Al Bundy in the Tank for Obama

I'm not even kidding.

Thanks, Scott McClellan!

I'd like to accept this on Barack's behalf... :-D

Ex-Bush press secretary McClellan endorses Barack Obama

This just in: Scott McClellan, President Bush's former press secretary, announced Thursday that he is endorsing Barack Obama for president.

McClellan is the second former Bush administration official this week to come out in support of the Democratic presidential candidate. Former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell announced his endorsement last weekend.

McClellan's news, which he shared during a taping of comedian D.L. Hughley's new show on CNN, doesn't come as a huge surprise. McClellan, after all, drew ire from Republicans earlier this year when he published a tell-all book about his time in White House. The book, "What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception," was highly critical of Bush and his handling of the war in Iraq, which McClellan called "a serious strategic blunder."

Full story here and here, and here's the clip:

News Round-Up: Sorry, Johnny Boy...

Lots of news today; I can't move without bumping into a new McCain story, it feels like. Two points for getting the media to watch your every move, but neg points for GETTING THEM TO HATE YOU.

Huffington Post, John Dinges: McCain's Private Visit With Chilean Dictator Pinochet Revealed For First Time

John McCain, who has harshly criticized the idea of sitting down with dictators without pre-conditions, appears to have done just that. In 1985, McCain traveled to Chile for a friendly meeting with Chile's military ruler, General Augusto Pinochet, one of the world's most notorious violators of human rights credited with killing more than 3,000 civilians and jailing tens of thousands of others.

The private meeting between McCain and dictator Pinochet has gone previously un-reported anywhere.

New York Times, Political Memo: In McCain’s Uphill Battle, Winning Is an Option

Mr. McCain’s advisers said the key to victory was reeling back those Republican states where Mr. Obama has them on the run: Florida, where Mr. McCain spent Thursday; Indiana; Missouri; North Carolina; Ohio; and Virginia. If he can hang on to all those states as well as others that are reliably red, he would put into his column 260 of the 270 electoral votes necessary to win. Mr. McCain’s advisers said they would look for the additional electoral votes they need either by taking Pennsylvania from the Democrats, or putting together some combination of Colorado, Nevada, New Hampshire and New Mexico.

Mr. McCain’s advisers are most concerned about Virginia, and understandably so. On the other side of the coin, Mr. McCain’s advisers believe that if he wins or comes close in Pennsylvania, he will probably win in Ohio and Florida. Aides to Mr. McCain and Mr. Obama agree that Mr. McCain remains very much in the game in Ohio and Florida. Not easy, but not impossible either.

NY Observer, The Sarah Palin Show? 'Americans Just Want to be Entertained,' Says Tina Brown

But did Ms. Palin have something else on her mind when she invited the former Survivor contestant to join her this weekend? It seems she may have been looking for career advice. The Hollywood Reporter floated the idea of some version of The Sarah Palin Show to a handful of TV types and it seems that at least a few of them think that, if running-mate John McCain loses the race, the Alaska governor could have her second act on the small screen.

Daily Mail, McCain under strain: tired candidate makes trio of slip-ups and stays behind in polls

As his gruelling two-year campaign enters its final week, John McCain is showing signs of fatigue, making three gaffes in the last 48 hours.

The Republican presidential candidate made a major boob when he effectively agreed with the sentiment that people from Western Pennsylvania were racist.

The blunder came when he spoke to an audience in the region. He said: 'You know, I think you may have noticed that Senator Obama's supporters have been saying some pretty nasty things about Western Pennsylvania lately. And you know, I couldn't agree with them more.'

Oh, and just for kicks, Jon Stewart to Sarah: No, ma'am.

Sarah Palin on Terrorism at Abortion Clinics... "Um, what?"

As a pro-choice woman, I find Sarah Palin's response to this question from her interview with Brian Williams unsurprising. Of COURSE she'll avoid that question. Are you crazy? You think she'll take that one head-on? Give you a straight answer about it? Admit that people who will probably vote for her running mate could possibly be considered terrorists, who are, by default, anti-America? Yyyyeah. Clip below.

Will Ferrell Came Back to Play

Take Your Daughters to the Polls!

Maybe you're like me and totally, um, don't have kids, but this is still a great thing to pass on to all the parents you know! The Oklahoma Women's Network Blog is promoting a White House Project campaign, and I LOVE this idea... and that picture!

What You Can Do:

Join the "Take Our Daughters to the Polls" campaign -- Teaching girls the power of their vote begins with you. Sign a pledge to take a young girl to the polls on Election Day.

Encourage others to join the campaign - Invite your friends and family to join us as we encourage millions of young girls to claim their political power by sending an eCard.

For additional information about the campaign, visit www.thewhitehouseproject.org/daughters.
Click here to download the Pledge Card.

We Talked About It, Like, Three Hours Ago

Voto Latino produced a telenovela series about the importance of voting, and it's FREAKING FABULOUS! Rosario Dawson and Wilmer Valderrama kind of make my life. Check out the first two episodes below. AND DON'T FORGET TO VOTE. Bravo, amigos!!

As if there wasn't enough going on...

The Beastie Boys are making it great to be living in a swing state. Ch-ch-check it out!

http://www.beastieboys.com/

Oct 28 Richmond, VA - Richmond Coliseum
Beastie Boys / Sheryl Crow / Jack Johnson / Norah Jones / Santogold

ON SALE Saturday, October 11th, 10am local venue time

Tickets available at Richmond Coliseum and at Ticketmaster.com

Politics Magazine Election Night Event!

Whatcha doing on Election Night? Politics magazine (friends of mine, the TOP authorities on politicking and the presidential race and awesome people to boot) is hosting an Election Night party and you should definitely think about getting your butt over there!

Join Politics magazine for Obama and McCain-martinis, food and fun as we watch the Election Night returns! Don’t sit in front of the TV alone when you can cheer, cry, rant and rave with your fellow compatriots as the votes come in! We’ve got, food, drinks and big screen TVs—everything you need to survive this historic election. This is what you can expect:

-$25 cover charge for the event
-FREE food and drinks (spirited and non) all night
-FREE T-shirt for the first 15 people that show up
-Comfy chairs and couches
-Big screen plasma TVs

RSVP here: http://politicsmagazine.com/seminars-events/politics-magazine-election-night-party/

Rally in DC for Obama!

Hi everyone,

Here's the latest Obama rally info! It's very close to home:

This Wednesday, October 22nd, please join Barack Obama in Leesburg, where he will talk about his vision for creating the kind of change we need.

Change We Need Rally
with Barack Obama


Ida Lee Park
Festival Field
50 Ida Lee Drive, NW
Leesburg, VA

Wednesday, October 22nd
Gates open: 3:00 p.m.
Program Begins: 5:30 p.m.

Here's the website to RSVP and remember to do it, so he knows you're coming!

And, as always (thanks to Barack's brilliant fundraising team), here's the link to make a donation!

Colin Powell Endorses Obama

That's right. Former US Army General, Secretary of State for George W. Bush (2001-2005) Colin Powell endorses Barack Obama. In the video he questions the Republican Party's movement further to the right, questions McCain's judgment on selecting Sarah Palin, and comments on how he views Obama's more inclusive approach to solving problems and dealing with issues that are currently affecting our Nation.

-Jake

McCain Rally in Woodbridge

Here, if you've got nothing better to do, check out what you missed in Woodbridge.



Apparently Tina Fey is now a target at these things, as CBS let me know. Did anyone see the Palin skit last night? Did you think it sucked as much as I did? Although I have to say, the Amy Poehler rap during Weekend Update made me laugh, but so did Mark Wahlberg and that's saying a lot. SNL, my hopes were so high... ya let me down, once again. Live, from New York, it's... anti-climactic. (That's what she said?)

Anti-Americanism: Where Have We Heard This Before?

Crooks and Liars pointed out a great segment from Hardball, where Michelle Bachmann, R-Meen-ay-SOH-duh, brings us back to Joe McCarthy.



No one will possibly take this seriously, right? Or will they? At this point, the American public shocks me anew every single day. Not enough people will pay attention to the fact that the people making these statements are in our government and making decisions that affect our everyday lives. People actually listen to this radical BS and take it seriously, and that's what has been making me so sad during this election.

Our leaders need to be held up to certain standards; the public has a choice for who they elect, if they care enough to be involved in making that choice. Like Neyo said on a radio ad in my car yesterday, y'all can't complain if y'all don't do nothin'!

More on Buchanan:

• Swing State Project, MN-06: A Minnesotans thoughts on Michelle Bachmann
• Watching the Watchers, Michelle (Joe McCarthy in a Dress) Bachmann Strikes!
• Dandelion Salad, Katrina Vanden Heuvel Responds to Michelle Bachmann
• ABC: Political Punch, McCain-Backing Congresswoman Suggests Obamas Have Anti-American Views
• Huffington Post, "Investigate Congress for Anti-Americanism", Says Republican Michelle Bachmann: A Glimpse of the Future

H/T to DCist

Keeping with the theme of BATTLEGROUND VIRGINIA, DCist does a nice round-up of VA GOP fuck-ups. Ohhhh, macaca. Click here to see the mailer that's going around.

Earlier this week we debated why Virginia seems to provoke politicians and campaign officials to say forehead-slappingly foolish things. After all, you'd think the infamous George Allen "macaca" incident would have served as something of an example for Virginia GOP Chair Jeff Frederick when he recently compared Sen. Barack Obama to Osama bin Laden.

You'd also think that Sen. John McCain, already fighting to save his campaign, might not want to stand alongside a man like Frederick in public. Well, you'd be wrong. According to ThinkProgress, McCain will headline a campaign event tomorrow at the Prince William County Complex in Woodbridge where Frederick -- who remains the GOP head in the state and represents Woodbridge in the Virginia General Assembly -- is set to appear. The McCain campaign did say that Frederick's comments were "not appropriate."

-k

Candidates are making funnies!

I HAVE to share this post, since the candidates have started taking a break from seriousness and crackin' some jokes. THEY GOT JOKES! Read on for a break from the dramarama and McCain on Letterman:

Some of the best zingers from the Alfred E. Newman dinner:

• John McCain, who apologized to Joe the Plumber on Letterman for dragging him into the limelight, said that the Ohio native shouldn't have to worry about paying his taxes. He "recently signed a lucrative contract with a wealthy couple to handle all work on all seven of their houses," he whispered into the mike
• "It's gonna be a long night at MSNBC if I manage to pull this thing off," McCain added. "For starters, I understand Keith Olbermann has ordered up his own 'Mission Accomplished' sign." After laughter, he continued: "I've asked him to call me so I can tell him right where to put it."
• Obama also made fun of himself. "It's often been said that I share the politics of Alfred E. Smith," the Democratic candidate said, referencing the four-term New York governor for whom the dinner was named. "And the ears of Alfred E. Newman."
• And, deflating his own oft-lampooned messianic image, Obama referenced Superman. "Contrary to the rumors you have heard, I was not born in a manger. I was actually born on Krypton and sent here by my father, Jor-El, to save the earth." Nerd alert!
• "I was originally told we'd be able to move this outdoors to Yankee Stadium," Obama added. "Could somebody tell me what happened to the Greek columns I requested?"
• The candidates didn't save all their barbs for themselves. They also went after the Clintons. "Even in this room full of proud Manhattan Democrats, I can't shake the feeling that some people here are pulling for me," McCain said. "I'm delighted to see you here tonight, Hillary."
• Barack Obama referenced Mayor Bloomberg's intention to run for a third term, which, he cracked, "caused Bill Clinton to say, 'You can do that?'"

-k

So Why Do We Care About Joe the Plumber?

Honestly, I really don't care about Joe the Plumber. You know why? He doesn't care about me, and he is not the emblem of the American public. America is diverse, remember? We've got ALL KINDS of jobs, and variations on the name "Joe," and beliefs and incomes and needs, and if he deserves this much media attention than those news stations should be calling me, too, dammit. He's a symbol of how the conversation about what America is and how her needs have changed from what they were in the past. He's rhetoric. A bad metaphor.

As Daily Intel can tell us, the symbolism isn't entirely accurate, either:

Our plumbers are not beefy dudes who chase the American dream in between games of catch with their sons on the front lawn. They're too busy going to law school and black-tie events at the New York Public Library. They quote Einstein. They are ironic (“If you don’t go to high school, guess what you become?”) and media-savvy (“Joe the Plumber here," one answered the Times call, totally unbidden). They are, in short, as fey and liberal and candy-ass as everything else in this epicenter of blue-state liberal values. Which begs the question: If John McCain does win the election thanks to his populist pap, will he take care of them, as he promised to take care of Joe? No plumbers left behind, John.

I don't know if John McCain or Barack Obama were pretending to be unaware of the savage media storm this Plumber guy would create, but my bet is HELL NO. McCain is really good at creating temporary media storms. He knows how to play the media to get where he needs to be, even though it's not always successful; he knows how to capture their attention, even when he's trying to get them to stay the hell away. By putting up the "no cameras allowed" sign, he knows those cameras will be there to take pictures of it. Touche, Johnny. The problem is, the media doesn't like you much. That's partially your fault.

Obama, however, is the media's friend and also is too cool for them. He goes straight to the people, gets in my inbox, on my cell phone, on my TV, in my video games. Obama is harnessing the power of new media and technology to play the game in a whole different way, and I have to give him props, even though the only reason he CAN do it is that he has a LOT OF MONEY. Money pays people to think for you and it pays for their ideas to come to fruition. Touche, Barack. It's a little evil, it reeks of PR genius, but you've pulled it off and you're dignified throughout.

McCain may be able to create media storms, but he loses control of them just as quickly, and this Joe-thing is a perfect example. John, you haven't exactly been a friend to the newsroom, so the second you start whipping up attention about some guy you talked to for about 5 minutes (or some girl you vetted days before you chose her to be your running mate *COUGH*), the media will start Googling. And Googling. And making phone calls. And finding out who these people really are. And it might not reflect well on you or your intentions. Maybe it's time to start hiring some better PR.

-Katie

Fun Video Time!

and, in case you missed the dramatic chipmunk...



-Katie

McCain in Virginia

McCain is trailing Obama in Virginia, but not by much. It's going to take people actually showing up to the polls to change the tide in Virginia to BLUE, and McCain is definitely feeling the pressure right now:

From the UK:

Mr Obama now enjoys a lead in national polls of between eight and ten points. But it is the state-by-state electoral map that makes clear the scale of the challenge now confronting Mr McCain. To win on November 4, a candidate needs 270 electoral college votes. If all the states that are likely wins for each candidate, or leaning towards them, are added together, Mr Obama has 264 electoral college votes to Mr McCain’s 163. That leaves the eight toss-up states – Nevada, Colorado, Missouri, Ohio, Florida, Indiana, Virginia and North Carolina – with a combined total of 111 electoral college votes, to decide the race.

All are states won twice by Mr Bush. Virginia has not backed a Democratic presidential candidate since Lyndon Johnson in 1964, yet Mr Obama has pulled into a lead of between five and ten points. Three months ago the critical battleground of Florida looked unlikely for Mr Obama. Today he has a five-point lead. Mr Bush won Indiana by 21 points in 2004. Today Mr McCain is holding on to a tiny lead. In Colorado, Mr Obama is about five points ahead.

If Mr McCain loses any of them, or indeed the hugely important battleground of Ohio, where he is slightly trailing, his presidential hopes will be over. He is more aware than anybody that no Republican has ever won the White House without Ohio.

A lot of this Virginia-crossing-over has to do with Northern Virginia, that lovely bubble leeching off of DC, being strongly democratic. There are a lot of people here that care enough about the political process to get out the vote, and McCain hanging out in Tidewater (sounds so lovely every time you say it, doesn't it?) and hitting up the rest of the state just outside the beltway shows you how he thinks he can bring Sweet Virginia back to the watering hole.

And they're still coming:

From the Richmond-Times Dispatch:

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is returning to Virginia for a rally in Roanoke.

Obama’s campaign says the rally is set for 12:30 p.m. today at the Coliseum at Roanoke Civic Center. The event is free and open to the public. The campaign recommends that attendees RSVP at www.va.barackobama.com.

Tomorrow, Republican John McCain will be at the Prince William County Complex in Woodbridge at 2 p.m. That event also is free and open to the public. Tickets are available through the McCain Virginia Web site at Virginia.JohnMcCain.com.

What do you think, folks? What'll it take for McCain to win VA? Does he have a shot? Leave your ideas and thoughts in the comments!

-Katie

A Declaration

OUR DECLARATION

We believe that policies like those of John McCain and Sarah Palin are NOT what this country needs. John McCain is too outdated to run a country like ours, and if he does, he will not deliver the things guaranteed to us by our founding fathers. The simple fact that he would nominate someone like Sarah Palin to be his second in charge only doubled the amount of doubt in my mind that he has the qualities necessary to be the leader of a global economy. Sarah Palin is the biggest atrocity that has ever entered into US presidential campaigning, and those of us who wish to see these two monsters stay out of the White House will do what it takes to keep them out.


John McCain thinks the US is better off financially now than it was 8 years ago. In 1998 the US announced it's first budget surplus since 1969 with $69 illion, growing to $236 Billion in 2000. The current 2008 budget deficit of $161 billion is expected to grow to $407 billion by 2009. In 2000, we saw the all time low unemployment rate sit at 3.9%. It's current rate is 6.1%. He has voted against raising minimum wage 19 times. He is FOR privatized social security, which would keep the lower and middle classes working into their 70s before retirement. In 2008, only 18% of workers were confident that they could retire comfortably.

John McCain himself has said that the economy is not his strong suit. With that statement and a VP who put a town of 7000 (in 2002) into a $20 million debt, it's plain to see that McCain and Palin will only dig our economy deeper. During her mayoral re-election campaign, she promised to cut her own salary. When she one she hired a city administrator, adding another salary to the payroll. Palin boasts about her anti-earmark sentiments, but took $27 million in earmarks during her time as mayor.

His foregin policy is something to be scared of. He's been quoted to say "It's not how long we stay in Iraq, it's if we succeed or not.", that we would be "mired for 100 more years in Iraq". He believes that we are still undergoing a troop surge. He has attacked Barack Obamas willingness to meet with Raul Castro to improve US relations with Cuba, as well as the suggestion that we should meet with Iran.

He has claimed to be an agent of change. How is voting with George Bush 86% of the time a sign of change?

His proposed gas tax holiday has been shot down by nearly every economist.

Sarah Palin is already under investigation for abuse of power. Is that something this country needs in a vice president? If a person can put a town of 7000 into 20 million in debt, roughly 3000 per man and woman and child, in what kind of debt can she put a country of 300 million? While claiming to be against tax raises, she raised sales tax in wasilla by .5% to finance a large sports complex. While a large sports complex is community oriented, don't lie about tax raises in order to pay for it. For the cherry on top, there was an ensuing legal dispute over whether or not the town owned the land on which the complex was to be built.

No, there was no list of books she tried to ban. However, upon becoming mayor, she asked the librarian how she'd feel about removing books from the library's collection, to which the librarian responded with an earnest 'No'. The mere idea of even asking a librarian how he or she would feel about removing books is evidence that Sarah Palin does not have a clue how this country works. The first amendment to the US Constitution is clearly written. Removing books from a library shouldn't even come to the table.

Again, on earmark spending. Per capita, Alaska is the largest recipient of earmarks. In 2005, before her term as governor began, Alaska had received $442 million in federal earmarks. Eight months after her term as governor began, she stated that Alaska would not return any of the $442 million. It's as though if Sarah Palin didn't have double standards, she'd have no standards at all.

She's a steadfast anti-abortion pro-lifer and calls herself a feminist. Does she even know what a feminist is? She supports family values, yet can't control her own. Endorsing the marriage of a 17 year old doesn't sound like family values. Marriage is about choice. Reproduction is about choice.

She sued the George Bush administration for adding polar bears to the endangered species list, because it would affect our ability to drill for oil in ANWR. She has supported population control of predator animals by hunting them from aircraft.

She beat around the bush when asked whether or not she believed we were doing 'God's work' in Iraq. The 'God's work' quote was direct out of her mouth.

She does not command the AK National Guard. She has the power to send them anywhere in Alaska, such as disaster areas, but they are under the command of National Guard officers. She has no control whatsoever over AK National Guard troops in the middle east. Visiting Guard troops in Kuwait is fine and dandy, but don't go and stretch the details of the trip in order to boost a better public foreign diplomacy image. That trip was her only travel outside of North America.

She opposes the marriage of same sex adults but endorses the marriage of her 17 year old child.

She's claimed to be against the 'good ol' boy' network in Washington DC. Did she also mention that BP, Beyond Petroleum sponsored her gubernatorial inauguration, whom her husband also works for?

Nearly everything that has come out of the mouth of Sarah Palin, there is something in her history to contradict it.

The McCain Palin campaign has promoted an image of change since Palin's nomination for VP. Based on their stances, the ideas they've promoted for the next presidential administration, and their own records in comparison to that of George W. Bush, what changes do they plan on making, unless its changes that will dig us deeper into a pit of desperation and economic turmoil?

I see plenty of reasons NOT to vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin without having to turn to their sleazy intentionally misleading campaign for justification as to why they should not be elected, but it sure is a big cherry on top.

We are organizing a rally to inform voters of the danger we face in electing John McCain and Sarah Palin to the White House. Within the next week we will announce date and time and location for a scheduled massive public rally against these two dangerous people who are dangerously close to being the most powerful people in the world. Will they incite genocide? Probably not, but they want the people of the United States to live and act in such a way that is not in accordance with the basic rights and freedoms guaranteed to us and laid out by the Founding Fathers and the generations that followed them.

We are united by a love so strong for our country that we need to see it not fall into the hands of John McCain and Sarah Palin.