Barack Obama: Popular (for now)

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The approval rating polls of the Obama presidency are out, and President Obama is doing all right. He has a 68% approval rating overall, which is about where Reagan was for his first approval rating, but behind George Bush Sr. This isn't really surprising, as most incoming presidents start out with fairly high approval ratings. That said, he still isn't winning over many self-identified Republicans, as only about 1/3rd or them seem to think he's doing an okay job. So much for the whole post-partisan pipe dream.

But for the most part, Obama's a pretty popular dude. So popular, in fact, that even congressional Democrats are seeing their numbers go up. A whopping 50% of the country actually approves of the job the D's in the House and Senate are doing, which is huge because, cmon, who likes Harry Reid? Only 38% thought their Republican counterparts were doing a good job, because of, I don't know, we'll say the stimulus. Except less than half of those polled even think the federal government will manage to not screw that up, so maybe no.

Anyway, the point is President Obama is popular for now, and I'm still surprised this song was as big of a hit as it was.

Strategery?

Given the state of today's economy, it's ironic that Obama's selection for commerce secretary would be the toughest sell.

Obama's decision to nominate Republican Judd Gregg to the position today is causing a ruckus because it could possibly give the Democrats a super-majority in the Senate.

The Democrats currently have a 58-41 advantage in the Senate. Whenever they can seat Al Franken of Minnesota, that will push their advantage up to 59-41. The Gregg appointment will take away a seat from the GOP, and given that New Hampshire's governor is a Democrat, its highly likely that a Democrat would be appointed to Gregg's vacant slot.

That would give the Democrats a filibuster-proof 60-40 advantage, which means that the GOP wouldn't be able to do anything to stop the Democrats from pushing whatever legislation they wanted through Congress.

According to Fox News, Gregg struck a deal with the governor to appoint a Republican in his seat, which is drawing some heat from the Democrats.

How this situation plays out could greatly affect legislation over the next couple years.

The Obamaberry

After Barack Obama was sworn in and official like a referee with a whistle, one of his first pieces of business was to make sure his favorite device came along too.

According to ABC News, Obama will be the first president to use a Blackberry in office.

Because of security concerns he'll only be able to talk to a few select people, but it's better than Bush's system of passing notes by carrier pigeon.

I wonder if he has to call the same customer service line that everybody else does...imagine taking that complaint call.

Maybe this will be his new ringtone:

A New Day.

Unless you were frozen solid on the side of a road the past few days, you know that Barack Obama was sworn in as the nation's 44th President yesterday.

Now that all the pomp and grandeur is over, its time for Barack to get to work.

According to the LA Times, Obama has already met with economic and foreign policy teams to figure out early strategy on the economy and Iraq, and he read a letter that George Bush left him.

5 to 1 odds that letter was written on construction paper with a blue crayon.

Good luck Barack, oh man are you gonna need it.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

As if 10 months of ads, debates and rallies wasn't enough, Barack Obama just bought a 30-minute prime-time slot on CBS a week before the November election.

The LA Times reports that he has also bought spots on NBC and Fox, but the Fox ad might not air if a World Series game takes place on that day.

According to the Times, this will be the first time a candidate has bought prime-time airtime since Ross Perot did it in 1992.

No word on what the program will contain (*prays for Barack and Michelle doing showtunes*), but most likely it will be a repeat of everything he's said to this point, and we will watch it.

The Aftermath: Going for the Kill

After Tuesday's debate that seen Barack Obama declared the winner by every opinion poll i've seen, the Obama camp is going on the offensive again in new ads.

This new ad, called "Tested" builds off of statements McCain made during the debate:



McCain is responding with an internet-only ad connecting Obama to Bill Ayers:

Guns (with the Greatest ad of this election so far)

Not to get all ad/video heavy, but this is too good. The NRA has a new ad in Pennsylvania, Colorado and New Mexico about Barack Obama and why he will disarm every white person in America so that they're ill-prepared for the race war that will occur if he wins the election. Let's take a look.



Highlights

• There's no way that is that Karl guys actual voice. He probably sounds like a woman so they had Keith Olbermann do his Bill O'Reilly impersonation and dubbed it over Karl's voice. Because nobody can really sound like that for real.
• First ten seconds are about gas prices, because if gas is expensive so are guns (maybe?)
• "And now I learn Barack Obama supports a HUGE NEW TAX on my guns and ammo." At the bottom of the screen, the source is shown as the 12/13/99 issue of the Chicago Defender. Since it's a "new" tax, I can only assume it's an issue from 2099. This man is from the future, and what a terrible time it must be. In 2099, a robot Barack Obama has made himself Emperor For Life and taxes guns so heavily that the Human Uprising can not arm themselves and only black newspapers are still allowed to publish.
  
• 15 seconds in. "Where is this guy from?" Who knows? Africa? Iraqistan? MARS? Why won't he just admit he's an illegal alien Muslim terrorist who only came here to take our jobs and violate our womenfolk after making them smoke a reefer cigarette? But the way he looks at the camera puts the "b" in "subtle accusations that Obama isn't really American."
• 18 seconds in. "He's probably never been hunting a day in his life." Sadly, there are no future newspapers brave enough to report on this, so that's why he had to say "probably."
• 25 seconds in. Dick Cheney is about to shoot that chubby kid with glasses because he Knows Too Much. At least now this kid won't have to live through the horrible future that will be the Obama presidency/empire.
• 27 seconds in. " . . . the shotguns and rifles MOST of us use for hunting." And the ones that don't use these for hunting? What do they use them for?
• 30 seconds in. The shot of Karl stalking through the woods while he says "No politician is going to take away my guns and ammo" tells us exactly what the rest use them for.
• 32 seconds in. "You don't have to be bitter . . ." Oh, he's referencing something that happened. And I understand it! Karl, you're a regular Seth MacFarlane.
  
• "Defend Freedom, Defeat Obama." Just like in Contra!
  

And this is coming on the heels of a Saturday appearance in Virginia by Joe "Never hit the club unless I get my Beretta in" Biden where he threatened to shoot Obama and become our second black president if he ever tried to take Joe's guns.

Sen. Barack Obama better not mess with his running mate Joe Biden's guns...or else.

In an out-of-nowhere attempt to re-assure a southwestern Virginia labor crowd about gun owners' rights, Biden -- who regularly scores "F" ratings from the National Rifle Association -- warned Obama that if "he tries to fool with my Beretta, he’s got a problem."

"I guarantee you Barack Obama ain't taking my shotguns, so don't buy that malarkey," Biden said Saturday at the United Mine Workers of America's annual fish fry in Castlewood, Virginia. "Don't buy that malarkey. They're going to start peddling that to you."

Biden told the crowd that he himself is a gun owner. "I got two," Biden said, "if he tries to fool with my Beretta, he's got a problem. I like that little over and under, you know? I'm not bad with it. So give me a break. Give me a break."

Maybe Karl's malarkey sales are down and that's why he's complaining about gas prices.

Fall Fallout

Caution: Watch out for falling blame


The collapse of two storied financial institutions has both parties scrambling to point the finger to boost their campaigns.

Barack Obama and John McCain took turns responding to the Whirlwind on Wall St. involving the selling of Merrill Lynch and bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, two of the biggest finance houses in the country.

AIG is also on the ropes today as it is asking the Fed for a $40 billion bridge loan to hold off collapse while it sells assets.

Barack Obama seized the opportunity and threw a jab at the GOP.

"(I do not fault Sen. McCain, but) I do fault the economic philosophy he subscribes to. It's a philosophy we've had for the last eight years — one that says we should give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else."

John McCain's camp already has an ad circulating to counter punch what happened to the economy.

An excerpt from the ad:

"Our economy in crisis. Only proven reformers John McCain and Sarah Palin can fix it. Tougher rules on Wall Street to protect your life savings. No special interest giveaways. Lower taxes to create new jobs. Offshore drilling to reduce gas prices."

One thing that isn't in crisis is the campaign fund for either candidate. Both candidates reported personal-bests in fund raising for August, with Obama claiming $66 million and McCain raising $47 million.