Polls -- One Day to Go

The ABC News/WaPo's daily tracking poll has Obama leading McSame 54 to 43 among likely voters, an increase over Friday and Saturday's numbers. The latest CBS News poll has Obama leading by 13 points, 54 to 41, and the USA Today/Gallup poll has Obama leading by 11, 53 to 42. All of the polls show an increase for Obama since last week.

The similarities in the polls point are striking, even as McSame pours on the fibs about taxes, "socialism" and leadership. His right wing supporters are putting out Swift Boat-like ads in battleground states on the Obama/Jeremiah Wright connection, trying to link Obama with Wright's nutty outbursts. It's all part of the "he's not a real American" innuendo that is failing mightily with the American people.

Another Day, Another Smear

The McSleazy campaign continues to flail around in its waning days, desperate for something to stick to Sen. Obama because talking about the economy is a loser for them. The latest attempt to change the subject is the flap over Columbia University Professor Rashid Khalidi, an American-born scholar of Palestinian ancestry who is a leading advocate for Palestinian rights. According to the LA Times, Khalidi "lavished praise on Obama" at a farewell dinner when Khalidi left the University of Chicago several years ago. A tape of that dinner was provided to the Times on condition that it not be released. Today's WaPo editorializes that McSleazy's attacks "are increasingly reckless," and blasts his comparison of Khalidi to neo-Nazis as a "vile smear."

Now the McSleazy campaign is insinuating all kinds of nefarious doings (as they tried with William Ayers). What they didn't count on was having to defend McSleazy himself, whose International Republican Institute provided $448,000 in multiple grants to a Palestinian research group co-founded by. . .(drum roll please). . .Rashid Khalidi!

So while Obama (as an adjunct professor at the University of Chicago) had a collegial relationship with Khalidi, McSleazy had a financial one, through the "Institute" that he chaired at the time. Boomerang!!

Paging "Joe the Plumber", Paging "Joe the Plumber"

What happened to Joe the (not really a) Plumber at McSleazy's campaign rally today in Ohio? He was a no show, and it resulted in an embarrassing moment for McSleazy. On top of that, his campaign had to bus in some 4,000 kids from local schools to create a "crowd." Sad.

The smell of impending defeat. Bwahahahahaha!

Mutiny on the Titanic

It looks as though the recriminations are beginning in the McAngry/You Betcha campaign, now that most polls show that they're heading for defeat. Gov. You Betcha is upset that her handlers haven't allowed her to be herself (bwahahaha, that would work!), while McAngry loyalists are beginning to weave the message that You Betcha was ineffective in courting Hillary voters and independents, and was generally. . . uh. . . .STUPID.

The fact is, the more the public saw of You Betcha, the more they thought she was unqualified. And the more they questioned McAngry's judgement in selecting her. There's enough blame to go around, and they should both share in it.

McSleazy Worker Admits Hoax

Pittsburgh police now say that Ashley "Toad" Todd, a McSleazy campaign worker from Texas, lied about being assaulted by a black man who was angry that she had a McSleazy bumper sticker on her car. "Toad" apparently scratched a "B" into her cheek and faked a black eye to claim that those angry Obama supporters want to "kill whitey." One clue as to Toad's guilt was that the "B" very lightly scratched into her face was backward - - as though she was looking in a mirror when she was doing it. Brilliant!

Toad is now an honorary member of "'Morans' for McSleazy."

UPDATE: It appears that McSleazy's Pennsylvania campaign was pushing the story early, with incendiary "information" that proved to be false.

(photo: Miss Pinocchio 2008)

"The 'Socialist' Scare"

Ruth Marcus has an op/ed in today's WaPo, "The 'Socialist' Scare." In it, she skewers McSleazy's campaign tactics of trying to paint Obama as un-American:

"There is an ugliness to the McCain campaign's closing days...And McCain is the stoker in chief of the argument that Obama is Eugene V. Debs revisited."

And, just to illustrate the point of the type of person McSleazy is aiming his message at, Marcus quotes a Thomas Jacoby, "a 62-year-old contractor" from Woodbridge, VA:

"I make over $250,000 a year, between my wife and I...I don't want to share it with anybody."

Jacoby, it seems, was responding to McSleazy's claim that essentially Obama's tax relief for those making under $250,000 a year is "spreading the wealth." That's been McSleazy's trope since he started using the "Joe the Plumber" inanity. Well, someone should tell Jacoby ("Jack the Ass"?) that if everyone had his 'tude, there would be no military, no highway system, no Social Security, no Medicare/Medicaid, because those are some of the things you get when you "share" with your fellow countrymen. As Ruth Marcus quotes Oliver Wendell Holmes: "Taxes are the price of a civilized society."

What's At Stake

Yesterday's endorsement of Sen. Obama by Gen. Colin Powell had a story about a Muslim American serviceman who died in Iraq. It's instructive that it took a retired four-star Army General and former Secretary of State to note that our country's military is made up of a diverse group, and that demonizing Muslim-Americans for political gain is a loser in the long run. His endorsement was more about the failure of the McAngry campaign to stop the virulent negative attacks against Obama for somehow being "different" than the majority. In fact, the McAngry campaign is encouraging the despicable theme, because, you know, "Country First."

If The Election Were Held Today. . . .

CNN's electoral map says that Sen. Obama would have more than the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency. The key state that's moved into Obama's column is Virginia, where multiple polls are showing him with a double digit lead.

It's way too early to break out the champagne. The McAngry campaign and their loathsome allies in hate radio and the wingnut blog world will be doing everything they can to lie, cheat, and steal their way to reverse the trend. They can't talk honestly about the economy, because of their complicity in creating the mess we're in, so they have to distract and deceive. It's in their political genes.

Out Of Ideas, Full Of Rage

As so many sources have pointed out over the past four days, the McNasty/You Betcha campaign rallies have turned into orgies of fear and hatred, stoked by slimy, "dog whistle" statements by the two candidates. Videotape has been playing endlessly of McNasty and You Betcha hearing calls from the audience of "kill him" and "terrorist" when they mention Sen. Obama. Yesterday in Wisconsin, a nutbag in the audience said he was "angry" and proceeded to rage against what he said was America's drift toward "socialism." On another appearance in the state, when McNasty mentioned that he wanted Democrats and Republicans to work together, the crowd was silent.

With McNasty running as much as 11 points behind in the daily Gallup tracking polls, their strategy has been clear ever since the economy took a nose dive: it's a loser for them to talk about the economy, so talk about "character" - - i.e., smear Sen. Obama. Egged on by a rabid core of right wing e-mailers and bloggers, and the vile hate radio dominated by the likes of Rush Limpballs, Heil Hannity, and Michael "Wiener" Savage, the low information voter wants McNasty to "take the gloves off." The extreme irony is that these same low information voters are the ones paying the highest price for eight years of Rethug rule, from their stagnant incomes, and lost retirement funds, to their family members sent to patrol the streets of Baghdad while bin Laden remains free. Some will eventually learn the hard way, and some will never learn. "Morans."

Quote of the Week

"There's no question that we have to change the subject here." - - a senior Rethuglican operative talking about the impact of bad economic events on the McSleaze campaign. As noted in the post below, they're going to throw whatever crap they can come up with at Obama, because they can't win on the merits. Like in 2000 and 2004.

"Past Associations"

Courtesy of Gov. Who? this weekend, we know the Rethugs (McSleazy campaign and their 527's) are going to start their desperate 30-day smear campaign on Sen. Obama by raising his "past associations" (silly, discredited linkages to Ayers, Wright, etc.) in an attempt to turn attention away from their disastrous economic policies. As we know, it's all they know how to do.

Well, the Obama campaign is getting out in front (hallelujah!) by raising the mother "past associations" for McSleazy: the Keating 5 scandal - involving issues that actually have a bearing on what this election is about: McSleazy, his judgement and ethics, and the current financial meltdown and the culture of greed that McSleazy has been a part of for over a quarter century.

Have at him!

(Photo: the Smear Machine Express back in the ditch)

McLame Pulling Out Of Michigan

Sen. Maverick McLame's campaign has decided to close its offices and cancel its advertising in Michigan, with his poll numbers tanking after his erratic and losing performance over the financial rescue plan. Michigan has one of the highest foreclosure and unemployment rates in the country, and they don't see any difference between McLame's policies and Dumbya's.

McLame has to put more resources into states that went for Dumbya in 2004, like Virginia, Missouri, Ohio and Florida, which means he's playing defense in what were red states. Not a sign of confidence. In the roughly 4 weeks remaining, the desperate McLame campaign will kick out the stops and get their smear machine back in high gear. It's all they know how to do well.

Political Training Wheels

It looks as though Gov. Who? won't be doing major media interviews without her chaperone, Sen. McLame. Noticing that evil, mean ol' Katie Couric drew some catastrophic material out of his running mate in recent interviews, McLame decided to accompany her and make sure she stayed on the maverick reservation and was defended from mean ol' Katie. Imagine (shiver) if she became President and had to face down those real meanies Ahmadinejad or Kim Il Jong. She won't just be able to read off of a teleprompter.

This is what political training wheels look like.

Missing In Action

Last week's McClown charade, where he "suspended" his campaign (only to appear on every network and cable outlet) to parachute into Washington to help negotiations the economic rescue plan (about which he knew nothing), only to see the negotiations stall on his arrival (and restart Friday when he decided the game was up). . .well, you get the idea. And where was McClown during the tense negotiations Saturday night? Politico has the answer:

"As his colleagues worked the deal at the Capitol Saturday night, McCain and his wife, Cindy, dined with Sen. Joe Lieberman and his wife, Hadassah, at Cafe Mozu inside Washington's Mandarin Oriental Hotel."

So while his colleagues were chowing on pizza and Five Guys burgers, McClown was away from the battle, with his number one sycophant and whisperer of facts, Joe Lieberliar, dining in a four star hotel. Such leadership!

(photo: "I don't think the oysters on the halfshell were fresh, Cindy. . .mmmfffff. . .bleaaaah")

A Drama Queen Up To No Good

Sen. Maverick McPanic's sudden interest in the economic crisis that caused him to parachute into Washington to save the day (day = his campaign) has had some serious consequences. House and Senate negotiators, along with the Treasury Secretary and Fed Chairman, were making progress on a compromise that would protect taxpayers and homeowners, and establish oversight controls. The meeting at the White House - - convened by Chimpy at the request of the McPanic campaign - - was a photo op that managed to undo the bipartisan progress earlier in the week. When it was his chance to speak, McPanic (who had not even read the Assministration's 3 page proposal until Wednesday) talked in generalities for only 2 minutes, not offering anything substantive (as if). The House's right wing Rethug caucus then proceeded to back out of negotiations with the Assministration/Senate Rethugs/House and Senate Democrats, and offered a proposal which the Treasury Secretary said "wouldn't work."

So it's Rethug against Rethug playing games, while the Dems are trying to be the adults in the room. Meanwhile, McPanic gets his face in the papers and on TV (didn't he suspend his campaign? Oh, right). As Sen. Chris Dodd said, this wasn't about an economic rescue, this was a McPanic campaign rescue.

"I Feel Pretty, Oh So Pretty. . ."

Us Magazine has the story that Sen. Maverick McPretty has been using American Idol makeup artist Tifanie White to cover those age spots. She got over $5500 in August alone, so there's no telling how much she'll collect as McPretty nears the Nov. 4 finish line. "More makeup, faster, faster."

Remember what McPretty said in 1992 after his wife pointed out that his hair was thinning? "At least I don't plaster on makeup like a trollop, you c**t." Look who's talking.

AP photo Mary Altaffer

29 Seconds

That's the amount of time Gov. Who? was exposed to the media today, on her whirlwind photo-op with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. After Gov. Who? and Karzai exchanged small talk about children, the media was ushered out of the room, after which presumably Gov. Who? discussed her strategic plans for ridding Afghanistan of Taliban and al Qaeda forces: "pray."

The mainstream media are getting very restless over the stonewall that the McMaverick campaign has erected around their VP nominee. Weeks of unavailability, no press conferences, nada. What do we know about her, someone who could be a heartbeat away from the Presidency? It shows the contempt that the McMaverick bunch has for our democracy.

McSleazy Campaign Running Alaska Governor's Office

The Anchorage Daily News asks, "is it too much to ask that Alaska's governor speak for herself, directly to Alaskans, about her actions as Alaska's governor?" The McSleazy campaign has airlifted dozens of lawyers and other political operatives into Alaska to squash the "Troopergate" investigation, and to generally deflect other inquiries into Gov. Who?'s record as governor and as mayor of the metropolis of Wasilla. They've literally taken over the Governor's Office for the state of Alaska in an attempt to keep the lid on her record and actions until the November elections. It makes the Bushit/Dead Eye Assministration look positively transparent.

Uh, John. My Face Is Up Here.

In addition to checking out his running mate's, um, ass-
ets, McSleazy has also been seen to twist his wedding ring at the same time. Stay close to him, Cindy. Especially if he starts showing a craving for mooseburgers.

Shifting Winds

While the polls don't yet reflect a change in the Presidental race, the meltdown in the financial market will almost certainly shift the conversation from lipstick to the economy. Also, parts of the mainstream media are starting to put down the McMaverick barbeque, wipe the sauce away, and to write about the dishonesty of the McMaverick/Who? team. Some actually are using the word "lie." Former McMaverick idolizer Richard Cohen is up in arms about the lies. Take it away, Dickie:

"McCain has turned ugly. His dishonesty would be unacceptable in any politician. . .his opportunistic and irresponsible choice of Sarah Palin as his political heir. . .is a form of personal treason, a betrayal of all he once stood for."

Of course some of us would argue that "all he once stood for" was an act put on to charm and co-opt his media fans. McMaverick is fond of saying that he'd rather (fill in the blank) than be President. No, he'd rather be President than run an honest, honorable campaign.