October 2008 - Posts
Final 4:
It was at this exact stage of the 2004 Presidential Election that an Osama Bin Laden video conveniently turned up, four days before Mr. Bush's reelection. Our fifth story on the Countdown: the only "October Video Surprise" as of the trick-or-treat hour... a very scary tape of former Bush-41 Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger retracting a swipe he took at Sarah Palin. Oh... there was Barack Obama's October Video Surprise -- his new commercials... in Arizona. CONTINUED >>
Obama's Outlook: It was the chief rationalization of Al Gore's purported loss in 2000. If you can't carry your own state, you don't deserve to win anyway. Our fifth story on the Countdown: senior advisers to the Democratic Nominee telling Newsweek that it might be worth their while to put one more state on the table. Arizona. And suddenly those McCain robo-calls on his own turf, begin to make a lot more sense.
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Running Weight:
While one woman associated with the McCain campaign is tonight facing criminal charges for a fraudulent accusation of a sexual and racial attack by an imaginary Obama supporter... In our fifth story on the Countdown: Another woman associated with the McCain campaign gave her first policy speech, just eight weeks into her candidacy... is tonight facing scrutiny over why she ridiculed productive research into the very subject she claims to be personally devoted to: children with special needs. CONTINUED >>
Finally as promised tonight's Campaign Comment and John McCain's announcement today of the start of his "Joe The Plumber Tour."
Every day since the last debate -- eight long days ago -- when you mentioned this guy more often than Jackie Mason mentions his tour dates -- every day has been your "Joe The Plumber" tour...
Senator, I know you have found in this man something to be enthusiastic about, but you do realize you are merely re-enacting the years-old Republican strategy about strategy.
Find something irrelevant, inappropriate, or ineffective... Hammer it and hammer it and hammer it until people promise to vote for you if only you'd stop... And when it doesn't work... Do more of it, and yell it even louder!
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12 Days Out:
There's the old dark-humor joke about the guy who's so chronically forgetful that he wouldn't show up for his own funeral. But... a candidate who wouldn't show up for his own electon night party? Our fifth story on the Countdown: The McCain campaign telling the Associated Press tonight that the Senator will be addressing his supporters -- who will have gathered in a ballroom at the Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix -- by video remote... while he stands at another location on the hotel lawn. No, I am not kidding. CONTINUED >>
Finally, as promised, tonight's Campaign Comment...
And the issue of 150-thousand dollars being spent by the Republican National Committee so it could play Vice Presidential Color-forms with Sarah Palin and her family is -- almost literally -- window-dressing.
But even this saga of the Would-Be Empress's New Clothes...does emphasize a point about the campaign, worthy of deep consideration.
150-thousand dollars in clothes, Senator McCain?
To make what might as well be an actress playing your running mate look more like a Vice President, Senator McCain?
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The McMess in the McMessage:
Nothing could say "disconnect" faster. You're trying to pin your opponent with the phrase "share the wealth"...While your campaign gets pinned for having shared 150-thousand dollars of wealth with two of the ritziest clothing stores in the country, to dress up your running mate...It's almost inevitable that you'd wind up telling a Western Pennsylvania audience what terrible things were being said about them, and how you couldn't agree more. Our fifth story on the Countdown: John McCain now trying to survive the story of the Emporess' New Clothes. CONTINUED >>
Running Weight: Maybe -- just maybe -- McCain campaign manager Rick Davis was right when he said, seven weeks ago, that "This election is not about the issues"... Maybe this election will be decided more on the candidates' personalities after all. But in our fifth story on the Countdown: Poor Mr. Davis could have had no idea that the personality polling says tonight voters are embracing in still-growing numbers is Barack Obama... And the personality they are rejecting... is Sarah Palin.
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I have frequently insisted I would never turn the platform of the Special Comment into a regular feature.
But as these last two weeks of this extraordinary, and extraordinarily disturbing, presidential campaign project out in front of us, I fear I may have to temporarily amend that presumption.
I hope it will be otherwise, but I suspect this will be the first of nightly pieces, most shorter than this... until further notice.
And thus a Special Comment tonight about the last five days of the divisive, ugly, paranoid bleatings of this Presidential race, culminating in the sliming of Colin Powell for his endorsement of Senator Obama.
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Secret Donations:
If you have given less than 200-dollars to the Obama campaign... McCain campaign manager Rick Davis insinuating there could be something sinister about your donation... Senator McCain himself calling it scandalous. If you believe we have not yet heard the last of the Reverend Jeremiah Wright... Mister Davis today hinting -- if not threatening -- that the Republicans are "re-thinking" their position on playing the Wright card in the waning days of the election. Our fifth story on the Countdown: Secrets and Lies. The McCain campaign's redoubled effort to paint Senator Obama -- if not all who support him -- as different... and dangerous. CONTINUED >>
Breaking: Beating Them to the Punch An election that the Obama campaign today formally, in an official request for a special prosecutor... suggested that the McCain campaign is conspiring to steal with help from the White House and the Department of Justice. Our fifth story tonight with the election itself at stake, Obama tonight setting the stage for a dramatic re-enactment of the battle over Republican corruption of the DOJ, to supress Democratic voting in 2004 and 2006 only this time with this Democrat the battle now being joined before it's too late. It is unfolding by the hour tonight. First, two top officials at the Justice Department leaked the fact that DOJ is seeking evidence that ACORN, a network of community groups... is involved in a coordinated national scam to register fake voters.
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The Hate Talk Express: What you already knew was ugly -- chances are, whatever you caught of last night's debate confirmed that -- is tonight, officially violent. Our fifth story on the Countdown: Just uttering Senator Obama's name, now apparently enough to get you a black eye at a Palin campaign event... From a pack of old ladies. I wish I were kidding... I am not.
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The podcast of last night's broadcast is suffering some delays. It is in the system being processed and will hopefully be available shortly. Thanks for your patience.
UPDATE: OK, it's good to go.
Crock the Vote:
As tonight's New York Times/CBS News poll put Senator Obama fourteen points ahead of Senator McCain. Another supporter of the Republican ticket -- this time in Pennsylvania -- upon hearing Senator Obama's name at a Palin rally... today yelling from the crowd: quote, "Kill Him." Our fifth story on the Countdown: And still, the Republicans say nothing. Senator McCain responding to these repeated calls for violence by his supporters... not by denouncing them... but by attacking Obama. CONTINUED >>
Back Sliming: In terms of substance among the milestones of this campaign, Governor Palin's speech at Richmond, Virginia this afternoon was not much. In terms of symbolism it may turn out to be... everything. Our fifth story on the Countdown: the Republican Vice Presidential candidate inadvertently lashing out at her very supporters who were encouraging her to speak louder...
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In The Line of Firings: At the end of a week in which the McCain campaign has been trying to paint Senator Obama as a terrorist sympathizer -- if not a terrorist himself... At the end of a week in which the calls of violence at McCain- Palin rallies... did not stay contained merely to McCain- Palin rallies -- At last night's Senate debate in Georgia, one woman hollering, quote "
Bomb Obama"...Our fifth story on the Countdown: Breaking news tonight that Senator McCain has been forced to tamp down the fear and anger of his supporters... And try to reassure them that Barack Obama is =not someone= of whom they have to be "scared as President of the United States." The question tonight: Will it be enough?
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The Resurge Isn't Working: Since Senator McCain has become fond of posing everything he says in the form of a question: With the Dow already down seventeen percent for the week so far -- do you think, Senator McCain, that Americans give a crap about rehabilitated sixties radical William Ayers? With the Dow on track for its biggest weekly percentage drop ever -- do you believe, Senator McCain, that voters would be in favor of your self-named "American Homeownership Resurgence Plan" if they realized that it would "Re-surge" only the balance sheets of financial institutions... passing all of their losses onto American taxpayers? Our fifth story on the Countdown: Senator McCain, cooking the books of his own homeowner bailout plan.
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Disconnect the Dots: On the day that Senator McCain's campaign pretended to be suspended... it ran 1,300 ads. On the day that Senator McCain's campaign pretended it would no longer focus on William Ayers -- Today -- it released a statement about Mr Ayers... and the Senator himself -- as well as his running mate both "responding with gusto" to a question about Mister Ayers... in a joint interview with Fox News. Our fifth story on the Countdown: The Republican nominee, an apparent prisoner -- the word is chosen deliberately -- of his own mixed messages.
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Fear and Smear: The same candidate whose campaign manager -- on September first, at the Republican National Convention -- declared "This election is not about the issues"... The same candidate who -- on September 15th, the first day the Dow crashed -- declared that "the fundamentals of our economy are strong"... The same candidate who -- on September 24th -- pretended to suspend his campaign so that he could return to Washington to deal with the bailout negotiations... Now plans to ignore the economy... entirely... While attacking his opponent with every bit of sleaze that he can sling. Our fifth story on the Countdown: A top aide to Senator John McCain telling the New York Daily News, quote: "We have no choice. If we keep talking about the economic crisis, we're going to lose." In other words, McCain First. Country? Not so much.
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Bailout Bill 2.0: That vote right now... perhaps hinging on tonight's vote on Capitol Hill. And in our fifth story on the Countdown: According to the latest polling out of the battleground states...Senator Obama with a clear edge... heading into the final weeks of this campaign.
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