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Born at the Crest of the Empire

Monday, March 17, 2008

Political bits

(CNN/Politico/Everywhere) Obama has announced a major speech on race tomorrow.

Two thoughts: 1) Anytime Obama can command airtime for one of his speeches is good for him. 2) If they do this right, it could allow them to put a nail in the Wright issue, saying in the future, "our candidate has commented on that, let's move on." (It's worked for Bush how many times?)

(AFP) Another article reminding us that John McCain is really, really old. (Older than Reagan was.)

(WSJBlog) McCain's campaign stands by Bernanke and the current economic policies, although McCain won't be briefed for a week because of his travels. (Europe is a comment free zone.)

(USAToday/Gallup) A rare poll showing Clinton doing better against McCain than Obama. (They both beat McCain.)

(AP) Obama supporting Chafee rips Clinton in his new book, "Being wrong about sending Americans to kill and be killed, maim and be maimed, is not like making a punctuation mistake in a highway bill...."

(Politico) Obama goes hard after Clinton on Iraq, "Because of that vote we are less safe..."

(CNN) Obama camp presses Clinton on 'non disclosure'

(Personal Note: TG, I think this is the negativity we were discussing yesterday. It appears the Obama campaign has a "kitchen sink," too. Curious to see how the Clinton campaign takes it.)

And, (WSJBlog) McCain has a "March Madness" bracket feature on his website that immediately puts you on his fundraising/organizational email list.

9 Comments:

  • The candidate's take of each other:

    Obama: "Nothing but a speech in a suit. Naive and wet behind the ears."

    Clinton: "Suspiciously secretive in a Nixon/Bush/Cheney kinda way. What dark and disturbing secrets is she hiding, hmmm?"

    McCain: "A sad, pathetic shell of his former respectable self. Content to shuffle around like an old fool, doing the shameless bidding of the radical right."

    And the media's take:

    Obama: "Knocked back on his heels by one controversy after another. Black preachers are just plain scary to decent white folks. Voters having second thoughts."

    Clinton: "The come-back gal with her resounding near-sweep of Mar 4. Tough, savvy, and experienced. Voters taking a second look."

    McCain: "Mr. Maverick, Straight Talk Express. God, you just gotta love this guy. A real American hero. Pass the ketchup..."

    By Blogger -epm, at 3:25 PM  

  • Pretty much right on.

    Although the Clinton image wobbles a little bit.

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 3:56 PM  

  • This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 5:01 PM  

  • Anon, I zapped your comment because of your insinuations about Clinton for which you have no basis.

    As to your other point, Bill Clinton pretty much stopped appearing with her after all the stuff in SC and Super Tuesday. They're occasionally together, but not very much.

    I remember looking at the pictures after she won Ohio and he really wasn't in them.

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 5:13 PM  

  • I apologize for the insinuations and won't go there again unless I see it on more sites than a few wingnut areas...

    that aside...do you have an opinion on whether HRC and Bill's relationship (as husband/wife) could possibly become a GOP issue (if it gets to that)? From a "family values" perspective...I've never really thought of it before and McCain and his marriage histories are ripe with issues on its own - but could the GOP take their marriage and ask the question of "moral"? "Do they have a moral marriage since most believe bill chases skirt a lot, etc".

    I don't think this is an improper insinuation...

    Also, what do you think about the possibility of a lot of superD's being for "Bush-Lite" {enjoying making millions with the little regualtions, wall street shenanigans, etc} and they are pushing HRC to stay in hoping OB trips up since they want this "gravy train" to continue...I read it at a few sites today and hadn't thought of it before...

    joe

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6:12 PM  

  • "Although the Clinton image wobbles a little bit."

    Well, I think this has been in part because Hillary has been a bit schizophrenic at times. She's goes from mocking Obama to suggesting he'd be a great VP. And her campaign spokespeople have been all over the place. This might explain some of the shifting sands in the media.

    As things have heated up, Obama has had his own problems with surrogates and advisors straying from the range. However, he himself has been more consistent in his messaging than Hillary has... in my opinion, of course.

    By Blogger -epm, at 7:49 PM  

  • Anon, yeah, it'll certainly be out there although I don't think it will be in the mainstream. There would also be Monica jokes, but again, not from the campaign or RNC officials I wouldn't imagine.

    And the blowback on McCain could be far worse. I think everyone knows and has an opiion about the Clinton's relationship, but how McCain got where he is hasn't gotten much of a look, and it's his voters that are more likely to be upset by any of this.

    Just my sense sitting here now.

    And I don't know about your superdelegate theory. You figure the money comes bigger the bigger the Dem majority and it is easily arguable that Obama could have coattails that stretch into red states.

    (It's my opinion that a fixed amount of money flows at pretty much the same level, it's just a question of where the line is they're fighting over. For instance, the oil companies will spend reasonably the same amount whether they're lobbying to open ANWAR or influence the construction of a carbon tax. And the majority goes to the party in power.)

    ......

    EPM, Yeahm Obama has generally been very steady. I think that's one of the main reasons he's where he is. With the "experience" question looming over him, any twitch makes him look like a lightweight.

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 9:29 PM  

  • I think the Clinton response to the Obama broadside will be the same as the Obama response to the Clinton attacks: they'll complain about it, and then they'll heave some mud back in the other direction.

    It'll be interesting, though, to see what effect his attacks have. Her claim has been that she's already been vetted, that the downside is already factored in, whereas with him it's not.
    We shall see.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1:24 AM  

  • Does the Clinton camp have any new "mud" issues? Or is it hjust going to be more of the same?

    And, yeah, because she's operated without too much challenge. (I think the disclosure thing might have some legs especially because it's an opn invitation to reporters once they release their tax returns or library donations or whatever.)

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 7:24 AM  

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