Wednesday’s campaign round-up

June 11, 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:

* Ohio Governor Ted Strickland, considered in some circles to be a likely finalist for Barack Obama’s VP shortlist, indicated yesterday that he definitely does not want the job. He told NPR, “If drafted I will not run, nominated I will not accept and if elected I will not serve. So, I don’t know how more crystal clear I can be.” (This does not appear to be about Obama specifically; he made similar remarks last December, when no one knew who the nominee would be.)

* Brave New Films has a new clip out explaining precisely why John McCain has earned a zero rating from Planned Parenthood and NARAL ProChoice America, and what that might mean to women if he were president.

* Hillary Clinton is reportedly “making private calls to her pledged delegates, asking them to vote for Obama at the convention, and urging them to work as hard for Obama as they did for her. This comes after her speech full-throatedly endorsing Obama that pleased many in the Illinois Senator’s camp.”

* CQ reports: “The extensive network of partisan supporters that helped President Bush break fundraising records on his way to two terms in office has, for an array of reasons, yet to rally around the Arizona senator. According to a Congressional Quarterly analysis, only about 5,000 of the 62,800 donors who gave the maximum contribution of $2,000 to Bush — roughly 8 percent — had given to McCain as of April 30.”

* Obama may have come up short in the very “big state” of New York during the primaries, but he’s looking pretty strong there now. A Quinnipiac poll shows him leading McCain in the state by 14 points, 50% to 36%.

* The McCain campaign sure does seem to care a lot about golf gear.

* Here’s a good problem to have: “Democratic convention organizers are warning volunteers that they may not have much to do. They’ve recruited more than six times as many as the Republican convention.”

* McCain is, predictably, targeting Cuban-American voters in Florida, running a Spanish-language radio ad going after Obama because he doesn’t support the same failed policy the U.S. has embraced for the last half-century.

* According to a series of new Rasmussen polls, Obama leads McCain in Wisconsin by two (45% to 43%); Obama leads McCain in New Jersey by nine (48% to 39%); and McCain leads Obama in Georgia by 10 (51% to 41%).

* Jeff Merkley’s (D) Senate campaign in Oregon got some good news yesterday when John Frohnmayer, a former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, announced he’s dropping his independent bid.

* And Ron Paul, who will not have an opportunity to speak at the Republican National Convention in September, is moving forward with plans for his own convention.

Steve, I tried to post this on yesterday’s end of the day thread, but actually overshot and posted it in the terrorist fist bump thread. Colbert showed the front page of CBR in his item about the fist bump heard round the world. So anyway, it seems you’ve hit the big time. Well not exactly the big big time, but you’ve arrived. Well, not exactly arrived, but you did get on the arguably most popular, or second most viewed fake news/opinion show on basic cable! So, you’ve got that going for you. 😛

Don’t know if anyone else mentioned it in the other threads, I’m going to read them now.So congrats and stuff.

  • The McCain campaign sure does seem to care a lot about golf gear.

    Given what a “Republican game” (stupid and silly) golf is, why would anyone be surprised at this???

  • full-throatedly endorsing Obama

    I saw that on TDS last night and kept thinking…WTF, when did she become Linda Lovelace? Full-throated? Where did that phrase come from?

    I am a writer and consider myself pretty well read (and well traveled) and this is new to me.

    Anyone?

  • “And Ron Paul, who will not have an opportunity to speak at the Republican National Convention in September, is moving forward with plans for his own convention.”

    that should look like the cantina scene from the first “star wars”!

  • Yesterday, Dan Boren, a Democratic Representative from Oklahoma, announced his retirement.

    Well, he didn’t really, but he might as well have.

    Democratic Rep. Dan Boren of Oklahoma said Tuesday Barack Obama is “the most liberal senator” in Congress and he has no intention of endorsing him for the White House.

    $100.00 to his next primary challenger. Preferably one who won’t repeat bogus GOP talking points.

  • Of course in January of 2007 McCain said that President Bush has “been very badly served by both the vice president and, most of all, [former] Secretary of Defense” Donald Rumsfeld.

    FLIP —> FLOP

  • “I don’t know if I would want him as vice president. He and I have the same strengths. But to serve in other capacities? Hell, yeah.”

    I never knew there was an official position of Lord of Darkness in the U.S. government. Interesting.

  • Strickland’s weakness is his addiction to wiping out all opposition to Ohio’s cages of mediocrity for children public schools—more than a few of which would never pass a building inspection, and many of which have student/teacher ratios of 30^:1 and use “recycled” computers that don’t even turn on any more. The one powerful thing that’s keeping our public school open is the moratorium on charter schools; the good ones are too few, and there’s nothing to fill the gap for the bad ones that are—justifiably—being weeded out.

    Note to Brave New Films: Half of all numbers on the number line can be found “to the left of zero.” They are called “negative numbers.” Might you find it within yourselves to use some of those numbers to identify the “rating” of Senator McMinus-To-The-Nth-Degree?

    And Bush’s fundraising network—his “Pioneers”—probably don’t want Senator McMuppet-On-Anabolic-Quaaludes for president just as badly as I do not want him for president.

  • Dee Loralei (1)Colbert showed the front page of CBR

    I saw that too. The funny thing to me was that it seemed to suggest that Carpetbagger was from that part of the blogosphere that was pushing the “terrorist fist pump” theme.

  • Racer X’s link to Dan Boren’s site…you have to fill in the form which includes a Prefix field. This is what it says next to it: (Ex: Mr. and Mrs.)

    Hmmm…Mr and Mrs are the only options?

    Damn, I am no longer a person. (sigh)

  • Mr and Mrs are the only options?
    Damn, I am no longer a person. (sigh)

    MC Hammer has the same problem. “Where’s ‘MC’ dammit?”

  • Oh well, this (Ms) person decided to go ahead and write Mr. Boren anyway:

    How disappointing that you are repeating right-wing talking points about Senator Obama being “most liberal.” You are a Democrat. Democrats are supposed to be intellectually honest.

    If you disagree with him, his platform, or anything else, that is one thing. To say something as factually inaccurate at this is nothing short of a Republican smear.

    Shame on you for doing that.

    You might want to ask yourself why you are a Democrat. I don’t believe in Party-Speak or complete party unity, but I do fully believe in intellectual honesty.

    As said in another thread, we have to call out dishonesty. I am doing that every chance I get for every issue which rears its head.

    We all must do that, too.

    Now, back to your regularly scheduled Campaign Round-Up.

  • Dan Boren is a DINO, and he happens to be my very own Congresscritter. Last summer at a town meeting, I asked Boren about his vote in favor of the Bush FISA amendments, and how much more of the Bill of Rights he considered negotiable. He was solid on the Second Amendment, but wishy-washy on everything else.

    I could put up with Boren’s crap when Congress was closely divided and he was caucusing with the Dems. But this time I’m voting for his primary opponent, who is a good liberal and has less chance of defeating Boren than a July snowball in Texas.

  • From Dan Boren’s website:

    “Dan earned his B.S. in Economics”

    There is a reason why it is usually written B.Sc.

  • Full-throated? Where did that phrase come from? — MsJoanne, @3

    Until the recent resurgence of this phrase, the only context I’d seen it before was in descriptions of fox hunting in England. It referred to the baying of the hounds after they scented the fox and began the pursuit.

    I find its new application amusing but, then I’m easily amused. And, as an ex-linguist, I am aware that language constantly changes in many ways, including the use of old words and phrases in a new “environment”.

  • Interesting that both James Johnson (VP search committee) and Kathleen Sebelius (VP candidate) showed up at the Bilderberg meeting last weekend.

  • Damn, libra, you’re just full of delicious surprises. An ex-linguist? What an interesting life you’ve led.

  • And Maria, she’s awfully cunning too. Care to re-enlist in our pun wars from last week? 😛

  • McCain leads Obama in Georgia by 10 (51% to 41%).

    According to George Will there are 650,000 blacks in Georgia who have never registered to vote.

    Bush’s margin over Kerry in 2004 in Georgia was 548K

    If the dems can put Georgia in play the GOP is screwed.

  • If the dems can put Georgia in play the GOP is screwed. -Erik in Maine

    Can you imagine the GOP having to campaign in Georgia! How sweet it is.

    Care to re-enlist in our pun wars from last week? -Dee Loralei

    Please tell me you weren’t joking about someone being a cunning linguist. Because frankly, that just sucks. I’m not going to sit around and listen to that filth. I’ll be gone, lickity split.

    I’m sorry. Truly.

  • I can’t say that imagery is any better. — MsJoanne, @ 27

    In some ways it’s worse. A jump from a deep throat to a full one isn’t all that obvious (unless, of course, we’re talking of the differences between an optimist and a pessimist). But, if giving a full-throated voice is what hunting dogs do, when the term is applied to women, it becomes really “iffy”. I’m surprised that, so far, there have been no objections from some of the more easily riled and perennially victimized “feminists”.

    Oh, and regarding your comment (another thread, I think) about being proud of being called a bitch sometimes… I wanted to have FM K9 as my license plate (vanity plates are dirt cheap in VA) but, at the time, I shared the car with my 16yr old son and he objected. By the time he bought himself his own car, I became attached to the plate which expresses another aspect of my personality, and decided to keep it. So, if you’d like to wear the badge proudly, you’re welcome 🙂

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