Why Barney Frank is in My Top 5

AP: Military Donations Favor Obama Over McCain

Now, I'm just sayin'...

This story was published by the AP in the middle of August. How did we miss this??? Oh, wait - because if we talk about this, we put a dent in the the McCain/POW/war hero narrative. And if we do that, we can't draw our clear line between the two candidates and their military cred (or their lack thereof) - regardless of how many times one of them may have voted against veterans' benefits over the course of his congressional career.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. soldiers have donated more presidential campaign money to Democrat Barack Obama than to Republican John McCain, a reversal of previous campaigns in which military donations tended to favor GOP White House hopefuls, a nonpartisan group reported Thursday.

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

I'm just sayin...

Fey/Palin/SNL Redux

1st Debate

Now, I'm just sayin'...

My initial and main impressions:

*Number One With A Bullet: McCain won't make eye contact with his opponent; won't acknowledge his presence in the room; won't give so much as a cursory glance Obama's direction. What does this show? Contempt? Dismissiveness? Is he trying to keep his temper in check? While I expect McCain to correct this by the next debate, I say Obama should have a line ready: monitor whether McCain ever looks at you while criticizing or attacking you and when he doesn't, say, "Senator, where I come from, when you take issue with someone, you say it to their face - you look them in the eyes and tell them what's what." I guaran-damn-tee you Democrats will be on their feet, the McCain supporters will feel shamed and embarassed (and angry), and independents will embrace Obama as strong and honest while rejecting McCain as petty, small, and all bluster.

2. Obama's debate prep was made brilliantly evident by his response to McCain's "bracelet" moment. Without missing a beat, he showed and told his own bracelet story, effectively defusing this favorite McCain prop.

3. While taking a more dignified stance, Obama landed the hardest punches.

4. Obama will be criticized for saying "John's right", "I agree with John in the respect...", etc (there's already an ad out using these statements against Obama), but if you haven't made up your mind about these two guys, which comes across as more credible, more earnest in seeking a positive tone, more knowledgable, and ... wait for it... more likeable? The one who says, "I agree on 'x', but you're wrong on getting to 'x'" or the one who says, "You don't get it. You're wrong, wrong, wrong. Thou shalt have no other way but mine"? ... which segues nicely into...

5. Indepedent and undecided voters connected to Obama. McCain was cold, angry, removed, stubborn, and rude. Obama spoke to the camera, spoke to the moderator, and - as I pointed out in point 1 - spoke to John McCain. He included everyone in the audience in his answers. He talked about the middle class. He talked about kitchen table issues. He related to the problems regular people are facing. Number of time John McCain said "middle class": Zero.

I'm just sayin'...

"Curse You, Red Putin!!!"

"It's very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia as Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where-- where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border. It is-- from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right here . They are right next to-- to our state." - Sarah Palin, interviewed by Katie Couric

Photo of Palin in action, defending Alaskan airspace from V. Putin (click to enlarge):

Updated: Oh Dear. Couric v. Palin

How long until Katie Couric is branded a "sexist" by the McCain campaign? Seriously, though, Sarah Palin has no business on the national political stage. Just a pa(l)inful performance.

Watch the clip below, but first, grab ya some butter, cuz this b*tch is toast.



UPDATE: Alaska, Russia, and her foreign policy "credentials":

Uhhh! Ummm! Time Out!!!!! (?)

Now, I'm just sayin'...

Here's the scenario: 2 minutes left in the game, you're on defense and you NEED a stop to win:

1st and 10 from their 20, RB breaks off a 25 yard scamper up the gut into the secondary. 1st down.

Next play, same RB runs a counter left side for another 15. 1st down.

Now, you load up 8 men in the box to stop the run, the safety bites on the ensuing play action and the QB fires one down the sideline to a streaking receiver for another 38 yards before help arrives to knock him out of bounds at the 2. 1st and goal.

Now you're winded with your hands are on your hips, all the momentum is against you, and all the offense has to do is punch it in for the score.

What do you do?

Call a time out. Or, perhaps more accurately, flop to the ground, theatrically clutching your knee, and force an injury time out.

Which is precisely what John McCain did today with the poll numbers against him, two days before he was scheduled to debate Barack Obama in what is sure to be one of the most watched debates in history. Acceptable for football. But for a presidential election?

Obama's having none of it.

Democratic Sen. Barack Obama rejected Republican Sen. John McCain’s dramatic call Wednesday to delay Friday’s presidential debate because of the economic crisis.

“This is exactly the time when the American people need to hear from the person who in approximately 40 days will be responsible for dealing with this mess,” Obama told reporters in Clearwater, Fla.

Obama agreed with McCain on the need for the two men to issue a joint statement of support for legislation to rescue the banking industry, but he declined McCain’s call to postpone the first debate, scheduled for Friday in Jackson Miss.

Meanwhile, Pelosi joined Obama in reminding Senator McCain you need to be able to walk and chew gum:

Barack Obama rejected the proposal -- put forward by John McCain today -- that the two presidential candidates leave the campaign trail, delay Friday's debate, and return to Washington to work on a bailout package for the economy,

"Presidents are going to have to deal with more than one thing at a time," he said, "it is not necessary for us to think we can do only one thing and suspend everything else."

[snip]

"The debate should take place as scheduled," Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in an interview with NPR to be broadcast this afternoon. "We have to be able to do a couple of things at once. That's what leadership requires."

Oh, but there's more!

McCain was scheduled to be on Letterman tonight, but cancelled, saying he had to rush away to work on the financial crisis. But then a funny thing happened:

Then in the middle of the taping Dave got word that McCain was, in fact just down the street being interviewed by Katie Couric. Dave even cut over to the live video of the interview, and said, "Hey Senator, can I give you a ride [to the airport]?"

Earlier in the show, Dave kept saying, "You don't suspend your campaign. This doesn't smell right. This isn't the way a tested hero behaves." And he joked: "I think someone's putting something in his metamucil."

"He can't run the campaign because the economy is cratering? Fine, put in your second string quarterback, Sara Palin. Where is she?"

"What are you going to do if you're elected and things get tough? Suspend being president? We've got a guy like that now!"

And as a further demonstration of McCain's commitment to the emergency, just look at what else he did this morning:

The McCain campaign's new urgency about the financial crisis didn't entirely clear his schedule this morning.

My colleague Amie Parnes reports that he made it to his scheduled morning meeting with Lady Lynn de Rothschild, a Clinton backer who recently came out in support of him.

All while Obama was waiting by the phone for a returned call.

I'm just sayin'...