The Hollywood Liberal

Quote of the Day
“I think that we are going to have a larger battlefield in 2008… I think we are going to stretch the Republicans I don’t think they can take for granted nearly as many states as they have in the past. And I think we are going to add several to the Democratic column this year and so our coalition is going to be broader.”

— Obama strategist David Axelrod, in an interview with The Huffington Post, endorsing DNC Chairman Howard Dean’s 50-state strategy.

Not surprisingly, Politico confirmed with the Obama campaign that Dean will remain party Chairman.

Who Will Obama Pick?
CQ Politics unveils VP Madness, an interactive game that allowsreaders to whittle down a field of 32 potential Obama running mates to one winner, using a single-elimination tournament similar to the “March Madness” college basketball tournament.

Here’s the latest buzz:

The Wall Street Journal notes “close advisers to Sen. Obama are signaling that an Obama-Clinton ticket is highly unlikely.”

Though Virginia may become a swing state this year, the Richmond Times-Dispatch says Gov. Tim Kaine, former Gov. Mark Warner and Sen. Jim Webb are “long shots” to become Obama’s running mate.

The Associated Press notes “increasing chatter surrounding two rising Democratic stars” —- Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (D), “two potential running mates who could help Barack Obama woo female voters.”

Hopefully A Preview Of Obama’s Campaign Strategy
I think this may be the Obama campaign’s first attack on McCain since their guy became the presumptive Democratic nominee, and it’s a good one. Via e-mail from the Obama campaign:

Image by sloomis08

I think this may be the Obama campaign’s first attack on McCain since their guy became the presumptive Democratic nominee, and it’s a good one.  Via e-mail from the Obama campaign:

During a press conference today in Louisiana, Senator McCain was asked why he twice voted against creating a commission to investigate the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina.  McCain responded, “I have supported every investigation and ways of finding out what caused the tragedy.”  However, Senator McCain has voted against such measures on multiple occasions.  In response, Obama campaign spokesman Hari Sevugan issued the following statement:

“Whether he simply wasn’t aware of his voting record again or he was intentionally misleading the people of Louisiana, John McCain certainly isn’t offering us ‘leadership you can believe in.’“

(…)

McCain Repeatedly Voted Against Establishing A Commission To Study The Response To Hurricane Katrina. In 2005 and 2006, McCain voted against proposals to establish a Congressional commission to examine the Federal, State, and local government response to Hurricane Katrina in U.S. Gulf Region.  Both proposals were sponsored by Senator Clinton.  [S. Amdt. 2716, Senate Vote 6, 2/2/06; S. Amdt. 1660, Senate Vote 229, 9/14/05]

Why is this significant?  Because it simultaneously attacks the empty core of McCain’s brand, the phony Straight-Talking Maverick persona that the media helped him create.  Instead of being an independent and honorable crusader who seeks truth & justice regardless of political affiliation, McCain covered Bush’s ass, and then lied about it.  Obama busted him, and essentially said that John McCain cannot be trusted.

This is huge, because if Obama can take away McCain’s reputation for honesty and political independence (kind of an automatic two-fer when all his claims of independence are lies), all he has left is his temper, his desire to keep us in Iraq until the year Infinity Times A Kajillion, and his ginormous stable of lobbyists.  His campaign depends on voters saying, “Well, I don’t really agree with anything he says, but I totally trust him.” If Obama exposes him as a mendacious tool, those gut-feeling trust votes go away.

Better yet, McCain has already demonstrated a very thin skin when it comes to accusations that he’ll be Dubya Two.  Remember what he said in his undead appearance in un-New Orleans:

You will hear from my opponent’s campaign in every speech, every interview, every press release that I’m running for President Bush’s third term. You will hear every policy of the President described as the Bush-McCain policy. Why does Senator Obama believe it’s so important to repeat that idea over and over again? Because he knows it’s very difficult to get Americans to believe something they know is false. So he tries to drum it into your minds by constantly repeating it rather than debate honestly the very different directions he and I would take the country.

He sounds pretty nervous about that line of attack, doesn’t he?  Again, tying McCain closely to Dubya destroys his claims of independence, plus it… ties McCain closely to Dubya.  If Obama keeps at it, I think he’ll eventually be rewarded with McCain totally flipping his shit on national TV.  Not to mention more and more voters asking themselves why they would want four more years of corruption, war, and economic instability.

I’d also like to see Obama demolish the myth that McCain is some kind of Serious Foreign Policy Expert.  He should jump all over every al-Qaeda-is-helping-Iran moment.  He should point out how ironic it is that for all the chest-thumping about how Obama never served in the military, never went to Iraq, never talked to Petraeus, McCain is the one who still doesn’t know the difference between Shia and Sunni.

Kerry didn’t attack Dubya’s phony strengths head-on, and lost an election he should have won easily.  It looks like Obama doesn’t plan to make the same mistake.

Hillary Clinton, Media Darling?

That’s what AmericaBlog says. Bill Cinton was too I guess.

As readers of this blog know, I thought Obama the better choice to be the nominee BECAUSE he was a Media Darling and because the Media hated Bill and Hillary Clinton.

I believe events have borne out my 2007 assessment, certainly as to who would be the Media’s darling and demon. I respectfully disagree with AmericaBlog’s assessment.

Comments closed

Train!
Well I’m here in sunny rainy Minneapolis, riding the light rail system into the city. Hopefully I’ll be able to find my hotel. Here they were so crazy that they brought the thing all the way to the airport, unlike the the Los Angeles method of bringing it right near the airport but not really close enough. Madness.

Bike racks too. Commies!

A Nation of Orthodontists and Department Store Managers
The American people are very unserious.

How Water Has Become a National Security Issue
Water has become a key strategic security issue for the U.S. government and that has some very concerned.

Hillary Spokesperson: “She Is Not Seeking The Vice Presidency”
The Hillary camp — perhaps sensing that all the calls from Hillary supporters for her to be made Veep are now hurting more than helping — moves to distance itself from all such efforts by sending out this statement from…

Today’s Must Read
The chief of staff to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin decided to dabble on the side in the energy business, but all he got was a gusher of trouble….

‘French Spiderman’ climbs NY Times
A man holding a bright green banner has ascended the north face of The New York Times’s building, climbing about 10 stories while the police and security officials cordoned off the sidewalk on West 41st Street. He was still on the building as of 11:50 a.m. The words on the banner were illegible from the sidewalk, but from an office window on the ninth floor the slogan on the banner read: “Global warming kills more people than 9/11 every week.” His T-shirt carried the address of a Web site: thesolutionissimple.org.

DeLay On Obama: ?Unless He Proves Me Wrong, He Is A Marxist?
On right-winger Mike Gallagher’s radio show today, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX), who is currently facing charges of money laundering and conspiracy to launder money, launched a fringe attack on Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) by claiming that he is a Marxist. “I have said publicly, and I will again, that unless he proves […]

On right-winger Mike Gallagher’s radio show today, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX), who is currently facing charges of money laundering and conspiracy to launder money, launched a fringe attack on Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) by claiming that he is a Marxist. “I have said publicly, and I will again, that unless he proves me wrong, he is a Marxist,” DeLay declared.

Gallagher couldn’t agree more, saying “that’s what he is”:

GALLAGHER: Yeah, that’s, we hear that everyday. Congressman, every day someone will say to me, and I’ve said it, it’s as if this were a guy who’s desperately trying to cover up what seems to be the kind of old school Marxist, radical liberal failed ideology.

DELAY: Absolutely.

GALLAGHER: That’s what he is.

DELAY: No doubt about it.

Listen here:

The laughable Marxist charge is not a new attack from the right.

In April, after Obama made his now-infamous “bitter” remarks, Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol claimed in his New York Times column that it was a reiteration of “Marx’s famous statement about religion.” Karl Rove agreed, calling the comments “almost Marxian.”

Perhaps worse, Obama’s Senate colleague, Joe Lieberman (I-CT), told Fox News Radio that it was “a good question” to ask if Obama is “a Marxist,” though he said he would “hesitate” to call him one himself.

Digg It!

Transcript: (more…)

Obama Backs Away From Comment on Divided Jerusalem
Facing criticism from Palestinians, Sen. Barack Obama acknowledged yesterday that the status of Jerusalem will need to be negotiated in future peace talks, amending a statement earlier in the week that the city “must remain undivided.”

Congress Passes $3 Trillion Budget
Congress yesterday gave final approval to a $3 trillion spending plan that proposes modest increases for domestic programs such as education, energy and veterans benefits — and marks the first time in eight years that lawmakers have managed to adopt a budget in an election year.