Wednesday’s campaign round-up

January 16, 2008

Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers:

* Barack Obama picked up a somehwat helpful endorsement in Nevada today, earning the backing of the Las Vegas Review Journal. The state’s largest newspaper wasn’t exactly complementary to any of the Dems — most of the endorsement editorial criticized Hillary Clinton more than it praised Obama — but given the competitive contest, I’m sure Obama will take it.

* There’s just something nasty about South Carolina Republican politics: “This is ugly even by South Carolina standards: John McCain is being targeted by a nasty flyer that lampoons McCain’s POW captivity in Vietnam. The flyer, which was sent to local newspaper editors, depicts a manacled McCain in a cell with the phrase ‘POW for President,’ and ‘elect me’ scrawled on the walls, suggesting that McCain is trying to ride his POW status into the White House. The mailer also accuses McCain of collaborating with his captors and betraying his fellow POWs…. [The flyer] appears to be the work of a group of unknown size and origin called ‘Vietnam Veterans Against John McCain.'” It’s pretty sick stuff.

* One wonders if Richard Cohen will get the message: “The anonymous anti-Obama e-mail campaign has been particularly viral in Jewish political circles (one of the ones accusing him of being some sort of Manchurian candidate was actually translated into Hebrew), and a broad group of prominent Jewish leaders just put out an open letter pushing back: ‘Of particular concern, over the past several weeks, many in our community have received hateful e-mails that use falsehood and innuendo to mischaracterize Sen. Barack Obama’s religious beliefs and who he is as a person. These tactics attempt to drive a wedge between our community and a presidential candidate based on despicable and false attacks and innuendo based on religion. We reject these efforts to manipulate members of our community into supporting or opposing candidates.'”

* At a debate a few months ago, Mike Huckabee was asked whether, as president, he would support a federal law banning smoking in public places. “I would, certainly would,” Huckabee said, “I would, just like I did as governor of Arkansas.” Yesterday, the campaign announced that the former governor has reversed course and no longer stands by his stated position.

* This might help Obama a bit in California: “The head of the politically powerful Los Angeles County Federation of Labor said Tuesday that she is endorsing Barack Obama for president. The endorsement by Maria Elena Durazo is a coup for Obama that could help the Illinois senator in his uphill struggle against Hillary Rodham Clinton to win substantial support among Latino voters in Southern California. Obama has won the backing of other Los Angeles-area Latino leaders, but this is probably his biggest such endorsement yet, given the broad reach of the county labor federation.”

* John Kerry didn’t just endorse Obama, he’s also become a rather aggressive advocate on Obama’s behalf. Yesterday, for example, responding to Clinton surrogates’ references to drug use, Kerry said, “That kind of discussion, from a campaign where the former president made famous the words ‘I did not inhale’ is to make something an issue that they themselves acknowledged shouldn’t be.”

* On a related note, Kerry also noted today that he supports the “at large” precincts for Culinary Union members in Nevada, which Clinton supporters are trying to shut down by way of a lawsuit.

* Lately, Dems have picked “rising stars” to deliver the Democratic response to the president’s State of the Union address. Keeping in this spirit, the Dem leadership announced yesterday that Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is this year’s choice. Nice pick.

* And finally, SurveyUSA conducted a series of polls testing Michael Bloomberg’s presidential chances. Obviously, it’s hard to know for sure before a candidate even starts campaigning, but the numbers certainly aren’t favorable to the NYC mayor.

I really wonder if Kerry doesn’t retain a lot of anger at the Clinton loyalist Terry McAuliffe, who perhaps wasn’t all that sorry to see the 2004 nominee lose.

Either way, I’m glad he’s pushing this. Maybe he’d be a better vice-presidential nominee than he was the party’s standard-bearer…

  • “Vietnam Veterans against John McCain” is very reminiscent of “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.” What goes around comes around. Let’s hope for a long and nasty Republican primary season.

  • “[The flyer] appears to be the work of a group of unknown size and origin called ‘Vietnam Veterans Against John McCain.’” It’s pretty sick stuff.”

    wow! republicans even eat their own! 🙂

  • Huckabee should just wait until he talks to his corporate masters before he publicly states a positions (and just abandon the “I’m so down-home and folksy I can decisively state what’s right and wrong on anything off the top of my head” routine) and then he won’t have to reverse himself so much.

    He needs a direct-line to the money-men, like Commissioner Gordon had with Batman.

  • Sorry for the offtopic comment but this is to let you guys know that if Pottersville disappears today for good, this ought to explain why.

    Please pass along this story of the worsening problem that I’m having with my fascist (former) bank, Citizen’s, which has not only terminated my checking account but has just informed me (prematurely) that they’re shutting down my blog simply for factually writing about it.

  • What? Ayatollah Mike changing his thoughts about banning smoking, just because the campaign is in a tobacco state?

    Shocking, I tell you—absolutely shocking!

  • The Draft Bloomberg website (http://www.draftbloomberg.com/) is still stuck on 881 signers after a day, which is a small fraction of the number Lou Dobbs gets for his ridiculous poll questions each day. I really think someone should start a random parody site and see how badly it beats the Draft Bloomberg numbers. My favorite would be: http://www.draftlynnespears.com/

    Someone should register that domain name and start it, she is reasonably unpopular nationally but I bet she would beat the Draft Bloomberg site 100 to 1 just on name recognition alone. Bloomberg for President is a joke in search of a punchline, and I have faith that Lynne Spears could be that punchline.

  • So when are the Vietnam Veterans against John McCain going to start getting tons of airtime like the Swiftboaters did? When are the pundits on CNN, Fox, etc. going to start treating them as if their statements are equal to the documented experience of the candidate? Most importantly, when is Michelle Malkin going to insinuate that McCain ejected from a perfectly sound aircraft so that he could be captured by the Vietnamese?

    I’m waiting but I’m not holding my breath.

  • boohoo. i don’t care what the republicans do to each other. i’ve seen and heard enough from all of em.

  • The business in South Carolina merely proves what anyone who was there in Vietnam knows – whether they want to admit it or not: by 1967, the fact that anyone with a brain was avoiding service in Vietnam did indeed increase the percentage of morons in the army beyond the usual 50% level one finds in society as a whole. And it’s the “lessers” who are more assertive of their status as “Vietnam Veterans,” to the point where I see one of these “Professionals” I cross the street to avoid them.

    That said, flail away, flailers – watching the right go after the one guy who could save their bacon is just fine with me.

  • On January 16th, 2008 at 12:11 pm, just bill said:
    “[The flyer] appears to be the work of a group of unknown size and origin called ‘Vietnam Veterans Against John McCain.’” It’s pretty sick stuff.”

    wow! republicans even eat their own!

    From what I was able to see at the WWAJM website, they’re not endorsing anyone yet, only smearing McCain. Jerry Kiley, the person who apparently runs the site, doesn’t seem to be offering up and political opinions beyond “not McCain.” And not one to miss a chance for some irony, Kiley’s email address is stealthactivist@gmail.com .

    My point is, until/unless “stealthactivist” opts to endorse someone, we can not be sure he’s a Republican or prefers a Republican candidate.

    My conspiracy theory du jour? “stealthactivist” is indeed a proud member of the GOP. Too “proud” to let someone as “progressive” (HA!) as McCain get the nod. If this site starts getting the attention of the MSM, expect Fox News to start the rumor/narrative that it is a DEMOCRATIC-funded/supported website, in an attempt to “swift boat” McCain, tit for tat from those nast li’l libruls. “stealthactivist” will neither confirm nor deny those rumors, because it serves a dual purpose, damaging the reputation of both McCain AND the Democratic party. Eventually it will be a widely-considered belief that this site is run & controlled and financed by members of the Democratic party, without a hint of evidence to prove it. Hell, it’ll even give the GOP candidates a chance to look good, making announcemments along the lines of “While my DEAR FRIEND and competitor John McCain & I may disagree on some things, no Democrat should denigrate his service to his country in such a loooooooooow fashion. Do these liberals possess NO shame whatsoever?”

    I could be wrong, but I doubt it.

    I only bring this up because

  • ignore my last sentence, I meant to delete it. Heaven forbid anyone think I was “stopped” mid-sentence, haha.

  • Mr. Pork (#5):

    About the only good news I can give you about that is, it’s not that particular bank treating you badly – they all do it to everybody. I haven’t got the bandwidth to go into why I would break open a champagne bottle if someone truck-bombed the corporate offices of the Bank of America, other than to say that what banks can do to to people makes such a response entirely reasonable. The only thing worse than the insurance industry for screwing their customers is the banking industry – they make the telcommunications companies look like paragons of virtue.

    The big thing you will now have to worry about is if Citizens puts you on the banking industry’s “problem customer” list, which will mean you can’t get a bank account anywhere. That list is real, and they all collaborate with each other on it.

    One thing any Democratic President and congress has got to do is re-regulate American business. Unfortunately that probably can be filed under “fat chance.”

  • * At a debate a few months ago, Mike Huckabee was asked whether, as president, he would support a federal law banning smoking in public places

    I guess God doesn’t smoke. All a part of bringing us into alignment with God’s Standards and Practices. Perhaps he’ll ban smoking only in Blue states.

    I’m glad to see Obama and Hillary make nice as I suggested in a comment the other day. Strangely though, no one from either campaign has called to thank me.

    If Edwards wins NV the Dems will be in the same undecided status as the Reps. Different winners for each race so far.

  • I really wonder if Kerry doesn’t retain a lot of anger at the Clinton loyalist Terry McAuliffe, who perhaps wasn’t all that sorry to see the 2004 nominee lose.

    Good question.

    Terry McAuliffe is a weasel extraordinaire, the worst sort of slick, risk-managed, pre-triangulated faux Democrat. So I can’t blame Kerry for that.

  • To Tom Cleaver in #14:

    Please don’t impersonate Ann Coulter here. She hates the NYT so much that she jokes about “truck bombing” the people who work there, regardless of the amount of control they have over the NYT policies, and you just did the same thing.

    thanks

  • > There’s just something nasty about South Carolina Republican politics: “This is ugly even by South Carolina standards: John McCain is being targeted by a nasty flyer that lampoons McCain’s POW captivity in Vietnam

    Note: the domain of the group is registered by a woman in North Carolina.

  • jurrasicpork–
    First, Blogspot is blocked here at work, so sorry I can’t visit and get more details. But a few thoughts:

    1. Make a backup (if you can) of the entire site.

    2. Unless Blogspot shuts it down for you, keep it up. Screw ’em!

    3. Contact the Electronic Frontier Foundation — they can offer you some advice, and perhaps a lawyer in your area.

    4. Contact the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which IIRC, handles BoA regulation. Sure, a bunch of Bush cronies may not help much, but a direct complaint with their regulatory body can’t hurt.

    5. Contact BoingBoing — they often blog about these types of issues and can get you some great exposure about the issue.

    6. Start a new site blasting BoA to continue the fight. If they shut it down, start another one … and another … and another. Never stop.

    Just some thoughts.

  • Wow. The Las Vegas Review Journal hears a screeching November train too:

    Suffice it to say there are dozens of issues that Americans happily dismissed as “water under the bridge” as the Clinton era came to a close, but which would quickly ensnare Sen. Clinton and her party in a presidential race that would soon look like a struggle to escape the La Brea tar pits.
    For starters, imagine Sen. Clinton and “co-president” Bill Clinton invited onto a “This is Your Life” talk show where they’re joined by Juanita Broaddrick, Kathleen Willey, Paula Jones, Gennifer Flowers and Monica Lewinsky.

    And no they didn’t call me for permission to use my schtick.
    If they had, I’d have told them to use La Brea tabloid pits instead.

  • ***hey CB*** Are you even aware that you are part of the Edwards media blackout. You mention Obama’s name 11 times in the above piece; Clintion’s– 4 times; Edwards’– 0.

    I’m certain it is unintentional but in the post debate last night, every time Edwards name came up the subject got changed and the questioner interrupted. Also the camera made a point of not showing Edwards. I had hoped the blogs would over-compensate for the intentional MSM blackout of Edwards as a way of rebelling against media manipulation.

  • …announced yesterday that Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is this year’s choice. Nice pick.

    And would be a nice pick for as Obama’s running mate, IMO. Talk about putting a red state in play (and its neighboring states)…

  • McCain using his POW in Vietnam, for some people, may help him. My uncle was a US prisoner of war in Italy during WWII. McCain has the vote of both my uncle and my aunt because “he knows what it is like to be a POW”. For them, in their 80’s, that is as good a reason as any thing else.

  • Bee thousand at #16, I agree with you. Terry McAuliffe weaseled his way into becoming the DNC chair when the position should have gone to a true progressive, the late, great Atlanta mayor Maynard H. Jackson. I’m sure if he were around today, he would be actively supporting Obama. Of course, if he had been running the show at the DNC, perhaps we wouldn’t have had those front-loaded primaries in ’04, and would instead be re-electing that year’s winner . . .

  • As for the discussion of Kathleen Sebelius . . . she is my second-favorite pick for Obama’s VP (assuming he gets the nomination). My #1 choice is Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, whose galvanizing personality and progressive policies dovetail nicely with Obama’s. And Schweitzer is never one to pull punches; unlike the past two Democratic VP picks, Schweitzer could be an effective “attack dog” against the Rethugs, while still coming off as affable (unlike Dick Cheney, who attacked us while just coming off as . . . evil).

  • This whole Huckabee thing reminds me of Muhammad and Joseph Smith.

    You’ll all remember that in early Mormonism, polygamy was ardently promoted. However, when the federal government decided to prosecute the Mormons for polygamy, the Mormon religious leaders claimed to receive a message from God telling them polygamy was no longer required by their religion.

    Mohammad, the prophet of Islam, similiarly reversed course on his opinion of worship at a particular site in Arabia. The city had been important in certain pre-Islamic, pagan religious worship. Muhammad denounced worship their as sacriligious, but when the city’s traders who had become rich from the tourist trade began to complain, Muhammad famously reversed course and declared that worship at the site could be incorporated into Islamic practice.

    Sounds to me as if the name of Huckabee’s god is Mean Green.

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