The Hollywood Liberal

NPR Poll: Obama, McCain Run Close in Battleground States
A new NPR poll of likely voters in 19 battleground states finds Sen. Barack Obama edging Sen. John McCain, 46% to 45%. President Bush won 14 of the 19 states surveyed in the 2004 presidential election.

Key findings: “Fifty-one percent of the likely voters surveyed thought Obama was too risky, compared with 38% for McCain. The Arizona senator had an advantage of 10 percentage points when it came to being seen as a strong leader.”

“But the campaign has also exposed weaknesses for McCain. Asked which candidate is independent — once his stock in trade — 42% of those surveyed said McCain, while 46% said Obama.”

Romney?
Mark Halperin has two Republican sources who say Sen. John McCain will pick Mitt Romney as his running mate.

Update: He took down the report with no explanation.

If A “Journalist” Swoons In The Beltway, Do We All Have To Know About It?
Move over Liz “Sprinkles” Sidoti.  There’s a new fangirl in town: Steve Schmidt has made a career out of not being a creature of Washington. If the 2008 campaign were an action film, he would play the tough-talking Steven Seagal character, an idiosyncratic hero who is duty-bound to rescue the desperate from burning buildings (which Schmidt literally did last Christmas), but who longs to retreat into his easygoing world of family and suburbia. Next up, the WaPo’s Lois Romano asks Steve Schmidt for an autograph on her McCain campaign sun visor while squealing like a Beatlemania re-enactment teenybopper.

Move over Liz “Sprinkles” Sidoti. There’s a new fangirl in town:

Steve Schmidt has made a career out of not being a creature of Washington. If the 2008 campaign were an action film, he would play the tough-talking Steven Seagal character, an idiosyncratic hero who is duty-bound to rescue the desperate from burning buildings (which Schmidt literally did last Christmas), but who longs to retreat into his easygoing world of family and suburbia.

Next up, the WaPo’s Lois Romano asks Steve Schmidt for an autograph on her McCain campaign sun visor while squealing like a Beatlemania re-enactment teenybopper.

Good lord — Steven Seagal? That’s the best you could do? Telling. Especially since Steve Schmidt has been described thusly:

Mr. Schmidt’s elevation is the latest sign of increasing influence of veterans of Mr. Rove’s campaign efforts in the McCain operation….

The ascendance of more Rovians in the McCain people reminds me of something I once heard Wayne Slater, a Dallas Morning News reporter who co-wrote a book on Rove called “Bush’s Brain” say. Slater said that Rove had trained so many Republican operatives in his strategies and methods that if he were to get hit by a bus, it would have little effect, the next generation of Rovians were ready to take over. And so they are.

I’d say to contact our very bestest pal Deb, but this is likely all part and parcel with her rounding out the disparate numbers campaign for more positive spin on the McCain side of the reportage, whether he’s earned it or not. Because reporting isn’t about the facts, the evidence, or even serving the readers needs by pointing out the truth or lack thereof — it’s about the bean-counting and appearance of balance.

Journamalism, forevah! Git along, L’il Debbie!

(YouTube — Words of wisdom from Steven Seagal. Who…news flash…is an actor who portrays fictional characters on screen but in real life is..erm…well, you’ll see. Excellent choice of “heroes,” there, Lois. Stay classy.)

Cabin
Drudgico’s Jonathan Martin:

My colleague Lisa Lerer, travelling with McCain, sends word that the candidate is now at his cabin in Sedona, which he’ll make his base of operations as the spotlight focuses on Obama.

McCain’s cabin is large, it contains multitudes.

McCain said the valley was settled by Mormons and that the Hidden Valley Ranch got its name from the horseshoe shape of the creek that runs through the property.

He said he built the first house on his property 24 years ago and now there are six houses on his lot.

Maybe the Sedona property is like the Tardis.

More on McCain’s multitudes.

Immigration Reform: Is It Dead? Where Is It Heading?
Comprehensive reform has been killed twice in recent years; the question is what the next round will look like.

Unlocking the Power of Art to Counter Injustice
The Drug Policy Alliance’s re:FORM art auction benefit marries art with tackling the ridiculous “war on drugs.”

Dems Open Major Populist Offensive Over McCain’s Houses Gaffe
The Democrats are going after John McCain over some choice quotes he gave in a Politico interview on the subject of wealth — lines that could seriously undermine his attempts to cast Barack Obama as the man living a “grand”…

The Sedona Estate Question
You start to see one of the reasons why there are so many different estimates of how many houses the McCain’s own when you look closer at the Sedona multi-home estate. On the one hand, the AP reports that “includes…

Hallmark rolls out gay marriage cards.
Although most states still refuse to recognize gay marriage, Hallmark has begun rolling out cards recognizing the unions between same-sex couples. They feature “two tuxedos, overlapping hearts or intertwined flowers, with best wishes inside. ‘Two hearts. One promise,’ one says.” Barbara Miller, a spokeswoman for the Greeting Card Association, said that the number of […]

Although most states still refuse to recognize gay marriage, Hallmark has begun rolling out cards recognizing the unions between same-sex couples. They feature “two tuxedos, overlapping hearts or intertwined flowers, with best wishes inside. ‘Two hearts. One promise,’ one says.” Barbara Miller, a spokeswoman for the Greeting Card Association, said that the number of companies providing same-sex cards is expanding: “The fact that you have someone like Hallmark going into that niche shows it’s growing and signals a trend.”

GOP to Consider Major Changes in Primary Calendar
SEDONA, Ariz., Aug. 21 — Republicans are set to consider a complete rewrite of their political calendar for the 2012 presidential primaries as they gather in Minnesota to officially nominate Sen. John McCain after a tumultuous primary season.

China’s Rise Goes Beyond Gold Medals
Nicholas Kristof, New York Times

Abu Ghraib-i-fying America’s schools
The citizens of the world who hate America are going to love the latest agitprop released this week by Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union. In a document titled “A Violent Education: Corporal Punishment of Children in U.S. Public Schools,” the left-wing groups seek to paint a horrifying portrait of the nation’s classrooms as Abu Ghraib-like torture chambers. The report compiles sob stories of students humiliated after being disciplined by school officials for unruliness, and claims that minority students are “disproportionately targeted” for punishment. Citing international law and threatening lawsuits, Human Rights Watch and the ACLU are demanding that the White House and Congress ban physical discipline in all public schools.