The Hollywood Liberal

LLN FDL: Man, I Feel Like A Woman
Shorter John McCain:  Man, I feel like a woman.

John McCain:

My friends, I’ve had hundreds of town hall meetings around this country for many, many years and I’ve got to say, thanks to you and to you and to you this is one of the more impactful and emotional town hall meetings I’ve ever had. Maybe it’s because a women’s town hall.

(h/t Marc Ambinder) 

Shorter John McCain:  Man, I feel like a woman.

Shania Twain – Man, I Feel Like A Woman.

What’s on your mind tonight?

How Bad Is McCain’s Melanoma?
The public deserves to know how advanced McCain’s skin cancer is. If pilots have to release medical records, so should would-be presidents.

McCain Jokes About Obama’s Overseas Trip And Press Coverage
The McCain campaign couldn’t help but get in a joke about Barack Obama’s overseas trip, with the candidate delivering a joke that encompassed two separate narratives: That Obama is being ridiculous by traveling all over the world, and the press…

Today TPM, Tomorrow the World
Tomorrow’s the deadline for applications for our Fall internship. If I don’t say so myself, it’s a good gig. Certainly a lot of hard work but TPM interns work in the core functions of our operation pretty much from day…

ThinkFast: October 3, 2008
The Labor Department announced that 159,000 jobs were lost this past month, marking the 9th straight month of job losses. Three-quarters of a million jobs have been shed so far this year. “September’s job losses were much more severe than predicted by Wall Street economists.” At least eight lawmakers who voted against bailout legislation earlier this […]

The Labor Department announced that 159,000 jobs were lost this past month, marking the 9th straight month of job losses. Three-quarters of a million jobs have been shed so far this year. “September’s job losses were much more severe than predicted by Wall Street economists.”

At least eight lawmakers who voted against bailout legislation earlier this week “now say they would support the measure.” “Four others say they may switch their ballots before the House votes again, at about 12:30 p.m. today on the bill, which failed by a dozen votes on Sept. 29.” Additionally, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) says “he’s talked to some lawmakers he didn’t name who’ve agreed to change their votes.”

Mark Buse, now Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) Senate chief of staff, earned $460,000 as a lobbyist for Freddie Mac in 2003 and 2004. Buse joins McCain’s campaign manager Rick Davis in having close ties to the mortgage giant: Davis received more than $2 million for lobbying related to Fannie and Freddie, and received monthly payments of $15,000 up to this August.

The Pentagon “will pay private U.S. contractors in Iraq up to $300 million over the next three years to produce news stories, entertainment programs and public service advertisements for the Iraqi media in an effort to ‘engage and inspire’ the local population to support U.S. objectives and the Iraqi government.” contracts are part of the U.S. military’s “information/psychological operations” in Iraq for the future.

On the trail today: Barack Obama will talk on the economy in Abington, a Philadelphia suburb. Joe Biden speaks at a deployment ceremony in Dover, DE. John McCain will hold a town hall meeting at Colorado State University-Pueblo, and Sarah Palin will attend fundraisers in Dallas and San Antonio. (more…)

GOP Strategists Whisper Fears Of Greater Losses in November
With the party already struggling to generate enthusiasm for its brand, Republican strategists fear that an outpouring of public anger generated by Congress’s struggle to pass a rescue package for the financial industry may contribute to a disaster at the polls for the GOP in November.

Palin Team Opposed Divesting of Holdings to Protest Darfur
“When I and others in the legislature found out we had some millions of dollars in Sudan, we called for divestment through legislation of those dollars to make sure we weren’t doing anything that would be seen as condoning the activities there in Darfur.”

McCain’s Dicey Gamble
WASHINGTON — The key to understanding how John McCain chose Sarah Palin as his running mate was provided by The New York Times last weekend when it described an episode in which he “tossed $100 chips around a hot craps table.” Gambling with his presidential candidacy is McCain’s right. Gambling with the country McCain says he puts first is another thing entirely. And Thursday night’s vice presidential debate took place at precisely the moment when a majority of American voters decided that having Palin in line for the presidency is more than a little bit scary.

The Leader Who Stood The Tallest
WASHINGTON — One advantage of a crisis is the illumination it sheds on all the main figures of American politics — like a strobe light on a dark dance floor, catching all involved in characteristic, sometimes embarrassing poses. John McCain has been all manic, flailing energy. His first instinct was to blame Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke for being too active and SEC Chairman Chris Cox for not being active enough. Confirming the worst Republican suspicions, McCain did not focus on the role of Barney Frank and other Democrats in encouraging Fannie Mae to run wild, and mentioned New York Democrat Andrew Cuomo as a possible financial savior. Then he suspended his campaign to rush to Washington for messy, indecisive negotiations and called for the cancellation of a debate that he promptly attended.