Bizarre memo from McCain camp about MET-RX, arugula

Apparently, this is arugula

From Politico, a memo sent out by McCain campaign manager Rick Davis attempts to paint Barack Obama as the ever-hated elitist.

Take a gander

Only a celebrity of Barack Obama's magnitude could attract 200,000 fans in Berlin who gathered for the mere opportunity to be in his presence. These are not supporters or even voters, but fans fawning over The One. Only celebrities like Barack Obama go to the gym three times a day, demand "MET-RX chocolate roasted-peanut protein bars and bottles of a hard-to-find organic brew -- Black Forest Berry Honest Tea" and worry about the price of arugula.

I'm really at a loss here. I don't understand the McCain strategy at all. I'm aware that knocking the other guy as "out of touch" with the average voter is a staple of politics, but is this the way you want to do it? The first two sentences read like someone who's just mad they're being styled on. I mean, shouldn't they be trying to downplay how popular Obama is, not admit they're jealous of it? As for the last sentence, "only celebrities go to the gym three times a day . . ." really? Mentioning his tea choice? Is that what we're doing now?

This from a guy who wears $520 loafers and is married to an heiress, of course.

Just once I'd like to see a campaign from either side stop trying to paint the other guy as an elitist who's out of touch with voters. Of course they're out of touch with average people, they're politicians. From the moment they step into public service, they're doing something fundamentally different than your average Joe in a cubicle or plant. Stop pretending otherwise.

Word of the Day: Double-Talk

Double-Talk: The art of saying everything and absolutely nothing at the same time.

Example: At a town hall meeting over the weekend, John McCain responded to a question about raising taxes with this:

"I don't want tax increases. But that doesn't mean that anything is off the table" when it comes to Social Security."

So basically, he won't raise taxes, until it's time to raise taxes...thanks for the break John.

I think Ty's picture works the best for this one.

McCain was against the timetable before he was for it

So about that whole "timetables=surrender" thing? Not so much.

John McCain told Larry King last night that he could support a 16 month timetable for leaving Iraq assuming certain conditions were met on the ground. Hmmm, that sounds familiar. A 16 month conditional timetable for withdrawal from Iraq. Where have I heard this before?

Oh yeah, it's the same thing Obama was criticized for earlier this month. From Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs' interview with MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell three weeks ago:

MITCHELL: Does that mean you would not be able to withdraw in 16 months?

GIBBS: No, no. We believe we will. We believe we will. Obviously we'll listen to commanders on the ground as conditions may or may not change. This is completely consistent with what Senator Obama has talked about from the very, very beginning of this campaign.

So to reiterate, McCain has gone from calling any timetable to withdraw tantamount to surrender to now supporting the same timetable that his opponent has been touting from the start of the campaign. Makes sense.

Obama World Tour: No Satisfaction

He told them there would be punch and pie.


Obama's tour of Europe might have hurt him more than helped.

A USA Today/Gallup poll of 1000 people showed that Obama has lost ground to McCain.

According to the poll, 49 percent of likely voters would vote for McCain over Obama, about a 10 percent swing from the same poll conducted last month.

Reuters reports that Obama's trip got a positive review from 35 percent of the poll, and a negative review from 25 percent.

Everybody else was watching America's Best Dance Crew.

Admatic: McCain criticizes Obama's gym regimen

"Welcome home, Barack, and why do you hate our wounded soldiers?"

Fresh off the Obama World Tour 08, Barack Obama is facing criticism from John McCain over not visiting wounded American troops while he was in Germany. Obama, who did meet with wounded soldiers during his brief stay in Iraq, says the planned visit to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center was scrapped at the last minute because he didn't want the visit to be "percieved as political" since he would have been using campaign resources.


The McCain campaign doesn't think so, and on Sunday they campaign unveiled a new ad claiming it was because Obama could not bring in media cameras.



Per the New York Times, Obama's visit with wounded soldiers in Iraq was done without alerting the media.

The biggest problem I have with this ad isn't that it's a cheap shot. It is cheap, but this is a Presidential campaign, and it's likely only going to get dirtier the closer we get to November. My problem is, like McCain's "Obama caused rising gas prices" ad, is that it highlights none of McCain's qualities. All it says is "John McCain is always there for our troops." Such as when he . . . what? What did he do? In what way is he "always there for our troops?" If he's really "always there" for our soldiers, name one example. Talk about a time he visited wounded soldiers when he was in Iraq. Show him speaking at a town hall meeting with a veteran in uniform. Show him watching Generation Kill. But show him doing something.

Don't bash the other candidate on shaky allusions without having anything to promote yourself at the same time.

Las campanas en espanol

Both campaigns have been trying to reach out to Latino voters. Barack Obama has unveiled a new radio spot "Nuestro Propio Camino" (Our Own Road) that will will air on Spanish radio stations in Colorado, Florida, New Mexico, and Nevada. You can listen to it here. A translation for the spot can be found here.

Meanwhile, Juan McCain has released an ad titled "Hijos de Dios" (Children of God) to begin airing on TV in Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico. While the ad is in English, it is captioned in Spanish and highlights segments of his speech by putting them in Spanish across the screen.



For the record, Obama is currently in a commanding lead among Latinos, ahead of McCain by over 40 points.

Your possible next VP sure loves vetoing things

Tim Pawlenty

With Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal officially pulling his name from consideration to be John McCain's running mate, everyone's favorite amateur hockey player from Eagan has become the hot new favorite to win the McCain Veepstakes. McCain may have confirmed it during what he thought was a closed door meeting in New Hampshire, telling supporters they would "really like Pawlenty."

Adding fuel to the fire, Pawlenty has stopped taking questions from reporters on the possibility of him joining the McCain ticket, something neither he nor any of McCain's other potential running mates had done until now.

Non-Minnesotans may be wondering what the deal is with this guy. What is he like? How does he govern? Does he have a Fargo accent? In short, a sycophant, he tries not to and kind of. He set a new record for most vetoes in a single legislative session without ever testing positive for steroids. Before him, no governor in Minnesota history had ever vetoed a non-binding resolution; Pawlenty vetoed two in one year. It has earned him the nickname "Veto Corleone" (not really, I just made that up. Just now. Wouldn't it be corny if people really called him that, though?)

City Pages has a very fine piece that you can read here detailing all of T Paw's 34 vetoes from the last legislative session. Some highlights include vetoing a non-binding resolution that stated Minnesota's support for ending the Cuba trade embargo (a position he supported while running for re-election in 2006,) a bill that would allow state employees to take sick leave to care for spouses or parents who were ill, a bill that would have provided health insurance statewide to all K-12 public school teachers (currently, some rural districts can't give their teachers health benefits,) and a bill allowing cities and counties to make charitable grants.

While some of the vetoes mentioned were things you might expect a Republican governor to veto in a state with a Democrat-controlled legislature, a lot of these were bills that zipped through the House and Senate with strong bipartisan support.

For all the posturing he's done to get on McCain's good side, T Paw better be his choice for running mate.

Captain Hope and The Grey Fossil

Here he comes to save the day!

These super-candidates are capable of winning an election in a single debate!

IDW Publishing is making a pair of comic books for Barack Obama and John McCain.

Unfortunately, the comic books won't have any cool plot like 100 Bullets, they're just puff promo pieces.

The comic books go on sale on October 8th, but copies are available for purchase here now.

Maybe they'll make Obama walk on water in the second issue.

The Running Men

Stop! VP Time!

Obama and McCain are reportedly finally closing in on who their running mates will be in the upcoming election.

On the Repbublican side, Mitt Romney is the front-runner for the VP nod, and Obama could be keying in on Indiana senator Evan Bayh or Sam Nunn, a former senator from Georgia.

Hillary Clinton could possibly still be in the mix, but the last time I checked, hell hadn't quite frozen over yet.

Both candidates are expected to announce their decisions within the next month, so keep your eyes peeled.

Bitter

John McCain's campaign blasted the media's love-affair with Barack Obama by setting up an online contest on his website. Two videos filled with clips of media personalities praising Obama are set to swooning love songs. Whichever video gets the most online votes will be broadcast as a TV ad.

While Obama has been getting the lion's share of positive coverage and some of the things said in these videos (which can be viewed at the bottom of this post) border on seventh-grade-girlish, McCain can't possibly think this is going to have any positive effect on his standing in the polls. Just like it didn't help Adlai Stevenson, Barry Goldwater, Walter Mondale or Bob Dole when they
complained about unfair media coverage. Even if it's true, all it does is make you look mad and bring more attention to your opponent.

The irony of this is for years other Republicans complained about the media being too lapdogish FOR McCain. It was seen as one of the reasons he was able to stay close to George W Bush in the 2000 Republican primaries and why he was able to rebound from a poor 2007 and win the 2008 GOP nomination. It has to seem odd that now McCain is the one whining about the media being too nice to his opponent.

Admatic: McCain implies Obama responsible for rising gas prices

Finally, our first ad (from one of the official campaigns) to start hitting below the belt. Titled "Pump," the ad blames high gas prices on "some in Washington who are saying 'no' to drilling in America." And by "some in Washington" they mean the junior Senator from Illinois.

Ignoring the fact that gas prices have been rising since before Obama was even elected to the US Senate (remember the outcry when gas was $2 a gallon?) the ad doesn't really explain why McCain's plan will actually lead to lower gas prices. It makes an allusion to "more energy," but not when or by how much gas prices would actually decrease if we started drilling more in America. Even McCain himself admitted more offshore drilling would mainly have a "psychological" benefit and that he didn't know how long it would take before we would see lower prices at the pump. If you're going to take a cheap shot, at least base it on something tangible.

The ad begins airing in Colorado, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin this week.

Have a great weekend

We'll leave you with Idaho Senator Larry Craig (yup, that one) sharing his thoughts on being "jerked around by the gas nozzle." Enjoy!

Cost of Running for President: $400 Million

Can it be all so simple.

It seems that change will cost alot of change in 2008.

The Associated Press reported Senator Barack Obama raised $52 million during the month of June for his presidential campaign.

Although the sum is close to his record of $55 million in one month, analysts say that the money is only a fraction of what they think he'll need to run a successful campaign.

Barack Obama and the Democratic party have a combined goal of $480 million in campaign funds. John McCain and the Republican party is expected to have around $400million in funds.

The two campaigns combined will have a campaign budget the size of a decent sized city government...and it's a safe bet that money won't be spent on sticky tape and glitter.

Meanwhile in the city of Milwaukee, the African-American community just found out that the premier festival celebrating their culture is being cancelled because organizers couldn't raise the funds to hold it.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

John McCain Cares About Black People

Senator John McCain did something George Bush never did as President before he was even elected...he spoke at the NAACP Convention on Wednesday.

During his speech he praised Obama for inspriring millions of Americans to come out and vote in the primaries.

The phrase that paid during the speech was school choice though, as McCain talked about school reform as an important issue in the upcoming campaign.

School choice is a gray area at best...there has been no concrete evidence that low-income students do any better or worse in a school system with school choice, but there is evidence that school choice is the figurative pulling of the life support of a struggling public school system.

He also proposed programs for certifying more teachers and funding for virtual schools and online courses.

There was some other rah rah, but the main point is that McCain is actually willing to sit in a room and talk to black people, which could be seen as a sign of progress...or something like that.

The FUN never stops

He looks like a big ol kid out there!

So Brett Favre's maybe kinda coming back to ruin his legacy. He cried on Greta Van Susteren's surprisingly firm shoulders and ripped Ted Thompson on Fox News. He's only "guilty of retiring too early" and wants to come back (but how dare anyone ask the Mighty Slinger of Guns to possibly maybe be a backup.)

I don't see why people in Wisconsin are so surprised. This is a guy who built his career on ignoring all common sense and just "having fun," a guy who threw Javon Walker under the bus and showed a horrible lack of leadership and a guy who annually held the Packers offseason hostage with his "will he or won't he" waffling. Now Green Bay and the adoring preteen girls that make up the national media are finding out what everyone else already knew; that Brett Favre is a selfish jerk. Life's not all crawfish boils and Wrangler jeans.

And I don't want to see him in purple unless he's carrying Tarvaris Jackson's bags.

Admatic: Obama's bipartisan, secure

In a new ad titled "America's Leadership," Barack Obama touts his strength in working together with a Republican senator (ZOMG FAKE CHANGE!!1!!1) in helping to "lock down loose nuclear weapons" in the former Soviet Union. Obama's trying to highlight the foreign policy experience (even if it is limited) that he does have and his willingness to work with the other side, which are both percieved strengths of John McCain.

The ad will begin running in 18 states according to the AP.

At least they're not ripping off "Ziggy" anymore

So this is The New Yorker cover that's getting everyone all heated. The cover is supposed to be a satire of some of the harshest rumors that have swirled around the Obama campaign, including that he's a "secret" Muslim, that he's anti-American, and that his wife is a radical leftist. The Obama campaign is, understandably, not too pleased. They have enough actual attacks to deal with without having to see this image on the cover of an influential magazine.

Critics of the cover say that it only re-enforces these rumors and that it will be taken the wrong way by people who might not understand that it's satirical. But I can't imagine this cover actually having an effect on anything.

People who read The New Yorker are for the most part liberal Democrats. They know that it's intentionally over the top satire, and it won't matter. The people who actually believe Obama's some kind of mole for al Qaeda are going to continue not supporting him and being mad. The Obama supporters who find it offensive are going to rally around this as another unfair attack on Obama and will ratchet up their support. Any random, undecided voter who sees the cover on CNN isn't going to let something that's clearly satire affect their vote. If anything, the cover shows how ridiculous the idea of letting a rumor decide your vote truly is.

Gas prices are ridiculous. People are losing their homes. We're still in Iraq. People have opinions on these things, and these are the things that will ultimately decide the election. Not a magazine cover.

Pawlenty says he's "not being vetted" by McCain

He has since trimmed the mullet

Ever since John McCain secured the Republican nomination, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty has been talked about as a possible running mate. He's a moderate Republican (like McCain,) young (unlike McCain,) from a battleground state and he's been openly supporting McCain's bid for the White House since 2006. As the City Pages pointed out in this excellent piece last month, Pawlenty's even willing to change his long standing views to make himself a more attractive running mate.

Now he's saying that he's not even being considered for VP. HE told the Pioneer Press he doesn't know anything about a possible selection.

I'm not aware that I'm under consideration

If this isn't just spin, it would come as a shock that a guy touted as one of the favorites for months isn't even being considered anymore. My guess is spin is exactly what this is. I see you trying to downplay your chances, Tim. You're not slick.

Rock Me Petraeus

Petraeus, Petraeus!

The New York Times is reporting that General David Petraeus has won confirmation as the new commanding officer of Central Command.

He won the confirmation on a vote of 95 to 2 in the Senate, with only Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) dissenting.

As commander of Central Command, General Petraeus will be in charge of military operations in the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia.

What this means is to you is that a commander who stressed the need for a troop surge in Iraq in 2007 is now in charge of the entire operation. This is good news for McCain, who is against an immediate troop withdrawal, and obviously bad news for Obama, who wants to withdraw troops as soon as possible.

George Bush: "George Bush is the world's biggest polluter"

President Bush had some well thought-out last words for his fellow world leaders at his final G8 summit. According to London's The Daily Telegraph, Bush told them "Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter." He then proceeded to "punch the air while grinning wildly" before he left the room.

While this was likely intended as tongue-in-cheek sarcasm, it doesn't sound like that's how it was received.

One official who witnessed the extraordinary scene said afterwards: "Everyone was very surprised that he was making a joke about America's record on pollution."

Hell, at least he's being honest now. That's a start, right?

Seriously, no.

Please, no.

Just, no.

It was embarrassing enough the first time. Just DON'T, Jesse. Please.

Iraqi's Don't Want Southern Chicken Sandwiches

"We were okay with you being here until Hancock came out...now, you must leave." (c) Prime Minister Ali al-Dabbaugh


While Barack Obama and John McCain are fighting over what should be the future course of action in Iraq, the one group of people who should have a say have finally said enough is enough.

The prime minister of Iraq has demanded that any future plans for the governing of the country should include a definite timetable for U.S. troop withdrawal.

Ali al-Dabbaugh said that the withdrawal should depend on the state of security in Iraq, but he believes that a full withdrawal is possible by 2011 or 2012.

President George Bush has reportedly rejected this proposal (hey, he didn't leave the White House when we asked him to either, this is par for the course).

Finally, some attack ads

After the opening ads of the general election where Barack Obama and John McCain tried their best to be bland and vague, the guns are starting to come out. The topic is energy.

This past weekend, the Republican National Committee unveiled this ad, titled "Balance." It touts McCain's willingness to break with his party and his "balanced plan" of alternative fuels, offshore drilling, and conservation. The ad goes on to say that Obama has "no new solutions" and is just another Demmy-crat.



The Obama campaign fired back with an ad titled "New Energy." In it, Obama insists that McCain is actually the one toeing the party line, stating that he "voted with Bush 95% of the time" and wants to give tax breaks to oil companies, whereas Obama is the one who will give tax breaks to working families (presumably not ones who work for oil companies) and make "energy independence an urgent priority."

Click here for Obama's ad, as it's too damn big to embed. And it's actually the ad, not anything having to do with schoolteachers in Iowa.

I'm just glad we're seeing some ads with teeth as opposed to the standard "photos of me when I was younger/helping people/holding flags" ads we've been seeing from the official campaigns so far.

Johnny Sack appears in pro-Coleman ad

Hey, look. It's an actual kinda celebrity in a political ad. Vincent Curatola, aka Johnny Sack from The Sopranos, is in the new ad sponsored by the Minnesota chapter of Coaltion for a Democratic Workplace (CDW.) The ad centers around the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill currently stalled in the US Senate that would allow for employees to unionize if a majority of workers sign their support for a union, without having to go through a formal election. Supporters (like Al Franken and apparently those shifty Eyetalians) say it allows employees easier access to the benefits of being in a union, while opponents (like CDW and Norm Coleman) say that allowing employees to unionize without voting in a secret ballot election robs them of their privacy.

Stay tuned to see if any other supporting actors from off-the-air HBO shows make any more appearances in political ads. Bonus points go to whoever can get him to appear in an ad.

It Takes One to Know One

In an ironic twist of fate, Sen. John Kerry called John McCain a flip-flopper on Meet the Press on Sunday.

As you (should) know, Kerry was infamously defeated by George Bush in 2004 after being accused of the same thing during his presidential campaign.

Here's what he had to say:

Obama's acceptance speech to move outdoors

Credit Stadiumsofthenfl.com for the image

Well this is a little different. Barack Obama will make his acceptance speech at the Democratic Convention in Denver's Invesco Field at Mile High (no, that's not a convoluted name at all.) While the rest of the convention will take place in the Pepsi Center (capacity of about 20,000,) Invesco can hold an estimated 75,000 for Obama's speech.

While Obama isn't the first to do something like this (JFK made his acceptance speech at the LA Memorial Coliseum in 1960,) it is unusual. Most national conventions are closed off to everyone except delegates, volunteers, invited guests and credentialed media. This not only opens part, even if it is a very small part, of the nominating process to the public. It has the added bonus of giving the Obama campaign a great TV moment of their candidate making an important speech to a packed stadium of supporters with sun shining and blue skies and birds chirping and whatnot. Of course, they're absolutely screwed if it rains, but that's neither here nor there.

If the Republicans want to answer, they can always hold their own version in the Twin Cities. Why, there's TCF Bank Stadium, right by the Minneapolis-St. Paul border. It's open air and can hold 40,000. If you can get past the whole "it's presently a large construction site" thing, it's perfect. There's The Metrodome, but putting 60,000 people inside on a beautiful afternoon actually has the opposite effect of the whole sun shining birds chirping thing. And it's named after a Democrat. Final suggestion: Midway Stadium. It's open, an intimate setting (and McCain seems to like those anyway,) in St. Paul, and has a reputation for being more fun than a lot of big-time places. Wait, nevermind, they named their 2008 pig after Obama (don't ask.)

Happy 4th of July

Have a good Independence Day weekend. We'll leave you with the most bad ass Patriotic images I could think of.












And of course, no summer holiday is complete without The Pool Dunkers.

Wait . . . what?

Dan Quayle almost sort of endorses Obama. Go on, take your time and read what I linked to. I'll wait.

. . .


. . .

Now the question is why. Not "why does a Republican like Dan Quayle have so many nice things to say about Obama," but "why was Dan Quayle even asked about this (or any) pertinent topic?" I mean, I guess he used to be Vice President. But so did Walter Mondale, and he's just another crazy old Minnesotan, like a less-entertaining Walter Matthau.

Basically, Quayle respects Obama for beating the Clintons and hopes McCain wins, even though he thinks the odds are against him.

But I still can't get over Dan Quayle actually being in the news. I thought he went away with Crystal Pepsi and TV's "Perfect Strangers."

Oh, and he thought this would be a Romney/Hill Dawg election. Well, zero out of two isn't bad.

From the Bay to Bryant's Backyard

Smile now Baron, because in LA, nobody will hear you scream.


I'm taking a left turn from our usual politics talk to speak on Baron Davis's unusual decision to move from Golden State to the Los Angeles Clippers.

B Diddy is expected to walk out on over $17 million and one of the hottest young teams in the league...to go to the Clippers.

I suspect that Donald Sterling has some incriminating pictures of Baron or something, because even Kwame Brown wouldn't intentionally sign with the Clippers.

The Clippers are widely recognized as the worst franchise in sports period...they rarely have winning seasons, they regularly trade their best players instead of re-signing them, and they are known for picking winners in the lottery like Michael Olowokandi, Benoit Benjamin, and Darius Miles.

My Prediction: He gets traded to a contender by the all-star break next season...there's no way he stays there with a clear conscience.

New Obama ad: "Dignity"

Barack Obama unveiled a new ad, his second of the general election campaign. The ad, titled "Dignity," highlights Obama's accomplishments in the Illinois State Legislature (while not mentioning that they're state accomplishments and not federal ones) and emphasizes Obama's belief in "the dignity that comes from work."

Also, he gives a big hug/chokehold to an old white lady at the end. Other than that, fairly tame, generic stuff. The ad will run in 18 states.