are ordered by their current rankings in the Tipping Point metric: Overall, I count 336 offices for Obama and 101 for McCain.

(Click on picture to see data)

What's more, the overwhelming majority of McCain offices aren't really branded as McCain offices. Rather, they are so-called 'Victory Offices' that are operated by the local Republican party in that state and which serve all Republican candidates in that state. Some fairly substantial degree of coordination between the national campaign and the state party apparatuses is inevitable in any Presidential campaign. But in Obama's case, it is Chicago that is driving the bus (to the extent that we'll probably begin to hear some complaints from local party officials), whereas the McCain campaign is effectively competing for resources and attention with other Republican candidates.

The state-by-state distributions are also interesting. McCain, who has spent almost nothing on advertising in Florida, is instead very heavily invested on the ground there with 35 offices, perhaps reflecting the fact that Florida has one of the nation's best and most effective state Republican party operations. The other states where McCain has multiple offices open are: Michigan (11), Ohio (9), Minnesota (7), Missouri (7), Wisconsin (6), Virginia (6), Iowa (6) and New Hampshire (3). By contrast, the McCain campaign has just one office open in key states like Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and (somewhat shockingly) Pennsylvania, and no offices open in some second-tier swing states like Indiana and Montana.

The Obama campaign is not really running a 50-state campaign. Instead, they appear to be running an active operation in 22 states: Ohio (33 offices open), Virginia (28), Missouri (27), Florida (25), Wisconsin (23), Iowa (23), Michigan (22), New Mexico (18), Pennsylvania (18), Washington (18), New Hampshire (14), Indiana (14), North Carolina (11), Georgia (11), Colorado (10), Minnesota (9), Nevada (6), Oregon (6), Maine (6), Montana (6), North Dakota (4) and Alaska (4). For my money, the large number of offices open in states like Washington and Maine are unnecessarily defensive -- and in Georgia, hopelessly offensive. But generally speaking, the Obama campaign's distribution does a much better job of matching the Tipping Point map.
There's More...
Contract Post


-- Nate at 6:20 PM 120 Comments...
Labels: mccain, obama, organizing