It's been a long time . . .

Yeah yeah, holidays and excuses and whatnot. But even while we were all celebrating Baby Jesus' birth by sending Him some Baby Einstein DVD's, things were happening here, in America. It's almost the new year, which means our new and improved (?) congress will meet soon. Except a bunch of states have no idea who will be their new unelected Senator, for various reasons. Let's take a look at some of them.

• New York With Hill Dawg moving up in the world as Secretary of State, someone has to replace her as political dynasty senator. The names everyone is mentioning are Caroline Kennedy, whose main qualification is her last name, and Andrew Cuomo, who has the same going for him only fewer Americans care enough about his politician father to be outraged. Governor David Patterson has to appoint someone, anybody, just to hold things down for two years until the people can vote some wretched monster into office. It will probably be Cuomo.
  

• Illinois Even though Senate Majority Leader and ten year old girl Harry Reid said he will fight any nominee put forth by corrupt Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, Blago announced today the he will nominate former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to replace Barack Obama in the Senate. He's essentially daring Reid to do something that could be interpreted as racially insensitive (refusing to let a qualified black man take the seat of Obama,) which means Charles was wrong. There IS a race card, and Rod Blagojevich plays it better than anyone. You gotta tip your hat to whitey.

• Delaware Now that Joe Biden is out of the Senate and into the Vice President's chair, where he can do no real harm, the eastern seaboard's most boring state will send Ted Kaufman to Washington to replace him. Kaufman spent 21 years on Biden's staff and is just keeping it warm until Biden's son (and Delaware's attorney general) Beau gets home from Iraq in time for the 2010 elections.

• Colorado Didn't know Colorado was missing a Senator, did you? Nobody does. Current Senator Ken Salazar has been appointed Obama's new Secretary of the Interior, so Governor Bill Ritter has to replace him with someone, we'll say Mike Shanahan. I hear he's looking for work now.

• Minnesota Al Franken has an INSURMOUNTABLE 49 vote lead in the recount that will never go away, even when you try and pretend it isn't there. There's a little over 1,000 absentee ballots left to be counted, unless there's some other meaningless hurdle that we have to get through. Norm Coleman's strategy of "have people stop counting votes" has so far proven to be a failure. No one wins, one side just loses more slowly © Mr. Prezbo.
  

Detroit is saved (not really)

Not these guys, they're still an abomination

After years of begging, pleading, flying, driving, compromising and being rejected, the Big 3 automakers are FINALLY getting their money from the government. President Bush sidestepped Congress (because cmon, when have they ever mattered) and approved $17.4 billion in immediate loans for GM and Chrysler. Ford will get nothing and like it, because they said they don't need anything right away.

The $17.4 billion, less than half of what the automakers were asking for before, comes with the condition that the Big 3 have to come up with another concrete plan by March 31, or they get no more bailout money and will have to pay back this loan. I don't remember Citi having to jump through these kind of hoops to get approved for $20 billion back in November. Why is that? Oh yeah, car company workers are all unionized, which means they're lizard people communists. Even though the UAW decided to suspend the dreaded jobs bank program, that pays people money after they retire.

Bush's goal on this bailout is to give the Big 3 enough money so they don't die before he leaves office, at which point it will be the black dude's problem anyway, so who cares.

Janesville: A Bailout Story.

While politicians stall on a bailout plan due to personal differences with the auto industry, a city in Wisconsin will get ready for life after a plant closure.

The GM assembly plant in Janesville, one of the oldest plants in the country, will close in seven days and put its final 1200 workers on the unemployment line right before Christmas.

According to an article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the ripple of the plant closing will send about 9000 jobs crashing with it, with every industry from pizza delivery to day care affected.

Tax revenue will also decrease in the area from people leaving the area in search of new jobs and less spending by the people who stay.

This is a microcosm of what will happen in cities across the country that are homes to auto plants, which normally reside in areas where they are the biggest game in town.

The senators who are holding up the bailout plan because of their own personal grudges with the UAW and the execs from the Detroit Three need to take towns like Janesville into consideration as well while they sit on a six figure check in one of the most meaningless legislative bodies and have the nerve to pass judgement on what somebody else should and shouldn't be doing.

What's happening in the Land of 10,000 ballots?

The greatest election season EVER still isn't over. We here in Minnesota (except for sad Randy Wittman) are all eagerly anticipating who will win litigate his way into the Senate. The Star Tribune's count has Norm Coleman ahead of Al Franken by 192 votes, but this is not counting the thousands of ballots that have been challenged by both sides. According to the AP, of the ballots that can be assigned to either Coleman or Franken (anything not for Dean Barkley or Lizard People) Franken has a net gain of 200, which would give him a potential win by EIGHT votes. This is far from final, as that doesn't even include the absentee ballots (though those are believed to favor Franken as well.)

What does this all mean? That we won't know anything until the fate of these challenged ballots is decided in a state meeting that begins tomorrow and will probably end never. Whoever wins is sure to not win reelection in 2014.

Wait, who are you again?

When your 15 mins are up, here's where you go.

If the picture above doesn't jog your memory, that is the infamous "Joe the Plumber," the guy who was name-dropped ad nauseum during the last presidential debate.

Although the media found out that almost everything about Samuel J. Wurzelbacher ("Joe"'s real name) was a lie, apparently he still thinks he matters. And unfortunately so does Glenn Beck.

Wurzelbacher told Beck that he almost abandoned John McCain on the campaign trail because he co-signed the $700 billion bailout.

I was angry," Wurzelbacher told Beck. "In fact, I wanted to get off the bus after I talked to him."

I'm sure McCain would have cried if he didn't have your support "Joe."

Alot of good it did him anyways.

For any Brewers fans cursing CC Sabathia

Please read this Tom The Dancing Bug strip and calm down.

http://images.salon.com/comics/boll/2007/11/22/boll/story.gif

Please, tape my conversations

You won't find anything, anything at all. Oh wait, you found something? Well, that wasn't supposed to be there.

The new king of Sunday morning?

That is David Gregory, the world's oldest looking 38-year-old human. He is your official new host of NBC's Meet The Press. The announcement was made on Sunday, which means that Tom Brokaw (who took over after Tim Russert's sudden death) will go back to being retired. Gregory, a veteran White House correspondent who hosts the show that comes on before Hardball that used to be Tucker Carlson's show (and has changed it's name like 3 times this year) on MSNBC, has long been rumored to be NBC's top choice for thr MTP gig. He also likes Mary J Blige.

It's a solid, if fairly predictable choice. Meet The Press under Russert was the gold standard of Sunday morning talk shows (and probably will be as long as George Stephanopolous insists on letting George Will on camera.) They're looking at someone who can simply ask credible questions and won't freak anyone out, and Gregory proved he could do both when he was made MSNBC's anchor for the Republican National Convention because Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews and Joe Scarborough couldn't be on the air for 5 minutes without trying to kill each other. Still, it would have been refreshing to see Chuck Todd or dare I say Rachel Maddow get the nod over the fairly vanilla (again, watch the dance clip) Gregory.

Mallrats.

Why can't I see it?!?

The National Mall in Washington D.C. will be fully open for the first time ever to accomodate crowds for Obama's inauguration ceremony.

Usually parts of the mall are closed off for staging areas, but with at least 1 million people expected to descend on Chocolate City, every inch of space will be needed.

If you want one of the 240,000 tickets to see the inauguration up close and personal (as close and personal as 240,000 can be at least), contact your local congressman or senator and put in a request.

I wonder if Rev. Wright will be there...

So there was an election yesterday AGAIN

That is your new old Senator from Georgia, Saxby Chambliss, who retained his seat in a runoff yesterday against the democrat, Jim Martin. Chambliss got 57% of the vote this time, with turnout down almost 50% from the real election day.

This ends the Democrats desire for an unblockable super majority of 60 seats in the Senate, which was probably never going to happen anyway. We're still waiting on the ballots to be recounted in Minnesota, where Norm Coleman has a 303 vote lead. The recount is scheduled to be certified December 16, but who knows if they'll lose count or something by then.

I Gave You Power

I dont usually mess with Fox News, but they make a great point about the exclusion of John Kerry in Obama's cabinet announcements.

Kerry is possibly the earliest Obama supporter, giving the then-relatively-unknown Senator a spotlight during the 2004 Democratic National Convention.

When Obama decided to run for President, Kerry was on board early and spoke for Obama often. Kerry has been named Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, but that's a huge step down from the Secretary of State position Obama just gave to Hill Dawg.

I don't know whether to take that as Obama isn't playing favorites, or whether he's turning his back on the people who rode for him when nobody believed (Gov. Jim Doyle of Wisconsin, another key early Obama supporter, hasn't been appointed to a cabinet position either), but it's very interesting.

Detroit vs. Washington: Round 2

He was going to take this, but it died halfway out of his driveway

Well, the Big 3 are going back to Washington to ask for $25 billion. Last time, Congress laughed them out of the building. Will this time be any different? Maybe.

Ford CEO Alan Mulally says he actually has a plan this time. Ford will not give any bonuses or pay increases to their salaried employees. In fact, Mulally himself says he will take a $1/year salary next year if Ford does get any bailout money. Also, more hybrid and plug-in cars will be on the way, with a plug-in van scheduled for 2010 and a plug-in car for 2011. General Motors and Chrysler have not yet released their plans, but as Ford is the most profitable of the Big 3, I wouldn't expect the other two to differ much form Ford's plan.

We won't know until later this week whether this is enough to sway a skeptical Congress. Congressional Democrats will really be looking for tough fuel efficiency and environmental standards (which the Big 3 resisted for years) while Congressional Republicans will be hesitant to back any bailout after the earful they caught from their conservative constituents about the Wall Street bailout. But at least Detroit is taking a step in the right direction PR-wise, as Mulally will go to DC not in a private jet, but in a hybrid.

We'll see if this sways aynone.

Look who's having a birthday

It's just a rental, I couldn't afford to actually buy a cake

The Recession. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, our adorable little money-sucking recession is a full year old, as it actually began last December. Has it really been a year since every financial adviser with half a brain was telling me they'd rather castrate themselves than put their clients in a long-term product that tied their money too much to the stock market (these are the conversations you have when you work for a financial services provider?) Time flies.

If you're keeping score, that officially makes this recession #2 during George W Bush's presidency. The first one was from March of 2001 until November 2001. How'd we get out of that one? Oh right, wars and such. The NBER says we can't do that with this recession. We'll have to actually work our way out of it with vague advice on stabilizing the markets and the need to "continue to make progress in housing." So, more bailouts then?

Anyways, what are you getting the Recession for it's birthday?

Long weekend reading material

Since it's almost Thanksgiving, I'm lazy and instead of being original, I'm going to point out another original work someone else did.

Nate Silver, the King Of Numbers and future billionaire, has an interesting analysis of what type of president Barack Obama will be. Since much has been made by liberals about Obama's centrist and Clinton-friendly cabinet appointments, a lot of people are wondering whether Obama will govern from the left or the center. Nate answers that question with a nifty chart and numbered paragraphs. It's very good and you should read it. Again, it's right here and totally worth your time.

Charles or I might update over the long weekend, but if not, have a Happy Thanksgiving, and try not to laugh too hard in front of any Republican relatives you have when this is shown during football.

While You Were Sleeping...

If only it was all a dream.

I hope everybody had some nice dreams last night (except Ty, cuz he's a Vikings fan, and Vikings fans should have nightmares every night), because while you were sleeping the government was handing more of your money over to Wall St.

The Fed decided to "invest" $20 billion more in Citigroup late Sunday night without as much as a question, a plan or a peek at their breasts.

The government is also planning to absorb about $300 billion in troubled assets that may or may not pan out to be anything.

The $20 billion "investment" is in addition to the $25 billion that Citigroup already got from the bailout package just last month.

CEO's from the Big Three really need to take notes from the banks, because Citigroup exec's didn't even have to fly in on a private jet to get the money...the government delivered it right to their front door like Domino's Pizza.

I wonder what will happen while I sleep tonight?

Obama introduces new stimulus package

Pictured: Barack Obama delivering the stimulus package (or packages)

Today Barack Obama unveiled his Money Team to the world and announced another stimulus package. Normally this means either bailing out banks or mailing checks to everyone who filed a tax return last year, but apparently not this one. Obama says this will be used to create 2.5 million jobs, focusing on education, clean energy and infrastructure. So how much does it cost to pay 2.5 million people to build solar-powered schools that are all next to the highway? We don't know, because also unlike other stimulus packages, this one doesn't have a dollar amount yet, but Obama did say it needed to be big enough to "jolt" the economy. So it will cost elevnty billion dollars.

As for the auto industry, the president-elect said he wants to help, but they'll get their bailout when they have a plan that doesn't beghin and end with "bild moar ESS YOO VEE, kount muneez."

Guess who won't be foreclosed on this Christmas? EVERYONE

It's a Christmas miracle! Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have heroically suspended their campaigns (of foreclosing on everyone's houses) for the holidays. From November 26 (the day before Thanksgiving) until January 9 (the day after the BCS National Championship Game) the former mortgage titans will take a time out from foreclosures and evictions.

What does this mean long term? Not much! All they're doing is putting off the inevitable, and by the time we actually have a new president, everyone will go back to being homeless again.

The companies plan to reduce interest rates for up to five years and lengthen repayment terms to as much as 40 years to trim monthly payments to roughly 38 percent of a homeowner’s monthly pretax salary. In some cases, borrowers may qualify to temporarily reduce the principal amount of the loan, which would be due without interest if the house is sold or refinanced.

“The Hope Now program is not going to be enough. It’s an incremental step,” said housing advocate John Taylor, president and chief executive officer of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition in Washington. “Obviously, we’re pleased that they’re doing this, but absent a substantive foreclosure program, I wonder if this is this just another problem they’re leaving for the Obama administration.”

But still, Christmas. It's saved now.

Your guide to the Great Minnesota Recount of 08

The loser will be drowned in this, as is custom around here

Well, it's official. Today the Minnesota Senate recount has officially begun. Now Minnesota will be in the news for things other than lutefisk and terrible sports teams. But if you live somewhere else, you might not know what the heck is going on in that crazy chunk of ice that people somehow manage to live on. So here's your guide to the recount that's just like Florida in 2000, only not really.

Who are these people?
Norm Coleman, the Republican senator, and his challenger Al Franken, the star of the underrated show Lateline. Coleman won by 215 votes, which is close enough to trigger a state recount.

Who else?
There's Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who got in some hot water for this Hannity & Colmes appearance, in which he recycled an already-debunked talking point about missing ballots lost in someone's car. Then there's Mark Ritchie, who is our Katherine Harris, only in a shocking Coen brothers twist, he is actually a Democrat, and a man. He is a radical Muslim Acorn, like our new president, because he was at the Democratic National Convention, probably sitting next to Bill Ayers.

Why should anyone care?
It changes the makeup of the senate and gets the democrats closer to 60 seats if Franken wins. For Minnesotans, it means the beginning of the end of the most expensive and bitter senate campaign in state history, guaranteed to leave half the state angry with whoever wins. Also, Saturday Night Live trumps In Loving Color in something.

What are they looking for?
Voting irregularities. When the votes were originally scanned, it only counted votes where someone had correctly filled in the circle next to a candidate's name. Now, with a hand recount, they will count any mark on the ballot that signifies who someone would ovte for, including circling the candidate's name, putting a check by the candidate's name, or writing the candidate's name on your ballot in your own drool. This is expected to help Franken.

How long will this take?
Forever

Election day results keep pouring in

Convicted felon Ted "Senator" Stevens is not going back to Washington. The Anchorage Daily News is reporting that he trails his Democratic rival, Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich by over 2,000 votes, and they're actually running out of ballots to count in Alaska. And FiveThirtyEight, the rightest of all political prediction sites, has called the race for Begich.

The ADC does say that recount is "likely," but I'm not sure who would call for one. Stevens could, but all that would do is force the Republican caucus to expel him, which they clearly don't want to have to do. The GOP would rather he just lose outright and save them the embarrassment that would come from having to formally expel one of their senior members for being a felon, so I doubt they'll make as much noise as they have been in Minnesota.

Anyway, stay tuned for more information on votes that were cast two weeks ago.

Are You Kidding Me?

What is there to debate?

Now they get a conscience.

The "Big Three" helped build this nation by providing millions of jobs and creating the primary form of transportation for the country.

Now that the industry is on the ropes, it is actually finding trouble getting a lifeline from Congress.

Executives from the nations' big automakers are on Capitol Hill this week begging Congress for a $25 to $50 billion piece of the $700 billion pie slated for the financial sector.

The surprise is that after cutting that big check to bailout the banks without even a plausible explanation, Congress is refusing to bailout automakers.

So let me get this straight...Congress had little problem handing Henry Paulson up to $700 billion that he's already admitted he didn't know how to spend (just last week Paulson told Congress that he plans to shift rescue plan funds to loan consumers money because the initial plan isn't working), but they're having trouble handing a fraction of that money to an industry that is the lifeblood of many middle-class Midwestern communities?

Seriously? Is this some kind of joke?

Does Congress really want to put at least 1 million more people on the unemployment line while Wall Street fatcats skate out of the backdoor with minor injuries?

Can we just start 2009 now?

Who wants to watch an awkward video?

Remember when Barack Obama and John McCain were competing with each other for some job or something? Me neither, but here they are "talking sports" at their super-exclusive meeting today. This is probably the most interesting thing that happened, as no job offers or anything else juicy came out. So enjoy.

Hill Dawg for Secretary of State?

To my new job!

Word out of the Obama camp last night is that president-elect Obama is considering Hillary Clinton for his Secretary of State. Other rumored candidates have been John Kerry, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel, but wow. This could be pretty big.

The advantages are obvious for both sides. For Obama, he gets a qualified and popular Secretary of State. If, as the article suggests, he's going to spend most of his first year working on domestic policy, Hill Dawg is a great surrogate to send overseas to meet with foreign leaders. It would also quiet any critics who think he is going to pack his cabinet with like-minded friends and Chicago cronies.For Clinton, this is the closest she's going to get to being president. She'll be 69 years old in 2016, which would make her 5 years older than George HW Bush was in 1988 and only 3 years younger than John McCain this year. Another run at the White House probably isn't in the cards.

There are some drawbacks from Obama's perspective, though. As Newsweek reported in it's comprehensive and well-written campaign journal, there were reasons Team O wasn't thrilled about the prospect of her as a running mate.

Obama was not inclined to choose Hillary, not so much because she had been his sometime bitter rival on the campaign trail, but because of her husband. "You don't just get Hillary, you get Bill," said a top Obama adviser. The Obamaites had benefited from Bill Clinton as a loose cannon in the primary campaign. They did not want to be wounded by him in the general election. Still, from time to time, as Hillary's name came up in veep discussions, and Obama's advisers gave all the reasons she should be kept off the ticket, Obama would stop and ask, "Are we sure?" He needed to be convinced one more time that the Clintons would do more harm than good.

Stay tuned.

Must See TV: Boogie Man-The Lee Atwater Story

Lee Atwater with George Bush Sr. in 1988.


I don't know if it will play all month, but check your local listings for the documentary called Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story on Frontline on PBS.

This is a great documentary about Lee Atwater, a man who rose from obscurity in South Carolina to be come one of the most polarizing figures in modern politics before dying from a brain tumor at 40 years old in 1991.

Atwater is called the "architect of the negative campaign," using tactics like push polls, "independent" negative ads and anonymous stories in the media to help the Republican Party win several campaigns in the 80s (including Regan in 84 and Bush in 88).

To put it in simpler terms, he was Karl Rove before Karl Rove (who is Atwater's protege coincidentally).

If you want to know how things like Rev. Wright and "Swiftboat politics" became the norm in campaigns, this is a must see.

George Bush learns the #1 rule for your set

For the last few months, it seemed as if George W Bush just wanted to get out of the White House and back to Crawford, where he wouldn't have to deal with any more people or problems and he could just forget he was ever president. That may still be the case, but we have learned that President Bush actually has thought on his legacy and his presidency, and he admits that he made some mistakes. No, he really said so.

``I regret saying some things I shouldn't have said,'' Bush said. He cited comments he made after the Sept. 11 attacks, when he said of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden: ``I want justice. There's an old poster out West that said, 'Wanted, dead or alive.'''

He also said he regretted telling Iraqi insurgents in 2003: ``There are some who feel like that the conditions are such that they can attack us there. My answer is, bring 'em on.''

Bush also listed the "Mission Accomplished" banner, saying that it "conveyed the wrong message" and that it was never meant to signal the end of the Iraq War. He didn't really elaborate on what it was meant to convey, but that's okay, at least he's sort of thinking about these things now. Maybe we will learn more in the book he plans to publish. If anyone's willing to actually purchase the rights to it.

Next Stop on the Bailout Express: Detroit.

Bend over America, this will only hurt a little bit.

After The Big Three (even Toyota) posted horrid third quarter numbers, the auto industry has decided to put their bid in on the Government Gold Rush.

Auto executives have been on Capitol Hill for the past week or so telling every politician who will listen that they need a piece of the bailout slated for the financial industry.

And guess what? They're paying attention.

As most economists predicted, it was only a matter of time before other industries in trouble turned to the government based on the precedent set by the bailout.

Its like having a bag of candy around a group of kids...if you give one kid some, you have to give all of the kids some because they'll get on your nerves until they get their share.

Just like the finance industry, automakers' problems begin with themselves. For decades they pushed out gas-guzzling SUV's and trucks and dragged their feet on development of more efficent cars. When gas prices went sky high and the economy went into the tank, automakers couldn't give away a SUV and they couldn't meet the demand for the cars that people did want.

For the third quarter of 2008, GM's sales were dow 45 percent from a year earlier. Meanwhile Ford was down 32 percent, rock-steady Toyota posted a 23 percent decline and Daimler AG and American Honda were down more than 24 percent.

GM barely has enough money to keep the lights on until the ball drops on New Year's Eve.

In my opinon, if a bailout had to happen the auto industry should have been first. Those are the type of jobs that fuel the economy and spark growth, because those are the people who go out and buy houses and max out credit cards.

When a bank closes you might have a little more trouble getting a car loan or you might have to drive a little further to get to an ATM, but an auto plant closure can kill a city.

Now that the auto industry is asking for a bailout though, its only a matter of time before the airline industry comes next with it's hand out.

Have fun running the country Obama.

What to do with Joe Lieberman?

WOOO, I am totally screwed!

Joe Lieberman has had things pretty good for the last couple of years. He got re-elected to the Senate despite losing the endorsement of the Connecticut Democratic party over his support for the Iraq War, and he's been all over TV the last few months stumping for his friend John McCain. He even got to speak in prime time at the Republican National Convention this year. I don't think he got this kind of shine when he was actually on a presidential ticket eight years ago.

But now the election is over, his guy lost and his fate is in the hands of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who did not like the idea of the kinda-Democrat acting as a surrogate for the Republican nominee, speaking at the RNC and trashing the Democratic nominee as someone who couldn't put "country first" and for "voting against funding our troops." Reid is displeased.

“Joe Lieberman has done something that I think was improper, wrong, and I’d like — if we weren’t on television, I’d use a stronger word of describing what he did,” he said on CNN Friday.

Reid has three options. He can either forgive Lieberman in the spirit of bipartisanship (a theme Barack Obama has stressed since winning the election last week,) throw him out of the Democratic caucus or give him a lesser punishment, like stripping Lieberman of his title as chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security. But even if Reid (who has said he will leave it up to the Democratic senate caucus) does take away Lieberman's chairmanship, that could be the last straw anyway. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has already discussed with lieberman the idea of caucusing with the Republicans.

“Senator Lieberman’s preference is to stay in the caucus, but he’s going to keep all his options open,” a Lieberman aide said. “McConnell has reached out to him and at this stage his position is he wants to remain in the caucus but losing the chairmanship is unacceptable.”

Whatever happens, Lieberman's in a bad position. The best thing to do would be to remain in the Democratic caucus, at least if he ever wants to be re-elected (Connecticut currently has zero Republicans representing them in either the House or Senate, and that's not a conincedence.) However, the odds of him remaining with the Democrats and not facing some kind of punishment is likely slim. If he gets his chairmanship taken away, it's obvious the democrats don't really want him, and there's no point to sticking around. But would his reception among Republicans be any warmer? Remember, one of the reasons McCain did not pick Lieberman as his running mate was because of the potential backlash he would have faced among the party's base. Are the same people who might have staged a brawl on the floor of the Xcel Center if this guy had been nominated for VP going to embrace him as a Republican senator?

So basically, Joe Lieberman is doomed to serve out the next four years as either an almost Democrat who no Democrat trusts or as a pseudo-Republican who no Republican really likes.

UPDATE: HuffPo is reporting that Obama has told party officials he wants Lieberman to stay. They might let him keep his chairmanship in Homeland Security but take him out of the committees on Armed Services and Environment & Public Works. So hooray for bipartisanship maybe.

The Other Four Fingers.

I seen it on my 20-inch Zenith.

After John McCain was soundly beaten on Tuesday (North Carolina also went to Obama, pushing the final total to 364-173 in the Electoral College), the fingers pointed at the most predictable scapegoat.

Shortly after the election, McCain's aides were already laying blame for the loss on Sarah Palin's lack of knowledge of the issues. I could be mistaken, but wouldn't this be the kind of thing you find out in a vetting process BEFORE you pick your running mate? The vetting process McCain's people CLAIMED they did?

A couple of McCain's aides anonomously told reporters that Palin didn't know that Africa was a continent and couldn't name the members of the North American Free Trade Agreement while they were prepping her for the VP debate.

They also claimed she was a diva, and that she greeted some of McCain's top advisers in nothing more than a towel on one occaision.

While the towel thing is probably untrue, it was clear during the couple months that Palin was in the spotlight that she was in way over her head.

I don't know how she didn't see that she was getting set up to be thrown under the bus.

Anybody could see that when the Palin Express started derailing and the disapproval started getting louder, she was going to be the scapegoat when McCain's campaign inevitably failed.

I felt sorry for her when I said it about a month ago, and now that its coming to fruition I feel sorry for her now. This was like a backup QB getting his first start ever....versus the Baltimore Ravens.

The coach can blame the player for the sorry game he's bound to have, but he has to look at the other four fingers pointing back at his own mistakes.

The McCain campaign has a lot of soul searching to do before they can even begin to hang this on somebody else.

Who says election season is over?

I bet you thought that after November 4 we would be done with this whole "democratic process" thing for a while. But you would be wrong. Three senate races still have yet to be decided, and it's going to be awhile before we know who will be representing Alaska, Georgia and Minnesota in the senate.

First, in the Land of Hockey Moms, convicted felon Ted Stevens holds a narrow lead over his challenger, Democrat Mark Begich. There are still a bunch of absentee ballots left to count, so Begich isn't yet conceding. Even if Stevens does hold on to win, he might be unable to serve his term, as he is facing pressure from both Democrats and Republicans to step aside, which means the governor of Alaska would have to appoint the kid who knocked up her daughter to be Senator.

Down in JAWJA, Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss is headed for an old fashioned runoff against his Democratic rival Jim Martin, since nobody got 50% of the vote. The runoff will be held December 2nd, and the month leading up to it could feature appearances from John McCain, Sarah Palin and/or Barack Obama. Remember those people?

And in Minnesota, Republican incumbent Norm Coleman holds a 238 vote lead over Democrat and star of the short-lived but critically acclaimed Lateline Al Franken. By state law (which also forbids the opening of liquor stores on Sunday, because the laws were all written by a crazy Lutheran oligarchy) there must be a recount, which might not start until the middle of this month at the earliest. We will never know who won and the seat will be given to Kent Hrbek, maybe, because he is so down home and folksy.

Since all three seats in question are held by Republicans, these races are especially critical. If democrats win all of them, it will give them 58 members in the Senate. Add in the independent socialist guy from Vermont who caucuses with them and Joe Lieberman, who is still technically kind of a Democrat and they have 60, the magic number required to block fillibusters. Winning all three is a longshot, as in each of these races the Republican candidates have the lead.

But on the bright side, it gives me something to blog about in my free time.

It's All Over: How it Happened pt. 1

Rev. Jesse Jackson Crying During Barack Obama's Acceptance Speech.

Yes he can. In what analysts are calling the most dominant Democratic win in about 40 years, Barack Obama is now the President Elect.

Obama beat John McCain by a tally of 349-163 in the electoral college, a margin of over two to one. The popular vote nationally was 53% to 47% for Obama. Obama's 53% of the popular vote is the most by any Democratic candidate since Jimmy Carter in 1976.

Obama is also the first Democrat to win the state of Virginia since Lyndon Johnson in 1964.

John King of CNN summed up the election best in saying that Obama outperformed Kerry across the board, and McCain underperformed Bush across the board.

As soon as the numbers started rolling in from the big cities across the East Coast and Midwest, Obama's lead grew exponentially. When the media outlets called Ohio and Pennsylvania for Obama, two states that every Republican pundit said that McCain had to win, even McCain's aides began to say the race was out of reach.

At around 11:00 p.m. eastern time when the polls on the West Coast closed and the early numbers started to come in, all the media outlets called the race for Obama.

Shortly after that, McCain conceded:



Then at Midnight EST, Obama delivered this acceptance speech:



I'm sure Ty will add more on the House, Senate, and Presidential races soon.

So, there was an election yesterday

Americans went to the polls and pushed buttons, pulled levers, filled in circles and colored in little arrows until some people were named our new overlords. Here's who they are.



That's the first family.



And that guy's Vice President. Really!



These people get to control the Senate and the House, even though there are presently 4 Senate races and 10 House races that haven't been decided, including one in Minnesota that's heading for a recount.

More analysis later, but that's your quick (and I do mean quick) recap of the night that was.

My E-Day Voting Experience

Election day is finally here after 11 months of ads, slander and stump speeches.

Throughout the early morning I saw lines out of the doors of every polling place I passed, everywhere I went people were very excited about voting.

When I went to McDonalds to get some breakfast, a normally empty restaurant was packed with people who were either coming from voting or on their way to vote.

Everybody was talking about a certain issue or a certain candidate that made them want to vote...it nearly brought a tear to my eye.

If I had one complaint, it would be....WHERE WERE YOU FOOLS FOUR OR EIGHT YEARS AGO?!?

I understand that sometimes it takes a serious event to compel people to vote, but did it have to get this bad? Over 4000 troops had to die in Iraq, the stock market had to crash and millions of jobs had to go into the toilet for people to actually care about who runs this country again.

I'm not complaining, i'm just saying.

I'll be watching the numbers roll in tonight just like everybody else, it's time to find out if white people really have the heart to vote for a black man to lead the country.

The end of culture warring?

Peter Beinart has an interesting column in today's Washington Post where he predicts the end of the "culture wars" coming once this election is over. The culture wars Beinart refers to are the so-called "wedge" issues such as gay rights, abortion, guns and immigration that the Republicans have been able to emphasize over the last few decades, with mostly successful results. Sarah Palin's selection as running mate was seen by some as a sign that the McCain campaign was dedicated to fighting the culture wars, similar to George W Bush in 2004, and her plummeting popularity is evidence that the war has ended.

Beinart says that the faltering economy is a reason we are on the verge of cultural peace in our time, as nobody cares about gay people getting married and Mexicans stealing their jobs if there are no jobs to steal. Combine that with a rise in younger voters who don't care or are opposed to many of the positions that culture warriors have taken, and that's it. It's a wrap. Finito.

Except maybe it's not.

From the column

Today, according to a recent Newsweek poll, the economy is up to 44 percent and "issues like abortion, guns and same-sex marriage" down to only 6 percent. It's no coincidence that Palin's popularity has plummeted as the financial crisis has taken center stage. From her championing of small-town America to her efforts to link Barack Obama to former domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, Palin is treading a path well-worn by Republicans in recent decades. She's depicting the campaign as a struggle between the culturally familiar and the culturally threatening, the culturally traditional and the culturally exotic. But Obama has dismissed those attacks as irrelevant, and the public, focused nervously on the economic collapse, has largely tuned them out.

Palin's attacks are also failing because of generational change. The long-running, internecine baby boomer cultural feud just isn't that relevant to Americans who came of age after the civil rights, gay rights and feminist revolutions. Even many younger evangelicals are broadening their agendas beyond abortion, stem cells, school prayer and gay marriage. And just as younger Protestants found JFK less threatening than their parents had found Al Smith, younger whites -- even in bright-red states -- don't view the prospect of a black president with great alarm.

The economic challenges of the coming era are complicated, fascinating and terrifying, while the cultural battles of the 1960s feel increasingly stale. If John McCain loses tomorrow, the GOP will probably choose someone like Mitt Romney or Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal to lead it back from the wilderness, someone who -- although socially conservative -- speaks fluently about the nation's economic plight and doesn't try to substitute identity for policy. Although she seems like a fresh face, Sarah Palin actually represents the end of an era. She may be the last culture warrior on a national ticket for a very long time.

It might be that "culture wars" are limited to times of economic progress, when people can afford to care about these things. But what happens when the economy improves, which it probably will at some point in the next decade or so? And when these young voters get older, as the baby boomers did? The same generation that made Woodstock happen also made the Reagan 80's happen, partially because Reagan was so skilled at tying a traditional conservative philosophy of limited government to these seemingly unrelated wedge issues.

We might be at a cease-fire, but I doubt the war is over.

The Pop Culture President.

With the news that Barack Obama ejected reporters from three conservative-leaning newspapers out of his cadre but kept reporters from Glamour and Jet, it's time to wonder if we could have another pop culture president on our hands.

A good example of a Pop Culture President is Bill Clinton. Clinton was a media darling and the public loved him (for the most part). But do we really need another Clinton right now?

Not to be confused, I don't think we need McCain either, but somebody who thinks that Jet is more important than The Dallas Morning News rubs me the wrong way.

Going into the last weekend, Obama is ahead 50 percent to 43 percent for McCain...next up, Election Day.

Vote Early Worked, Point For Obama.

Those are not parking tickets they're holding.

Barack Obama is making history again. He actually has black people waiting in line for hours to get INTO the courthouse. (I'm black, I can say that.)

People all across the country are heeding Obama's call to vote early, causing several states to extend hours to deal with the onslaught of voters.

Obama blitzed every form of media (including video games) urging people to vote early, and they are responding in droves.

Georgia, North Carolina and Florida have all signed orders to extend hours to allow more people to vote, and people are waiting in lines for up to 90 minutes to cast their ballots.

This makes the chances even slimmer for McCain...although the margin on the CNN poll is closer (49 percent to 44 percent for Obama), Obama's lead in the projected electoral votes is increasing.

Is it possible for McCain to just quit?

That's All You Can Come Up With?

If Tiger doesn't know, I don't know either.

Barack Obama just spent a few million dollars to commandeer the major networks....to tell you the same thing he's been telling you for the past 10 months.

After watching the special, I didn't learn anything new about Obama I didn't already know, and I missed 30 minutes of a basketball game.

I'm sorry Ty, but seeing the Will.I.Am. video would have been better than watching a 30-minute-megamix of all of his campaign points blended with a rally speech in Florida.

This special was the equivalent of Nintendo's keynote speech at this year's E3 (or was it CES?), where they basically said "We're ahead of the rest by so much why even bother showing anything new, i'll just stand here and look handsome while the time ticks off."

Six.More.Days.

What will Obama do with his 30 minutes?

Pictured: Barack Obama

Tomorrow, Barack Obama will appear before the nation on NBC, CBS, Fox (take that Philly fans) and Univision to do . . . something. We don't know, as the campaign wants to keep the contents of his infomercial a surprise. It might be a highlight reel of various speeches and people talking about what a great guy he is (like the kind they play at his speeches before he takes the podium,) it may be a "presidential" address to the nation where he directly lays out his plan to tax everyone's money and use it to build giant terrorist mosques. Maybe it will be some combination of the two. Anyway, here's what he needs to do to seal the deal.

• Don't show that Will i am video. Not even a second of it. Please.
• Don't sling too much mud. Since the focus will be on Obama, he should use it as an opportunity to promote himself and make the case FOR Obama. Don't even mention John McCain.
• Don't be too flashy. This probably won't be a problem, as Obama's been running as the Serious Candidate ever since the economy went downhill, but this shouldn't be a big production. Just show voters the meat and potatoes (hey, that's the name of this blog!) of what an Obama presidency means.
• If there are any big endorsements that they've been waiting to spring, though, now would be a great time to do so, though I can't imagine who the Obama campaign could have bottled up.
• Seriously, though, enough with that Will i am video.
  

The Home Stretch

With just 8 days left until the election, one side is going for the jugular while the other side is just trying to keep it close.

Barack Obama plans to campaign in Ohio and Pennsylvania this week to make what his people are calling his "closing argument." Obama is currently ahead on virtually all the major polls, with a four percent lead in the Reuters/C-Span/Zogby poll, and an eight percent lead on the CNN poll.

Sometimes polls can be false indicators of how a vote will play out, but when they all say the same thing, the outcome is pretty certain.

For all the mudslinging and diversionalry tactics of the Republican Party, John McCain is just trying not to get blown out at this point.

Personally, I feel sorry for the man...he spent the past decade or so riding for what he thought was right, angering his party and making enemies with almost every conservative from Maine to the Valley in Cali, only to lose because he tried to play the game.

In actuality, he might have had a shot if he had just stayed true to himself.

In other Alaskan news . . .

Embattled US Senator Ted Stevens was found guilty on seven counts of ethics violations and making false statements regarding gifts and services he received. The 84-year-old Stevens is up for reelection next week and will stay on the ballot as he attempts to win his eighth term against Democrat Mark Begich, which could be served in jail. The charges carry a maximum sentence of five years, but Stevens will most likely not get the maximum penalty. His next move will likely be a decision of whether or not to resign from his position.

Now let us remember Senator Steven for what will undoubtedly be his defining moment, The "Series of Tubes."

Ass, Gas or Cash: Nobody Reports for Free.

The regular line forms to the right, VIP is to the left.

A friend clued me in to this story today.

The Chicago Tribune reported that Barack Obama is charging media outlets anywhere from $410 to $1,870 for access to his Election Night party at Grant Park in Chicago.

The prices vary based on preference of position and the level of phone, television and internet access needed.

Charging outlets for these things are not foreign to presidential campaigns, but in Obama we're talking about a candidate who just raised $150 million in September.

Obama has more money than he knows what to do with at this point, why not throw the press a bone and foot the bill for this?

If this story spreads, it would not be a good foot for Obama's potential presidency to start on.

Obama should already know that the media can be as nice as Mr. Rodgers or as evil as Cruella Deville at the drop of a hat, all they need is a reason.

Whose campaign is this?

Today, while giving an interview with Christian radio host James Dobson, Sarah Palin outlined her running mate's stance on gay marriage, abortion and stem cell research. She said that she is convinced from the bottom of her heart that McCain not only supports, but would implement constitutional amendments banning all abortions as well as gay marriage and that he would block any federal funding towards stem cell research.

Did someone bother to inform John McCain that he now believes these things? Because he's never previously mentioned any of these things specifically, and some of his own people have mentioned his opposition to an amendment banning all abortions, including in cases of rape and incest.

Really, is anyone even running this campaign anymore? Or is Sarah Palin basically just doing her own thing at this point?

Women Be Shoppin.

Who knew business suits and glasses cost so much?

According to Reuters, the Republican National Committee has spent more than $150,000 to dress Sarah Palin since she became the VP nominee.

The committee spent over $75,000 at Neiman Marcus, close to $50,000 at Saks, and the rest in miscellaneous purchases at other stores over the past couple of months.

I don't know why they have to spend so much money to make her look the same pretty much all the time...it's not like she's wearing anything extravagant, she looks like she just left work everyday.

Maybe they could have taken some of that money and hired somebody to show her how to get in touch with Fake America:

The biggest gaffe of the campaign (so far)

Oh my. Who would have thought that the biggest gaffe of the campaign wouldn't come from Sarah Palin or Joe Biden? Some background. A Democratic Congressman from western Pennsylvania named John Murtha made headlines by calling his region of the state "racist." While the old "win over your constituents by calling them racist" ploy is the oldest trick in the book (I didn't say what book,) some people have taken Murtha's words to be insulting. Who are you to call these people, some of whom own Steelers jerseys with a black man's last name emblazoned on the back, racist?

Well, non-racist people of western Pennsylvania, John McCain thinks that anyone who calls you racist is . . . absolutely right? Wait, what?



He recovered nicely (not really) but how awkward was that. Look at that guy in the red hat's face. He's so confused. Why would John McCain invite him onstage to stand near an attractive Asian girl only to insult his home state? Luckily, he lives in "the most patriotic part of the country" so he was humming Lee Greenwood in his head the whole time.

Fifty, Twenty, Ten, Five, One.

This is what $600 Million looks like.

Apparently alot of people believe in change.

Barack Obama smashed fund raising records with a $150 million month in September. When you add up the numbers in the title of this entry, you get $86, the average contribution per donor.

September's fund raising numbers put Obama over $600 million total for this election...sit and think about that for a second.

The company you work for (or got laid off from) most likely doesn't bring in that much money in a year.

I'm sure there were a few max contributions ($2300 is the most an individual can give to a campaign), but for the most part the lion's share of that money came from people like me and you.

People are complaining about a the cost of gas, the cost of food, a lack of healthcare, lack of jobs, eroding 401(k)'s and a myriad of other problems, but they managed to scrap together $86 to give to a man who already had over $400 million.

And for what? So him and Biden can ride around in Obama Edition Maybach's or something?

Where does that money go when the election is over? He can't possibly spend it all in the next few weeks, does that mean you get your contribution back?

Somebody sarcastically commented on a message board that Barack Obama could probably pay down the national debt with a fundraiser...in reality that idea doesn't sound far fetched at this point.

If that was to ever happen, that would be some change I can believe in...until then i'll use my $86 to put some gas in my car and some food in my fridge.

Is Jeremiah Wright McCain's last gasp?

Davis (left) writes his strategy on the ball for Hewitt (right)

John McCain's campaign manager Rick Davis, who famously attempted and missed a between the legs dunk when he played for the Celtics, told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt that McCain might bring up Barack Obama's relationship with Jeremiah Wright. But why would McCain do this when his campaign already said that Wright would be off limits? Because Rep. John Lewis has forced their hand, I guess. When the Georgia congressman compared the hate-filled crowds at recent McCain/Palin rallies to hate-filled crowds at George Wallace rallies, he crossed the line.

"Look, John McCain has told us a long time ago before this campaign ever got started, back in May, I think, that from his perspective, he was not going to have his campaign actively involved in using Jeremiah Wright as a wedge in this campaign," he said late last week. "Now since then, I must say, when Congressman Lewis calls John McCain and Sarah Palin and his entire group of supporters, fifty million people strong around this country, that we're all racists and we should be compared to George Wallace and the kind of horrible segregation and evil and horrible politics that was played at that time, you know, that you've got to rethink all these things. And so I think we're in the process of looking at how we're going to close this campaign. We've got 19 days, and we're taking serious all these issues."

So the goal is to refute the charges of coded racism by . . . attacking the angry black man that knows the other black man? I see. I don't know what this would even accomplish. No one cared when McCain finally mentioned Bill Ayers, and he was a lot worse than Wright. Besides, what could they possibly say about Wright that wasn't already said during the Democratic primaries, which Obama also won?

Barack Obama: He's In The Game.

Obama's banner in the game Burnout Paradise.

If you thought you would be able to turn on your Xbox360 to tune out the onslaught of political propaganda as the election draws closer, think again.

Barack Obama has teamed up with Microsoft this week to add billboards and banners to 18 popular Xbox360 video games.

Combined with the rest of Obama's advertising strategies, this is undoubtedly the most intensive ad campaign in election history.

At this point, I could seriously see people not voting for Obama simply because they're sick of seeing him.

And that was the 2008 presidential debate season

The most important voter ever

Wasn't that fun? Now the debates are in the books, and nothing really happened. John McCain finally mentioned Bill Ayers, but no one cared. Both the CBS and CNN polls say Barack Obama won the third and final debate. We're now 18 days from away from the election, and there's no more conventions, no more debates, it's all up to the two campaigns to manufacture their own successes and failures. Unless Joe The Plumber (pictured?) has anything to say about it. His vote apparently is worth more than all the rest of ours combined, because that's what it says in the Constitution.

Unless Bill Ayers flies a plane into Joe The Plumber's Mushroom Kingdom Castle, the big issue is still the economy, which is only going to benefit the Dems.

Where the Republicans Went Wrong

The only poll McCain is winning right now.

With the last debate coming tonight and McCain behind big on virtually every poll out there, it's time to find out how the Republican party got into this mess.

1. The Republican Party should have nominated Mitt Romney*. (Or he should have at least been nominated VP)

This is probably the biggest mistake they've made so far in this election, they picked the wrong person to run in the first place.

When the economy went into the tank, McCain's chance to become president most likely went along with it. Mitt Romney is very strong on economic issues. How good would this comment had sounded for Republicans when Wall Street crashed a couple weeks ago?

"I had occasions to be in the turnaround business. And I'd like to get my hands on Washington. It needs to be taken completely apart, with every program and agency evaluated for effectiveness and efficiency. Every business does that or goes bankrupt. But Washington seems to get larger and larger every year." (Peter Hecht, "Political Conversion," Sacramento Bee, 3/15/07)

Romney couldn't win the nomination though because it wasn't his political "turn in line." And he wasn't picked by McCain to be VP because of issues between the two, even though any Republican worth their weight in Grey Poupon knew that McCain/Romney would have been the best ticket.

2. John McCain had a bad gameplan from the start.

McCain had the Republican nomination wrapped up about 3 months before the end of the Democratic primary campaign. The time, plus all the mud being slung in the Democratic primary should have been more than enough for McCain to effectively prepare for Hill Dawg or Obama...yet he still didn't have a gameplan.

If he did, he wouldn't have had to pick Sarah Palin to inject false sizzle to his campaign. And that brings me to number 3.

3. The Republicans allowed John McCain to nominate Sarah Palin VP.

This may turn out to be the single biggest mistake to this point.

The idea that jilted Clinton supporters would vote for Palin just because she's a woman is insulting to Republicans and women.

Sure, she got McCain a quick bump in the polls coming off the heels of Obama's nomination, but as the layers peeled away from the onion it made more and more people cry, and not in a good way.

Once she opened her mouth to Katie Couric, the jig was up...now she's a walking, talking version of The Daily Show, except the jokes are real.

If and when McCain gets killed in a couple of weeks, I hope the Republican Party looks at the mistakes they made and comes correct in four years (not really though).

Only one debate left

McCain (right) questions Obama's (left) stance on flaming skull projectiles

Wednesday will give us the third (fourth if you count the VP debate, which no one does) and final presidential debate of this election. The last debate was completely forgettable except for John McCain calling Barack Obama "that one" and not shaking Obama's hand, because he forgot his gloves or something. What will we see in this final debate, live from Strong Island?

• McCain will maybe bring up Bill Ayers in a debate. Or he won't. But if he does, it's only because Obama made him do it.
• Most of the talk will be on the economy, because that's the scheduled topic (technically it's the economy and domestic policy.) Even though almost all of the second debate was about the economy and the first third or so of the "foreign policy debate" was as well. Expect no new questions asked by moderator Bob Schieffer.
• Speaking of Schieffer, if the candidates deviate from the rules a little bit, don't make a big deal of it. Tom Brokaw did that at the last one, and nobody will probably ever invite him to a debate, debate party or over to their house to watch The Great Debaters ever again.
• With the polls looking favorable for Obama, don't expect him to deviate much from the same points he has been making since our economy first died. At this point, he just needs to grind out the clock and wait until November 4. Expect him to, at some point towards the end of the debate, take a knee and trot off the stage.
• Finally, expect the polls to call it "mostly a draw, which benefits Obama."
  

ACORN Diffuses A-Bomb

The Republicans are going to have to find a new drum to bang after ACORN acknowledged potential voter fraud.

For those out of the loop, ACORN is a nationwide organization that has been registering poor and moderate-income voters across 18 states.

The group has been the subject of many negative ads because of its ties to Obama, but mostly because the voters that ACORN is registering are more likely to vote for Obama.

Trust, if ACORN was focusing its registering drives on Wall St., there wouldn't be a problem.

Officials from ACORN said that it is the responsibility of state election officials to weed out the bad applications (which is a suspect statement, because the likelihood of officials catching every single bad application is slim to none).

I think Republicans have a right to call shenanigans if they feel like somebody is trying to overwhelm the system, but in reality, its not that big of an issue...I highly doubt that half of those people even vote.

Phoenix Crashing

McCain (second from left) and Goldwater (far right, no pun intended)

Everyone's trying to compare this election to past elections. Is it like 1992, where the economy trumped every other issue and swept a young Democrat into office over a much older Republican? Is it like 1980, where people wanted to throw the incumbent party out of the White House but had reservations about the relatively inexperienced but very charismatic challenger until the debates? The answers are kind of and yes. But for now I want to look at the last time the Republicans nominated a veteran Arizona senator, 1964.

Then, the nominee was Barry Goldwater. Goldwater was the de facto leader of the conservative faction in the GOP in an era when the Republican party was dominated by moderates, many of whom were from the northeast, like Pennsylvania Governor William Scranton, Michigan Governor George Romney, New York Governors Thomas Dewey and Nelson Rockefeller and the symbol of moderate Republicanism, Dwight Eisenhower. Many conservatives, both in and outside of the party, were frustrated with the Republican nominee frequently being someone who more or less echoed the policies of Democrats. They never heard their candidates talk about total victory over communism abroad (even if it meant using nuclear weapons in Asia,) and what they saw as the overexpansion of the federal government's authority over states with the new pressures of civil rights legislation. They were becoming disenchanted with their party's leadership, and they found their savior in Senator Goldwater.

Though he was initially reluctant to run for president, Goldwater didn't realize that it was already predetermined. The movement to draft Goldwater to run was too big for even him to ignore. He officially jumped in and all hell broke loose. The 1964 Republican primary wasn't just to determine a nominee, it was now for the soul of the Republican party. Governor Rockefeller, the favorite of the moderate establishment, would face his greatest challenge from a conservative westerner. What ensued was a primary battle so nasty it made the punches thrown in this year's Obama/Clinton race look like love taps. Goldwater's opponents in the GOP called him dangerous, an extremist, a racist and a warmonger.

(Yes, this is all going somewhere.)

Goldwater prevailed, and the conservative wing of the party finally had their own candidate, but the trouble was far from over. The 1964 Republican National Convention in San Francisco showed a party divided. Rockefeller was booed, hissed and shouted down by the audience during his speech when he said that the party must repudiate extremism, to the point where TV cameras caught his wife sobbing in the stands at the Cow Palace. The Goldwater Republicans were behind their man 100% and were willing to roll over anyone who disagreed, even if they were in the same party. This was the environment that Goldwater, who was not crazy himself, had fostered.

America saw this on TV and decided to support Lyndon Johnson, the guy who did not represent a party that had been taken over by rabid dogs that had suddenly learned to talk. As Goldwater's post RNC poll numbers went down, he became increasingly desperate. Goldwater, an opponent of the Civil Rights Act, was very popular among the people who had supported George Wallace's presidential campaign earlier that year. That's not to say Goldwater and Wallace saw eye to eye on everything. Goldwater opposed the Civil Rights Act on constitutional principles. Goldwater didn't believe that the federal government should have any authority over states except for when it was explicity spelled out in the Constituion. Wallace opposed it because he hated black people.

But Goldwater wasn't above using the code words that had gained Wallace such a large following in southeastern Wisconsin (racism in Milwaukee? I know, it shocked me, too,) northern Indiana and Maryland, not to mention the South. "State's rights," "law and order," and allusions to "mobs in the street" caught the attention of fearful whites across the country and drew them to Wallace, and later Goldwater. The KKK, the John Birch Society and other far right groups supported Goldwater, whose Jewish ancestry didn't seem to bother them as long as he kept saying what they liked hearing. Goldwater wasn't a candidate to them as much as he was a vessel for their fear of a black country. And Goldwater wasn't in much of a position to denounce them, because the other wing of his party had hurt (and been hurt by) Goldwater so badly during the primaries and convention.

What does this have to do with 2008? We have another self-styled maverick Arizona senator representing the GOP in a presidential campaign, and again race is a big factor in this election. The nominee (who has called Goldwater a political hero of his, though the feeling might not have been mutual) has seen his longshot candidacy falling apart with dropping poll numbers and has resorted to stoking fears of the scary black man. Like Goldwater, McCain's rallies are filled with people who see him as less of a candidate and more of a sounding board for them to speak on the "Arab terrorist" who makes them "fearful to raise their children in America." Sarah Palin makes speeches that only encourage these attitudes, and "kill him," "terrorist," and "off with his head" have been heard at McCain/Palin rallies.

While McCain, like Goldwater, isn't a racist in my opinion, he hasn't done much to try and stop the vitriolic crowds. And, as his Friday rally (the one where he was booed for calling Barack Obama a decent man) in Lakeville, MN showed, maybe there's nothing he can do. But this is an atmosphere of hatred, where the opponent is seen not as a rival, but an enemy. Like Goldwater, McCain has been swept up by this movement and had its own goals projected on to him. Like Goldwater, it has people within his own party questioning not just the candidate, but the state of the party as a whole. Chris Buckley wrote an excellent piece about how his disappointment in the McCain campaign's tone has him ready to vote Obama. In 1964, the Johnson campaign ran this ad, where a Republican in the Buckley tradition explains his uneasiness with what Goldwater has brought to the Republicans.



The lessons from 1964 unfortunately have not been learned by John McCain. Like Goldwater, he will likely go to bed on November 4 disappointed. Like Goldwater, much of this is beyond his control. But this could be bigger than any one campaign. The fears Wallace and Goldwater helped encourage would last throughout the 20th century. McCain had an opportunity to not go down that same road, to lose with his dignity intact, but his willingness to feed into the fears of America's most ignorant in a desperate attempt at victory will at best taint his legacy. At worst, it will hinder American progress.


Thanks to Gary Donaldson's Liberalism's Last Hurrah for teaching me damn near everything I could ever learn about the 1964 election.